SWNOVELS Alluring Darkness: Chapter 28
I wake up with a warm, soft body against mine. For a moment, I just pull it closer to me and tighten my arms around it. Around her.
Then my eyes snap open. Staring over the side of Raina’s head, I look at the clock on the nightstand. It’s almost noon.
Noon.
Cold panic washes over me.
I’ve slept for eleven and a half hours.
Once is a coincidence. But now, there is no denying the fact that Raina is somehow the reason why I’m able to sleep again.
Shoving her away from me, I roll over on my other side and then quickly get out of bed. Raina mumbles and groans when my manhandling wakes her up as well.
With my heart slamming against my ribs, I stalk over to the dark wooden dresser and yank it open while I try to suck in calming breaths without Raina hearing it.
She is responsible for this. Her presence for some reason allows me to sleep. And that means that she has power over me. More power than anyone.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I snatch up a pair of pants and shove my legs into them before grabbing a t-shirt and yanking that over my head as well. Panic continues whirling inside me like a crackling storm.
Raina is the worst assassin-in-training at this entire fucking university. So why the hell is she still the most dangerous person I’ve ever met?
I can’t keep doing this.
Every day, she gains more and more power over me. Every day, I grow more obsessed with her. More dependent on her. Hell, I even fucking care more and more about her. When I heard that she was blackout drunk in a fucking bar, I couldn’t breathe because I was terrified that something might happen to her. That someone might do something to her.
It has to stop. I have to put some distance between us until I can figure out how to get my treacherous emotions under control. Until I’m in control. Fully. Completely.
Dragging a hand through my hair, I draw in a deep breath and then turn around to face the bed again.
“Get up,” I snap, putting unflinching command into my voice.
Raina blinks and then squints at me from the bed. “Well, good morning to you too, asshole.”
“You have three seconds to get out of my bed before I tie you to it and beat your ass with my belt.”
Something flickers in her eyes.
“One.”
She quickly scrambles out of bed.
A smug smile curves my lips.
While throwing a scowl in my direction, she brushes her hands down her shirt, my shirt, and then runs her fingers through her hair. As if only then realizing that the shirt isn’t hers, she glances down at it again while she lets her arms drop back down by her sides. Then she looks towards where her clothes are sitting on my bathroom floor.
She starts towards them, but I’m faster.
Before she can round the bed, I move so that I’m blocking the door. Annoyance flits across her face. Planting her hands on her hips, she raises her eyebrows as she glares up at me.
“Unless you never want to see this shirt again, I suggest you step aside so that I can grab my own clothes,” she declares.
The absolute authority in her voice and the cocky tilt of her chin sends a pulse through my body. And suddenly, all I want to do is to follow through on my threat and tie her to my bed, spank her bratty ass, and then fuck the insolence out of her.
But I’m supposed to be putting distance between us, not falling deeper into her all-consuming presence, so I remain firmly where I am and bring my cruelty to the surface.
“You behaved like a slut in that bar yesterday,” I say, even though I don’t mean it, just for the sole purpose of hurting her. “So now, you pay for that.” I jerk my chin towards my bedroom door. “Time for a walk of shame.”
“A slut?” She snorts and rolls her eyes. “The eighteenth century called and wanted its views on women’s sexuality back. Now, get the hell out of my way so that I can grab my clothes.”
“Your clothes are staying right here.”
She raises her eyebrows in a pointed expression.
I flash her a cold smile. “Spoils of war.”
She scoffs.
“You have two options. You either walk back to your dorm in that.” I nod down at my shirt that she’s wearing. “Or you walk back naked. Choose.”
A knowing glint creeps into her green eyes, and a vicious smile curls her lips. “Easy.”
Grabbing the hem of the shirt, she yanks it over her head and then shoves the crumpled-up fabric at my chest.
Shock clangs through me at the unexpected move, so I don’t even have time to grab it before she releases it. The white fabric flutters down to the dark floorboards as she turns on her heel and marches towards my bedroom door completely naked.
Fury roars through me.
She’s going to walk through the entire residential neighborhood naked? For everyone to see? Like hell.
Her fingers have barely brushed the handle when I catch up to her and slam my palm against the door. She turns around to face me. And that scheming, victorious glint in her eyes almost sends me to my fucking knees.
She knew that I would never let her walk through the neighborhood naked, so she called my bluff and obliterated my power move.
“You have two options,” she begins, echoing my words, while her eyes glitter with smugness. “Either I walk back to my dorm wearing my own clothes.” She nods towards the bathroom. “Or I walk back naked. Choose.”
Clenching my jaw, I flex my fingers while I try to suppress the overwhelming urge to strangle the fuck out of this infuriating woman.
But she knows that she has already won, so she only looks back at me with eyebrows raised expectantly.
A low snarl rips from my throat as I stalk back to the bathroom and gather up her clothes and shoes. But I don’t give them to her when I return. Instead, I shift them to one arm and use my other hand to shove the door open. Then I grab Raina by the arm and throw her out into the corridor.
She stumbles from the force of the shove, and has to brace herself against the opposite wall. Still completely naked, she straightens and levels a scathing glare at me.
“Here.” I throw the bundle of garments at her. “You can get dressed out in the corridor just like all the other desperate girls I’ve fucked in this room over the years.”
Anger pulses across her face, and she jerks back like I’ve slapped her.
Good. I want her to hurt. To doubt. To crumble and break. I need to destroy whatever this thing between us is before she gains too much power over me.
I haven’t touched, let alone fucked, anyone else ever since I met Raina.
But I can’t let her know that, so I add in a mocking voice, “Aww. Did you think that you were special? I hate to break it to you, princess…” I flick a dismissive look up and down her naked body. “But there is absolutely nothing special about you.”
Emotions flash across her features. Too fast for me to decipher.
But before she can reply, I slam the door shut in her face.