Jillian Rose

Chapter 9

I looked over at Boss John. His eyes were fixed on me. His fingers were over his mouth. I couldn't tell if he was trying to hide his grin, or if it was something he did when he was thinking. There was a lot about Boss John I hadn't figured out. I had decided I didn't want to figure him out. I wanted as little to do with him as possible. After he helped me get Chad out of prison I never wanted to see him again.

"And then..." he said softly.

I smiled. He had never attempted to coax more out of my stories than I was willing to give. I was pretty open with him about what had happened to me. There was no reason not to be. I wasn't ashamed of it. I did nothing to be ashamed of. It's the other people in my stories who should be ashamed of themselves.

"Get Chad out and you'll hear the rest."

He looked at me as if he wasn't sure how to take it. I was giving him an order. Was I even allowed to do that? Then again I had been calling the shots all along. I dictated how much my stories were worth, not him. I didn't have to talk to him. I could go back to being a street walker and getting banged in alleys.

"You're getting brave, Jillian," he said grinning as he rose to his feet.

I took a deep breath and stared him down as he stepped around the coffee table stepping in my direction. I was tired of showing him how much my past hurt me. I knew he liked it, but he was going to have to find some other girl to torture. I was done.

I jerked away from him as his lips met mine, but he was expecting that reaction. Boss John slid his fingers through my hair near the base of my neck, and closed his fingers, trapping my hair in his fists. I couldn't move head. His lips explored mine. His other hand was at my jaw. His fingers pressed down on my chin as his hair entangled fingers kept my head in place forcing my lips to part. His tongue teased my teeth. The thought of biting his tongue off appealed to me; however, the hair entangled in Boss John's hand being ripped out of my scalp did not.

He took my breath away, but not in the leg up kind of way. It felt more like I was just held at gun point. Sure you get an adrenaline rush, but it's not something you would ever want to do again. He let go of me before his lips left mine. I pulled away from him and glared at him. "Do that again and I'll bite you," I hissed.

He grinned. Fuck. Biting him...fighting back, that's exactly the kind of thing that got him off.

"There's hope for you yet," he said as he grabbed his coat. "There's a blizzard coming. Stay inside. I don't want you to freeze to death."

"Not into necrophilia then?"

He smiled that charming smile of his. "What kind of sick fuck do you think I am?"

I didn't answer.

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I watched the snow fall for the third day in a row. I could barely see the first floor windows on the building across the street. I couldn't help but think about the unfortunates who lived on the street. If they weren't inside a shelter or in a condemned building they were dead by now. I heard the weather lady say it was a record low for November. I only had a couple more months to go and I could be free from this prison.

I looked around at the apartment as the heat kicked in. There were definitely worse places to be. I thought back to my apartment in the Neon District. I wasn't even sure if I would have had heat there. I had moved in during the spring. It had already warmed up at that point. I thought back to the room Chad and I shared just outside the Neon District and how cold it was last year. I shivered at the memory.