Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

“I know you’re not giving me shit.”
I whisper, “Okay. Good.”
But there’s tension in his body. I’m pretty sure I can hear
him grinding his teeth.
“You’d be justified, though,” he says, his voice low. “This
arrangement can’t be easy for you.”
My heart flutters. I bite my lip, trying not to ask him what I
want to ask him, but finally give in to the urge and say it
anyway. “Is it easy for you?”
He inhales and exhales slowly, turning his face to my neck.
Close to my ear, he whispers, “It’s fucking torture, baby.”
I wait, but he doesn’t offer to change things. He doesn’t
offer to fix it. No matter how difficult it might be for us to see
each other only every once in a while, it looks like that will
continue.
Because for whatever reason, Kage doesn’t want to change
the status quo.
For my safety, supposedly. But aren’t I just as vulnerable
here, with the police breathing down my neck and my stalker
ex-boyfriend plotting who knows what in retaliation for me
pulling an Annie Oakley on him?
Maybe. Maybe not. I’ll never know, because he’ll never
tell me.
That thought makes me unspeakably sad.
When I bury my face into the pillow, sighing, Kage
whispers, “What if…?”
My eyes snap open, and my heart starts to pound. “What if
what?”
“What if I moved you closer to me? New Jersey has some
nice suburbs—”
“New Jersey?”
“Martha’s Vineyard, then. It’s gorgeous there.”