Flesh: Part Eleven (The Flesh Series Book 11) Read Free Page B

tries to touch me again, this
time my face, and again I slap his hand away, quickly side stepping
him to get out from beneath his intimidating frame.
    “ I
doubt you care that I'm here.” I hug myself tightly.
    “ You
know that's not true.” He casts a weary glance over his
shoulder.
    “ I
hate this place.” I look around the room, feeling sheer disgust
boiling inside of me. I can almost smell the sex coming off of the
furniture, see the writhing bodies like shadows, hear the muted
screams of pain. It seems more like a dungeon in the medieval sense
than the pleasurable sense. The dungeon where Lucian has kept my
heart captive and slowly tortured it to death. “I hate this
place almost as much as I hate you.”
    “ Are
we really going to do this again?” He rolls his eyes.
    “ We
wouldn't have to do this again if you were a decent human being. That
doesn't matter anymore though. I see you for what you are.” My
body tenses as I glare at him.
    “ A
man who doesn't have redecorating his home as a top priority?”
    “ A man who is
bad business, both professionally and emotionally. I came here today
to tell you that I'm done with you, Lucian. In every sense of the
word. I'm done. So past done.” I suck in a deep breath to keep
my tears at bay. The wave of emotion that has hit me from saying
those words is completely unexpected. I absolutely loathe that I'm
showing him far more raw emotion than he deserves. Even more so that
he's not taking it seriously.
    His mouth is still
quirked into an infuriating grin. He holds his arms out and crosses
the room towards me. I step back, trying to avoid him. When he
attempts to pull me into his arms, I kick him as hard as I can in the
shin and then slide around him to put space between us again.
    “ Ow.” He
nearly doubles over to rub his injured leg. The smug expression he
was wearing only seconds ago is gone, replaced by what appears to be
confusion with a dash of anger.
    “ Ow.” I
mock him. “Oh woe is you. Your poor little leg,” the
words sound like venom spilling from my mouth. I can feel the heat in
them, my tongue practically burning my lips. “That bruise will
heal in a week. My heart, on the other hand...” my voice trails
off, and I have to swallow back another wave of emotion from breaking
to the surface.
    “ I never had
any ill intentions towards you.” He straightens himself. Now
he's being completely serious. There's no lust or amusement.
    “ That may be
true, but you've hurt me more than any man ever has. And I'm done
with it.” There's a strange sense of satisfaction in knowing
that I'm finally standing up for myself. That I'm getting all of this
out into the open. Coming here was a good idea after all. It feels
like a heavy weight is slowly being lifted from my shoulders. The
burden of pining over a man who never cared for me. The weight of my
own naivety and illogical desire.
    “ How have I
hurt you?” He cocks an eyebrow.
    “ Are you
really asking me that?” I gesture into the air erratically.
    “ Yes, I'm
really asking you that,” his voice is clipped, as if he's
offended by the notion that I think he purposely set out to hurt me.
    I still for a
moment, trying to figure out how to word what I want to say. The
thought of gushing my feelings—my true feelings about him—is
painful. I don't want him to see how deeply he's wounded me, because
I think that he won't care. But I need to do this. I won't be able to
heal properly if I don't. I'll only create more regrets that it will
take me even longer to get over.
    “ I
like you Lucian. A lot.” It's a pathetic start, but it's a
start. I wait for him to respond, but he doesn't. He simply stands
there, staring at me patiently. “I told you I don't fuck and
run. I've told you that time and time again. And I knew from the
beginning that's the type of guy you are. I knew you were bad for me,
but I just...” I turn my gaze to the floor. “I'm so used
to sweet, charming, loving men. The guys who buy