Villainess (6 page)

Leila

“Oh, yeah, right there,” I moaned as Matt sucked on my clit. I lay spread eagle on my tiny bed, darkness embracing us both. I arched up when his tongue swept through my wet folds, biting my lip to keep from screaming out. My muscles clenched as pleasure raced through my system. “Fuck me. I need you to fuck me.” Matt was quick to comply, his rigid length sliding into me moments later. I scored my nails down his back as he rocked into me.

In my dark prison, it was easy to lose myself—to forget who I was with. Matt had been a wise choice as a bedmate. He was skilled and always eager. Plus he was making my life easier, bringing me things I wasn’t supposed to have. But I felt nothing for him beyond what he could do to my body. Of course, every good villain needs minions, and I couldn’t be choosy about how or where I got mine. Fucking Matt went beyond pleasure; it was about getting him under my thrall.

I wrapped my heels around Matt’s waist, tightening my muscles. He groaned into my neck, his pace picking up speed. A few pumps later and he was pulsing his release inside of me. “So good. So fucking good,” he mumbled against my slick skin. I smiled. It hadn’t taken long for the guilt about being with me to dissipate for Matt. Now he came to see me every night, no hesitation on his part.

“I want a banana. Can I have a banana? I want a ban—”

Matt pushed off of me, glaring at the wall. “I need to move that bitch to another room.”

“Oooh, I see. Now you want to move her. Think how I feel.”

Ignoring my comment he got dressed quickly. “And what was the shit you pulled in Doctor Yoshihara’s office today?”

I met his gaze steadily, widening my eyes with feigned innocence. “I don’t know. Just having some fun.”

His features hardened with anger. “Well your fun could make me lose my job. Don’t do it again.”

I forced my lower lip to tremble slightly, while averting my gaze. “I’m sorry. I was just happy to see you and…and…I’m so bored in here.”

Matt dropped down to cradle me in his arms. “I didn’t mean to be harsh. I know it’s hard for you. All of this. I’m trying to make it better for you, aren’t I? What else can I do?”

Sucker.
It was pathetic how easily manipulated he was. Of course most men are when you throw sex into the mix. I pressed my face into his chest. “I don’t want to die, Matt. That’s what could end up happening if they find me guilty in the end. What I did—you know I’m not a cruel person—just misunderstood. I—”

“Shhh…baby. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.”

That’s exactly what I’m counting on, my dear little Matty.
Well, not Matt’s protection exactly. Matt would bring me Jonah—Jonah would bring me…
everything.
I let tears slip from my eyes, seeping into his shirt, even though on the inside I was smiling. “Hold me. Just hold me for a little while longer.”

Matt nodded and kissed the top of my head, his grip tightening around me. “I’ve got you, baby. Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

“I wish I could just make people understand why I did all those things. It’s not like I enjoyed hurting people. I—”

“Maybe you should just take the insanity plea. You could—”

I shoved away from Matt, scowling. “No. I can’t do that. It’ll ruin everything.” I wrapped my arms around my middle, trying to appear sad as opposed to the anger coursing through my system. “I just can’t.” I choked back a sob, curling more into myself.

Matt’s arms slid around me, pulling my back into his chest, his chin resting on the top of my head. “All right. I get it. What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. Just hold me. Right now, I just want you to hold me.”
And later, I’ll ask you to sacrifice everything for me. And you will, Matty, you will.

Jonah

I snapped on the latex gloves and smiled with anticipation. Ella had been gracious enough to have a few bags of Leila’s fan mail brought to my office. She was always much more compliant after I fucked her, which was why I was still doing so. It still surprised me how easily manipulated someone in her position was. Of course I didn’t mind since it worked in my favor.

I opened the first bag, dumping the contents out onto the floor. I used my foot to splay the letters and small packages out in front of me, looking for one that caught my eye. It was a small rolled up poster tube that finally did. I popped the top off and carefully removed the contents. All that appeared to be inside was a rolled up piece of paper. I gingerly uncurled it, surprised at what I found. It was a painting. I wasn’t sure what style it would be considered, since I wasn’t an art aficionado, but it was…riveting, just like Leila herself.  The background was plain white, and in the center was an explosion of color, spattered around what depicted Leila’s face, half of which was covered in some sort of mask. Her hair was portrayed as dark instead of blonde, and the shade of the eyes was grey instead of green. Scrolled out on the bottom of the page in blues and purples, was the title ‘Villainess’.

My gaze slid over the cruel curl of her voluptuous lips, and the calculating gleam in her eyes. I flipped the painting over in my hands, but it wasn’t signed, and there was nothing else in the tube. Whoever had set out to capture Leila’s essence, didn’t know her, not the real her anyways.
As if I do.
I gave myself an internal shake.
I have no idea who the real Leila is. So why do I feel like I do?

