Page 100 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

“Whatever you want.” He leans back against the wall and keeps his eyes on me.

“Are you a creep? Leave me alone.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say, is it?”

Before I can respond, another person enters the room. A woman. Brunette, tall, pretty. She smirks as she looks me over.

“At least you’re nice to look at,” she says, settling against the wall by the old man.

I hold my head higher even though I can feel the flush on my cheeks. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to watch you,” the woman replies.

“Why?”

“Because your dom wants us to.”

My dom? I frown, thinking of Aleksander. Why would he invite these random strangers to just watch me?

It’s then it settles on me. He’s trying to recreate my time at the auction when a crowd of men stared at me. These people are here to watch me so I learn not to fear it.

But how can I not fear it? I’m used to people watching me when I dance—not when I sit in a cage with nothing to do but watch them back.

“Enjoying yourself?” I ask.

“Immensely,” the woman replies.

“You’re a lot chattier than a sub should be,” the old guy says.

“That’s because I’m not a sub. Aleksander is my husband.”

The woman smiles. “Interesting.”

I want to scream at these people to leave, but my throat hurts too much. So, I settle back against the cage and ignore them. Aleksander is testing my patience. He’s pushing my boundaries, just as he said he would.

The door opens again and in walks Aleksander.

“Enjoying the company?” he asks.

I glare at him.

He nods once and turns to the two people. “You can leave now.”

With one last look at me, the old man and the woman walk out the door.

“What are you doing?” I ask Aleksander once we’re alone.

“I’m testing you, Viktoriya. You need to learn to trust rather than to fight everything. So, I’m going to sit here.” He grabs achair and sits down. “And you’ll tell me when you’re ready to leave that cage.”

“I’m ready now.”

He shakes his head. “Both you and I know that’s not true. So, tell me again when you’rereallyready.”

I open my mouth to object, then promptly shut it. How does he know me so well? I’m not ready to get out because I’m still too scared.

I’m scared of what Akim did to me. I was scared standing in front of all those men as they bid on me. I’m still scared by the memory.

I’m scared I’ll never dance again. And I’m scared I don’t care enough about dance to make it happen.

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