Then, that same playful voice sounded to my right. “I brought food. Hungry?”
I tried to scoot further away, even going so far as to dance my bare toes along the harsh carpeted floor. Jesus, I hadn’t even realized I’d been missing my shoes. Was I missing anything else on my body? It caused me to look down, and relief washed through me when I found myself still clothed.
“Seriously,” the voice said as a shadow emerged in front of me, “you haven’t eaten since you got here. You really should eat.”
“And how long have I been here?” I asked.
“Two days. Almost three.”
I scoffed. “No, thanks.”
“Are you sure? I hear that stomach of yours growling.”
It betrayed me with another groan that made me sick in my head. “I said no.”
Something scooted along the floor before a pair of boyish hazel eyes came into view. In fact, the man looked nothing like I expected him to look. His blond hair twinkled with the dim light that shone behind him and his shapeshifting grin spread into a smile that exposed his pearly white teeth. He was clean-shaven with a crooked nose, most likely from whoever the hell had cold clocked him for being a dickhead.
Then again, he wasn’t coming off as a dickhead.
Just that… other one.
“Hope you don’t mind,” he said, placing a tray on his lap, “but I dimmed the lights. I figured they’d be harsh on your eyes with all this darkness around you.”
I looked down at his hand movements. “What are you doing?”
I watched him hold a piece of meat stuck onto the end of a fork up to my lips. “Feeding you. Here. It’s my specialty.”
I leaned back. “For all I know, it’s poisoned.”
He chuckled. “Poisoning is Dante’s thing. Not mine. And he can’t cook worth shit.”
There was something warm about him. “You take the first bite.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
I watched him pluck the meat off the end of the fork and he chewed. He chewed, and he moaned, and he gave me a thumbs up before he swallowed. Then, he jammed the fork down into what smelled like potatoes before he shoved one of those into his mouth as well.
“Man, I can fucking cook,” he murmured.
“It does smell great,” I said as I peeked over.
He chuckled again before he held up another piece of what looked like chicken to my mouth. “Ready to give it a go?”
When my stomach growled out, it damn near made me dizzy, and I knew I couldn’t hold off any longer. So, I parted my lips and slid the chicken off the fork. The warm, juicy goodness flooded my mouth. I moaned as I flopped back against the chair, savoring every moment my teeth collapsed into that tender meat. I hemmed and hawed, allowing my eyes to fall closed as my entire body relaxed for the first time since I had been snatched off the street.
Since they had jammed that needle into my neck.
Since I had woken up bound to a damn chair.
“The name’s Maverick,” the man said, holding up another piece of chicken to my mouth. “And you are?”
I swallowed quickly and gladly took another bite. “I’m helpless, but I’m not stupid.”
He smiled. “Beautiful name. Want some potatoes?”
I couldn’t help but snicker. “Mm, yes.”
“There we go,” he said as he stabbed one and held it out in front of me.
