46. Veronica
Two days have passed, and I find myself spending time in the lobby again. Maybe the seat that I’m currently sitting in will be my new chair, seeing as I spend little time in the common room anymore. When I hang out there, it is because Eliza talked me into another puzzle.
The two girls who typically hang out here are from Ward A, the ward lower than where I am. They are do-gooders and never seem to get themselves in trouble.
I wonder if they are the same as scared little mice. When I come out here the next time to find one of them in my seat, will they run off and cry if I threaten them?
Staring at the open book in my lap, the letters unfocusing, then refocusing again. It sits there unread. It may look like I’m reading to anyone who enters the room or Edith, who sits behind her desk working on whatever she has scheduled for the day.
My eyes focus on the words printed over the old book”s pages, but my brain doesn’t take them in. It’s too busy spinning the wheels in my mind. My finger flicks at the top corner of the page, bending the fragile paper with every movement.
It’s time.
I have to suggest the idea of Leo and I leaving this place.
I’m not sure when I was planning on doing it. It was probably when he developed strong feelings for me, but it seems that time is now. He’s made it clear how he feels about me, and I’ve made it clear to him.
The story on the pages before me is not as delightful as the one I’m painting in my head. Lord of the Flies is a story that I remember reading back in school. It was disturbing.
I explained that to Stephanie when she asked what I was reading. She had told me she read the same book a few years back but couldn’t recall what it was about. How could someone forget?
Pushing that memory out of my head, I allow my brain to conjure up the images I desperately want to see: leaving this place behind and living the life I was meant to, not being trapped behind these doors. It seems like a dream I would never have been able to reach until he entered my life.
I have him right where I need him.
A throat clears, and the rough, agitating sound drifts me out of my thoughts to find Leo standing in the doorway. I pause the finger, fidgeting with the corner of the page as I stare back at him. Black slacks, a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up to show off his tattoos.
A patient sitting across from me gawks at the sight of him. When did she join me? Training my eyes on her, I observe how her gaze darts over the tattoos littering his arms.
I return my focus to Leo, who is still standing in the doorway, his eyes glued to me as if I were the only one inhabiting the lobby.
“Are you ready for our session?”
Nodding, I shut the pointless book and leave it on the couch. When I approach him, he steps to the side, holds the door open like a gentleman, and lets me lead the way to his office.
As soon as the door shuts behind us, the sound of him undoing the zipper on his pants reaches my ear. The clink of metal when he unbuckles brings goosebumps to my skin.
I stand there, still as a statue, waiting for him to do something. He doesn’t wait a second longer before striding over to me in three easy steps.
“On your knees,” he demands in a deep, assertive tone.
Smiling slightly, I shake my head in refusal, making his anger grow with each gentle breath I inhale. The corner of my mouth tugs upward, and my eyes shine with pure disobedience.
“Veronica. Get on your fucking knees.” Another demand that I don’t care to listen to. “You were so eager yesterday to be a distraction, and yet today, you want to be a brat?”
“What can I say?” I shrug as both hands meet behind my back. “My mood changes like the weather.”
His tongue pokes the inside of his cheek while an aggravated laugh leaves him. “Does my little angel need to be forced to her knees?”
I smile wickedly. “If you think you can get me on my knees.”
It offered as a challenge. And he takes it.
He steps a foot forward, reaching out a hand to meet my shoulder, most likely to shove me down to the floor, but I back away from him in a swift movement.
Not stopping, I slip behind his desk. From here, I notice the way his jaw ticks with frustration. The way his teeth clenched so tightly together from me disobeying him.
“What? You thought it would be easy?” I pout, planting my hands on his desk while my head slants.
“Come on, Vee. You want my cock in your mouth just as much as I want those pretty lips wrapped around it.” He stalks forward in determination, coming around the desk as I race to the other side. He grunts out in annoyance. Oh, this is fun.
“Awe, is someone getting angry?”
“Get over here so I can take it out on you.”
