Free Your Favorite Girl (YFG Series) by Steph Sweeney Page B

her hand outward.  "Oh, waaay before," laughing as if it meant nothing.  "Patton drugged me in the jewelry store."
    "Who is Patton?"
    "He's the doctor.  And the principal."
    " Huh?"
    "For the girls."
    "What do you mean the principal?"
    " Of the school," Kate said.  "For the girls.  The Favorite Girls.  Patton is the one who raises them, keeps them healthy, and gives them a good education.  He's a really great person.  You'll see what I mean."
    "But I thought you said they were killers," I whispered.
    Kate shook her head.  "I didn't have time to get into specifics.  Patton isn't like his brothers.  He has to play the role sometimes, but he makes sure those girls have a great childhood.  They're seriously the happiest kids I've ever met."
    Everything she was saying made me sick to my stomach.  I hadn't really thought about where the Favorite Girls came from, that behind the drugs and brainwashing they actually had personalities, skills, knowledge.  Feelings.
    "Where's Flora?"
    "I don't know."
    A quick response.  She was lying.
    "What do they do with them after . . . ?"
    "I'm not involved with that."
    "With what?"
    "With what you said."
    "But do you know?  What happens to them?"
    She shook her head.  "Not exactly.  I 'm sure they're bringing us to a meeting with Mr. Shriver.  We'll find out everything then.  Speaking of which, we should probably take that shower."
    I hadn't paid attention to what she was wearing, a red silk robe.  As I followed her off the bed and down the steps to the lower level, she let it slip off her shoulders.  Now we were both naked.
    We entered an unusually narrow hallway with custom-made sandstone tiles on the floor, walls, and ceiling.  The air became hot and humid, to the point that I was sweating before we turned the corner and entered the most amazing bathroom I'd ever seen.
    "This is yours?"
    "Yep," said Kate.
    "You don't have to share it with anyone?"
    "Not unless I want to," she said, taking my hand and pulling me toward a Jacuzzi that looked like a natural spring pool in a jungle, surrounded by plant life with big, glossy leaves.  Behind it, a waterfall cascaded down a rock wall, its origin hidden by the foliage.  Jet streams made the water look like it was boiling, and the steam was so thick I couldn't see the back part of the bathroom.
    The floor was made of unfinished granite.  Not individual tiles but one gigantic slab.  I could only imagine how much the floor had cost, much less the entire room.
    Kate led me up three stone steps and together we dipped our toes into the hot, steamy water, clinging to each other as we lowered ourselves in.
    I only stayed in a minute.  The heat made me drowsy, and every time I swam over one of the jets, pleasure streaked through my body, exhausting me even more.  I never knew I could come to dread orgasms.
    Kate told me where to find a bathrobe and towel.  I headed back through the narrow hallway, inviting the chilly air.  My stomach ached.  I was hungry and nauseous.  Shivering, too, by the time I emerged from the claustrophobic hallway into the main room.
    The bathrobes were neatly folded on a shelf in the wall to the right of the shower room entrance.
    I heard the beep of the electronic lock but didn't realize someone was coming in until the doorknob turned, and although everyone I'd encountered today--or tonight?--had seen me naked, I rushed to wrap the robe around my body and tie the strings.
    When I turned, I surprised myself by smiling and batting my eyes like a damn teenager.
    He was beautiful.  That's the only adjective that fits at all.  Gorgeous, hot, sexy, handsome--none of those did him justice.  His effect was similar to that of Flora Girl.  He exuded warmth, familiarity.  And when he brushed his silky, russet bangs aside, I caught a glimpse of his eyes.
    My throat felt like it was swelling shut.  I had that feeling you get when the boy you can't stop thinking about smiles as he passes you in the hallway.