Page 25
Story: Ache For Her
“Does it matter?” I spat back.
She played over her lip, negotiating with herself. I’d seen it a thousand times. The idea of not caring warring with the part of her that still gave a fuck. Mirrored in her eyes was what was inside me all the time. It was what drove me to Philly in the first place. If I was truly as heartless as I made myself out to be, I wouldn’t have given a fuck about getting revenge on some senior with a disappearing hairline. No, I wanted the world to pay for what they did to me. Just as I wanted him to equally pay for what he’d done to his granddaughter, making her feel unimportant as if her life didn’t even matter.
The goal was still the same, but the reasonings were different.
The guy on the floor moaned. I picked him up by the shoulder and set him down on his feet. He shook his head as if trying to make himself wake up. When he did, he got a glimpse full of Delilah again. He smiled, then moved toward her. I yanked him back, bringing him close to me. “Touch her and it’ll be the last fucking thing you ever do.” I turned his face toward me, my lengthening claw on his chin. “Do you understand?”
He nodded once.
“Thank you for your assistance,” I told him, all business like now. “But we’re all set, boy. Get dressed and remove yourself from the room. You can tell your superiors that there won’t be any more loud noises coming from this room.”
The young man swallowed, then yanked his clothes from the floor and put them on with a blank stare. It was easy to get people to do what I wanted. It proved difficult during highly emotional states like the one he was just in when he was all about Delilah, but now that had passed, he’d do whatever I said. Had he been a woman and was all about me during sex, she would’ve been easier to control. Well, unless, that person was equally as attracted to Delilah, which I couldn’t blame them. Regardless, our audience didn’t matter anymore and now that I knew how I would react, I would never invite anyone else in again. More trouble than it was worth.
The boy dressed himself and then left the room without a word, exactly as I instructed.
As soon as he was gone, I locked the door behind him and turned toward Lilah. She fought against sleep, her hand under the pillow as she lay on her side. The caked-on blood from her neck wound and tiny bite on her breast were dried and smeared. I stared at her until she passed out in sleep, having no idea the war I waged inside myself.
She’d called me the devil earlier, and she was one-hundred percent correct on that front. Now just to decide what to do about it.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twelve
Delilah
I awoke with a new set of clothes waiting for me. No doubt Simon had gone out and fished them from somewhere. It was a stupid thing, but I missed my wardrobe back home. One thing I did not find myself missing, though, was my grandfather. I tried not to think about it because it made this whole thing more real, but he was the reason why I was here. Still here. If I didn’t think about that part, I could pretend I’d met this charming, sensual guy in a flurry of sex and pleasure. But if I remembered what my grandfather had to do with it, I felt abandoned, and then I felt the torture pleasure-pain Simon put me through.
He wasn’t in the compartment at the moment, so I got up, showered, and dressed. When I walked back out, he was there, sitting in the same seat reading the same book. “Good morning.”
This time, I didn’t have to beg him to look at me. He stared at me over the top of the book. “Good morning, Lilah.”
His rich voice sent a shiver through me. “Are we almost there?”
His gray eyes glinted again. I’d noticed they did that when he was up to something. “We’regetting off in about a half hour.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. There was just something about the way he said that that I didn’t like.
“You better eat some breakfast.” He motioned toward the bowl of cereal and apple that lay on the table next to him.
I sauntered over to it, taking my finger and running it down the cereal box. “What about you? Have you had enough to eat?”
He grinned. “I admire how insatiable you are.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
He looked away. “Please eat. We have little time left, and I want to make sure you’re fed for the journey.”
“Journey? How far away is it?”
“Not too far.”
“So…?”
He looked at me again, annoyance tugging at his features. “We’re going on foot though. It’s quicker that way.”
Quicker? Last time I checked walking was never as quick as driving.
He gestured toward the food again, so I picked up the tray and took it to the bed. I didn’t realize until I started eating how hungry I was. I made short work of the offered food. As soon as I was finished, Simon took the tray away from me and then took my hand. He turned, grabbed his small bag, and we both left the room. His hand solidly in mine, we went to the end of that car and kept going until we were in the caboose. He peered out the very last window. “Yes, right on time.”
