I ordered food to be brought to the room, but she didn’t eat anything except the pastries and the wine. We both sat comfortably facing each other in the middle of the bed so she could eat, and I could work.
“I want us to pick a word. One word that if we even so much as whisper it, we both stop what we are doing. No matter what we are doing.”
I squinted at her in confusion. “Interesting. Why would you need that?”
“I don’t trust you,” she explained. “With that being said, if I am going to be with you for this arrangement, it would make me feel better knowing I have one word that will save me from you.”
Hearing her say it hurt a bit, thinking she needed to be saved from me, but I had no room to judge a fair request.
“Which word would you like it to be?”
“Pest.”
“No need for insults, I am trying to be nice.”
“No,pestis the word.”
“It sounds like you thought this through,” I chuckled. “I think you need a different one. You use that one too earnestly.”
She did not speak for a while after that.
The collar of her blouse stuck to her skin. I opened it slowly, unsure of how dry the blood would be. Her shoulder was mainly dry, but the pieces of shotgun shell were still wedged in the skin, cutting more with each movement. I picked at the pieces as best I could to remove them, running my tongue over the wounds after to close each one.
She flinched, but then her shoulders slumped when she realized I wouldn’t bite.
I smirked at her reaction, grabbing her face gently and licking the wound on her cheek.
She glared at me.
“You don’t want it to scar, do you?” I winked.
Her bloodshot eyes made the blue of her irises look so beautiful. Her eyebrow twitched as she knit them together. Her fingertips feathered against the side of my face, and I flinched.
“Is this treatment temporary?”
“I do not know what you mean.”
“Will it go away once you have everything you want?”
“I have always had what I want, no matter the expense,” I scoffed. “You’re worth much more than that.”
To me, I wanted to say.You are worth more than that to me.
She thought about my answer, playing with a misplaced piece of my hair before brushing it back. A subtle clicking chittered in my throat at the feeling of her nails against my skin.
“Can I stay with you tonight?” she whispered
“You need not ask.”
“I don’t think I can handle seeing that crowded house right now.” Her eyes darted away, though the tension in her jaw couldn’t be good for her mood.
“That reminds me.” I tugged my shirt on, copping my trousers as I tossed her coat at her, then her shoes.
Her eyes followed me with a cocked brow as she caught each boot thrown at her.
“Get dressed,” I said. “I have something for you.”
30
