Page 12 of Fire in My Blood
“That color suits you perfectly.” His voice is filled with a wide grin. “You should wear red more often.”
Mortified, I close my eyes. If this had happened before my assault, I would have grinned back at him confidently and replied with some snarky remark to let him know I appreciated his humor but wasn’t so dazzled by him that I would let him get away with whatever he wanted.
But I’m not that woman anymore. She died that night, and in her place there’s only me.
His large hand cups the side of my face. The shock of his warm skin on my face makes me open my eyes and stare up into his beautiful blue ones.
“I’m sorry.” His expression is sincere when he studies my face. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
One corner of his mouth lifts in a gentle smile. “And thank you. It’s very flattering to have you look at me like that.”
“Okay.” I don’t know what else to say. This is a bit overwhelming.Heis a bit overwhelming.
“Do you mind if we sit down? I have a little more time to stay today.” I walk over to his mattress, before he has a chance to respond, and sit down cross-legged with my back against the wall.
“Okay.” He walks up next to me before lowering himself to the mattress.
“Why are they keeping you here?” I turn to stare at his profile. “I know you probably think I’m working here, but I’m not. Or, I am, but only as a cleaner. I’m not one of the regular staff here or have any military background. And I most certainly have nothing to do with them keeping you captive here at the base. I didn’t even know they had a room like this down here until I opened the wrong door the other day.”
“I’m at a military base?” He turns his head and meets my gaze with one eyebrow lifted in surprise.
My brows push together as I nod slowly. “I thought you knew that. Don’t you know who brought you here and why?”
Chapter 8
Lucas
I’m not sure how much to tell her. I’m certain by now she had nothing to do with my capture, but if someone finds out she has been talking to me, they might force her to tell them what I’ve said. At least I wouldn’t put it past them.
Military. I didn’t expect that. So far I’ve only met two of my captors, and the way they’ve acted, particularly one of them, made me think this was personal somehow. But perhaps I’m wrong.
I study the deep frown on Erica’s face. “I know I’m here because they’re trying to frame me for something I didn’t do. They keep trying to get me to admit to a horrific crime that happened a while back. I can’t elaborate on the details because the less you know the better.”
“They keep you here without access to water.” Her eyes narrow in anger. “Have they given you any food at all other than soup? How long have you been here?”
I can’t help but smile at her genuine concern. “I was brought in the day before you opened the door to this room without taking a look inside. Or at least I assume that was you. You opened the door but closed it again a few seconds later. The next day you turned on the light and saw me sitting here.”
“Have they given you any food you can actually eat?” Her eyes darken and her lips press into a thin line.
I hesitate. How am I supposed to explain that I don’t need human food without revealing that I’m not human? I don’t want to lie to her, but I might have to skirt the truth a bit to stop herquestioning me about this. “They haven’t given me a lot of food, but I’m trained to live on next to nothing for a while. As long as my activity level is sufficiently low, I can survive for a long time on little or no food.”
“But you’ve already been here for days.” Her deep frown mares her beautiful features, and all I want to do is smooth the concern off her face.
But I have questions of my own that need answering. “How come you’re not afraid of me anymore?”
She raises one eyebrow at me like she’s going to challenge my change of topic. But then she sighs and looks down at her hands resting in her lap. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”
Her expression is serious when she lifts her gaze back up to mine. “You’re a good man, and that’s one of the reasons I don’t understand why they’re keeping you here. They should be able to tell.”
A laugh bursts from my lips, before I shake it off and return her serious gaze. “I’m not a particularly good man, Erica, but I’ll never do anything to hurt you. If you tell me who took advantage of you, I’ll make sure they can never get near you again.”
Shaking her head, she averts her gaze. “No, it happened a long time ago. It’s too late to do anything about that now.”
She has said the same thing before, but I don’t buy it. “Erica, look at me.”
There is sadness in her beautiful brown eyes when they come back to mine.
“You will tell me who hurt you and how.” My magic fills my voice and eyes as I pull her mind to me. I told myself I wouldn’t do this, but I need to know what happened to her so I can stop it from happening again.