CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
RAZOR
Stepping out of the shower with a towel slung around my hips, I don’t feel clean. And no, not because I brutally fucking mutilated someone. I don’t give a shit about that. It’s cleaned up and gone now.
It’s because I watched the splinters in Bunny’s eyes as I walked away from her.
What else was I supposed to do, though?
God, I’m so pissed about this Ora shit. I wanna bind Bunny tight, make sure she can’t move beneath my weight, and knot my lips with hers, taste every inch of her mouth and forcefully stretch her pussy around me.
I want Ora to watch. I wanna make her uncomfortable, skin her lips from her face and taunt her with the fact that I still have mine to kiss all over Bunny with.
See why I walked away?
I’m bound to do something I can’t take back. Every nerve is frayed and zapping, creating this uncomfortable pull on my skin that makes me wanna claw out of it.
Really, going back to Bunny’s room and laying with her would soothe me.
But I can’t. Because when I look at her, all I can see is the photo crowding my head.
I imagine her feeling sneaky, trying to hide it, and my brain is twisting shit to come up with a variety of reasons as to why they’d even kiss in the first place, landing on one that’s threatening me to snap.
Is she in love with her? Does it make her feel sick? Am I being used to combat something that scares her? Have they done it before? What do they do when the lights go out and they’re alone in their room?
I inhale heavily, skimming my reflection in the mirror to grab my clothes. As I head out of the bathroom, the front door is screeching open.
Man, the fucking universe must be testing me right now. Because there’s no reason I should be running into the face I’m contemplating tearing apart.
My pulse flits, my vision going full sniper on Ora staggering inside the living room with Xene.
Don’t. Just-just walk off. Take some time.
Fuck. I don’t know if I can. My feet are solidifying to the carpet in the hallway, and there’s a compulsion I can’t break. I’m just staring at her smile, her tipsy laugh puncturing down my spine in the form of rusty needles.
Tumbling in together, Ora and Xene obliviously turn into the kitchen, yammering about something they clearly wanna piss their pants over.
Everyone else comes in shortly after, the loud chatter of a full house fading to the back of my mind. I’m still stuck here. In the same spot. Holding my clothes. Watching Ora.
Her eyes finally snag on me, her conversation with Xene and Gwen falling short. It must be unsettling.
Poor thing.
Her smile is dissolving and she’s quickly looking away, like she knows she fucked up. But she’s not sorry about it. Dread isn’t sinking her face. Her jaw is shifting and a smugness washes over her.
And that’s not something I’ve ever seen in her before.
Studying her stiffness, possibilities drain through my head.
She’s cocky. I’ll give her that. She’s headstrong and wouldn’t necessarily vomit if she was on my shit list. But I’m getting the feeling she’s the one that has feelings for Bunny.
Feelings Bunny most likely doesn’t know about because, let’s face it, my girl is awkward as fuck and would make it as obvious as she does with me.
“Did you cut my alarm clock?”
I get taken back to the truck, to the driver’s seat when I looked over at the defensive state Bunny was in. So much has happened, so many firsts with her and things that have excited me, I forgot to poke around the house for the fucking villain that messed up her routine.
I’m not sure I have to poke, though. The longer I look at Ora pretending to tune back into Gwen and Xene shooting the shit over old ass pizza and soggy nachos, the more I see the shapeshifter she really is.
I’m watching you.
As if she picks up the energetic exchange, her facade succumbs to worry, and she looks at me again.
“Raze… What’s up, my man?” Cash hums, slipping an arm around me for a rough pat on my shoulder.
He thinks I’m gone. Bonkers. Off my fuckin’ rocker. And maybe I am. But maybe tapping into my crazy has helped me see that shit in others.
“Just… thinkin’,” I respond numbly.
Which isn’t a lie. Now, I’m just waiting for Ora to look away first.
“Do you need to be chained up outside or something? Like, are we safe in here with you tonight?” Aries clips.
“Okay, ground rules!” Cash pulls off me, stepping into the center of the living room to get everyone’s attention. “We’re not talkin’ ‘bout it. It didn’t happen. If someone asks, nobody ever seen the fuck that marched on our turf. Got it?”
Ora’s no longer looking at me, so I don’t stick around for the nods, or the drum Xene beats on his chest.
No. No one’s safe, Aries.
Being deceived by Ora is a punch to the gut, has my head wrapping around each word and expression everyone in this house has fed me with.
How much of it was bullshit?
