“I have a present for you,” I toss the jar at him and then look at Lori. “When you let it free around your house, think of me.”
ten
SULLY
I was underwater. I could see the bubbles escaping my mouth and reaching the light blue surface as I was sinking in the darkness. Drowning in fear and hopelessness. When a strong hand gripped mine and pulled me up until my lungs could feed on unsullied air again. It was the man in the mask, and we were in a bathtub naked, my back to his front, and a forest all around us. My body started to respond to his warm, strong, and unwavering proximity. He was touching me with possessive, commanding hands. Fingers curling around my neck, tightening more and more, the pressure felt so good until I woke up.
We walk hand in hand toward Ezra’s motorbike. He arrived just as I was saying goodbye to Michael and Raph. Michael’s lecture was incredible as usual, and afterward Raph joined us for lunch. They both looked a little tense, probably because of Marlon Finch—I heard Ren on the phone talking about it with Dare before the lecture. I’m glad they finally found him. Theydon’t usually tell me things related to the family side business. I have an idea of what they do, but I’m not interested in actuallyknowingthe details. Still, I hope they made that shitbag suffer for what he did to Meg.
After lunch, I went back to my dorm with Ezra and boxed up some of my things, only some because we ended up frotting against my desk. I smile at the memory. My boyfriend has a lot of stamina.
Ezra’s firm statement from this morning pops into my head. “Don’t eat fried food for breakfast. Or I won’t kiss you goodbye.” I ate a deep-fried Italian arancino leftover, and Ezra turned up his nose at the oily layer on my lips.
I’m still giddy because of it. Why? I’m learning his likes and dislikes, what makes him tick, and what irritates him. All the pieces of the puzzle that is Ezra are slowly fitting together. Like the fact that he sleeps naked, doesn’t wear underwear, drinks a glass of cold milk first thing in the morning, doesn’t watch TV but bought one for me, is only patient when it can be advantageous for him, and needs to fuck me at least once a day—I hope that will never change.
He takes out the peach lip balm stick and rubs it over my mouth. His eyes turn hungry when I bite my lip, but he hates to see it chapped or cracked. Another little piece I’ve discovered.
“Come here,” he says softly when he’s done. I respond to his voice like a moth reaching for the flame, raising up on my tiptoes, my hand slides from his, and I wrap both arms around his neck, pressing up against his hard chest and thighs. I feel his hard cock pressing between my legs.
“I need inside you,” he hisses. He thrusts against my balls, pushing my body upward, his hands squeezing my ass cheeks as if they were clay for him to knead as he wishes. His lips finally find mine, taking with them my breath and my sanity. How does he conquer my body so utterly and easily every time? When he pulls back, I follow his mouth, making him smirk.
“Little Chick, say the word and I’ll take you back inside and fuck your ass as many times as you want,” he whispers, giving my neck a long lick of his tongue.
I almost surrender with a yes, until I remember where we are going. The pet shelter. I need to feed the animals since Ren is busy tonight, just like the other volunteers. I open my eyes and look right into his burning gaze and shake my head.
He grits his teeth. “I’ll give you thirty minutes. After that, I’ll nail you against the animal cages.”
Am I crazy because I like this side of him, too? He’s entirely himself with me, shameless but honest. It’s unsettling at times, but I prefer it to lies.
“No traumatizing the animals. I just need ten, fifteen minutes tops.” I won’t have sex in Ren’s pet shelter.
“Can you link the helmets’ Bluetooth to my phone? I want to listen to some music.” He nods, and after he slides the helmet on my head and sits me on the motorbike, I scroll until I find the right country song. Cody Johnson’s “On My Way to You” starts playing, and I wrap my arms around Ezra, hoping he’ll like it.
I know he doesn’tdolove, but this song is about telling the other person that whatever happened in the past is fine because it created the way that led them to their partner.
“I know this one,” he says after a moment, intertwining our fingers together. “You listen to it a lot.”
How does he know that? I never did it in front of him. The wheels inside my brain start spinning. Did he…what is the word Rami uses? Ah! Clone my phone.
I didn’t ask him the details of his stalking because I don’t want to know. I see it as his way of watching over me, an odd way, but after what he went through growing up, I can’t expect a conventionalcourtingbehavior. I wouldn’t even want it from him. I like his level of obsession. Need it. My brain is a weird place, which makes Ezra and me perfect for each other. But what if his obsession is deeper than I thought? Would that change how I feel?
Questions keep popping into my head: why did he wait all these months before making a move? Would he have waited even longer if Jacob hadn’t attacked me?
A few minutes later we arrive at the shelter. I see a familiar white delivery truck turning on the street like it was leaving from the parking lot on the other side of the building. Strange, at this time of the night, they shouldn’t leave any boxes of food or supplies.
As I dismount the bike, I receive another message from Ollie—since the attack, he’s been contacting me non-stop. He’ll be back tomorrow morning with Rague. I need to tell him about Ezra. Would he be okay with it? He doesn’t seem to like him much.
I walk a step ahead, keys in hand. “I only need to feed the animals.”
Ezra nods while I unlock the door. I stop in the waiting room to insert the code in the security panel and then go to the Pooch Palace room. I give the two dogs their food, spending a fewextra minutes patting and cuddling–they seem quite agitated, perhaps because of the new surroundings. I move to the Tiny Critter Cottage room. First, I fill the bowl with seed mix for the hamsters, then change the water for Noodle the ferret, as well. I usually don’t give shelter pets names; it’s better not to get attached. But with him, I couldn’t resist.
“Noodle is the cutest,” I tell Ezra, who’s standing silently next to me.
I don’t think he dislikes animals, he’s just not quite interested. He told me he lived and helped on the ranch in Ohio after he escaped the facility. He must have had contact with animals—cows, sheep, pigs or horses.
“Look.” I open the cage, and Noodle quickly climbs my arm to stop on my shoulder. “Kiss,” I say, and the little cutie brushes his little muzzle against my cheek. “Dead.” He drops, draping his long body over my shoulder. “Cool, right?” Ezra just keeps staring at Noodle with a critical eye. Tough crowd.
I move to the fridge and grab some fresh meat for him. As soon as he sees the Ziplock that contains his food, he jumps back into his cage, waiting on two paws for me to leave his dinner. Aww.
