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CHAPTER 11

Creed

Everything was so hot.I was burning up from the inside, like someone had built a bonfire in my chest that was now burning me from the outside, too. My vision even seemed to swim from the miasma of the heat radiating off me.

There was a weight on top of me, though I couldn’t concentrate enough to tell what it was. All I knew was that, although it felt good, I hated it. A hand tugged at my shirt, managing to undo the first few buttons, but then I thrashed as much as my restraints allowed, and those hands were forced to stop.

I couldn’t even remember why the touch of those hands turned my stomach, but I’d survived this long by relying on my instincts, and I wasn’t going to stop now.

I heard a bang from somewhere close by, and a moment later, the weight on top of me disappeared. Cool air rushed to replace the now empty space above me, and I took several deep breaths. The cool air helped soothe the fever in my skin, but it also causeda deep shiver to ravage my body. I couldn’t stop shaking. It was even making the bed beneath me tremble.

Bed?

Yes, that was right. Some clarity returned to my mind. I was tied to a bed, and I’d been drugged. By whom, and for what reason, I still couldn’t recall, but I was certain it didn’t mean anything good.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been drugged against my will. When I’d been captured and kept as prisoner of war, they’d sedated me most of the time as well.

At least, they did when they weren’t interrogating me.

Is that what this was?

A new form of interrogation?

Well, it wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t sure what my interrogators wanted to know, but I certainly wasn’t going to give it to them.

Footsteps sounded near the bed. Someone was coming closer.

I prepared myself for whatever vile villain wanted to torment me with. It wasn’t the first time. I would get through it, and then I’d find some way to escape and get revenge on them

Just survive.

The face that leaned into my view brought a rush of relief. I knew that face. The name eluded me for a moment, slipping across my brain like a fish gliding downstream, but I knew that face. It was a good face. A friendly face. Although the expression was currently twisted into a look of distress, the sight of that face still brought with it a sense of safety.

“Creed, babe. It’s okay. I’m here now. You’re fine.”

Kayden.

The name burst through my mind, along with a chaotic mix of images from our longstanding friendship. Everything, from our first meeting as children to our recent, more intimate, exchanges, played out behind my eyes all at once.

The restraints around my wrists fell away, but I barely noticed. As soon as I was free to move, I reached out, grabbed Kayden, and kissed him. I poured every ounce of relief I felt into that kiss.

If he was here, that meant I wasn’t in danger. Everything would be fine.

Kayden returned the kiss, which was a relief, but it also ignited the smoldering embers of the drug in my chest. Fire licked through my veins once more, and I moaned deep in my throat.

Twisting my fists into his shirt, I tried to pull him onto the bed with me.

It didn’t work. Kayden fought back and removed my hands from his clothing.

“No, Creed. Wait. We need to get you out of here.”

I moaned again and tried to reach for him. We had a perfectly good bed right here.

Why wait?

It certainly had to be better than doing it in an unstable tent out in the middle of the wilderness.

Yet, despite my usually quick reflexes, he easily dodged me.