Page 26 of Mutual Prey
“Piper. Right.”
“If it makes you feel better, I never really had any family either,” I tell her. “My mom died when I was a baby, and she killed my dad. She was drugged by her own invention.”
“Nice. I mean, no, not nice at all.” She flushes, and her face grows splotchy red, exactly like Piper’s used to. “I don’t know why I said that. It just sounded kind of… well, bad-ass, the way you put it.”
“Yeah, I guess itiskind of bad-ass.” I pluck a blade of grass from the ground. “Anyway, I grew up in foster care too. Until I got adopted when I was seventeen, and my daddy, well…” I can’t believe I’m blushing too, but now, whenever I think of Daddy, I also think of Finn. And between the two of them, I’m just a horny mess. “He’s dead now, but it was nice while it lasted.”
“It must be nice having a dad who cares,” she says dreamily.
You have no idea.
“Aren’t you eighteen, though?” I ask, changing the subject. “You don’t need to stay around your foster family if you don’t want to, do you?”
“I mean, I have no money,” she shrugs. “And I want to study. And, well… sometimes, he makes me feel nice.”
I snort. “Alright, well, have it your way. Anyway.” I stand up, brushing the grass of my dress. “I have to go. I have a guy to kill.”
“You… what?” She turns round eyes to me. “That’s a joke, right? It’s funny.”
“Uh huh. See you around, Bil—”
“Hey.”
Two hands clasp my shoulders, and I jump, startled.
He got me again.Damn it!
His mask falls to the ground, and I glance at it. A lion. He must have found out about my cat mask and wanted to make a point about being the bigger cat. Typical testosterone bullshit.
“Glad you’re having such a fun night,” his deep voice rasps in my ear. “Nice to meet you, Billie.”
“I… how did you know that?” She looks exactly like a scared little mouse as she sets eyes on him. The kind of scared little mouse who’s not used to being noticed.
I kind of feel bad for her. I have no idea what’s gotten into me.
“He knows everything,” I assure her. “Apart from the fact—” I check my watch— “that he has three hours and twenty-four minutes left to live. At most.”
He chuckles in my ear.
“And forty-eight seconds,” I add.
His hands wrap around my body, pinning my arms to my sides. “The way I see it, you’re the one who’s at a disadvantage right now.”
This, I can handle. My body is on high alert, my focus sharp. I’m cornered, but what’s the thrill if it’s too easy? The spanking, the sex—it was nerve wracking, because I couldn’t control it.Thisis the stuff that makes me thrive.
“I’m not entirely at a disadvantage,” I murmur, “because you have to get your weapon out, and you don’t have any pockets. I can feel your ax pushing against my ass, which means you’ve either got a bag, or it’s looped in your belt. I know that hard bulge isn’t your cock, though. You’re a lot smaller, from what I recall. Positively microscopic. I have a lot of experience with microscopes, you know. And—”
“You didn’t seem to mind my microscopic cock this morning,” he teases.
“Anyway,” I continue, ignoring both his input and Billie’s reddening face, “you’ve got an ax. That’s throwing off your sense of balance. And you’re gonna have to hold onto me with just one arm to grab it, so—”
“Like this, you mean?” he asks, pushing me to the side with lightning speed to free his right arm. “You know, baby, I’m pretty sure you’ve already experienced being held down with just one hand. You weren’t exactly able to break free while I reduced your ass to jell-o this morning.”
“Oh… was that you in the lecture hall? I heard about that.” A high-pitched giggle escapes Billie’s throat. I glare at her, and her red face turns purple. “Sorry. Uhm. I’m gonna go and… leave you to your… lovers’ quarrel, or whatever.”
She stands up, wiping her palms on her dress, and runs back inside.
“Well, your friend’s nice,” murmurs Finn, stroking the side of my face while his other arm renders me helpless.
