Chapter 6 #2
I dragged my shirt over my head and set it on the arm of the couch, then sat down. His shoulders dropped, like he just let go of the tension he was carrying. There was a pink flush creeping along his cheeks.
“You can read while I do this, if you want.”
“No.”
“Why not? You—”
“I can’t read.”
He was quiet for so long, just standing there, that I furrowed my brows and looked up at him. What was he waiting for?
His voice was thin when he said, “You can’t…read?”
What was the big deal? “Yeah. So?”
“Um…”
I kept my eyes locked on him as he walked slowly to the couch and sank down on the other side like his bones suddenly weighed too much.
“I can teach you.” His gaze was intense, and those words…
Teach me? I could learn how to read? That was possible?
A cold, wet nose nudged my fingers, and I absently slid my hand along Luna’s head, gliding my fingers over her soft, silky ears. My heart was pounding, and fluttery things had taken up residence in my stomach.
He would teach me how to read?
“Yes,” I said. He could teach me how to read, and then I would leave. How long could it possibly take? It would be an incredibly useful skill to have out there.
His smile was broad and bright, and something light swelled in my chest.
“Okay. Alright, great.” His eyes lowered to the bandage, and he scooted toward me.
I eyed him warily as he moved—slowly, like he didn’t want to spook me.
“Luna likes you,” he said softly. He set the box on his lap and opened it.
I’d forgotten I was petting her. I pulled my hand away, clasping my fingers together. Luna grumbled and lay at my feet, those black eyes moving from me to Cain and back again.
Cain slid closer, and I was enveloped in his heat. He smelled like sweat and skin, and I wanted to bury my nose in his neck, wanted even more of it.
I jumped when he touched my shoulder, reflexively slapping his hand away.
“I’m just gonna take this off, okay?”
He was so close to me. His voice slid into my ears, winding that deep, smoky warmth around all my limbs.
I’d never been this close to another person like this. Just…sitting. My stomach was twisting into knots. When he lightly touched my shoulder again, I didn’t slap him away this time. I squeezed my fingers together so I wouldn’t do that again.
His hands were hot, the way black pavement felt on my feet in the summer. And still, I shivered when his fingers brushed along my skin as he unwound the gauze.
He paused. “Are you cold?”
I shook my head, but I could feel my nipples getting hard. Goosebumps crawled across my arms, making all my hairs stand on end.
“Okay. Just let me know and I’ll get you something warmer. I’ll do this quick.”
I didn’t say anything, just stared down at Luna as he worked. Cain told me she was a dog. I’d heard of dogs but never seen one before. I didn’t know they were so big. Her fur was black and shiny and soft to the touch. Would Cain’s hair be that soft? Softer?
A sharp pain made me cry out, and I swung my hand toward the threat. Strong fingers wrapped around my wrist, stopping me from connecting. I breathed hard through my nose and glared up at Cain.
“Sorry,” he said, his eyes fixed on my chest. “The scab was stuck to the gauze. I tried to do it fast.”
I looked down at the wound, my eyes following a thin trickle of blood from where a tiny piece of the scab had come off.
Cain gently lowered my fisted hand to my lap, then balled up the gauze and set it beside him. “I’m gonna put the new one on now, yeah?”
My voice was croaky when I tried to speak, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Yeah.”
Luna shifted, resting her big head on my left foot. It was warm and heavy and soft.
Why did Cain have her? Why were they…living together? How could an animal live like this with a person? Was he fattening her up to eat her? Is that what he was doing with me?
“This is gonna be a little cold.” He rubbed some kind of paste over the scab, front and back, then wound new gauze around my shoulder.
“There. I’m done. How does that feel?”
Cain scooted away from me, taking all that heat with him.
I brushed the pads of my fingers over the bandage. “Fine.” I pulled my shirt back on, wondering why I’d thought he might hurt me.
He hadn’t. Not yet. There were so many opportunities for him to hurt me, and he hadn’t.
He stood up. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got a surprise for you.” He flashed me a smile, didn’t wait for my response, and walked out of the room.
A…surprise?
What was that?
I tensed, not liking the sound of that. But his smile had been like all his others—kind and soft and warm.
There was no hidden malice, no cruel glint in his eyes.
He came around the corner hardly a minute later, triumph in his voice. “Finally found a brush in all that junk.” He was smiling and holding something in his hand. “Want me to brush your hair?”
I lifted my hand to my hair, staring at him in confusion.
“Like this,” he said, bringing the object to his head and running it through his hair. He repeated the motion over and over again, and I got distracted by his lips for a moment.
Particularly his bottom lip. It was large and plump, curving up as he smiled softly.
I slowly raised my eyes to his again, noticing his smile slip away, a pink color staining his cheeks now.
“Do you—I can brush your hair, or you—you can do it, if you want, obviously. It’s up to you.”
I didn’t want to do it. “You do it. Teach me.”
His eyes searched mine, and my attention was pulled down to his Adam’s apple when he swallowed. He had a nice throat. Thick. I wanted to bite it, but not to hurt him. Just to feel it in my mouth, taste it with my tongue. Would I taste his scent? All that heat?