Heat flushes my body, rushing from my head and driving throughout my body like a car on a road trip. It doesn’t stop until it meets the destination at the tips of my toes.
The feeling has scorched all the blood in my veins but feels the most prominent between my legs.
With a lick of my lips, I taunt him. “And where is the fun in that if I submit?”
His eyes darken to a shade that would match the Devil’s gaze. The green in his iris has now grown thinner with how blown out his pupils are with lust. “It might not be fun either way. This is your last chance, little angel. Submit, or else I’ll take what I want.”
We stare at each other during this stand-off. We are on opposite sides of the desk, keeping the distance we both want to erase, me too stubborn to be the one to perform the act.
I could submit to the beautiful man before me, but that would make me too damn easy. I want to continue having a little fun with this. Opening my mouth to say something, I snap it shut in a thin line, knowing I won’t give in.
He can try to take what he wants because there is no way in hell I will submit.
Standing straight up, I remove my hands from the desk and cross them over my chest with a sinful smile playing on my lips.
“Doing this the hard way then.” His eyebrow shoots up, a slow nod following.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he is rushing me.
It was swift, and it caught me off guard. He shoots around the desk with a smooth momentum, and by the time he closes in on me, it registers what’s happening.
I take off halfway to the door, hand clutching the knob, and I almost twist it until his hand dives into my hair, fingers curling to grip the strands roughly. I hiss at the pain radiating from my scalp as he yanks me forcefully back into his chest.
“Does that hurt, Vee?” he whispers in my ear with vexation mixed with a hint of seduction, his free hand wrapping around the front of my throat. I nod because, yes, it hurts. Then again, it’s sending a shockwave of pleasure through my body. “Good.”
Leo walks us backward. His hand still braces around my throat as he guides us to his desk. Whipping me around, his large hand never leaves my hair.
Tugging on the strands, he tips my head back until the angle hurts my neck. Pressing a kiss to my jaw, he hums in approval that he has me right where he wants me.
“We only have a certain amount of time,” he mutters between the kisses he was peppering along my skin. “And you wasted some of it by messing around.”
Letting go of my hair, I can only fix the position of my neck before he sends me to the ground. My knees land with a loud thud, surely to leave bruises by tomorrow. He isn’t wasting any more time before un-tucking himself from his pants and the sight alone has me salivating.
Gripping my chin between his fingers, he orders me to open my mouth.
I keep it shut.
His fingers move up, digging harshly into my cheeks. It forces my mouth to open but only a little, and with that small opening, Leo inserts his thumb past my lips, hooks to the back of my bottom teeth, and pulls my mouth open further.
As his finger still lingers between my tongue and teeth, his cock finds its home. He slips it between my lips and then withdraws his fingers.
Strong hands meet the sides of my face, holding me still. Trapping me. I whimper around him, causing his head to fall back with labored breathing. His fingers dig into my scalp as he steadies my head, thrusting his hips forward while he fucks my mouth.
While he takes what he wants.
I keep my eyes on him, on the way the vein in his neck pulses so rapidly with how hard his heart is beating.
Leo allows his head to fall forward, chin meeting his chest while he gazes down into my eyes. He appears drunk. Even though there isn’t an ounce of alcohol in his system, he isn’t drunk on liquor, beer, or wine.
He is drunk on me.
I thrum in approval from being the person to make him feel this way. Every time the tip of his cock meets the back of my throat, earning another moan from me.
A tear slides out from the corner of my eye from the lack of air. As I lose the ability to breathe, a single drop of liquid rolls down my cheek.
“So pretty when you cry for me.” Leo brushes the tear away with his thumb and then lifts it to his mouth. I watch as his thumb passes his lips, sucking the tear off his finger. The action causes me to press my legs together, and I get the insane rush of need flow through me.
I need him to touch me with every fiber of my being.
Just when he removes himself from my mouth, providing me a moment to catch my breath, I want to ask him to just fuck me instead of prolonging this.
