Torn Page 0,75

resist me." I turned to him and shrugged, not wanting to discuss it. I remembered how eager I was to please him when he had a drop of blood on his finger. It shamed me, and I felt my face grow hot thinking about how I was all too delighted to kiss him when he asked. Thinking back, that part seemed weird. I looked over at him wondering why he did that. He only asked me to kiss him. And that had nothing to do with the Lorren. My brows knitted together as I thought about it. "What's that look on your face," Eric asked.

I turned and looked up at him, asking, "Why'd you ask me to kiss you?" I asked it without feeling - the same way you'd ask for someone to save you a table or grab your mail.

Eric arched a brow and moved closer to me. He liked trying to use his body to intimidate me. He didn't realize that I thought he looked nice and really didn't mind. "What's it matter?"

I shrugged, "Just thought it didn't line up with the rest of your questions. And I would have told you that stuff anyway. There wasn't any need to do whatever you did."

Eric smiled crookedly, "You would have? Just as quickly and without question?" He laughed and turned away, "I don't think so."

Defiance rose up inside of me. If he acted normal - like Eric - I would have answered his questions. I grabbed his arm and turned him back toward me. We stood nose to nose. "Try me." It wasn't a choice.

"Kiss me, Taylor," his lips turned up at the corners as his eyes bore into mine. "Kiss me like you need me. Like you want me. Open your lips for me, and think of me - think of the Eric you knew before I died." His arms were folded across his chest. He leaned down while talking to me, so that all my senses were going nuts. Normally, I would have never done it... but this time I did.

Without a second's hesitation, I reached out and took his face between my palms and pulled him to me. I swept my tongue over his lips once, and when they parted I kissed him deeply, knowing that he could take my soul any time he damn well pleased. Maybe it was insanity; maybe I had more issues than I thought. Either way, it was reckless. Collin and I never said anything about cheating, but he'd be pissed if he knew I willingly kissed Eric. I pushed back the thoughts as I focused on the thing Eric requested.

Little things shot into my mind, along with the big things - the fights, the tears I shed when I thought he killed Apryl, how I didn't really blame him for her death even though that wasn't what I told him. I thought about who he was and how I didn't mind his hands on my body, or his lips on mine. Breathless, I pulled away from him determined to get the information I needed.

He licked his lips, and gasped, "Thank you."

I nodded, not knowing what he was thanking me for. Jumping straight to my question, I asked, "How much of your old life do you remember, Eric?" He winced and turned from me, but I grabbed his arm and wouldn't let him walk away. "I just did what you wanted, no questions asked. You need to return the favor."

He smirked, "Fine," he folded his arms looking down at me. "What do you want?"

Hope swelled in my chest. I reached into my pocket and unfolded a page. I had copied it from the book when no one was paying attention. Al and Collin thought it was a bad idea to take the book with me, so I didn't. I only took one page and didn't tell them about it. I pressed the page into his hands.

"Read it to me."

Puzzled, he looked down at the crinkled paper, and smoothed it out. Walking over to a desk, he put it down and ran his finger over it. After a minute, he shook his head. "I don't know. It's coded or something." He crumpled it and threw it back to me.

"No! You have to read it!" I yelled, smoothing the paper again and thrusting it at him. He wouldn't take it back and just turned to look at me. There was no bond with Eric, nothing to tap into to see what he was