Page 20 of Hunted

“I seem to be… stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“Yes.”

I paused. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”

“I cannot take these off.”

Another pause. “Wait… what do you mean?”

“I mean, in the short time I have been wearing these pants, they seem to have glued themselves to my skin.”

My hand flew to my mouth. “Hold on. Your pants are stuck to you?”

“I really don’t appreciate having to repeat myself so much right now.”

I shook my head. “Right, right. Sorry. Uh. What do you need me to do?”

“I can’t seem to fit my fingers into the gap between the pants and my thighs.”

I swallowed hard. “So, wait… you want me to come in there, and help you peel your pants off your legs?”

“With your small fingers, yes.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re actually asking me to do?”

“I do, yes. I would ask your grandmother, but I somehow find that less appropriate.”

I looked around again, eyes wide, like an animal scanning for threats. Except I wasn’t scanning for threats. I was hoping someone else was nearby who could help me. Anyone else. I had told myself I didn’t want to be anywhere near this man, but the world seemed insistent on pushing us closer together.

“Can you help?” Valerian asked after a moment.

“Right, sorry,” I said. “Yes, I’ll help. But I’m shutting my eyes.”

“How will you see what you’re doing, then?”

“You’ll have to guide me.”

“That seems appropriate. I’m ready.”

I’m not.

Sighing, I grabbed the edge of the curtain, shut my eyes, and slid over to the other side of them, bumping instantly into Valerian. He was shirtless. I knew because I had hold of what felt like his muscular arms. I felt his hands fall gently on my shoulders. His hands then went looking for my hands, and when he found them, I let myself slip to my knees.

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t ask this of you lightly.”

“I guess it means you trust me,” I said, realizing only a moment later what I had actually said.

“Of course, I trust you,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know… we’re still strangers, aren’t we?”

A pause. “I don’t consider you a stranger. After all we have been through… I feel like I have known you for a long time, and I would be a fool not to trust you.”

I swallowed. “That’s… very kind of you.”

Valerian guided my hands so that they fell on the sides of his abdomen. As soon as I touched his warm skin, my breath hitched. I held it there, in my lungs, as even with my eyes closed, I found the line of his pants. They were well and truly stuck to his skin. Even I found it difficult finding wiggle room for my fingers to slip into them.