Page 51 of Collateral Damage

Her puppy dog eyes are fixated on mine, and if she keeps looking at me like that I don't know if I will be able to keep these intrusive thoughts at bay. I remove my thumb slowly watching her swallow another moment of dignity, now too shy to look at me. I snap her focus with a sharp tap to the cheek.

“Keep it upPuppet. Next time my fingers won’t be in your mouth. There is more than one way to shut you up.” She has this new lease of confidence but underneath it all she is stillInnocentand she still has no idea how to handle my crude comments. She shies away, pulling herself away from my touch, hopping out of the shower like a sassy minx.

Now that she knows what I look like, I'm in two minds to let her walk free. She now knows everything. Where I live, who’s involved, who my parents are, how many people I've killed and my face. But weirdly enough, I trust she won’t put me behind bars. Maybe I'm being naive. Maybe this is all just a ploy to let her go but that is not happening. We are too deep in this now to let her walk.

Over my dead body.

I follow her out the shower into my room and she stands there waiting for me to turn around like she didn't just stand there stark naked in front of me. I pull a face and she lifts her frown.She's got to be joking.But I do as she says, turning in the door frame to stare at the bathroom rubbing myself dry with my towel. I still have my boxers and sports bra on that are completely drenched but I'll change in a minute.

“You do realise I can't let you go now.” I fiddle with my fingers, hanging on her reply.

“Didn’t look like you were going to anyway.”Ouch. I was going to but she's ruined that now. She's gotten too close andI’m not the one who stripped naked.

“Where are we thinking? England? Spain?” I play with her a little, winding her up, but I'm sure she wouldn't pass up a vacation.

“You're crazy.”Nevermind.

“And you'reMine.” That slips from my mouth and I even surprise myself, I've never called anyonemine,but I don't meanLove. I meanPossession. I want to possess and corrupt every part of her. I turn to face her and she's adjusting her top. Pulling it over her perky little breasts in just white knickers, completely unaware of her personal invasion and I can't tell whether I prefer her with or without clothes. I grin to myself as I eye fuck her beautiful frame still damp with loose wet hair falling against her sticky skin.

“Hays! Omg-” A sarcastic chuckle escapes me as she attempts to cover herself up, rolling her annoyance at me and every time she does, it makes my eye twitch. “I barely even know you?” She's not wrong. The small talk we should have had was overridden with trauma and pain. But I've also never felt the need to share my past with anyone. Not until now anyway. She knows things people don't usually learn until they are half a year into a relationship.

“Then get to know me. Besides the- ya know.” I point towards my face, if there's one thing I won't talk about it'shim.

“Is that your attempt at flirting?”Flirting? I can flirt if she wants me to but-

“I think we are past that, don't you?” She glares at me profusely, trying her hardest to hold back a grin.

“Fine. Why don't you like being called your birth name?” She respected me enough not to say it. And I won't go into detail. Iknow I said I wouldn't talk about him but I can't keep avoiding every question.

“Because I changed it for personal reasons.” One day I might tell her why but for right now I'll keep that in the basement with everything else.

“Oh? What did you change it to?”

“Hayden.”

C H A P T E R 30

SMALL TALK

Puppeteer

Play - ‘idfc – Blackbear’

“Is that why you're allmacho?”I mean. She's not wrong, she's clearly never met a dyke before.

“You meangay?” I pull a pair of black joggers and a clean tank top from my drawers before heading to the bathroom to change, hearing her raise her voice through the doors.

“Yeah that name is pretty gay.” She continues to insult me but she doesn't realise I get off on that shit.

“You won't be saying that when I make you scream it.”

“In your dreams.” My foot breaches the bedroom door making her jump.

“Alo. I'm serious. Go ahead, ask me anything. We have all the time in the world.”Literally. So we may as well kill some time and get to know each other.

“OK…errrm. What is your favourite colour?” A stupid laugh slips out, imagining all the things shecouldhave said but she decided to ask the most basic question of all.

“You could have asked me anything and that is the first thing you ask me?” My arm rests against the door frame, watching her as she slumps on the bed like a typical teenager and I'll be honest my eyes are fixated on her bare thighs and those lacey little undies she's wearing. She's definitely doing this shit on purpose.

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