Cruel Intentions | ✓

11 | SERPENT KISSES

11
SERPENT
KISSES

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       THE MOON WAS crying.

       White tears came floating down, twisting and twirling in the air until they fell dead on the hard concrete floor.

       Something about snow made her feel at peace. It reminded her that even the sky couldn't hold back tears, that Mother Nature contained her own freezing sadness for months on end, eventually pouring it all out in a season they named winter.

       She sat bundled up next to the heater, staring through the window at the winking white wonderland that came drifting down.

       How was it still so cold inside?

       A knock sounded. She opened the door to find him leaning lazily against the doorframe, eyes swirling with alcohol, lips raised in an all-too-familiar smile.

The sight of him made her heart clench. It made her blood boil. It made her knees weak. He was everything she needed, and yet everything she dreaded.

       It had been seven days since she last saw him. Twelve days since she hit him. How many days since she fell for him?

       I miss you, baby, he murmured, the scent of tequila possessing him.

       She said nothing.

He didn't look at her the same way anymore. She was no longer rare prey, but a substitutionary meal.

       He shoved his way in and pushed her against the wall, grinding his body against hers. His kisses were rough and demanding, but she did nothing to resist.

       Let's forget about that stupid fight, he whispered, hands creeping up under her shirt. His touch was ice cold.

       Sometimes she wondered if he was cold-blooded, if he shed his serpent moods the way he shed promises. His mouth felt like the jaws of death, each kiss tearing another part away from her, each whisper cutting deep into her flesh.

       Sometimes she really wanted to hurt him back, but then she remembered what would happen if she did.

       So as usual, she let him do whatever he wanted to her. She let him destroy her skin all over again and wondered if perhaps she was the serpent instead, shedding skin like a pet snake for him to ruin again and again and again.

       When they were done, he moved away and trained his gaze out the window.

       His eyes had always been so goddamned empty, but now they were completely void. They were an endless vacuum that she wished she was enough to fulfill.

       He pulled his pants up, eyes dead and lips silent now that he no longer wanted something from her. He didn't say a word as he stood and left her side.

It crushed her when he took his frigid warmth away. He had managed to slither his way back into her brain, once again planting his venomous presence.

       I love you, she heard herself say. It sounded so desperate.

       She didn't even know what those words meant.

       But he was already out the door, leaving her alone with a million unspoken goodbyes.