Page 5 of Bones

I slowly push my chair back before standing and washing my plate. I give him a soft nod once done before turning and heading toward the room me and the girls were directed to when we were allowed to shower and given fresh clothes.

I look down at the ill-fitting summer dress that hangs off my boney frame. It’s Elana’s. A large part of me wants to trust her, but I fear it’s because I’ve never had a woman master. I’ve had women that work with my master’s but never owned by one. I need to make sure I don’t place false trust based of gender. Women are just as capable as men of being evil, right? I’m sure. I nod to myself.

With that settled, I quietly open the door not wanting to draw any extra attention. My eyes quickly take everything in, noticing all the other girls crowded together on the king size bed.

I make my way over to the couch that’s against the right wall and grab one of the fluffy looking blankets before snuggling up by myself. It takes a while with my thoughts swirling around, trying to make sense of the situation I’ve found myself in, but eventually the exhaustion takes over and I drift in and out of a fitful sleep filled with the faces of my captures and a little girl who smiles fondly at me as she swirls and dances under a large willow tree…Angie.

Chapter Five

Bones (19)

She’s been here for six months now; summer is coming to an end and the other girls have been either returned to their families or have made the necessary arrangements. It took a while, but we were finally able to get them back to their rightful places. She’s the only one left. She still won’t tell anyone about her parents or where she’s from, but she’s slowly opening up about what’s happened to her. Just little bits and pieces. As her trust slowly grows, to see her become more of the kid she was never allowed to be, it’s beautiful to see.

I know now that this is the only life she’s ever known, well, being trafficked that is. She was really young when she was first sold and can’t remember much of anything before that. Hearing her talk about it in that flat way of hers, the emptiness of just stating facts, like the sky is blue and the grass is green, cracks my heart in my chest. I wonder if she’ll ever feel comfortable enough to fully open up to me.

Speaking of… Beth comes struttin’ into the kitchen, her chin up. She’s able to look us in the eye these days and I love the look in her eyes. Every day her strength and confidence grows. “Morning,” she smiles as she makes her way over to the coffee maker to pour herself a large cup.

“Little young for coffee, ain’t yah.” I joke, I love givin’ her shit. Especially now because she only hesitates slightly before dishin’ it right back. She turns around and huffs as she raises an eyebrow at me while pursin’ her lips to show me she ain’t havin’ none of it this morning. I just give her a cheeky grin.

“Can you at least wait to be a pain in my ass until I’ve had my coffee. At this point it’s the only thing keeping you alive.” Her nose crinkles adorably and I can’t help but laugh at her threat.

“Oh, princess, you love me too much to kill me.” I toss her a wink that is met with a blank unamused face as she adds her cream and sugar.

“You wish, playboy.” She rolls her eyes. It’s an ongoing joke between us. She calls me playboy cuz all the sweet butts are all over my dick all the time and I call her princess because she seems to have all the big, bad bikers wrapped around her lil’ finger. The rest of the guys have come to think of her as a pseudo daughter. Her and Elana have become a lot closer too. She still has a lot to overcome and work through, no doubt, but she’s showing daily that she won’t let her trauma hold her back. She’s remarkable—not that I’d tell her that—and I can’t help but admire her for it. “Plus, today’s my sixteenth birthday.” She tosses in there, like she just said she’d take the vegetable medley with dinner and not dropped a major bomb.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” My voice comes out louder than I’d intended, and she takes an involuntary step back. She may trust us not to beat the shit outta her but she’s still skittish.

“Sorry,” I mumble. She offers an awkward smile and I know she’s embarrassed of her automatic response.

“Yeah, I mean I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I’ve never celebrated it before, so…” She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but that’s exactly why it is.

“Hell, yeah it is. Oh, princess we are goin’ all out!” I whoop as I stand from my spot at the kitchen table where I was eating a bowl of cereal and head out to the bar where most of the guys are millin’ around before work. “Party tonight boys!” I yell, knowin’ it’s not really my place but also knowing the guys aren’t goin’ to turn down a reason to party either.

“Oh yeah?” Gage chuckles at me as he strokes his thick beard in amusement.

“Yeah. It’s lil’ Beth’s sweet sixteen.” I toss a thumb over my shoulder toward where Beth has just emerged with her steaming cup tucked in her hands; her eyes wider than saucers.

“It’s no big deal, really.” She mumbles, clearly not liking the attention on her. But I toss her a wink over my shoulder. I may be pushing a little too far but this is the least we can do for her. She deserves to feel special.

“Oh, no. Ain’t no gettin' outta this, princess.” I flash her a shit eating grin which she meets with bared teeth and what I’m pretty sure is supposed to be a growl but sounds more like a puppy trying to find its voice. I chuckle. She’s fuckin’ adorable.

“Seriously. I don’t want a party. I’ve seen enough of your all’s parties to know I want no part of it,” she says, taking a big gulp of her coffee and wincing slightly at the heat. I chuckle again, knowing she’s referring to the half-naked girls and the copious amounts of drugs we are usually doing off said women. Hey, like I’ve told her before…we ain’t no saints.

“Awe, come on princess. You scared of some boobs and sex?” I joke, knowing it will egg her on. She rolls her eyes, clearly agitated.

“Stop callin’ me princess, I’m the farthest thing from it, and no I’m not afraid of sex or tits.” She gestures vaguely to her own growing rack. Which I shouldn’t be noticing, but I find my eyes dropping down to anyway. I swallow hard before raising my eyes back to her to find a teasing smile on her face like she caught me. I cough dramatically into my hand to clear my own fucked up thoughts. “I just don’t have the desire to spend my day watching men I think of as fathers fuck said “boobs”,” she drawls, as her eyes flickin’ to the sweet-butts sprinkled around the room. Her point obvious without her having to say anything.

“Okay, okay. I can see your point.” I concede because quite frankly—even though I’m used to it—I don’t like watchin’ my dad fuck the sweet butts either. It’s been years since my mom died and I can’t blame the guy for needin’ to get his rocks off every now and then, but that doesn’t mean I want a front row seat to it. “What if we have a bonfire out back instead, just the families?” I look at her before turning around and lookin’ at Gage for confirmation, whose been watching the interaction with amusement. Bein’ Pres, everything has to go through him. I see her face light-up slightly and I hope to hell that Gage agrees because I wanna see that look on her face more often.

“Yeah, that’ll be alright.” Gage smiles and I know he sees the happiness on princesses’ face, just as I did. She tries to cover it with her coffee mug, like she’s not excited to celebrate a day she’s never been able to before.

“Alright boys. Spread the word, our lil’ Beth is havin’ a birthday party, tomorrow night at six,” Gage declares before he walks over to her and pulls her into a bear hug. “Happy Birthday, lil’ one.” He pulls back to smile at her, and I think she actually blushes.

“Thanks, Gage,” she murmurs suddenly shy. I offer her a gentle punch to the shoulder with brotherly affection.

“See? Was that so bad, princess?” I make sure to emphasize the nickname knowing it irritates her. I love seeing her light up. Seeing the emotions pass over her face instead of the emptiness that used to be there.

“Utter torture.” She grumbles to herself before walking away from me. I chuckle.

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