Shadows Training

My Property(1)

The man tilts his head and starts to observe her with his still cold eyes gleaming red, "Are you alright?" he asked in a softer voice.

Iris remains silence. Confused, scared, tired.

The man watches Iris for a while before standing up and offering his hand to her. "Here, let me help you up, little girl."

Iris takes his hand but remains silent. Her ankle still hurts, and she feels exhausted. She is still trembling in fear but also in confusion since the man was so rough with her earlier but now...

She accidentally steps up with her injured ankles. Iris's flinch and she fell to the ground again. She's know gripping her ankles tightly. The pain is getting worse.

"Shit!" she quietly whimpered again, her eyes begins tearing up, as she almost cry from the sudden unexpected struck of pain.

The man watched as Iris falls again and started clutching her ankle in pain. His eyebrow raised in surprise, "Are you alright?" he asked again, his voice sounding more concerned this time.

"No," Iris whimpered, her eyes watering. "This hurts. It hurts a lot."

The man kneels again and places his hand carefully on her ankle. He starts to massage it, putting gentle pressure to helping ease the pain. Iris stares at him. His hands large and strong, but they feel gentle and soothing.

Despite him being gentle, it still stings. The man studying her face. In such situations, seeing her whimpers and grins in stress, it somehow intrigues him. But he kept it to himself.

The man finishes massaging her ankle and let go. He looks her up and down, trying to assess the damage. But his gaze lingers on her face a little too long, looking at her red eyes shimmering with tears. He tilts his head again as if trying to understand her emotions.

He finally snaps and asks her, "What are you doing here?"

Iris is confused. What should she tell him? That she is looking for a shelter from him and was hoping her friends would help stop him from coming after her for being a the only witness to his crime? Or should she tell him the truth about her working- well training here?

Iris is hesitant to tell him the truth. This man is dangerous after all, so she decides to lie to his face. Despite this wasn't the first lie she thought she could pull off. Iris never good at lying.

"I...I work here," Iris widen her eyes. What's on her mind and what just came out of her mouth are truly a definition of inconsistency.

"I-I work the night shift." She quickly corrected. The truth is, she is occupied almost 24/7 here.

The man stares at her for a while before asking, "What's your name, tiny girl?"

Iris is hesitant. He looks the man in the eyes, and somehow, she could see the man is being... genuine.

"Iris" she said and quickly cursed herself again for being easily blunt.

"Iris..." the man repeats her name, "That's an interesting name, tiny Iris. Do you have a last name?"

Iris stares at him for a moment, still wary of the man even though he is being nice. Is this some sort of tactics to get her unguarded before the worst scenario?

"I... don't have any" She said. She feels a little weird now.

Iris is an orphan ever since she was a baby. She grew up in an orphanage until she graduated high school and was quickly entitled to this company.

"Just Iris, huh?," the man repeats her name again and nods slightly. "Well, Iris, you haven't answered me yet. Why are you here?"

Iris is frown in confusion, didn't she already answer that? Or the man was asking about something else? Also, he was being so rough with her but now he seems more interested in getting to know her.

"I...I'm training here," she says quietly, "I just started actually."

The man tilts his head again and says, "Hm, so, you must be one of the trainees?"

"Yes," Iris replies, her voice still quiet and hesitant.

"How's the training going for you?" the man asks, his tone sounding more relaxed now.

Iris hesitates, unsure what to tell him since she just started. "Well, I'm still learning," she says carefully.

"Oh, is that so? What are you learning right now?" He sounds genuinely interested, his eyes glinting red.

"Martial arts"

The man laughs. Her? This tiny bunny is learning martial arts.

The man glances at her hand. The right hands she uses to grip her injured ankle. He casually takes it and observe it. He notices her hands is trembling, but he could see some small calluses.

With such tiny hand, instead of hurting others she might ended up breaking her own bones.

The man laughs again of his own thought.

"Martial arts?" he asks, smiling faintly.

His eyes dart down to her trembling hands, noticing how fragile and delicate her hands actually are.

"You know, Iris, you're quite cute," he says suddenly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Does he meant cute like pretty or cute like weak? Iris flushes, not knowing how to respond to his comment. She tries to pull her hand back, but the man holds on tight, not letting her go.

"You might make a good companion, tiny girl..." he says softly, his tone suddenly becoming softer, more seductive.

Iris doesn't like it. She doesn't like that he chooses to call her with her with the word tiny. She feels mocked, insignificant to her profession.

Iris pulls her hand from him, she faces away.

"Stop calling me that" she tried to hide that she's pissed.

The man let go of her hand and smiles at her again. "Aww, tiny Iris is angry, so cute," he says seductively, getting really close to her now.

"Stop calling me that? What should I call you then?" he says in a teasing tone. Suddenly, a sly smirk creeps across his lips and he places his hands on her shoulders again.

"You know," he whispers in her ear, "I can call you whatever I want."

Iris freezes.

The man's voice gets closer and closer to her ear, his hot breath tickling the back of her neck.

"You're right..." he whispers, his voice dripping with seduction and his breath smelling like wine.

His hands roam down her shoulders and neck, gently caressing her skin. Iris doesn't know how to respond; she just stands there frozen in fear. Her eyes are wide, her cheeks flushed red. She wants to scream, but she can't.

She wants to move, but she's too scared to. She's completely paralyzed.

The man lies a small peck of kiss on the back of her ear. This exact spot, he was thinking of a trademark. His trademark. He thought; a small replica of his tattoo would look perfectly great on her; engraved right behind her ears. He again lies a peck of kiss on the particular spot.

Iris gasps in shock as the man kisses her ear. Her face goes even redder as the man gently caresses and kisses her neck. Her heart is pounding in her chest, she feels paralyzed with fear.

She can feel the man's warm breath on her neck as he whispers in her ear, "You and me, we could have a lot of fun together, Iris..."

Her eyes are widen and her cheeks flushed, but she doesn't dare to respond.

She hates this. She hates that she doesn't have the courage to stand up for herself. Especially when it comes to such a man. Her eyes begin tearing up again. But her mouth is kept shut.

The man's voice becomes soft as he speaks to her. "It's okay, Iris. You don't have to respond now; I know you're scared... And I want you to be scared for me."

He strokes her head gently, his touch soft and delicate. He slowly leans in to kiss her neck again, his hot breath tickling her skin. She can feel his mustache against her skin and the taste of wine on his breath.

Iris feels her fear and anxiety turn to humiliation and anger. But she stays silent, not knowing what to do.