Page 66 of The Dead Don’t Scream

“Three.”

Callum’s arm tightens around me.

Rhys looks at him.

“She approved a four.”

“That doesn’t mean I like seeing it afterward.”

I turn my head toward the burlap mask.

“You liked making it.”

“Yes.”

“Then stop growling at Rhys.”

“I wasn’t growling.”

The sound that follows proves otherwise. Dante returns with two bottles of water, a heat pack, and an armful of snacks.

“I didn’t know what she liked, so I stole everything from the employee lounge.”

He dumps granola bars, crackers, chocolate, gummy worms, and two bags of chips onto the altar. I pick up the gummy worms.

“Romantic.”

“They’re organic.”

“They’re covered in sour sugar.”

“Nature’s candy.”

Rhys takes the heat pack from him and wraps it in a towel.

“Sit forward.”

Callum helps me move. Rhys places the warmth against my lower back. Relief sinks into the ache. I close my eyes.

“Better?” Callum asks.

“Yes.”

Dante holds a bottle of water to my lips. I open one eye.

“I can hold it.”

“I know.”

The echo of Rhys’s earlier words catches me somewhere beneath the ribs. I let Dante help me drink. They don’t expect anything in return. No teasing. No commands. No seductive touches meant to start another round. Rhys pours warm water into the metal bowl on the altar, tests it against his wrist, and dampens a soft cloth.

“I’m going to clean you.”

Heat reaches my cheeks despite everything these men have already seen.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.”