“You already own me,” she whispers against my lips. “I was yours the moment I stopped. The moment I shattered my own soul, because you were more important than all the power I wanted to take.”
My fingers caress the side of her face.
“We will be each other’s death,” I say as I brush through her hair.
“Let us burn the world before,” she says, and kisses me.
Not the world. But the patriarchy,I think to myself. Because I like this wonderful planet. And I will show her how beautiful it is.
EPILOGUE
PLAYLIST: NEVER TEAR US APART – BISHOP BRIGGS
Rosalia
White curtains blow softly in the wind from open windows. I sit in the armchair by the window as I watch her sleep. One of the rare peaceful moments. One, I will disturb.
“Wake up,” I say loudly. “It's Saturday.”
She moves slightly in the sheets.
“Whyyyyyyy so early?” she asks and turns around.
“It’s past noon,” I say.
“Whatever,” she says. “It was late yesterday.”
“You should have known better,” I say. “You know Saturday is the day when I make the rules. You agreed on that, fully conscious and with the ability of all your rational senses.”
“You call a state after the third orgasm a rational state?” she asks, and I chuckle.
“Get up, freshen up in the bathroom and then you will come crawling to me on all fours. You will kneel in front of me and beg for your spanking.”
“What am I getting spanked for?” she asks.
“I have a list of fifteen times you gave me either cheek, joked on my behalf, overstepped, or teased me.”
“How many do I get?” she asks, rolling herself around. She can see me.
“Depends on how fast you’re kneeling in front of me,” I say. “I am counting. One—two?—“
Antonella does exactly nothing. She rolls onto her back, so she lies sideways in the bed and plays with her hands in the air. Like a child.
This woman!
“If you’re not in the bathroom by fifteen, I’ll drag you there by the hair.”
Every day, she pushes me a little bit more. And one day, I will snap.
“Thirteen,” I count.
Her head falls to the side.
A malicious grin on her face.
And I get up.
“Fourteen.”
