A laugh bubbles up my throat.
He’s been training me to do just that, right? My shadow has been giving me the means to protect myself.
Against him.
Hot breath tickles my ear, sending chills down my spine. I close my eyes, biting my lip until I taste copper when I feel his body press into my back.
He keeps his hands to himself for now, but I know that won’t last much longer.
It’s no secret how much he loves to touch me without my permission.
“I’ll scream,” I threaten in a breathless whisper.
His breath fans across my neck as I feel him lean down. Soft lips brush the shell of my ear. Shivers cascade down my spine like a raging waterfall.
“That’s such a good little girl,” he replies.
I whip around, ready to tell him off, but not a syllable escapes when my lips are captured between his the second I come face-to-face with him.
Instinctively, I bite down on his bottom lip. A deep groan swirls through my mouth, spurring me to bite harder. Explosions riot from our connected mouths, along with the flavor of mint and a hint of smoke.
He tastes delicious, and I want him out of my mouth.
As if hearing my thoughts, his palm reaches up to wrap around the back of my head, his fingers tangling in the depths of my hair and pulling me impossibly closer.
And then I do something really stupid.
I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, lost in the taste of him. The feel of his lips against mine.
Realizing what I’m doing, I release his lip, attempting to pull away from him. His mouth is a drug, and just like the real thing, it causes me to make incredibly stupid decisions.
He doesn’t let me go and instead returns the sentiment. Sucking my lip into his mouth and delivering his own sharp nip. I gasp from the pain, granting him access and allowing him to invade my mouth.
My pussy responds in kind, throbbing from the feel of his tongue. Memories bombard me, remembering what that tongue felt like sliding against my clit.
An involuntary moan escapes, and the second he tastes my body’s betrayal, his kiss turns fierce.
He completely consumes me, sucking and licking my lips and tongue in a way I’ve never experienced. I’m helpless to stop him, just as I am helpless to fight it.
Another growl pings through my mouth, my only warning to his next move. He grabs my waist and twirls me right up against a mirror, pinning me against the cool glass as his body molds into mine.
“Such a good fucking girl,” he praises against my mouth before wrapping my swollen lips into another bruising kiss.
Breathless, I force my head away, sucking in precious oxygen. He clamps my cheeks between his large hand, growling against me.
“Give me those fucking lips,” he snarls, forcing his tongue back into my mouth.
My hands wedge between our bodies, traveling up his stomach bulging with muscles to his firm chest. Roughly, I push him away, our lips separating with a loud smack.
“Wait, stop,” I pant, my mind foggy and discombobulated.
“What did I say?” he demands sharply. His mismatched eyes capture my gaze in a drug-inducing hold. It’s hard to look away when I feel like I’m looking into the eyes of a predator.
He is a predator.
“What?” I breathe, still dizzy from the kiss.
“If I catch you, I fuck you,” he repeats slowly, gravel lining his throat.
My mouth opens, but the words are slow to release.
“You’re not fucking me,” I refuse, pushing against his chest harder.
His lips whisper across my cheek, trailing along my jawline before dropping down to my neck.
“Because you’re afraid you’ll like it too much,” he concludes before delivering a sharp nip on my neck. My back arches, goosebumps rising on my skin from the chills. “Because you know that you’ll become as addicted as I am.”
“No,” I deny in a whisper. “Because I don’t want you to.”
He lifts his head, a knowing smirk on his lips.
“So, you’re going to be my bad girl tonight? Lie to my face and act like your pussy isn’t aching to be filled up with my cock.”
I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, a mix of anger and embarrassment.
“Not everything has to come down to physical attraction,” I respond finally. “Maybe my body wants you, but up here”—I tap my temple— “doesn’t.”
He nods his head slowly, his eyes flitting across my face in contemplation. He takes a step back, leaving me bereft and cold.
It feels like a black shroud encasing the sun on a hot summer day—just a sudden, bone-chilling cold.
He grabs my hand and pulls me away from the mirror. He spins me until I’m looking at the countless reflections that surround us, echoing our image from every angle.
I watch him through the mirror. He presses his body back into mine, his warmth soaking into my pores once more. My eyes settle on one mirror, our eyes clashing through the glass.
Slowly, he bends down until his mouth is right at my ear, his eyes never straying from mine.
“You want to know why I love the house of mirrors?” he murmurs in my ear, eliciting sparks throughout my nerve endings. His voice is full of dark promises and dangerous beginnings.
I swallow thickly. “Why?” I whisper.
“Look around you,” he commands softly. Hesitantly, I pull my eyes away from his, dragging my gaze across the dozens of mirrors.
“What you’re seeing now is what I see every day. No matter how far I run, how hard I try to escape you—you’re everywhere I go. You’re everything I see. Loving you is like being trapped in a house of mirrors, little mouse. And I’ve never felt so at home while being so lost inside you.”
My breath hitches, my eyes snapping back to his.
My heart tripped and fell down a flight of stairs the second the word 'love' came out of his mouth. A word he tossed out so casually, I'm not sure if it's a confession or not.
"I don't think you know what love is," I whisper.
He grunts with amusement. "I don't think anyone does, baby. Love is an enigma, and it's redefined every time someone says it."
I frown. All I can feel is disappointment. Not because of what he said, but because of how fucking easy it was for him to accomplish what he set out to do.
Just like he wants, a reckless, impulsive feeling consumes me. All I ache to do is let him have me. So many nights, where he’d sneak into my bed and take advantage of my weakness—whether the weakness was in my body or brain—he used that against me time and time again. But he never took it all the way, and every morsel inside my being has been waiting for this moment. Anticipating it.
I’m dying to deny him, yet I have to fight my body from turning and pulling him into me.
Maybe just this once…
I bite my lip, rolling the bruised and abused lip between my teeth.
He watches me closely, studying every movement like he’s trying to interpret a dead language hidden in the lines of my body.
“Are you only saying that because you think it’ll work?” I ask, my voice husky and uneven.
His mouth is still angled towards my ear, with his eyes locked onto mine. Slowly, he shakes his head, his face severe and gaze intense.
“You’re telling the truth?” I push, my voice hitching with the desperation for him to just lie and tell me no.