Captive Of Lies Book 2(Imprisoned in my Heart trilogy...Larry)

Chapter 14

A headache was what awoke Louis before anything else; his head was pounding fiercely, his tongue sluggish and heavy in his mouth. Unconsciousness had left his limbs numb and his eyelids heavy, and he struggled to wake up again. Someone had moved him onto the camp bed, and as he forced himself into a sitting position, he spotted Derek perched on the end. Louis was surprised that the bed hadn’t capsized with such a huge and heavy man weighing down the end of it, but he made no comment. Instead, he narrowed his eyes to glare at Derek as fiercely as he could. The side of his face was swollen and sore, and he guessed  that it was bruised, although he couldn’t see it. Probing his jaw with inquisitive fingers, Louis winced and wondered how he would have coped if he’d been subjected to the same torment as Harry, and had his face so mutilated as Harry’s had been after the guys at Whitehall had finished with him. If Louis couldn’t manage one punch without feeling sorry for himself, then how would he have dealt with being so violently assaulted as his boyfriend had? The thought made him shudder.

He faced up to Derek with a scowl forming readily on his face, secretly readying himself for another blow. Thankfully, his expression stayed stiff, not betraying his nervousness. There was a stiffening in his shoulders as he forced himself upright and plastered his most threatening expression on, the one he used when dealing with rowdy patients when they started squaring up to him. His breathing was steady and he made deliberate eye contact. Refusing to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he was scared, Louis prepared himself for what might come next.

“Hungry?” came the deceptively friendly question.

The frown deepened as Louis regarded him suspiciously, uncertain as to whether it was a trick question or not. If so, then the wrong response could earn him another punch, or perhaps worse. It was an extreme reluctance to answer that sealed Louis’ lips rather than obstinacy.

“It’s a simple enough question.”

Weirdly, Louis had an urge to apologize – which unnerved him, because what did he have to apologize for? “Yeah,” he said slowly, “I guess I am.”

“Don’t let it be said that I’m inhospitable!” Derek cried cheerfully, “I’ll get you a sandwich. What sort of sandwiches do you like? Sandwich fillings are very important. Tell me it’s not something obscure, like pickles and mayonnaise?”

Louis wrinkled his nose. “Um…no. Ham will do me just fine, thanks.”

“Excellent! You’re a man after my own heart.” From behind him, Derek pulled a tray and slid it across the bed, pushing it over to Louis. Surprisingly, there was already an enormous ham sandwich waiting for him, which made Louis blink in confusion. Derek shrugged at his obvious shock. “I guessed that you were a ham kind of guy.”

Louis reluctantly accepted his explanation, then poked the sandwich and sniffed it cautiously, trying to work out if there was something wrong with it. His inventory came up blank, but he was still wary; who knew what had been done to it. For a moment of so, he continued to examine it, pulling it apart to check for suspicious colours or weird extra ingredients, until Derek reached out and stayed his hand, preventing him from dissecting the bread any further. Louis flinched instinctively, then felt his cheeks burn in shame at the reaction. Pretending he hadn’t seen Louis cringing away from him, Derek fixed him with a long, searching look.

“You really think I’d poison you?”

“You might,” Louis said defensively, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head.”

Shaking his head pityingly, Derek answered “I wouldn’t poison you, trust me.” He sounded so sincere that Louis couldn’t help but hate him a little less, until the familiar nasty grin crept across his face and he continued, “Where would be the fun in that?”