Meridei’s demented eyes light up from the challenge.
“She’ll be even worse for much longer if you refuse your marital obligations.”
I shoot my stare down to Sapphire, so small and frail in her chair, wrapping her thin arms around her stomach as she dry heaves again. For a few long seconds, I wait for her to tell me what to do. I wait for consent. For anything that tells me what the right thing is to do.
“Alrighty! Next dose of wormwood coming up!” Meridei fills another syringe from a glass vial.
“No!” I shout, fighting the vertigo caused by the sedatives that sways my standing position. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”
Apple May and Meridei laugh in unison. “Haven’t you ever fingered your wife?”
I’m going straight to hell.
With cautious steps toward the woman I grew up tormenting, I approach as if she’ll tell me to stop. I pause between each movement toward her, hoping she’ll ease my indecisiveness. I thought about what it would be like to touch her so many times. I’ve fantasized about her against my better judgment. I’ve hated myself for picturing what her body would look like without clothes. And now? I can’t stomach doing this. But I also couldn’t forgive myself for letting her writhe in pain for God knows how long.
“Slide her panties down to her ankles first,” Meridei sing-songs condescendingly. Apple May giggles behind me.
What do you think, Spitfire? Would it turn you on more if I snapped Meridei’s neck in front of you?
Sapphire’s knuckles turn white as she bites her palms into the edge of the waste bucket. A thin layer of sweat glistens over her forehead, soaking into her strawberry-blonde hairline. Her groan echoes into the sloshing pail.
I feel like a monster for this.
I am so sorry, Spitfire.
My shackles clank to the floor as I kneel in front of her chair.
“I’m going to make the pain stop, okay?” I murmur to her gently, placing a warm hand over her chilled ankle to get her attention.
Those piercing heterochromatic eyes blink up at me through a wall of tears. Pleading. Begging. Praying for my words to be true. She nods her head.
I lean closer to whisper. “You can hate me for a lot of things, Spitfire, but please don’t hate me for this.”
Sapphire nods again, grasping her core as she writhes again.
Goddamn it.
My breath grows heavy and loud as I slide my hand up the inside of her thigh, my fingertips meeting her panties.Just do it. Don’t think about it. It’s a task you have to complete. It’s an assignment. That’s all.
With my knuckle, I shift the fabric to the side. And not surprising in the slightest, I discover she isn’t anywhere close to being wet. I sigh, feeling like a pig for what I’m about to do. I push two fingers in my mouth, wetting the skin and returning them back between her legs. I won’t do this to her dryly. It’ll hurt and be uncomfortable. Regardless, I’m nauseated by the act. Doesn’t matter if I’m relieving her pain. Doesn’t matter if she nodded her head. This is fucked up.
As I push my middle finger inside her, the warmth rushes around my skin, sending tingles up my arm. In my periphery, I watch Meridei slowly inject another syringe, to which Sapphire lowers her bucket to the floor, sliding it away from her chain.
Her entire body softens, and she drops her head back as I curl and uncurl my finger.
Sapphire permits a rush of air to leak from her lungs.
“Make her feel good or this happens again,” Meridei barks.
I clench my jaw, gazing up at Sapphire to tell her something with my eyes. Tell her I’m sorry for having to do this. Tell her to relax and enjoy what I’m about to do so Meridei refrains from giving her more of that wormwood concentrate crap.
She blinks once, tilting her hips up for me to get a better angle. And I let my thumb slip over her clit, massaging in small circles until I hear a small, sweet whimper. Her cunt clenches and unclenches around my knuckle. A brief pulse, so I keep going, fighting the dark sensation of my own pleasure growing as her pulse hammers into my hand.
“Good. Let’s start again,” Meridei exclaims, snapping her fingers for the orderly to yank me back to my chair.
With my fingers still wet, I clench my hand into a fist and glare under lowered lids, trying to catch my breath.
Meridei props Sapphire’s weak body upright. “Another photograph. Then if you don’t have a reaction—”
