Page 41 of Shark Bait

“Okay then, I’ll say it, and we’ll see what happens.”

He waits.

“I think I’m using you, and I’m sorry I can’t stop it.”

“How so?” he asks, appearing slightly uneasy.

I swallow. “I just… I feel dirty, and I want you to clean me. I need to bathe in you, and I hope the memory gaps you spoke of stick with me as they’ve stuck with you. Because I also have some. If I try hard enough, I can access the memories, but I don’t want to try that hard. I don’t… I want them to stay hidden, eventually forgotten completely. Locked away, you know?”

Shark nods. “I don’t like the idea of being used by anyone anymore.” He tilts his head. “How, exactly, do you want to use me?”

“You know how,” I say.

He rolls onto his back and licks his lips. “Hop on.”

FOURTEEN

WHICH PART OF YOU I LIKE MOST

TROY

It’s official.

I’m the least sexy woman on this side of the globe.

Shark’s on his back, his hands behind his head, watching the ceiling, waiting for me to sit on his face, and my lame ass gotta pee. With a groan, I slide off the bed with as much grace as a hippopotamus.

Shark lifts his head along with his arms. “What’s happening?”

“Nothing. BRB.”

After my business in the bathroom, I eye the shower, thinking about bathing and finally getting out of this dress, which I’ll make a show of burning in the pit I saw near the pool in the courtyard. But then I’ll have nothing to wear. If I shower now, I’ll just have to get dirty again when I put this gray dress back on.

But I want to feel clean. I want to feel new. I’m out of captivity, and I’m with…friends. Or at least friendlies when it comes to Alessio and Valerina. Maybe I could ask her to borrow some of her clothes until we go shopping.

I hear a knock on the bedroom door and then male voices. When I come out, Alessio’s leaning against the doorjamb whileShark’s still lying on the bed, arms crossed beneath his head. The way he looks at me makes me blush, and blushing makes me feel normal.

Alessio points at the closet. “Valerina says lunch is in ten minutes. If you want to shower and put on fresh clothes, use any of hers that are in there.”

“Thank you.”

“Welcome. Shark, a word?”

“You called him Shark,” I say, excited.

Alessio winks. “I did.”

“You’ll find that winking eye in your hand, my friend,” Shark says.

Alessio smirks but doesn’t leave so I can get dressed.

“I’ll meet you in your office,” Shark tells him, clearly asking him to leave us alone.

Alessio cocks his head. “I need a word with you now.”

“No, you don’t. You can wait.”

Uh-oh. They’re at another standoff. I don’t move from my spot until Shark says, “Five minutes.”

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