Page 13 of The President's Passion
He shakes his head. “No, though it depends how much I need and how hard I decide to unleash on you.” Walking over to me, he goes to his knees. “Don’t whimper too much or I’ll want to fuck you again.”
I try not to whimper, slamming a hand over my mouth when I feel the iciness on my flesh and I worm around, wriggling and I take a couple of deep breaths. Went lets out a purring praise, sliding the ice cube over the twinge.
“You’ve been very good,” he murmurs and once the ice has melted, he gives the area an open mouth kiss and I squirm when I feel his warm breath. He grabs my knees. “Now keep these closed, until I need you again.”
“Where are you going?” I pant and sadness breaks out in my chest when he rises.
“There’s some work I’ve neglected. I’ll finish it and then I want you to come to my room.” He cups my face. “I’m expecting you to be there, Jackie. I need to make sure I finish what I started.” He slides his thumb over my lip. “Missing you already...”
Wincing, he leaves the room and an emptiness takes root on me. I’ve never felt it before and I sigh because at least we’ll be seeing each other later. Wringing my hands, I get up and figure I should pick out something new to wear, just to surprise Went.
With a small smile on my face and my guard blissfully down, I walk over to the closet, opening it and I scream in shock when a figure jumps out and we topple onto the floor. I fight him, kicking and boxing but he’s got his hand clamped over my mouth and constricting my limbs until I can’t move.
I’m shocked. Struggling on the carpet while vice president Kramer is trying to...kill me?”
“Stop panicking,” he grinds between his teeth, red in the face as if he’s about to explode. “Hey!” He jostles me. “Shadow petals.”
I still. He knows the secret code word of the Dead Roses. He slowly removes his hand and I pant, “You’re one of us.”
Rising, he pulls me with me and throws me a condescending glare. “I’m not one of you. I created you.”
Eyes flaring, I blurt, “You’re Thorn!” I’ve never seen his face or heard his voice before. Thorn was the one who gave us the insider scoop on where the president would be this evening and how to get there without raising suspicions. My heart begins pounding. All this time...
Kramer was Thorn all this time.
“Nice job tonight by the way, you little klutz,” Kramer barks, clenching his fists as he begins to pace. “You were supposed to kill him.”
“I was supposed to send a message,” I breathe and he stomps his foot in anger.
“You were supposed to kill him!”
Feeling faint, I back a couple of steps and glance at the door. I don’t like Thorn. He doesn’t have that look in his eyes that the rest of us do that stands for compassion and justice. His eyes are glassy and I don’t think I want to know what kind of corrupt thoughts swim in his head.
“What is going on with you...?” I rasp. “And what were you doing in my closet?”
“I have a job for you.”
“I don’t accept work applications at this moment,” I reply.
“Tell that to your brother,” he snarls. “I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed when he finds out how you’ve betrayed him by fucking the man keeping him on death row!”
My lower lip begins trembling. “Don’t drag my brother into this.” I brush tears off from the corners of my eyes. “Besides, Went has promised he’ll pardon him so everything worked out in the end. I saved him and I didn’t have to hurt anyone.”
“You haven’t saved him,” Kramer grits, taking a threatening step closer to me. “Your brother’s still in prison, watched over by a guard who happens to be a close ally of mine. If you scream, or start fighting me I’ll dial a number in my phone that’ll go straight to the guard and your brother is dead.”
The room starts spinning and I sag against the wall, grabbing a piece of the embroidered curtain to keep me steady. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to kill him.” His eyes flash with hatred. “The president will be dead tonight and he will die by your hand or else...”
Or else my brother will.
“How?” I choke, shuddering. “How am I supposed to kill him?”
A gasp escapes me when Kramer pulls out a dagger and the tip looks so sharp it could probably cut air. “Straight into the heart,” Kramer breathes, licking his lips, “twist it around a couple of times if you’d like and don’t be a useless coward.”
I won’t be able to go through with this. I can’t kill Went but if I don’t another man close to me dies. Reaching for the dagger, I weigh it in my hand and it’s so heavy, my limbs go numb. “P...please...”
“P...please what?” Kramer mocks. “Just go there and get it over with. You hate the president tyrant, remember? You hate everything that he stands for and who he is.”