Page 29 of House of Lies

“No, wait,” she pleads when I let go of her hair. “I’m sorry. I want you to teach me. It’s just a little weird, that’s all.”

The things I want to teach her ... She has no idea. After what Mattia did to her, I was concerned her scars ran too deep for me to reach her, but she doesn’t need to be handled with gloves.

“I know.” My voice is soft. “I know it makes no sense after everything that happened between us,” I confess to another lie. “But I’m here now. And I’ll never lay a hand on you again. You’ve made yourself pretty clear, and I know my word doesn’t mean much to you, but I give it to you nonetheless.”

It’s not blood. It’s not killing. It’s not gutting a man or skinning him alive. It’s the thought of someone ever laying a hand on her that makes me see red.

“I’ll take it.” She smiles. “Can we try again?”

She almost has me on my knees whenever she says these four words.

“Let’s try again.”

This time, Caelia reacts. She catches my wrist and tries to twist her body, but she’s unsure of how to do it properly. My grip tightens on her hair the more she squirms. It might be too much, and I might hurt her, but her life is on the line.

“Let’s try again. This time, don’t do anything.” Standing behind her, I grab her hair. “This is what you’re going to do. Grab my hand as tight as you can with both hands. Bend your dominant leg and step down with the other.” I wait until she follows the instructions. “Now you’re going to turn underneath my arm and try to twist it as hard as you can, shifting on your feet.”

“You want me to twist your arm?”

“Why are you a good girl only when my cock’s buried deep inside you?” I laugh. “Yeah, Wildfire. Twist my arm as hard as you can.”

Without warning, she turns and twists. It’s not exactly painful, but my grip on her hair loosens, and I lose some of the strength I had.

“Not bad,” I tell her as she slips free.

“You forgot to mention it was going to hurt me,” Caelia says, rubbing the back of her head.

“We’ll work on it, Wildfire.”

We do it repeatedly until I’m sure it’s a move she won’t forget soon.

“Now walk toward me.”

She takes a few steps back, then walks toward me. I want her surprised, so I don’t tell her beforehand what I will do. I grab her wrist and pull her closer. Her reaction is not bad, as she’s trying to kick me with her foot.

“Good,” I smirk. “Do it again. This time, stop and listen.” She stops in front of me, and I grab her wrist. “When I pull, you’ll have to do several things simultaneously. Step forward, use the back of your hand to strike my nose, and use your knee to strike my groin. Or as close to it as you can.” I wink. She scoffs but follows the instructions without being concerned about hurting me this time.

Part of her is enjoying this. My nose ends up being sore and bloodied, and her knee connects straight with my dick once. It hurts like a motherfucker. The satisfied grin on her face stays plastered there for a while. Especially when she’s side-kicking the back of my knee when I show her how to escape if I’m throwing my arm around her shoulder. By the end of the session, I am more tired and sore than she is.

“Tomorrow at five, Wildfire.”

“Uh,” she mumbles, lying down on the floor beside me.

“Don’t make me drag you out of bed.”

“Five in the morning? Have you lost your mind?” She turns her head toward me, her voice appalled, but the smile on her face says otherwise.

She might still want to see me dead because of Mattia, but she’s slowly warming up. She’s begging me to fuck her, and I’m sure she enjoyed this. I wipe the sweat off her forehead, licking my fingers under her confused gaze.

“Beauty sleep doesn’t do much good to you, anyway.”

“Wow.” She laughs. “Thanks.”

“What I meant was that you’re already the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She opens her mouth, but she can’t think of anything to say. So she stares at me.

It’s a dangerous road I’m taking. I have never loved a woman, but falling for her would be easy. This obsession of mine might turn into feelings, and then I will be fucked. After I take my revenge, I don’t think I’ll be able to leave her behind. The thought of what might happen keeps me awake.

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