Page 16 of Under Your Scars

I bite my cheek. “I needed a new phone.”

“Iboughtyou a new phone.”

I scoff. “You’re deranged if you think I’m putting any of my personal information into that thing.”

He laughs. “That’s not the reason I’m deranged, angel. And you don’t have to worry, I didn’t do anything to it. Didn’t you see it was still factory sealed?”

“I’m not using it.” I go to my nightstand and pull out the box from under my money and throw it roughly into his lap. “Here. Go get your money back or something and get out!”

He lets the box fall off his lap and onto the floor. “How much did Reeves pay you for your little tryst in the club? I’ll pay double for a lap dance.”

“I’m calling the police.”

“With what phone, Elena?”

God fucking damn it.I groan in frustration, and then take a deep breath. “Please, just go, okay? I’m tired and I don’t want to deal with you right now. I’m asking you nicely to please leave me alone. I have a life to get back to, and you’re not a part of it.”

In an instant, the Silencer is on his feet, across the room, and has me lifted up and pressed against the wall in the same fashion that Christian Reeves did in the club, only this time the only thing preserving my modesty is a towel. My bare center is pressed tightly against his tactical pants.

“You have no idea how wrong you are about that,” he says into my ear, his voice low and dangerous. Then, in an unceremonious fashion, he drops me on my butt. I land with a thud on the hardwood floor and rub the sore spot. I freeze when he grabs me by the jaw in his thick hand and jerks my head up so I’m looking at him towering over me.

“You know, Elena, I don’t think I ever heard you thank me for saving you and returning your things.”

My blood runs cold and my breath quickens. My heart begins to thud and my cheeks turn red. I shake my head best I can in his iron grip. “Please,” I beg. I can tell what he wants by his shift in energy alone, though the growing bulge in his pants makes it clear, too.

He growls. “You’re begging, angel, but you’re begging for the wrong thing.” He runs a finger over my bottom lip and it makes me shiver. “Such a pretty mouth.”

“Please,” I beg again. “Thank you for saving me. I appreciate what you did. Truly. Please don’t make me do this.”

“I’m not going tomake youdo anything,” he sneers. “You’re going to do it because it’s thepolitething to do.” He looks up as if considering another option, and then his bright green eyes meet mine again. “You can thank me with your mouth or with your blood.” He pulls a knife from his thigh and flips it in his hand for emphasis.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“That’s true, but you misunderstood, angel. I won’t hurt you, if not for the purpose of our shared pleasure.”

I scoff. “It’s not shared if you take it. Put your dick near my mouth and I’ll bite it off.”

“Fine,” he concedes. I sigh a breath of relief when he moves away from me to sit on the edge of my bed. “You can thank me with your mouth, or you can show me what’s hiding under that towel.”

This psychopath is clearly not leaving until I choose one of those two options. Or the third option which he’s notably left out. He could also just kill me.

He’s not even doing anything except sitting there, and I’ve never felt so helpless—not even when those men had me cornered in the alley.

At least the Silencer is giving me a choice.

I make the obvious one, which is to drop my towel and look away, pretending I don’t feel his gaze glued to every inch of me.

“Beautiful,” he whispers, and I think I might be going crazy, because the way he said it didn’t feel sexual in the slightest. It felt tender. I peek from under my lashes at him. The look in his eyes isn’t feral and hungry like it was a few minutes ago.

Now it feels almost…raw. Like he’s experiencing seeing color for the first time. Like he’s looking straight through me and admiring my soul instead of my body.

“Spread your legs,” he commands.

Why did he have to ruin it?I scowl at him and wrap my towel back around my body.

“No. I delivered on my part of the deal. I thanked you. Now get out and leave me alone.”

He chuckles. “You really think you’re capable of getting rid of me so easily?”