Page 34 of Anathema
Did I want to push her tonight? Make her angry with me as I always did? Antagonizing Alexis was fun, but I also started growing tired of it.
I needed her to stop pushing me away, to finally admit that she wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
Biting down on my tongue, I banged my fist hard into the door, giving in to the restraint that I tried so hard to hold on to. My desperation to have her once and for all took complete control of my actions.
“Go away, Derek,” Alexis shouted from the other side. Her tone bored and uncaring at the audacity that I was still here.
“Open the door, Lex, before I break it down. I’m tired of these games with you.” I ground out, my hand falling to the door handle and twisting it violently in my grasp.
I could feel my pulse begin to race, pressing my lips into a hard line out of anger and utter frustration. She wasn’t going to shut me out anymore. I wouldn’t let her.
“Me? You started these games, chasing me around like a dog without a bone. Try it and see what happens.” She pounded her fist against the door as she yelled back at me.
Fine, we’ll do this the hard way then.
“One…” I started counting. I wouldn't be gentle with her if I reached five before she let me in—or I busted down the door.
“Oh, real mature, Derek. I’m not a fucking child.” She huffed an incredulous laugh.
“Two…” This was the war that constantly raged on between the two of us—the battle for dominance and control.
“Get the fuck out of my apartment!” Alexis screamed.
Her voice was strained, and I could tell she was slowly breaking under the pressure.
“Three…” I continued.
Her breaths became erratic, as if she was starting to hyperventilate. Alexis was panicking, freaking out at the fact that she had trapped herself in the bathroom with me on the other side and had no way out but to face me.
“Four…” I hissed, my hand releasing its grip on the handle.
I didn’t want to reach five; I didn’t want to kick in the door and force her into anything. But I wanted Alexis in every way imaginable, and I was done waiting. She was mine.
“Fi—” Just as I had taken a step back to get a good angle, I heard the lock on the door turn and click into place.
The sound was deafening in the silence it created between us. I sucked in a breath as my eyes dropped to the handle, the blood pounding in my ears, watching as it slowly turned and the door was pulled open.
There she was. Standing in the doorway and glaring at me through narrowed eyes. Her gaze was molten, and I could feel it searing into my skin, threatening to burn me alive.
“I told you… To leave…” Alexis carefully whispered, her voice dripping with disdain.
The calm before the storm, the eye of a hurricane. She looked almost unhinged as if she had snapped while I counted. But it didn’t make me want her any less; if anything, I wanted her more. She was beautiful—flawless, even with all her sharp edges.
A perfect poisoned apple, and I was begging for a taste.
“I’m not going anywhere; you’d have to kill me if you want me out of your life.”
I’ll fight for her; I’ll fight until my last goddamn breath. If setting myself on fire right in front of her eyes would make her love me, I’d do it.
“You don’t want me, Derek. I’m not what you need.” Her words came out forced, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her body to rest on her hip.
I stormed towards her, gripping her arms tightly in my hands, my fingers digging in enough to bruise her marked-up skin.
Where did all these cuts come from? How did I not notice them earlier? Who the fuck did this to her? They were peppered all over her body.
“Goddamnit, Alexis. When will you wake the fuck up and stop fighting me.” The rage building inside me had peaked, and I needed an outlet. “I want you, and I will continue to follow, frustrate and fuck you until you figure it out yourself. You are everything I’ve been searching for—everything I need.”
“You ca—”