Goddamn it, this is how Bunny feels on the daily.
My lips puff with a huff, closing myself in my bedroom. After digging my phone out from a side pocket of my pants, I hesitate to grab the photo strip.
I do. I fuckin’ do. And I get irate all over again, crumpling it into a ball and gnashing my teeth tightly.
Viciously, I’m spiking everything onto the mattress.
I need a moment. I need to get dressed.
Keep Bunny safe. Make her happy. And don’t let her see those fucking files.
Pulling up my sweatpants, I hustle back to my bed with drips of water rolling down my back, some streaming from my hair and down my face.
There’s a sudden sense of urgency redirecting me. I’m hiding the photo strip under my mattress and slipping my phone into my pocket, then punching ass to get socks, shoes, and a T-shirt on.
I’ve never felt the need to hide my shit or stow away my weekly payouts. But I’m snagging my money from the dresser between our beds and shoving it in my pocket with my set of keys while heading out of the room.
I still need to get Bunny a new door. Or… I could move her into my room, get to see her, watch her night routine, keep her close, have her things with mine.
That sounds good. I like that.
It’s quick getting out of the house. Everyone’s always lost in their own world, so my thoughts of sharing confined space with Bunny go unbothered, pulling the door closed and booking it off the porch.
The park’s still open, though. Yippee.
Making it over to our swallowing path, choppy shots of hacking the axe into Junior and cleaning the photos off bug me.
They dismember the fantasy of easily sneaking across the floor to slip inside Bunny’s bed.
The images play briefly, haunting my mind, lingering on my skin, like waking up from a nightmare covered in residual sweat.
I wipe my neck, crunching over dehydrated grass and twigs, twisting and adjusting my posture to pacify the uneasiness rooting in my bones.
It may not be a big deal to you. But Bunny’s all I’ve wanted for so fucking long. I had my hands on her, had her in a position that catered to my desires. And now… now I couldn’t tell you where her pretty head is at.
In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t matter. I’m not letting her slip away. I’ll pester her like an infection until her blood is convinced to love me.
Alwayyss on my fuckinngg mind.
Huffing, I start to make the last few steps toward the land of chaos, but the ease dripping down my spine signals an alert to my brain.
I’m not alone. And there’s only one heavenly catastrophic presence that placates my aggression.
I have a little bunny hopping after me in the woods.
She’s really quiet, staying back far enough to not cast any shadows but not close enough for me to gauge the distance, like prey being cautious of a threat.
It slips a grin on my face, pretending like she still has the upper hand and stepping out into the chaos of bustling Vore.
She came after me.
I’m fucking dumb for sparing a full-blown smile. She could just be keeping an eye on me because she doesn’t trust me. But she’s following me. She’s taking time out of her night to watch what I’m up to.
I cut left, sorting myself on the widest path and swerving around all the walking bodies. She’s getting closer, still teasing me with a ghost of her presence. But, fuck, it’s a rush having her curious about me, regardless of the intention.
I’m rethinking things from earlier.
I didn’t tell her how pretty her fucking tits are, how insane the burnt sienna shade of her most intimate pieces drives me. I had her right there, had her sweet iron water coloring my tongue, her nipple ready for my fucking mouth.
And I walked away.
I had her rubbing her pussy for me, bleeding for me and breathing an angelic song.
And I walked away.
You’re so fucking stupid.
The tightness of my cheeks retracts, the overworked muscles sore from expressing my thrill. I wipe over it, brutely rubbing down my mouth and setting a target on the ticket booth for the Globe.
I don’t know the brunette working inside, popping on her gum while clacking away on her touchscreen. It’s a different college kid each time I come to collect. Because, as you can see, she has better things to be doing.
Damn, must be extremely tarnishing making a decent wage stashing cash in a box and waiting to hand it over to safe hands.
Oh, the suffering. The ailment. Such a dreadful thing.
Fucking bitch.
Blowing a big, pink bubble, she looks away from her glowing screen, giving me a catty eye from the other side, her back arched to rest over the plane of the booth.
“Cash box,” I tell her, my hand sticking out impatiently.
Her bubble pops, her tongue stretching out to wrap around the gum and tug it back into her mouth. She doesn’t make a peep. Just locks her phone in one hand and leans over to grab the metal box and pass it to me.
Getting a grip around it, I tip the impressive weight her way with a fake grin, showing my appreciation for her cooperation. Usually, I take it to Carl’s office where he counts, splits, and keeps the majority of the cash himself.