The dormitory was a cesspool of chaos and grime, and somehow, I’d been roped into playing the role of resident janitor. Sweat trickled down my back, pooling at the base of my spine as I scrubbed the last of the sticky, god-knows-what off the counter in the common area. My arms ached, my patience was thinner than a razor’s edge, and Dazai—oh, Dazai—was sprawled on the couch like some decadent prince, a pencil dangling lazily between his fingers. He was supposed to be doing homework, but the guy had the focus of a sloth on sedatives. I could feel his eyes on me every now and then, probably sketching something crude instead of solving equations.
I tossed the rag into the sink with a wet slap, wiping my hands on my jeans. “You know, Dazai, I’m basically your personal maid at this point. Might as well start calling me ‘milady’ and bow when I walk by.”
He didn’t even look up, just smirked, that infuriating curl of his lips making my blood simmer. “Oh, come now, Reina. You’re far too bossy to be a maid. More like a drill sergeant with a sponge. Should I salute instead?”
I rolled my eyes, biting back a retort as I stomped toward the laundry room. “Keep dreaming, slacker. Maybe one day you’ll actually lift a finger around here.”
His low chuckle followed me down the hall, a sound that was equal parts irritating and… something else I refused to name. I hauled a mountain of clothes—mine, his, and probably half the dorm’s—into the ancient washing machine, grumbling under my breath about the unfair division of chores in this hellhole. The machine was a relic, rusted and temperamental, but it was all we had. I bent over, shoving in the last stray sock with a grunt, when the door let out a rusty groan and jammed—hard. My upper body was trapped inside, my hips sticking out like some ridiculous invitation, and my face pressed against the damp, metallic drum.
“Son of a—” I cursed, my voice echoing inside the machine as I thrashed, trying to pull myself free. My legs flailed uselessly behind me, and the more I struggled, the more stuck I became. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is not happening.”
Footsteps echoed closer, slow and deliberate, and I didn’t need to see Dazai to know he was wearing that smug, mischievous grin of his. I could hear it in the air before he even opened his mouth.
“Well, well, Reina,” he drawled, his voice dripping with amusement. “What do we have here? Laundry day turned into performance art? I’m impressed.”
I gritted my teeth, my face burning despite the cool metal against my cheek. “Quit gawking, you idiot, and help me out of this death trap!”
His response was a low, teasing hum, the kind that sent an involuntary prickle down my spine. “Oh, I don’t know. The view from here is… inspiring. Why rush a good thing?”
My muffled snap was barely audible, but I knew he heard it. “Dazai, I swear, if you don’t get me out of here right now, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” he interrupted, his chuckle dark and suggestive, wrapping around me like smoke. “Yell at me some more? Because, darling, all I’m hearing is a lot of hot air from a very compromised position.”
I felt the shift in the air as he stepped closer, his presence looming behind me. My stomach twisted, a mix of irritation and something dangerously warmer, as his voice dropped to a murmur. “Seems to me like you might need a different kind of assistance. Something a little… hands-on.”
The brush of fabric told me he’d adjusted himself, and the tension in his tone betrayed something raw, something hungry. My heart kicked against my ribs, and I hated how my body reacted to the heat in his words. “Dazai, I’m warning you. Touch me and you’ll regret it.”
“Oh, Reina,” he purred, his hands hovering near my hips, not quite touching but close enough to make my skin tingle. “Look at you, all helpless and bent over like this. It’s almost too easy to tease you. Where’s that fiery tongue of yours now?”
I tried to bite back with a retort, my pride stinging worse than the metal edge digging into my ribs. “You’re a real bastard, you know that? Get me out of here before I—”
“Before you what?” he cut me off, his voice sharpening like a blade. “Keep squirming and making a scene? Because if you don’t play nice, I might just leave you here for the whole dorm to find come morning. Imagine the stories they’d tell.”
The thought of that humiliation burned hotter than my anger, and I swallowed the venom on my tongue. Through gritted teeth, I forced out the words, each one tasting like ash. “Fine. Please, Dazai, help me out of this stupid machine.”
His smug laugh was immediate, reveling in the power shift. “There’s a good girl. Was that so hard?”
I wanted to scream, to claw my way out just to wipe that grin off his face, but then his hands finally gripped my waist—and not to free me. His touch was deliberate, testing, his fingers pressing into my hips with just enough pressure to make my breath hitch. “You know,” he muttered, his voice low and filthy, “this position does give a man ideas. All bent over, so vulnerable… I could do all sorts of things to you right now, Reina.”
My face burned hotter inside the drum, rage and a humiliating thrill warring in my chest as my heart pounded. His voice dropped even lower, a dark promise that sent a shiver through me despite myself. “And trust me, darling, this is just the start of your punishment for getting yourself into such a mess.”
I was caught, trapped between the cold metal and the heat of his words, my mind spinning as much as the machine should have been. And as much as I hated to admit it, part of me wasn’t sure I wanted to be freed just yet.
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