Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
He glances up from his cup then looks back down. “Hey.”
There’s nothing readable in his expression.
Just fucking blank, like he doesn’t give a fuck at all.
“Um. What’s up?”
“Well, I was going to come find you so we could take a couple of pictures together, make sure people saw us together at this party. But you were busy on your knees.”
“Niko,” I protest.
I watch him shake a little bit of tequila over a paper towel. I furrow my brow as he reaches over toward me, swiping at my neck with the wet towel.
“Stand still,” he says.
“The fuck are you doing?”
“Wiping that guy off your neck.”
“Give me a break,” I tell him, shoving him away. The cool sensation of the alcohol on my neck feels refreshing, though.
Even if Niko’s acting like a tyrant right now.
“Come with me.”
I follow him back into the main room and he finds a spot on one of the long couches. I sit next to him, and across the room, I see that Leo clearly already found someone else to flirt with.
Leo’s already leaning against a wall, close to some other guy’s face, reaching up to tuck a lock of his hair behind his ear.
From my peripheral vision I see Niko drinking.
Not just drinking.
Downing his drink like it’s goddamn medicine.
“Damn. Chill out on that cocktail,” I mutter.
“You’re clearly steeped in tequila right now. You have no ground to stand on.”
“Can’t argue with that. So, should we take a picture here on the couch?”
Right as I’m finishing my sentence, Niko moves in closer to me.
I feel like I have the breath knocked out of me as he leans over, giving my neck a quick bite.
“Fucking vampire,” I protest.
It’s a complete contrast to the sweet kiss Leo tried to plant on me earlier.
It’s rough. A little violent. Out of nowhere.
Yet my body responds more to that nipping bite than it did to anything that happened with Leo.
“Need to leave a mark,” he mutters. “Next time some prick tries to pull that on you, they’ll know you’re mine.”
Something flares deep in my chest.
Don’t pay attention to it. Clearly, he’s just in a mood.
“Is that what I am?” I ask him in a tone that comes out more teasing than accusatory.
He keeps his gaze on me, cold and unreadable, but he doesn’t respond.
Instead he leans in and kisses me a little lower, just above my collarbone, and my body isn’t as smart as my brain.
I know Niko doesn’t actually mean it when he says I’m his, but when it feels this good I can’t help but let myself slip into a momentary delusion. Something I know is bad for me, but I’m going to allow for as long as I can get it.
Like an addict.
Like a fucking desperate goddamn fool.
So I guess this is how it feels.
How it feels when you actually do belong to someone.
11
Niko
Niko, filming a video twenty minutes ago in the back seat of his car
Username: Dragonfly
I came for Oliver hours ago, but then I left. And shortly after, a reminder of my past came and erased every good feeling I felt.
I need an outlet now. So I’m hard again, trying to film a video, blotting out everything else in the world.
It’s different now.
It shouldn’t be, but it is.
My followers want more, more, more.
But every stroke I give my cock as I film myself, I’m thinking of Oliver. It’s like an obsession, looping itself around me tighter every passing moment.
When I come, I picture him taking it.
Picture him watching this video, too.
I want to know he craves me.
I want all of my videos to be for him.
Just a phase I need to train myself out of. Eventually.
I know the feeling of rage like a well-worn belt that fits me better than any other.
I keep my rage constrained.
Keep it caged like a goddamn tiger who’s slowly starved of food every fucking day that it isn’t let out.
That build-up of rage fuels me, reminding me that at the center of it all I’m a fucking animal. And when it gets under my skin I don’t behave according to any of the rules I usually set for myself.
Then sometimes, it explodes.
Detonates.
Like a couple of hours ago, when I found out my cousin had been threatened again and I had to channel my rage like a fucking targeted beam so that it didn’t spill out onto the whole world around me.
A situation I need to get under control… even more than I already have.
My day was going swimmingly well, getting fucked by Ollie and having it all on film. But after my shower, I checked my phone and saw a grim message from Sevan saying he’d been threatened again.
But I can figure out how to deal with Callum later.
But first, duty calls.
My lips on Oliver’s skin. The one thing that actually feels satisfying after the past couple of hours. I let my tongue slide out over the curve of his collarbone, and the way his breath gently hitches is a much better fuel than rage.