AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I mean, uh, I’m into it, all men are into it, but you have to turn that part of yourself off.”
She blinked at him. “The sex part?”
“No, the violent part.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “You have a violent part, Decker?” She actually stepped closer to him. Her voice was just edging into coy.
His nostrils flared. “No,” he said. “I mean… I don’t know. Doesn’t everyone? I just, I don’t let it out.”
She nodded.
They gazed into each other’s eyes for several long moments.
“Shouldn’t, um…” His voice wasn’t strong. “Shouldn’t that scare you about me?”
“It does,” she said, but it sounded like it also turned her on.
He lifted his hand, the one that was chained to her, and he reached out and touched her face. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
“I trust you, Decker.” She shut her eyes.
“But look what I did,” he murmured, and his fingers trailed down to touch the bruise on her neck. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“So, next time, not so hard,” she said, tilting back her head, leaning into him like a cat enjoying being stroked.
“I thought… we aren’t doing it again.” He dragged his fingertips down to trace her collarbone.
“Right,” she whispered, eyes still closed. “We’re not.”
He pulled his hand away.
A moment passed.
She opened her eyes. “Right,” she said again. She gave herself a little shake and then turned to open the door.
10:30 p.m.
ESSENCE WAS TRYING to figure out the cerberus’s arms. She’d seen them before, but not up close like this, and she couldn’t understand how they worked. They had three heads, a broad chest, a set of outer arms, and then also a set of inner arms. The inner arms were attached so that they sometimes looked as if they were the arms that belonged to the middle head. Except that each of the arms could twist around then look as if they worked with each outer arm. And every time they moved in that way, Essence found herself having to reorient the way she saw the cerberus, which was disconcerting.
It might have been because the cerberus was moving the set of bolt cutters from one hand to the other.
“I think we need to test it somehow,” said one of the cerberus heads.
“Don’t listen to him,” said the head in the middle. “He worries about everything. Just set your hands on the bar there, and we’ll see if we can’t get you two unstuck.”
“Well, they are magic,” said the first head. “The cuffs, I mean. So, we maybe should be cautious.”
“Can we get beer?” said the third head, eyeing the bar. “Who’s tending bar?”
“I’m Decker,” spoke up Decker.
“Oh, sorry,” said Essence. “We should do introductions.”
“Laird,” said the middle head. “My brothers Lucian and Leo. You’re Essence, right?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And Decker,” said Laird, reaching out one of the middle hands to shake. Then pausing. “Oh, you guys are handcuffed, let’s not shake.”
