“Why do I feel like you’re looking forward to that?”
“In chaos, I thrive. Two down. One to go.” Then he lifted his hand, still holding my cum-soaked panties.
“Now, put these on like a good girl, and I’ll see you back to your room.”
“Put those on?” I exclaimed, shocked by the idea and more than a little curious. Why was the idea hot?
He nodded.
“Why?”
“So you smell like me, angel. So you don’t forget who your partner is.”
“Like I could forget you,” I muttered with another eye roll.
“Hmm, I am rather unforgettable, aren’t I?” Massimo teased, and helped me to my feet.
I blushed furiously when he handed me the panties, my cheeks hot and scratchy.
“But,” he added, “not as unforgettable as you.”
22
KATARINA
Massimo took me back to my room early, before anyone noticed I hadn’t slept there. The institute ran on a skeleton crew. Clearly the unholy trinity had been wary of having too many people coming and going. They’d felt the threat even if they weren’t sure where it was coming from.
I fell into a heavy sleep and woke up when the midday sun was already streaming in the window. My stomach growled painfully. Shit. Why hadn’t the alarm gone off?
I pushed myself out of bed and stretched. My body twinged in new places. I still felt tingly in certain parts after this morning. I could still imagine his mouth on my skin. I could still feel what it was like to orgasm on his fingers and tongue.
I flopped back on the bed, my thoughts hazy and unfocused, lost in that pleasurable memory.
So, it turned out that sex was worth making a fuss about. No wonder everyone was obsessed with it. I coasted my hand down my body, over my breasts, and then lower, and parked it between my legs.
Heat flooded through me knowing that my panties still heldMassimo’s cum. It was wrong. A sin. My poor mother would faint dead away if she knew I was writhing around on my bed, touching myself, thinking about the man who’d come in my panties and made me wear them so I’d smell like him all day.
What was I doing?Shame collided with the heat in my blood, and I dropped my hand to the bed and stared at the ceiling. The wooden crucifix on the wall watched me. I crossed myself quickly.
I was going to hell, but at least I’d have good company.Massimo. Despite knowing how much of a devil he was, how bloodstained his hands were, how marked his soul was... I was falling. He was on my mind all the time. He’d infected me with his poison, and now I burned for him. What would I do when we were done with our agreement? When he moved on? A chill went over me at the very thought. To the girl who had always been alone, finding someone and then losing them felt like the final blow. Would the world afterward feel emptier, with my knowing he was out there somewhere and done with me? Or would it have been better never to have known him at all?
My brain wasn’t in the state to ponder big thoughts, and besides, I was pretty sure there was no good answer to those bittersweet musings.
I got up and stretched, thinking I should try to shower while knowing that I wouldn’t. The awful truth was that I didn’t want to. I wanted to prolong the memory of what had happened between us. An experience that had painted over the horror of yesterday. A shiny new memory that blotted out the others.
When my stomach rumbled too loudly to ignore, I went to the door and pulled at the handle.
It didn’t budge. That was odd. Usually the rooms were unlocked for patients to come and go—well, the ones who were unmedicated enough to go anywhere. I pulled again, but it still didn’t move. It was definitely locked.
I peered out at the hallway through the observation window. It was empty.
What was happening? Did they already know about Benedict? Did they suspect me, or was everyone locked in?
I watched the hallway for a while, searching for any signs of life. The thought that I’d wake up one day and everyone else would be gone was a persistent nightmare I’d suffered through for months when I first came here. I’d wake up and discover that everyone else had left Hallow Hall, but I was stuck locked inside my room. I’d cry and rage, but no one would ever come. That nightmare had been particularly haunting.
I banged on my door, fear overtaking my patience.Where is everyone?
I banged again, as loudly as I could. The sound echoed through the metal and along the hallway. A glimpse of scrubs at the top of the hall sent relief crashing into me.