Page 39 of Troublemaker
I hovered, hesitant for the first time in my life.
“Lucy, I swear to god, if you don’t tell me what is going on…are you okay? Did someone do something to you? Why do you look so upset?”
Oh, that wasbullshit.
“What do you think happened to me, asshole?Youhappened. You didn’t have to come to the hotel that night.” I swallowed. “You didn’t have to interrupt me with that guy from the bar. You didn’t have to fuck me, or call me yours, or?—”
He raised a hand. “You’re right. You’re completely right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to do, but if I could go back, if I could erase the whole night…”
I jerked like he’d shot me. Oh god, that hurt. It took everything in me not to let my chin tremble from his words. He regretted me that much?
He saw my reaction, because he reached for me. I stepped out of his way, refusing to let him touch me.
“Fuck, Lucy.” He shook his head. “No, you misunderstand me. If I could go back, if I could erase the whole night, I’d do it the same way all over again.” His lip quirked, although he looked better. “It makes me the worst kind of man, but I don’t regret a second of it. All I regret is hurting you—and staying away from you for so long.”
“Oh.”
The wind went out of my sails. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t…anything. Other than guilty, because I’d almost done something I couldn’t go back on.
Thank god I’d changed my mind.
“Is that why you came to my office, Lucy?” he said. “Because even though I don’t regret it, I refuse to hurt you again…” he trailed off. “What’s that in your hand?”
Oh, shit.
I tried to hide the vial, but he was too fast, crossing the room and bending down to swoop it out from between my fingers.
I stood up to grab it but he lifted it above my head, and when I stood on my tip toes, desperate, and reached, he grabbed one wrist, then the other, and forced them behind my back.
A whimper released from my throat. Him gripping me this way, keeping me still, the force behind it…god, I’d always wanted a man to use force on me like this.Thisman.
What was ironic was I’d basically tried to do the same thing to him.
He swirled the vial around, then popped the small cork and sniffed. Then threw back his head and laughed, shocking me.
“You were going to drug me with Vice? That was your big plan? Throw how little you cared in my face last week and then sneak it into a beverage so I was none the wiser? So you’d make me hard and horny for you, unable to keep my hands off you? My cock out of your holes? Make me lose my mind? Let me tell you something, troublemaker.”
As he spoke, he was walking me backward, until my back hit the wall next to his bookcase, my arms trapped behind me. He loomed over me, swirling the Vice around.
“Vixen and Vice work differently. Vixen is like a roofie on speed—it makes women lose time and place and forget everything, including their own names, completely mastered by their own libidos. But that’s not how Vice works. If a man takes it…it makes him hyper conscious of every moment. Removes control, so he’s mastered by who and what he wants, so goddamn hard and obsessed all rational thought flies out the window. But here’s the thing—you don’t need Vice for me,sweetheart. I’m already hard for you—” he pushed his hips against my stomach, so I could feel just how hard, and another whimper escaped my mouth.
“Already horny, already obsessed, barely able to keep my hands off you. I’ve been a bad, bad man, because all I’ve been able to think about for days is what it’ll be like to shove my cock in all your holes. That tight pussyIbroke in.” His eyes went dark at that. “Between those lips that were meant to wrap around my cock, and give that sassy mouth something else to do. Work my way into that tight, virgin ass, and own you every single fucking way. Make you scream for me, and plant myself inside you so deep you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. Fuck, Lucy. You really think that Vice will make a difference?”
I could barely breathe from the images he was presenting to me. I wanted that, wanted all of that, but mostly?—
“And why should I let you?” I said.
He raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that why you’re here? Not to let me, but tomakeme?”
“I mean, yeah,” I said. “But Ishouldn’t.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” he agreed. “You should get the hell out of here, fight me off, and run far, far away. Go report me to the dean, to the police, for being the worst thing that ever happened to you. Because I promise you, Lucy, Iamthe worst thing to ever happen to you—even if you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“What?” my voice was barely a whisper.
“Oh, yeah. You’ve ruined me by merely existing. But you made my boring life worth living again when you walked back into it. I’ve tried to stay away, tried to be a better man, but you don’t want a better man, do you? No, you don’t want the man—you want the out-of-control animal ravaging you. Well, sweetheart, you’re about to get your wish.”
He released my wrists.