When the air reaches my lungs and words crawl up my throat... two knock sounds at the door. My head whips back, and Leo’s eyes lift to stare at the door slowly opening.
I glance back at him, finding panic written across his face. Without thinking, he nudges me under his desk, in the little closed-off space where his legs would be if he were sitting in his chair. He sits down hurriedly in his seat, rolling the wheels forward until his bottom half is hidden under the desk with me. Leo widens his legs to give me more space.
It’s small down here, but there is enough room for me to sit comfortably. If I were claustrophobic, I’d have a panic attack, but not with the comfort of him sitting before me. Not when I see he didn’t have enough time to tuck himself back into his pants.
“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you.” Scarlet”s voice sounds sweet and innocent as the apology bounces off the office walls. Under here, it’s dull, but I can still sense the tone, anyway.
“What do you want?” Leo doesn’t bother with the niceties. His tone is rough and hard-edged as he gets to the point.
Anger bubbles inside me, knowing she is here against his wishes.
Against my threat.
“Dr. Bennett would have come instead of me, but he and Edith are in a meeting.” The door closes softly behind her. The taps of her shoes hitting the floor as she advances the desk.
Rolling my jaw, I see past her bullshit excuses to be here. Ever so slightly, I move my arm up, and it grazes over the fabric of his pants. I’m unsure if he felt the light brush, but I know he would feel this.
I wrap my hand around him, it twitching in my palm, and he shifts in his seat, not expecting this to happen. To Scarlet, it might look like he is adjusting himself in his chair.
Getting comfortable. My hand moves up and down, slowly massaging him. The tip of his shoe taps against my leg twice, a silent order to knock it off, but I am me. Do I ever listen?
“Again, what do you want?” he asks her, seeing as she hasn’t gotten to her point.
“One of my patients is being removed from the ward and coming down to this one.” A folder is gently set on the desk surface. “She has been making great progress, and Dr. Bennett wanted to see if you’d be willing to be her doctor. He trusts that you’d be able to handle her, seeing as you could tighten the reins on Veronica.”
At the sound of my name, my hand stops.
“I’ll look over the file.” Leo clears his throat. “Let Dr. Bennett know I’ll be in touch with him.”
“Okay,” she responds in a hushed tone.
I hear her turn on her feet, taking a few steps towards the door, but then her footsteps become silent. Leo and I both wait in anticipation of what she will do.
I can’t help but wonder if she wanted to say something else to him but decided against it. We both wait for her to walk away.
“Leo.” Her voice is just above a whisper as she returns to the desk. She stands in front of it. A solid piece of wood separates me from her, and if the wood weren’t there, I’d grab her by her ankle, pull her to the floor, and introduce my fist to her face.
But I am not able to do that. Not because I’m on probation. I don’t do what my non-existent heart desires because of the wooden wall between us.
Annoyed and angry, I do what I do best now. Distract myself from her awful presence.
Lifting on my knees the best I can, careful not to hit my head, I hover my mouth over the tip of Leo’s cock. Releasing my hand as he asked, I smirk, knowing what I was about to do that he was completely unaware of. Let”s see if he can keep his cool. My tongue pops out, gliding over his tip.
The slightest jerk of his legs has my grin growing wide, and then I’m lowering my mouth around him. His entire body stiffens when my tongue glides over him. I take him deeper until he hits the back of my throat.
“Scarlet.” Her name on his tongue while his dick is on mine? No, I hate it. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”
I push myself deeper until he slides down my throat, then lift my head and repeat the motion. My tongue glides around him, not leaving any space without attention. I was having the time of my life pleasing him.
My eyes shut, taking in the moment until he has a grip on my hair—his palm cups around the back of my head, holding me still on him.
Seeing as I don’t have a gag reflex unless it’s something he wants to hear, we don’t have to worry about me accidentally making a sound while he’s shoved down my throat.
“I’ve just been thinking about it a lot. Everything and… ”
I shift my tongue left and right along his base, and the gesture makes him cut her off. “Get out, Scarlet.”
