Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Something reflects in his eyes and back at me. He looks sorry, but that can’t be right. He wanted this, wanted me in pain. He wanted to punish me, and he liked it, and part of me liked it too.
Before I can grasp onto the look, his face goes blank again, and he does just as I ask. He lifts me up and deposits me on the bed.
I let myself fall back onto the mattress and curl into a ball. Crawling onto the bed, he takes me into his arms even as I flinch at his touch. His chest is bare now. He kisses my damp forehead and soothes me, holding me tight, and that only makes me hate him a little bit more.
His masculine scent overpowers me, calming me. How can he do this? Hurt me one second, and soothe me another?
“Shhh, you’re okay.”
“I’m not,” I blubber into his bare chest, the warmth of his skin radiating through me. I feel like an iceberg, slowly melting into the abyss.
“I didn’t hurt you. I punished you, and I know that you enjoyed it as well.” He reminds me again of my treacherous body’s reaction to him. His thick fingers run through my hair, making my scalp tingle.
“I hate you,” I whisper.
“Sometimes, I hate myself too. You’ll be okay.”
He holds me for a while longer, whispering sweet nothings into my hair, and I let him. Let him soothe me, hold me, even after what he did. He doesn’t let go of me until the last sob has wracked my body.
Setting me back down on the mattress, he climbs off the bed and digs back into the drawer, setting a second pair of handcuffs down next to me. I don’t speak or even look at him as he rolls me onto my belly, uncuffs one hand, rolls me back onto my back and brings my arms up above my head, fastening one end of the cuff to the headboard, then repeating the action with the other cuff, and attaching it to my free wrist.
I sag against the pillows as best as I can, my wrists already ache from the position, and my ass cheeks burn against the sheets, but I refuse to let him know that.
We’re enemies now, and he doesn’t deserve to know how I’m feeling anymore. All he deserves is my hate and anger, which is all he’ll get from me.
Ignoring me completely, he walks into the closet and comes out fully dressed a short time later. I pretend to be asleep and hold in the tears that threaten to fall until I hear the door close behind him. Then, I close my eyes, letting the tears fall, wishing things could be different.
24
Julian
She betrayed me. I should have seen it coming, but I was so occupied with my revenge that I missed it.
Looking back on the last few days, I wonder how much of it was an act and how much was real? Did she really want me to fuck her, did she really like spending time with me? Did she ever trust me, even one single bit? I don’t know, and the truth is, I don’t think I’ll ever know now.
Walking into the kitchen, I find Marie and our new cook, Celeste, chatting about some kind of new café in town.
“They just have the best pastries and lattes, I don’t know what they put in them, but we have to figure it out,” Marie chirps.
Celeste–who is about the same age as Marie–claps her hand in front of her in excitement. “I wonder how late they’re open, maybe we can go after work?”
“Is breakfast ready?” Both of them jump at the sound of my voice, making me realize how harsh I must sound.
“Yes, I was just about to bring it up,” Marie explains, clearly flustered by my presence. She quickly fills the glass on the tray with apple juice, her hand shaking so much that she is spilling half of it in the process.
“I’ll take it.” Walking further into the kitchen, I grab the food, not missing how Marie flinches at my movement. Good, she should be afraid.
On my way back to the bedroom, my anger about Elena’s betrayal only expands. She lied to me, kept secrets from me, and then tried to get away and run back to the enemy. And here I am, still wondering if she would like a fucking pastry from the new café.
This woman messed with my head, got under my skin, and it’s time that I turn the tables on her.
Holding the tray in one hand, I unlock the door with the other, then push the door open with my shoulder. Elena looks just as pitiful now as when I left her a few hours ago. I didn’t want to leave, wanted to stay, and hold her in my arms, but that would’ve been counterproductive.