Page 149 of Stranger to Love

She reached out, her hand sliding into my hair and gripping just tight enough to make me gasp. "You are going to learn, darling. By the time I’m finished with you tonight, the very idea of another woman’s touch will make you recoil. And as for Ms. Davies... she is about to find out that some things are not for sharing. And some people are far too dangerous to provoke."

Carrie let go abruptly. She stalked over to the kitchen island, picked up my phone, and thrust it into my hand.

"Text your parents. Tell them you won't be home tonight."

My fingers fumbled through the passcode. I sent a quick, vague text about staying late at Carrie’s, my heart hammering against my ribs.

As soon as I locked the screen, Carrie furled her hand into my hair again. It was a firm, possessive grip that forced my head back. She hauled me onto my feet and marched me out of the kitchen, down the hallway, and up the stairs.

When we reached her bedroom, she shoved me. I stumbled forward, landing on my knees against the plush rug at the foot of her bed. The bedroom door slammed, and the sound of the bolt sliding home echoed like a gunshot.

Carrie turned back to me, her silhouette framed by the door, her expression masked in the dim light. The composed lecturer was dead. The woman who called me "darling" was gone.

“Carrie,” I whispered.

I was a mess. But God, I loved this. I loved the weight of her ownership. The adrenaline was a chaotic storm of anticipation, guilt, and genuine fear.

She stepped closer, hooking a single finger under my chin to tilt my head back. When she let go, I stayed exactly where she had placed me, rooted by her will. Then, she began to circle me.

I stared straight ahead, my eyes fixed on the far wall. She completed four agonisingly slow laps around me.

“In only a week, you have let two women touch you.” Her voice was a low, dangerous vibration. “I thought I had made my point, Alex. But no. You let another woman touch you—and make it clear she intends to stake a claim."

With a sharp, sudden nudge of her bare foot to my upper back, I toppled over instantly, my hands slapping against the rug.

“Not only did you allow her to touch you,” she continued, her voice floating down from directly above me like ice. “But the woman in question happens to be my colleague. A woman you have already slept with. Twice.”

My arms shook as I held myself up. Carrie reached down, locking her fingers under my chin again. "Tell me, Alex, do you value honesty?"

"Yes... of course I do, Carrie."

"Stand up," she commanded, sharp as a guillotine.

I hauled my shaking body off the floor. Carrie walked over to her vanity, picked up her dark blue velvet chair, and placed it dead-centre in the room, facing the bed.

"Strip. Down to your underwear."

I fumbled with my clothes until I was standing in nothing but my sports bra and cotton pants.

"Sit."

I sank into the velvet chair, my chest heaving. Carrie began to circle me again, slowly unbuttoning her blazer, folding it with terrifying neatness onto the vanity.

"So tell me," she began, her voice a low, melodic taunt. "Honestly. How many times were you in my seminar, or my lecture, and you saw Ms. Davies? How many times did you picture her naked? How many times did you think about sleeping with her again while I was standing right there?"

"Carrie, please," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "We weren't together at that point."

She stopped dead, leaning down until her face was inches from mine. "I don't care about the 'point' we were at, and I certainly didn't give you permission to argue. I asked you a series of questions, and I expect answers. Correct yourself. Who are you talking to?"

"I... I'm sorry," I whispered, my head bowing instinctively. "I'm sorry, Dr. Carter.”

Carrie nodded, a predatory smile ghosting across her lips. "Good girl. And who else are you talking to, princess?"

I whimpered, the sound small and broken. "Mommy."

She rewarded me with a kiss so soft, so agonisingly tender, it was a cruel contrast to the coldness in her eyes. Then she straightened up. "Answer me."

I let out a shaky sigh, staring at my bare knees. "I... I don't know how many times. A lot. At the start, anyway. I’d look at her when you were talking because it was easier than looking at you. You were too much, and she was... she was just a body I already knew. I thought about it to distract myself from how much you were getting under my skin."