Page 22 of Who I Crave To Be

"I'm going to hand you the match and then together, we'll watch it burn," he retorts simply, like that's all the answers I need.

Deano takes us back to his home, down to the end of the back yard that opens up into acres of land.There are multiple targets set around and a huge outhouse which stores all of these weapons.I’ve never seen a gun before and right now I’m faced with hundreds of them, all stored within the new-age, top of the art, armored bunker.Biting my lip, I keep from squealing and how badass I feel just being surrounded by them.

Guns aren’t bad, it’s the assholes at the other end of them that give them a bad name, that they become so.

I run my hands over the wall of rifles and circle the crate of shotguns.There’s a murky smell which twirls within the air, the faint lingering scent of a type of burning I can’t explain.

It’s hidden beneath something that makes the air taste sweet, but I’m assuming that sweet taste is just my excitement.

After Deano selects a few guns he thinks will work, we head back out and he hands me the first gun I’ve ever held in my life.Everything changes and something within me settles as I become filled with the feeling of arrogance.Not a bad kind, just the kind that makes me feel so fucking bad right now that nothing can stop me.

"I know it's obvious, your first instinct will be to look at it, but keep it pointed away from you," Deano rasps."Plant your feet," he whispers against my nape as he circles me in order to check my stance."Not too heavy, you want to be comfortable in the position you're in.One foot in front of the other." Gentle hands caress my upper arms before extending them before me, aiming them at my target down the other end of the green.It’s a large dummy shaped like a human.

Deano flicks on the music player back in the bunker and Bohnes- “12 Rounds”starts to play.

My heart dances within the adrenaline of knowing that what I hold in my hands, right here, right now, could kill someone.

End them.

Dead.

Poof.

Like they never existed at all.

I jut out my chin and thrust out my chest, allowing the power I feel to filter through my veins.I deliberately raise a brow and cock my head, making probing eyes at my target.

The 380 Taurus Spectrum feels heavy in my hands, even though it looks so much lighter than it is.I twirl my wrist, getting a feel for it as I settle into my position and ready myself to fire a gun for the first time in my life.

"Why are you teaching me this?"I ask, breathing slowly as I try to calm my excitement.

To remain in control and to hold on to the calm silence which settles around me like a warm blanket, filtering raw unchecked adrenaline through my veins, making it almost impossible to not dance on the balls of my feet.

"So you don't feel so defenseless," he replies.They are such simple words, but they break something within me that has me holding my breath."Now focus."

Finding what feels comfortable, I aim my gun a little higher.

“This is all you, Vienna.You want power?Take it.Don’t miss.Just visualize and shoot.”

All sound is sucked from the world as my finger finds the trigger.

The bullet exits the barrel, sailing through the air in slow motion, leaving nothing but smoke in its wake.A potent, mouth watering smell of something burning hits me like a billowing cloud.An exquisite scent of copper and it has me licking my lips, lapping up the taste which I can only imagine would be described as metallic, if metallic was even a taste at all.

My arms jolt backward, locking at my sides with the kickback of the gun.It’s small, but holds one hell of a punch and I feel it in the ache which kneads the muscles in my arms, in my torso as everything within me tenses in hesitation of the power I wield.After a moment, I find my calm again and take another shot.Then another and another until I empty the clip and jump in the air.I twirl, spinning in a circle shouting my glee after I flipped the safety on.

All of the composure I was fighting to keep this weekend runs like a thief in the night and I beam, smiling from ear to ear at how exhilarating that felt.I turn to face Deano who is smirking back with a look of pride that has me choking on a breath as it lodges within the back of my throat.

“You like that?”he teases, biting his lip as he trails his gaze over every inch of me in lustful approval.

“It was alright,” I feign nonchalance, but of course he sees right through it.“Although you told me we would be setting the world alight,” I taunt in return, quirking a slender brow at him.

“And you will, hellcat,” he growls, stepping toward me and twisting me at the hip until he pulls my back to his chest and faces me in another direction.“As soon as you hit those gas tanks down there.”he points to huge tanks that sit apart on some kind of looking course.

I stop short, snapping my gaze towards him like he’s crazy, “You live here, Deano.I’m not blowing up the neighbors.”

“Yes, I have neighbors, but I own this property and the acres of fields it sits upon.It's a safe distance from the house and I blow them up all the time, it’s only land, Vienna.What are you afraid of?”

What am I afraid of?

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