Page 27 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)
Chapter 26
Trauma Bonding
S everal more days passed, the Host remained oddly silent, and we continued our previous pattern.
Enzo and I would train together. Jayce and Levi would grapple. The only difference was the intermittent visits from Maverick. Since I had shared who 189 was and my experience with Ivan, it seemed Maverick needed to keep sight of us all.
On the fourth day of his lurking, I finally got fed up. I was stretching solo in the living room when Maverick entered and made himself comfortable on the ground in my line of sight. Levi and Jayce were discussing something in the other room, and Enzo was showering.
“What do you want? Is this some kind of psyche out?” We hadn’t spoken since the day I laid bare my pain and history with Ivan.
Maverick flinched, shutting the notebook in his hands. It was never more than a few feet away. “I don’t know what you mean,” he stated icily.
I leaned down until I was inches away from his face. “I think you know exactly what I mean.”
“I don’t,” he stated decidedly, eyes narrowing. The mask was still in place. I hadn’t seen his or Enzo’s entire faces. The thought infuriated me.
“Oh, okay!” I growled the words, my anger began to burn out of nowhere. “I share my most painful memories, and all you do is pity me and hide your face behind this mask!” I reached down to tap his mask, and his hand snaked out, grabbing mine before I could touch it.
He used his grip to pull me down into his lap.I landed a mess of limbs, but he didn’t react; he simply repositioned me until I straddled his form.
“You want to know what my problem is?” Maverick hissed the words out. “You!” He rolled his hips up, and I felt his unmistakable bulge rub against me. I didn’t have time to react before his lips were crushing mine. His kiss was full of fiery rage, and I threw it back at him.
How dare he? Confusing, tumultuous emotions swept through me as he deepened the kiss. I reached out to grab him, and he pinned both my wrists together in one of his massive hands. I fought him and all it did was cause him to grind up into me with more vigor.
“Stop fighting me!” he rasped out. “Can’t you see what it does to me?” He thrust his hips up. His cock was as hard as steel, and the friction left me aching. Before I knew it, I wasn’t fighting him but leaning into the sensations.
A noise behind us caused me to come to my senses, and this time, when I fought him, he let me go.
“Brother.” Enzo’s voice no longer held its typical light tone.
Maverick pushed me off his lap abruptly, and I landed ass-first on the floor. I let out a hiss of pain and glared at Maverick. He seemed concerned for point two seconds before he returned the glare. “Stay the fuck away from me,” Maverick growled out. He grabbed his notebook and slammed his way into his room before I finally turned to Enzo.
“Clearly this monotony and tiny space is making us all lose our minds,” I stated, shrugging. I wasn’t sure what had just come over me, but I knew I didn’t entirely dislike the feeling of Maverick’s lips and firm hold. My mind was a jumbled mess of all these men. Levi, Jayce, Maverick, 197, and even Enzo. I blamed the fact that I was incredibly touch-starved for my inexplicable feelings for all these dangerously red flagged men.
That and the trauma bonding.
These men had been genuine since the first day we woke up in this living space. And, for the most part, they had been kind. It was something I had not experienced since before I woke up from my coma.
I was growing attached.
“Sure…” Enzo didn’t look convinced but let it be and helped me off the floor.
Before he could say much more, though, the TV came to life.
The Host’s face filled the screen.
Even with The Host’s mask in place, I could tell there was something off.
“Alright, my lovelies. We have given you time to rest and recuperate. I’m sure you are all ready to do something new.” Although he sang the words, they didn’t come out the same. “We now have twenty-four teams remaining, which leaves us with a total of seventy-one of you. Quite a few teams impressed the Sponsors in the last game, and in the spirit of that, they want to have a fun game. ”
I shivered; I doubted fun was the correct word to describe what was about to happen. An arm encapsulated my shoulders, and I realized Jayce and Levi now joined us in front of the TV. The weight of Levi’s arm provided a comfort I didn’t realize I needed; it grounded me.
“The game and rules are simple. Never have I ever. If you have, you put a finger down. If you lie, you get a wee bit of a shock, and best to then put two fingers down. The first five that have all their fingers down will be spending an extra special night together, but more on that later,” he hummed the words, but even still, the tone was off.
Maverick took this time to rejoin us. His face was devoid of any of its earlier emotion as he stared stoically into the TV.
I could swear I heard him murmur “another miscalculation.” But I wasn’t sure.
“Now, without further ado, my beautiful contestants raise up your fingers. Just your right hand, please, all five digits, and let us start the game,” the Host chimed out stiffly.