Page 39 of Sadist

There was a clatter as the Kindle fell to the floor, and I lunged to pick it up, relieved to see it had survived, and when I lookedback, Theo was strolling toward her room with her towel over her shoulder.

“You’re just going t—” I cut myself off, clenching my jaw shut.

“Just going to what?” Her voice drifted out from her room.

I refused to answer her, picking up the Kindle and then putting it down roughly on my pillow. I tapped my foot for a moment, my eyes on her doorway. My body was humming with repressedeverything.Energy, frustration, desire, irritation. I felt everything, and nothing of what I truly wanted.

Pushing myself off the couch, I stalked to the kitchen, poured myself a glass of water, and stared angrily at the mural on the wall.

“I asked you a question.” Theo’s whispered words disturbed the hair at the nape of my neck, and I jumped, a strangled sound escaping me as I fumbled the glass. Her arm came around me, a strong hand enclosing mine, steadying the glass as water sloshed over both of our wrists.

The only physical connection I had with her was where her hand cradled mine, and that touch alone sent every nerve ending in my body into overdrive.

“You’re torturing me,” I said, trying to pull my hand away and failing.

“If you think this is torture, you can’t handle me,” she murmured, taking the glass.

I turned as she sipped from it, smirking at me over the rim. She had put on a loose T-shirt, though her legs were still bare.

“You underestimate me,” I hissed. I don’t know why her words irritated me so much, but Iwanted…god, I didn’t even know.

I wanted.

Wanted her to look at me with more than doubt. Wanted her to see me. Not just to be seen, but seen byher—and I hated her for it. For burrowing her way under my skin and makingmewantsomeone after the safety of not needing anyone. I was addicted to the feel of her attention on me.

“Do I?” The question was a low murmur that ran along my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “You are quite the conundrum, Sweets. Your want is written so clearly on your face, yet you won’t give in to it. It leads me to believe that I was wrong about you.”

“Show me what you think I can’t handle, and watch me prove you wrong,” I said, searching her eyes. “You will find me very hard to break.”

She studied me for a long moment, then slowly held the glass to the side and dropped it. It shattered on the ground, water splashing our legs, but her eyes never left mine.

“Pick up a piece,” she whispered.

I glanced down, spotted a shard of glass by my foot, and crouched to pick it up. My face was level with her thighs, and my head emptied of all thought as I realized she wasn’t wearing underwear. Theo’s fingers slid into my hair and held me there.

“Kiss me,” she murmured, guiding my head to her thigh.

My lips met her warm, soft skin, and I kissed her gently, daring to glide the tip of my tongue along her skin. Her fingers clenched in my hair, drawing out a delicious burn as she pressed me against her upper thigh, over a deep bruise.

“Kiss,” she ordered.

I did, placing a long, lingering kiss there before continuing up her body. A kiss on one of the small dermal piercings above her pussy, another between her breasts through her T-shirt. The scent of her skin at her collar—where I stole yet another kiss—filled my senses. My breath caught as her grip on my hair tightened, and she tilted my head back.

“How far are you willing to take this dance, Sweets?” she murmured, her eyes searching my face.

“Are you this cautious with everyone you fuck?”

She smirked.

“No.”

“Then dance,” I said, my voice breathy. “Unless you’re all talk?”

The slow smile she gave me was lethal. “Touch yourself,” she ordered as she took the shard of glass from me, her gaze raking my face.

I slid my hand down the loose pajamas I wore and between my legs, my fingers slipping through the arousal already coating my thighs.

“Slowly,” she murmured, entranced.

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