Chapter 5

Surgery.

Dentist.

Physical therapy.

It was all a pain in the ass, and even if it helped me get stronger again, I fucking hated it. Two months slipped by and my relationship with Oisín was a mixed bag of feelings, if I was being completely honest. Some days, he chose to ignore me and let me do what I wanted—like watch a movie in his theater room or go for a swim in the pool—but then there were others when he loved to rile me up until I was ready to beat him to a pulp. It'd become a game, and I couldn't decide if I enjoyed it or not.

I sighed and tilted my head back, knocking it on the tiled ledge behind it. I was currently sitting on a curved seat in the indoor pool, the water soothing my tired body. I'd already swum twenty laps and my knee burned from the exercise, but my physical therapist, Ben, had told me swimming was one of the best ways to help strengthen my body. The weightlessness took pressure off my sore limbs while also stretching my muscles. I believed him. It didn't mean I had to like all this shit, but here I was.

"Think you can do another ten laps?" Ben asked from where he stood at the pool edge to my right, his arms crossed and a smile teasing at his mouth.

He wasn't very tall, coming to my shoulder, which probably made him five foot seven or less, but he had the slender muscles you'd expect from a man who'd played a lot of sports in his life before choosing the physical therapy route for a job. He had an undercut, with his brown hair longer at the top, and a short beard. A faint scar split his left eyebrow. I supposed he was probably what women would call handsome.

"Will you tell the boss if I don't?" I shot back at him.

Ben threw his head back and laughed, slapping his hand against his chest. He wore a simple black polo with the name of his practice on the left pocket and a pair of black shorts. His white sneakers hadn't ever seen dirt, I was sure. He certainly had the physical therapist vibe. "He is the one who pays me."

I sighed and extended my arms along the length of the ledge, rolling my shoulders to stretch out my muscles. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"The fact that those words came out of your mouth already hurts me, Beastie."

I snorted and glanced toward the door of the pool room where Oisín leaned against the threshold. The light reflecting off the water danced on his face. His lips curved in a way that I had to admit was attractive and his stormy blue eyes glittered with a strange glint that had my skin buzzing with adrenaline.

I took a moment to study him while he stood far enough away not to notice. His brown hair wasn't styled today, and the casualness made him appear softer around the edges. He looked ready to swim in a pair of tan trunks and no shirt. His nipples were peaked, and it was difficult not to let my gaze slide to them and appreciate the rosiness against creamy skin. Sunlight filtered through the wide windows that took up one wall of the room, making everything warmer. With a smug grin, he pushed himself up straight and strode toward us with the confidence I'd come to associate with him.

Shit, I'd been caught perusing him.

There was no way in hell I could pull my gaze away from him, especially when he stopped near my arm and stared down at me with a kind of fire in his gaze that made me feel strange inside. Fuck. Hatred was an easy emotion, but when it combined with whatever weirdness had been going on between us, it got really fucking confusing. I couldn't decide if I wanted to strangle him to death or... something else.

"Thank you, Ben. I'll take it from here."

Ben cleared his throat and threw me a smirk before he left us alone in the pool room.

"Forgot your shirt?" I shoved myself off the edge and planted my feet on the bottom of the pool, turning to look at him face-to-face. The water sloshed around me, and a wicked idea began as a seed of mischief in my head, growing until it had formed into a full-fledged plot. I swam closer again, and he cocked his head, watching me carefully. He didn't trust me, and that was fine because he'd be a fool to think I wouldn't pound his skull in if I had a chance.

"I thought I would give you a show." His tongue darted out, swiping across his top lip as I shifted closer until my chest was against the edge of the pool.

"Really? Not interested." I moved quickly, seizing his hand and yanking him hard. He cursed and fell forward, straight into the water beside me.

He broke the surface, coughing and sputtering, and I laughed.

"Decided you should join me. Thought I could try and drown you." I winked.

He chuckled and wiped the water from his eyes. His wet dark hair clung to his forehead and droplets hung from his bottom lip—oddly mesmerizing. "Very funny, Beastie, but you're a liar. You just wanted to touch my beautiful body."

"Do I?" I shifted closer to him and clasped my hand around his throat. He stilled but didn't swim away, his gaze challenging me to do something. I wouldn't. There was no advantage right now. My knee still needed time to recover, and he could use my injuries against me. "Do you like this?"

Oisín tilted his head and grinned. "Why don't you find out?"

I tightened my fingers around his windpipe, and he gasped, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. I could easily do it now, end his life for good, but it wasn't the right time. Not yet. Instead, I took in the pure ecstasy that swept over his soft features—or at least, I thought that's what was going on. His lashes fluttered against his cheeks, and the way his wet mouth parted caught my attention.

It was interesting to see those sorts of emotions twisting his expression because of me.

The feeling was terrifying because he wasn't only a Company man, but he was a guy. A man. This was a dangerous game that I wasn't sure I wanted to play. If my mother knew what I'd gotten myself into, she'd never forgive me. It wasn't her that I worried about, though, but my brothers. They needed me.

The last thing I wanted was to get sucked into his twisted games. Since the day I'd watched him come, curiosity had sunk its fangs into me, and I wasn't sure what to think about it. I wasn't getting hard for him, but to be fair, I hadn't been getting hard for a while.

I released my hold on his neck, and he blinked up at me, a brief confusion passing over his face. He raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"Well? Do I enjoy things a teeny bit rough? What do you think?"

"I think I've had enough swimming for one day." I leaned back, water rushing around my shoulders as I mostly immersed myself into it, then turned, heading for the stairs of the pool. I didn't get far because he jumped on my back and used his weight to shove my head underwater. I struggled against him, and even though I had a lot of muscle compared to him, he was strong. I managed to throw him off and break the surface again, spitting water at the same time he cackled.

He winked as he stalked to the stairs and ascended, his tan trunks sticking like glue to his thighs. "Don't ever turn your back on me, Beastie. Revenge is so very sweet."

Then, he was gone, leaving me alone in the pool. I stared through the door at his retreating form, and a warmth spread low in my stomach.

Fuck!This was bad.

Oisín's danger didn't come from his ability to kill me when he was done with me. No. It came from his natural talent of drawing me in. I was a moth captivated by a molten hot flame, but he wouldn't just burn me, he'd rip my wings off first to make sure I couldn't fly away.

The sooner I got out of here, the better it would be for me.

I couldn't let the brightness of his deadly fire—or maybe darkness was a better description for him—destroy me.