Page 10 of After Our Kiss

Standing up, he touched my ankle gingerly. Was I the first girl he'd ever put his hands on? “I want to see you naked. Take your clothes off for me.”

I can use his inexperience against him.Swallowing, I nodded slowly. “Untie me and I will.”

It took thirty-five seconds before he spoke again—I was counting. “If you try anything, I'll kill you.”

“I know.”

He stared at me again. Did he guess what I was planning? Moving to my shoulder, he bent over me. For an exciting moment he gripped the straps that held me tight as a drumskin. His breath washed over me, getting faster—heavier. “Never mind,” he said, letting go. “I'll do it myself.”

“What?” I sputtered.

Grabbing the hem of my shirt, Lonnie started to tug. “I don't need your help. You're as useful as you'll ever be, just like this.”

“No!” Gasping, I wriggled pointlessly. “Don't touch me! Stop, stop right now!”

“Bitch, I saidhold still!”

“Get away from her!” Conway snapped. I hadn't heard the door open. Lonnie spun around, taking his brother's knuckles to his face. Crying out, he crumpled to the floor while Conway loomed over him. He was shaking; his hair messed up, his eyes wild. He looked across, meeting my stare. Wordlessly he asked if I was okay, and just as silently, I bowed my head in appreciation.

“Asshole,” Lonnie groaned.

Conway's attention bounced back to his brother. “Get out.Now.Dad doesn't want anyone in here, and that means you.”

“Oh, but you're special?”

“I said get the hell out!”

“Fine,” Lonnie said, wiping blood from his nose. He stared at it, and when he smiled, his teeth were stained brownish-red. There was havoc in his eyes when he looked at me. “I'll have my turn with her. It's not like she's going anywhere.”

I didn't breathe easier until he was gone.

Conway came to me, quickly freeing me from the straps. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

Before I responded, I viciously rubbed the chocolate fingerprints off of my body. Lonnie's touch was a virus that wanted to seep inside, and I needed all the evidence of it gone. My skin was raw and red when I was finished. “I'm... I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, he just...”Scared me. Terrified me.I shrugged helplessly. “That'syour younger brother?”

Some tightness vanished from his shoulders. “Lonnie has always been creepy.”

“That's a polite way of phrasing it.” I hesitated. “He told me that I looked like your sister.” Conway's kind features hardened with despair. “You didn't tell me you had a sister.”

“Because I don't. Not anymore.” He shook himself, as if devilish creatures were hanging from his body, slicing at him as they weighed him down.

“What do you mean? What happened to her?”

“Ask my dad,” he spat. The venom inside of him was bubbling. It made me recoil—just a hair, but he saw and caught himself. “Sorry. I really hate talking about this, is all. I don't know where she is. Dad won't say, maybe he doesn't even know. I'd give anything to find out the truth.”

“That's awful,” I whispered. It would drive me crazy not to know where my family was.Mom must be so worried about me. “Were you two close?”

“Very much. She used to read to me, especially when mom and dad fought. She'd pull me into this little tree house we'd built in the woods behind our old house, wrap a blanket around us, and we'd pretend everything was fine.” He started to smile, but it melted before it really began. “Georgia...”

I tracked how fast his frown took hold. “What is it?”

“I need to get you out of here.”

“Yeah, I've been saying that.”

“I mean now. Right now.”

I sat up straighter. I didn't have to ask what had changed; the chocolate smear on the floor reminded me of Lonnie's bloody teeth.

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