Page 63 of Fire Fight

“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself. Again.” My lips find her ear to whisper, “This is supposed to be a penalty. I’ll have to think of something worse for next time.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

She attempts to slide off my lap, and I easily keep her in place, a knot loosening in my chest as she fights back, her spirit resurging.

Then her pussy bumps against me again and I’m lost, this time clinging to her, holding her in place while the friction against my sensitive cock sends my mind spiralling. Until I grind against her again, feeling the giddy pulse of release, mouth open against the side of her neck, helpless to stop my satisfied groan.

Fuck.

I wrap my arms around Cadence and the tight band around my chest loosens. I inhale her rich scent until my lungs strain to bursting. She feels like the past. Before my life went to shit and everything I clung to slipped through my fingers.

My arms squeeze tight, anchoring me to her until reality creeps back in.

The wet feel of my briefs dulls the last remnants of pleasure. I force my arms to loosen, shifting her hips back, and clear my throat.

This isn’t how it was meant to go. I wantedherat my mercy, begging me like her body begged me in the theatre bathroom.

Not this quiet humiliation. Not the loss of control and deluge of emotion.

My heart pounds, racing at a million miles a second.

Avoiding eye contact, I untwist the tangle of her bra and secure the clasp, then fasten her buttons. I slip her arms into the sleeves of my jacket and, as her bare skin disappears, my control returns until I’m calm.

“There’ll be a new penalty starting tomorrow,” I whisper in her ear, feeling her tremble. “And believe me, this was easy compared to what I have in store for you, so be prepared.”

“Why?” She hits at me with her weak fists, putting no effort behind the blows. “I haven’t done anything wrong so why are you punishing me?”

I mean to tease her, taunt her, gain the upper hand and hold on too tight for it to slip through my fingers. But when I open my mouth, the truth emerges instead.

“Because you made me hate the only girl I ever wanted.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CADENCE

The next morning,I wake early. Wondering firstly why my bed is so hard, secondly why the room is pitch black.

I try to roll over and bump against the wardrobe door. Awareness floods me as I sit up, hugging my knees to my chest. Last night, with Drake’s words ringing in my ears and sleep far away, I felt too exposed to lie in bed, even under the covers. Instead, I curled up in my wardrobe, using my body weight to barricade the door.

Now, my thoughts thump dully in my head.

Drake steals into my room at night even with the measures I’ve taken to stop him.

I grab my phone, eyes watering at the surge of light. Four thirteen. In the morning. I’m far more used to seeing that hour from the other side, when I can’t sleep.

The room is stuffy when I open the wardrobe door despite the central air-conditioning, and I quickly change into jeans and shirt to go downstairs, needing something to rid my head of its morning fuzz.

When I walk into the kitchen, a shadow in the corner moves and I jump, heart hammering.

“Cadence?” My mother flicks on the bench lights. “What’re you doing up at this hour?”

“Getting such a scare, a decade just got wiped off my lifespan.”

She giggles, wrinkling her nose in apology, then shuffles along the counter, pushing something behind her.

It’s her pill organiser.

“Did you and Arnold have a nice date?”

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