Page 14 of Ruthless Contract
An addiction I didn’twantto shake. I needed the dopamine her presence injected into my life. Needed the rush of happiness she made me feel. Juliet made me smile. I didn’t want to lose that.
I found myself wanting to be the reason she smiled, wanting to make her feel just as needy as I did. I wanted to become her drug of choice, her addiction. I didn’t know what the fuck I’d do if all of this ended up being some elaborate scheme.
The dark feeling that crept over me at that thought made the blood in my veins turn cold. I didn’t want to know what I’d do if she betrayed me. I didn’t want to think about it.Fuck, the water in the shower had turned cold, and I hadn’t even noticed.
I quickly shut it off and pulled the glass door open, stepping out onto the mat. I grabbed a towel and dried off quickly, tossing it into the hamper before grabbing another to dry my hair. When I finished, I strode to the bedroom. By the time I finally crawled into bed, exhaustion dragged me under almost immediately.
I slept soundly. If I dreamed at all, I didn’t remember it. The sound of my alarm pulled me from sleep hours later. Groaning, I reached for my phone and silenced it before checking the time.
9:45 PM.
A slow grin spread across my face as I sat up in bed. It was almost time for me to chat with my Juliet. I threw the covers off and got out of bed. My leg protested slightly. Ignoring the dull ache, I crossed the room and flipped on the lamp beside the dresser.
Soft light filled the bedroom. My gaze immediately lifted to the mirror. I was still naked, fresh out of sleep, my hair slightly tousled. But she said she liked it like that. When we’d first started these chats, I’d worn my hair longer.
A man bun had been my go-to style, which Raz often joked about. Juliet made a comment about wondering what I’d look like with it shorter. A week later, she found out. For a second, I just stood there staring at my reflection.
I ran my hand along the bruise on my side, wondering what she thought when she saw me like this. What she really thought. After the attack at Tower D, she’d been shocked to see me all banged up.
Like the addict I was, I’d had my laptop brought to the hospital so I could chat with her there. Even wounded and hospitalized, I hadn’t been able to stay away from my drug of choice. She’d seemed genuinely worried about me.
Had even promised not to resume her hacking attempts until I was better. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was. Once the doctor had cleared me to resume working out, I’d started back hitting the weights.
I was fit. Even so, I found myself dropping to the floor. I planted my palms against the hardwood and started doing push-ups.
One. Two. Three.
My side started to ache around fifteen, but I ignored it and kept going.
Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two.
Sweat gathered across my skin while my muscles strained beneath the effort. My side felt like it was on fire.
Twenty-five.
That was enough for tonight. Breathing harder now, I pushed myself back onto my feet and stared at my reflection again. My chest rose and fell steadily while a thin sheen of sweat covered my skin.
My abs looked more defined beneath the soft light, the muscles tighter now. I didn’t want to think too hard about why that mattered. Didn’t want to think about why I cared so much about what I looked like before talking to a woman I’d never even met in person. But I cared. Obviously.
Shaking my head at myself, I strode into the bathroom and grabbed two towels from the cabinet. I wet one beneath warm water before wringing it out thoroughly. Then I carried both towels back into the bedroom and placed them on the nightstand beside the bed.
One dry. One damp.
I would need to clean up after this video chat. I grabbed my laptop from the dresser and carried it over to the bed. After plugging the charger into the wall, I climbed onto the mattress.
Still naked, I shoved the comforter down toward the foot of the bed until it was completely out of the way. The room was warmenough that I didn’t need it anyway. Then I stretched out against the pillows and pulled the white sheet over my lower body, stopping at my waist.
With the laptop balanced against my thighs, I opened it and waited for it to load. My pulse had already started picking up slightly.Ridiculous. I was a grown-ass man preparing for a damn video call like it was a date.
Maybe itwasa date.
A twisted one involving hacking attempts, dirty talk, and two people who knew absolutely nothing about each other beyond fake names and dangerous levels of attraction. And somehow, that only made this shit more addictive.
I adjusted the laptop slightly before staring down at the time.9:58 PM.Two more minutes. A slow grin spread across my face. Juliet was usually punctual. If she was going to be late, but still planned to show, she normally sent some teasing little message beforehand.
My fingers tapped lightly against the keyboard while anticipation curled low in my stomach.Fuck. I really had become addicted to this woman. At10:00 PMon the dot, a chime sounded, and a message appeared on my screen with a link to the video chat.
JulietWithCurves:Here’s tonight's link, sexy.
