Page 9 of Shai

My heart started to pound. Not that it had been exactly calm since Shai had walked into the room, but it hadn’t quite been the hectic clamoring I was now subject to. This would be a good time to lie, to make something up which would paint me in a better light. Only, I couldn’t think of anything. Which left me with truth or silence. And silence wasn’t really an option if I wanted that water. I cast a quick glance at the bottle still dangling loosely from Shai’s hand. “He didn’t appreciate my attitude. I… refused to submit to him, no matter how many times he beat me.”

“Why?”

The word was silky soft, the edges curling around my raw nerves. “Because…” I fastened my gaze on the water. What would he do if I refused to answer? Leave me to die of thirst? It was entirely possible. “I belong to no one. Certainly not a man like him. He doesn’t deserve it. He gave me a choice and I chose death.”

I didn’t know what reaction I’d expected, but it wasn’t for Shai’s lips to

curve up into a slow smile. They stayed like that for a moment before a rumble of laughter erupted from his chest. “Is that so?”

Sensing it was a rhetorical question, I didn’t bother to answer. He took a

step back, placing the bottle down on top of a chest of drawers to free up his hands to lift the snake from around his neck. I stiffened, barely able to breathe. What was he going to do with it? The relief of him simply placing it on the floor didn’t last long, not once it dawned on me that that meant the snake was loose in the room.

Shai retrieved the bottle of water before coming to stand at the foot of

the bed. I watched him just as cautiously as I’d watched the snake, fearing what his next move might be. He proved I’d been right to fear him as he ripped the sheet from my body to leave me naked, his dark gaze trailing with open curiosity over my skin.

I forced myself to hold still. He’d no doubt already seen me naked. It

wasn’t like I’d been wearing clothes when I’d been pulled from the river, and someone had to have given the order that put me in this bed. I contemplated asking for the water again. Would it do any good?

A rustling at the side of the bed had me dropping my gaze to the floor in

search of the snake. There was nothing to be seen, and when I looked back up it was to find a much bigger threat: Shai on the bed, moving sinuously but inexorably forward until he was almost on top of me, his thighs straddling mine.

“What the…” It was an automatic reaction to try and push him off. He

laughed, grabbing my wrists and pinning them to the bed at either side of my head, his face far too close for comfort to mine as he loomed over me. “Eli-jah!” He stretched out the syllables, the way someone might if they were reprimanding a naughty child. “Let me tell you one major difference between myself and McIntyre.”

I gave up on struggling. It wasn’t getting me anywhere. His grip was far

too sure. I stared up at him, a faint scent wafting from him that I couldn’t identify. It wasn’t unpleasant though, far from it. That was another difference between him and McIntyre, but I wasn’t about to share it with him. “Get off me.”

He ignored the demand, his ass settling on my naked crotch as his

fingers tightened around my wrists even more. “McIntyre needs everyone to say yes to him. Whereas I like a fight. I like a challenge.” He licked his lips, his expression changing to something decidedly languorous. “Are you going to give me a fight? Or is it a case of all bark and no bite with you? Don’t disappoint me, Elijah. Never disappoint me.”

There was a veiled threat there somewhere, but my thoughts were too chaotic to be able to work out exactly what it was. He ground down, the rough material of his jeans rubbing provocatively against my naked groin, and I got it. Fuck! No, not that. I’d endured multiple beatings at the hands of McIntyre, but none of the men there had ever come close to showing a sexual interest in me. They’d had female whores for that, some who’d even proved themselves good enough to survive the night. I gritted my teeth, putting all the venom into my voice that I could as I bucked up in an effort to dislodge him. “Get the fuck off me!”

I was subjected to another laugh, my feeble attempts to get free seeming to amuse him greatly. I wasn’t a weakling. Or at least I hadn’t been before spending time in McIntyre’s compound, but Shai was bigger than I was, and far more toned, and he hadn’t spent the past however many days recovering from a near drowning. I didn’t stand a chance.

“I thought you wanted water?”

I stilled again. In my panic at realizing his intentions, I’d almost forgotten. I glared at him, hoping my absolute hatred was easy to read.

He gave another smile, this one full of triumph. “I’m going to let go of your arms and you’re going to leave them exactly where they are. Understand?”

Then, how the fuck was I going to be able to drink water? I didn’t voice my question, settling for a weak nod.

He released my wrists in one swift motion. I flexed my fingers, the urge to move them, to do something with them even if I wasn’t exactly sure what, was almost overwhelming. It took all the willpower I possessed to leave them where they were.

Whoever would have thought I could be so cooperative over water of all things? McIntyre had missed a trick there.

“Open your mouth.”

What? What the fuck was this?

Shai reached out, his finger tapping at my closed lips. “Don’t bite me.”