Page 104 of Vicious

“But you’ve gotten under my skin, Chase,” May says. “I said no, I meant it, but my body… Ugh.” She squeezes her eyes closed for several seconds, frustration in her expression. “You jump started something I never would’ve admitted to. I guess.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. I also refrain from saying “I told you so,” but I do press another kiss to her cheek. “Ah-May, you really are the perfect woman. I guess.”

To my surprise, May laughs. “You’re incorrigible.” She starts to sit up a little, her lips briefly brushing against mine before she winces. “I appreciate it, Chase,” she says slowly. “I really do. It… means a lot. But fuck, for now, I could just use some more pain meds. Masochist or not, this still hurts.”

I reluctantly let go of her to grab the pain meds from the bedside table. “Hunter said to let him know if you want something stronger, but also, and I quote, he didn’t want to jeopardize his medical license for my sex toys.” I hand her two of the pills, laughing at her scowl.

“He’s such an asshole. No, I need a better word than that. He’s more than an asshole,” May mutters. She sits up with a wince to grab the glass of water on the bedside table and takes the pills. “I’ve heard twatwaffle. What do you think of that?”

I laugh. “Sure, why not. I like calling him a prick, too.” I wait until she’s finished swallowing the pain meds before I scoot closer to her again. “So. What’s on our agenda for today?”

“God. What day of the week is it even?” May looks around the room until her eyes fall on the bedside alarm clock, which has the date listed alongside the time. “Wednesday? Don’t you have work?”

I shrug. “Yeah, well. I took some of my accrued leave. I realized I don’t give a fuck about this big pharma merger, and if whoever takes over while I’m out fucks things up, well, who cares?”

She blinks at me. “I thought you really cared about that sort of thing,” she says carefully. “I mean, I know you have billions or whatever and don’t really need to work, but won’t you get bored before long?”

“I didn’t quit!” I say, a little scandalized. “And I’m still going to do my best for my clients. But none of those assholes care about me, so why should I deny myself leisure time for their sakes?”

May smirks. “I thought for a second you’d had a personality transplant or something.”

I reach out to pinch her nipple through the oversized shirt. “And as you once pointed out, even lawyers get to have family time.”

“Family time,” she repeats. “I don’t think I phrased it quite like that.” She laughs. “I’m pretty sure it was something like, time to torture their sex slaves.”

“That sounds like you want me to torture you,” I tease. “Too bad you’re on medical rest right now.”

Rolling her eyes, May says, “I don’t want you to torture me. There are better words for the things I want you to do to me.” But she grimaces. “I don’t think I can handle them, though. I don’t like getting stitches.” Eyeing me, she asks, “Are you still planning on… you know… doing the thing once it’s healed? That won’t need stitches, will it?”

I move my hand down to cover the spot where her cuts are. “I’ll give you new scars, yes. I’ve been thinking I could turn the existing cuts into a hanzi. I want to literally carve my name into you.”

She swallows hard, squirming a little.

I can’t tell if it’s a good squirming or a bad squirming, so I quirk a brow at her in silent question.

“I, um. I don’t know if I’m into knife play,” she says slowly, though she doesn’t sound turned off by the idea. “And that sounds like it might be painful.”

I quirk my brow at her. “Has painful ever been a problem for you before?”

Just to prove my point, I push down on the bandaged wound.

May gasps, her entire body arching. “Fuck!” She lets out another small whimper before I let up on the wound. “I mean, I didn’t like it when she was carving me open.” She’s breathless, though, and I can see the way desire stirs in her expression.

It’s a look I recognize all too well, a look I could drink in for the rest of my days.

“I’ll make it feel good,” I promise her. “Like I always do.”

I lean in to kiss her, gratified when she opens for me, shifting so the kiss is smoother, deeper. I groan and press in closer, ready to take this further.

But she breaks the kiss and puts her hand on my mouth. “Wait. Before we do this.”

I lick the palm of her hand.

She shivers, and for a moment, I think she’s going to abandon anything she might’ve said. “We need to talk about… about limits.” She meets my eyes. “I can’t go the rest of my life with you ignoring the word ‘no,’ Chase. It’s just not how I want to live my life.”

My chest tightens with a spike of fear. I’d already apologized, hadn’t I? “Are you going to say ‘no’ to everything?” I ask. “Like you did for the past year?”

May doesn’t look away, her tone steady as she replies, “What would you do if I did?”

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