Chapter 8
She’s going on another date. I tell myself it’s because I don’t like the prick, but my blood boils at the idea of Bailey with anyone else. Screwed up tighter than a bolt wouldn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now.
It’s Saturday morning, and I don’t think I’ve slept more than three hours. She’s even robbing me of my sleep now.
I push myself out of bed and head to the kitchen, pressing the button for a coffee. The cup steams with the aromatic black brew, and I prop my hip against the counter, sipping. These silent moments are rare. With all of us so close, there’s always some sound, laughter, bickering, and constant chatter. I am not surprised when I hear soft feet padding down the stairs toward the kitchen, recognizing who it is on instinct. It’s her. Inhaling deeply, I take a bigger gulp of my coffee.
“You were the first in the kitchen. You know what that means,” she says, arching a brow.
Looking at her, I am instantly struck by her radiant face. She is the type of beauty that could void all the ugliness around her.
“What are you in the mood for?” I ask, growing weaker for her, and I have no fucking clue what that means.
She shifts on her feet, looking so damn cute. “Would you cook for me?”
“Apparently, you like my cooking if you insist I prepare breakfast.”
“It’s just the rule.”
“And you’re such a good rule follower, right?”
Dangerous territory. Retreat.
The taunts have switched to challenges, the challenges have turned into banter, the banter has slipped into playful innuendos, and the innuendos into tantalizing what-ifs. We’ve teetered on a thin line since the beginning, and it’s about to snap.
Eyes locked, I approach her, incapable of resisting—the air charges, cracking like my control.
“You made your mind up about me a long time ago,” she sighs, sadness threading through her voice.
“Be happy about that, Bailey.”
“What if I am not?”
Her eyes never waver from mine. Her burst of confidence is so damn enticing. I tell myself to be the one who walks away and puts the necessary distance between us. But it’s getting more difficult with each passing day. She’s getting braver while I’m coming undone—an explosive combination.
“Since you’re the expert on what’s expected of a second date…”
I almost forgot—she’s good at robbing me of my coherent thoughts.
Second fucking date .
Not that I was in a good mood before, but now a dark cloud hangs over my head, pelting acid on me. If she keeps pushing me, she won’t ever go on another date.
“But it’s not real, like you’ve been telling me.”
“Yes, but we do whatever is expected of us…”
What she doesn’t say makes me lose my cool. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t go on dates.”
“No, you don’t have to, do you?”
Our chests brush, and she cranes her neck to look at me. I could lower my head and dive into her full lips, finding out if they taste as I imagine they do—sweet as strawberries—making the downfall all the more irresistible.
She steps back when I move forward until her back hits the fridge. Slapping my palms on each side of her face, she swallows. I crave these reactions. She’s a captivating mixture of shy yet curious, and that does things to me I’ve never experienced.
“And why is that?”
Come on, say it and break the fucking spell you put on me. I can barely hold on to my control when she challenges me, and she has been doing that more and more lately.
“Because you don’t need to dine someone before you take them to your bed.”
Anger simmers low. “My bed, huh? Have you seen someone parading in or out of my bedroom since I came here, Bailey?”
I don’t want her to think that I am a fuck boy. I hate that she knows about my reputation. In my brain, it sounded better than… No, not bloody going there.
“No, but I am sure you have your places.”
“Have you been stalking me, my little kitten?” Now I’m claiming her too. This is madness.
Her green-blue eyes have a hypnotic allure, casting a spell on me. I brush my knuckles along her cheek—so soft. Damn, this girl is made of satin and temptation, sweetness and my undoing.
“What are you doing?” she whispers, as if afraid I’ll stop. She’s breaking my composure bit by bit.
“Corrupting you. If you keep this up, I will indulge, Bailey. I am far from a gentleman.”
“Do you want to be my teacher, Hunter?” She raises up on her toes, and with my head bowed, we’re a breath apart. Just one inch and my lips would press against hers. My walls rattle, some part of me straining to break free, to dive into her like she’s the fountain of life—and never resurface.
What the fuck is happening here?
“In what?” You know ‘in what,’ you moron . Stop this nonsense .
“In seduction.”
You’re doing a good job on your own. I don’t say that. Instead, I rip myself from her warmth and magnetic pull. When she passes me, I dip my head into the fridge to cool down.
“Wouldn’t have thought you’d be a coward.”
“Stop playing games. You’re bound to lose—and badly. I am not the one for you, and I never will be,” I say through gritted teeth, slamming the door to the fridge shut.
“You’ve made that clear.”
“Yet, you keep pushing.”
“Be honest, Hunter. What are we really doing here? I dare you to tell me the truth. But you won’t. I wouldn’t believe you anyway because you—”
“We said we’d never talk about that.”
“Right, my bad.”
