Page 49

With the first slice, she cries out and it pierces through me. As each rending cut digs deeper through the meat of her leg, it’s the tiny whimpers she looses that rip me apart.
Her hot blood pours over my hand when I hit the bone. Cinching the belt tighter to stave the flow, I try to use rapid strokes to cut through.
When the last tether of flesh is severed, the gorey saw falls from my hands and I pull her tightly against me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My lips move the soft words against her temple. The tiny hairs tickle against my nose, something I’ve longed for.
She shivers, her arm threading around my waist. “It changes everything.”
“You’re right. You’re probably the only person in the world I can touch.” My palm turns up on her lap, exposing the tiny pores that seep poisons from my body.
“Your hands. I thought they’d be furry.” Her giggle buries itself into my chest.
I want to scream at how close I came to losing her.
With a feathering brush, she traces the lines of my hand, then rubs her fingers together. “It tingles.”
“Hope, I’ve killed people by grabbing them. Please understand, I never wanted you to be afraid of me. It’s why I couldn’t…” I just want to hold her. To memorize the feel of her against me.
“Why didn’t you tell me that’s how you survived the crash?” I pull her right leg up so it rests against my ribs.
She’s so cold. The misty rain isn’t helping.
Please heal faster than me. Blood is still dripping from the stump below her knee, but it’s slowed.
“Do you have any idea how much I’m worth to them?” Her exploration of my hand sends little bolts of electricity through me. Her fingers weave in and out of mine before she presses her palm flush.
Jerking my hand away is a reflex.
“Don’t. I want to feel what it’s like.” She reaches for me again, marrying my hand with hers. “Oh, God,” she moans.
I hate that it makes my cock twitch beneath her. Pulling my arm away, she actually laughs.
“It makes me feel hot inside. Like eating too much curry.” She turns her face up to mine, tears shimmering in her eyes. “You’vereally never been able to touch anyone?” Her cool fingers find my cheek. “You can do anything you want to me. Just please don’t make me go to where there’s people.”
“Tell me what you’re running from.” The back of my knuckle skirts up the shell of her ear.
I want to melt her into me so I can feel her forever.
“I was taken when I was small. There’s a place in Chicago where they harvest people like me.” She reaches down and pushes the belt off of her leg. Fresh pink skin is budding below where I cut it off.
Cold sweat breaks out across my scalp.
I’m going to be sick. My mother was taken there.
“Our blood is regenerative. Just imagine the possibilities when they have an unlimited supply of organs…” A blink frees the tears to run down her nose.
Bile churns in my guts. “And, you couldn’t leave?” My fist clenches as her past becomes more clear. It’s a deep breath and a slow exhale before gently cupping her head to nestle her beneath my jaw.
She sniffs back a sob before burying her nose in the hollow of my throat. “I tried to escape every day. It’s why they kept me cuffed.” Shifting her hips, her left leg comes into view.
Long and tapered, her shin ends in a nub at her ankle.
It’s only been minutes.
“You crashed the plane.” It makes so much sense now. Why I found her in the cockpit, the restraints, the guards. “I get why you shot me. That hurt, by the way.” I try to scowl, but my mouth won’t cooperate.
“You cut off my leg, I think we’re even.” She lifts her foot and wiggles her fresh toes. “Can I come back with you now that you know my secret?”