Page 28 of Born into Madness
He laughs and says, “It’s going to hurt like a bitch every time you get hard, and you can’t jerk off until it’s healed.”
“Wonderful.” I carefully make my way to standing, and with my dick throbbing from pain, I get dressed, clenching my jaw when I have to tuck myself away and zip my jeans. Before I leave, I hand him several hundreds, giving him one hell of a deserved tip.
Benny grins and takes the money. “You know where to find me when you need me, kid.”
“Don’t worry,” I tell him before I walk out the door. “The next tattoo won’t be on my dick.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he mutters behind me.
The bone-deep throb gets worse with each passing minute, and I finally cave and take some Motrin in the evening. With thepain reliever in my system and an ice pack in my lap, I watch the camera feed on my phone while Chort noisily chews on his bone beside me on the couch. Cyn is doing her homework, long red hair falling down her back while she sits at her desk, furiously scribbling notes into the margins of one of her books.
My dad was right. I’ve seriously been knocked on my ass, and there’s no going back. Just the sight of her is enough to make me forget about whatever residual pain is still lingering in my groin. Every stab of that needle was worth having her name permanently etched into my skin. I keep watching her, studying her movements, noticing the way she likes to rest her feet on the bottom of her chair. I also notice the way she sinks in on herself when her roommate shows up.
God, that girl is annoying, the kind of person who needs all the attention on them all the time. It’s exhausting to be around people like that, and I see the way Cyn’s shoulders cave in when the other girl keeps talking, one hand propped on her jutted-out hip and the other holding her shower caddy. I hate when I sneak in and find her asleep in the other bed. I know her name is Brittney because it’s written in a pink, girly script on her bulletin board—the one that’s an homage to her and how fucking amazing she thinks she is.
I’m glad when she leaves to go take her shower, leaving me alone with my girl again. I keep watching her, and over the next few days if I’m not working, then I’m following her around campus. I’d thought the pain of the tattoo was bad enough, but I quickly learn that getting hard is a new kind of hell. It doesn’t stop me from watching her, though, from running my eyes over the body I can’t stop thinking about, and it definitely doesn’t stop me from thinking about fisting all that beautiful hair while I hold her down and fuck her to within an inch of her life. It does stop me from being able to jerk off and relieve myself of all this pressure, though. My dick is in no condition to be touched rightnow. Just the thought of gripping my thick shaft and running my hand up and down my length makes me wince.
Cyn takes my mind from the pain. She makes me forget about everything else, and I know I’m in serious danger of losing myself in her. I can’t help it, though. She’s an addiction I don’t ever want to quit.
My eyes stay on her as she leaves her afternoon lab. Her beautiful red hair catches the sun, highlighting the various shades hidden in the thick waves. There will never be a time when I look at her hair and don’t associate it with blood. Like her hair, it’s never just one color. Blood comes in a variety of shades depending on how oxygenated it is and even from what part of the body it comes from. If I slit someone’s throat, the color is a bright red, a vivid arterial crimson, just like Cyn’s hair when the sun hits it just right. A gut wound will produce a darker color, almost like spilled wine. It’s the exact color of her hair when it’s wet from the shower. So many subtle variations and my sweet little Cyn has them all.
The corner of my mouth twitches when I see her dart a quick look over her shoulder. She’s been doing this a lot lately, trying to spot me with unexpected turns of her head. It’s an adorable attempt at catching me, and if I was terrible at my job, it might work. She’s not going to spot me, though, not unless I want her to, and right now I want to stay hidden.
Her green eyes scan the crowd, unknowingly passing over the exact spot where I’m hiding. I don’t miss the way her face falls when she thinks she’s not being watched, when she thinks I’ve forgotten about her and moved on. She has no idea I haven’t stopped watching her, that my eyes have been on her this whole time.
I follow her back to her dorm, and when she’s safely tucked up in her room and I have the feed on my phone to prove it, I send a text to Niki, asking him to meet me at The Red Room. Miaand I are watching the club tonight, and both of us are curious and want an in-person update. Niki sometimes forgets that not everyone is as computer smart as he is, and trying to get him to explain things through texts is enough to make anyone want to claw their own eyeballs out. It’s much easier to bombard him with questions in person where he can’t just set his phone aside and pretend he didn’t see the incoming messages.
When I get there, I park around back next to Mia’s motorcycle. The club isn’t open yet, so the place is nice and quiet. I’m not looking forward to spending the evening here. I can already feel the headache I’m guaranteed to have after listening to the godawful music they blast from the speakers in here for hours on end.
Alexei, one of the managers, is already here. With the help of two of the waitresses, he’s getting the bar stocked and making sure everything is ready to go before the doors open. I’m not surprised to see how hard they’re working, just like I’m not surprised when they realize I’m the one who’s just walked through the door and quickly avert their eyes. We pay very well, and that’s before whatever tips they earn. They all want to keep their jobs, so they try very hard to not attract my attention. Some of the rumors about me are true, but many of them aren’t. I don’t beat the shit out of people for no reason, I won’t kill any of them if they get in my way or piss me off, but I don’t bother telling them that. I prefer this. I hate small talk, and they’re not a part of the Bratva and they aren’t Cyn, so I have no desire to talk to them.
“Hey, man,” I say before taking the chair next to Niki. I turn it around and sit backwards so I can rest my arms on the back while I give my sister a nod and ask, “Hear anything new?”
Niki’s laptop is already opened, screen filled with things I’ll never understand, and when he glances over at me, he says,“Nothing about Cupid, but you’ll be happy to know that Adam and April are no longer a couple.”
I give an annoyed groan at the memory of having to watch them fuck. “I’m truly devastated. I honestly thought they had long-term potential.”
Niki grins. “I know, right? I was just as surprised as April when she caught him fucking Hailey without her yesterday.”
Sarcasm lacing every word, I say, “I did not see that one coming.”
Niki grimaces. “Unfortunately, I did. He grunts like a pig when he ejaculates.”
I laugh while Mia arches a brow at us. “Who the hell are Adam and April?”
“One of the cameras I set up at the frat house was in Adam’s room. They came in while I was looking around, and I had to hide in the closet while they fucked.”
Mia laughs and says, “I’m so happy I missed that one.”
“I still have the footage if you want to see it,” Niki tells her. “I’ll warn you, it’s pretty sad, though.”
“No, thanks,” Mia says. “Find anything else that doesn’t involve pig noises?”
Before Niki can say anything, she holds up a hand and says, “Seriously, though, explain it like you’re talking to a kindergartener.”
I lean over and nudge her arm. “Come on, little sis, give us some credit. I’d say we have at least a third-grade level of understanding.” I smirk and add, “Maybe even fourth.”
Niki sighs and tears his eyes from the screen. He’s used to us bugging the hell out of him and barely even gets irritated by it now. “Cupid’s smart. He knows what he’s doing, and so far he’s a ghost, but I’ll find him. Right now I’ve got a string of payments to ghost wallets and various drop-off locations, but they never use the same place twice.”
