Chapter 28 : He Did It Again...

***Rosella...***

With twisted fingers and heart thumping in my ears, I stand in a dim corner of the garage that I had no idea existed. A close door lies two steps beside me, blocking the way to god knows where. Anxiety coils around my stomach as I wait for Adrian to come back.

We just arrived at the property a moment ago, in the heavy pour down, with barely any words exchanged on the ride back to home. I was busy fuming over the slap which is still pulsing in my left cheek. He was too focused on his driving to even spare me a glance. Though I knew he wanted to say something everytime I rubbed my cheek and winced in pain.

He had *slapped* me. How hard? I can still feel its resonance in my cheek.

And now, *I am more than eager to return the favour…* I think as my narrowed eyes follow Adrian to the door beside me. He throws me a quick glance, as if he's not certain if he should do it in front of me. Then, with a deep exhale, he punches in the same pin code he used to close and lock the garage front. *Yah, I'd noticed.* It was hard not to, when he made me stand with him.

I watch him open the door with suspended breaths, my confidence vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared. He gestures for me to enter first. I slip in through the little space left between his hot body clad in rain-wetted clothes and the doorframe. I inhale sharply when I hear the metal door snap shut behind me and almost jump up and scream when a big, warm hand lands on the middle of my back.

He propels me forward through a corridor into a familiar hallway. *We're in. Just like that.* I glance back and see that there are more doors down the corridor and a dead end; a huge white wall with no splash of colour or design.

Frowning, I turn my head back when we take a curve and approach the stairs. I sneak a peek at Adrian and find his expression unchanged, blank like a white sheet. *What the hell is going on inside his head?*

He hasn't uttered a single syllable since we got in the car and left the airport. I wish I was courageous enough to break the ice. But I'm not going to show him how desperate I am for his attention. I tried once and it earned me a smack. *Thank you very much, but I don't want another one.*

Before I can come up with another absurd conclusion, Adrian forces me to stop with fingers around my upper arm. I turn to him, uncertain of his reaction and tuck away a wet strand of hair behind my ear to meet his eyes head on. *He's not going to slap me again, right? I've done nothing wrong… Not yet anyway.* Looking back on my previous actions and their baffling consequences, I just don't want to take any guarantee.

“Is it still hurting?” He asks, tipping my chin back with a finger, then turning my face to the side with his thumb, certainly to inspect the damage done.

I nod, curious why he’s started to care all of a sudden, then lick my dry lips and blurt out, “Why did you slap me? Did I do something wrong?”

Almost instantly, I regret speaking up when his hand drops away and he stares down at me with no conflict in his eyes. There's more of a resolute glint in his such strange blue eyes, depthless and unfathomable. He looks more intimidating now… *more in control*?

*Did I like him when he acted neurotic and appeared unstable?*

No, not really. But at least, I knew what caused it.

Whereas now, it's hard to tell even if he's breathing or not.

A man in control? *Why does it sound so scary… unbelievable?*

Maybe because I've only seen men in their extremes. I lived with Nana when he was at the peak of his old age. In school, all horny rebels, needing a quicky with their choice of teen sluts who would do anything to be on their arms for popularity. After school, there was Jonathan, the one to never back away from a chance to coerce me into a relationship with him. He would do anything, play mind games, try to give me guilt trips, shame me into accepting his ever standing proposal. Then Balthazar… the psychotic bastard who tricked me into submission to his whims without a fight with my fake parents.

In a sense, they were all too much for me. Or maybe I wasn't strong enough to handle and deal with them.

Adrian is no different with his threats and zero tolerance for normal talks. He needs to make everything more complicated than it is. And his actions, the intensity with which he stormed around me and my emotions, it was no surprise that I had imagined such horrible scenarios when he told me about wanting my blood and pain.

But I'm tired now. So, so tired of this back and forth. Push and pull to no visible end.

Within the minute Adrian takes to respond, all my sadness and heartache drains out of my heart and mind. I lose my grip on my sanity. I let it all go and just stand there, just exist with a body, feeling utterly hollow from the inside. I stop overthinking about his reply and listen like a good girl. *After all, that's what he was asking for at the airport, no?*

He opens his mouth to reply, then closes up, watching me closely. His eyes narrow, brows knitting in confusion or anger, I don't know. Rather, *I don't care.*

Exhaling, he closes the distance between us, causing me to suck in a quick breath as I fight to keep my hard-earned equilibrium.

