Escapism - A Fantasy Romance

Chapter 18: That Just Happened...

In fact, he did not seem very threatened by my statement. What a surprise. On the plus side, something sharp slid through the leather bindings. Once they were cut, I sprang up to a sitting positions and slid off the table.

"Well thanks for the escape, but I'm gunna go."

His eyebrows seemed to raise to his hairline. Okay, well thanks for the vote of self confidence.

I walk over to the door that was locked behind me, feeling around the hinges and giving a half-hearted tug at the handle. Was it too much to wish for the door to be accidentally left unlocked? Probably.

With a sigh, I slowly turn around, facing the shadows where the lizard man had been standing. I just stared, waiting for my eyes to adjust. I could just barely see the glow of his gold eyes. Hot dog, you don't see gold eyes every day. After making awkward eye contact for a couple seconds, I blow out the breath I was holding. "So, did they run out of budget for the lights?"

A soft laugh indicates that at least he thinks I'm a little bit funny. I can work with that.

"I forgot that your weak human eyes can't see in the dark. I will go turn them on," he says with his voice fading.

Knowing he has walked deeper into the room, I reply loudly, "I'm not a stupid human for your information," and then I was blinded by the bright light. I squeeze my eyes, slowly blinking them to try to get used to the change. A voice whispers in my ear, "What are you then?"

I spin around, nearly tripping over the wheel on the medical bed that they rolled me in on. "Have you ever heard of personal space?"

"No," he says, stepping even closer to me. I would slap him, but his face is too beautiful. It's like a painting, all chiseled and golden. Hot damn, I guess lizards are hot. Shaking off my stupor, I take a glance around the room. Interesting, it's designed like a little jungle. Instead of four white walls, they are painted dark green and there are lots of plants all around the room. Is that an actual hammock? I feel a jab of jealousy at his accommodations. I know we were both held prisoner, but how come he is treated so well. I turn back around to face him, "Nice place."

"Hmm, I only was put here a week or two ago. At first, I was very confused, but now, I think I know why." He gives me a slow look from my toes to my eyes.

"I don't understand why they think I would want to breed with this," he says gesturing towards me.

Rude much. "Don't worry buddy, I'm not interested either," I say with a glare.

He lifts his hands up in the air as if to pacify my anger. Before he can throw out another insult, a loud beep sounds on the opposite side of the room. A small light glows on the floor above a tiny door. He ignores me, swiftly walking to the small door and opening it to reveal two plates. Food. I haven't had food since my abduction which wasn't as much of a problem as the growing hunger I felt down in my core. I wonder if the solid food would help decrease my other cravings. Might as well give it a try. I walk over to the untouched plate, picking up the small burrito, bean and cheese, yum. It wasn't good but it wasn't horrible either. I watch him as he eats, or should I say inhales, his food. I take another bite before putting it on the plate, pushing it over towards him. He raises an eyebrow and then quickly grabs the half-eaten burrito.

After scarfing it down and putting the empty plates back on the little shelf, he pushes a button and the door closes. His golden eyes turn to me, giving me another scrutinizing look.

"You said you are not human. What are you then?"

I wonder if I should reply or not. It's not like it's a big secret, and sooner or later he is going to watch me preform a feeding unless the scientists intend to starve me again. "I am a hybrid. Apparently, succubus, vampire, and witch."

He raises an eyebrow again. "I see. You were also made here."

I guess he knows more than I originally did about the situation. "Yep, I was here for about twenty-five years. I recently made an escape about a month ago, and have been living on the outside. I just got recaptured." My eyes look down at my hands, thoughts swirling about my vampire coven. Are they looking for me? Are they even alive to look for me? How far away did they take me?

"Hmm," the Lizard hums with a contemplative look.

"By the way, what is your name? I can't keep calling you Lizard man in my head."

"My names is Valen," he replied.

"I'm Lily. Nice to meet you even if it is under less than ideal circumstances."

"Speaking of circumstances. I believe that they intend to have us make children," he says in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah, not going to happen," I deadpan.

He gives me a small smile, "I agree."

"Well now that we have that settled, let's figure out how the sleeping arrangements are going to work. I only see one small hammock."

He shows a bit more teeth in his smile. "Let me show you the mating room."

"Ew, don't call it that! How am I supposed to sleep somewhere after you called it that?" I mumble.

I follow him, walking toward one of the walls behind the hammock setup, and sure enough, there is a small doorway with a small room attached, if you can call it that. It closely resembles a cave, but the floor is filled with a large mattress and plenty of blankets and pillows. Damn, I might be totally against the whole having a baby thing, but at least the scientists had one good idea. Without further thought, I throw myself onto the pile of softness. This is bliss, at least it would be if a certain lizard wasn't going to be sharing my space.

"I guess we should share," I mumble out, my face buried in pillows. "The cave is plenty big enough."

"Are you sure that is not an invitation for more," Valen replied with a cheeky smile.

"Shut up you horny lizard man," I said as I started building a pillow wall to divide the massive mattress into our respective halves.

"I thought you wanted my name so you didn't have to keep calling me lizard man?"

"Well, lizard has a good ring to it, especially when you keep acting like an animal."

I see the gleam of his teeth. "If you want animal, I can give you animal," and then he pounces, destroying my perfect pillow wall.

"Hey," I exclaim, but before I can start berating him, he is on me with a tickle attach. I laugh and try to roll away from him, bringing my legs up to my chest so I can kick him away from me. Which does absolutely nothing considering he is about twice my weight and packed with muscle. Eventually, he ends his attack and I gasp for breath. "So not cool."

"I don't know," he joked, "It was pretty fun for me."

Asshole. Now that he is beside me, I start rebuilding the pillow wall. Once it was completed, I lay back down in a huff. What is it with me and tickling? Is there a sign on my face that says tickle away? I hope not. How am I supposed to keep living my life constantly anticipating where the next tickle is going to come from?

I put my back to the makeshift wall and Valen, letting the exhaustion slip into my body. "Night Valen."

"Goodnight Lily. And can I say that even though this situation is not great, I am glad that I am stuck in this situation with you."

My cheeks heat up and I curl up tighter, clutching the body pillow that is between my legs. Before, I can respond, a loud sound rips through the air. On no, was that, is that, did I just.

Loud laughter echoes around the cave. I have once again transformed into a lobster.

"At least it doesn't smell to bad," he says between laughs.

That's the last time I eat human food, I swear.