Page 14 of Luka

She turns to me, her puffy eyes narrowed. “Handsome?” she spits like the word tastes sour. “Trygrotesque.”

I mock frown. “Well that’s kind of?—”

“One of your eyes is hooded while the other isn’t, and it makes you hideously unsymmetrical. Your ears sit too low and are too small for your head. And I can’t tell if your hair is supposed to be curly or straight. It’s like God made you from a box of spare parts.”

My playful frown flattens, and for several moments I just stare, struck. I wasn’t expecting that.

I don’t know if it makes me more of a man, but I can admit that the girl wounded my pride by favoring Arseni soadamantlyback at the lake. It was like she wanted his protection from me. Arseni found it amusing. I found it strange. But in some ways, it makes sense.

He’s only twenty-three, four years younger than I am, so much closer to her age. He also has a bit of a baby face, doesn’t easily anger, and happened to not be the one she saw ripping the whore to pieces.

She doesn’t see him as threatening as she sees me. I used that knowledge to simmer the jealousy she sparked.

But was it more than that? Is she actually attracted to him while repulsed by me?

Better question, would it matter?

I blink away the thoughts and smile. “Well.” I clear my throat. “TheWizard of Ozis a terribly boring movie. And Toto is the dumbest name for a dog I’ve ever heard.” I smile wide,showing how little her words affected me. What a silly joke she is.

Why do my lips feel unnaturally tight?

“Also, your feet are disgusting. You should wear socks the next time you plan on rolling around in the dirt.”

Her face contorts with anger, likethatwas her tipping point. It’s too late by the time I notice her lips puckering as she lifts up to spit.

My eyelids slam shut on contact, warm splattered saliva sticking to my nose, as well as the crevices of my eyes. I slide my hand down the bridge of my nose, collecting the moisture before rubbing it onto the girl’s dress.

“I guess the time for talking is over then,” I say, my voice even.

The girl gasps when I shove her chin upward, angling her head away from me and clamping her mouth shut in case she tries to spit again. I press my tongue to the vein on her neck, tasting her while feeling the rapid beat of her heart. She whines but can’t yet speak while I hold her jaw shut, and I think I like her better this way. Maybe I should’ve gotten a gag.

I run my tongue down her chest until I reach the cotton material of her dress that I grab her tit through. Whatever bra she’s wearing is thin. I can feel her nipple, the soft squish of tissue beneath my palm when I squeeze. It makes my mouth water, blood rushing to my cock, and I wonder why I wasted any time.

I release her tit to yank her dress up her legs, exposing smooth caramel thighs my hand travels. She whines as my hand tucks under her ass to cup the tight globe.

The one Arseni had his hand on an hour and a half ago.

The girl’s whines turn to sobs, and it takes me a second to realize it’s because I’m digging my thumb into her jaw.

She gasps when I release her, her head turning to the side as her arms strain against the rope. I scoot down to situate my head between her thighs then throw the scrap of material blocking my view of her panties onto her stomach.

“You don’t have to do this,” she says, her cries suddenly calming. “My father has money. He’ll pay you whatever you want if you just let me go.”

“Yeah, I don’t take pesos.”

“American dollars.”

“Shh.” I pull my knife from my pocket and flip it open. The girl’s thighs clench at the sound.

“Amilliondollars.”

She flinches at the feel of the blade when I press it beneath her panties, at her waist. With one swift tug, the thin material shreds, and I move on to the other leg.

“Luka,please.”

My hand holding the knife pauses when her silky voice wraps around me. There aren’t any tears or sobs in her throat when she says it. For a moment, a strange, unsettling moment, it’s like she knows me.

And I like it. I like the way my name sounds coming off her tongue. It makes me hesitate. Shudder. Then slice the material to free her leg of the white cotton. I pull her panties from beneath her and toss them onto her chest in case her sassy mouth needs a gag. But I kind of don’t want it to. I kind of want her to say my name again.

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