seems to come to the surface.
“Why did you leave me?” I ask him.
I have no idea where it came from, but I need to know.
The fact that I’m not even fighting him feels like a betrayal. And I hate myself because it’s not down to the horrible things he does to other people—which is the reason I should be fighting him. It’s because he left me. That’s the reason not fighting him feels like I’m betraying myself. Selfishly, I have to know.
His hand runs up the side of my body and lingers underneath my breast. Out of instinct, I flinch at his touch.
Baron sighs behind me and I feel his chest deflate. “If I told you, you wouldn’t react like this. And I do so love it when you react like this. You’re like a little mouse trapped inside a ring with a tiger.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” I say.
He spins me around so we’re face-to-face, slamming me back hard against the wall.
“You want me to explain it to you, but I cannot. You want me to put you at ease so you feel better about the fact that you want to touch me—that you want me to touch you—but I will not.” His hand comes around my neck now, and he moves in closer. My chest presses against his, and yet again I feel my own heart pounding against something hard. “Tell me, do you like it when I touch you?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Really?” He trails his other hand down my side and grasps my hip, pulling me in even closer until his cock is lodged firmly between us.
“I kill people.” His hand tilts my head up toward him.
“I make a business out of suffering. I feed off the fear of others,” he continues, bringing his head down so I can feel his breath against my wet cheeks.
“People shake in distress when I enter the room, and I live for it.” His cheek brushes against my own, and I shiver despite all the horrible things that are pouring from his mouth. “I torture people and I enjoy it. I play with people because it sates my boredom. I took you because I wanted to do those things to you.”
“Stop it,” I tell him, putting my hand on his chest.
“Why? Am I scaring you?” Baron asks, his tone a taunt.
“Yes,” I tell him. Yes. That’s not a lie.
He chuckles. “But you are not scared of the things I just admitted. You are scared because, despite all of that, you still like it when I touch you.”
“I’m not a saint, Baron,” I argue. “You took everything away and replaced all of it with you. I’m not stupid. I can see that much. If I like it when you touch me, it’s because of what you’ve done to me. It’s an illusion.”
I hold my breath while I wait for his reaction. Somehow, I don’t think a man with an ego as large as his will take kindly to me calling it all fake.
But he just laughs it off, as if it’s nothing more than the water falling from his shoulders. “You never fail to surprise me, sweet girl. And that is why I keep you.”
He crashes his lips against me and unlike last time, there is nothing gentle in this kiss. Every part of him dominates every part of me, his whole body acting like a cage.
When he eventually lets up, it’s only so he can gasp for air. I try to catch my breath, but it’s impossible with all the steam surrounding us.
He doesn’t give me a second. He grabs me and pushes me across the enclosed space, slamming me into the wall at the side that used to be his. “Even in the dark, I can find you so easily,” he says from across the cubicle. “Try to run from me. Try to escape. Do you remember what I told you, that day in my office?”
I shake my head while I cling to the wall, before remembering how useless that is. He can’t see me. He’s said so many things to me in that office, I have no idea which one he’s talking about. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’ve just given me the keys to my own perfect little kingdom,” he says with a laugh.
I have no idea what he’s talking about, but the water pattern shifts as he moves closer and I have a feeling I’m about to find out.
He grabs me again, this time forcing