Page 9 of After Our Kiss

- Chapter Three -

Georgia Mary King

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The lights flicked on and blinded me.

Groaning, I shut my eyes. It took a second for me to adjust enough to see the figure standing in the doorway. His lips were pink and full, stuck in a half smile that made my veins pump quicker. Wearing dark jeans and a gray sweater that was one size too big, I noticed how thin his wrists were; how jagged his collarbone was where it peeked through the wide neck hole.

“Hi,” he said, closing the door. I heard it lock. “I'm Lonnie.”

Conway had said he was the older brother, which meant Lonnie couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve. He was a frail kid—nothing like his father.

Except in his powder blue eyes. They had the same hungry way of looking at me.

“You're Georgia, right?”

I didn't reply.

“Georgia, like the peach,” he said, laughing at his own commentary. In three steps he was next to my bed. He hovered over me, arms folded at the small of his back as he squinted. He didn't stop smiling while he inspected my bare feet, my thinning legs, my concave belly, and finally... my face. “You really do look so much like her.”

I tensed up. “Who?”

“My sister.” His features screwed up, eradicating the pretend politeness. Underneath I saw his confusion, his lips twitching like he'd tasted something foul. “That's probably why Dad took you, if I had a guess.”

His sister?Conway hadn't mentioned any siblings besides Lonnie. The dread in me grew legs, stomping over my chest so that breathing became difficult. The idea that I'd been taken because I looked like someone else, and not just some random attack, was chilling. Madness was one thing, being kidnapped with intent... that was something else.

From his pocket, he pulled out half of a chocolate bar. The sight of it made my stomach rumble. If Conway hadn't been slipping me food, I'd have started drooling. As it was, it only felt like my stomach was gnawing at itself. “You must be starving by now.”

“Yes,” I lied.

Lonnie brought it close, dangling it over my nose by a corner between two fingers. It swung like a blade ready to slice me in two. “Want some?”

Keeping my attention on him, I wet my lips. “Don't waste your time.”

“What?” He stopped swinging the chocolate.

“You're here because you want something. I'm not going to give it to you in exchange for some chocolate.”

His face went slack. I'd stunned him—I enjoyed that. “You're not supposed to talk back.”

“Says who?”

“Dad. He says when we own something, it does what we say.” Lonnie twisted the chocolate around, holding it flat in his palm. “Don't bother acting tough.” His fingers clamped together, crushing the candy into brown smears that squished between the gaps in his fist. “Everyone breaks for him. Everyone.”

Chocolate dripped onto my knee. I flinched, but didn't look away from him. “You don't know me.”

His grin was the jagged edge of an aluminum tin that had been split apart by an ancient can opener. Bracing his filthy hands on either side of my legs, he lowered his mouth, licking at the chocolate that had landed on me. This was perverse; it threw me off, some of my courage fading.

Lonnie didn't behave like a kid. What had he witnessed that had warped him?

Each individual taste bud scratched on my skin. He kept going, leaning across my body as he slobbered over my knee. I was hyperventilating and ready to gag. No one had touched me like this in my life.How far will he go?

Lonnie smirked up at me from the base of the bed, his hair spilling over his forehead. Patiently, he ran his tongue over the top row of his teeth. He was wearing braces. “If you're nice to me,” he whispered, “I'll untie you for a bit.”

My heart punched against my ribs. “Nice how?”

I saw his brief hesitance. He didn't know what he wanted me to do, not exactly, anyway. This was all spontaneous exploration as he learned the path his father walked. I was just the toy to try out his skills on.

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