Page 30 of Sink With Me

“Turn them off.” I repeat and I don’t put it down with the rest of my stuff until I see the little red light blink out. My steps are slow and calculated, each one bringing me closer to her despite the way she bundles herself up tighter. What is going on inside her head? Her eyes narrow, an unimpressed snarl curls at her lips giving me only a glimpse of her pearly whites as she runs her tongue along them.

“You’re surely not planning on killing me when I haven't got my beauty rest? Where’s the fun in that?”

This time, I don’t let her capricious attitude wriggle its way inside my head. She flinches when my hand finally wraps around her bicep, refusing her the opportunity to run even though I can see the cogs in her head trying to form some escape. For a moment, her outburst has me concerned she actually is going to try and sink her teeth into me.

Tilting my chin up, I avoid looking at her as I pull her to her feet. Her body is stiff as a board, her heart hammering in her chest persistently enough I can practically hear it. The uncontrollable nature in me takes over and I haul her to the bed, shoving her into it.

Then, I sit on the ground next to it. She stares at me, wild and ready to run, but the longer I remain calm the more it appears to have an effect on her until her spine relaxes and curves and she settles into a more comfortable looking position. I watch as her fingers begin to rip at the skin around her thumbs. I guess logically it makes sense that she struggles to sleep. With everything she’s done I’m sure there’s a face or two that refuses to let her rest.

Bringing my hand up, I rest my arm on top of the sheets, our eyes catching. This is no longer the shark, this is the girl I saw throwing darts in a fair booth, laughing with her redheaded friend.

“I get them too.” I hear myself say.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She snaps back.

I open my mouth to continue, before I close it again to weigh up my options. We are alone. No one is watching. I sigh.

“Night terrors. I get them too.” My finger traces patterns in the sheets to fill the silence that falls. The wind outside rustling the long, dry grass which grows in the sand dunes.

“It’s always the same one.” She whispers and I reach out a hand, covering hers, stopping her nervous picking. As much as I want to learn every dream that plagues her and causes her suffering just so I can replace them, I want her to stay right where she is. Just the feeling of her body accepting mine, has me aching for more. A grin pulls at the corner of my mouth.

“Was it about me?”

“You wish.”

As she holds my gaze, my tongue swirls around my open mouth in amusement until I feel a shiver run all through her body. My brows furrow. I was about to cross some serious boundaries and there was nothing I could do to stop myself.

Taking a few fluid motions, I'm in the bed beside her. At first, she flails her limbs attempting to squirm away, but it only makes me tighten my arms around her shoulders, hard enough she gasps for air. Over dramatic, I’m not bloody suffocating her, if I was, she would know about it. If anything, I’m giving her the perfect opportunity to elbow me in the ribs or flick her head back and crack me in the nose. For now, I’m willing to risk that as long as—

“Stay bloody still.” I bite out through clenched teeth.

Her hands push into the bed to try and keep herself upright as I drag her down, making her slip and her arse brush against me. The small friction makes my body respond in ways that it shouldn’t. That fucker betrays me anytime she’s around and I’m getting tired of it. In private, behind a screen is one thing, but being beside her writhing body is where I should be capable of drawing the line. One hand snakes beneath her neck and wraps over her chest whilst the other rushes to her hip, holding her in almost a death grip, no doubt bruising the soft flesh that lays beneath.

“I said. Stay. Still.” My voice is softer, there's no point in purposefully winding the situation up.

She lies, exhausted and overwhelmed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her body needs food; it needs energy to fight me. Her eyes close over for a long blink and when they reopen, her spark comes back. I feel her spine arch. Don’t do it. And her hips push back into me, only testing, only teasing. God damn this girl doesn't listen. I roll my eyes and grip her harder, tensing my bicep around her neck in a fleeting warning.

In this dark room with nothing but the blurry glow of the moon and its shimmering light from the water cascading along the wall, her silhouette is illuminated enough to see the way her throat constricts to swallow.

That’s right, little shark. Be scared of me.

“I hate you.” Her words say one thing, but I grin as her hips shift again.

“Oh yeah? Is that why you’re trying to fuck me through my clothes?” I purr. At least now I know we’re both affected by each other’s presence, I'll have to remember that information for later. Maybe I can use it against her in an interrogation, a way to get under her skin.

My gaze drifts to the way her chest rises and falls, lower to the curve of her waist. Curiosity gets the best of me as I glide my palms along the length until my fingers are molding perfectly to the hourglass shape. It’s almost as if the space was meant for me to hold. Her breath hitches, causing my eyes to flicker at the way her fingers dig into the fabric of the sheets.

“I was just getting comfortable.” Her chin tilts up as she speaks, a sign of her indignation. We lie there for a while; at times she shivers. I wonder if she’s got a temperature, if she’s sick, how hungry she is, how exhausted. I’m lost in my thoughts, my eyes closing over, until I can feel her building up to speak again.

“What’s it about?”

I stiffen. I know exactly what she’s asking but giving her something so precious that she could weaponize against me feels like an extremely bad move. Yet, my judgment is water against water as my mouth opens.

“Moe.” It's a quiet confession, a light smattering of rain beginning to hit the window.

She turns her head, not that she can see me, but it brings her ear closer to my mouth. I instinctively shift back a little.

“What about him?”

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