Page 56 of Broken Beauty
I'm going to strangle her neck and fuck her until she chokes for dressing like that and opening the door. “Cute,” I say before meeting her eyes and seeing a challenging glare hidden.
I step inside her house and she closes the door behind me. I walk upstairs towards her room and I hear her small footsteps trailing behind me.
Her room is cleaned, unlike the last time I was in here. Her bed is made and all of the shit on her desk is organized.
My eyes go to her book shelf which is filled with many, many romance books. Some of the books on her shelf are flipped so that the page side of the book is showing instead of the spine.
Most of the books on that shelf are from me.
“Your room hasn't changed much.”
“Don't act like you weren't here for almost the whole summer, Ash.” Ariella closes the door and I turn around and see her leaning against the door crossing her arms over her chest.
The tank top is made with very thin material making me see her nipples like I did the night she hosted movie night.
“Stop being a tease and let's start the project, Ariella.”
“So, for the first time you don't want to touch me?” Ariella raises her eyebrows at me and she pushes her chest out a little bit.
“If you keep acting like this, I'll fuck you so hard your dad from across the country will hear you scream his enemy's son's name so how about you be a good girl for me and sit on the bed so we can do this assignment.” Ariella's cheeks turn red and she walks to the bed and pulls the throw blanket she has over her lap. My lips lift in a small smirk. “Where's your laptop? I didn't bring mine.”
“On my desk.” I go to her desk and sit down on the chair.
I open the laptop and click around and find the email that Dr. Locke sent everyone.
In this assignment we have to ask our partner these questions and see what their reactions are to the questions.
“Okay I'll ask you the questions first and then you can do the same.” I look at the first question. “How old were you when you realized that you have experienced trauma?”
Ariella's eyes are filled with vulnerability and I am probably the last person she would want to bare her guards too.
“Sixteen. When I lost my mother,” Ariella admits, refusing to look at me. I think if she did then it would feel more intimate and real to her. “What about you?”
“Six.” I have never told Ariella about the things my mother would do to me or the kind of trauma she put me through. The only people who know are Ally, my father, and Cal Madden. I think that’s why I feel like I owe them something sometimes. Because they know my deepest, darkest self and helped me out of that state, kind of. Well except Cal Madden. He can go to hell and choke on fucking fire for all I care. Before Ariella can ask a question about who or why, I go on to the next question. “What is the one thing you are looking for?”
“Strength,” Ariella answers. “What is the one thing you are looking for?” she asks while keeping her eyes trained on me.
“Relief.” I am always desperately searching for a relief, whether it's punching things until my fists are bloody or just touching Ariella. It's one or the other. “When was the last time you genuinely felt happy?”
Ariella's eyes freeze on mine. “Um, a few months ago.” Last summer. I smile at her. “What about you?”
“A few months ago.” I look away from her so that I don't have to see her reaction. “When did you realize that you felt pleasure through something you shouldn't have?”
I look up at Ariella and I see her blushing again. “I'm not answering that.”
“It's on the assigned question list, Madden, I'm afraid you have to.”
Ariella smiles shyly and she looks at the ceiling while saying, “The night you scared me in the mirror maze.” Ah, the mirror maze from last summer. One of my favorite memories from that summer. I felt the excitement in her kiss when I pressed her against the mirror. I have never been so turned on in my life as when I was kissing her in that moment. I know I have deviant fantasies and fucked up morals sometimes but I have never acted on them because I don't want to scare people away. I have only got a taste of them. Like from the other night when I scared Ariella in her room while she was doing homework, God that felt so fucking good but I needed to teach her a lesson and I couldn't go forward because it was all part of the game. “You remember that night, don't you?”
“Of course, I do.”
I feel heat in my blood as I look at Ariella. I know she was made for me. That darkness is in her too. I know that because of the way she melts under my rough touch and the way my hand wraps around her throat or the way I whisper dirty things to her. She is just as dark as me.
“What about you?”
“Scaring and hurting you.”
Ariella licks her bottom lip but she keeps her eyes on me. I look at her hands clenching the blanket and the way her throat bobs up and down.
