Page 26 of Burn Me Down

Ice poured into my veins. I pushed myself up and away from her reach. “I can’t do that,” I said, standing. It felt like the hardest thing I’d ever done as my body thrummed with energy and life.

“You can’t, or you won’t?”

“Both, I guess. I’m sorry, this was a bad idea.” I stepped away from the bed, but Beck grabbed my hand, pulling me to a stop. I had killed people for less, but instead, I wanted to link my fingers with hers.

“Please don’t go. I won’t ask you to take the mask off again. Well, at least not tonight,” she said, and I smirked. Beck pointed to the pie. “You haven’t eaten any.”

“There is only one sweet thing in this room I want in my mouth, and I’m looking at it.” I let my eyes travel all over her body and groaned as my cock begged to be set free. Her face flushed red as she blushed. Even just to feel her hand wrapped around my hard cock seemed like a dream come true.

“I’m not used to compliments like that. I don’t know what to say back.”

Gripping the back of her neck, I pulled her in close and dropped my lips to her ear. “You should be used to it. Anyone who couldn’t see how stunning you are never deserved you. From the tips of your toes to the top of your head, you are incredible. I haven’t been able to stay away from you from the first moment I saw you.” My lips traveled along her neck, and my mind frayed once more. I forced myself to put space between our bodies. “I’m sorry if that scares you.”

“It should,” she said.

“But it doesn’t?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with me.”

“That was not what I was expecting for an answer.”

“Oh fuck,” I growled as she pushed on my chest and forced me backward into the wall. Standing on her toes, she kissed my bottom lip, and then I felt her fumbling for the handle of the partially open door.

Breaking the kiss, I grabbed her arm and forced her to step back, but she surprised me again and took a shot at my crotch. Blocking it with my knee, Beck swore, then winced as our knees connected. Spinning her around, I pressed her up against the wall and growled in her ear. She shivered in my hold.

“I should’ve known better,” I said.

“Please don’t hurt me. I had to try.”

I shook my head. “I already told you I wouldn’t hurt you. Even if you had tried to slit my throat, I wouldn’t have.” I looked at the table, my heart sinking through the floor. “I hope you enjoy the pie.”

Opening the door, I slipped out and closed it behind me without looking at her again. I expected to feel my old rage storming up to take hold, but instead, there was just an emptiness I was certain would never be filled. That dark longing had been a constant my entire life. I shouldn’t have expected anything to change now.

I really should’ve known better. There wasn’t a soul alive who would want a man like me, and I just needed to accept that.

Rebecca

“Shit, shit, shit,” I cursed low and placed my hand on the door. It was stupid to try what I did. I didn’t know how to fight, and even I could admit that effort was pathetic. If he’d been out to kill me, I certainly gave him a reason and an open door, but he didn’t take it. He was as confusing as the situation he had me in. No he was as confusing as my emotions and guilt.

I didn’t have a clue what to think. I’d never had someone say such beautiful things to me before, and I didn’t think he was making it up. The hurt in his eyes when he left, had stabbed me through the heart and twisted. There was something about him. I could see it in his eyes and feel it when he spoke. It was crazy, but when he touched me, the world could end, and I would never notice. There was something between us, and I had just ruined whatever trust I’d been building.

Fuck, this entire situation was messed up. I should’ve wanted to run away and keep going. That was what sane people did, but not me. Nope, when he kissed me, he set my body on fire. I shivered. It was like he’d taken all the warmth and joy with him.

I flopped down in the chair at the table and picked up my fork to take a bite. This pie was delicious. It tasted exactly like the kind my grandma used to make. I hadn’t seen her since I was a child, but certain things never left your memories, and her fresh pies when my mom and I would visit were one of them.

Glancing at his perfectly clean fork, I sighed again, feeling like a horrible person. Had I only kissed him to get free? No, I couldn’t deny that even though I had no idea what he looked like, I was attracted to him in a way that I’d never been before with anyone else. The thought of him walking back into the room and pulling me into another heated kiss had all my girly parts tingling. Fuck he could kiss.

No, this is wrong. Give your head a shake. Fantasizing over your kidnapper is so stupid.

Picking the pie up, I put it in the small fridge and grabbed a piece of paper and one of the markers he had sitting on the table. He was worried about a pen, but not a plastic knife. The thought made the corner of my mouth turn up. I quickly scribbled a note, then went over and slipped it underneath the door.

Heading to the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and ran my fingers over the skin care bottles identical to mine at home. If I asked any man I’d dated what products I liked or what fragrances were my favorite, they would look at me like I’d sprouted a third eye. While this man, under the strangest of circumstances, knew all of them. He seemed to take pride in knowing what I liked and didn’t.

He was confusing me to my core. If he took me to hurt me but decided not to, then why was he keeping me? And why did he take me in the first place? My mind kept coming back to Derek. It had to be him, and that should’ve scared the shit out of me. Instead, I wanted to get to know him. To understand what was happening inside his mind and to see him without his clothes on. Fuck, I really wanted that. My body was still burning up from his touch.

Crawling under the blanket, I stared at the camera for a long time, wondering if he was watching me right now while a million questions swirled around in my mind like a damn whirlpool. Vi said he was dangerous and a cold-blooded killer, but that wasn’t what I saw. Shit, Vi. She must be freaking out. I did not envy Asher having to deal with her right now. Fuck, maybe I never wanted to be rescued because the good lord knows that I would never hear the end of it.

My eyes were getting heavy, but I fought it as long as possible, hoping that he would come back in, but he never did.