Annika:It’s really you. Hi! Also, thanks for replying after a thousand years. Really appreciated.
Creighton:If I’d known this was what I was in for, I wouldn’t have.
Annika:Wait, don’t ghost me yet. You’re seriously cold, did you know that? I wonder if you even have a heart beneath all that ice.
I don’t reply.
Annika:Here we go again. You’re leaving me on Read. But anyway, I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day and I’m curious about the ‘deviant tastes’ part. I tried searching and asking around your childhood friends, but I think either you keep that part of yourself under wraps or it’s not true? At any rate, I want to know more. Can you tell me?
My hand flexes on the phone and I type with stiff fingers.
Creighton:This is my one and only warning, Annika. You have no clue what you’re asking for. Be grateful that I have no interest in you and run the fuck away. If you let me catch you, I’ll swallow you alive.
She reads my text immediately, but no dots appear.
Good.
“There you are.”
I turn off my screen and slide my phone into my pocket as Landon sits beside me.
“Why did you disappear before the fun started?”
“Not in the mood.” Which is putting it mildly. I was disgusted to the core.
Not by that girl.
By myself.
The fact that my thoughts veered in that direction made my skin crawl and softened any erection I could’ve gotten.
“I had my fun with both of them. Thanks for that.” Landon leans back against his palms, not looking satiated in the least.
It’s almost a routine for him now. It’s probably starting to become the same way for me, too.
The satisfaction of flesh against flesh, of welts and canes, chains, and gags can only last for so long before it fades away.
Soon enough, it becomes an afterthought, a mere instinct to satisfy.
“Ready for what comes next?” Landon tilts his head. “Spoiler alert, it’ll be brutal.”
I give a sharp nod.
“Always a good fucking sport, Creigh. Listen up, in exchange for telling you who destroyed your biological family, here’s what I want you to do…”
My muscles tighten at the prospect of finally having a name.
I never questioned what Landon's scheme behind all these little anarchies is. He’s always plotting for chaos anyway, and I don’t mind playing a part in it as long as I get what I want.
And to do that, I’ll tune out any and all distractions.
Namely, Annika fucking Volkov.
5
ANNIKA
“Are you sure we can do this?”