“What? Why?” I say, a little giggle rising in my chest. “I don’t think I’ve done anything super weird, have I?”
His gaze darts down to my chest, and a blush crosses my cheeks. I quickly wrap my arms around myself, hiding my nipples, which seem to have been standing at permanent attention for hours at this point.
“I mean, for one, you’re surprisingly comfortable being butt-ass naked.”
“I was raised in a facility with other omegas,” I huff, my cheeks puffing out with the motion as I turn away from him. “We had to follow instructions and protocols, and a lot of those included being naked, so I guess I’m used to it.”
“You’re joking.” His head jerks to the side as he tries to get a better view of my face.
I shake my head. “No. They—they sold me here when I broke one of the rules.”
“What fucking rule did you break to get you sold here of all goddamn places?”
Dread kicks me deep in the gut. My pulse instantly starts racing, and my throat closes up.
Oh God, why is my body doing this to me?
My strawberry perfume sours, exploding out from me and making Ash growl.
“Fuck, calm down,” he grits out, tugging me closer to him as his knees bracket mine. “Breathe, goddammit. You’re not breathing.”
I take a shaky breath, pressing the backs of my icy hands to my burning cheeks. They’re red hot with shame.
“I—I unlocked another omega’s restraints,” I say, my voice a hoarse whisper. “But she—she was different. She had—she had bondmates. Four of them! She wanted to get back to them, I swear I was a good girl! I was a good girl?—“
He stops my babbling with a hand on my chin. My breath stops in my throat as he gently tilts my head to meet his gaze.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re yapping about,” he says, his voice low. “But the way you’re talking, it seems you think youdeservedto get sold to this hellhole.”
My eyes flutter shut, and I give him the barest hint of a nod.
“Well, fuck that,” he snaps, gently shaking my head.
My eyes pop open at the passion in his words.
“Sounds like you were being held captive at that freak show of a place,” he says. “That right?”
“I mean?—“
“Could you have left if you wanted to?”
I shake my head.
“Then you were being held captive,” he finishes.
“Oh.” I bite the inside of my lip to keep my mouth shut. My protesting only seems to add fuel to the fire here.
But my mind can’t help but think about all the presentations by Mr. Sebastian and the other handlers about our purpose at the facility, how the products of our procedures would go out and help the world. That our sacrifice was helping thousands upon thousands of people.
“I can practically hear the gears in that pretty little head of yours spinning.”
“You think I’m pretty?” I blurt out, blinking up at him.
His face splits open as a true grin breaks out across his face. Angels might as well sing in the corner. The man is stunning when he smiles.
“Yeah, shortcake, I think you’re pretty. Have to be blind not to.” He shakes his head, letting out a soft huff of laughter. “You’re not changing the subject that easy though, what’re you thinking?”
“I was just... I was thinking about what we were told back at the facility. They told us that ‘the product of our procedures would go out and help the world’,” I say, repeating the mantra they gave us in a monotone voice.