“Would you have shut up and remained in the car if I hadn't slapped you? Yes or no?” He finally answers with a question of his own and I almost snap.

*Don't! Don't let him get to you.*

“I would have, if you would explain to me why you needed me to behave.” I cross my arms over my chest and put a distance of two steps between us. “You didn't, so I kept asking for what I wanted.”

“I'd told you that we needed to get out of these wet clothes. We still do, but it can wait now. But at the airport, *I had explained*. But you didn't find the reason important enough to obey me. Yes or no?” He closes the distance between us again, his expression hardening to the point of terrifying as I gaze up at his face. “Answer with a yes or no, or else I'll slap you harder.”

I swallow, my nerves frayed. *How did I go from perfectly indifferent to completely petrified in mere seconds with this guy?*

*I hate him!*

“Yes. I defied you. I admit it. I was fucking wrong. I deserved the slap. It was my punishment, I get it now. I'll behave. Happy!?” I spit out the words in both hatred and embarrassment, my cheeks heating, temper rising. An angry tear rolls down my cheek and I wipe it away furiously with the back of my hand.

And Adrian chooses this time to soften his expression a little bit and pull me closer. Surprised, I try to shove him away. But his arms, like steel bands, wrap around my waist and hold me captive. *I hate him*, I remind myself, *he's a mind fucker.*

“It wasn't so hard, was it?” He teases me, fueling my hatred for him with the subtle twitch of his lips. “Anyhow, do you want it now?”

“Want what?” I blink, tearing my eyes away from his dirty lips to search his electric blue eyes for an answer. *I just can't keep up with this guy.*

“The kiss, you were begging me for.” He says then chuckles when I bare my teeth.

“No, I don't want anything from you anymore. It's a crime to even ask you. And I'm so done with getting punished for wanting.” I try to push him away, but I have an inversely proportional effect on him. The more I shove him away, the tighter his arms wrap around my waist. “Let me go!”

He says nothing, just ducks his head and catches my lower lip between his teeth. I moan as I struggle, warding off the sensations building inside my body. He draws out my lip then kisses me openly, possessively. Heat generates under the layers of wet clothing and I seek more of it, abandoning my grudge, telling myself, *just this once.*

My hands find their way into his lush hair, fisting the wet mess. The force of his kisses, as he strays from my lips and wanders down my neckline, slams me into the wall behind with his body grounding against me. His manhood, hard as steel, pokes my stomach and I rub against him, urging him to moan and groan with me. But the bastard bites my neck, holding in his noises and amplifying my whimpers.

Then, very cruelly, he tears himself away from me. Capturing my seeking hands, he pins them on either side of my head and presses his entire length against me to seize my restless body.

“No, no, no!” I pant, fading from the edge. Tears pool in my eyes. *He did it again.* “Why do you do this to me — me? Why would you stop like that? Why — why are you so cruel?”

“I stopped because you're shivering. We need to get out of these damned clothes.” He says it like that explains everything.

“Bullshit! You just — just like to torture me.” My teeth chatter out of control, and only then do I realise just how badly I'm shaking and how weak my knees are. Sure enough, if Adrian wasn't pinning me, I wouldn't have been able to keep myself upright. My overheated skin really doesn't like the wet clothes sticking to it, because I can feel the hairs rising on my arms and the back of my neck.

I fall silent, eyes downcast. *Shit! I can't even look him in the eyes anymore. I just proved how pathetic I am.* There's nothing left to say or show anymore. I officially don't know what to do, how to act. All I know is that I want to disappear. I want out of this situation.

“Look at me, Pearl.”

I raise my head, meet his eyes but I'm not looking at him. I'm staring through him. I'm done.

“Fuck. Hold on for me, baby. Please.” A sudden despair deepens Adrian's accent.

With no further directions, he bends down and scoops up my shuddering body in his arms and dashes up the stairs. I lay my head on his shoulder, reluctantly wrapping my arms around his neck and wishing for my shudders to stop. The constant flux in my body temperature messes with my head, fogging it with warm and cold thoughts. I lock my jaw to stop them from chattering so hard and send a prayer to the heaven above to relieve me. I cannot bear this anymore.

Maybe I'm weak and miserable for letting all this get to me with ease and no fight. But I'm just done fighting. I've fought, both myself and everyone else. And I've realised that I can't win. I just can't. I wasn't made for this. I can't adapt. I just can't fit in, *anywhere*.