Page 44 of Apathy
Her raspy voice felt like a caress over my skin, and I wanted to record it and play it wherever I went. My heart clenched at the pain it was laced with, at the despair emanating from her body, and I wanted to remove it from her. I wanted to take it and throw it away, just so I could finally have those eyes on me, without that fear I saw earlier.
“Skylar.” I leaned closer to her, moving her hair behind her ear, revealing her face to me. “We don’t have to talk.” I pushed the bottle toward her. “We can just sit here and do nothing.”
She glared at the bottle for a second before she finally took it in her hand, opening the lid and taking a mouthful.
“Or we can drink.” I chuckled, as she moved the bottle away, wiping her mouth. “Whatever you want to do.”
She finally looked at me, her eyes blazing with fire that could burn us both. A fire I wouldn’t mind dying for because I wanted what she had to offer.
“I don’t wanna talk.” She licked her lips, drawing my attention to them. “I want to forget.”
I looked up, meeting her eyes again, seeing the meaning behind her words. I took the bottle from her, taking a sip, never taking my eyes from hers. As I dropped it to the ground, I wrapped my hand around her throat and pulled her to me.
With our lips mere inches from each other, our breaths mingling, our eyes blazing, I knew we wouldn’t be leaving here tonight with our souls unscathed.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Just shut up and kiss me.”
She didn’t have to ask twice.
I wrapped my other hand around her ponytail, and pushed her head down, before I pressed my lips to hers, devouring her, drinking her alive. She moaned beneath me, pressing her hands to my chest before they traveled to my neck, gripping the short strands of hair at the back of my head.
“I’m gonna eat you alive,” I croaked, my voice sounding foreign to me. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes,” she cried out. “Just don’t stop.”
And I didn’t stop.
Her plea was music to my ears. This was wrong, so fucking wrong, but I couldn’t stop now. I’ve spent my life obsessing over her and her family, creating this picture of her, and none of it was true. I thought I would find a spoiled, bratty girl, but instead I found a broken young woman who was on a path of self-destruction.
I hated her, loathed her entire existence because of who she was, and yet, one look, one touch from her, could undo me and shatter everything I’d been working for. I was dancing on a thin line between passion and hate, and if I wasn’t careful, I could burn myself and my family. I couldn’t let a pair of silver eyes and the shadows dancing in them be my undoing.
No, I had to go ahead with the plan, even if a part of my brain screamed at me to stop while I had a chance. To stop before there was no going back.
But that part of me was already too late. The plan was already in full motion and these feelings could go to fucking hell, because I wasn’t stopping. Not now, not ever.
“Do you want this?” I asked her as I pushed her to the ground, still keeping my hand tightly wrapped around her throat. Arousal flashed in her eyes, calling out to mine. Blood roared in my ears, and I could hear my heartbeat, thundering in my head, my blood boiling in my veins, because no matter what her last name was, my body wanted her.
I’d wanted her for a long fucking time, and now I would have her.
“Ash,” she whispered, but she didn’t answer my question.
“Answer me!” I roared, pressing on her pulse, and placing my other hand on her pelvis. Her entire body trembled under my touch, eager for what was about to come just like mine was. Burning desire and a touch of poison, and tonight, I wouldn’t mind burning with her.
“Yes!” she shouted, her voice echoing around us, disappearing into the descending night. “I want this. I want you to fuck me.”
I thought I would feel disgusted being here with her, doing this, but the feelings roaring through my body, dancing on my skin, were nowhere near close to disgust. My pants were a size too small as my dick woke up, willing to play, begging to be lost inside her heat. All thoughts of the hatred I felt for her family were gone, replaced by the carnal need to possess her, to have her all to myself.
All mine.
“Please,” she pleaded while I took a second too long to think about all this. “I want to forget. I want to—”
I moved my hand from her pelvis and pressed a finger to her lips, cutting her off. “Shhh, don’t talk.” If she talked, I would have to separate her from the monsters crowding this town, and I couldn’t lose sight of the things that were important.
My body wanted her, but my mind… My mind was on a different wavelength, and I couldn’t wait to hear her screams, even if they were from pleasure.
I dragged my thumb over her bottom lip, then toward her cheek and went lower, until my entire palm was pressed against her chest. With her eyes fixed on me, I could see all the emotions unfolding on her face—need, desire, and fear. I wasn’t sure if she was afraid of me or if that was the remnant of what happened to her, but whatever it was, I would take it.
