Illya
Hovering over Theo’s lap, I jiggled my ass as he sat back on braced arms, and my back bristled under my clothes from the intensity of his stare. The light skirt attached to my leotard ticked my upper thighs, and I glanced back just as he reached his right hand out. A callous, meaty palm slid heavily up my back, following my spine, and I shivered deliciously from the faint friction.
“I’m pretty sure this ass is worth more than a pizza, Illya.” He wasn’t complaining, though, and I hummed softly in acknowledgment. “Have you thought about moving?”
“Not yet.” Things had calmed down, at least, and Theo grunted at my reply before I plopped in his lap to grind against the bulge in his jeans. “What about you and Mateo?”
“He’s avoiding me because I punched him in the face. I’d say it’s going pretty alright. He won’t leave his room— which is stupid, because I broke the door when I busted it down.” A tickle of amusement swept through me, and I smiled a little at the image of a grown-ass man acting like that.He has it bad.Rich kids were the worst. Of course, there were exceptions to that rule, but on the whole. . . “I’m supposed to watch him, make sure he doesn’t die, and he treats me like I’m at his beck and call just because he pays me an obscene amount of money. Life doesn’t work like that. If Mateo wasn’t shoved into the corner, he’d probably create the largest dumpster fire ever.”
“Have you ever thought of quitting? Is it really worth it?” Straightening against my back, Theo inhaled deeply against my shoulder, and goosebumps pocked down my arm. “All you do is complain about him.”
“Nah, I get paid a lot, as I’ve said.” Chapped lips brushed the base of my neck, and I gasped as Theo pushed my dyed, pink hair out of the way. His voice roughened, tone deepening, and his left hand worked under me to squeeze my ass cheek. “I get my own car, and I get to live in a nice place, expense-free. The benefits outweigh the fact that, occasionally, I gotta break his nose.”
Humming a crackling sound as my eyelids fluttered closed, I enjoyed the hardness and heat against my back, and Theo grazed his teeth against my neck. Beneath my leotard and the thick bandages covering my torso, my skin twitched and pulled taut with desire, and I flopped my head back to groan faintly. His bulge pressed insistently against my core, and he swiped his fingers up my crotch to circle my clit outside of my stockings.
Theo hadn’t seen me naked yet— hadn’t seen the huge, ugly, purple mark that was slowly turning a sickly green on my side. My bruise didn’t hurt anymore, or I’d just gotten used to it, and my breath caught when he pulled his hand out from under me to creep his fingers over my thigh.
But his palm didn’t glide south, and I tensed when Theo grabbed my breast and squeezed with a low growl rolling down my spine. Tears instantly sprang to my eyes before I’d even registered the pain, the fiery tug, and I sucked in a whistle of breath through my teeth. My elbow sailed into his face, but the shock rendered his jolt weak against my hips. His palm felt from my breast, and I jumped up to pant viciously as pin needles stabbed my front in waves from top to bottom.
“What the fu— ” Theo’s nasty snarl caught when he locked eyes on my face, but I couldn’t see him beyond the tears that bubbled up to the brim of my lids. My pants turned to hyperventilations as fire engulfed my lungs, and my heart strained as it beat too hard and fast. Grinding my teeth until they threatened to crack, my mouth dried, and my furious breaths became rasps. “Illya . . . ”
“Don’t.” Croaking hoarsely, I blinked hard, and tears boiled on my heated face as pain sent spasms rippling down my chest, which only intensified the pain. “Don’t . . . don’t . . . ”
Turning around sluggishly, I shuffled over to the wall to brace both my palms and I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t breathe deeply, couldn’t attempt to get any control over myself— I just had to endure until it died down. A mangled palm touched my back, and I ducked my head to relieve some of the burning at my sternum.
“I guess I’ll never touch your titties again.” Even beyond the blood drumming in my ears, Theo’s grumble sounded gruff and bitter, and I exhaled a fiery breath through my nose. “Shit, Illya.”
