Page 39 of Starve
While the support is appreciated, part of my brain can’t help thinking about justwherehis leg is, and how thin my leggings are.
“I don’t understand,” I breathe, my eyes never leaving his. “What did you do, Cairo?”
He leans forward until his lips brush my jaw and licks against my skin like he can’t quite help himself. “I did what I had to do,” he whispers, in a tone that tells me he doesn’t regret one bit of whatever that is.
“While you ran around looking for an escape and attracting more of my kind to you, I sated my hunger. I tore Esther apart in the lobby while I kept an eye on you.” He licks again, a little bit lower, and I shiver, suddenly regretting pissing him off.
“I wasstarving, so I ate as much of her as I could. And I don’t regret it, Fern. Not one bit. Even if she didn’t taste half as good as you.”
Chapter 16
I can’t move,or breathe, or evenblink.My fingers flex against the wall for a moment before I reach forward to curl them around his wrist, though I’m not trying to pull him off of me. I wouldn’t be able to, even if I really wanted to, and I’m not stupid enough to think otherwise. Instead I squirm a little, trying to find a way not to be perched on his leg, but I can’t move enough.
“Don’t lie to me,” I murmur, but I know somehow that this isn’t a lie. Heistelling me the truth this time, at least about this.
He really did eat Esther.
“Youateher?” I’m not sure how long we’ve been standing here, with him nosing along my jaw and me trying to accept the horror of what he said. The information doesn’t help today’s mental state at all, and I feel my fingers flex around his wrist as I become a little detached from my body.
After all, not being here would be easier than digesting all of this.
“Hey.” Cairo’s voice is suddenly normal, if a bit concerned. He leans away from me while keeping me pinned to the wall with his hand still around my throat. But his grip loosens, so he’s not impacting my ability to breathe at all. “Hey, Fern.” His fingersflex and release, then he takes a moment to justwatchme, which is unnerving as hell.
“I’m fine,” I breathe, closing my eyes and unconsciously digging my nails into his wrist. “Shit, I’m—” I ease my grip, but before I can let go, his other hand covers mine to keep my hand on his wrist.
“No, that’s okay. You dig in, little bird.” His voice is gentle rather than commanding. “You can’t break my skin with your nails, I promise you that.” Cairo holds me against the wall until I finally open my eyes to glare sullenly at him.
“I’m so sorry,” I snap, self-conscious, “that I wasn’t prepared for you to tell me you’d eaten someone that I met, that I talked to?—”
Cairo growls to cut me off, his face close to mine again. “Don’t try my kindness, pretty girl. I’m hungry, and the mouthier you get”—he breaks off and lunges forward, running his tongue up the side of my throat, up my jaw, and only stopping at my hairline—“the better you fucking taste. I’m trying to help you so you don’t get lost on me. You wanted this confrontation so badly.” His voice turns a little mocking.
“Frankly, I think you’ve gotten the wrong idea of me.”
Before I can ask what he means, Cairo jerks me away from the wall. He doesn’t put me down though; he lowers me just enough for my toes to occasionally brush the floor. With only one arm wrapped around me, he moves through my house, bringing me to my bedroom where Moro hops expectantly up on the bed, her tail wagging.
Clearly she doesn’t give a damn about Cairo’s threats of eating me, and it makes me wonder if she’d let him do it in hopes of him giving her attention.
It’s a shame my dog is ready to betray me for a man of all things.
“Not right now, Moro.” I swear Cairo’s nicer to her than he is to me, and he closes the door in her confused face, leaving her in the bedroom with us in the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” I snap, nervously digging my nails a little harder into his arm as if I’m offering some kind of threat. But that only gets me a withering, baleful look, and Cairo pushes me onto the counter before letting go.
“If you leave this room before I tell you that you can, I will eat you,” he informs me oh-so-casually. As if he hadn’t just threatened my life.
Honestly, I want to call his bluff. I want to get up right now and bolt for the door, locking him in the bathroom to create a barrier of safety between us. I even glance sidelong at my closed-off escape, though when I feel his gaze on me, I look back to see he is indeed giving me a shrewd glance from the corner of his eye.
“Try it,” Cairo invites, opening his mouth enough to show me the tips of his fangs. “Try me. Do I really seem that benevolent?”
“What a stellar use of benevolent,” I tease quietly, never looking away from his dark eyes in the bathroom where the only light comes from the nightlight over the sink. I still feel a little detached, and I hate the way I miss his wrist to clutch onto. Instead, as a fallback, I sink my nails into the fresh scar, hissing at the soreness of my abused skin.
The shower is on within seconds, and Cairo is back in a flash. Though considering my current state, I could’ve just blanked out for those ten seconds. He pries my fingers away from my palm, snorting disapprovingly. “Such a masochist, aren’t you?” he murmurs. “Is that what helps ground you, little bird? If you want pain, I am more than happy to give it to you.”
“By eating me?”
“No. I don’t like to play with my food. I’d snap your neck if I were going to eat you.” He says it so flatly, in such a clinical way,that I shudder against him. “I could find so many fun, pretty ways to hurt you, Fern. And maybe if I do, you’ll realize I’m not human enough to be your friend.”
“It has nothing to do with how human or not you are,” I reply without giving myself a moment to consider staying quiet. “Human, dog, or monster, I’d be your friend. It has a lot more to do with you wanting toeat meand making threats about it.”
