60. Cassandra Walker
Theo came home from the range sweaty and smelling like gunpowder. I glanced up at her from where I’d been perched on the couch, working through some emails in an attempt to offset the amount of bullshit I’d need to plow through the following morning.
Like every time Theo entered the room, she effortlessly commanded my attention, and suddenly, whatever email I’d been writing was a footnote in my mind.
I loved it when she came home from doing something physical. The musky, yet somehow feminine, scent of her sweat smelled better than whatever deodorant she wore, and it always had a powerful effect on me.
She was so fucking hot.
And she didn’t even try.
I watched her hungrily as she squirted a mouthful of water into her mouth from her green Gatorade bottle, casually wiping her lips dry with the back of her wrist as she made her way toward the bathroom.
“Hey, princess. It’s hot as fuck out today,” she said conversationally, seemingly unaware that I was unable to tear my gaze away from her as she moved through our home.
The muscles in her forearms were jacked from handling firearms all afternoon, and my mouth watered as I eyed the sexy veins that were currently pumped up and visible under her soft skin.
Her throat was shiny with sweat, and I had a sudden visceral image of what it would feel like to run my tongue up the side of her neck.
I squeezed my thighs together against the throb of heat that was gathering low in my abdomen, and I swallowed.
We hadn’t been intimate together since her concussion, and I suddenly felt like it’d been much too long since I’d last had the privilege of Theo’s taste on my tongue.
“Theo,” I found myself saying, and the tone of my voice caused her to immediately pause.
“Yeah?” she asked, turning to glance back at me, and she took one look at my face and faltered. I gave her what I was sure was a predatory grin and slipped up off the couch.
She swallowed as I stalked toward her, her dark eyes growing adorably wide as I snaked an arm around her waist.
Her t-shirt was damp from spending the afternoon at the outdoor range in the hot sun, and she smelled like sex and summertime.
Burying my face into her throat, I licked a hot path up her neck just the way I’d fantasized about moments before, and the monster in me purred in satisfaction as she quivered against me.
“You look really good right now,” I hummed in her ear, nipping at her lobe before sucking it gently into my hot mouth.
“F-fuck, Cass… I’m all gross and sweaty. Let me at least take a shower.” She laughed nervously, and I squeezed her lithe form tighter against me as a wave of cute aggression rolled through me.
She was so fucking adorable.
We’d been married for almost two months at this point, and she still got nervous and breathy whenever I showed any physical affection toward her. Almost as if she couldn’t believe I actually wanted her like that.
Like she thought it was too good to be true.
“But you taste so good like this…” I hummed against her hot, damp skin. She groaned and tilted her head back as I gave her another soft lick to punctuate my point.
“C’mon, Cass. I’m covered in dust and probably gunpowder and shit. Let me shower right quick, then I’ll let you do whatever you want to me, alright, baby girl?”
Reluctantly, I pulled away, giving her an annoyed pout.
“Fine. But don’t take too long. I missed you while you were gone.”
The surprised look on her face took me aback.
Again, I was struck with the impression that she almost couldn’t believe I was telling her the truth, and as endearing as it was, it frustrated me a little bit.
“Really?” she asked doubtfully, and I frowned.
“Of course. I always miss you when you’re gone.”
Theo’s eyes searched mine, as if she were expecting me to suddenly shout: Just kidding! Gotcha! I actually hate your guts!
And that somehow made me feel even more irritable.
We were literally married.
We’d already been through so much together in just the last month.
She’d told me about her past, and I’d told her about my monster.
Surely she didn’t still think this was just some silly ruse we were putting on for the partners at my work?
She was mine.
I’d told her she was mine… I’d told her she was forbidden from seeing anyone else while we were together.
I’d cleaned her up when she’d come home fucking wasted.
I’d nursed her back to health after that bitch had tried to kill her in the ring.
We slept in the same bed every night.
We shared a home.
Why did she still seem so surprised every time I showed her an ounce of affection?
‘She doesn’t believe she’s worthy,’ my monster hummed as it idly checked the sharpness of one of its long, curved claws. ‘For how intelligent you are, you can be rather dense at times, little killer.’
‘Ugh, shut up,’ I snapped internally, irritated that my monster was inserting itself in this private moment I wanted to have with Theo.
Warm fingers curled around my jaw, and Theo tugged me in for a deep, tender kiss. Her tongue slid into my mouth, and I melted into her as she languidly licked and sucked at my lips, as if my lipstick were made of honey and she wanted to clean it all off.
“Let me shower, then you can show me just how much you missed me, alright, princess?” she breathed once she’d pulled away, and I nodded, resting my forehead against hers.
“Alright.” I sighed, letting her go so she could get cleaned up. “Meet me in the bedroom when you’re done.”
Theo gave me a dark look, then winked, and my knees went weak at how fucking sexy she was.
“Give me ten.” She huffed before continuing–at a much faster pace–down the hall towards the bathroom.
Deciding ten minutes was more than enough time to put on something that would blow her fucking mind, I stalked after her and made my way to our room.
I would never tell Theo this, but it bothered me that she wouldn’t let me touch her the same way she touched me.
She seemed okay with clit play, but we’d never revisited any sort of penetration on her end. As much as I didn’t want to push her, it infuriated me that someone had taken that privilege away from me before I’d even had a chance to meet her.
Knowing I would never be able to give Theo the deep, bone-quaking vaginal orgasms she always gave me had me wanting to make what I could give her as amazing as possible.
So, while she showered, I dug into a drawer full of lingerie that I’d never had a chance to properly use with any previous partners.
I hadn’t cared to get dressed up for anyone else before, but I had a bit of a shopping problem and an obsession with lacey things.
