Page 71 of Pretend
“Enough!” I wave my hands in a stop motion. I’m so tired of people gossiping about Daegan as if they know him. “Henderson, don’t talk about Hannibal like this. These rumors could be damaging to his reputation and career, and…”
All three girls stare at me like they’re stunned by my defensive tone. I shrink down in size and try to gather my heightened emotions. “I’m just saying there’s no evidence to back up those claims. I’ve seen people’s lives get ruined over baseless accusations just because someone wants to destroy someone’s life maliciously. My stepfather would not have allowed him to watch over me so closely like this. He wouldn’t have let my life fall into his hands if there were allegations like this against him. Leave it be, Henderson.” I tell her with a cold stare.
They all grow quiet. I watch them disperse, shrug my shoulders, and go to my station to shoot.
After about ten minutes, I grow frustrated. I’m out of practice, and I keep missing my target.
“Great.” I miss my target again and sigh, frustrated. Looking away from my crosshairs and instead at the floor.
“You’re too tense, Valentine.” I almost drop my damn rifle at that voice.
“Mr. Hannibal.”
My heart jolts when I realize he’s right next to me. Hovering over my ear, whispering. He kicks my feet apart with his boots, spreading my legs apart. His body heat immediately fires me up, or is it the lust that’s fuming?
I try to keep my eyes forward when I can feel his stare eating me alive from behind.
“Bend over.” He orders.
I start to sweat.
“Umm, what?”
“Bend forward slightly at the waist.” His hand palms my hip, tight and hard, making my stomach turn into knots. I follow through, letting him put me in a new position. My heart beats out of my chest practically.
Can he hear it?
He runs his arms around my arms, adjusting the rifle into my shoulder. His cool, icy breath kisses my skin, sending a shiver down my spine and into my core. He only feeds the need to touch him, memories hitting me hard as his lips brush against my ear.
“Roll your shoulders and shoot.” He demands, low and husky.
Is he teasing me? Or is this all in my head?
I clear my throat and hiss at him. “Daegan.”
“Close that mouth of yours before I do it for you,and shoot, damn it.” He scolds me.
I look into the scope and pull the trigger.
The metal pings, signaling a target hit. I look through the scope and see a hole in the center. “Bullseye,” I murmur. I’ve never been able to hit a target that perfectly before.
“Good girl,” he praises darkly into my ear, and I grow weak when I look into his grey eyes. He towers over me as I clutch my rifle tight. I can tell he’s smirking underneath the obsidian mask because of the way his eyes crease and brighten.
“Mr. Hannibal, I think I need help. My rifle might be jammed.” Guerra calls out for him two stations down, and I know she’s lying.
I’m internally laughing at her attempt to flirt with him, and he gives me one last stare, and I swallow. The tension between us is so thick, so deep, I break first when I realize I’m throbbing in between my thighs. I blink a few times, tearing my gaze away forcefully.
He walks away without another word and walks toward Guerra. She’s looking at him with doe-eyes and a flirty expression.
I go back to shooting while trying hard to suppress a jealous feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Winters pops up beside me as I pull the trigger, hitting my target with Daegan’s advice. Another bullseye brings me satisfaction. My aim is getting better because of him.
“You know the HVT we’ve been trying to find? The Surgeon?” Winters gets close to me, and I stop shooting, arching a brow at her.
Why is she bringing that up, and why now?
“Yeah,” I reply as I readjust the gun on my shoulder.
