Red Thorns (Thorns Duet 1)

And most of all, how free she looks when she thinks no one is looking or when she sketches.

They say the more you know someone, the less you like them.

It’s the exact opposite for me.

I’m fucking infatuated with this girl. And the twisted sex only plays a small part of it.

Because even without the sex, I feel something is missing if I don’t see her for a few hours.

Maybe infatuated isn’t the right word, because I’m on the verge of becoming a criminal to ward any unwanted attention off her.

I summon my mask as I stride toward the group. I make sure to creep up from Naomi’s back because I like the sound of her small gasp when I startle her. It’s similar to when I thrust my fingers inside her tight cunt.

“Are you sure you won’t change your mind?” I hear Josh ask her when I’m near

. “It should’ve been me instead of Captain, anyway.”

Naomi’s brows scrunch in that soft way that makes her tiny features even tinier and her pale complexion paler. She looks like a doll sometimes.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been on a mission to break her.

And keep her.

“What do you mean, it should’ve been you?” she asks, and it takes all I have not to pummel Josh into the ground. Looks like the extra training I’ve made him do lately for payback hasn’t been enough.

I need to up my game.

Josh darts out his tongue—that will be soon cut off—and licks his lips. “It should’ve been me.”

“You say that as if you would’ve ever stood a chance.” I slide to Naomi’s side and subtly wrap an arm around the small of her back. Her pink lips slowly part and I revel in the shiver that takes over her body as I stroke her bare skin with my thumb.

But I don’t look at her for long. If I did, I’d want to rip this thing off her here and now, and then I’d need to put that fucker Josh—and everyone who has a similar thought—in their fucking place.

So I fixate him with my neutral expression that makes people intimidated. “You think you’re a match for me?”

He releases a nervous laugh that no one returns. “Look, Captain. I was just joking around, man.”

“You weren’t. I saw the glint in your eyes when you were licking your lips while you were ogling her cleavage. Do that again and I’ll jam your teeth to the back of your skull, then use them to rip your balls off your dick.”

A collective gasp echoes in the air and then a multitude of clearing throats follow.

They don’t know me as the type who threatens. I didn’t in the past because I didn’t need to. I merely got things done in the background, whether by using forms of manipulation or secret violent incidences that I could get away with.

But I had to put the fucker Josh in his place so he doesn’t look in her direction again.

Naomi stiffens by my side, but she remains silent. It’s Owen who nudges me and whisper-hisses, “What the fuck was that for?”

I ignore him, still directing the full blow of my hostility at Josh. “Is that fucking clear or do I need to start acting on those threats?”

“Go act like a caveman someplace else,” Naomi bites out and elbows me. It’s hard and sudden enough that my hold loosens from behind her.

Her cheeks are red and her stomps are harsh and unmeasured as she shoves through the crowd.

I grab Josh by the collar of his shirt and his eyes widen as I whisper, “Next time you look at what’s mine or run your loose mouth, it will be your last. Watch your fucking back.”

I shove him away and ignore Owen’s protests and Reina’s coy smile as I follow the path Naomi took.

The crowd of people is so large that it’s impossible to find her. Even when it must be hard to run in her skimpy clothes.