CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
RAZOR
With a thump in my throat, my fingers trail the mist along Bunny’s arm, her warm, olive tan absorbing the filter of moonlight.
“My body was designed to accept you inside it, Raze.”
“I need you. I think I always have.”
“My body was designed to accept you inside it, Raze.”
“I need you. I think I always have.”
“My body was designed to accept you inside it, Raze.”
“I need you. I think I always have.”
She won’t take this away from me. She wouldn’t. She needs me just as much as I need her.
God-fucking-damn it. Ora’s bed is searing through my back. Which is fucked. Because I finally have my girl molded flush against me, the smell of her sweet pheromones emanating in warm gusts from the backside of her neck, and I’m in her bed, keeping her safe and sound while she sleeps.
My brain’s not getting the memo that I should be rewinding on how perfect it was sliding inside her.
Or how fucking pretty she looked taking me, the way she opened herself even more and hiked her leg higher like she wanted me in her lungs.
Or how she fully committed her life to my hands and was just gonna let me take that shit while making her come.
No. I have a goddamn parasite. And she’s a couple doors down.
Her not wanting to sleep in her own bed because I’m in here is suspicious. I don’t like it. And I don’t like that she’s the only one that comes to mind when I think of someone trying to pull some Freddy Krueger shit on Bunny. You know, the alarm clock?
Why would Ora give a fuck about Bunny getting up at certain time?
That’s my job.
And why do she and Xene talk about my baby bunny in suggestive ways? Why would they draw up some fucked illusion like they’d actually get the chance to see her that way, get her clothes off and feast on her like she’s their prey?
How long has Xene felt like this? Has Ora done anything to Bunny while she was sleeping? If not, would she? Was she sneakin’ fuckin’ peeks? Was Xene? Is that why he opened her door and gawked at her the other day?
I can’t sleep. This is irritating the piss out of me.
Gently pressing my lips to Bunny’s shoulder, I hesitantly slip away from her, silently getting out of her bed and moving across the room, before breaking my own heart by opening the door and leaving her.
It’s impossible to fight the temptation of looking back through the hole, just for another look at her, the girl I’ve been losing my damn mind over.
Legitimately. I’m almost certain I have chunks missing from my brain from how much time I’ve spent thinking about Bunny. In place of those pieces are visuals of her.
I said she tames me. That doesn’t make me any less insane.
The white comforter is tucked between her legs, and her hair is draped around her face, tousled up on the pillow, her loosely folded body garnered in a haze of moonlight.
I love you, Bunny.
Which is why I’m choking down my infatuation and heading down the hallway with adrenaline numbing my arms. Really, I think the only reason I didn’t toss the gear in reverse and peel out of the library when Bunny initially told me is because I was jacked up on getting alone time out in the normal world with her.
That doesn’t make it okay. So, don’t rationalize it, too.
Fucking hate me. I would. I do. I only like myself when I’m with Bunny.
Sighing so deep it’s mute, I sneak into my own goddamn room, instantly targeting Ora being the big spoon to Xene’s little spoon. It’s not surprising. At all. I’m a little too numb to feel any way about it other than annoyed.
I don’t close the door all the way. I keep it open just enough for the edge of the door to meet the doorframe and take silent steps over to the side of his bed, my eyes carving through Ora’s exposed, sweaty backside.
She stirs, most likely from the uncomfortable presence looming behind her, giving me the upper hand by rolling onto her back.
She’s naked. But wrath doesn’t wait for your ass to be decent. No. The fury is rattling me down to my knees, my body shifting over hers until my face is the first thing she’ll see when my close breath wakes her up.
Ten seconds go by. Maybe thirteen. I don’t know, I’m not actually counting. It’s long enough for my eyes to get a little dry, so I’d say that’s in the ten to fifteen second range.
Her lashes jitter, cracking open around dark marbles that immediately shoot wide with horror. A yelp starts to slip through her nose, her throat bulging with an audible swallow to force the sound down.
“Hello,” I whisper.
She blinks, her body going stiff. “What’re you doing?”
“What’re you doing?”
“Sleeping.”
“Mm-hmm… I see that.”
She blinks hard, tensely yanking the sheet up her chest. “Can I fucking help you with something?”
“Yeah, I wanna know what your angle is.”
“Angle?” her brows plunge, her head shaking. “What fucking angle?”
My teeth bare, inching closer to her terror. “Bunny.” I tilt my head, trapping her in place with both hands on either side of her pillow. “Let’s start with the alarm clock. Why’d you cut it, huh? The fuck you think you’re doing messing up her schedule?”