It was almost as if I’d been unconsciously preparing for my relationship with Theo by building this collection of sexy underthings that I never seemed to actually wear.
I was glad I’d bought so many cute items now though, and I smiled as I pulled out several crimson pieces that I knew would put her jaw on the floor.
When she came out of the bathroom, I wanted to look so hot she would barely need me to touch her at all before she was coming for me.
I was slipping a silk robe over my final ensemble when I heard a screech from the bathroom.
What the fuck!?
Theo was screaming, and every instinct I had to protect her was suddenly on high alert.
‘Get your fucking gun!’ my monster roared as I moved to sprint toward the bathroom. My monster’s order had me pivoting, and I raced back into the living room to snatch my Beretta out of my Chanel bag.
‘Go! Faster! She’s still screaming!’ my monster snarled, and I sprinted barefoot back down the hall and burst through the door to the guest bathroom, just in time to slam right into a soaking wet Theodora.
“WHAT THE FUCK!!!!” Theo shouted. “I swear to god I fucking summoned that thing with the damn gardening comment!” Theo’s shrieks were sending explosions of pure adrenaline through my veins, and I instinctually pulled her behind me while simultaneously pointing my gun into the empty bathroom behind her.
“Theo… what? Why are you screaming? I thought someone was fucking murdering you!” I snarled, glancing over my shoulder to find her naked and quivering behind me. “What happened?”
Theo’s eyes were so wide I thought her eyeballs were going to pop right out of her head. She pointed with one shaking finger toward the shower, and I glanced over to see what she was pointing at.
It took me a moment to register what it was, but once I did, my whole body sheeted with goosebumps.
There, on the wall inside the shower, was a massive black spider.
“EW!” I screeched, backing up instinctually as Theo continued to literally hide behind me.
“I KNOW!” she cried, and I was so fucking grossed out by how big the spider was, I could barely register how high-pitched and uncharacteristically feminine her voice sounded.
“It could have touched me! How the fuck did it get in here? We’re like, forty fucking floors up!”
“I don’t fucking know! Ew! What the actual fuck!?”
“You have to get rid of it! I c-can’t. Cass, I’m so fucking afraid of spiders. I literally feel like it’s on me… Is it on me? Christ…. Now we have to light this whole condo on fire!”
“We’re not lighting the condo on fire!”
“Well?! What are we gonna do?”
Her gaze dropped to the handgun I was still clutching with a white-knuckled grip, and my monster wheezed with laughter as it realized where Theo’s mind had gone.
‘She wants you to shoot it!’ My monster cackled hysterically in my chest, and my cheeks flushed with irritation at how amused it was by the entire situation.
“Fuck… okay… shit… just… let me think…” I muttered, clicking the safety back on the gun so I didn’t accidentally shoot Theo while we tried to figure out how to get rid of the spider we were both clearly unequipped to deal with.
Suddenly, I had an idea.
“Stay here,” I ordered. “Make sure it doesn’t scuttle off somewhere. I’ll be right back.”
“What?!” Theo yelped. “You’re leaving me here with it?!”
“Just for a second. It’s not going to leap off the wall and attack you. Look at it. It’s just sitting there.”
“Okay, just… hurry. I hate this. Jesus Christ, why do they have so many legs? Nothing needs that many legs! It’s fucking excessive!”
I wholeheartedly agreed, but it was clear that as much as I hated spiders, Theo was obviously straight-up phobic and wouldn’t be much help in this situation at all.
Suppressing a disgusted shiver, I stalked down the hall and into the guest room where I kept my cordless vacuum.
I put my gun down on one of the end tables before opening the closet door and unclipping the vacuum from its charging port.
I popped off the roller head and reached up to the top shelf, feeling around a large box labeled ‘Theo, Bedroom,’ until I found the crevice tool. It was long and plastic and would give me even more distance from the nasty arachnid, so I could safely suck it up from at least a few feet away.
Then, the whole ass vacuum would be going out on my balcony in case the suction didn’t kill it, and it somehow managed to escape from the filter part.
Spiders were crafty fuckers, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
I stormed back to the bathroom, brandishing the cordless vacuum like a battle ax, and Theo stepped out of my way, still naked and clearly terrified.
Gritting my teeth, I positioned myself a few feet away from the shower and pointed the tip of the crevice tool at the spider, which still hadn’t moved at all.
My finger hovered over the trigger, and my entire body was alight with adrenaline as I tried to psych myself up.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…
‘It’s just a house spider, little killer. It’s not like it’s a black widow.’ My monster chuckled softly as I stood there, vibrating with anticipation.
‘How the fuck do you know!?’
My monster shrugged.
‘It’s good practice to understand things that have the power to kill you.’
‘You’re literally a manifestation of my own brain! You know what I know!’
‘It was on one of those discovery shows you have on all the time in the background while you clean. Just get this over with already so we can comfort our street fighter. She is terrified.’
‘Okay, okay… just… ugh. It’s so gross.’
‘Get rid of it then.’
‘I’m trying!’
‘... Would you like me to do it for you?’ my monster offered, and for one brief moment, I considered it.
All I had to do was open the door to its cage, and it could take over, just like it had with my mother… Then I wouldn’t have to deal with this awful task.
But… no.
I’d promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t rely on anyone else to save me ever again.
Not even my monster.
Not even for something as small as killing a damn spider.
‘No. I’ve got it.’
My monster hummed in approval, sounding almost… proud of me.
‘Yes, you do, little killer. Vanquish this pest, so we can make our street fighter feel safe again.’
‘Okay…okay… Ugh… here goes nothing…’
Then I pulled the trigger, and both Theo and I screamed.