Page 112 of House of Pain
It was a hard blow and it stung her palm, but Blaze merely flinched, his smirk turning into a grin now.
“Harder next time. Ilikeit rough.”
Alecto obliged him, serving another blow, this time harder. Blaze’s head swung to the side, but the grin on his face didn’t waver.
“Is that all you got, baby? I would think someone as vicious as Alecto Black would hit harder than that.”
Heat surged through her body, warming up her face. Alecto didn’t stop, slapping him once more, leaning her whole body into it as she slapped him again without waiting for him to recover.
Before the fourth slap, Blaze caught her wrists. She panted heavily, angry and confused, wanting to claw his eyes out or rip his throat. She wasn’t sure.
“We wouldn’t want to fall off the cliff now, would we?” He tugged her onto himself as he rolled them further away from the edge.
He was sprawled under her, her legs on either side of him, and then he released her hands, letting his fall next to his head.
Alecto hesitated for a moment, blinking as she glared down at him. One cheek was already red where she had hit him.
His lips curled again. “What? That’s it? Come on, baby. You can do better than that.”
That was enough for Alecto’s anger to surge to the surface once more, and she growled as she slapped him again, this time on the cheek that hadn’t suffered yet.
And she continued at it, sending one slap after another, scratching at his neck, leaving red marks behind.
He deserved it.
For every single time he let her feel like she was lesser.
For the time when he got her in trouble.
For the time when he pleasured her, making her feel things for the very first time she wasn’t supposed to feel with someone like Blaze Leveau.
And then, she hit him becauseshewas hurting.
Alecto slammed her fist into his chest, breathing hard as more and more anger surfaced, and it was getting difficult to breathe.
She curled her fists into his white shirt, wishing she could rattle his body and his bones, growling at him.
But Blaze just lay there, his hands beside his head, and took every single punch and slap with a calm expression settled on his beautiful face.
Not once did he flinch, not once did he try to stop her.
Alecto slapped and pushed, tugged and scratched, hurting him the way she hurt inside until there was nothing left but serene emptiness.
When she was spent, she let go of his shirt, sitting back as she panted, her heart fluttering in her chest like a wild bird in a cage.
Slowly, Alecto crawled off him and sat on the cold ground next to him. Blaze didn’t rise, fishing out a pack of cigarettes and offering one to her.
Without a word, she took the offering and let him light her cigarette before he lit his own.
They sat there in the dark night, not talking for a long while, with only the sounds of burning cigarettes and the ocean crashing to the shore.
Alecto had never felt more at peace.
38
It took Blaze exactly three seconds to know that something was not quite right at tonight’s dinner party at the Leveaus’.
He never knew every name of every person attending.
