Page 114 of Drowning in Darkness

I arch a brow. “Which is?”

“What color do you want?”

What? I tilt my head, my sex-crazed brain not catching up.

“You opened your eyes,” she explains. “And now I get to paint your nails.”

And that is the story of how I ended up at the mercy of a woman with sparkly purple nail polish.

THIRTY-EIGHT

STEPHANIE

I’m feeling hot, hot… hotter.

Two days. Forty-eight hours since I came apart watching porn and describing it to James. Since then, he’s been here but not available. He’s in every room I enter, but then disappears under the pretense of some crucial decision or piece of information. It’s infuriating, and it’s making me itchy.

By the end of the second day, I’m googling ways to poison a man to make him immobile but not dead. I want to talk it out, to explore what’s happened between us. But then I get in my own head. Surely if he was into it like me, he would have taken it further? Both times he’s done it to satisfy a need I have.

Sure, he was hard, but most men would be with a half-naked woman describing what kind of porn she’s watching to get herself off. It doesn’t make me special. It’s just biology, and he’s proving that with his indifference.

I need to get out of here before I lose my mind. Because I need human contact communicated in more than grunts and one-word syllables.

I slip on the pink dress I ordered. It hits mid-thigh and swishes when I walk. A quick dash of makeup, matching nail polish, and I’m all set for a little chaos tonight. Now to get the idiot who is avoiding me to drive me into town. Whether he stays or not is another matter.

I waltz out of my bedroom at the same time he emerges from his, freshly showered after another wood-cutting therapy session.

He frowns as he looks me up and down. “Where the hell are you going?”

Oh, look at that, he can speak to me. I shrug. “Depends on where you’re taking me.”

He folds his arms and widens his stance, blocking the hallway. “It’s not safe.”

“I bet the local bar in town has closed-circuit CCTV, or better yet, your sister will be able to override the feed. No one is going to recognize me out here, and it’s not like there’s a nationwide hunt for me. It’s one rich sick man, not an army.”

His jaw tics. “No, one sick man is harder to protect you from.”

“I’m not asking for permission.”

“The answer is still no.”

I step closer and cup his cheeks. “I’m going mad in here. I need to get out.”

“You’re acting like it’s been months.”

“No, I’m acting like a woman once excluded from society for years and who has finally gotten her freedom only to have it stolen. I’m not being unreasonable. I need to feel free.”

His shoulders drop, and I know I’ve won this battle.

“Give me thirty minutes. I need to check with Eleanor.” I grin and do a little happy dance.

“Don’t know why you’re looking so happy. You’ll have to explain it to Hunter, and I’ll only take you if he agrees.”

I deflate. “That’s unfair.”

“That’s life.”

“Absolutely not. Go watch a movie or read a book,” Hunter snaps.