The Phoenix Project. Jacquelyn Frank
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then realized Amara was just as stripped as he was. “You fucking prick bastards!” he shouted out to the powers-that-be he knew watched everything he did.
They did.
Despite the agony he was in, Nick forced himself to his feet and reached to wrap the shivering girl in the blanket. She flinched away at first, until she realized he was helping her cover up. Then she was clutching at the thin excuse for a blanket like she would a life preserver after being dumped in rough seas.
“Did they hurt you?” he asked gently, momentarily ignoring her efforts at resisting and pulling her close after the blanket was snug around her. He immediately began to rub warmth into her, hoping he could at least ease the chattering of her teeth.
“I don’t know. I just woke up and they grabbed me and threw me in here,” she said in a shivery voice. “I’m sorry.”
“For what? You didn’t do anything.”
“But I will. Or you will. Why else would they force us into the same room like this? They are expecting something to happen. They are going to watch while something happens.”
“Something? Like what kind of something?” he demanded, not liking the things that began to filter into his guessing mind.
“Maybe you’ll rape me,” she whispered.
“The hell I will!” he exploded.
“You won’t be able to help it. They do that. They give drugs that do that. I’ve seen it. God, I am so scared.”
She was. He realized the chill of the room was nothing compared to the way she was shaking in terror. Frankly, if he was her and had been locked up with a man of his size and strength thinking what she was thinking was going to happen, he’d have probably pissed himself in fear.
“Hey. Listen to me. If I start getting nasty or anything, you just feel free to bash me in the balls as hard as you can, okay? Consider it a personal favor to me. I would hate myself if I did anything to hurt you.” He drew her over to the bed and sat down with her. He grabbed his pillow and dragged it over his lap. It was the only other cover left in the room, and a quick glance had shown him that the towels in the small bath had been removed. It made him sick to his stomach to think of what it was they must have planned for by throwing them together like this, purposely eliminating all sources of cover except for the single blanket. “How are you feeling?”
“Like death chilled over,” she sniffed. “And I can’t get warm.”
Nick immediately moved as close as he could, insanely grateful for his hyper body heat for a change. Apparently he processed energy really well. She could benefit from that. Despite her curves, she was pretty small. Generous breasts, nice round hips, and a killer ass didn’t serve as a large enough percentage of overall body fat. It might attract the hell out of a man like him, but it wouldn’t keep her warm in these conditions.
He drew her in tight, and after a moment she threw caution to the wind and snuggled up hard against him. She leaned in to burrow a cold nose against his neck, and after a moment he heard her sniff. It was different than the upset, chilly sniffling she had done. It was slow and soft, accompanied with a little rub of her nose.
“You smell nice,” she said, actually seeming surprised. It surprised him, too. Usually these tests not only made him feel like hell, but he would smell like it as well. Truth be told, she smelled kind of nice herself. He couldn’t place it as a particular fragrance, but maybe it was her shampoo. Whatever it was, it was rather delicious. He turned his nose into her hair so he could breathe deeply of the aroma.
“So do you. Are you warming up?” he asked.
“Actually, I think I am,” she said, rubbing up even closer to him, if that was even possible. Now, not only did she smell good, but he was realizing just how good she felt as well. The abrupt understanding that he was feeling aroused just by the nearness of her made him suddenly jerk away from her. He abandoned her to slide the length of the bed away from her, his fist clutching the pillow tightly against his stirring cock as it began to harden with its interest.
“Shit,” he hissed, running his free hand through his hair as he looked wildly around the tiny room for some way to put more distance between them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, those coppery eyes studying his agitation curiously as her grip on the blanket became negligent, allowing it to slide off one of her pale shoulders.
“Nothing,” he lied quickly. “Just trying to think what I can put on.”
“I know. They only give you one set of clean clothes every morning. Once you lose them, that’s it until the next day. God, I’m so thirsty right now. And I’m getting really hungry.” She stood up and paced the confined space a little. Every time she came close to him, Nick was overwhelmed with the scent of her and how amazingly sexy he found it to be. It was almost like the lusty smell of sex, only far sweeter and even more alluring, if such a thing were actually possible. His heart began to beat a rapid and worried tattoo. Lately, he hadn’t noticed anything but the aroma of the institutional shampoo they were given; the astringent stuff smelling slightly like coconuts. But this wasn’t anything like that.
Amara went into the small cubed bathroom and he heard the water running. She made hungry little slurping sounds as she drank water from her hands and, in an instant, Nick was hard as rock.
Fuck. He was in trouble. They both were. He knew himself well enough to know when something was normal for him and when it wasn’t, and Nick Gregory, the man with the hero complex, would never get off on a situation as fucked up as this one was.
Was it some kind of aphrodisiacal drug? Had they given them something designed to make them easily aroused? It sure as hell felt that way, Nick acknowledged grimly as he felt the awesome straining of his cock. Regardless, he told himself firmly, so long as he kept control over his mind, he would keep Amara perfectly safe from himself. There was no way he would voluntarily push himself on a woman so long as the moral centers of his brain weren’t chemically screwed with.
He just had to pray he stayed in control of his mind.
At the moment, though, the idea of a drink of water was very appealing. His mouth felt glued together and he was very thirsty. He got up cautiously and peered into the bath. He froze in place when he was presented with the complete rear nude of Amara’s shape, the blanket pooled in neglect on the floor as she used both hands to shovel water into her mouth. Bent at the waist as she was, he was given a fine view of those lush hips and the sleek crease of her buttocks that led to the unbelievable sight of her pussy and the brush of golden hairs that guarded it. The ultimate tease, Nick could see the tiniest hints of pure pink and all she would have to do is step out to the side in order to give him a full-spectrum view.
And he could smell her again. She was steps away in the cramped room and he could smell the sugary, sultry allure of her…. What was more, he could swear he was catching the deeper, sharper tang of womanly arousal.
Nick moved forward and reached down to retrieve her blanket, meaning to cover her back up. The mistake was in bringing himself so close to her that his cheek brushed her ass and the incredible smell of her sex rocked his senses back hard.
“Hard” was the key word. He’d never been so hard. He was so agonizingly aroused that he could feel his own pulse working its way down his shaft with every heartbeat.
Amara felt him make contact with her, and she turned around as he straightened up, giving him a slow tour of her lovely thighs, golden bush, and coral pink nipples at the tips of her outstanding breasts. Her nipples were rigid little points, probably from the cold, but they stuck out at him like tempting little tongues of impertinence.
“Cover up,” he croaked as he shoved the blanket at her. “Go inside and sit and don’t come in here.”
Amara looked at him, her appraisal a cross between sly and perplexed. Part of his instincts cried out to him that she was luring him, tempting him on purpose and matching his state of arousal perfectly, but he also knew he couldn’t trust any of his