I swallow under the confines of his hand. “Y-yes.”
“Good,” he praises.
And I clench my eyes shut at how thrilling that feels. God, I’m such a freaking fool. My thighs are spread to almost as much as I can take. My throat is starting to smart under his tight grip. His hand on my belly is keeping me plastered to him in a waywhere I know he won’t let me move, while he pulls, pulls,pullson my belly button ring. I have no control whatsoever over my own body and yet,yet, I can’t stop the shivers at hisgood.
“Now,” he says, and I snap my eyes open. “No more sexy schoolgirl outfits.”
“I… What?”
“Oranyoutfit,” he clarifies, “short enough to get a peek of those white lacy panties every time you walk.Orflimsy enough that I can take it apart with my teeth.”
“You… have a w-weird fascination with your t-teeth.”
He chuckles, or more like blows out a puff of air. “I’m a toxic snake, remember? I bite back.”
I flinch as if he really bit me. “But I…”
“Because if I can do it”—he grits his teeth and he does it so hard, I can feel his bones moving against my cheek—“take your dress apart, they can do it too.”
“Who’s t-they?”
His grip on me flexes and I have to arch my back against him. But he keeps my throat in place as he whispers, “The assholes out there who watch your every move.”
“It’s… It’s for the tips. I just told you.”
His chest moves with a breath. “Yeah, about that.”
“About what?”
Another breath, this one sharp and short. Then, “First thing tomorrow, you’re going into Gerard’s office and you’re telling him you quit.”
I forget to breathe, but it’s not as if I was able to breathe freely anyway. “What?”
“Now, I’m not an unreasonable man,” he goes on. “I know how these things work. I know you’re required to give two weeks’ notice, but the thing is, I don’t think I can last that long.”
“Last that long f-for what?”
“Before beating the shit out of someone out there for putting their eyes on you.”
It’s like he’s crushing my heart with those fingers of his. Digging them into my veins, making it into a pulpy mess. And I scratch his arm as I stutter, “What… What’s happening? Why are you… You’re acting crazy, you know that, right? I don’t understand what you’re doing. I don’t?—”
He ignores me and goes on, “So I’ll give you a week, yeah? I’m not happy about it. In fact, after the way you danced for me, stumbling on your feet, almost coming down to your knees, looking like the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, I know I’m gonna be walking on broken glass all seven days you’ll work here, but”—his chest moves again, and this time his breath seems slightly fractured—“I’ll do it. I’ll make that compromise as long as Gerard knows you’re quitting.”
“His name,” I begin uselessly, “is G-George.”
“George, Gerard, whatever the fuck. You aren’t going to be working for him for long.”
I clench my eyes shut for a second before replying, “I can’t quit. This is my best-paying job.”
He shakes his head slowly. “Not anymore.”
“I-I’m sorry?”
“You have a new job now,” he declares. “And this one comes with enough money to pay off all your debt and then some.”
“My d-debt?”
“You have it, don’t you,” he rasps. “In fact, you’ve got so much of it, you’re drowning in it. You’re behind on your rent. On your phone bill. You’re behind on your sister’s medical bills too.”
