“She’ll fight it with everything she has. And she has a lot.”
I laugh. Doc going soft on a girl is one thing. But Adriano? “That almost sounds like a compliment. Are you changing your mind about the girl?”
A growl. “Twenty minutes.”
“It’s your money. So, it’s settled, five minutes, six, eight and twenty. May the best man win.”
“You won’t win.” January’s eyes are still closed. She’s shifted into a cross-legged yoga position, her hands resting on her stockinged knees.
“What was that,bella?”
“You won’t win. None of you.” Her voice is stronger the second time.
Doc laughs. “Tesorina, haven’t you been listening? You won’t be able to resist. No one can. You’re going to get railed like a filthy whore.”
Her eyes fly open, cool and clear as a forest lake. “I won’t.”
I study her. She’s found some well of resistance inside herself. Fuck that. She can’t go to Gio a defiant little brat. If it were just the two of us, I’d spank her backside raw. But we’re not allowed to touch her. I’ll need another way to discipline her.
“Okay,bella,” I say. “A new deal. If you can resist the Orchard and keep your virginity, you can leave your cage.”
Her mouth parts. “Really?”
“Really. You can move upstairs and sleep in a beautiful wing all by yourself.”
“Eli…” Adriano warns.
I wave a hand at him. Her defeat will be all the more humbling this way. Getting fucked knowing she’ll have to go back to her cage a horny, broken girl. “Do you agree, Miss Whitehall?”
“Yes,” January says. “I can do it.”
“Of course, you can.” I pour myself more scotch. “Now close your eyes and try not to think about me bending you over this armchair and fucking you like the good little girl you are.”
Her cheeks burn and she closes her eyes again.
“Just wait,” Doc mutters. “Eight minutes.”
“Five,” I say.
But five minutes pass and January doesn’t move. Another minute and Bobby loses the bet. Two minutes later so does Doc. Furious, he collects a bottle of JB from the bar and swigs from the neck. “This shouldn’t be happening.”
“Maybe the dose—”
“The dose would turn Mother Teresa into a porn star. There’s nothing wrong with the dose. There’s something wrong withher.”
January sits serenely. A smile is curling the corners of her mouth.
Bobby presses a palm to the front of his jeans. “I can’t take this.”
I don’t say anything, but I have no idea what to do. Doc’s right, this isn’t supposed to be happening. We’ve tested Orchard dozens of times, mostly on girls from Doc’s clubs. With their consent we lock them in an observation room. When the drug hits, they pound on the two-way mirror, begging whoever’s watching to fuck them. All of them masturbate, some of them hump the corners of the table, they’re so desperate for stimulation. How is she not already on top of us? Or at least touching herself? But as we watch, her movements grow subtler. Quieter. She’s breathing rhythmically, her thick hair covering her breasts. She looks supernatural, kneeling peacefully in her lingerie like a little goddess.
“For fuck’s sake, this doesn’t make any sense.” Doc slurs.
She’s humiliating us. We were supposed to be controlling her, corrupting her. Reminding her there’s nothing she can refuse that we can’t take. Now we’re circled around her, staring at her. Worshiping her almost. This girl who declined to be my mistress, to work for Doc, to marry Bobby or to beg Adriano for her life. This girl…
Doc blows out a hard breath. “If she takes much longer, I’m jacking off.”
“Coming on her counts as touching,” I warn.
