Page 70 of The Monster of Hotel No. 7
“You are so fucking boring.” I yawn, stretching my arms over my head and elongating my body. “I would have better luck fucking this wine bottle.” I slowly reach a hand down to wrap my fingers around the neck of it, then slide it close to my body, the center of my thighs. I press the roundness of it against me, my dress dragging up with the movement, a feigned moan leaving my lips. Sullen appears shimmery, but everything else is blurry, and he is all I focus on.
My vision is swimming, my breathing is shallow, and I am doing things I would not do sober, which is how I know I am perfectly content to play in this dreamscape.
I slide the bottle along the outside of my black underwear, letting my eyes flutter closed and blocking out the dark room as I put on a silly show for Sullen.
But he says nothing, and despite my intoxication, I start to feel what he called me.Stupid.
I swallow hard, then blink open my eyes.
I almost scream, but he clamps his gloved hand over my mouth.
He isright there.
Looming over me, his upper body leaned down into my own, his dark irises the only thing I see.
He tugs the bottle away from me with his other hand, wrenching it from my grip.
My pulse pounds painfully inside my chest, and I am not breathing at all as I stare up at him.
“You wrote to me almost every month, Karia Ven. Is that what you do to every man you think is boring?”
I can’t speak, my teeth clenched together as he stares at me, his hand firmly pressing into my mouth, fingers digging into my jawline.
“Every fucking month. You told me about letting Cosmo fuck you. You taunted me. You had no idea what kind of freak I really was, did you?”
“You’re not a freak. You’re still avirgin,”I manage to snarl beneath his hand on my mouth. “Unless that’s something you say to all the girls who pity you.”
His eyes flash and he throws the bottle further along the bed. I feel it land softly in the sheets, but the next second, his hand is gripping my thigh, sliding high up as he pulls me down the bed. “Pity me? If you got yourself into this position because ofpity,you are really going to regret the rest of your fucking life, Karia. You should know better than to feel sorry for monsters.”
“You’re not a—”
“You don’t know what I am,” he snarls, his eyes livid as he leans in so close, his nose is touching mine. “You have no fucking clue. Do you want to know about the animals in jars?” he asks, mimicking me.
I slowly nod my head, my body tense, but I don’t want to move away.
“Let’s play our game. I’ll answer you if I can touch you.” He slides his hand down from my mouth, grabbing my face instead.
“Without your gloves,” I whisper. He starts to protest, I can see it in his eyes, but I glance down, where his hand is on my thigh. “At least, there. I want you to…feelme.”
“Karia.” Another warning, like a snarl.
I swallow hard, my face hot. “Please. I’ll listen to you. You can do whatever you want to me. Just… I want to feel you.”
“You don’t,” he says, like a promise. “You really don’t want that.” His grip along my jaw tightens.
“I do,” I say, even as my tongue feels clumsy inside my mouth, everything about this moment dreamlike. Perhaps none of it is even real. A side effect of the sedatives I had. “If I’m the first girl you’ve touched, I want you to feel everything. Think of it. How warm I’ll be. Howwet,just for you. I’m like your own specimen, Sullen. I’ll be your doll.”
His eyes press tight closed.
I want to smooth the crease between his brows. Lick it, even. Lick him. But I know, even in my hazy mind, that’s too far for him.
Please touch me.
I shift a little on the bed, inching his hand closer to where I want him, and his eyes flash open.
Then he says, “My doll?” in a rough sort of voice.
“Yes.”
