Vesper sighed, setting the bottle of water beside Bellamy, choosing the less violent option—which was fucking generous. And then she sat down with her tea and her book. Might as well get some reading done while she waited. Who knew how long it would be before Bellamy woke up.
Part of this whole thing somehow felt like it was Vesper’s fault. Shehadwanted something more exciting to happen, after all. She’d basically asked for it. The problem was, she never wanted to deal with Bellamy. The excitement she’d wanted was supposed to be from literally anything else. She especially didn’t want to see Bellamy when she was dressed likethat.
Bellamy only ever wore those tiny little shorts, ripped fishnets, and now ruined crop top when she wanted to piss off Vesper. And fuck was it working. Vesper had needed to pull Bellamy’s shirt up further to fix and keep an eye on the cut. It was now just under where her bra would’ve been if she’d bothered to wear one. Another sign she was out to piss Vesper off today.
Vesper forced herself to stop looking at Bellamy and focus on the book that no longer held her attention.
CHAPTER SIX
Vesper
Not even an hour had passed by the time Bellamy finally stirred. The poison must not have been in her system for long before she got the antidote. That was good. Now she could fucking leave.
Vesper set her book down and leaned forward in the chair, propping her elbows up on her knees and watching as Bellamy tensed before registering her surroundings—the lingering scent of coconut and almond in the air, the quiet hum of Vesper’s fan that she never turned off. Bellamy relaxed.
Vesper rolled her eyes when Bellamy tried to move—she’d been propped on one side so Vesper could keep an eye on the healing process. She sucked in a breath, winced, and fell back down, finally opening her eyes and trying to examine her cut. It was cleaned and almost healed thanks to Vesper only using the good, magic-imbued sutures that healed at twice the speed. But she couldn’t get a good look; it was too close to her spine to see.
Bellamy barely acknowledged Vesper’s presence, covering her eyes with her arm—a move that pulled her shirt up a tiny bit more and made Vesper grit her teeth.
“Thanks, Ves,” she murmured, peeking out to look at Vesper.
Vesper leaned back, folding her arms over her chest. “Didn’tgive me much of a choice, did you? Next time you piss off some asshole, fight your own fucking battle,” she griped. But she didn’t mean it, and they both knew it. Still, Vesper was allowed to be pissed.
“It’syourfault,” Bellamy grumbled, and Vesper gaped at her. Vesper had donenothing, but before she had a chance to say that Bellamy added, “Can you not be such a bitch about this?”
Vesper scoffed, trying to figure out how the fuck it was her fault. Bellamy tried pushing herself up again only to be clearly reminded why she hadn’t done so earlier. “You couldn’t have done something for the pain?”
Vesper snorted. “Why would I?”
“Fuck you.”
“Definitely not.”
“You know what, Ves?” Bellamy began angrily, but Vesper didn’t let her finish. In a flash, she was on her, legs on either side of Bellamy’s torso, knee digging into the wound she’d just stitched up. Bellamy squirmed, trying in vain to push her away. Vesper used the opportunity to grab Bellamy’s hands, pinning them above her head.
“No, Bel. You don’t get to be a bitch after I saved your worthless fucking life. That’s not how this works,” Vesper growled, pushing her knee further into Bellamy’s side until she let out a pained gasp. The slight curve of Vesper’s lip was the only giveaway to the sadistic enjoyment she got from Bellamy’s pain.
“You know,” Bellamy breathed, smirking. “There’s easier ways to get me under you. Want to move somewhere more comfortable?” She gave a breathy laugh, failing to hide her wince when she tilted her hips up to press against Vesper.
“I’m not fucking desperate, don’t kid yourself.” Vesper snapped and scrambled off Bellamy. She eyed her then turned on her heel and stormed to the door, throwing it open.
“Get out,” she ordered and glared at Bellamy, motioning to the hallway. It was empty save for the body. Vesper sighed heavily. “And clean up your fucking mess too.”
Bellamy pushed up on her elbows and looked at Vesper with that fucking smirk still firmly in place. “Are you mad that you can hate me this much and still can’t bring yourself to let me die?” Vesper opened her mouth to argue that by letting her die, it would put a target on her own head—not that Bel cared, apparently—but Bellamy continued before she could get the words out. “Or, are you mad that you still want to fuck me?”
Vesper sucked her teeth, trying to ignore Bellamy’s taunting. There was no arguing with her when she was like this. “Get. Out,” she growled again.
“You could close that door, have your way with me, take out all that anger you’re holding in. Punish me for ruining your day. You know you want to, I’m helpless to stop you.”
“Bellamy,” Vesper snapped. The warning in her voice was enough to wipe that smug look from Bellamy’s face as her eyes widened and she swallowed. “Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
“I can’t,” Bellamy ground out, frustrated she clearly wouldn’t be getting her way. “The blade was poisoned.”
Vesper groaned. Right. Of course. Bellamy couldn’t move until the poison was out of her system entirely, and Vesper wasn’t going to sit around and let Bellamy goad her into a fight while she was fucking useless.
“Fine. Stay here, then. You better be gone and your mess cleaned up by morning,” Vesper snapped, turning and striding through the open doorway.
“Wait!” Bellamy called after her, Vesper paused, looking over her shoulder. “Where are you going?”
