Sold?

I stood on the little hill in the open field that was in the outskirts of the city.

No matter how much time pass I can't seem to come up with any way to run away or to win against Arius.

I looked at him, making his way to me with a gun in his hands.

"You ready?" He came and stood in front of me. I nodded, "Good." He handed me the gun and turned me to face the target board about 15 meters away.

"Why are you teaching me personally? Caesar or Ben would have been fine." I raised my gun and pointed at the board.

"Ay! Because you suck at it." He clicked his tongue,"You're posture's all wrong too"

"What's posture got to do with this?"

"Everything." He came and stood right behind me, placed his hand over my stomach and pushed it in to make me stand a bit leanier. Then he slid his hands to my arms, traveling them to my hands to change their position a bit. "Open up your legs a bit more." He put his face over my shoulder.

A light scent of almonds and honey came from him.

It was somewhat relaxing.

He stepped away from me, "You have twelve bullets. Each time you miss you'll get a penalty."

"What penalty." I didn't move my stance.

"Depends on how badly you miss." He folded his arms and looked at the target board,"Shoot."

I focused my eyes on the target, took a few breaths and fired.

The paint bullet hit right in the middle.

"Oh!" I looked at Arius and jumped in excitement,"I did it."

He smirked, "That's one. You won't hit the next one."

Jerk. Can't he praise me?

I turned and took my position again, after focusing on the target I fired.

It hit the tree right next to it.

What? Why?!

I shot again, it hit the far end of the board.

What the-?!?!

Why can't I hit it?!

I shot again. It hit the corner of the board again.

I was devastated.

The sound of laughter made me turn to Arius in awe.

"Why are you laughing?"

"No reason." He stepped closer to me,"You missed three shots."

"But I hit the first one perfectly! I should get some credit for that!!"

"You won't get credit for that since I was the one who positioned you."

"Ah..."

"Well then... You missed them pretty bad so," He gently brush away the hair covering the side of my neck and kissed me there.

It sent an electrifying effect in my body.

"What are y- ah~!" I trembled as he began to suck on it.

Everything he does intimately, he does it so good you hate it but love it at the same time.

He stepped in front of me and grinned after leaving a mark on my neck.

"You still have eight more shots." He then stepped back to observe, "You better hurry. It looks like it's gonna rain."

I glanced at the dark gray clouds covering the sky.

I tried positioning myself again but the feeling of his touch hadn't yet left me and my neck still felt tingly.

It took me quite a while to focus but Arius didn't say anything. He quietly stood there with a blank expression. His focus entirely on the target board.

The sky had turned dark and the wind was catching speed.

If it doesn't affect him. It shouldn't affect me!

I told myself and focused on the target.

This time I leaned ahead a bit and opened my legs a bit for more balance.

Then, I fired the gun.

It hit the third to outer circle of the target.

Yes!

I slightly changed my hand direction and shot again.

The bullet landed further in.

A drop of rain fell on my cheek, I glanced up and I realized I might have to hurry.

I turned my attention to the target board and shot immediately.

It grazed the target and hit the tree behind it.

It started drizzling and I panicked.

I looked back at Arius who stood in his place without saying anything.

The moment I looked at him, he raised his hand to show me five fingers, "If you want to stop. The rest will be counted as missed bullets."

I looked at the clouds. Lighting travelled in them and clearly it was going to start raining heavily any second now.

I turned and pointed the gun at the board. I have to get the target before it starts raining too heavily.

I gulped, the wind had gotten stronger.

I fired.

It didn't hit the board. I looked around it.

Where did it even hit?

"Don't panic." Arius spoke, "The moment you panic. You lose."

I looked at him again. The sound of pattering increased as the droplets fell down with full force.

"You can do it. Turn around and focus." Somehow I can't believe he's actually saying something encouraging.

I turned but the target was unclear now, everything had started getting blurry and it was getting cold.

I raised my gun and fired all the remaining shots but I couldn't tell if they hit the target or not.

"Well, that was bad." Arius walked to me, now drenched due to the rain.

"..." I handed him the gun, "How are we going back?"

Ben dropped us here and took Nora and Caesar with him.

"Let's find some shelter for now."

***

We found a shed after a little walk. The weather had taken its worst form. The windows rattled and the wind howled.

The shed didn't really have anything in it but a closet and an empty shelf.

Arius found a big blanket in the closet. He inspected it and seemed rather satisfied with it.

He looked at me. I was trembling a lot.

"Take your clothes off." He dropped the blanket and began taking off his shirt.

"Why?! There's No need..."

I watched him dumbfounded. He took off his shirt, then he took off his pants and placed them on the shelf.

The black colored tribal tattoos extended from the right half of his back to front right half, extending to his right arm, all the way to his elbow.

He looked at me as he stood there in his black boxers. Then he picked up the blanket and wrapped it around himself. "There's only one and I'm not sharing it."

"What? Why not?!"

"Not unless you take off your clothes. They're drenched." He casually walked to the wall and sat down.

He seemed comfortable.

But!

Why would I take my clothes in front of him!

Only he can be so shameless!

I sat down in anger.

Darn him.

"Achoo!!!" I sneezed and realized how cold it was and it felt colder because my clothes were wet.

I glanced at Arius. He was sitting there all comfy, without a worry, playing with his phone.

I sneezed again and rubbed my arms.

Purple lightning lit the sky followed by thunder rumbling.

It felt so close, it gave me goosebumps.

I glanced at Arius again, gulped and stood up.

I walked up to him and he looked at me.

"Changed your mind?" He asked and I nodded.

"But, I don't want you to see me."

"Don't worry. You won't get me excited." He smirked.

"I know..." As a girl of course I'm embarrassed about taking my clothes off in front of a man, "There's something else I don't want you to see." I looked at my feet and fidgeted a bit.

"Okay." He turned around facing the other way. I took off my clothes, left myself in my underwear and joined him in the blanket from the back.

His body was warm, his back was big and his shoulder broad, it made me feel better. My shivering stopped as his body heat transferred to me.

"I have a question." I said.

"Hmm?"

"You said you didn't hate me. Why? We're enemies. Our families too."

"I have no reason to hate you."

"Then why? Why did you make me your slave?"

"Because you're the perfect toy to use. You're pretty, attractive, you don't break easily, and, I already own you."

Of course, using the enemy is the perfect choice. Him hating me wouldn't have anything to do with this.

But, I wonder why his words make me feel so bad?