Page 77 of The Program

With mechanical movements, she brought her hand to cover herself, scooping up the sticky substance and pushing it back in, plugging her entrance with her fingers.

‘That’s right, precious girl. Hold it in there. I do so enjoy it when you’re a good girl for me.’

I didn’t care how the bastard died, but I was going to ensure he suffered first.

She maintained her position until he left, though he took his sweet fucking time to do so. When he was finally out of sight, she still remained on the floor, hand holding in Bromm’s release inside her, her naked body on full display for anyone to see if they walked past the room.

Unable to stand it a moment longer, I removed my shirt and gently laid it over her bare breasts in a feeble attempt to protect her dignity. Though it wasn’t long enough to cover her pelvis, I felt better for trying. But something caught my eye as I pulled away. I traced a finger over a green tattoo in the shape of a cog, a strand of DNA in the centre. Her gaze bounced between my finger and my face, and she shot me a confused look. Then dropped her eyes as if shame had suddenly consumed her.

Oh, no. I wasn’t having that.

‘Hey,’ I scolded firmly. ‘You did what you had to do, and it took a lot of mental and emotional strength for you to do that. Especially in front of all of us. You don’t ever have to feel ashamed of that.’

Her head tilted to the side in confusion. ‘Ashamed of… what?’

I blinked once. Twice. ‘Of… well… what you just did…?’ It wasn’t meant to be a question, but I suddenly wondered if I’d misinterpreted her response.

‘Sex?’

‘Uh, yeah.’

‘Oh,’ she giggled, the sound a little nervous. ‘I’m not ashamed of sex, Dorian.’

‘So, whatwereyou ashamed of?’ I asked, needing clarity.

‘You… covered me.’

My brows dipped low over my eyes and created a fuzzy ledge on top of my sight. ‘You’re naked.’

‘Yes, I am…’

I was clearly missing something. ‘Artemis,’ I began, unsure how to proceed. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just… when I knew you before you were pretty self-conscious.’

She snorted, the sound full of self-aimed derision. ‘I’ve spent far too much of my life naked and under scrutiny. I’m not self-conscious, I was just trying to hide my girl parts while I was trying to pass as a dude.’

Oh.Oh…

My face heated in embarrassment. ‘Right. Of course.’

‘You touched my tattoo,’ she blurted, and I felt my face heat even further.

‘Uh, sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you without asking…’

She cocked her head to the side, confusion contorting her features. ‘You’re not going to ask?’

‘Um… ask what?’

‘About the tattoos.’

‘What’s going on?’ Reece’s croaky voice interrupted the strange interaction and I swivelled to look at him with wide eyes. I felt like I’d just been caught out even though I hadn’t done anything wrong and stepped away from Artemis. I needed to put some distance between us. I couldn’t even look at Bromm or Cadmus, and I struggled to determine why I was behaving so strangely.

All this stress was clearly getting to me.

Urman nudged me with his elbow when I retook my spot next to him, a single pale eyebrow raised. I shook my head, the movement minute to avoid drawing attention, but he still sensed the turmoil inside me. I didn’t understand it, but with my friend’s support I was at least able to push it to the recesses of my mind to ruminate over at a better time. I shot him a grateful smile, small but affectionate. He’d been my rock for this past solar, and I felt like I’d neglected him since Artemis showed up. Which wasn’t that long ago despite feeling like a lifetime.

I knew he would have been the most uncomfortable after what had just happened. He was unwaveringly loyal to his woman back home so witnessing another woman get pleasured by two men right in front of him would have no doubt gone against all of his morals.

He’d gone radio silent with his loved ones to protect the woman he loved, especially after we’d started making plans to run. He didn’t want it coming back to bite her in the ass in his stead. The last thing he needed was to watch another woman get fucked when all he wanted was his own, and I felt a twinge of shame for not immediately checking in with him the way he was with me.

---