GENESIS
Why does he hide things from me?
Ugh, it's so annoying.
I stomped my feet on the floor in the middle of the room. It's something I've come to realize I do a lot—something I picked up from Daisy. She stomps whenever she doesn't get her way, and even though I'm not a child, even though she's supposed to be learning from me, somehow I've ended up copying her. Then again, Daisy's more educated and knows things I don't. My schooling stopped when I was eight… fifteen years ago.
Miss Melissa said I'm like a sponge now—soaking up everything I was supposed to learn back then. I'm learning fast, like a kid again.
Still, that didn't stop me from stomping. Again.
Why does he keep things from me?
He looked me dead in the eye and said it was nothing. Just traffic.
But his voice was tight. His hand had gone to his gun. Damon said something in a language I didn't understand. That wasn't just traffic.
I'm not dumb.
I grabbed my notebook and scribbled furiously:
"Why lie to me?"
Then I ripped the paper out, crumpled it, and tossed it to the floor. That didn't fix anything.
I walked to the window, pressing my forehead against the glass. The garden looked calm. Too calm. I hated how the outside world stayed still even when everything inside me was racing. Something was wrong. I felt it in Kieran's silence... in the way his jaw had clenched during the car ride.
After a while, I pulled away, peeled off my clothes, and let out a deep sigh of relief when the dress came off. I moved toward the mirror, staring at my reflection.
I used to hate mirrors. Now… not so much. I'd started to like what I was seeing.
I looked so different. My hair was longer, reaching all the way down to my butt, and shiny too—it didn't fall out anymore when I combed it. I wasn't stick-thin like before. I was still slim, sure, and eating was still a struggle sometimes, but it wasn't about the food. It was the freedom. Freedom from fear. From pain. From constant abuse.
My breasts were fuller now. My hips had shape. I liked it. I really liked what I was seeing.
Then my eyes dropped to my stomach, where maybe—just maybe—a new life might be growing. I rested my palm gently over it, and a small smile crept onto my lips. We weren't sure yet. Kieran said we'd get something to check… what was it called again?
Pregnancy… test?
I'd forgotten the name. We forgot to buy one.
Tomorrow, then. It was late now.
But don't get your hopes up, Genesis.
A voice whispered in my head.
Remember what Monica—
I cut the thought off, shaking my head quickly.
No. I wasn't under my stepmother's control anymore. She didn't get to tell me how to live or think or feel.
I stared at my reflection, at the fierce look in my eyes. My chest was rising and falling quickly. I was upset. And I hated that.
So I closed my eyes. Took a breath. Held it. Let it go.
When I opened my eyes, the door creaked open. I whipped around, startled, arms instinctively going to cover my chest—until I saw it was just Kieran.
He froze as soon as he saw me.
For a moment, I forgot I was mad. My gaze lingered on him—his sharp jawline, the way his eyes caught the light, the tight stretch of his shirt across his muscles. It was a little too see-through. I could see his nipples.
My face flushed. Wasn't that kind of shirt… indecent? People could see him. That was not okay.
Then his voice cut through my flustered thoughts.
"What if it was someone else who walked in here and saw you like this, princess?"
What?
Oh, now I remembered I was mad at him. He was talking about decency? In that shirt?
I turned away, dropping my arms and letting him look if he wanted to. I faced the mirror again, pretending he wasn't even in the room—even though I could feel his eyes on me, burning, watching, waiting.
Then I remembered his question. I glanced at him over my shoulder and gave a little shrug.
That meant I don't care if someone else saw me like this.
Total lie.
I'd probably have a full-blown panic attack.
But I just wanted to make him more mad.
And yeah, you're probably wondering where I learned all this sass. Well… Daisy introduced me to MSA—My Story Animated. We watched videos of girls getting revenge, proving their point, and looking flawless while doing it.
Daisy called it boss energy.
I was still learning.
Kieran stepped closer. His voice was low now. "So that shrug… is that you saying you don't care if someone walked in and saw you like this?"
He was closer now, his voice laced with a dark edge. I licked my suddenly dry lips and flipped my hair toward the sound of his footsteps. A strand almost slipped into my mouth, but I yanked it away and gave a little shrug.
Then I turned back to the mirror.
I didn't even know how I expected him to react, but whatever he did next... definitely wasn't it.
He laughed.
I frowned and spun to face him—in all my naked glory. He kept laughing, and my face flushed hot. I crossed my arms over my chest, heart thumping.
What was so funny?
After nearly a minute of his laughter, he finally looked down at me, eyes gleaming with something unreadable. Then he hooked a finger into my collar and tugged me close.
"You don't know what I'd do to someone who saw you like this," he said, voice low and steady. The kind of calm that sent a shiver through your stomach. "And maybe... it's better you don't."
Then he kissed the corner of my lips. Just like that. And I stood frozen until he pulled away.
I kept frowning.
What did he mean, it's better I don't?
This was exactly what I meant—he never liked telling me things. Why?
I pulled back, stepping away from him. But before I could make it away, he turned me around and tossed me over his shoulder like I was a sack of potatoes.
I gasped, limbs flailing. He just laughed.
I smacked his back—not too hard, but enough to say put me down, now.
He didn't. Of course he didn't.
He carried me straight to the bathroom, ignoring my struggles completely.
Then—
He grabbed my wrist suddenly, firmly, even with me still dangling over his shoulder. His grip was tight, commanding. One of my hands flew behind me, and he caught that too, pinning it to the small of my back.
Then—
Thwack.
His hand smacked against my bare backside. I gasped, shocked. That stung.
"Be a good girl, princess," he said, voice dark, smug, deliciously dangerous. "Or I'll have to teach you how to be one."
My face was burning now—but not just from embarrassment. From the heat crawling up my spine, and between my legs from the way his fingers still dug into my skin, from the feeling that something in me had just...snapped loose.
I slapped his ass right back, more out of instinct than thought.
He laughed again, louder this time, low and wicked. "Oh? Is that how you want to play it?"
We entered the large shower room. The walls were glass, and steam clung to everything. He set me down, but didn't let go of my hand. Instead, he yanked off his shirt with his free hand, tossing it aside.
Then he turned the knobs on the wall, and hot water burst from the ceiling in strong, steady jets. The space filled with heat and mist within seconds.
Before I could step away, he whipped me around and slammed my front—not too hard, never too hard, against the warm tile wall. The water hit us in waves. His hands landed on either side of my head, trapping me.
His eyes roamed my wet body slowly, hungrily, the way someone might look at something they believed was already theirs.
"You wanna do this," he growled. "Try to fight me with those little games—your shrugs, your hair flips, your stomps." His voice dropped lower, more dangerous. "But you forget, Genesis... I like it when you fight."
One hand trailed down to my waist, fingers curling in like claws.
"You think I didn't see that look you gave me in the mirror? The way you stared, the way your thighs clenched? You can pretend to be mad all you want, but this body of yours tells the truth."
He leaned in, breath hot against her ear, steam curling between them. "You're mine, and I don't like sharing. Not your body. Not your thoughts. Not your attention."
His hand slid to her inner thigh, slow and carefully. "I'll spend the rest of my life proving that to you if I have to."
He looked at my face again, those eyes locking with mine. "You wanna be angry? Fine. Be angry. But don't expect me to pretend to be gentle and perfect just because you stomped your feet and threw a tantrum."
"You think I'm the kind of monster who'll hurt you like that? Send you to heaven the way you're afraid of?"
He leaned closer, voice dropping lower
"But you're wrong. The only way I'm sending you to heaven… is with my cock."