Page 71 of Burn With Me

I don’t ask why we’re not staying behind. This might be a party by their standards, but it’s obvious that this is something more private—more exclusive—to their little group and whoever the hell they decide to allow into their world for a night.

The vodka clinks against my side as I carry it back the same way we’d come until Isaac pushes me back into the room we’d been at earlier and quietly shuts the door before releasing a breath. Feeling increasingly awkward and standoffish, I carefully step further into the private room. I set the bottle on the table next to the medical chair at the center of the room, and when I turn back around, Isaac is facing me. His eyes are on me, watching me, and I feel like he’s analyzing each movement. I shift on my feet.

“So…” I start, glancing away from him to scan the room. “What’s this supposed to be then? Another date?”

“Sure,” he answers. “You can think of it like that.”

My attention returns to him as he passes me and heads for the counter at the back of the room. “How else am I supposed to think of it?” I ask him. Goosebumps rise up along the stretch of flesh revealed between the hem of my skirt and the tops of my boots.

Isaac doesn’t answer. Instead, he starts opening cabinets and pulling things out to set them next to a towel laden down with what looks to be piercing equipment. “Should you be messing with that stuff?” I ask as he pulls out a brown bottle and cotton pads, setting them next to the … clamp? I edge closer, looking over his shoulder to get a better look.

His head turns and the corner of his mouth tips up. “Are you scared?” he asks.

I blink and shake my head. “No,” I say quickly. “Why would I be?”

Again there’s no answer. Instead, Isaac turns to me and then wraps both hands around my waist, making me gasp as he lifts me up and sits me down in the chair. “Isaac.” I can’t stop the trepidation in my tone. “What are you doing?”

He grins as he turns back to the equipment and picks up what looks like a wicked looking needle. He pops the brown bottle open and then holds the needle over the sink to the side and pours the liquid over it.

“I’m getting ready,” he says.

“You are not using that on me,” I say quickly, a warning in my tone.

Isaac looks back at me and grins. “We’ll see about that,” he replies, “but for now, you’re right. I won’t be using this on you.”

“Why are you—” I don’t get to finish my question as he holds up the needle and then picks up what looks like a bar with a small metal ball on either side.

He arches his brow and then drops the bomb he’s been holding in. “You’re going to use it on me, Sunshine.”

33

RORI

“The fuck I am!”

Isaac doesn’t even blink at my outburst. When I push up, ready to jump off the chair—a firm hand lands on my shoulder, keeping me down as he hooks a nearby rolling stool with his foot and drags it closer. He plops down in front of me and captures my chin in his grasp.

“Hey,” he says, holding me steady. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

“Worry? Why the fuck would I be worried?” My words come spitting out at a hundred miles a minute. “It’s only like you’re wanting me to take a dangerous weapon and stab you with it, and then what? Slide a piece of jewelry through your—where do you even want me to pierce you?” Maybe if it’s just the ear, I could do it. But that bar—I shoot a look at the counter—it looks too big for something like his ear. He wouldn’t want me to pierce him anywhere dangerous … would he? My eyes shoot down to his crotch and then back to his face. I shake my head. “No.” I reiterate the word to myself as much as to him. “No fucking way. I’m not doing this.” I twist my shoulder, trying to rend myself from his grasp. “Let go, Isaac. You’re crazy!”

Isaac grins and captures my hand, holding me in place. “Come on,” he says. “You can’t say you never wanted to get back at me after all I’ve put you through. It’s only a little pinch.”

“A pinch?” I gape at him. “You still haven’t answered my question. What am I piercing?” He opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue, his teeth flashing white as he smiles as he does it. “Your tongue?” I look at the needle on the counter. “You want me to pierce your fucking tongue withthat?” It seems far too big, but that could just be my anxiety making it worse than it actually is. The tongue, though, that’s better than … other places.

“We have the clamp too,” he says. “It’s supposed to keep me from pulling my tongue back when you ‘stab me’, as you put it.”

“Why?” I just don’t understand. Why could he possibly want me to do this? I try to think back to that night—the night I got him completely naked and all over me. But even before that, in the garden at the party—I try to think of all the times I’ve seen him naked or even semi-naked. I’ve never seen any other piercing. I look at his ears. Even those are clean of any holes.

Isaac shrugs and releases my chin as he reaches for the towel and tugs it closer across the counter until it’s within reach. He’s serious. Holy fucking shit. He’s actually going to make me do this. He’s going to put a needle in my hand and make me pierce his fucking tongue. My hands start to shake.

“Hey, hey,” Isaac cups my cheek and directs my attention away from the piercing equipment and back to him. “What’s wrong, Sunshine? Are you really that concerned?” His head tilts as he looks up at me. This position is so different from the norm—withmelooking up athim. It feels … like something is being traded. Something more than physical intimacy. “I didn’t know if you truly cared for me that much, but if you’re scared…”

I suck in a breath.Scared?“I’m not scared.” Lie. Big fat, fucking liar. That’s what I am.

He arches a brow. “Then let’s do it.” He grins. “Besides, I like the thought of you leaving your mark on me.”

Leaving my mark on him?My thoughts center on those words as he releases me and turns back to the equipment. With careful, precise movements, he picks up each and every one of them, ripping open the plastic packaging and dumping them onto the towel. I swallow roughly. A buzzing forms beneath my skin as I watch. Like something inside of me is heating up, vibrating beneath my flesh.

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