Chapter 26
Adler
After a few minutes of calming down and Nico laughing at me for being an idiot, I head back into the foyer to see if Violet really did leave.
I sigh when I see every bill I had thrown at her scattered across the floor and that she’s gone.
I rush outside, seeing her sitting on the curb at the end of my long driveway. At least she hadn’t made it far.
I walk down the driveway until I can sit on the curb beside her, surprised that she hadn’t picked up a single bill, or if she had I can’t see it on her person. “You haven’t left.” I mention once I’m seated beside her.
Violet shrugs, her focus on the dead-end street in front of us. “I don’t know how to get home.” She answers.
I do live pretty far from the city that I had picked her up in. There are no cabs that will come this far unless you call them, no bus stops, and almost no traffic aside from my unit. “Do you want me to call you a cab?” I ask.
Violet doesn’t answer but she also doesn’t get up and walk away from me. She just keeps her gaze on the empty street and her arms crossed across her chest.
“I can unlock that collar if you’d like.” I offer when she doesn’t respond to me. “Apologize, asshole.” The alien part of me shouts in my head, forcing me to ignore him.
Again, she doesn’t look at me. She just shrugs her shoulders and tightens her arms across her chest. “I’ll cut it off when I get home.” She answers flatly.
I don’t like the silence and indifference that she’s giving me right now, it’s so unlike the last month that I’ve had her. I sigh and put my hand on her thigh, squeezing her slender leg for a moment. “Come back inside. We need to talk about this.” I beg.
Finally, Violet looks at me, a broken look across her face and tears in her eyes. “I thought I loved you and you think I’m just some cheap hooker from the ghetto.” She says with a quiver in her voice that makes my chest ache.
“We love you too.” My alien side shouts in my head. I shake my head, silently telling him to shut up, to stop talking nonsense just because he wants to knot her tomorrow.
“I didn't say you're just some cheap hooker.” I protest. I would never say that about her, she's so much more than that to me.
Violet scoffs, turning so far away from me that I'm staring at her back. “She's just a hooker anyway, it's not like she's valuable.” She quotes in a mocking tone.
I squeeze her thigh in my hand once more, trying to gain her attention without any luck.
“That's not what I meant. Listen, I'm sorry that I told him, I didn't realize this was supposed to be a secret and I didn't want to upset you like I have. Can we please go back inside and talk about this?” I beg.
Violet scoffs, looking away from me again and doing her best to be discreet in wiping her eyes. “It wasn’t what you said but how you feel about me that hurts.” She admits.
I squeeze her slender thigh in my hand again, sliding my hand further up her leg until my fingers graze between her legs, but I won’t try anything with her right now.
“It’s not how I feel about you, I don’t know why I said that.
Please come back inside with me. I’ll send Nico home and we can talk about this, okay? ” I offer.
Violet sighs but she nods her head without answering me and lets me stand up and pull her to stand as well. I know she doesn't forgive me; she just doesn't want to go home empty-handed, but I'll take it.
I walk inside with Violet, my hand on the small of her back the entire way. She, however, never looks up from the ground. She keeps her gaze low, likely feeling embarrassed to face Nico. I don't blame her, not after finding out how I made her feel by telling him how we had met.
Nico is waiting for us right inside my front door when we walk in, a smug smile on his face. “Leave.” I state flatly, walking upstairs without another word.
I guide Violet upstairs and into the bathroom, starting the tub without a word. We’re both silent while I strip her clothes from her body and strip my own until we’re both exposed and the tub is full of steaming water and bubbles.
I lay behind Violet in the oversized tub, putting her back against my chest while she sits between my legs and my arms band around her waist. “What are you looking for with this? With me?” I ask.
Violet doesn’t answer my question, but her fingers leisurely stroke through the large bubbles in the steaming water. “What are you?” She asks curiously.
I chuckle at her avoiding what I asked, kissing the side of her neck a few times. She feels stiff and robotic in my arms, like she's faking how okay she is with coming back inside with me. Either way, I got her this far and I don't intend to let her go again until our deal is up.
“I was just a man; my whole unit was just normal people.
We were experimented on when we got out of the service.
They injected us with alien DNA, hoping we'd turn into mindless killing machines that they could control.
But it didn't work like they planned, the aliens bonded with us, it's almost like a partnership in our bodies now.” I answer honestly.
I kind of expected that question from her on the first day, but I don't know if I would have answered it so soon. “Why haven’t you shifted fully again since the first night?” She asks.
I rub my hands along her waist, keeping her steadily against me while the hot water soothes both of our tired bodies. “We usually only shift to hunt, knot, and mate. The town doesn't know what we are and who all are like us, we'd prefer to keep it that way.” I explain.
Violet does a little “hmm” and sags into my embrace more. “Then why did you fuck me like that?” She asks next.
“I was horny, and both my alien and I agreed that you smelled delicious. Plus, you were willing.” I answer with a shrug. It’s not often when I knot women; I prefer to fuck them as myself and keep him at bay, but I smelled her that night at the brothel and couldn’t help myself, neither of us could.
“I didn’t know what I was signing up for.” She answers with. She's not wrong, I kept a lot from her to get her into my bed. I'm not even so sure that without the money she'd even still be here.
Violet and I lay together in the water for a while, surprising me that she's allowing me to touch her and to keep her against me. But I still need the answer to what I asked. “What do you want from me?” I ask again.
Violet sighs and I can even feel how nervous she is to answer, that or she doesn’t know how to answer, I’m not sure.
I just feel her hesitance practically radiating off of her.
“I want everything, a cheesy fairytale with the typical happy ending.
I guess in your world I'd want to be your mate.” She admits.
“I can't give you that.” I admit. I’m not that man, I’m a monster. I’m too obsessed with my job, I’m selfish, and I enjoy watching her suffer a little too much. “Yes, we can!” My alien argues in my head, but he's wrong, we can't.
Yet again, Violet sighs heavily and closes her eyes.
“I know…” She whispers. I know it has to hurt to know that she wants something she can never have, something I can never give her.
I pretend not to notice a few tears falling down the perfectly smooth skin of her cheeks, but it kills both sides of me to see her sadness and know it's my fault.
I keep her close and against me, one of my hands wrapping around the back of her thigh until she’s curled up tighter against me. “How about you quit that brothel, I’ll pay for somewhere nice to live, somewhere on a good side of town, and we can regularly meet.” I offer.
I don’t want to stop seeing her; she’s the perfect pet, and frankly, I’ve felt more for her than I’ve ever felt for anyone. I just can’t give her what she wants at the same time that I can’t wash my hands of her.
Violet shakes her head no, making me look down at her in time to see a few more tears leak down her face. “It’s not enough.” She answers quietly.
I knew it wouldn’t be and it’s not fair to give her less than she deserves, but I’m a selfish man and I at least had to try. I sigh and rest my forehead on her shoulder while she leans into me. Basking in what may be one of the last intimate moments we will ever have.