He pulled her close and held her, rubbing her back. Kyla sank into his embrace. He felt so warm; he smelled so good.
“You feel so good,” he murmured, “But I’ve gotta tear myself away. I’ll be back to check on you soon. Need anything before I go?”
“Naw, I’m good. But I wanted to ask you about the whole birth control thing. Can I have my purse? I need to double-check my pills. I think I should’ve had my, err… period by now.”
“You’re not pregnant Kyla, you don’t have to worry. You don’t need those pills.”
“Why? And really? How do you know, I mean can you not…”
“I gave you a shot. When I took blood I gave you a birth control shot. I knew you’d ovulate if I didn’t.”
Anger rose in her. He’d just taken the liberty of injecting birth control into her? She’d written off the injection as birth control a few years back due to the long list of potential side effects.
“So, before I go, not hungry or thirsty or anything?”
“No.” she snapped.
“Whoa, easy...”
She stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.
He followed her.
“Get out! I need to use the bathroom.”
“Let me explain,” he said and walked toward her.
“Fuck that. I can’t even have a minute to go to the bathroom myself? You’re in my head, you take my blood, you give me drugs. What about the birth control already in my system? I could’ve kept taking my fucking pills if you’d given me my damn purse back, if I hadn’t been treated like a prisoner. What about my free will?” Rage was rising in her and she wanted to smash something, smash a million things.
“Okay, chill out. You’re overreacting,” his jaw tightened.
She didn’t care in the least.
“Get out!” she hollered at him, “Is it too much to ask that I be able to take a fucking pee in peace?”
Tristan rolled his eyes, “You don’t even have to pee. You’re just being pissy.”
“Oh, bite me!”
“Bite you, eh?” he crossed his arms and looked at her disapprovingly, like she was a petulant child.
Her face flushed crimson. She couldn’t speak.
“Fine. Pretend you have to pee to get me out. I’ll wait for you to come out so we can discuss this rationally. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll bite you. But only if you ask me again, nicely.” He winked at her.
She folded her arms and held her lips in a tight line. He left. She whipped the toothpaste at the door and let out a squeal of frustration. It bounced and did nothing to calm her down or make her feel like she’d gotten her frustrations out.
She paced, feeling her heart race. It bothered her that it was racing because she knew Tristan would know it. He was taking everything from her. He was in control. She hated feeling like this. Yeah, sure, he said he needed to protect her but what about all of the other stuff? He’d decided she was staying even before she knew she had feelings for him. Had he done things to force that bonding moment when she fell apart at the seams? Was all this part of his plan?
She stormed out of the bathroom, “So what else are you controlling? Tell me, have you really had me in a trance all this time and you’re just playing a game with me to make me think I have feelings of my own?”
“What?” he spun around from the computer at the desk and looked at her with a bewildered look on his face.
“Have you had me in a trance this whole time just making me think I’m not? ‘Cuz I don’t understand how in less than a week I could go from being kidnapped and raped to thinking I have feelings for you. How could I not even think about birth control unless you erased that from my brain? What sort of voodoo bullshit --- and I’d like my fucking purse back!”
“Whoa. I’ve been honest with you, Kyla. And your feelings are real. Don’t joke about that. That’s hurtful. And watch that temper. There’s no telling what kind of results your temper tantrums could spark in me.”
“Don’t you threaten me. This so-called honesty is just a technicality, though, right? Only because you haven’t really said anything; you dodge my questions or offer limited information so I won’t ask you questions. You have me on a ‘need to know’ basis, right? Right?”
“Have your little tantrum if it makes you feel better but get over it and let’s move on because it’s done. I did it the day after I met you. I knew you were staying while I figured all this out so I wanted to make sure I couldn’t get you pregnant. Believe me when I tell you, you don’t want to go down that road. I didn’t see any birth control pills in your bag. If I had I wouldn’t have given you the shot. I sensed you would ovulate if I didn’t. A lot has transpired since then. It has all caught me by surprise and I’ve reacted at every turn. None of this was premeditated; this is all us, all now --- present tense.” He closed the distance between them and pulled her to him, “All you’re feeling for me, it’s you and me. Us. I haven’t planned any of this.”