Chapter 6 Mila "I'll leave it to your imagination over what my body does when I see you. Or, apparently, speak to you." Convict's voice was thick with sleep. Like he'd crashed out wherever he'd escaped to, then the first thing he did on waking was call me. My mind leapt to a bed somewhere, and to the tall, dark-haired lost boy stripped down to his underwear. What the hell was wrong with me? I was suddenly, startlingly hot. So much I squeezed my thighs together in search of any small relief. "I want to know." "Tit for tat, love." Meaning if he was going to confess to me, I'd need to share something about myself. "I can't tell you much." "You a cop?" "No. Is it your heart that beats faster when you see me?" "That's one very minor part of my reaction." My breathing caught. "Your...?" "Say it, and I'll confirm it." I groaned but stifled the sound. There was no reason this should be so hot. So he was pretty? That didn't mean he was a nice guy. I blurted my next question. "What are you? I mean what type of person?" I heard the shrug in his voice. "No fucking clue. Amnesia, remember? I work for good people, though." "I thought you were in a gang?" "You assumed that. I never confirmed it. Does it automatically make me bad if I am?" At my lack of an answer, he continued. "What do you know about the gangs in Deadwater?" "Not much, only their reputations. I grew up here, but that side of it isn't my world." He snorted an unfunny laugh. "I know. Which makes no sense why you're there in that room waiting for fuck knows who. At best, it'll be some jackass gangbanger, which means you're risking your skin for what I hope to be a fucking solid reason." I rubbed my forehead. Was I that transparent for him to have seen through me in two brief conversations? "Why did you leave your phone with me? Are you hunting these people? If so, that's not helpful to me." "Figured that. Perhaps I just wanted to hear your voice again." I closed my eyes and lay back on the bed. Throughout the conversation, I'd stayed alert for any other sound in the house, but the music had shut off at some point while I'd slept, and the place had been silent since. I hadn't meant to fall asleep, but no one had arrived yet, which meant I had to stay here until they did. I should feel vulnerable. Yet strangely, the lifeline of this conversation was keeping my nerves under control. The stranger on the other end of the line was oddly more of a friend than any person I knew in real life right now. "I'm not a bad person either," I breathed out in a rush. "Good to know I'm not into a villain." "Into?" "We're back to the parts of me that are interested in you." Damn it. Damn my heart for skipping a beat, and other parts of me for readying with need. It was unreasonable for him to have such an attractive voice, let alone say words that sparked fireworks in my belly. My brain was broken. All I was certain of was that I wanted the call to continue, which considering my goal for being here, meant I really needed to hang up. I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at the screen. The strange number gave me nothing. Yet I couldn't end the call. I wanted to see his expression while we spoke. Or if he really was on a bed and missing a shirt. "Send me a photo for proof." I was insane for this, but the distraction was helping. Convict uttered a strangled laugh. "What kind?" "Any that you're willing to send." "You're asking for a dick pic?" I couldn't reply. He filled the space. "Going to need an answer if I'm putting my junk on the internet." "Y-yes?" The line went silent for so long, I checked the phone. He'd disconnected. My heart sank. But then, a video call landed on my screen. Breathless, I tapped to answer. His face came into view, and I exhaled stark attraction. He was in a bed, his messy dark hair against a white pillow. The glow of a lamp made him golden, even if there was menace in his eyes. Convict watched me for a long moment. "Let's play a game. This hand is a claw machine. Direct my camera. Left, right, up, or all the way down." Holy shit. I couldn't resist a game. "Down." He panned the camera to his bare chest, over scrawls of dark inkwork. It stopped. "Little to the left." It centred over his sternum. "Keep going down," I whispered. Ridges of ab muscles were next. They flexed as he breathed. A wave of heat swept through me. This was insanely hot. "Don't stop. Down." Convict made an off sound, and the camera jolted still. "Sorry. You're out of credit." I burst out with a laugh which I stifled. "Kidding. You get a free go." "Down, boy, down." The camera view finally settled on his shorts that covered a thick bulge. My heart pounded. I couldn't take my eyes off it. "Grab." He palmed it with his free hand like I'd caught the prize in his game. "This is what you do to me, sweetheart. Your voice, your pretty face, my imagination of what you're wearing under that oversized hoodie. I woke to thoughts of a cute girl locked away in that room, and instead of just doing this, I needed to ask permission first." The camera returned to his face, but not before I caught another squeeze of his hand on his dick. Electricity crackled under my skin. "I want to see what I won." "Tell me I can claim the prize with your name on my lips." A hasty little nod dipped my head, completely out of my control. The camera view stayed on Convict's face, but his lips parted, and he closed his eyes, giving me a burst of deep need at what he was doing to himself. "Camera down," I ordered. Convict shook his head. "First time since I came out of hospital. I thought it was broken. Then I see you and, fuck, I'm hard." Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Findηʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I knelt up on the bed. "This is the first time you've done...that? In how long?" "At least a month. Keep talking to me." "I will if you show me." He paused, then I got my wish, the view sliding down him again to his shorts. He'd moved his hand away to give me a clear sight of the tent I'd apparently created. "God," I uttered. His hidden dick bobbed. Convict groaned. "See? One word and my body reacts. I'm dying for you." "How? I mean, why?" I spluttered. "You're fuckin' beautiful, Mila. Besides that? No clue. I need more. Talk. Tell me anything." "Like what?" I was fascinated. Hooked on the power I had over this man. "What do you like for breakfast?" I laughed quietly. "Tea and something sweet. Is my food order doing it for you as well?" "Literally every word that comes out of those lips." "Maybe it's my lips that are the problem." I was never this brave with men. I was no virgin, but I'd never really played with my sexuality. Never teased anyone or had... This was phone sex. With a stranger. The realisation was shocking. I was turned on, too, though hell was I touching myself in a place like this. Convict made a masculine sound of pleasure that made me regret my decision. Desperation edged his tone. "Put the camera back on your face." Another noise broke through my haze of lust. A click in the hallway directly outside my room. "Mila," Convict commanded. In a rush, I killed the call and shoved the phone under my mattress. One second before my door flew open and a man appeared in the frame.