Page 3 of Savage

I place my arms on his shoulders and give him a crooked smile. “You can sit on your hands if that helps you not to touch—”

“Eh, it’s okay if you touch,” Giulio interrupts. “You can get your fingers all over her if that’s your fancy.”

Savage grits his teeth in clear annoyance. “Are you going to talk the entire time?”

“What, you want me to be quiet?” Giulio laughs. “Better stick something in my mouth… eh, nah. Sorry, don’t really want to suck your dick.” He pulls out his phone and taps on it, and a few seconds later, the music in the room starts up. “Now I’ll be quiet. Just start dancing, Stef.”

That’s a clear order—and not one I can ignore. I paste a smile onto my too-red lips and focus on the dance. It shouldn’t be difficult, not really, but it requires more agility than I have. I’m getting better, but I still end up needing to touch his shoulders and arms more than I should.

I don’t dare look into his eyes to see what he thinks of that.

While I’m awkwardly grinding his thighs, my chest forward so he gets a good look at my breasts, he suddenly grabs my wrist. I startle and try to pull away, but his grip is tight.

Savage taps the inside of my elbow, where all the bruising and pin marks are. “Are you high right now?”

I let out a nervous giggle, unsure of how to respond. My eyes go to Giulio as I wordlessly plead with him to intervene.

Giulio shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe? Donny and Paul dole out the drugs at their discretion. But I guess if she weren’t high, she’d be shaking and sweating.”

Shame surges through me, and I wish I wasn’t too weak to avoid those offerings. Even when Paul offers — when he expects us to earn it — I can’t say no. It’s easier when Donny doles it out because he isn’t too bad.

He at least remembers that the cost of the drug already comes out of our meager pay.

Savage makes a disgusted noise. “No wonder she’s like this. I think I’m done here.”

“Nah,” Giulio says, and even though he’s smiling, something about his expression is scaring me. “Stef, take it all off. Give Savage a good look at you.”

I don’t think twice, even though tears prick at the corners of my eyes. The fabric that masquerades as clothing is meant to be easily pulled off, and I make a quick show of removing it all.

Savage’s face remains stern. I want to shrink away from him, but I don’t think Giulio would be happy with me if I did.

I’ve seen what happens if Giulio is pissed off.

I stand straight and try to keep my trembling to a minimum.

I don’t know why this still affects me. I’ve been here for a few months already, and I’ve had worse done to me. Nudity shouldn’t still be making me flush with shame.

Savage stands up, towering a head over me, and places a single finger under my chin to force me to look up.

“Open your mouth,” he orders.

I don’t dare hesitate. I part my lips, opening my mouth a little for him. With a second thought, I open it a little more, my heart thundering in my chest.

Savage inserts a finger into my mouth and pushes down on my jaw, forcing my mouth even wider. He spends some time peering inside, running that single finger over my tongue and my gums and my palate. My skin crawls at the dispassionate touch, and more tears start to collect in my eyes.

“When’s the last time she’s even seen a dentist?” Savage mutters.

“Dunno,” Giulio answers. “She’d been using for years, living on the streets, before she ended up with us. Unless her dealer also doubled as a dentist…” There’s a small pause as he laughs. “There’s an idea. Maybe I should set that up. Get them hooked on the stuff, but at least their teeth will be clean before they start falling out.”

Sometimes, I really, really hate Giulio.

He’s terrifying, and he’s so dismissive of everything—including people—and it’s that last bit of a lack of regard for humanity that makes the tears start to spill down my cheeks at long last.

I don’t try to close my mouth to answer. There’s no point, because I can’t remember the last time I’d been to a dentist. The closest I’ve even gotten to a doctor was the dismissive gynecologist who’d done a precursory examination when I’d gotten to Ntimacy, and all she’d done was make sure I wasn’t diseased.

She’d put it like that, too.

Savage finally releases my mouth, but his touches don’t stop. He examines my hair and my eyes—that means I get a very close look at his bright blue ones—before lifting my arm to look at the track marks once more.

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