Chapter 11 Selene #5
Already it was time to tell him goodbye, and I had a ridiculous empty feeling inside.
“Do you really have to leave right now?” I asked him, tucking my hair behind my ears. He turned to face me, fixing his collar. I stared at him with frank admiration, totally consumed by the irresistible, almost magical hold he had over me.
“Yeah,” he answered. “But now I have to go to the bathroom before I leave. I have another giant hard-on to deal with,” he went on, gesturing toward his groin.
I looked right there and went red. I had inadvertently rubbed myself on him when I leaped on him, creating another wave of lust in the both of us.
“Okay, I’ll just wait here for you,” I told him awkwardly, and Neil left.
I breathed a sigh of relief, but his presence had a way of transporting me to another world from which there was no escape.
I shivered at the simple memory of having pleasured him with my mouth like that and wondered when I got so uninhibited.
Or maybe I was simply in love, and that crazy feeling was what encouraged me to abandon all modesty?
At least when it came to him.
I patted my burning cheeks and looked at the little serinette. He’d never honestly tell me why he made such a thoughtful gesture, but I appreciated it all the same. That box was worth more to me than any verbal declaration of love.
I understood that it was all imperfect.
That we were imperfect, but at the same time we were a perfect mess.
I wanted his chaos.
Because that’s how Neil was.
He could show me the sunset without the sky.
He could give me a love poem without writing a line.
He could play me a song with no instrument.
He could make me fly without wings.
He held me without touching me.
He crawled inside me without asking for permission.
He asked me to stay with him without saying a word.
Mute love.
That was what he’d get from me.
That was what he could accept.
And that was what I would give to him.
Today.
Tomorrow.
And every day after that.
I clasped the music box to my heart and heaved a dreamy sigh before getting up off the bed to go put it next to the glass cube.
I would undoubtedly glance at it every night before I fell asleep and every morning before I left my room, just like I did with the pearl. Just to make sure it was still real.
Just then, my open laptop screen lit up with an email notification. I glanced over at the closed bathroom, and while I waited for Neil to come back, I sat down to read it. Lately, I’d been getting a lot of correspondence about my upcoming classes, and I presumed it was more of that.
I opened my email account and checked the latest message:
Hey, Selene, or rather, Target #2,
So pleased to see you made it out of your wreck with only a measly scar on your forehead.
That wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I’ve been thinking about you ever since.
So I hacked your computer to gain access to all your correspondence, social media, chats…
Everything. Absolutely everything.
I watched you every day through your laptop’s camera, thanks to some malware that allows me to control it remotely.
It also allowed me to record what you just did to your man.
My compliments, I didn’t think you were so…forward.
A real full-service whore!
It’ll only take me one click to send that video to everyone you know and forever ruin your life as well as the life of that asshole with you.
Don’t bother alerting the cops, Selene.
I am in control. I am watching. I am following.
Any mistakes will be met with one little click.
Think about it: How much do you value your life?
Player 2511
I stood motionless in front of my laptop, staring frozen at the contents of the email.
My eyes were wide, my heart throbbing in every part of my body. Still in shock, I reread the email three more times. A wave of nausea made my lips purse and my head spin.
I was in genuine danger of having a heart attack.
For a second, I thought it had to be a joke, but when I saw the signature, I knew it was no joke at all. I heard Neil’s footfalls behind me while I still stared in shock at my laptop.
“Selene?” he called.
I didn’t answer, and Neil moved closer to me, troubled by my silence. Finally, he looked at the still-open email on the screen. He bent slightly to read, and it was only a few more seconds before he grabbed my laptop with both hands and brought it close to his face.
“What the…” He narrowed his eyes, rereading the message again while I stared at him.
He seemed shocked at first, and then such fury welled up in his eyes that it made my blood run cold.
His right hand began to tremble, and with a growl of rage, he hurled the laptop against the wall, making me flinch.
My laptop lay ruined on the ground, completely destroyed.
I leaped to my feet and moved away from him.
His ragged pants grated in the silence, and his features were twisted in blind fury, his golden eyes storm-tossed. Slowly, his gaze shifted to me, standing terrified by the bed, and I felt like I couldn’t even recognize him.
He seemed completely out of his mind.
All at once, he marched rapidly toward me.
Afraid, I tightened my shoulders and squeezed my eyes shut.
He had never really injured or physically hurt me, but he wasn’t in his right mind in that moment, and he could be capable of anything.
I opened my eyes when I heard a strange rustling sound only to find Neil hunting around in the room.
I held myself stiffly, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing, and then I realized he’d picked up my iPhone, which I had previously left on the bed.
He shoved it wrathfully into his pocket, and I looked at him in bewilderment.
“Delete your socials. Change your phone number. I am taking your phone with me. The son of a bitch has control of everything.” He sounded like a robot as he scrubbed a hand over his face.
He was in shock and disoriented. His eyes roved around, looking lost before, finally, his eyes landed on me once again.
“Don’t go out by yourself. Ever. I’ll buy you a new laptop.
Right now, though, I have to figure out how to fucking fix this mess,” he went on, sounding like he’d been programmed to say those exact words.
His voice was firm and alarmed but unshaken.
I nodded dazedly, and he moved closer to me, taking my face in his hands.
I sucked in a breath at his warm palms against my skin.
“Do you understand me?” He gave me the slightest shake to make sure that I was hearing him, and I nodded again, trying to hold back tears.
“Don’t make me worry about you,” he went on gravely.
His expression was tender, displaying a humanity that he usually tried to hide.
“I’m so fucking angry, Selene. So angry,” he repeated, holding my face tightly in his hands.
I grunted at his intense grip and clutched at his wrists to let him know that he was hurting me.
He breathed in sharply and regained his self-control, stroking my cheeks delicately with his thumbs.
“But I can’t be distracted now. I need to act right away,” he said in a menacing whisper.
“He’s been spying on you. I…” he muttered through his clenched jaw.
“I might actually lose it for good if I think about something happening to you.” He bit down on his lower lip, and my gaze got stuck there.
He did it so violently that a few crimson drops beaded up along the small cut he already had.
His face didn’t change. He remained cold and furious, like he didn’t feel pain.
Instinctively, I touched his lips to stop him, and Neil growled like a wild animal in full frenzy.
I needed to kiss him, but when I leaned in, he shook his head.
No…that wasn’t what he wanted.
“I have to go. I’ll be in touch,” he said quickly and pulled away.
I immediately felt the absence of his warmth.
I stared after him, wondering how he planned to deal with this situation and a little surprised at how unintimidated he was by Player.
Instead, he seemed to have known that it was going to come to this sooner or later.
“I’ll also get you a new phone,” he added.
I didn’t give a shit about the things he’d broken, but I didn’t have time to tell him that.
Neil headed for the door immediately. Hurried footsteps echoed around the room until I saw his big, magnetic body pausing in the doorframe.
He turned back to give me one last miserable look and then he left, taking my soul along with him.
I was left alone, frightened and disturbed, with a depthless emptiness inside me.