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I run a hand back through my hair and stand quietly next to Lowell as the animal eats their food. I can almost hear it devouring the meal and wonder when the last time it ate. Was it like me? Had so much time passed since food last passed its lips that it couldn’t remember? Would this be the last meal either of us had?

Time passes slowly in this dark abyss and I’m praying that the animal slows down. I’m hoping beyond all hope that it’ll take its time at some point and remember to breathe between bites, but as quickly as it began eating, the tray is tossed in our direction.

“What have I told you about that?” Lowell asks into the darkness, moving the tray away with the edge of his foot. “The very least you can do is be grateful that I even remember you on the nights that I do. Anyway,” he says as he gets to his feet and wipes dust off on his jeans. “You’re gonna get dessert tonight.”

Lowell grabs me by the elbow and half drags me back toward the darkest corner of the room, pushing me into the unknown where I stumble and lose my footing. Luckily, the prisoner manages to catch me with their hands and keeps from crashing into the ground.

I can feel the steady, hot breath against the bare skin of my arm as it keeps me held tightly in its hands. No. Not ‘it’—this is a human being and not an animal; no matter how much Lowell insists.

“I’m gonna go upstairs and watch some television. Probably take that post-dinner nap too. I’ll be back later; hope you kids have fun,” Lowell says with a yawn as he picks the tray up from the ground. I can hear his footsteps retreating heavily on the wooden stairs as he makes his way back up to the first floor of his home leaving me here in the abyss.

The prisoner lets go of my arms as soon as the door to the basement opens and closes. They let their hands trail down my bare skin before dropping them to the ground. With a quiet sigh, I can hear the chain rattle again quietly and then feel the overwhelming presence of them standing up in front of me.

A hand that only moments ago held me so strongly, gently runs down the side of my face, and lifts my chin up toward a face I can’t quite see yet.

A low grunt escapes the same being with the gentle hands as I’m pushed away. I stumble backwards and gasp as the chains scrape the ground again. I can’t see the figure clearly, but I think it’s crouched down low to the ground again, wanting to be left alone.

“I’m sorry,” I say in a shaky voice. I hate speaking into the void because I know that someone is there with me, I just don’t know who—or what.

A low, deep sigh is the only answer that greets my ear for the moment and it worries me that Lowell has put me in a situation that he knows will end me. Maybe this was his plan the entire time. Perhaps he didn’t want me to survive more than a few hours and he doesn’t have any money to pay me even if I do manage to best the animal that’s lingering in the shadows.

“You don’t have to do this,” a voice suddenly says in a tone as soft as the hands that kept me from falling. It’s a man—I can tell that much now by the deepness of the tone and that puts me slightly at ease. Of course, that sense of ease dissipates just as quickly when I wonder how the hell Lowell got him down here.

He’s much more dangerous than I gave him credit for, and whatever happens tonight will be my own fault for trusting such an innocent face.

“Lie to him—tell him that we did; he’ll never know anything different,” he says to me, stepping closer. My heart is starting to race as he runs his hand gently down my neck, over my stomach, and slides an arm around my waist. “Or if you don’t think you can lie to him, I can be quick. I won’t hurt you regardless of what you decide. I’m not him.”

“What’s your name?” I ask him in a shaky voice. His body pressed so close to mine is making me tremble more than I did standing watch over Lowell and I can’t quite place why yet.

“It won’t do either of us any good to get too personal,” he says pulling away from me. “But if you need something to address me by, he calls me Stone.”

I take a step back and try to focus in the darkness—to see even the slightest glimpse of the man standing before me, but it’s damn near hopeless.

“Okay. Um. Well, I guess we should get this over with then,” I say quietly, as I bite my lip and reach down to pull my panties off. Even in the situation I’m in, I’m kind of glad that I had the mind to wear a skirt tonight.

Sto

ne scoffs as he walks over to the wall, almost knocking me over on the way, then suddenly the room is semi-illuminated in the moonlight. I can see him now, naked as the day the is long, marks all over his body, like he’s been cut over and over again. He crosses his strong arms over his chest and smiles slightly when he sees that I’m frozen, half bent over, staring at his face. An animal he’s not, but I can completely understand why Lowell christened him ‘Stone’. He’s got the most beautiful, sleepy, light blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and his face is as strong as the rest of what I can see of him. A square, muscular jaw, a mischief that seems misplaced in our current state has a hold of his expression and it takes everything I have to finally tear my eyes away from him and finish pulling my panties off.

But it doesn’t escape me that he’s standing slightly turned so that I can’t see him completely yet and it’s making me nervous.

I bunch them up in my hand, looking around for a place to put them for now, when he holds his hand out. I look at it for a moment—open and outstretched, waiting patiently. I sigh and place my panties in his hand and he brings it up to his nose, inhaling deeply.

“It’s been so long since I’ve smelled a woman,” he says wistfully. “You’ll have to forgive me for a moment, but if you’re really thinking of doing this, I may take a little longer than I said—just to relish the taste of you.”

“It’s okay,” I say quietly as I smooth the hem of my skirt. “Um, so on the floor then?”

“Wait. I have to show you something first,” he replies seriously. “There’s a reason he calls me an animal and an even bigger reason he treats me like one. Come here.”

I stare at him for a moment. The last time I trusted someone so easily I ended up underneath their goddamn house with a man chained to a wall, instructed to fuck him.

“Listen, you’re going to have to trust me right now. It’s either me or Lowell at this point and believe me when I tell you, you do not want to let him take you into his bedroom. I’ve heard screams that fucking haunt me when I try to sleep. Which is probably why I barely do,” he admits with a tired laugh.

“What did you want to show me?” I ask, not taking a step toward him. I don’t trust either of them at this point, and honestly if I had to choose, well it’s better the devil you know, and the one that I somewhat know is upstairs somewhere.

“Alright,” Stone says, running a hand over his face. “Lowell likes to hurt things he finds beautiful—a lot; to the point of disfigurement. I don’t know why I’ve lasted so long, but the one that was here before looked like a nightmare compared to me.”

I raise an eyebrow and try to look him over, but he takes a step back into the shadows and I’m left with more questions and fear than I had before I could see him.