Page 43 of Fixation
This flu…It’s messing me up. I want things from him.
Things I can’t name.
Things I shouldn’t ever entertain.
I’ve been kidnapped.
Sure, he’s gorgeous, in a rugged kind of way. With his dark brown hair. His day-old stubble. This sculpted jaw and high cheekbones.
He won’t be remotely gorgeous when he’s done with me and chops me to pieces.
Just thinking about it makes me shiver.
He watches me as if I’m the most interesting thing he’s ever seen.
“I’m not helping you?” His voice is deceptively calm. “What would you call this, then?” He taps on the IV bag.
“Kidnapping.”
At an unnatural speed, he pulls a thermometer out of the pocket on his scrubs shirt. He does it while moving his hand from my arm to my jaw, forcing my mouth open.
“What are you—” I start to wriggle. “No. No, don’t?—”
My protests mean nothing to him.
One push and the thermometer is under my tongue. Before I can spit it out, he snaps my mouth shut, holding the thermometer between his fingers like he’s done it a hundred times before.
With his free hand, he wipes the tears from my temples.
I don’t think I’ve ever opened my eyes this wide.
I’ve never screamed this loud either.
While crying.
“Shh.” A warning. His eyes flare. Narrow. “I’m trying to prove a point. Stay still.”
There’s no fighting him. He’s about six-five. Lean. Sculpted like he came out of a magazine.
I’m here, bound. Trapped. I bet that if he released my mouth, if I screamed, no one would hear me.
I have no other option but to do as he says.
I stay quiet as I cry.
My tears are hot with shame. I’m humiliated for liking the way his thumb draws circles on my jaw.
Who am I?
The thermometer doesn’t care. It beeps once it’s done.
“Let’s see.” In a gentle motion, my kidnapper removes the thermometer from my mouth.
His hand is back on my shoulder. Keeping me in place, as unnecessary as that is.
His eyes darken as he checks my temperature.
“What?” I forget that I’m bound. Helpless. The pain in my sore muscles is a dull ache. It lies far, far away in the back of my consciousness, but my panic is wide awake. Something’s wrong with me. The look on his face says it all. “My fever won’t go down? Is it serious?”
