Page 13 of Dark Fey Captive

The sound of my own heartbeat thundered in my ears as his gaze left my face and swept down to my heaving chest.

The fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt registered a second before I realized he wasn’t wearing anything at all.

I bolted for the bathroom, slamming and locking the door before he could stop me.

What in the hell was happening? What was he? And why was he naked? What did he want?

Shaking, I backed away from the door as my thoughts whirled.

My bare butt hit the cold counter, and my elbow knocked into the lantern illuminating the small space. Spinning around, I stared at myself in the mirror.

I was completely naked.

What the fuck had happened after I passed out? Had he…slept with me?

A quick check made it seem unlikely. Nothing hurt except my throat, and it didn’t look like it’d been that long since he’d pulled me from the water. My brown hair still hung in wet clumps, and the skin around my lips was tinged blue. The tips of my toes and fingers looked a little purple, too.

“You’re safe,” he said through the door. “The infected can’t hurt you.”

A distant moan finally registered.

“You can come out,” he added.

Out? Where he was waiting for me? Naked? Why? What did he want?

I glanced around the windowless bathroom, knowing I was trapped and quickly losing what little heat I’d gained while in bed with him.

“You’re still too cold from the lake,” he said, as if hearing my thoughts. “Hypothermia is dangerous for humans.”

Human. Something he obviously wasn’t. So how did he know? What was he? Where had he come from?

“Will you come out?” he asked. “Please?”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“I want you to live.”

“Why?” I asked, even though what I’d felt prodding my backside when I woke made it pretty clear what he wanted.

“I do not want to be alone.”

And there it was.

“So you want to have sex with me?”

“Yes.” The intensity behind that immediate reply scared me.

Looking around the room again, I wondered what other options I had.

“And if I don’t want to have sex?” I asked, my voice faint.

It took a few moments for him to answer.

“I won’t force you.”

The same intensity was in that answer, too. Why? Because it was a lie he was trying to sell.

“Once you’re warm, we can find your friend,” he said when I remained silent. “She swam fast and reached the boat, but was in the water longer than you.”