Page 36 of Babalon

I’d gladly let Kace control the next inhale, and the one after that, and the one after that. Because, what if he stopped? What if both of our minds change in a split second and he is no longer touching me? What the hell do I do if I lose the warmth of his body against mine? The strange feeling of security that I feel from the way he holds my consciousness in his hand is intoxicating.

That’s something I can’t risk, not when every part of me screams for this man.

“Breathe, snitch,” Kace seethes.

He has put up with my shit for so damn long, I’m surprised he hasn’t pulled my throat from my neck yet and held it dangling from his grip. I know he hates me; despite the things he’s said since we have walked into this room. I’ve ruined years of his prison life, while simultaneously trying to keep him in one piece, just so I can do it some more. Yet when I thought he was in that cell burning, or he was hurt somewhere else in the prison, I decided I cannot do it anymore. I can’t sabotage him, he sees me. Sees how damaged and unforgivable I can be, and still has not made the choice to hurt me and leave me to rot.

“Kace…” I squeeze out in a partial breath.

Heat crawling up my neck, creeping over my jawline into my cheeks, staining them with a deep pink blush. I am practically punishing myself by not breathing at this point; it is much deserved. Lifting my hands, I curled them around his wrist, holding onto him; covertly ensuring that he doesn’t let me go.When he steps into me, my heart rate skyrockets, fear and anticipation fighting for dominance in my head.

“I am so damn tired of your shit, Nadia. Sorry,Officer Pierce. I’ve tried to keep my head down, to be a good inmate, yet you just kept on fucking with me. You’re like a damn child, trying to get my attention because no one else will give you any. Is that what you want, Nadia, my attention?”

My tongue darts out, wetting my lips as I nod frantically, hands tightening around his wrist with a slight pull, lifting me up on the toes of my boots to decrease the distance, and hope he’d not only come closer, but he’d push harder into my throat.

“I love your honesty, Nadia. It’s very unbecoming of you, however—being so fucking desperate for attention that you have to torture a man who has no other choice than to take your bullshit. You and I both know that this line shouldn't be crossed, that your livelihood is hanging in the balance; yet here you are, still begging like my good fucking whore.”

Shit, he’s going to walk. He’s going to shove me away, and my so-called honesty will have been for nothing. Never mind him calling me a whore, it doesn’t feel as degrading as it does outside of these prison walls.

Kace leaned in, drawing the tip of his nose along my jawline until he came to rest in front of my ear, his breath spilling over the sensitive skin there when he spoke—a bit quieter this time.

“Good thing I’m already in prison and the worst they could do is slap on another charge because I’m telling you, I’m not giving you up for a fucking thing, not when you look so needy for me.”

Ohhhh, the way my stomach did that little flip just now, you know the one I’m talking about?

God, I am pathetic.

Seriously though, I could have a man outside of this institute. A man who could take me on dates and tote me around in his stupid six-cylinder car while trying to get attention by revvingthe engine, one I could sleep next to every night, one that would give me a family and who I could do the whole white-picket-fence thing with.

Here I am though, so enraptured by a convicted killer, and I am dying to taste him. Even if Kace didn’t intentionally kill that girl, and it was an accident, the law said otherwise, and I am standing here eating it the fuck up.

Kace chuckles, his fingers squeezing a bit more, cutting the circulation off to my brain and giving me that delightful lightheaded feeling. All I can think about is him—his sharp blue eyes, his platinum hair, his scent, how good he felt in my hand the other week. Maybe… maybe if I was a good girl, he would let me have him—all of him.

“Do you want something specific, Nadia? This is your only chance to ask.”

“Y—yes.”

“Go on then, what is it? Tell me what you want.”

“Fuck. Please, Kace. You, I want you.”

“So pretty when you beg, Nadia. Vicious and controlling, but so fucking beautiful. I can see right through you though, I know there’s a little girl in there somewhere that was hurt beyond repair and the only way she can survive is by being ruthless—by turning into you.”

Am I fucking glass, is he my therapist?

“Don’t talk about me like that. You forget who is in here because they have no choice, and who can leave whenever they want.”

“There it is, that smart-assed mouth of yours.”

Using his other hand, he roughly brushes his thumb along my lips, smearing what little moisture there was across the tender flesh. If I wasn’t biting them before, I sure as fuck am now; trying to scrape the taste of him off me with my teeth, dying to have him on my taste buds.

Kace chuckles, watching me with an amused expression, a smirk pulling at the corners of his delectable mouth. He is obviously having fun with this—asshole.

“Beg some more, pretty girl. I want you to hear how hopeless you sound, hear the rasp in your voice as you plead for me to make you feel something other than all that emptiness.”

Good god, he’s going to unravel me. The way my heart aches at being so seen, being read like the last book he would ever lay eyes on, and his fingers caressing every page until they reach the end.

“Kace pl-please don’t do this to me.”

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