Page 37 of The Hand that Frays

She pulls her tongue back in her mouth, leaning over my shoulder to look at me. “What?!”

An unholy grin plays on my lips. “You didn’t study the Butcher that extensively, then? For weeks before I killed them, I hid in their home. Watching. Waiting. Seeing that I was right about them as they went about their days, completely oblivious to my existence, was thrilling.”

“What if they catch us?” she asks, and fear traipses across her blue irises.

I lift my hand, cupping her face. “What if they do?”

“They could call the cops.”

“They could.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“You will.”

“Oh, it’s thrilling to you to wonder if the next door they open is the one you’re hidden behind. I don’t know that I enjoy being found out because I hid in someone’s closet, Neo.”

I drift my lips over hers. “You know nothing until you try it once, Lyla.”

My hand curls around her throat, anchoring to her like she’s my reality. “Besides,” I breathe against her parted lips. “I want to fuck you where they could find me.”

Her lids get heavier. “That’s risky.”

I slide my hand from over her throat, my thumb skimming her bottom lip that crinkles with the pressure. “Everything in life is a game of risk, Lyla. Especially in our world.”

The table slides back as Lyla tosses a leg over me and straddles my lap. My cock is hard for her as if it knew all along I was near the siren that would call it to action.

“Tell me what you’ll do to me while they’re unaware,” she pleads, her pupils blown, scarfing up every inch of my face.

I grin. “We should get some sleep…”

She leans her forehead against mine, and it’s as if a switch is flipped inside me—one she controls. The delusion she and I dwell within is esoteric to only us. Only we can weave through the tangled threads of our love and understand what brought us here.

“I’ll tell you if you get on your knees like my good little whore.”

She doesn’t hesitate, and it’s one thing I’m fascinated with about her. She’s obedient. Loyal.

She gets on her knees between my splayed thighs, eyes grazing over the length of my hard cock in my sweats.

“What I’ll do to you when they’re unaware, stupid girl, can’t be put into words. If it could, I wouldn’t try. I’m much more of a visual teacher, and I know you learn better hands-on.”

“Then why make me kneel?” she asks headily.

I lean over, tipping her chin up with my fingers. “Because you questioned the Butcher, Lyla. One shouldn’t taunt a monster unless they want to be bitten.”

She whimpers as I stand and reach for a knife on the table she used earlier to peel an apple, with it firmly in hand, I back away from her, knocking the chair over in my wake.

“Take off your clothes, get on the bed, and get on all fours. Do so in a timely fashion, too. I don’t have patience for your insolence tonight.”

Fear builds in her eyes, and it’s just the thing I need before I tuck behind her and go to sleep.

A game.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LYLA

Itry not to waggle my ass back and forth too much. While I love to toy with Neo and his dark sensibilities, I know it’s not wise to goad him.

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