Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
A delicate frown appears between her brows. “Are you really a robot? Should we do a captcha verification?”
“A captcha what?”
“Oh my God. You are!”
Her voice.
It’s feminine, but not soft, and she doesn’t speak in the cooing, fake-as-fuck tone some of the girls use so I’ll fuck them.
She’s in your face. Or mine, to be more accurate.
Everything just spills out of her as if it’s a goddamn fountain.
And I’m starting to despise how freely she can act—the first thing I noticed about her is becoming a vexation.
“Go back to school and stop following me. It’s giving desperate.”
I turn around, about to resume my run, but, of course, the fucking nuisance who’s been shredding my peace jumps in front of me.
“Wait!”
“Change your mind? I’ll let you suck my dick after the next game if I’m in the mood.”
“No, thanks.” She swallows, fighting against a blush or rage, I can’t tell. “I just want to know what’s expected of me. What’s the point of being a Vencor member if I’m kept in the dark?”
“You’ll be contacted if something is needed of you. Not the other way around.”
She pauses and I can see the wheels in her brain working in overdrive. I like how she thinks before she talks. The time between thinking and speaking could be elongated, but it’s a good trait.
It’s also how I knew she was plotting to infiltrate Vencor. I’m not entirely sure why, but that’s why I put on the whole fucking show to have her initiated.
Best way to watch a potential hazard?
Keep it under your thumb.
Squash it if it wiggles around.
Now, I didn’t need to fuck her, but it’s still a power bargaining chip and she didn’t use her safe word, so it’s game on.
Everything is a game.
She tucks a few flyaways behind her ear and I follow the motion. How her lean fingers outstretch. Her nails aren’t painted and are cut short, but they somehow look elegantly neat.
Then she speaks again, trying—and failing—to sound detached. “How about meetings and stuff?”
“Stuff?”
“You know. Whatever happens in said meetings.”
“Whatever happens in said meetings is not for Trial members. Unless you get invited by a Senior.”
“Invite me, then.”
I step close to her, erasing the distance between us.
My chest expands with her scent again, and I resist the urge to pluck the goddamn wildflower in her and crush it to pieces.
There was a time when I liked beautiful things. Now, I want them all ruined.
Trampled upon.
Reduced to dust.
Dahlia glances up, her plump lips parting, the bottom one slightly fuller than the upper one. As I look down at her, a choppy breath spills out of her slightly parted mouth and I notice a mole on the corner of her lip, tiny and barely there.
And now I’m staring at her lip.
I rip my gaze to her eyes, slightly wide. Expectant, even. “What will I get in return?”
“What do you want?” Her low whisper sends an electric shot down to my dick.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Despite my better judgement, I grab her chin with my thumb and forefinger, tilting her head back so that I’m invading those eyes. Preston has always said mine are unsettling, and I can tell she feels it as I stare her down for several long beats.
“If I say your body and soul, would you offer them?”
Her lips part again, the perfect opening if I want to thrust my cock down her throat, then decorate her face with my cum.
Again.
“Do I have a choice?” Her murmur is haunting, somewhat lifeless.
And I hate the gradual disappearance of her fire.
How she slowly withdraws into her shell.
“You always have a choice, Dahlia. The word is ‘red’. It offers you a way out of everything except for Vencor. That one, once you’re in, you only leave in a casket or if I deem you unworthy.”
“If…” She swallows thickly, her eyes searching mine despite the subtle fear lurking beneath the light yellow. “If I offer myself, will you protect me?”
“No.”
She flinches, her body turning stiff, and I should probably release her.
I don’t do that, though.
Even as her heat mingles with mine, sending the wrong signals to my cock.
“Why not?” she asks.
“I don’t get emotionally attached to the people I fuck.”
“I don’t either. So it’s a win-win.”
“Liar. You’ve been trying to play it down and pretend that what happened that day is normal, but here’s the thing. You’re acting tough. I know you’re uncomfortable. Your jaw is clenched, your body’s tight, and you’re usually dressed in a way that doesn’t draw attention to your body. You’re terrified that I’ll fuck you and use you again. The idea makes you tremble. And that trembling turns me on.” I rotate her pale face in my fingers. “Your fight and suffering turn me on. It makes me hard. So, Dahlia, disappear from my sight before I break you.”
I feel the exact moment that her survival instinct kicks in.