Ruthless Creatures by J.T. Geissinger

Still advancing slowly, he says softly, “You are, aren’t
you? You’re in love with me. Say it.”
I’m so mad, I start to shake. I’m still crying a little, too, but
the tears have taken a back burner and now the rage is in the
driver’s seat. Seething, I stare at him.
“You selfish, arrogant, son of a bitch.”
“Guilty. Say it.”
“Would I have agreed to any of this insanity if I wasn’t in
love with you?”
His voice drops, becoming deadly soft. He’s still
advancing. “Then say it. Tell me. I want to hear the words.”
“And I want to hear you groaning in pain when I smash a
hammer onto all your toes, but we can’t always get what we
want.”
I whirl around and stalk out of the living room, down the
hall, and into my bedroom. Kage is right on my heels. I barge
into the bathroom, intending to slam the door behind me and
lock it, but he’s too close. He barges in with me, crowding me
near the sink.
Infuriated that he won’t leave me alone to have a
breakdown in private, I snatch my brush off the sink and
brandish it at him.
“Don’t make me use this on you!”
It’s a ridiculous threat, partly because I have zero intention
of smacking him with my hairbrush and partly because he’d
probably just laugh at me if I did, but it makes him stop short.
He looks at the brush in my hand, then he looks back at
me.
His voice comes out thick. “Maybe you should.”
Confused by the tone in his voice and the new, heated look
in his eyes, I pause for a second. “Um…what?”
“Maybe you should punish me.”