I had the irrational urge to rip the painting to pieces, but instead I rolled it up and stuffed it back in the tube. My mood shifted and I no longer had any interest in the fan mail laying at my feet. I grabbed my briefcase off of my desk, pausing with my hands hovering over my keys.

“Shit.” I snatched the tube and shoved it into my briefcase, not really sure what I was doing.
Get rid of it. What the hell is going on with you?
I gritted my teeth and waged a silent war with myself as I locked up and stalked towards the exit.

“How about today? You going to tell me what it means that I see butterflies, today?” Leila’s green eyes glittered as they met my gaze.

“No, not today. Maybe next time, if you cooperate.”

She sighed dramatically. “Okay, whatever. I see how this is going to go.” She flopped back on the couch, her face turned towards the ceiling. “At least promise me that you’ll tell me before I die.” She snickered. “I mean, you don’t want me to haunt you over something so trivial.”

I tapped my pen against my desk, absentmindedly. My thoughts were fragmented from lack of sleep. “I’ll tell you before you die.” I grimaced, hating that we were even talking about such a thing. No matter her mental state, it seemed a shame to snuff out someone who had so much life in them.
She’s a killer. Why do I keep forgetting that? Having a beautiful face does not give her a free pass.
“How about we start with where we left off yesterday? Tell me what happened in that house with Theo.”

“I don’t want to talk about Theo right now.”

“Okaaay,” I drawled. “What do you want to talk about then?”

Leila shifted onto her side to face me, her hand under her cheek, holding her head up. “I want to talk about you.”

“That’s not how this works, Leila. I’m not the one under evaluation.”

“Yeah, well maybe I’ll be more forthcoming with my feelings and everything else if I can trust you a bit. And you know what would make me trust you? Knowing more about you.” She quirked an eyebrow in silent challenge.

So that was the game she wanted to play today. I met her gaze head on. “No. We’re not here to talk about me. I will not permit you to turn the tables like that.”

She snorted. “Well, aren’t you being all Alpha male, telling me no and you won’t permit me. Does your little girlfriend like it when you take control of her when you fuck her? I bet it’s—”

“She’s not my girlfriend, and no part of my personal life is any of your business.” My nostrils flared as I tried to get my breathing under control.
Do not let her push your buttons. This woman knows exactly what she’s doing. Challenge accepted.
“Are you having relations with Matt?”

“Relations?” She smirked. “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Doc.”

“Are you fucking Matt?” I grimaced at my choice of words.
Not professional.

Leila pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, one half of her mouth curling up. “That’s personal, Doc. Something I might tell you if I trusted you, but we’ve already established that I don’t.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. You know I will have him fired for that—”

“Don’t make assumptions, Doc. You have no idea what’s going on. And how would you sleep at night if you found out you’d had an innocent man fired? Do you know if he has any kids, a wife…family? What if they count on his job to put food on their table? Are you willing to risk that all because you have a gut feeling about something?”

I ground my teeth together. She was playing with me. I knew it, and she knew that I knew it, but she was right. I just had suspicions, no solid proof. All I had was a gut feeling based off of what I’d seen in my office yesterday. It wasn’t enough for anything.

“I can see the wheels turning, Doc. You know I’m right. Leave poor Matty alone. All he’s done is be nice to me.” She began twirling some of her hair around her finger. “Very, very nice.”

I needed to change the subject, and fast. I was losing control of Leila, if I ever really had it to begin with. “Tell me about your mother.”

“I already have. I told you—I failed her. There’s nothing else left to say.”

“I thought you wanted me to understand things, isn’t that what you said. I can’t understand shit if you don’t talk to me, Leila.”

She rolled over to face me again, the twinkle in her eyes back. “Oh, are you getting frustrated, Doc? Welcome to the club.”

Our gazes locked, my heart slammed against my ribcage. I opened and closed my mouth, not sure what to say next. I had to tread very carefully with Leila, and the truth was that I wasn’t being very professional with her. She wasn’t just under my skin, she was there and festering.

She stood abruptly, swinging her hips as she slowly approached my desk. She perched on the edge just like she had in our first session. “Do I frustrate you, Doc? Or do I make you nervous? Maybe a little of both?”

My gaze followed her long fingers as they trailed up the front of her shirt, swooping along the curve of her breast and then up along her neck. I swallowed hard. “You frustrate me when you refuse to talk, yes.”

“I think I frustrate you more than that. I think I frustrate and make you nervous because you’re attracted to me. And you hate it. I mean, how could someone like you want someone like me?” She dropped back on the desk, arching her back seductively. “How fast do you think your girlfriend would be in here if I kissed you?” She had the audacity to wink at me.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I growled.

“Mmm Hmmm… again I’ll ask, does she know that?”

“It’s none of your—”

“Yes, I’m fucking Matt. He was easy to seduce. I just had to drop a few lines about me watching girl on girl porn and how I fantasize about licking pussy, and bam, putty in my hands. It doesn’t matter that none of it was true.”