Page 157 of Brainwashed

I purse my lips to smother even more psychotic smiles that want to hijack my lips. My hands run down to his ass and I squeeze. “Are you chasing me, monster boy?”

“What can I say?” He sighs. “I have daddy issues.”

I growl at him. “I’m thirty-seven. I’m hardly old enough to be your father.”

“Ehh… almost.” He beams, teasing me with that mouthy attitude of his.

I roll him onto his back, pinning him down with my body weight. “You need to watch your mouth… What does Joy call you?Killer bee?”

He laughs out loud. “Yes. Yes, she does.”

“I think it works.” I nuzzle my face into the crook of his neck, sniffing him and kissing his pulse.

“It does have a ring to it.” He becomes breathy in his state of arousal.

“What does my killer bee want for breakfast?” My head is all cloudy with desire. The warm cotton candy fuzz of this peculiar sensation… Being with him. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt before.

I just don’t get it, but he’s… He’s somehow carved his way into my chest.

When I realize he’s gone still, I pull back to find him staring at me. “How long do I get to stay here?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Until they tell me to bring you back?”

He cackles. “Boy, you really haven’t thought this through. What do you think The Ivory is gonna do when he finds out he’s unintentionally sharing a roof with me?”

I think about what he’s asking me for a moment, before I shake my head. “I imagine he’ll be upset. But then he’ll realize that the nature of my research is fundamental and he’ll be forced to let it go.”

“What if he fires you?” Felix asks, eyes all round and filled with sudden worry.

“I don’t think that will happen…”

“But you can’t be sure.” He begins to squirm. “No no no. I won’t go back to how it was before. I was solonely. I can’t do it again.” His eyes plead with me. “You can’t leave.”

I brush his chestnut hair back with my fingers in an attempt to calm him down. I knew this was inevitable with Felix. His attachment to me. I mean, he’s killed most of his lovers to keep them from leaving. And sure, he claims that he’s never wanted to hurt me, but that doesn’t mean that won’t change when I decide it’s time to leave.

The thing is that I’m not afraid of him… I think I’m afraid ofme. Because the idea of leaving suddenly makes my chest tight and twists my stomach up in knots like I might be sick.

“Felix, I know things have gotten complicated,” I tell him calmly. “But trust me when I tell you, you’ll be fine without me. You don’t need me for anything.”

“It’s not about need, it’s about want. Iwantyou.” He grows clearly frantic as I pull away from him, sitting back in the bed. He sits up as well, eyes widening in severity. “And if you try to leave me, I’ll fucking kill you, too. Just like the rest of them.”

My jaw clenches, and I hop off the bed. “Felix, enough.”

“I’m serious.” He follows me. “I’ll cut out your heart so I can keep it forever,” he hisses as he chases me around the room. “I’ll slice your face up to keep you smiling because you’re that important to me.”

“Felix! Enough,” I roar at him. He stops and blinks over round stormy eyes. “I do not respond to bullshit threats like this. Now cut the shit and act right before I have to take you over my goddamn knee.”

He’s quiet for a moment before he mumbles, “H-how do you know I won’t do it…?”

I step up to him. “Because I won’t fuckingletyou, that’s how. If I didn’t allow the last guy to take my life, then I’m sure as shit not going to die by the hands of a stubborn brat like you, who kills as his own form of temper tantrum.” He’s making a face like he still wants to defy me, to argue about it. So I grab him by the throat and he hums. “Go head, sick boy. You want to kill me? Now’s your chance.” We’re seething at one another, naked and panting, adrenaline jacked from both sides. I lean over him. “Do it. Idareyou.”

His dark lashes fan over his cheeks in heavy blinks as his pupils blow out and he wets his lips. When I feel something poking me, I glance down to find him rock hard, his erection pressing into my abs. It gives my balls a nice throb.

“I… I want blueberry pancakes. Please,” he rasps. “Extra butter and syrup.”

I eye him carefully. Stern, yet victorious. “Bacon or sausage?”

“B-bacon.” He shivers.