Page 142 of A Breath of Life
His pupils had blown to discs.
He cursed again and blinked rapidly. “I didn’t have that much, did I? Shake it off. Shake it off.” He flapped his hands and… danced?
Was he singing Taylor Swift?
Stopping, he muttered, “I only sucked his fingers, for fuck’s sake.”
Wide-eyed, he threw his hands up between us in an act of self-defense.
“What are you—”
“Don’t be mad. I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t break cover. It tasted vile, but spitting it out would have been worse. Oh, man. I think my blood is boiling inside my veins. Is that something? Oh crap. Am I dying? Oh, gooood almighty, I feel like I could run a marathon, and I hate running. My heart is racing so freaking fast.”
I pieced the broken statements together, and it all clicked. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Tallus was fucking high. On what? Who the fuck washe, and why werehisfingers in myboyfriend’s mouth?
My rage reignited. Someone was going to die. I had a hundred questions, but no time to ask them. Tallus was high, and I was half-drunk. We were a perfect match. Fuck my life.
We had to get out of here.
“Tallus.” I took his hand and shook it. “Look at me. I need you to focus. Pop the lock on the handcuffs. You can do it. Easy peasy.”
“Lemon squeezy. D? I feel funny.”
“What did you take?”
“I didn’t want to. I think it was meant as a prelude to thepar-tee.” He pressed a hand to his groin.
“What par-tee? What was it?”
“I don’t know. Pills of some kind. He crushed them to dust and fed me a big ol’ pinch with his fingers before I went pee. It wasn’t that much. I didn’t really have to pee. I had to find you. I can still taste it.” He scraped his teeth along his tongue.
Christ, it could have been anything.
“Don’t be mad at me, D.”
“I’m not mad. I’m worried.”
“Don’t kill Joshua.”
“If he fed you that pill, I make no promises.”
“He didn’t. It was the Jackal. Jackass is more like it. I will not be his play toy.” Then, as though imparting a secret, he leaned closer and whispered. “Joshua licked my neck and sucked my ear, but I didn’t enjoy it… He also likes threesomes. I don’t think it’s a secret, but it might be.”
I clenched my fists, nostrils flaring. “Okay.”
“I knew you’d be mad. You’re mad, aren’t you? I didn’t lick him back, but I held his hand and hung off his arm like we were a couple. It was all pretend. I have no interest in threesomes.” He squirmed and pawed his cock again. “Or maybe I do. Why am I getting an erection?I swear I’m not attracted to Joshua. My god, this is weird. What is happening to my body?” He glared at his crotch like it had deceived him.
“Tallus, the lock.” Based on the few symptoms, I suspected he’d been given a fairly potent dose of ecstasy laced with god only knew what else.
“The lock. Right.” He focused on the task, singing nonsense under his breath as he worked, something about tingling balls, bright lights, and dancing the night away before reverting back to Taylor Swift. He paused once when thundering feet sounded from above.
It took him far longer to get me free than it should have. When the cuffs finally clattered to the floor, he grabbed my face and kissed me so unexpectedly that I stumbled and almost fell. His tongue breached my lips, pushing into my mouth.
He released me long enough to mutter, “You’re mine, mine, mine. Mario has saved the princess, and now I want you to bend me over and fuck me into next week.” He kissed me again with bruising force.
It took effort and willpower to peel him off. “Not now. Can you walk?”
“I can dance.” He rolled his hips, grinding his groin against me with a devilish smirk. He really was hard. Fuck my life.
