Free Prisoned: A Dark Twisted Erotic Standalone by Marni Mann Page A

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    “Stop playing with it, and eat.”
    I pinched a few noodles between my fingers and dropped them onto my tongue. He was right; they were salty and almost metallic-tasting, like they’d been marinating in tin. As that layer of flavor dissolved, the aroma of plastic spread through my mouth.
    I held my breath, trying to block it, and swallowed. “I think I’m hungrier than I realized.”
    Garin looked up, licking the last bit of peach off his finger, the only surviving morsel. “I could eat five more trays’ worth.”
    “I wonder how long it’s been since we’ve eaten.”
    “I don’t want to know.” He kicked the tray toward the door and went to the sink to wash his hands.
    I shoveled in the noodles and mixed them with mouthfuls of roll. The brown sauce dripped down my fingers. I felt it on the sides of my mouth, and beef was in my teeth. I didn’t care. My stomach was so desperate to feel full.
    “Slow down, Kyle. Let your body get used to the food.”
    I ignored him and sucked in a peach, mashing it between my teeth before swallowing. When I felt it slide down my throat, I tossed in another until the only thing left on my tray was the juice. It wasn’t red, like maraschino cherries. It was blood red. Way too red to drink.
    I pushed the tray away and reclined against the wall, rubbing my stomach as the food moved around inside. Garin sat next to me, and I knew I needed to get up and use the sink. My fingers were sticky, and my face needed to be washed. But I was too full to move.
    “How do you feel?”
    His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his hands were resting on his thighs. They were still wet; we didn’t have a towel to dry off. I couldn’t stop staring at them.
    “I ate too fast. My mouth tastes like plastic, and this wall is miserably hard.” That wasn’t all of it. I hated to admit the rest, but not mentioning it seemed like a lie. “I’m really scared.”
    “Come here.”
    He tapped his chest, and I fell against it, feeling his breath blow onto my neck. He was much more forgiving than the wall. Much warmer. Much more caring. But his affection didn’t hide the truth.
    “Le voy a dar lo que se merece y después se muere.”
    I shivered from Beard’s words as they played over and over in my head.
    “You’ll get what he gives you…and then you’re going to die.”
    He hadn’t said anything about Garin dying. Just me.
    Actually, Garin’s presence made no sense at all. Maybe he was here to comfort me before they killed me. Maybe our captors believed I’d told Garin the secret.
    But one thing I knew for sure; he was prisoned because of me.
    His life was put at harm…because of me.
    My mouth began to water, and I could feel the food rising in my throat. “Oh God,” I whispered, saliva dripping from my lip.
    I pushed off his chest and rushed toward the toilet. Like my lips were the rim of a hose, chunks of food and liquid poured out of them. With each purge, I squeezed my stomach tighter, the cramps hurting as badly as the burning in the back of my throat. When I heaved nothing but air, I stuck my face under the faucet and let the freezing water cool my scorching skin. I kept it there until my body shivered.
    “What can I do to help you feel better?”
    I held up a finger, and using my other hand, I sucked in palmfuls of water. Once my mouth felt rinsed out, I swished around some toothpaste and swallowed a few gulps of air, trying to calm my stomach. It settled just enough to know I wouldn’t be sick again.
    “Your body couldn’t handle that much food at once,” he said. When I sat next to him, he pushed his arm against me, so I could lean into it. “You have to eat slow and give it time to adjust.”
    Eating fast wasn’t the only reason I had thrown up. But if I allowed my mind to go back there, I’d be sleeping in front of the toilet tonight.
    “We have to get out of here,” I said, “before something happens to one of us.”
    “I’m going to come up with a