There was no arguing with him so I swallowed the lump and stared down at the phone he'd placed in my hand. It didn't lowered the pulse hammering in my ears. The world was crumbling around me, and every word he spoke felt like another stone added to the weight on my chest, pressing me deeper into the abyss.
But that hardly matter at that moment.
He released my wrist, and I pulled my hand back, clutching the phone as if it might somehow protect me from the onslaught. But I knew better. Nothing could shield me from him, from his twisted games and the suffocating control he wielded over my life.
As much as I wanted to call my mother, I didn't have guts to open his phone. Maybe he was testing me. Playing another game of his? To see if I'd take the bait.
Putting the phone down on the table beside the plate, I grabbed the fork with unnecessary force and forced the price of mushroom into my mouth. Under another curumstances, I would've enjoyed it, but I couldn't. The nauseous feeling was making it hard to swallow.
Judas's gaze was relentless making it even harder to breathe. I chewed on the piece when I heard the unmistakable sound of spoon meeting the plate. And followed by the lowly amused hum.
I could already imagine him leaning back on his chair and looking at me with his arms crossed over his chest with a tilt of head. With same gaze he did earlier like he was trying to read me, to unravel me. The towel I wore didn't help and neither did the pain in my ankle, but nothing could compare to the throbbing in my chest.
When the weight of his gaze became too much, I clenched my jaw and muttered. "What do you want?"
The words came out rougher than I intended and I quickly realised the tone. I stilled. But when his snarky reply didn't slapped me, or neither he made any move to grab me by the throat and force me to apologise for the rudeness, I dared to take a glance at him.
He sat there, unmoving, pale eyes shimmering, and lips set in a straight line. He casually tilted his head at the small angle. "Move in with me."
The world around me seemed to freeze. The air grew thick, suffocating, and the sound of the fork clattering against the plate echoed in the silence like a death knell. His words hung in the air, sinking into my skin, wrapping around my throat like a noose.
Move in with me. His voice was as calm as if he were discussing the weather, and not asking me to sign a death warrant.
My pulse roared in my ears, drowning out everything else. A cold sweat broke out across my skin despite the coldness in the apartment and my heart hammered against my ribcage as if it could break free from the prison of my chest.
I stared at him, disbelief clawing its way up my throat, choking me and leaving me breathless. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything he'd already taken from me. My freedom. My dignity. And now this.
"No." The word slipped past my lips before I could think better of it, a reflex, the last vestige of defiance I had left. It was weak, trembling, but it was mine.
His pale eyes narrowed, same dark amusement flickered in their depths as he slowly tilted his head, considering me like a predator sizing up its prey. He always looked at me with that gaze, as if he could…. see right through me.
"No?" The corner of his mouth lifting in a ghost of a smirk. It wasn't a question. It was a dare.
He was giving me a chance to take my words back. And trust me, every single fiber in me screamed at me to take those damned words back to swallow my pride and submit. Cause that way, it'd hurt less. But I knew that wouldn't be enough.
Something sickennejng twisted in my stomach. My throat tightened, my breath coming in short, panicked bursts the more I imagined living with him. Nightmare. Hell.
I shook my head. "You can't-" I started, but the words died on my tongue, swallowed by the overwhelming dread that consumed me.
The devil didn't move, didn't blink, just watched me with those eyes that could see straight through me, peeling back every layer I tried to muster. "I can," whispered sin caressed my ears, travelled down my neck and wrapped around my neck. "And I will."
A cornered mouse can't outrun the cat. And I was that mouse, and there was no escape.
"You're not… serious," I whispered. "You can't make me do this."
His gaze hardened, the smirk slipping from his lips as his eyes turned cold. "You still don't understand, do you?" he murmured, almost to himself, shaking his head slowly. "This isn't about what you want. This is about what you will do." His tone sharpened, the underlying threat clear. "And you will move in."
My hands were trembling uncontrollably now, my vision blurring as panic surged through me like poison in my veins.
I tried to stand, to push back from the table, to escape his presence, but my legs wouldn't cooperate.
"Please," I managed to choke out. "Don't do this."
His eyes glinted with something dark, something dangerous, as he slowly rose from his seat, the chair scrapped against the floor with a sound that made my blood run cold.
He was towering over me now. I was a rabbit caught in a hunter's snare, and he was the hunter who had no intention of letting me go.
He leaned down, close enough that I could feel his breath against my cheek, his voice a low, threatening whisper. "And you think you have a choice, little bird?" he taunted, his lips brushing the shell of my ear.
A tear slipped down my cheek, unbidden, and I cursed myself for the weakness that had me breaking in front of him. But it was no use. There was nothing left to fight with, nothing left to cling to. He'd stripped me of everything.
He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, his gaze locking onto mine, holding me captive. "This apartment is yours now," he raised his brow. "Use it however you see fit."
"Defy me, there'd be consequences," A hollow, bitter laugh escaped his lips as he added, almost as an afterthought, "And trust me, you won't like the alternatives."
As I stared into his eyes I could feel the last shreds of hope slipping through my fingers like sand, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
He stepped back, giving me just enough space to breathe, but not enough to escape.
I swallowed hard, my throat burning with the effort, and nodded slowly, my body numb with defeat and I gripped the back of the chair with my trembling hands. "Fine," I was barely able to get the word out. "I'll move in."
He smiled then, a slow, satisfied smile that chilled me to the bone. The dimples that should make him look beautiful just added sinister edge to his overall persona.
He had won, and we both knew it.
"But I have some conditions." The words trembling out of me like the last gasp of a dying flame.
His smile didn't falter, but there was a gleam of something darker in his eyes-amusement, perhaps, at my foolish attempt to regain some semblance of control.
"Conditions?" The bastard drawled, as he leaned against the table, crossing his arms over his chest. Looking taller and broader than ever, almost taking half of my vicinity.
My hands clenched around the back of the chair. "You'll use condoms," I forced the words out before I could lose my nerve.
He raised an eyebrow and his lips twisted in a cruel grin. "I prefer raw fucks,"
I flinched shaking my head. "Then let me have morning pills."
"Have it."
Relief surged through me, but it was short-lived. "And I don't want you to interrupt in my private life," I continued, my voice gaining a hint of strength.
To my surprise, he laughed. "I was inside your private parts just a few minutes ago, ptichka. Why does it matter now?" The words stabbed my already fragile defenses.
I gulped.
I needed him away from my private life. If I needed to keep those closer to me safe.
"Please."
His grin didn't falter, but I instinctively took a step back as he reached for my throat. Oxygen left my lungs as he pulled me harshly to his chest and my hands instantly went to his hard chest as I panicked. My eyes widened as I looked up at him.
He leaned down, enough so that his lips brushed the corner of my mouth. "Then ride me," his tongue darted out and flickered across my shut lips. "And I might consider."