Page 155 of Brainwashed
My stomach flips upside down. “I am?” He nods.I run my fingertips along his jaw. “Lem.”
His eyelashes flutter while he smiles. “Darcey.”
I chuckle, and he kisses me. He kisses me softly, yet seriously; treasuring and perfect. The type of kiss I’ve never gotten before. It’s not hungry with lust and a need to build up to release. It’s not laced with any bad stuff, or masking a goodbye. It’s just a kiss between two men who aren’t sure what the fuck they’re doing, but who are basking in the uncertainty.
When he pulls back, I gaze up at him. And even though he’s a little blurry, I can see it in his eyes…
He wants me, too.
The room is dark.
The kind of dark that envelops you. Not even a single stream of light from anywhere.
And quiet, which just adds to the darkness. The feeling that I’m trapped, lost in a chasm of nothingness.
But then I realize my wrists are raw. The pain awakens something inside me and I snap out of it. I try looking around, but I can’t see anything. I’m blind.
No. I’m blindfolded.
Shifting, I attempt to move, but my neck is also bound, held to something so tightly that I can’t breathe well. The more I wake up to the sensations, the more pain bounds back to my consciousness. My throat is burning, inside and out. It’s as dry as a bone and my tongue feels swollen. On the outside, my neck is raw. My head feels like it weighs a million pounds, but I have no choice but to keep it upright. I’m… suspended by something.
All the muscles in my body are screaming.I’mscreaming. But nothing is coming out.
There’s a gag in my mouth.
I try to flex against the restraints holding me, but I’m not strong enough.
I’m not as big as I am now.
I’m younger. A boy, just becoming a man.
My jaw is sore and aching from being stretched for the gag, and spit is flowing from my mouth. I try to kick against what’s holding my legs, but when I do, it just puts more pressure on my neck and throat.
Anger rises inside me, and I roar behind the gag. Where the fuck am I??
My brain is sluggishly trying to piece together a puzzle. But it’s not making any sense. How would I get here? Who did this to me?
Suddenly, I hear a noise. The slow creak of a door opening. Fear zips up my spine.
Focus, Lem. You can get through this.
Fight.
I hear footsteps, and I try to concentrate on the things I know. Something that might help me. The restraints are made of rope. Rope can expand if enough pressure is put on it. I push forward against the rope that holds my arms and my neck. It kills, digging into my already chaffed and bloody skin. The footsteps are growing closer.
You’re strong enough. Fight fight FIGHT!
The blindfold is ripped off of my eyes. They try to adjust, but it’s still so dark around me.
He says something… And I don’t hear the words because I’m too busy focusing on his voice.
His familiar fucking voice.
He touches me. I cringe.
I keep pushing against the rope while tears seep from my eyes.
He does things to me that I don’t want, but I try like hell not to think about it.
