Playing with Food Read Free

know you tell truth?”
    “You will have to trust me.” Rhys’s fingers moved along Llawan’s spine and he wasn’t even sure which palm it was. The touch made him curl up even tighter, but he slowly slipped his left hand out from under the tail. Looking at it was a mistake. Only now, that he saw how badly the membranes between his fingers shook, did he realize how terrified he really was. He could hardly breathe.
    “I want this one.” Rhys slid his own palm up to Llawan’s hand and pinched the tip of his little finger. A strangled sound escaped Llawan’s lips as he looked at the pale digit. Would it hurt a lot?
    Frozen with fear, he glanced at the huge, pointy teeth that filled Rhys’ mouth. “You bite it off?”
    “Is that what you would like?” There was no compassion in his voice though. Rhys sounded amused, and the way his smile widened made Llawan cringe. He stirred in the hard embrace, instinctively trying to get away. His fin flung up and down, splashing water into the air.
    “No, Llawan. We wouldn’t want blood spoiling this perfect pool of water, now would we?” Rhys brought the finger up to his lips and kissed the tip.
    Llawan slouched, refusing to look at it. He felt trapped and sickened.
    “Do you agree, Llawan? This will not be an easy task, but it will give you freedom. I can’t waste time on you if you don’t want it.”
    “What will I have to do?”
    “I will make contact when I have the need for you.” One of Rhys’s hands kept stroking his arm.
    Llawan didn’t want to know any more, so he nodded. “I want freedom.” He dared to look up, into Rhys’s glossy eyes, trying to stop the slight tremble in his lips.
    The man locked his gaze with him, but held Llawan's little finger in a firm grip. At first, all Llawan felt was a tingle, but slowly, the digit became numb. Unpleasantly numb, like when he swam into an icy stream and lost feeling in his hands and fin. He closed his eyes, trying not to tremble too much.
    He dared to take a peek and instantly regretted it when he saw his finger, all blackened and stiff. He let out a screeching yell, cowering in the crook of Rhys’s armpit.
    Rhys hugged him close and kissed Llawan by the gills. “There, there.” And with those words, he snapped the finger off like an icicle. Apart from a strange tingle, there was no pain, but the sound itself made Llawan so lightheaded he slumped against his owner. He refused to look at his hand, suddenly realizing that the body he was clinging to had no odor, as if it wasn’t flesh and bone.
    “Good.” He was so shocked that he barely registered one more brush of lips against his gills and it took a loud crunch to yank him out of the stupor. Breathlessly, Llawan looked up into the ghastly white face and realized Rhys was chewing his finger, those sharp teeth working the digit. It only took a few crunches and he swallowed it without hesitation.
    Llawan felt himself go weak and clasped a hand over his own mouth. If he’d had any food recently, he would probably be sick.
    Rhys stroked his cheek. “There, there. It’s all done. We can become friends now, yes?”
    Llawan looked at him, wide eyed. How was he supposed to become friends with a man who’d just eaten a piece of his body? He still didn’t dare to look at his hand, especially that he didn’t feel that there was anything missing. “Friends?”
    “Yes. You gave me something, I give you something.” Rhys sat down at the bottom of the pool, so only his head was above water. Two of his hands stroked the sides of Llawan’s tail, just beneath the hips. It felt odd and warm.
    “You give me freedom,” insisted Llawan, trying to calm his breath. His thoughts kept returning to his missing finger and the crunchy sound it made when Rhys had bit down on it.
    “Yes, I will.” Rhys’s hand trailed along the front of Llawan’s tail, and he gave it a curious glance. “The way your people look, I often wonder if it wasn’t Ossenthar where you were