Twisted Valentine

by Isabel Lucero

crave the darkness Quintin Black gives me, so keeping a part of him and his origins was important.

I am a monster, and I let out the normal person when I need to. The real me needs to kill.

There’s still a lack of trust between us. We’re killers. I knew going in we wouldn’t be able to trust each other, it’s why our relationship is so dysfunctional.

“Because you can’t exist without me,” I say. His lips pull up on one end. “Then what are you worried about?”

“My favorite things,” he says after easing away, watching me as he strokes. “Deviance, malevolence, and depravity.”

“Am I one of your favorite things?” I ask through heavy breaths. “You are the sum of all my favorite things. You’re everything I desire rolled into one. Now come in my mouth and let me taste just how fucking twisted you are.”

He didn’t say I was his only. He said I was his favorite. So no, we cannot have friends, but he won’t know that until I teach him a lesson.

He won’t just think of me as his favorite. I’ll be the blood in his veins, the air in his lungs, and the only thing keeping him alive.

He wants me to ask who he went with, and that’s why I won’t. It’ll drive him crazy, and I’m not so sure he was actually with anybody. “That’s good,” I say.

Don’t let our living arrangement fill your head with fantastical ideas. I want you in my life. I crave your darkness. With you, I’m the most comfortable I’ve ever been. But I will not shower you with poetic declarations of love and profess how you make me feel.” I round the table, coming to a stop next to him. “I will, however, worship your body, because the sight of it turns me on like nothing else,” I say, pulling the hem of his shirt up until it’s over his head. “I will always protect you because the loss of you would send me reeling. The anger I’d feel would turn me into an even darker person, and nobody would be safe.”

“You are a nightmare in the best way. My heart races when you’re around. The things we do together make my adrenaline pump, filling me with an intoxication you can’t get from any drug on the planet. The dark imagery you’re capable of creating with a weapon and your hands gives me a thrill similar to when I plunge a knife into someone’s heart. You are a nightmare, Kaspian, but there’s nothing negative about that.”

“I thought you were talking to Bryan. I saw you guys in front of the gift shop. I heard you with someone after work one night. Not to mention the late hours and random calls. What was I supposed to think? What would you expect me to do?” I crack a grin. “Exactly as you did, but I thought you’d at least get the guy right.” “What?” he asks, head cocking to the side. “All of it was part of my plan. I was giving you what you enjoy. The hunt, the chase, the ability to find out every little detail of what I was doing, who I was talking to and why. I wanted you hostile. You know I love it when you’re vengeful.”

Kaspian,” I start, staring into his eyes. “You’re my beautiful nightmare. The only person I ever want to deal with on a regular basis.” His lips quirk. “So romantic.”

“The way you know me, Kas,” I say, keeping my pace up. “It’s like a fucking dream. You’re meant for me. Only me.” “Only you,” he breathes.