“Crest,” she says. Like it’s not a dagger to my heart.
A vision of my younger self reflects in the glassiness of her deep blue eyes. She and I both know what they did to us. To kids like us. We survived that hell of a camp.
But not each other.
“Crest it is, then,” I manage to say through a tight throat.
Two beats pass, like we’re patching each other back up with the ruins of yesterday. And I fuckinghateher once again.
Standing, I hover over her and dig into my pocket to produce a red leather collar with a ring on the front. “Look at me.”
When she does, her eyes grow wide, and it’s not from fear. No…it’sheat. As I suspected.
“I’m securing this around your neck. You’re to wear it at all times this month, except for bathing. Got me?”
She nods as I stoop to attach it. Quiet breaths from her nose tickle my hands, and inadvertently, I stroke her damp cheek. “Gather your hair up for me,” I whisper, and she shivers, but does as she’s told.
The metallic snap of the clasp at her nape makes her twitch. When I straighten up, I examine her slowly, cupping my chin with a fist.
“One more thing…” Walking over to her jewelry box, I lift the lid, and she gasps.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh. No talking.” Digging out the bottle cap pendant, I unclip it from the cheap shells that I’d used as the chain, then return to her and attach it to the hoop around the front of her new badge of ownership. “AIC.Mine.”
She fingers it gently for a moment, but my eyes narrow until she resumes her position.
“Why didn’t you go to class this morning?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Didn’t feel like it.”
“That needs to change.”
Slowly, carefully, she lifts her eyes to my face. “What do you mean?”
A venom-laced chuckle escapes my lips. “I controleveryaspect of your life now, baby girl. And you’ll obey me in everything.”
The way she sneers makes my cock throb until I palm it to keep it in check.
My movement doesn’t go unnoticed by her as she stares at my belt buckle. “Let me guess… Suck your dick in the mornings?”
“Yes. Usually. But notthismorning, no. Strip and then lie on your bed on your back.”
The corners of her lips curl into a seductive grin as she hooks her thumbs into her panties and shimmies them off her legs, then crosses her arms and peels off her wet camisole untilshe’s nude for me. Completely bare.
I grab the armchair from the corner and position it at the side of her twin mattress, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. She gets into position, and I stroke my chin, then point to her nightstand.
“Get out your vibrator and play with yourself. Legs wide so I can watch.”
As if she’s won some victory, she snorts, then slides a hand to her drawer, reaching for her small bullet toy. I’d already seen the dildos. The clit sucker. The nipple clamps. A paddle. Probably has to beg Moretti to go deeper so she can feel him.
Not this month.
Propping herself up on some pillows, she spreads her knees for me, then sticks the purple vibrator in her mouth to give it a good suck while watching my face. I don’t move an inch. No reaction. Other than my dickthrobbingat the sight.
A memory surfaces—late-night video calls, her daring me to look away, both of us pretending we weren’t crossing lines we never learned how to uncross. When I let myself believe it didn’t matter because we felt inevitable.
She was the addiction I chose, knowing exactly what it would cost.