Trueblood 01-The-Consolation-Prize Read Online Free PDF Page B

She couldn’t leave him like that. Even if she didn’t currently have the means to free him, she could at least reassure him that she’d try.
    It took her a moment of shining her flashlight over the wooden panel before she found the lever.
    Chloe exhaled shakily, then pulled and twisted in the unique movement that she hoped would slide the panel open. It scraped across the floor as it swung forward. Before the coward in her heart took hold and dragged her back upstairs, she dropped to her knees and crawled through.
    “Hello?” she whispered.
    No answer. Realizing rather late in the day that he might not be alone, Chloe swept the beam around the room. The light came back to rest on his body. She squeezed her eyes shut, sure she must be hallucinating, and then looked again. He still hung there, his tormented face framed by dark hair. The chains were wrapped tight around his legs, waist, arms, and chest, pinning him in place against the wall like some giant bug.

    He didn’t have the body of a bug. Chloe got to her feet and moved the beam over him. Beneath the biting restraints he had a pale, broad chest. His rounded pecs were topped by tight copper nipples. Washboard abs tapered into a narrow waist and trim hips. She didn’t let her eyes drop lower. Well, not immediately. A two seconds pause, quite enough for her to feel virtuous, then she looked down. Wow. He was a big guy. His long, thick cock hung over a bed of dark curls.
    Chloe knew she was staring but she couldn’t help it. What the hell was going on? Why was a naked man chained up in the basement of a health spa? She needed to ring the police.
    “No police.”
    “No police.”
    “No police.”
    The words flooded her brain. Those messages from her extra sense couldn’t be clearer. Chloe took a deep breath and one step nearer. Shit . His chest wasn’t moving. He looked dead. But he’d groaned. Chloe searched for the light switch and after a momentary hesitation, flicked it on.
    Instead of the bare bulb that used to hang from the ceiling, the room was illuminated by four wall mounted glass cones. There were no windows. The piles of boxes and gardening equipment had gone and been replaced by things normally found in a bedroom: a wardrobe, a washbasin, a bed, and a rare occurrence in Chloe’s life, a good-looking naked man.
    She took a few tentative steps in his direction. She was tall, five feet ten; he was taller. Maybe six feet three. He looked even better close up with his silky dark hair, square chin, angular cheekbones, and long black lashes over closed eyes, but his pale face was tight with pain and his body -- Chloe gulped. His poor body. Where the chain touched him, his skin was red, raw, and in places, bleeding. It looked almost as though the metal was eating into him.
    “Er, excuse me?” she whispered.
    No response. What could she say? Are you all right? Of course he wasn’t all right. She should call the police.
    “No police.”
    The voice blasted into her head and echoed around her brain like a ricocheting bullet. Okay, no police. She got it. Chloe tried not to look at the area below his waist, but her gaze slid down. He was beautiful. Every part of him. Chloe turned her head. Much safer to look at the washbasin.
    She could give him water only there was no cup, no means to wet his lips. She opened the wardrobe and found a set of clothes. Dark chinos hung next to a creased pale blue shirt and at the bottom sat black lace-up shoes with crumpled socks stuffed inside next to a pair of black shorts.
    Chloe checked the pockets of the chinos, found a few coins but no wallet. Ah, a business card.
    Black with white writing.

    Luka Varek
    Rebellion
    Tonight
    All night
    Every night

    Odd name. Maybe he wasn’t English. Chloe stripped off her T-shirt, soaked a corner under the cold tap, and went back to him. He didn’t stir when she squeezed water onto his lips. Chloe soothed the material over his face and down his neck. She did the best she could with