Strife: Part Three (The Strife Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

letting out a small cry of distress before regaining her balance. It gives me just enough time to turn her around, pinning her to the wall.
    She tries to get away, but I press my body against hers, keeping her in place. Anger is written all over her face. Anger and pain and sadness.
    I find her wrists again, pulling them up over her head and pushing them back against the wall. Then I kiss her like I mean it. At least, I try to. Almost the second my lips make contact, she turns her head, diverting.
    “Is this what you want?” I whisper into her ear, confused and aroused and so many things in between.
    “No,” she responds with disdain.
    “You think I don't want you, but you're wrong. You think you're just a whore to me, but you're not. I want to protect you, and I don't know why. From the world. From me.”
    I can feel her chest heaving, but she's starting to calm. The bitterness fades from her eyes, her gaze falling to my mouth as if she can't stand to look directly at me.
    “It's not your job to protect me, Dmitri.”
    “I know that.”
    “But this is my job. Maybe I'm not always going to like it. Maybe I'm not always going to want to do it. Maybe it won't always be my choice. But...Just forget about it.” She shakes her head.
    I don't know what to say. It feels like I just made a bad situation worse. All I know is that it's not fair to keep her hostage. I don't want to become someone she fears.
    Reluctantly, I let her go, taking a step back. She hugs herself, looking like a cornered animal.
    “I'm sorry.” I draw my hand up to my brow, frustration overtaking me. Why do I keep screwing up with her? Why do things always have to be so complicated?
    “I'm sorry too,” she replies though I feel no sincerity from her words.
    Then she rolls off of the side of the wall and continues to the bathroom, locking me out.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    PEPPER
     
     
    I stand in front of the mirror, feeling guilty for running away from Dmitri like that. It seems like the bathroom has become my safe haven. A lot of other clients probably wouldn't allow me the luxury of escaping to recompose myself. I really need to learn to get a reign on my emotions.
    I should have let him keep kissing me. Should have let him fuck me. That's what I'm getting paid for, after all.
    But after the initial kiss, the one where he looked at me with genuine lust in his eyes, everything just felt forced. He was making up for offending me, and while it was hot, the timing wasn't right.
    I keep forgetting that I don't get to choose the timing anymore. I'm not in charge of anything that happens. I'm just a product to be used and discarded at the client's whim. A cock sleeve on legs.
    An exasperated sigh leaves me from such degrading thoughts, and I put down the toilet seat and sit, knowing that it's going to take me a few minutes to get myself together. I'm so embarrassed about the way I acted. Now the rest of the night is going to be awkward.
    It was so perfect. The alcohol. The cuddling. The kiss. Then he had to ruin it by rejecting me again.
    Fuck this life. Is my future really worth all of this internal conflict? Maybe flipping burgers with no certainty of ever reaching my goals would be a better path to take. I don't really know if I'm cut out to be an escort after all.
    I absentmindedly lick my lips, tasting Dmitri on them. It was so sweet when he laid on the floor with me, cradling my face in his hand. His mouth moved on top of mine affectionately. His kiss was gentle and earnest and...I liked it too much. It gave me hope, and that's something I can't afford.
    Now I'm shattered. Fragmented and unable to reassemble. I wish beyond anything that I could go home, but if I try to leave without contacting Nathan, I'll probably end up in a gutter before the end of the night. Maybe I could hide from James for a little while, but he knows where I live, and I have no doubt he would eventually find me.
    I stay in the bathroom for what feels like hours listening to