Her brows tighten even more, her eyes flaring wide and her chest rising quickly. “Alarm clock? I didn’t touch her fucking alarm clock,” she whispers aggressively.
“Why’re you gettin’ defensive if you didn’t do it?”
“Because you’re accusing me,” she spits, her face screwing up.
“Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, Ora. I won’t tolerate anyone trying to wedge themselves between Bunny and me. You know, you’re real lucky you still have that sharp tongue in your mouth. Try some more shit and your head will be rollin’ next.”
“I didn’t do it!”
Xene shifts, shaking her around beneath me. But he could sleep through her being brutally slashed alive right next to him. So, I don’t spare a glance to the groan he lets out before his teeth start grinding.
I narrow my eyes at her and she squints, her jaw flexing tight with a vexed gnash of her teeth. “What if she did it herself? Maybe she wanted an excuse to have you walk her to her tent because she was scared of Carl.”
Bunny wouldn’t do that. She’s trying to get out of this right now by flipping it into something romantic.
The coolant in my veins turns hot, splicing my vision for a moment with a macabre image of ripping her lying mouth off. With a growl of theatrical thought, I move back up to my feet and start walking away.
I let her think I’m leaving her alone. You know, doing the whole getting my hand on the doorknob thing, then turn around to her watching me with round eyes and a firm double grip on the navy sheet. “Careful, Ora. Friends don’t mean shit to me.”
With that, I’m leaving her in the room and cutting into the bathroom.
Gotta piss. Do you mind?
The sun’s scanning the room, sinking into her glistening skin like light glinting off water. I brush my knuckles across her throat, marveling the path of my mouth, slowing down along the individual blots of dark blue from my teeth.
A faint twist of guilt stirs low in my gut. I don’t feel bad for playing into her deranged interests. But she used to be bruised for wicked reasons, and there’s a little voice in my head telling me this isn’t any different. That I’m not different than him.
It is, though. She likes my roughness. She let me bite and control her air.
But is it because of him? Does she remember?
“She will eventually. You know it’s not a permanent solution to your problem.”
“Shut up,” I whisper, inhaling heavily for a huff.
The first time I ever saw her plays behind my eyes, softly drawing my fingers through the indentation of a crescent moon between her collar bones.
Ding-ding!
“Step right up, folks! Feast your eyes on the unbelievable acts of the Contortionist Twins! Don’t let the innocent faces fool ya!”
Yuck.
His loud voice fades, taking the turn down the aisle stretched through tents of peculiar performances earning claps and whistles. I scan each A-Frame, looking for the woman that’s supposed to be my fucking guide. But here I am. Guiding my damn self because she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.
Annoyed with this shit already, I shake my head, looking each way with my hand tightening on the strap of my bag. I almost pass up a tent on my left. But the distant hum of a siren stops me in my tracks, pivoting around to check out the grayscale poster taped to the black and white tent.
Fuck.
Her hum lures me closer, my head tilting and my eyes dilating, greedily absorbing the image of big, innocent eyes staring up flattened brows to pose for the camera.
I check out the name, and sure enough, it’s the woman I was promised would hold my hand and show me around like a child.
I was pissed. I was stomping through here and playing with my lighter, like one wrong look would tip my butane out. But I don’t care anymore. She’s a fucking star, a mesmerizing comet surely sent to destroy me.
Roslyn Rabbit, a sweet-looking bunny I’ve gotta chase.
The door inching open behind me pulls me out of my head, quickly shifting my arm to cover Bunny’s tits, my palm spreading out over the farthest. I can sense her scales, so I don’t have to look, but my head’s turning in my hand and my eyes are splitting to the corner of my vision, piercing Ora tiptoeing to the closet in one of Xene’s shirts.
She shrugs, tensing her chin. “I need my clothes.”
Not responding, I watch her stiffly flip through hangers, the sound loud enough to stir Bunny awake.
As if the world’s largest disturbance isn’t in the room, I catch the moment Bunny’s hazel collects the light, unable to fight the smile cracking on my face. “Mmm, there’s my girl.”
Her eyes blow wide and she gasps, slicing apart the room to take in the daylight, then she’s shooting upright and clutching the sheet to her chest. “What time is it?”
“Uhh, like ten,” Ora answers.
I close my eyes to roll them, opening them back up to Bunny ripping the sheet completely off the bed with her tumble over the mattress.