Everything changed after that almost-kiss—it opened the floodgates, leaving me fantasizing about what it would be like to really kiss her. My first kiss. We were bickering, as always, when I backed her against the wall in the hallway, wanting to silence her… until the front door opened, pulling me out of my momentary insanity.
I wanted so badly to believe that if I kept telling myself she annoys me and I don’t like her, at some point, I would believe it. It never worked and never will.
I move toward the island, chop some bell peppers, and whisk some eggs to make an omelet. She sets the table, neatly arranging it as if we were expecting distinguished guests. Even the napkins are folded into fan shapes.
We move in silence while the things we don’t say stretch heavily between us. I inhale deeply a few times, trying to fill my lungs, because her presence alone seems to steal the air—along with pieces of my soul. I thought I’d be the one to corrupt her, but it’s starting to feel like the other way around. “We still have training after breakfast. And tomorrow, we’ll have a practice at the training complex.”
“Of course, Sir. Yes, Sir.”
She even gives a salute and, in true Bailey fashion, strikes a perfect pose.
“Keep provoking me. You’re the one who will have to go on a date sore as fuck.”
Her eyes widen, and I groan low in my throat. Fuck you, Freudian slip.
Thankfully, the others trickle in one after the other, and Bailey and I return to pretending we’re cool when the temperature around us turns scorching hot faster than a rocket taking off.
“Anything new?” Kaden asks Bailey.
She dabs at the corners of her mouth with the napkin. “I’m going out with Eric tonight.”
“Don’t take unnecessary risks,” he tells her.
“There haven’t been any more phone calls.”
“Then I don’t see why you have to do this,” Blake says, being the voice of reason—something I’d never thought to associate with him.
“It’s our only lead.”
“I don’t like Eric. At all,” Abi says.
I’d raise a toast to Barbie if I had one.
“If he goes too far, I’m going to kill him,” Celine says.
“I can take care of myself.”
I let out a disgruntled sound, and Bailey glares at me. We stare at each other until Mia asks, “Are you slacking off with training? If she’s not ready, it’s on you.”
My lovely sister. I would wring her neck if she wasn’t my twin, my other half. She has that challenging tilt, wanting to coax me from behind my walls. She’s hurt that I don’t confide in her, but knowing her, she would blame herself, and it was no one’s fault but mine.
“I want to go shopping,” Abi says, quickly changing the subject.
“A fabulous idea. Should we skip the guards as well?” I ask her, redirecting my anger at the wrong person.
“You reek of pent-up frustration.” Abi is too smart, and nothing gets past her.
“If my woman wants to go shopping, she will,” Dane says. No wonder there. It’s like it’s his life’s mission to make her happy. A hundred sparkles light in her eyes when she looks at him.
“I have to head to training, but afterward, we could drive into town,” Dane says, and Abi plants a kiss on his mouth.
I live with couples who are so gratuitous with their PDA that it’s nauseating. The fact that I don’t throw up every damn time is a miracle.
“I have an essay to finish,” Celine says. Knowing Kaden and her, they will end up studying for a while and then fucking for the rest of the day.
“We’ll go to the lodge,” says Mia, sharing a teasing smile with Blake.
While I don’t like that my twin is not nearby, Blake has increased the security there, so that’s one less worry.
“What are your plans for today?” Celine asks Bailey, who glances at me.
“Torture.”
I palm my chest in faux hurt. “You offend me, kitten.”
“She deserves a bit more free time, Hunter,” Celine says.
“I will decide that once she can hold her own.”
“But—”
“Don’t get involved in this.”
“You’re so damn stubborn.”
I slap my palm on the table, making the cutlery rattle—just like my insides. “I want to bloody keep her alive.”
With that outburst, I throw the napkin on the table and head upstairs to change for training.
Torture, huh? I’ll show her torture.
While I wait for her in the gym, I warm my muscles with a light workout. My phone rings, and I see it’s my father calling.
“How’s my favorite son doing?” he asks.
That corny as fuck question always elicits a smile from me.
“Training.”
“Son, live a little.”
“I will once the danger has passed.”
Christine must be having a positive effect on him because he would never have been this relaxed otherwise.
“Come visit me soon and drag your sister along with you. I miss spending time with my kids.”
“Mia and Blake are glued at the hip.”
“You could bring someone too.”
My silence is not the answer he was looking for because he exhales loudly. “Alice called me.”
Just hearing the name sends spiders crawling up my spine, spinning webs inside me and trapping me in a poisonous snare.
“Mm-hmm,” I say, breathing in and out in a soothing rhythm, trying to regulate my pulse.
“She’s doing a fantastic job as the school principal. Your mom would have loved how involved her best friend was with you two.”
Too involved. The memories slam into me, coating my skin with filth I can never scrub away.
“Good for her. Anyway, I’ll be there,” I say and hang up.