She played over her lip, negotiating with herself. I’d seen it a thousand times. The idea of not caring warring with the part of her that still gave a fuck. Mirrored in her eyes was what was inside me all the time. It was what drove me to Philly in the first place. If I was truly as heartless as I made myself out to be, I wouldn’t have given a fuck about getting revenge on some senior with a disappearing hairline. No, I wanted the world to pay for what they did to me. Just as I wanted him to equally pay for what he’d done to his granddaughter, making her feel unimportant as if her life didn’t even matter.
The goal was still the same, but the reasonings were different.
The guy on the floor moaned. I picked him up by the shoulder and set him down on his feet. He shook his head as if trying to make himself wake up. When he did, he got a glimpse full of Delilah again. He smiled, then moved toward her. I yanked him back, bringing him close to me. “Touch her and it’ll be the last fucking thing you ever do.” I turned his face toward me, my lengthening claw on his chin. “Do you understand?”
He nodded once.
“Thank you for your assistance,” I told him, all business like now. “But we’re all set, boy. Get dressed and remove yourself from the room. You can tell your superiors that there won’t be any more loud noises coming from this room.”
The young man swallowed, then yanked his clothes from the floor and put them on with a blank stare. It was easy to get people to do what I wanted. It proved difficult during highly emotional states like the one he was just in when he was all about Delilah, but now that had passed, he’d do whatever I said. Had he been a woman and was all about me during sex, she would’ve been easier to control. Well, unless, that person was equally as attracted to Delilah, which I couldn’t blame them. Regardless, our audience didn’t matter anymore and now that I knew how I would react, I would never invite anyone else in again. More trouble than it was worth.
The boy dressed himself and then left the room without a word, exactly as I instructed.
As soon as he was gone, I locked the door behind him and turned toward Lilah. She fought against sleep, her hand under the pillow as she lay on her side. The caked-on blood from her neck wound and tiny bite on her breast were dried and smeared. I stared at her until she passed out in sleep, having no idea the war I waged inside myself.
She’d called me the devil earlier, and she was one-hundred percent correct on that front. Now just to decide what to do about it.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twelve
Delilah
I awoke with a new set of clothes waiting for me. No doubt Simon had gone out and fished them from somewhere. It was a stupid thing, but I missed my wardrobe back home. One thing I did not find myself missing, though, was my grandfather. I tried not to think about it because it made this whole thing more real, but he was the reason why I was here. Still here. If I didn’t think about that part, I could pretend I’d met this charming, sensual guy in a flurry of sex and pleasure. But if I remembered what my grandfather had to do with it, I felt abandoned, and then I felt the torture pleasure-pain Simon put me through.
He wasn’t in the compartment at the moment, so I got up, showered, and dressed. When I walked back out, he was there, sitting in the same seat reading the same book. “Good morning.”
This time, I didn’t have to beg him to look at me. He stared at me over the top of the book. “Good morning, Lilah.”
His rich voice sent a shiver through me. “Are we almost there?”
His gray eyes glinted again. I’d noticed they did that when he was up to something. “We’regetting off in about a half hour.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. There was just something about the way he said that that I didn’t like.
“You better eat some breakfast.” He motioned toward the bowl of cereal and apple that lay on the table next to him.
I sauntered over to it, taking my finger and running it down the cereal box. “What about you? Have you had enough to eat?”
He grinned. “I admire how insatiable you are.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
He looked away. “Please eat. We have little time left, and I want to make sure you’re fed for the journey.”
“Journey? How far away is it?”
“Not too far.”
“So…?”
He looked at me again, annoyance tugging at his features. “We’re going on foot though. It’s quicker that way.”
Quicker? Last time I checked walking was never as quick as driving.
He gestured toward the food again, so I picked up the tray and took it to the bed. I didn’t realize until I started eating how hungry I was. I made short work of the offered food. As soon as I was finished, Simon took the tray away from me and then took my hand. He turned, grabbed his small bag, and we both left the room. His hand solidly in mine, we went to the end of that car and kept going until we were in the caboose. He peered out the very last window. “Yes, right on time.”