“Stop!” she snaps.
“Answer my question, and I might.” I slip down her bra, sucking my lower lip into my mouth as I stare greedily at her tits. They’re perfect.
“Why do you care about my sleeping—” she cuts off with a gasp and quiet moan when I lightly brush my thumbs over her nipples. Firm, tight, beautifully pink.
“Two days,” she hisses out. “Maybe three. I don’t know.”
I slide my hands down to her waist, brows furrowing. “Why? Were you busy killing people?”
This time, she doesn’t give me the chance to play with her before responding. “No, I’m just a shit sleeper.”
I stare at her expectantly. “Explain.”
Her delicate throat works through a swallow. “It’s pretty cyclical. I’ll stay awake for three or four days, and then I’ll crash and sleep for twelve hours.”
That does not sound healthyat all. Ember was always a fine sleeper—what the fuck happened to her?
“Flame,” I say carefully. “How are you alive?”
It’s a question for the ages. She’s scarred up and down, wholly fucked up, and seems to run on sheer anger and fear alone. What the hell happened to the wide-eyed, exuberant girl I fell for?
Every time I’ve asked her, she’s responded simply withlife. What the fuck has life done to her, and how do Iprotecther from it? How am I supposed to help her if I can barely recognize her?
“Tenacity and fury,” she responds simply. “Any chance you’d like to let me out of thesefucking ropes?They’re chafing my skin.”
I wince. The ropes she’s tied with are deliberately harsh; ones I usually use on targets, hence why I always bring them. Theywillbe chafing her skin, but I can’t risk letting her out of them. I need to go find food, and I don’t want to return, only to find she’s escaped.
“I’m afraid not,” I say apologetically. I right her bra and get off her. “I’m going to go find food. Have any preferences?”
“Your head on a platter?”
I wince. “Ouch, Flame. We really gotta rework your tastes. Don’t pull a zombie on me and start going after my brains.”
“If the zombie apocalypse ever happened, I’m certain you’d be safe.”
My brows furrow. “Huh?”
“You lack the brains to be a nutritious meal,” she clarifies. “The effort expended to hunt you down—which I’m sure would be negligible—wouldn’t be worth the absence of grey matter in your thick head.”
I throw said head back and roar with laughter. Ember appears startled by my amusement instead of being encouraged by it.
In the day since I’ve snatched her, she’s made my heart bleed and soar more than it has in years—since she left me.
“Alright, Flame. Stay put. When I’m back, I’ll release you. And, if you try to defy me or fight again, I’ll take that as an invitation to fuck you until you submit.” I flash her my teeth in a poor example of a smile. “Clear?”
“Crystal,” she replies.Is that a breathy note I detect in her voice?My stomach chooses that moment to let out a ridiculous roar, so I stand, quickly dress, and disappear.
Chapter Ten
Max
Ashort trip to McDonalds later, I return with enough food to feed an army and an expectation to find that Ember’s tried to escape, or something equally as bad. Wouldn’t put it past her to burn the entire motel down.
I find neither. She’s still in bed, eyes closed, body still, chest rising and falling with steady breaths.Is she sleeping?
Flame dispels that by blinking open her eyes and staring at me. The dark spots beneath them have worsened, and they’re more bloodshot. It looks like there’s a burst blood vessel in her right eye.
When we get back to HQ, I’m taking her straight to medical. Whatever’s going on with her, she’s certainlynotokay. Now, Icould—and would enjoy—torturing information out of her, but I’d rather expedite finding the problem so I can work on a solution.
