House of Skin Read Online Free PDF Page B

happen to her the moment she lets you go .
    Ted grinned and thought how easy it would be to slaughter the bitch down here in the basement. He already had the rope marks on his wrists and ankles to prove she’d confined him. The jury would see he’d acted in self-defense, that the woman was a violent lunatic. In fact, if she stood a little closer to one of his hands he could seize her, put a vise-grip on her ankle that would make her squeal for mercy.
    And then?  
    His grin shrank. If he managed to grab her, just where would that get him? Could he hold her there with one hand and force her to untie his bonds?
    He swallowed, unsure of what to do. Had she heard the things he’d screamed at her? He thought she probably had. Why else had her coming down here so closely coincided with the most outrageous of his insults, the accusations about blowjobs and goats?  
    Whatever the case might be, he had to keep her down here, had to keep this woman from losing her temper again. He remembered her eyes just before she bashed him over the head with that damned stein. The indignity of it infuriated him—knocked unconscious with a beer stein. But he had to keep that rage dormant and work to win back the side of her with whom he’d spent most of the evening, the girl that had danced with him, kissed him.
    “Look,” he said as kindly as he could, “I’m sorry for the way I acted. I’m a married man and I should have been up front with you about that.”
    He waited to see if he’d made a dent. She stood silent.
    He spoke to her ankles because he couldn’t see any higher. “And if I hurt you I apologize. I’m also sorry about the things I’ve been yelling but you must understand that this is very uncomfortable. I’m in a lot of pain, Julia.”  
    Was she going to let him lie here and talk to himself all night?  
    “As you can see, my wrists are bleeding and that knock you gave me on the head probably gave me a concussion.” He became aware of a throbbing in his hip. “And I dare say you weren’t very gentle in bringing me down here. The fact is, I’m in trouble, Julia. I need medical attention.”  
    He felt her kneel beside him and he craned his neck to look up at her. From the way she was crouching, her buttocks resting on her heels, he could see how defined she was. The muscles in her legs were long and slender and hard.
    She was holding a hypodermic needle.
    “What are you doing with that?” he asked, voice tightening.
    “I have to do this,” she said. Her voice trembled a little.
    He realized it was the first time she’d spoken since entering the basement. He wished she’d stayed quiet. Her fear, he realized, could be good or bad. Good if she could be frightened into letting him go. Bad if it made her irrational.
    Judging from the needle, his money was on the latter.
    “Julia, just let me up so we can talk about this.”
    “Please stay calm,” she said.
    “You’re joking, right? You knock me out and drag me down the stairs—hell, maybe even throw me down the stairs. You tie me to the floor .” His brow creased as he followed the ropes to where they connected—the stairway, two water pipes, the workbench fifteen feet away. He saw something gleaming on the edge of the workbench, some sort of large knife, and the fact that he couldn’t even hope to reach it made his teeth grind together.
    He felt himself tottering precariously on the brink of panic. “Look, Julia. Don’t you think this has gone far enough? I know I offended you, but I’ve apologized for it and I think I’ve paid for it in spades.” He laughed a little hysterically. “Don’t you think I’ve endured enough crazy shit to learn my lesson?”
    “Please hold still,” she said, and he could tell by the intent sound of her voice that she was concentrating on finding a vein in his arm.
    “Can I at least ask what you’re putting in me?”
    “It’s safe.”
    “I fucking hope so, for chrissakes.” He shook his head. “‘It’s