Page 135 of House of Pain
But she still tried.
Her palm stung when it hit Blaze’s cheek, sending his head to the side. His jaw clenched tight, muscle flaring.
“It’s becoming a rather annoying habit of yours,” he bit out, voice low, “slapping me every chance you get.”
“Fuck you.”
Alecto channeled all the anger she could muster to not let the tears burn her eyes. She turned, almost slipping on the wet pavement, and walked away.
But of course, Alecto only made it to the edge of the campus when Blaze’s fingers wrapped around her forearm, yanking her back again.
“You don’t fucking walk away from me,” he warned.
The rain was pouring down on them, and his black hair hung over his forehead, sharp tips hovering over his eyes. Even his thick eyelashes were soaked with raindrops as he tried to blink them away.
She winced as his grip tightened and tried to jerk away from him, but his fingers just dug deeper into her flesh. Tomorrow there would be a bruise.
A mark of him.
“Get off me,” Alecto growled, glaring right back at him.
Blaze didn’t budge.
She tried to yank her arm away once more, pushing on his chest. But it was useless. He let her thrash against him, still as a statue.
When she was panting heavily, having spent her energy, Blaze arched a brow.
“Are you done?”
“Fuck you,” Alecto repeated, breathless. But she didn’t fight him anymore. “I’m not in the mood to deal with you today, Leveau.”
“And why is that?”
Alecto wished she could just make him disappear. If he wasn’t there, she wouldn’t have to think about him.
“I thought we were all right.” Blaze sounded serious and firm, and those words and his tone threw Alecto off for a moment. “I know Itechnicallytried to kill you, but I thought we’d moved past it.”
The fucking audacity of this man.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Blaze?”
Blaze frowned. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. His hold on her arm loosened just a bit, and Alecto used that opportunity to pull her arm away, taking a few steps backwards.
“What the fuck do you want, hmm?” she asked again, determined to get to the bottom of it. No more games, no more power plays. She was tired. “You hate me, you tease me, youpleasureme, and for what? You clearly have your handsfullof choices, so why the fuck can’t you just leave me the fuck alone?”
He tried to blink the rain away, his gaze burning, but he still couldn’t find words to speak.
With a growl, Alecto turned and crossed the street. The rain was getting harder, thunder rumbling somewhere in the distance, and she was soaked right through her underwear already.
Right before she turned into their street, a hand wrapped around her waist, yanking her backwards.
“Can you fucking wait? For fuck’s sake,” Blaze said into her ear. His warm breath sent shivers down her back. “You can’t ask me a question and not give me a moment to fucking think.”
Alecto whipped around, pushing at his chest. To her surprise, he let her go. Thunder rumbled somewhere closer, the lightning piercing the sky.
“Oh, I’m sorry,Blazy, I thought your smart ass could come up with shit to say on a whim,” Alecto mocked. “Maybe the bag of tricks is really empty, huh?”
“The meaner you are to me, the more I like you, you know?”
