11. Zela #2
Usually, he wouldn’t be a problem. I’ve never seen Jace fight, but I can imagine it’s just as chaotic and messy as he is.
Ozy taught me everything he knew, and I’ve continued to learn in and out of the ring over the years.
Jace is taller than I am, but he’s also mostly made up of lean muscle.
If he didn’t have that damn knife, I’d like my odds a lot more.
I’m not sure what I expected—anger, annoyance, him reaching out to try to take what he wants.
What I didn’t expect was the sinister smile that split his face or the sharp bark of laughter.
It’s sheer luck that he’s closed his eyes again and misses the way I flinch from the harsh sound as it echoes out around the room.
“I knew you would be so much fun. You're not like every other girl, are you, my Little Fox?” he asks lazily, peeling his eyes open to stare at me before taking a step toward me. He’s so close now that one simple move and his dick would no doubt poke me in the damn stomach, but I don’t move away.
He towers over me, trying to make me feel small, weak, and less than him.
It’s something predators love to do, but unfortunately for him, I’m not prey, not anymore.
Instead of cowering, I crane my neck back to meet his gaze, keeping myself perfectly still even as the cold steel of his blade comes to rest against my throat.
He doesn’t push hard, simply letting it rest there, but I know a threat when I see it, or in this case, feel it, and I have no doubt Jace’s threat isn’t empty.
I see the hunger for blood in his eyes. It’s the same look I’ve seen in my own on occasion, the one that scares the shit out of me.
The reason I still fight after all these years, after I should have long run out of anger and pain to take out on others.
“We're not so different, you know. I’ve seen the way you crave it in the ring—the violence, the blood, the power. We all have our demons. Some of us just embrace them a little easier than others. Imagine what we could be together, Little Fox, the high we could chase.” He leans in, and I feel the head of his cock as it presses to my stomach, the sticky pre-cum that smears against my bare skin, and I grit my teeth to stop the knee-jerk reaction to recoil.
“I’m not gentle. I don’t have it in me, but I don’t think you want that, do you? No, I think you want me to make you scream for me,” he says, leaning in and pressing his cheek to the side of my mask, nuzzling against it. “I’m going to fuck you until you forget everyone else.”
His hand suddenly grips my hair, yanking my head to the side and holding it in a punishing grip. If I pull away, I’m likely to lose a good chunk of hair.
Fuck, he’s faster than I thought he was. This isn’t the same Jace who just chased me through the house, and I get the feeling he was playing with me then.
This isn’t a game to him, though. No, right now I’m his prize, and he won’t let me slip through his fingers the way I did last night.
“Until I’m the only one your pussy craves. Until you wake in the middle of the night, missing me, ready to beg for me…” he trails off as he drags his knife slowly up my neck, behind my ear.
He leans down, pressing his nose to my neck and breathing me in with a strangled moan.
Fuck!
With all the strength I can muster, I slam my palms to his chest, shoving him back. Thanks to his hold on my hair, he doesn’t go nearly as far as I’d hoped he would, and I feel the unmistakable yank of some strands as they snap, left in his fingers as a trophy.
Of all the things he could do with that knife, cutting off my mask would probably be among the worst, and I’m not being dramatic.
I think I’d rather he cut me. At least then Reed could patch me up, but if he finds out it’s me under this mask, I have a feeling he won’t be as thrilled as he thinks he is to have me.
Right now, as Vixen, I’m a new shiny toy he’s had his sights on for a while. He might be unhinged, but I’m mostly safe, at least as far as my life goes, because he wants me.
As Zela, I’m just his annoying stepsister, who he already can’t stand. If he takes off my mask and finds out I’ve been running around invading his thoughts, well, I don’t think my chance of getting out of here would be very high.
The second he stumbles back, I’m moving.
I turn and sprint for the door. It’s not far, but I hate the feeling of him at my back.
I’d underestimated his speed once already; I won’t do it again.
But that simple shove wasn’t enough for me to get away.
I’m too tired after my fight. I’d drawn it out too long, needing the release I only get from being in the ring after dealing with them the last week, and now it will cost me.
My hands press against the cold steel of the door, and for a moment, I think I’ve made it. My heart pounds in my chest, thinking I’m going to make it out, only for it to be snatched away at the last moment.
The door barely opens more than an inch before I’m yanked backward, hard enough that I almost lose my balance and end up sprawled out on the floor. By some stroke of luck, I manage to stay upright, awkwardly turning, hunched forward from his hold on my braid.
God damn it! It looks like I need to start carrying around a knife of my own. If I had one, I’d happily sacrifice my long hair to get away. I’m sure it beats the hell out of the alternative.
“Whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going, huh? If you wanted to leave the mask on, all you had to do was say so, baby. I’m all for the kinks, no shame here,” he says with a chuckle, using my braid like a leash to yank me toward him.
I stumble forward with the awkward angle until I’m face-to-face with his still rock-hard cock and the shiny metal ring in the tip.
Based on the way it throbs and the rope of pre-cum that drips from the tip, it would appear that the only thing I succeeded in doing was to excite him more.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My brain goes into overdrive as I try to think of a way out of this. There are a lot of things I could do, yet almost none of them guarantee my escape with him armed.
I’ll just have to bite him and hope he’s not so crazy that he enjoys it or hates it so much that his first reaction is to stab me.
The door slams into the wall from behind me, and Jace freezes.
He doesn’t release me, but he doesn’t pull me closer, so I’ll count that as a win for the moment.
Usually, nobody comes back here after the fight, but tonight that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I don’t give a shit who it is, though; they might just be my savior even if they don’t know it yet.
I glance up through my lashes at Jace and find his lips pulled down in a frown.
“Jace.” Isaac’s voice is quiet, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say he almost sounds disappointed.
“Fuck off,” Jace snarls, clearly not as happy as I am to see his brother.
“Yes, I’d love to. Yet somehow I’ve been tasked with coming to find you,” Isaac says, and I can hear his annoyance even if I can’t see his face.