Free His by Aubrey Dark Page B

please…”
    “Tell me their names.”
    “I can’t.”
    “You won’t,” he corrected.
    “I can’t!” My throat burned for water. “Please, please. Just a sip. Not my mom. I can’t do that to her. Please don’t—”
    He stood up, a frown creasing his face, and turned to leave.
    “No!” I cried out. “Please don’t leave me. I’ll die without water!”
    He went away, up the steps, leaving the door open.
    “Please!” I screamed hoarsely, my words jagged in the chilly air. He did not respond, and on the steps his shadow grew smaller and then disappeared.
    I waited, my eyes fixed on the stairs just outside of the basement. He had told me that he wouldn’t kill me, but I didn’t believe a word he said. Why would he want to know about my parents?
    When he came back, I cringed against the wall. But in his hand was a bottle of water. My whole body ached for that clear liquid, but I was too scared to reach out for it. He paused, right in front of me, and then uncapped the bottle. He took a drink and I nearly cried to watch him gulp down the water.
    “So you know, kitten, it’s not poison.” He held the bottle of water out in front of him. “Stand up. Drink.”
    I clambered to my feet and grasped the bottle of water in my free hand. Clumsily I lifted the bottle to my mouth.
    I’d thought I would be slow and careful not to waste a drop, but as soon as the cool liquid hit my tongue I gulped down the water without any regard, not taking a breath until it was all gone. My stomach nearly retched from the intake of so much water, and I bent over, leaning against the wall until the urge passed.
    Oh sweet liquid! I hadn’t thought water could taste so good. Whenever I used to exercise, I’d relied on Gatorade and juice to keep me hydrated, although I knew that they were empty calories. Water had always seemed so boring. Not now, though. Now it was the most delicious nectar of the gods. I tipped the bottle up once more to get the last drops from the bottom.
    “Done?” he said, smiling. I nodded. My body, now satisfied that it had drunk its share, began to growl with hunger.
    “Food comes later,” he said. “Maybe once you’ve told me about your parents. Or maybe I’ll have to find that out myself. But now—”
    He stepped forward and grasped my chin, tilting it up. One breath was all I could take, and then I was plunged into a kiss that smothered me.
    Oh Lord, his lips. My body reacted in only one way to that kiss, and it was not the reaction I would have chosen, had I been able to choose. I’d thought that I could pretend to kiss him back, but as he pressed against me I found myself unexpectedly pressing back, needing more from his kiss than I thought I had wanted. The dark room around us receded, and I floated in his strong arms.
    Then his hand came down along my side, and my consciousness was jerked back suddenly to the touch of his hand on my bare skin. I jerked back.
    “You said a kiss. Only a kiss,” I protested.
    He turned to the door, and I thought he would leave, but instead he swung the door shut. We were submerged in darkness, the only light the one thin slit coming from the stairs.
    I breathed hard as he stepped forward, his body blocking the light. When his hand reached out to touch my hip, I grabbed it with my one free hand.
    “You said—”
    His hand took mine and twisted it up over my head suddenly. His body slammed against mine, pinning me to the wall. His cheek was pressed against my temple, his mouth at my ear. I could feel every bit of his strength, and my entire body was immobilized under his.
    “Kitten, you never answered my question,” he whispered.
    In the dark his lips moved, kissed my temple. His one hand still held me back, and now the other one came running along my bare side, brushing against my shoulder, my arm, my breast. A deep shiver ran through me.
    “I’d say you owe me more than a kiss,” he said. He shifted his weight and I felt his leg shove between my thighs,