Don’t Stress My Tolerance Level
“Well?” I said in the form of a question, keeping my gaze on his arms. My way of asking him to let me go.
“No,” He said, annoying me even further.
For Christ’s sake, I’m in my period, and this man neither has an idea of what I’m feeling right now nor what those hands of his were doing to me.
“You’ll find those fingers of yours broken if you don’t keep them to yourself,” I warned, and he let out a soft laugh.
“Why are you so mad at me?”
I flipped around to look at him. “You insisted that I sleep in the same bed as you, and you crawled out to this little office of yours so early in the morning, just to speak to one of your numerous mistresses. You should be ashamed of yourself.” I hissed and stormed out of the room.
I was fast enough to get into the Dojo and shut the door behind me before he stormed right in behind me.
“What the hell did you just say to me?” He asked, startling Castello, who was busy cleaning some of the equipment in the room.
Castello turned to face us and I saw terror in his eyes. I didn’t need to be told, I’ve fucked up, again. I let my stupid hormones finally get me into some mess. Hollis was beside me and he pulled me to a standstill holding onto my arm.
“What the fuck did you just say to me, U. g. o?”Belonging to NôvelDrama.Org.
I trembled at what I saw in his eyes, rage. “I didn’t mean it that way.” I found myself saying.
“So that’s it?” He rubbed on his forehead, completely pissed. “You say something and decide to retract it because you’re what, a coward?”
“Don’t call me that.” I warned.
“Why not?” he challenged. “That’s not what you are?”
I don’t know what happened but my hands moved too fast and almost landed on his cheek, but he caught it and pinned it high in the air. “I’ve warned you about this before, Ugo. But since you have a lot of energy to exhaust this morning, why don’t you show me the skills Maxine has been teaching you.”
I dragged my hand from him, and he released me. I was certain there was no way I could free my hand from his grip if he didn’t want me freed. “You’re going somewhere today.” I said, instead of rendering a sincere apology.
But Hollis stood right there, hands now in his trouser pocket, waiting. “You’re asking me to whoop your ass.” I said and he nodded, but his face remained expressionless, so I neither knew what he was feeling nor thinking.
I saw Castello through the side of my eyes and he was shaking his head. Instead of listening to his silent words of wisdom, I started washing my hands.
“Okay.” I said.
I passed Castello, “this is a wrong idea.” He whispered to my hearing.
I nodded, letting him know that I knew that much. Slipping a pair of mitts off their holder, I slipped them on and added the necessary padding I needed. Then I turned to face Hollis, determined to secure at least a blow or two, just to let him know that I’ve not been playing with Maxine all the while.
How stupid I was to think I stood a chance at securing a single blow at a man like Hollis. I made the first attack and in an instant, my back hit the mat with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.
Stunned, I blinked at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath and bearing. I overheard Castello pleading that he take my place and receive the beating instead.
But this man that is my husband refused. Hollis’s face came into view as I stared at the ceiling. He stretched out a hand to help me up, but that rebellious spirit in me reared its head, and I tapped his hand away.
“I can help myself,” I grumbled and stood up.
His lips thinned out in what seemed like a smile and immediately, it was gone. “You’re wasting my time. If we’re going to do this, then I’ll need you to give me your hundred percent.”
I spared a gaze at a worried and completely terrified Castello, before turning back to Hollis. He was right, I didn’t give it my hundred before. Now, I will.
“Sorry about that, I had my mind somewhere else,” I told him.
Seeing that I was up, he moved like lightning, tagging me first on one knee, then my shoulder with rapid-fire slaps. “Do you think an attacker is going to wait until you’re alert and have your mind settled before he attacks you?”
I crouched, forcing myself to focus on his movement. Hollis crouched as well, his eyes hard and watchful. When he came again, I blocked him, but not for long as he curved his feet and had my ass flat on the mat again.
He squatted down to my level on the floor and stared darkly at me. Then he said the next couple of words in a whisper, but loud enough to my hearing.
“Don’t ever disrespect me like that Ugo. I respect the constitution of marriage, you know that already. I do not have a damn girlfriend and I would never cheat on you with some woman… or man while still married to you. Now get that into your thick skull, because the next time we get a repetition of what just happened,” he pulled off the mitt on my left hand and brought my fingers to his lips.
He planted a kiss on my finger and shook his head to the side, “You’ll be punished severely for it by me. And, I’m a ruthless leader. You know what I’m capable of doing.”
My blood ran cold. I just stared, speechless and scared when I recalled the memory of seeing him shoot a man. “I’m only gentle with you because you’re fragile.” He released my hand and ran his thumb on my cheek. “There’s a limit to my tolerance level, don’t stretch it.”
Tapping me gently on the cheek, he stood up and left the room. It took me almost a minute to come out of my daze, gently I stood up and walked over to Castello.