With tunnel vision, I march up to the punching bag and pummel it until my knuckles split, but I don’t stop, hitting it repeatedly. Nothing ever bloody helps, though. This violence inside of me craves a release that’s always unreachable.
I let out a groan, blood coating my knuckles. I didn’t tape my hands, craving all that pain to anchor me in the present, far away from a past I can’t change—where I was helpless, cornered. I am so inside my head that I startle when a dainty hand touches my arm.
“You’re hurting yourself,” Bailey says softly, watching me with big eyes.
“Do some warm-ups. One mile on the treadmill, three rounds of thirty squats, push-ups, and sit-ups.”
“What happened?”
“Bailey.”
“Don’t ‘Bailey’ me.”
“Do as I say. Don’t make me show you what happens when you don’t loosen your muscles first.”
With a resigned look, she finally listens while I keep slamming my fists into the bag. It dents with every hit, just like my control. Trying to keep my demons leashed demands everything in me. But knowing she’s near makes it better. The thought is as dangerous as it is alluring.
“Done.”
More stable and accepting Bailey’s innate power over me, I stop and move to the boxing ring. “Get in position.”
She lifts her arms, hands curled into fists in front of her face, and I do the same, running through some drills.
“Doesn’t it hurt? You’re still bleeding.”
“Focus.”
She rolls her eyes at me. She is stubborn, but I am even more stubborn.
When we move to combat training, she holds her position better and anticipates my moves, not only defending herself but pushing my fists away. I try not to smile, but it’s impossible. I aim for her feet next, but she lunges forward, landing a hit right in my stomach. She squeals, jumping up, eyes radiating excitement.
“Did you see that? I totally saw that coming.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s normal that you’re learning my moves.”
She huffs. “Would it kill you to praise me just once?”
“You want praise, then fucking take me down.”
She comes at me again, running on high emotions. Without effort, I put her on her back. She closes her eyes for a moment, exhaling loudly.
“Stand up.”
“Why should I? This is where I’ll land, anyway.”
“Stop wasting my time, kitten.”
“That’s all I am to you, right? A nuisance, a damn burden.”
Fury flickers in her eyes, and she jams her knee into my stomach. In a flurry of movement, she’s on top of me, her elbow digging into my neck.
In one quick move, I roll her onto her back, trapping her on the mat. Her chest heaves, pushing her tits out. I groan at this never-ending torment.
“Now what?”
With her hands pinned above her head and me straddling her thighs, she has no wiggle room. That doesn’t stop her from grinding, though.
I fake a yawn to infuriate her—and distract her from my hard-on. She arches her back, not deterred. Good god, I am in the middle of making my point clear when my dick stands at attention—desperate motherfucker. Fuck me.
She lies perfectly still when she finally feels it.
“Use your hips, Bailey. And while you do that, you shift the other person to the side. Try it,” I command, trying to salvage this lesson.
“So, we’re not talking about that?”
“There is nothing to talk about.”
“You get an erection with everyone you train?”
“My dick doesn’t know better. I do.”
Never. This has never happened before her.
“Stop squirming and do as I tell you.”
Bailey is the type to never give up. I push her to the ground a hundred times, she gets up a hundred and one times. That’s why I haven’t lost my faith since I started training her. She’s disciplined and hardworking.
It was just a matter of time before this shit would happen, and she’d notice. All the other times, I hid it well. I’ll just sell it as a one-time thing.
“Just be honest for once.”
Her bluntness uncaps my bottled-up frustration.
“You want honesty? Here it is. I haven’t fucked in a while, which I should rectify. That’s it. It’s a biological thing. It’s not because of you.”
I lose my grip on her, witnessing the hurt reflecting in her eyes. Like the smart girl she is, she takes advantage of that and does exactly what I said. Maneuvering us, she wraps her thighs around my neck, clenching them.
“Tap out now,” she says through a clenched jaw.
I need to test how far she’ll go. Even as dark spots cloud my vision, I still don’t tap out.
“You and your colossal ego.”
It’s not ego, but needing to test how far she’ll go.
She loosens her grip, pissing me off. If I get soft on her, she’ll never learn. This will hurt me more than it will hurt her. Grabbing her elbow, I twist it and push my knee in her back. She lands on her stomach with a thud.
“Don’t show mercy. If you’re in this position, they don’t deserve it. It’s you versus your attacker. You better immobilize him.” I loosen my grip and stand up, running a hand through my hair.
She scoots up, rubbing at her chest. “I don’t want to kill you.”
“I would have passed out. You wouldn’t have killed me.”
“How would I know the difference?”
“Do you trust me?”
She nods again. I should have stopped asking her the first time, but every time she nods, it elevates my spirits like nothing else.
“I will do it to you first, and then you’ll do it to me.”
“But…” She gulps, clearly unsure.
“No buts. Don’t think. It’s life or death. I want you alive, even if at the cost of humanity.”