Fated Lies (Lies #3) - Ella Miles Page 0,20

comforting even though I know he can’t, and won’t, protect me.

“The same reason that you helped with my back.”

“And what reason is that?”

“Sleep, Liesel.”

He never answers, and I don’t ask any more questions. For now, we are on the same side against a common enemy. We are going to have to work together to get out of here alive.

Light shines in my face, and I open my eyes. I’m still lying on Langston’s bare chest; my hand is resting on his steel abs.

I let my eyes raise, but I can’t see Langston’s face. I can’t tell if he’s awake or still asleep. His breathing is slow and steady, so I assume he’s still asleep.

That means I can explore his body without him knowing. My fingertips glide over his abs, feeling every ripple, every hard protrusion. My hand skips over his shirt tied around his torso. It’s not completely soaked with blood, so the wound at his back must be healing. Then my hands stroke the thick muscle on his upper chest.

I try not to focus on how good he feels beneath my hand. He’s just a man who has a lot of muscle that encases a steel heart—a heart that only softens for his wife and kids. It will never soften for me.

My hand moves up his neck to his face before I realize that his eyes are open and he’s staring at my hand.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

I freeze, but that only means that my hand is lying awkwardly like I’m stroking his cheek.

“Checking to make sure you don’t have any other wounds you’re hiding.”

He smirks and shakes his head slowly. “In the light of day, you can easily see that I don’t have any wounds on my chest and face. But if you’d like to see if my cock has any wounds I missed…” he winks at me.

I roll my eyes and remove my hand from his face as I sit up.

“Phoenix is a lucky woman,” I say sarcastically.

“She is—don’t pretend to be offended that I would touch another woman while I’m married to Phoenix. You had a similar relationship with Waylon. Not every marriage is about passionate love.”

“Why are you married to Phoenix?”

“It’s not time for questions yet. You can ask me tonight in exchange for answering one of my own questions. Right now, we should eat.”

“Eat? Unless we are planning on eating each other’s limbs, we don’t have anything to eat.”

“You’re such the observant one.” Langston nods in a direction across the room.

I turn and see a tray of food is sitting on the ground opposite us.

“How and when did that get in here?” I ask.

He shrugs. “We were both asleep.” He moves to get up, but I put a hand on his chest. He needs to save any strength he has to help us get out here.

I walk over and pick up the tray and then place it in front of us.

We both stare at the food—two sandwiches, two bananas, and two cookies, along with two bottles of water.

“Do you think it’s poisoned?” I ask, hesitantly. My mouth is watering at the sight, and my stomach growls softly. It’s been over twenty-four hours since I last ate. I’m hungry, but not so hungry that I would risk my life yet for food. But Langston could really use the food for strength.

“There’s only one way to find out.” Langston grabs one of the sandwiches and takes a big bite.

I stare wide-eyed before I grab my own sandwich and bite into it. It’s peanut butter and jelly, I realize as I chew.

Langston shakes his head at me. “You were supposed to wait and see if I dropped dead.”

“I don’t want to be left in this dungeon alone.”

Langston’s face softens at my words. “Eat. We are going to need our strength.”

We both eat in silence. We finish every bite, and every moment that passes reassures us further that the food wasn’t poisoned.

“What are you thinking about?” Langston asks.

“How we could escape.”

“Do you have a plan?”

I stare up, seeing a high window on the wall. “Maybe, but I’m not sure your wound is healed enough to try it. And I’m not sure I’m strong enough either.”

Langston stares up at the window. “Let’s try it.”

We both stand up, and I remove the leather jacket so that I’m a little more mobile. I feel Langston’s heated stare on me in my black dress. The jacket covered most of my curves, but now they are on full display and Langston is