“But—”
“Now!” His voice is loud and laced with anger. Is it for her or me?
Guess we will find out.
Frantic footsteps fade as she leaves the room in a hurry, the door slamming shut behind her. Leo lets go of his hold on my head, ripping me off him and pushing the chair back.
There was no hand to help me get up or no one leaning down to scold me for what I had just done. No. He stands up and disappears from his chair. A click is heard from where he locks us in, and I crawl out of the cubby space, using the desk to help myself.
When my eyes meet him, Leo appears dangerous. I messed with and Devil disguised as an Angel. A cunning smile plays on my lips.
My hand meets my mouth, where I wipe away the drool that had been dripping out of my mouth from being suffocated by his dick.
“You think this is funny?” His eyes narrow, shooting lasers in my direction.
“Maybe.”
“This isn’t a game.” He gestures between us.
“We could turn it into a game,” I tease.
“Veronica, if I hadn’t held my composure, she would have known something was up.” He comes closer to me, fingers gripping my chin. “You want this to be a game? I’ll play along, seeing as the Devil”s wicked little toy doesn’t know when to stop.”
He spins me around, sending me down to his desk. Removing my sweats in one easy motion, the material dropping to my ankles, Leo lines himself up at my entrance. It reminds me of the first time he did this.
He didn’t push in any further, only the tip felt the warmth of my pussy. I didn’t back myself into him because I wanted to give him time. Time to fall into the depths of hell on his own.
Not now, though.
He wants this; I want this, and I’ll take his words from earlier as advice and take what I want.
I rock myself back, his tip sinking deeper in until a strong hand clutches my hip. He halts my movement. “You wanna fucking play, Vee? Then we play by my rules.”
I hoist my head from the desk, peeking back at the fire-filled man behind me. His eyes find mine, and he grins oh so wickedly. Roughly, he thrusts into me while holding heated eye contact.
Forcing my eyes to stay open, my jaw drops as a moan escapes me, but I’m quick to slap my hand over my mouth. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction yet. He’s aggressive with his motions, slamming into me harder with each jolt of his hips.
“Is that all you got?” I bait with a breathless laugh.
A noise rumbles deep within his chest before he leans his body over mine, hand clutching the back of my neck. “You want more, little angel? You want me to make you see stars again?”
“Not sure you can do it more than once.”
As he moves backward, he takes me with him. He slips out of me and sends me to the ground. Once I am on my knees facing away from where he is standing, his hand finds the middle of my back, and my body folds.
Face down on the rug placed on the floor, my ass up in the air. My arms that were at my side are now behind my back, being bound with his belt.
When the hell did he take that off from when I was on the desk till now?
“I could easily make you see stars again. Make you think you’ve died and gone to Heaven.” His hand comes down hard on my ass. “I could do it every single time I fuck you, but not right now. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because my little angel wants to be a little devil now, and Devils don’t get rewarded.” He kneels behind me. “Devils get punished.”
Slamming himself inside of me, I gasp in shock. This angle allows him to go even deeper, hitting places I didn’t know existed. He has a death grip on my hips, hoisting my bottom half until my knees are barely touching the floor.
The strength in which he holds is one where you’d think his hands would mold into my skin. I won’t be surprised if his fingertips left permanent imprints. And the way he drives into me with such power, I’m afraid for the first time he might break me.
The way I am positioned, I can’t lift my head to glance back at him. My body is completely at his mercy, and he continues his movements. A sadistic laugh spills out of him, sending chills down my spine.
“What a mess you’re making of my cock already, Vee. Too bad you won’t get to come all over it.”
“What?” Panic rushes through my voice because, at any moment now, I am going to explode.
“Like I said, Devils don’t get rewards, meaning you don’t get to come.” He plunges deeper, pausing his hips as he stays still inside of me.
“I can”t... I can’t hold it.” I whimper. Tears line my vision as the orgasm I need is right on the edge, begging to be pushed over.
