Page 8 of Pain Run Rampant

I shrug as I meet his eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“What makes you think there’s another out there?” The look Frederick gives me is intense; it reminds me of the look he gave me right before my fight with Invictis, when I was on his lap and… things almost happened.

“I just get a feeling sometimes that… it’s not over. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from saying anything more, and his gaze falls to my mouth almost instantly, like he’s drawn by the movement.

I stop biting my lip after that.

Frederick clears his throat as he brings his stare back up to mine. “You don’t have to be alone in this, Rey. You… you’re not alone anymore. You can talk to me about anything, you know that, don’t you? You don’t have to go to my father. You could… you could come to me.” He starts to stumble over his words a bit, awkward, but still kind of cute in a nerdy way.

“I went to your dad because I figured he might know a bit more about Invictis, since… you know.” Since Invictis isn’t in any books and no one here even knew about him before me.

“Oh. Yes, that does make sense. I just—” Frederick looks down, and he takes a small step toward me. Our bodies were less than a foot away before, and now there are mere inches between us. “—I want you to know you can come to me. I will always make time for you.”

“I know,” I whisper, and I mean it. I know he’ll always make time for me, just like I know…

I just know.

Frederick looks like he wants to say more—because of course he does—but now’s not the time. I pull away from him and tell him, “I need to go pick up my clothes from the tailor and get ready for the journey.” I walk away in a rush, mostly so he can’t say something silly like he’ll do all of that with me.

I don’t need Frederick. I don’t need anyone. The only person I need is myself.

Chapter Five

I walk through the door to my hut and deposit the new clothes on the small wooden table near the window. Invictis comes out of one of the small bedrooms and cocks his head at me. He folds his arms over his thick chest before he mutters, “I think I deserve some praise for not interfering in that terribly awkward discussion you and that Frederick had.”

Even now, the way he says Frederick’s name, makes me feel like he has to be more than a weapon.

He sounds annoyed, and maybe even a little jealous, just like he did when he was nothing more than a tattoo on my wrist and I kissed Frederick out of loneliness.

I scoff, “I’m notpraisingyou for not being an asshole.”

“Why not? It’s very hard for me to hold back, you know, especially when—”

“Just shut up and put these on.” I pull out his new clothes from the pile and throw them at him, and he catches them with a frown. I watch as he studies them, then flicks those bright blue eyes at me.

Ugh. This would seriously be so much easier if he wasn’t wearing such a hot face. He’s an asshole. He’s a killer. He basically killed everyone—including my mom—and tried to kill me on multiple occasions. His sexiness shouldn’t matter one bit.

Invictis doesn’t have any witty retorts. He simply drops the new clothes on the floor and reaches over his head to pull off his shirt in one of the manliest movements I’ve ever seen.

Fuck. It really has been a long time. I’m thirsting for something that’s not even human, practically drooling over the way he took off his damn shirt. I need therapy or something. You can’t get more messed up than that.

Once his shirt is on the floor, he doesn’t hesitate to continue undressing. He kicks off the boots that are a size or two too small for him, all while never breaking eye contact with me, and then he unties the string on his pants and pulls them down. Before I know it’s happening too, so I get an eyeful of dick.

I don’t know what I expected.

I avert my eyes and hold up a hand to block out the thing dangling between his legs the same moment I mutter, “You could’ve warned me.”

“What? You said to put them on. I had to take off the stolen clothes before I could put the new ones on.” Invictis groans in annoyance. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, Rey. I don’t understand why you’re acting so… so… modest.”

“Modest?” I laugh out the word. “Please. I just don’t want to see your dick swinging every which way.” My eyes are averted and my hand is still up, but out of the corner of my eyes I can see him pulling on his new pants—a dark gray color that I hope fit him better than Frederick’s pants.

“There,” Invictis states. “It is hidden. You can gaze upon me now without having to see my, as you put it, dick swinging every which way.”

When I lower my hand and glare at him, I find him smirking at me. Smirking and still oh so shirtless, every muscle on his torso and arms on full display. The golden tattoo that matches mine seems to sparkle out of nowhere—and that’s not to mention the alluring V-shape pointing to his crotch and the dick now safely tucked away behind his new pants.

And yes, these ones do fit a lot better, even if the string is undone and I can see a little bit of his happy trail.

“Put on the shirt,” I huff out before grabbing the other clothes on the table and storming around him. My goal is to reach the bedroom I claimed as my own, but when I try to slam the door, a strong arm stops it from moving.

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