“Okay…” He glanced at the couch, then said, “I think the easiest way will be if you sit on the floor in front of me while I sit on the couch. Or, no, you can sit on the couch and I’ll—”
I was already sliding from the cushions onto the floor. I leaned back against the couch, putting my hand on Luna’s head when she adjusted herself and moved closer, resting on my thighs.
Cain didn’t move until I looked at him and raised my brows.
“Right,” he said. “I have to—” He pointed at the spot behind me, and I realized he needed me to move so he could sit down.
I leaned forward, and he slid in behind me. When I leaned back, his thick thighs were framing me. He could trap me in those thighs and squeeze the life out of me.
“This might actually hurt, since your hair is so…tangled. But I’ll try my best to be gentle.”
I just grunted, not knowing what to say to that. I had no idea what it might feel like.
He held the hair at the nape of my neck and I guessed…started brushing it. I wasn’t sure. I just felt gentle little tugs in a steady rhythm.
It didn’t hurt at all. And when he started humming, my eyes slid closed.
The feel of his hands in my hair, the sound of his deep voice, the smell of him as I sat between his thighs…
I didn’t know when I fell asleep, or if I was sleeping, or dreaming, or half awake. There was a low voice, a soft laugh, and I was surrounded by warmth. I was floating and then…gone.
I was getting too used to this.
For the first time in my life, there were things to do. To look at. I wasn’t just sitting around in a cold, dark cell. I wasn’t waiting for Hayes or Hunter to walk in, or for one of the hounds to corrupt, or for my next meal of tasteless slop.
I had apples and books and a mirror and food and water and…
Someone that smiled.
At me.
Someone that brushed my hair.
Someone that talked to me.
Someone who…
Who was pretending to help me for some reason I still couldn’t figure out. I needed to remember this was a trick. That he wanted something, had some other purpose for me, and I needed to leave.
I would. I would leave. Soon. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe even today. Yeah, today. How long had I been here? A month? Two? A year? It was time to go.
I wanted to see the sun again.
I sat up, a fresh determination to escape giving me the push I needed to move.
I’d escaped much worse before, and this time I wasn’t in a cage, I wasn’t chained to something or someone. I could move freely, and I needed to use that to my advantage.
There were lots of things here I could use as weapons, too. Was that long metal object that I’d hit him with that first day still in that room somewhere? It had been a bit heavy, but light enough to carry around. It might come in handy.
Anticipation flooded my system, a nervous excitement, a tense thrill that ran through my veins like a crackling fire.
I had to do whatever it took.
I grabbed the walking stick and was about to stand when I sensed it.
The rain.
There was a storm coming, and it was rolling in fast.
The blood in my veins began thrumming with an all-too-familiar awareness, pure, primal need invading my body, taking over.
No.
No!
I had nowhere to go.
Nowhere to hide.
I needed to leave. Right now. Right fucking now.
It didn’t matter if he tried to stop me, I was leaving.
I could feel the blood moving through my veins as my heart pumped wildly in my chest. It was an awful sensation, and coupled with the growing warmth beneath my skin, I felt like clawing the flesh from my body and draining my veins of every drop of blood so I didn’t have to feel any of it anymore.
My breaths quickly became shallow and short, and I staggered across the room, trying to get to the door. Adrenaline was coursing through me, filling me with this frantic need to punch something, scratch someone, bite into their soft jugular and rip their throat out.
“No,” I panted, stumbling to my hands and knees.
Pain flared through my chest and shoulder, and I fell onto my side with a shout.
I grunted and ground my molars together, ignoring the pain and pushing to my knees, then to my feet.
My ankle throbbed, and damn it, I’d dropped the stick, but there was no time.
A burst of determination to get out of here cracked through me like a bolt of lightning, and I limped to the door.
I grabbed the handle and twisted, ignoring the way my hand was trembling.
I yanked it open and took a hard step with the wrong foot.
My ankle wasn’t fully healed yet, and I fell to the side, only able to get an elbow up in time to try and break my fall.
The part I hated most had come, and there was no stopping it.
My cock hardened and my balls tightened. Pain mixed with a horrible ecstasy as my body heated up. My vision started to blur, so I began crawling along the floor, still determined to leave, to get out, to be anywhere but here.
But dragging myself along only stimulated my aching dick even more, until I was stopping altogether so I could grind into the hard concrete, moaning and panting and sobbing into my arm.
Terror slashed through me in a relentless torrent of dread and panic. They were the same fears that gripped me every time this happened, the same paranoias beating at the front of my skull.
What if I never came back? What if I just stayed stuck like this? Or worse, turned into one of the Corrupted?
Every time it happened, I thought maybe it would be the last time.
I wondered what my final thoughts would be. If I’d even have any.
It terrified me, knowing I had no control over it. Thinking I was one storm away from losing myself completely.
Not that my life was anything spectacular. But I wanted it to be mine—only mine, and if I corrupted before I even had a chance to get out of here, to live, then it never would be.
The edges of my vision blurred as I came on a choked sob, euphoria briefly taking over before dissolving back into that awful, visceral terror.
It was happening, and I couldn’t stop it.
I was going to hurt him.
Maybe even kill him.
Or he would kill me.
Either way, only one of us was coming out of this alive.