Page 80 of White Noise

I don’t need to stand behind her anymore.

I don’t need hands around her throat or skin under my palms to get a response.

A faint disturbance in the current is enough to change the rhythm of her breathing.

Soon, maybe even that will be more than I need.

I send another pulse through the speaker, and the reaction is immediate. Her shoulders tense, her breathing catches, and the muscles in her thighs pull tight before she can hide any of it. I don’t bother hiding how much I enjoy watching it happen.

Her eyes narrow. “You really are a nightmare.”

“I’m not trying to be anything else.”

I let the current disappear after that and watch what happens when I leave her with nothing. The room goes quiet, but she doesn’t relax.

If anything, the tension gets worse.

Her attention keeps drifting toward the speaker, waiting for the hum to return, while one foot shifts restlessly against the floor.

That interests me more than the comparison.

She isn’t only expecting the signal anymore. She’s fucking waiting for it, body tense with the anticipation of something she keeps pretending she doesn’t want.

I lean closer until my face nearly fills the monitor. “You’re starting to do the work for me.”

The color in her face shifts, and for once the attitude doesn’t come back immediately. She knows what I mean. That is much more interesting than fear, because fear can be forced. This is different. Her body is beginning to reach for the signal before I give it anything.

“Careful, Saga.”

Her eyes narrow. “With what?”

“Learning me.”

I let the static whisper through the speakers, barely there, and her breath catches instantly.

My smile sharpens.

“Because your body is learning faster than you are.”

She glares at me, but she doesn’t look away.

For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. I can feel the challenge building in her before she even speaks, that stubborn human need to push at the thing that should scare her.

“So what happens if I don’t tell you to stop?”

There it is.

I study her face. “You sure you want the answer?”

Saga leans farther back in the chair, trying to look bored even though her pulse has already started climbing again. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

A quiet laugh leaves me. “There’s that fucking attitude.”

“Either do whatever weird science experiment is happening in your head or shut up.”

That is enough for me.

I manifest slowly, because there is no reason to rush and because I want her to watch it fucking happen.