“Too fucking bad.” Slowly, he removes himself out to the tip, only to ram right back into me. I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on anything but the impending release that is building within me. “Bad girls get to be left on the edge.”
“Leo.” I cry out quietly, a soft plea for him to let me come because if not, I might not survive.
He speaks no more words. His grunts and moans fill the surrounding space until he spills inside of me. A few more thrusts and I would have been thrown over the edge with him.
Sadly, he stills his hips as he empties himself. He is careful to pull out, knowing how sensitive I fucking am.
“Fuckkk.” He draws out the word. “I’ll never get tired of you.”
He cleans me off first, although I didn’t come, then he wipes himself off. The cool air hits the skin on my wrists once he unhooks the belt and slides it through the loops of his pants.
Seeing as my sweats only made it to my ankles, Leo pulls them up for me.
My eyes remain forward, dazed with lust and frustration. Silently begging the man behind me for a release I know won’t come. A dryness takes over my mouth. I lick my lips, and my next words come out hoarse.
“Am I just a distraction to you?”
Leo stops what he is doing and peers at the side of my face. “What?”
“Am I only a distraction for you?” The question came out of nowhere, but I had to ask it.
“Is that what you think?” His hands rest on my hips.
“Maybe.” I shrug, my eyes falling to the spot I was lying in. “It’s just... that’s all I could ever be for you, right? A distraction because I can’t be anything else. I can’t be your girlfriend, that’s for sure. Not in this place.”
“If things were different, Veronica,” he says, my gaze finally meeting his. A hand leaves my waist and cups the nape of my neck. “I fucked you before all this shit happened with my mother. You are anything but a distraction.”
“What if things could be different?”
“They can’t. We’ve talked about this.”
I swallow hard. I hadn’t expected this next question to be so difficult to ask. I mean, this has been the plan all along. “What if we could leave here?”
His eyes scan my face, confusion etched into his expression. The thumb caressing the side of my neck pauses. “Veronica, we have also discussed this. You are not being released from this place.”
My jaw ticks. “I never said anything about being released.”
The touch of his hand lightens on my skin and my waist. He tilts his head to the side, taking a step back. His mind was working a mile a minute, and I saw the exact moment it clicked for him. “You want to escape?”
“Leo, I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to sneak around with you.” I take a cautious step forward. “I want to be with you every minute of every day. And not as my doctor.”
His face twists, hands running through his hair. “I can’t, Veronica. Do you have any idea what you’re asking me to do?”
“Yes. I completely understand, but I am willing to risk it for you. Can you say the same for me?”
“I care about you, Veronica, I do.” He takes my hands in his.
“Do you have feelings for me?”
“I shouldn’t. God, I shouldn’t feel the things that I do for you.”
“I feel the same.” That catches his attention. His eyes stare deeply into mine, unsure how a diagnosed sociopath can have feelings. “I don’t understand it, given how I am, but I know you make me feel. You’re the first person to reach into my black soul and find the hidden light. I didn’t know that my feeling things was possible, and trust me, when I say I’m not much of a fan, but I’m getting used to it because I have you to thank.”
A light shines in his eyes.
Pride.
Achievement.
He was the one to break through.
To fix me.
“We’d have to run,” he mutters quietly, more to himself than me. But it’s fine. He is considering the idea. Then he looks at me. “We’d be on the run and still hiding.”
“But we’d be hiding together, Leo. We’d have all this time to truly be together.” I squeeze his hand.
“I can’t run, Vee. Not with my mom sick.” That light dissolves in his eyes.
“I’m not asking you to drop everything right now,” I tell him. “I mean, we’d still have to plan it out, but we won’t do anything with your mom still fighting. And I don’t need an answer right now. Take your time and think about it. Think about whether whatever this is between us is worth it.”
His eyes hold mine. A million questions are hiding behind them, but all he does is nod in response to the fact that he will think about my idea. Lifting on my toes, I kiss him lightly.