Willing Captive(37)

Three days later…





Nox





I punch the bag. Hard.

Once more. Harder.

The feeling of pain shooting through my lightly wrapped knuckles, up my arm, then disappearing into my body feels good.

Pain is good.

Pain is an indication that you’re alive. Well, living, at the very least.

Pain is also a good way to play games with your mind. A distraction method taught to me in the early stages of training.

And I need a f*cking distraction.

Waking up with yet another hard-on pressed into Lily’s ass is enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

Yeah. That’s right. Bad mood.

Why bad?

Because I feel like I’m getting my prick teased every f*cking day with no relief! Sure I could jerk off, but that would leave me feeling like a creep. Jerking off in the bathroom next to our room is just…wrong.

Fuck me.

Did I just say our room?

I punch the bag repeatedly while growling through gritted teeth.

This is bad. Very bad.

Nope. I don’t like it.

Three weeks.

Three f*cking weeks of sleeping next to that girl.

That girl. She’s just a girl.

Oh, I’m going to hell. No doubt. Especially after last night’s dream.

Wrapping up my morning training session, I step out of the workout room and into the hall. And there she is. Boo has her laughing at something. She has a nice laugh. It’s not small and sweet sounding. It’s not a giggle. It’s uninhibited and animated. When she laughs, I feel like I get a chance to see the real Lily. The one whose mind doesn’t stop her from living a good life. The one who isn’t paranoid or on edge all the time.

The free Lily.

She wears a pair of small, black workout shorts and a baggy white tee knotted at the belly. Then I see her feet and scowl.

Walking up to them, we meet halfway. I say, “Take the boots off.”

Confusion mars her face. “Why?”

Because they look way too sexy on your long ass legs, and I can’t do anything about it.

“Because they don’t belong to you.” I say matter of factly.

Her eyes widen and she says concretely, “Uh, yes, they do.”

What?

Okay, so the military boots have hot pink laces, but you can’t buy those just anywhere. I feel I need to let her in on this.

“You can’t buy those boots just anywhere, Lily.”

Boo and Lily share a look, then smile. Lily utters, “Yes, Nox, I’m aware of that. Boo bought ‘em for me and I love ‘em, so I’m gonna keep ‘em on.”

I don’t get it.

Turning to Boo, I ask, “Why’d you get her boots? She doesn’t need boots.”

Boo hesitates for a moment before she says quietly, “Because it was her birthday, and that’s what she wanted, so that’s what she got.”

Her birthday?

I f*cking forgot her birthday. Great. Now I feel like an *.

What do I say now?

“Uh, happy belated birthday. Guess you can keep the boots.”

Rolling her eyes, she mutters, “Thanks, dickhead,” then pulls Boo along and they disappear down the stairs.

Watching her leave, I get an idea. It’s probably not a good one, but it’s something. Walking back into the workout room, I ask Rock, “You know it was Lily’s birthday?”

Rock continues to punch the bag but replies, panting, “Yeah. Boo got her boots. Vito got her flowers. I got her an eReader.”

The hell?

Vito got her flowers? The little f*cker. He and I need to have a talk.

I mutter, “Got her an eReader?”

Rock shrugs, “She likes it. Always with the books.” He turns to me smirking, “Know what they say about women who read?”

I have no idea what they say about women who read, but I know he’ll say something dirty. And that’s not gonna help me and the semi I’ve been sporting for three weeks. Turning, I shoot him the bird and he chuckles to himself.

I have to find something. And in order to find it, I gotta do some digging.

Time to wrap a present.





***





Lily





“The guy is completely f*cked up but he’s so dreamy at the same time. I like the dominant characters. But you know what’s funny? If I had a guy treat me like the guy in the book, I’d run the other way. Fast.” I tell Boo. I’ve had her reading some erotica and she likes it. So, naturally, we’ve been talking smut.

Boo reclines in her lawn chair. “Oh, I get ya, honey. The dude is rich; he’s powerful, and he wants a sub. I’m not a sub. I’d never be a sub. But for him, I’d pretend to be a sub.” After a moment, she adds, “The girl, however…man! What she puts up with? And how he treats her sometimes? Oowee. She is fifty shades of cray.”

I burst into laughter. “Fifty shades of cray?”

Boo takes in the sun with her eyes closed; she purses her lips and nods. “And then some.”

Another thing that’s changed in the house is that I get to go outside whenever I like. Whether it’s supervised or unsupervised. And that makes me happy. Although I’m not a big fan of the sun (Irish, remember? I get sunburnt from fireworks), I like knowing I can see it when I want.