My coveralls were a total mess, and the tarp on the floor where I’d shared that moment with Max was covered in swirls of paint. I’d poured out everything I was feeling, and by the end, I admitted to Dax that I felt better.
After cleaning myself up, I went to meet my old palSilk, also known as Ben Devereaux, forElementstraining.
Despite my curiosity over what his session covered, I wasn’t looking forward to a solo session with Ben. No matter how many times I told myself he’d been in character during the last challenge, the guy still gave me the creeps.
He slipped his arm around my shoulders, his voice dripping with pomp and lecherous charm. “Hey, pretty Maiden.”
I pinched the skin of his wrist, lifted his arm off me, and threw it away from my body.
“Hey!” he cried out. As he rubbed his tender little baby skin, he glared at me. “What’s your problem, you bitch?”
“Touch me again without consent, and you’ll regret it, Ben.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I kept my stance braced to get away from him. Ben struck me as the type who cared little about the meaning of safe words, a fact he confirmed when he took a half-step forward.
I snarled, “I’m not joking, asshat.”
“Listen here, little princess, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I don’t take orders from Maidens. Especially ones that can’t do jack shit to me.”
“Can’t I, though?” I arched a brow, blowing smoke out of my ass but refusing to let him know that.
He grew flustered. “What does that mean?”
I glared at him. “I know where you sleep, asshole. And I’m not from your world, remember? Maybe a little girl like me, from the wrong side of the tracks, knows exactly how to deal with wannabe thugs like you. You’re not the first big bad with a dick and poor comprehension I’ve ever met.”
With a shrug, I glanced away, feigning indifference.
But my pulse skyrocketed.
When he didn’t respond, probably confused by my lack of emotion and submission, I refused to look back at him.
Ben unnerved me. What I really wanted was to skipElementstraining and get as far away from him as possible.
His soft, evil chuckle reinforced that desire. “Oh, yeah?”
He sidled a half-step closer, reappearing in my line of sight right as his full lips twisted into a pouty smirk.
I clenched my jaw, refusing to even breathe out of fear I’d give away how his proximity affected me.
Notin a good way.
“And what does alittle girllike you do with big, bad wannabe thugs like me, huh?”
Repulsed by his insinuation, I glared at him. “For starters, I’ll cut off your dick and feed it to the little fishes at the bottom of that lake.”
He laughed cruelly and swiveled his head slowly, keeping his eyes on me. At the last possible opportunity, he shifted his gaze to the lake in question. “Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise? Getting an early celebration lunch.”
I frowned at him. “What?—?”
“Hi!”
I jumped asMorty Dreadshouted in my ear. He surprised me so thoroughly that my soul left my body.
As I whipped around to face him, he threw up his hands in his defense. My eyes narrowed, trying to figure out why he’d done thatandwhy he looked so guilty.
Until a glint of light flashed across his palm.
Ben stormed up to him. “What the hell are you doing here?”
