Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
I put the fork in her mouth and she recoils for a moment. “It’s hot.”
“Do you want me to blow on it?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I’m not blowing on your food, Clover. You’re a grown woman.”
“And yet you insist on spoon-feeding me.”
“I can stop any time you want and scarf this hot meal down all on my own.”
“No. Just… it burned my mouth, OK? Fuck. Just hold it in front of me and I’ll blow on it myself. Is that too much to ask?”
I take my own bite, then load the fork up again for her. “Here. It’s in front of you. Blow.”
Her lips pucker up and then, ever so gently, she blows. The next thing I know she’s reaching for my hand.
I pull away. “Don’t touch.”
“I can feed myself. Just hand me the fork.”
I slap her hand away. “That takes all the fun out of it, Clover.”
“I knew it! You’re getting off on this spoon-feeding thing, aren’t you?”
“Well… I would not go so far as to say ‘getting off,’ but it’s entertaining. And if all you wanna do is complain and ruin it, I’ll just—”
“Eat it yourself. You’ve threatened me with that a billion times already.”
“Twice. I’ve said it twice. But three strikes and you’re out. So one more grumble from you, and I’ll just—”
“Throw me down the stairs? Kill me and put my body in the back of my car, then push it into the river? Or leave me in the basement to die and decay?”
“You’re really dwelling on those threats, ya know that?”
“Well, why wouldn’t I? You seem to have an endless number of death scenarios at your fingertips.”
“All I want is your compliance. You know this, and yet you keep insisting on asserting control over me. Which is a waste of time, Clover. Because you have no control here. I’m the one in control. And a smart woman would realize that and play along, so my final assumption about you is that you’re stupid.”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s it.” My chair scrapes against the floor as I stand up and grab her arm, yanking her to her feet. “Dinner’s over. It could’ve been a nice break for you, but I’m not in the mood to listen to you complain.”
“Wait! I’ll be good! I swear!”
“Too late. I’m done.”
She struggles as I pull her down the hallway, planting her feet and leaning into the wall. I yank her so hard she falls forward. Luckily her hands aren’t bound and she uses them to avoid a faceplant. Still, she lands pretty hard and cries out in pain.
“For the record,” I say, “you did that to yourself.”
She looks up at me, her blindfold askew. And I see one eye staring right at me. I should move. Pick her up. Cover her eyes again. But I don’t. I just… stare back. She gets to her feet, and she doesn’t fix her blindfold.
Instead, she spits insults. “You jerk! You manhandled me until I fell! I didn’t do that on my own.”
I reach over, pull her blindfold back up, and take her arm again.
Again, she plants her feet. “Wait. Just wait! One spoonful of noodles isn’t enough! At least let me take the applesauce with me!”
“I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in this world you live in, but where I come from, when someone gives you three warnings and you disregard them, there is no reward, Clover. There is only punishment.”
“Punishment that involves darkness?”
“What?”
“You said—”
“Never mind what I said.” I yank her arm again.
“Wait! Can’t I at least sleep in my own bedroom? It’s got one of those hundred-year-old locks on the door that can be locked from either side with a skeleton key.”
“What difference does it make if you’re locked up or down? There’s no furniture in the bedrooms. I checked.”
“You didn’t check the fourth-floor attic. I bet you didn’t even know we had an attic.” She smirks at me. “Just like you didn’t know we had a basement.”
“I did know you had a basement. I could see the windows from the outside.”
“But you couldn’t find it. Not without my help. So you don’t know about the secret room at the top of the house and I do. And it’s just as good a prison as the basement cabin. It is. I swear, it is.”
“No.” I yank her again.
Again, she plants her feet. “Please.”
“No. I’m sick of saying everything three times. Why can’t you just accept the first answer I give?”
“Because your first answer is unacceptable.”
She’s frustrating me to the point of anger. But then, I know how to shut her up. So I lower my voice and lean in to her neck. “How about this… I’ll let you sleep up there if I can sleep next to you. In fact, I think I need a shower. Don’t you? Take a shower with me and we’ll sleep in that bedroom of yours. Tit for tat, as they say. Quid pro quo. And that’s my last and best offer.”