She controlsme.
She owns me.
It may be my home we live in, but that doesn’t mean that I’m the one who holds the power between us.
It’s her.
That’s why we’re going through with this, why I have her arms tied down at her sides, why she’s lying like a sacrifice in the center of this crumbling room.
“How are you so calm?” I murmur, pressing my head against her chest to marvel at the way it rises slowly, steadily.
“Because the time to worry isn’t when you’re standing on the battlefield.” Her lips tip into a smile. “I’ll be fine. I can handle anything they throw at me.”
I nod because I don’t doubt that she can. But the truth is, I have no idea who I’m going to be bringing into her life. It doesn’t matter that it’s going to be brief… I’m still introducing a bright spot into their last moments, which should be full of nothing but pain and suffering.
“I love you.” I tell her. “And I know that scares you. You don’t have to say it back. But I’ll keep saying it until you’re ready to say it back or until I say it with my last breath.”
She doesn’t speak, but her lip wobbles a bit, and she blinks, refocusing her attention on the ceiling above her.
I know I’ve lost her then, as she slips away into her mind, the safe space where nothing can hurt her because it won’t compare to the rest of what she’s been through.
Watching her dissociate again makes my stomach burn, and I decide that when we get home tonight, I’m going to make her give me a list.
I want names, and I will find every last one of them.
Maybe one day, she will feel safe enough around me to not have to disappear again. Maybe one day I will earn the right to have her full presence at all times. Maybe one day, she will love me.
That day isn’t today, but I’m okay with that.
I’m a patient man, and she’s a treasure worth waiting for.
The poker game takes place in the back of a dingy strip club, the neon letters burnt out around the O in the nameNova. It’s an apt sign, given that I’mpretty sure the dancers here are less focused on performing and more focused on delivering orgasms to their clients.
There’s a brunette in full bondage beneath the table, leather straps crossing her tits and a collar around her neck. The ring gag in her mouth ensures she’s available to service the men, who take turns shoving her back and forth beneath the grainy wood tabletop. As Garrett introduces me to his buddies, the one he calls Kev winds her hair in his fist and uses it to slam her head over his cock.
I hear a sickeningcrunchbefore he cries out like a little bitch as he comes, lifting his hips to force himself deeper into her as he unleashes himself.
I see the blood pouring out from what I can only assume is her broken nose, and my beast stirs in his cage, anger and excitement at the impending violence.
I’ll be sure to break Kev’s nose tonight, just for that.
“Go get cleaned up.” Garrett tells her, looking at her scornfully as she wobbles to her knees, trying to cup the blood flow before it can spill all over the marled wood floor.
“You brought a boyfriend, huh, Wilkinson?”
“I brought a… business partner.” Garrett says, looking to me for confirmation. “My friend here has procured some very fine pussy. I figured I’d see if any of you were interested before we made this offer to the type of men you don’t want to be Eskimo brothers with.”
One of the guys, whom I think Garrett introduced to me as Jenko, grunts a laugh. He's a lumbering man, even sitting back in his chair with the cards fanned out before his face.
“Why pay for pussy when I can take it whenever I want it for free?”
“Maybe because we're not talking about the back-alley whores who will fuck anything for a buck.” Garrett shrugs. “You may just take what you want, but you're not exactly stealing premium product. It's like a petty thief hotwiring a Honda when there are plenty of Ferraris left unattended. You pay the right person, they'll let you take the Ferrari for a spin.”
Jenko blows out a puff of smoke, the cigarette dangling between his fingers. “Who's this pussy belong to that it's considered premium?”
“Me.” I say coldly.
That earns a laugh from a few of them.
