The Secret Reader

Chapter 2 — Against My Will

(Alina's Pov)

Yesterday, I ended up going to sleep a bit earlier than the others. I didn't want to be the last one to fall asleep, let alone, be the last one to talk to Dante. There was something about him that I couldn't quite understand. I knew he was at a cadet, and yet, something still felt odd about him.

This morning, my sister left us her car and we had to go to the mall. It was clearly against my decision to go with Dante, but my sister insisted that it was also a good time for us to bond and get to know each other.

But even as we drove down the road, I couldn't quite feel comfortable around him. It was almost as if there was something about him that irritated me. And I think I knew what it was. This was my chance to confront him. He was holding the stirring wheel, his eyes fixed on the road as he listened to the soft song by the Celine Dion. I preferably hated Celine, for some of my personal reasons. I just had to tolerate it.

“When are you gonna give me back my book?" I asked, my eyes staring at him. He didn't bother turning, but I noticed how his lips spread into a one sided smirk. The set of studs on his ear glinted in the piercing sunlight, and for a moment I kept staring, caught up in the moment. They looked good on him.

“What book?" He started. "Wait, you mean your addition of written porn?"

"Excuse me?" I c****d a brow. "It's not porn, by the way. It's called erotic literature.”

"I don't really see the difference there..." He said. "..porn is porn. Whether it's animal porn, or cartoon porn, or human porn. It's still porn."

I rolled my eyes, clearly irritated. "I don't really care about your opinions on this."

"If you don't want to hear about my opinions, then I guess it's much better you shut the f**k up, and pay attention to the road." He said.

I c****d my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"What!?" He looked at me, his own brow raised. For the first time, I noticed that he had another silver stud at the edge of his brow. "What part of my speech don't you understand?"

I looked away from him, looking outside the window. I leaned my head against the glass, staring at the numerous cars that were were driving past. I hated him. He was rude. But what did I expect? It's not like he was my friend or anything.

“Are you crying now?" He asked me.

I kept quiet. I wasn't going to entertain him.

He chuckled, the sound a deep rumble that almost stole my breath. "So you're clearly crying over porn!?"

He was somehow managing to get over my nerves. I bit her lower lip, trying by all means not to explode. I wanted to say something bitter to him, to curse him, to scream at him that it's not porn. If someone heard him say such things about me, they'd think I was some kind of pervert.

Suddenly, I felt his cold fingers rest on my bare thigh, his eyes staring at me. They were flickering with something, something carnivorous, something playful. I just didn't know what words to use to describe it. But, where he touched me, I felt a shiver race down my spine. His hands were rough, I could tell.

“I thought you'd be in tears by now..." He said, that hint of playfulness still dancing in his eyes. "....but I guess I was wrong.”

'Get you filthy hand off me...' the words only ended up in my head, and I couldn't muster the strength to tell him. I just tried to act all cool, like I didn't mind the effect his touch was having on me. I wanted his hand to slide my thigh,.... "What do you take me for? A crybaby?"

"You kind look like one." He said. "And I think if you cried, you'd be cute."

"Cute?" I c****d an eyebrow.

He was looking back at the road, steering with one hand. My drove past a hump, and his hand squeezed me a bit when I was thrown a little into the air. His hand slid from me as quickly as it could, holding back the wheel. "I have this crazy question in my head..."

"Ask me..." I said.

"Well, I read a few of your chapters of your book tonight." He said, and immediately, my cheeks went ablaze. If Only was an erotica, and most of its pages were about nasty things. I sank into the seat, embarrassed. "And there's this question that kept popping in my head. "Are girls cute when they moan? Or it's just an exaggeration from the authors?"

"I don't know what you want to say..." I said. "I'm not the one who sleeps with girls y'know."

"Well, let me ask you in this way...." He said. "...are you cute when you moan?"

My cheeks flared beet red, blood rushing down my veins at the mere thought. I didn't know what to say, and I felt as if my throat my was running dry. "That's a private question you're asking."

"I'm just curious...." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "You're just being a pervert."

He clicked his tongue. "Judging from the way you look, I bet you're cute when you moan."

'Did he just...?' I was staring at him, blank. I didn't have the right words for him. I just sank into my seat, staring down at the road as it came to a turn. At least I had some sort of distraction from him.

But, it wasn't that much of the distraction.

The road he was driving us in was the opposite road from where the mall was. I stared down at him, my eyebrows narrowed into a frown. "You're going the wrong way!"

"No, I'm not!" He said, his eyes fixed on the road. "We can go to your bloody mall later. I have a friend of mine I want to meet."

"But that wasn't our agreement," I protested. "You're supposed to take me to the mall first, then you can go see your friends for all I care!"

Dante warned me, "Well, you're too late...and please, stop annoying me."

I felt a surge of annoyance. He didn't tell me anything about going to his friend's and I didn't even want to go to his friend's house.. "Annoying?" I repeated, incredulous. "What's annoying is you taking me somewhere I don't want to go!"

The car turned onto a side road, and we drove in silence until Dante parked outside a nondescript house.

"We're here," he said, turning off the engine.

I sank into the seat, my arms crossed around my elbows. "I'm not going anywhere," I said.

Dante stared at me, his eyes calculating. He sighed, pulled out the car keys, and said, "Suit yourself... but don't come bothering me, cause I might spend longer inside." He walked out, leaving me seething. I watched as he stopped at my door, swung it open, and said, "Get out."

I glared at him. "No. I'm not going anywhere with you! I'll stay in this f*****g car until you come back." I reached for my phone. "In fact, let me just call my sister and tell her that you took me to the middle of nowhere."

Dante snatched the phone from my hand. "Don't be so dramatic."

I turned, furious, and saw him walking away, saying, "If you want your f*****g phone, you'll come take it."

I slammed the car door shut behind me, my anger boiling over. My hands were clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms, cutting me. I approached Dante.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded, my voice low and even. "You can't just take me somewhere against my will!"

As I grabbed his wrist, he suddenly turned, his face hard and unreadable. His piercing blue eyes were stern, and I felt like I'd been doused with a bucket of icy water. He looked like he was wearing a mask.

He managed to grab me, his grip on my wrist firm like a vice. "If there's one thing I hate," he growled, "it's being told what to do by a bloody teenager."

I winced in pain, trying to pull my wrists free. "Give me back my phone, you dickhead!”

His eyes were stern. "I don't care what you want," he spat. "If you're with me, you'll do exactly what I say. Your thoughts, feelings, and opinions don't matter."

His grip on my wrists tightened, making me wince again. "Let go of me," I pleaded. "You're hurting me."

Dante ignored my plea. "Am I clear?"

I nodded, my head jerking up and down. "Yes, you're clear."

As Dante released my wrists, his eyes widened, noticing the blood trickling down my palms from the small nail cuts. "You did that to yourself?" he asked, his voice tinged with surprise. I tried to pull my hand away, but his grip on my wrist firmed once more.

"Relax," he said, his eyes locked on mine. "I'm not done yet."

I struggled, trying to free myself. "What are you...? A doctor now?"

Dante ignored my sarcasm, his gaze focused on my injured hand. I felt bitter, still angry at me for what he did to me. He pulled it closer to his mouth, his lips inches from my skin. Just as his lips were about to touch my hand, the door swung open behind him. I quickly slipped my hand from his grasp, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

A blond-haired guy stood in the doorway, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene. "Now what's going on here?" he asked, his tone firm.

Dante turned, facing him with a smirk. "Nothing you need to worry about."

But to me, I had every reason to worry because he had just tried to kiss my hand.