Prison Princess (Paranormal Prison) - CoraLee June Page 0,31
play at that game. If he didn’t give a shit about what had happened, then neither did I. Or at least I could pretend as much.
I got to my feet. “We should get going.”
“Do you want to eat something?” He pulled a bar out of his pocket.
I stared at it for a long second. “Nope. Not hungry at all. You go ahead and eat. You were uncomfortable and awake all night. I’d rather you not whine about being hungry all day. Have at it, Cypress. I’d love the silence, too. We can’t have your stomach rumbling.”
He opened and closed his mouth. “Suit yourself, Princess.”
I shrugged. “I will.” I trudged ahead of him, pointing left. “That way? Right? Oh, and thanks for last night, Cypress. I really do appreciate the orgasm. It’ll give me something to compare all future lovers with. It’s nice to have a scale upon which to differentiate.”
His mouth dropped open in an adorably dumbfounded expression. His cheeks turned a ruddy hue much to my satisfaction, and I raised my eyebrows, challenging him to respond.
Cypress took an angry bite of his food and chewed with a vengeance. His sharp jaw worked through the protein bar, while I made sure my face was impassive. Inside, I wanted to curl up and disassociate from the post-orgasmic bliss. But on the outside, I was as proud as ever.
“Let’s go,” Cypress finally gritted.
We walked in complete silence. It was hot and humid. Fat droplets of sweat dripped down my back, soaking his shirt. I was used to the grime. Living in a prison that didn’t prioritize hygiene conditioned me to ignore how gross I felt, but I couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. My hair was probably a mess. My legs were covered in dirt. I could still feel Cypress’s fingers on my body. I wanted to wash him off.
But more importantly, I didn’t want to meet my parents like this.
I made up my mind to break my vow of silence with Cypress when I heard running water in the distance. “Can we stop?” I asked while rolling my neck.
He paused and whirled around, as if he’d been waiting for me to break. My internal clock had been all out of sorts since Cypress kidnapped me, but I could surmise that we had been walking for a good three guard changes. “Why? Are you tired, Princess?” he gritted.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“No. I’d like to wash off before meeting my parents.”
“We don’t have time—”
“You want your money’s worth, right?” I asked, taking a step off the path and toward the sound of the running water. “Do you think my parents will give you the full bounty when they see the state I’m in? I have dried blood on my head, dirt on my knees, and I’m pretty sure I stink. There isn’t much to do with the clothes, but I’d like to, at the very least, rinse off.”
“We don’t have time. Your parents won’t care, Princess. They want you alive, not pretty.”
I rolled my eyes and continued to walk toward the sound of the rushing water.
“Princess, I said no.”
Yep, he had. And that had only pissed me off more. With nothing in mind except getting clean and away from his condescending tone, I ran for the water. My feet hurt. I wasn’t going to tell him that, but the running definitely laid the truth of just how sore they were in the forefront.
Still, it didn’t stop me. I wanted to get clean, and he wasn’t going to get in my way about it. I might not have cared quite this much if he hadn’t been such an ass about it. When it came down to it, if he’d told me not to grow wings and fly away, I might have figured out how to grow them just for the sake of telling him to screw off.
“Layne,” he called after me. “Don’t get in that water.”
Yep, I was getting in it. I’d never had freedom like this, and who knew what my life was going to be like once I got to my parents. What did it mean to be a princess? But just for this one moment, I was going to fucking run into that water because I could. No guards to nearly rape me. No warden to sneer. No psycho prison doctor to poke me with needles while staring at me with mean eyes. No fake, temporary friends to hate and betray me.
I kicked off my boots and threw