He moved to the bars and growled low. She peered into his eyes and her heart dropped. No recognition showed there. Had he had an episode? Forgotten her?
“Talk to me,” she said again, afraid for him.
“Come,” he demanded harshly.
“Who am I?”
He blinked, a moment of confusion flashing on his features. Pain stabbed her chest as seconds passed. He growled again, shook the bars, and flashed his sharp canines. He didn’t know. Whatever lucidity he’d had was gone.
“466? It’s Joy.” Her mind worked, trying to figure out what was going on. They’d talked and he’d been almost normal when she’d left. Now it was as if she faced him again for the first time. “You know me. Try to remember.”
He spun away, pacing, dragging his chains. Soft growls came from him as she fought back the anguish. He wasn’t getting better. He was having moments of lucidity but then losing them. Her heart broke.
It took a lot for her to walk over to the chair and put the two keys down where he wouldn’t see them. No way could she release him now. She’d jumped the gun because she’d wanted to believe so badly that he was getting better.
“Come,” Moon snarled.
She looked at him when she turned to face his cell. “Who am I?”
He pointed in front of him and his gaze lowered to her chest. “Now.”
Joy approached slowly but kept out of his reach. She lowered to her knees, staring up at him. “Who are you?”
Confusion clouded his face.
She tried to get a handle on her raging emotions. It tore her apart that he’d lost what foothold he’d had on reality. The anger burned too at the people who’d done this to him. She’d like to take the person who shot him with the drugs and wring his neck with her bare hands.
“Come,” he demanded again, harsher than before.
“I can’t.” Would they have to start over every time she saw him? She kept her voice low, dropped her head, and her eyes closed. It hurt too much to see him that way.
Chapter Six
He wanted the female. She smelled good sitting so close to him, torturing him by refusing to allow him to touch her. His blood seemed to boil inside his body from the need to put his hands on her. His mouth. He wanted to taste her. To take her. To possess her.
She kept her chin down but he knew what she looked like. Her heart-shaped face seemed ingrained into his mind for some reason. Big blue eyes with yellow flecks haunted him.
She was familiar but he couldn’t remember why. He crouched, sniffed at her again, and something tugged on the outer edges of his mind. He kept staring at her while he tried to figure out what it was about the female that captivated him. Frustration made him growl.
She looked up at him then and tears shimmered in her eyes. It confused him but it also did more. A deep sense of guilt filled him. He somehow knew he was the cause though he hadn’t touched her or caused her pain. She blinked rapidly to keep those tears from spilling.
Such delicate features. Her mouth grabbed his attention. She should be smiling. An image of her doing just that flashed. The sound of her laugher followed and a memory surfaced from the murky depths of his mind.
“Don’t do that, 466. You’re supposed to be serious.”
“I could be,” he said. “If you give me what I want.”
Her humor faded. “What is that?”
“You.”
“Don’t make me end this session. We were doing so well.”
He scooted down a little in his chair and spread his thighs. “Sit on my lap and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
She swallowed hard and her gaze lowered to his thighs. She was tempted. He could tell. He really wanted her there.
“Sit on my lap. I won’t do anything. I want you close.”
He sat on the hard floor of a cell, not a chair, watching the female with tears in her eyes. He tried to distinguish memory from reality. She really was there but bars separated them now. That was real, the other was something from the past. She watched him as intently as he did her. Words were hard to form but he managed.
“Sit on my lap.” He repeated the words he knew he’d said to her once. “I won’t do anything. I want you close.”
Her eyes widened.
He fought to remember more and lifted his hands to her. Chains rattled, distracted him, as he frowned at them. He looked back at her. “How did we get here?”
“Where do you think we are?”
He glanced around. “I don’t know. We were in…an office.” That was right. He knew it. “Yours. I wanted you closer.”
She bit her lip. “What else do you remember?”
“You wanted to do it.”
She nodded. “I did.”
“Come to me.” He shifted position on the floor and tapped the top of his thighs.
She hesitated and then rose to her feet. He growled in protest when she turned her back on him to walk to a chair.
“No.”
She bent and picked something up, turning to face him again. “What is your name?”
He struggled for an answer and it came to him. “I am 466.”
She approached slowly, something fisted in her hand. “Who am I?”
It was on the tip of his tongue. It wouldn’t come to him though. He said what felt right. “You’re mine.”
She walked right up to the door and her gaze lowered to the lock. She did something and it clicked. She hesitated and then threw something across the room. A key hit the floor. His heart raced when the door opened and nothing was between them. The urge to lunge to reach the female was strong but fear showed on her face. He didn’t want to frighten her so he remained very still.
“Sit on my lap. I won’t hurt you.”
He held his breath when she stepped inside the cell. The chains would prevent him from reaching her if she fled. They weren’t long enough to go beyond the open door. She took one hesitant step and then another until her scent was something he couldn’t resist anymore. He drew air into his lungs, inhaling her deeply. He knew her. It confused him because he could only remember bits and pieces.
“I won’t hurt you,” he swore. He meant every word. He didn’t know her name or how they knew each other but she meant something to him. “What is wrong with me?”
“You’ve been sick.” She spoke softly as she lowered to her knees inches from him. One of her hands slowly lifted and she touched the side of his face. Her caress was light, hesitant, and fearful. “I’m Joy. Try to remember me.”
“I do. I…I’m confused.”
She surprised him when she inched closer and her other hand gripped his shoulder. He looked down as she turned a little and gently lowered herself across his thigh. Her weight was slight as she sat almost where he wanted her. He couldn’t resist anymore as his arms wrapped around her waist to position her across both legs so her ass rested over his dick. She gasped but he was careful not to crush her. She was small but he wasn’t going to let her go.
“Easy,” he demanded. “No fear of me.”
Her features changed as she relaxed in his arms. The hand clutching his shoulder eased its tight hold but she didn’t remove it.
“You can remember my office? What else is happening that you remember?” Her voice trembled.
“You wouldn’t sit on my lap but you wanted to.”
“Yes.”
“That really happened?”
“Yes.”
“It is hard to think.”
“Why are you having trouble focusing on things? Do you know?”
“I forget.”
She leaned in closer and he battled back a growl. He wanted her and his dick ached—it was hard and trapped inside the pants he wore.
“What else can you remember about that day?”
“Why do you resist me? You want me too.” He knew that about her even though he couldn’t remember how he did.
“I do,” she admitted. “I always have.”
Reality was better than memory. Joy wasn’t rejecting him. A moment of clarity hit and it made him doubt his sanity. His arms tightened around her.