"Donne?" I choked out. I was rewarded with silence. I could feel his palm. It barely grazed the side of my thigh, but it scorched my skin. I fisted the sheet in my hand and went over the words through my head.

"That's what you do when you are with me," he told me in a speculative tone. "You build this little s.p.a.ce where you can only imagine the two of us there... it's a fantasy of yours, isn't it? A microcosm. A world within a world." My head snapped around and I stared at him. He stared right back at me. He tried to lure me with one of those challenging looks of his. I might have glared, but I couldn't help but fascinate over the fact that he could quote Donne without having to think much about it.

"You really think that you are important, don't you?" I asked him.

"I am important, and you love me because of that." I scoffed on his face. My retort made his smile falter. I smiled, overjoyed that I had gotten a reaction out of him—however small it had been.

"You're sorely mistaken if you think I'm going to fall for that," I told him with the best smile I had up my sleeve. He stared at me for a moment, frozen to the spot in the bed.

"What do you think we're doing, Mia?" his voice was low and almost menacing. I could feel a s.h.i.+ver crawling up my spine.

"You tell me, Anthony," I asked him calmly. His eyes narrowed as he glared at me. His lips dipped down in a frown as he scrutinized my face.

"I thought I made it clear that I like you." I might have rolled my eyes at that. He pushed up on all four and neared me. His gait was that of a predator. I tried to move away, but he grabbed onto my hand and pulled me back. "Listen to me," he whispered forcefully. Despite my instincts, I quit my protests and stayed put.

"I'm listening," I a.s.sured him in a tight voice, but both of us knew that it. I was mostly lying. I was trying my best to break his control over me and take the fastest route out.

"Look at me," he commanded. I followed wordlessly and turned to him. My legs were curled under me, my hands in his grasp as he kept me from falling over the edge of the bed. It was a thin line, the moment he let me go, I would topple over, yet I was just sitting there, wondering what would happen next.

"I am." He shook his head.

"No, you're not."

"What else do you want me to do?" Incredulous, I could hear my voice rising.

"I need you to stop thinking and look at me." I could almost feel my anger drop. My hands felt numb inside his and I felt the urge to pull away grow stronger than ever. "We need to figure out what we are doing, Mia."

"I have been asking you the same thing!"

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