“It’s okay. It-it’s fine. J-just . . . just a m-minute.” I wasn’t mad— I was in too much pain to be mad. Besides, Theo had every right to want to touch my chest, and it was really my fault for not saying something first. After all, it wasn’t his fault for not knowing something I never told him. Scrunching up my face, I crouched down to force the air from my lungs when it caught behind the dense lump in my throat.
“Do you need the hospital?”
“No.” Cracking my eyes open, they wandered dazedly to the right, and Theo’s face dripped in concern. “I . . . I shouldn’t have skipped PT.”
“You can’t use my own joke against me, Illya.” A pained smirk stretched my lips, and Theo sighed heavily as he rubbed my back gently. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Managing a slightly heavier breath than previously, I reached to tangle my fist in Theo’s t-shirt, and he covered it with his good hand. “I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you asking about it.”
My voice shook, but I didn’t stutter, and I craned my neck in an effort to dislodge the ball in my throat. Theo’s face masked in graveness, and he squeezed my hand as I slowly but surely unknotted my muscles. Like I suspected with his arm, this happened a lot. Even the slightest breeze tipped me off, which is why I wore the bandages. They covered my scars and reduced friction, and unexpected touches couldn’t happen anymore.
“I wouldn’t ask about it.” His right hand flexed against my back knowingly, and I leaned over into his chest to wipe the sweat from my forehead on his shirt. “At least yours is easier to hide. I get a lot of looks because of my face and hand.”
“I think it’s handsome.” The truth was that I didn’t notice Theo’s scar all that much— it wasn’t like it ripped down the front of his face or anything. The line was just a jagged, dark line. “The pizza’s not even here yet.”
A particularly violent spasm ripped up my spine, and I hissed even as Theo wrapped his arm around my back firmly. Wincing as pain flared across my chest, I tightened my grip in his shirt, and the neck seam creaked in protest overly loud in my ears.
“You got me real good, by the way.” My brows furrowed in confusion, and I glanced up as Theo rubbed his jaw and cheek with his bad hand. “Who taught you to elbow someone in the face like that? You got me right in the cheekbone.”
“Ooh, my mom did.” Appreciation swirled in his eyes, and I took a rattling breath as I leaned my head against his chest. My mind puttered along leisurely, and Theo sat back on the floor to gingerly wrap his legs around me. “When I was eight, she taught me to defend myself. She was definitely one of those people that saw the glass half empty.”
“My mom is the kind of woman that’d buy takeout and pass it off as her own so she can impress people at Thanksgiving.” His hand swept up into my hair as he spoke, and Theo kneaded my scalp despite the dye that’d rub off on his skin. “When I decided to go into the military, she threw a party. When I got deployed for the first time, she wasn’t nearly as excited.”
“Was it scary?” Sniffing hard, I closed my eyes and wiped my face on his shirt as he chuckled a little cynically.
“I almost shit myself when they announced we were landing. Those transport planes aren’t the most smooth things to ride through the sky at two hundred miles per hour. I didn’t used to be like this when I was nineteen and twenty years old. I was different back then. I always thought that I’d end up like one of those guys in the USAA commercials with a small business and a perfect family and all that shit.” My gaze flickered up at the sourness that dragged down Theo’s lips, and he pressed his chin against my crown with a faint grunt. “I mean, there’s a reason why it’s ‘young and stupid.’”
“When I was little, I wanted to be a cop.” My mom had been a cop, and the incident that led to her and my father’s deaths had been investigated into the ground and ten feet more. Everyone suspected foul play, but it’d simply been faulty wiring in the house they rented. “After they died, my aunt took me in and sued the property manager for everything she owned, and when she spent it all, she kicked me out. I went into foster care for about seven hours, which was just sitting at the police station, getting sad looks by everyone. I ran away.”
“That’s some shit, Illya.” I didn’t really reply, content to just soak up Theo’s warmth until a light knock sounded at the door.
