Page 52 of Voracious

The crease gets deeper but she walks to her desk, taking out another one then opens it flat against her hand — sticky side down.

“You see these bits?” She points at the sides where there are tabs, the tabs that I stuck to my thighs. “They go underneath your underwear to hold it in place while this bit sticks to the middle. Sometimes they come loose and it’s annoying.”

I just nod rather than admit I’ve stuck the entire thing upside down and it’s hurting.

Dani takes out another one, handing it to me with a smile. “You can try again, this size might be a bit better.”

Another nod but I don’t snatch this time.

I’m stupid, an idiot, not a person because everyone knows this stuff but I don’t. I knew every different lube, how to put a condom on, and how to control the pain before I was six but this I can’t do.

Their whispered conversation doesn’t help as I lock myself back in the bathroom.

“Where has she been that no one taught her about periods?” Dani asks. “Don’t you get taught that stuff in school?”

“It’s better not to ask questions,” Inessa whispers before making it obvious that I’m wrong. “Some of the teenagers who come here have never been taught before either, they always assume that the pad sticks to their skin instead of their underwear.”

There’sno one to kill with Stasi doing the checks on the new nonces, so I go to find something else I can do since Inessa told Vlad that I deserve time to myself. I’m halfway down the stairs when the sound of grunting reaches my ears. Pausing my book, I keep my steps silent and poke my head over the railing. There’s no sounds of bodies slapping together, just one deep grunt in a repetition coming from the back of the house.

I follow the sound and my feet come to a stop at the edge of the gym I’ve never used, it’s huge and Dima’s back ripples as he lifts the bar over his head on the squat rack. He doesn’t notice me as he finishes his set and squirts water on his face. Or when he drops down into a close grip push-up and holds it, tensing all of his muscles.

I like being around Dima and don’t think twice about invading his space as I push forward. He looks up at the sound of my steps, and I sit myself on his back. “Let’s see how strong you are.”

His scoff works though his body. “You barely weigh anything. I could do this all day, hellion.”

Cocky shit. He proves he has a reason for his attitude as I push all of my weight down and he lowers to the floor before pushing back up.His arrogance gets louder as he increases his pace and stares at me through the mirror. Repositioning myself so he doesn’t get a bad back from all my weight in one spot, I lay with my legs crossed against his shoulders, his ass is right under my head and I can’t stop myself from threatening him. “If you fart, I’ll kill you.”

It loses some of its heat with my laugh and his head snaps up, looking at me through the mirror again. There’s no strain in hisvoice as he extends his arms and holds himself up so his back’s straight.

“Turn around so your head is under my neck, I don’t want you to slip and hit your head when I move.”

I turn so our bodies are lined up and he waits until I’m in position to start moving again. He’s comfortable to lay on, and I don’t care about his sweat touching me, which is weird, it must be because I’m on top of him. Passing him the spare earbud, I play my book while Dima works out and I zoom in and out of the ceiling with each set he does.

It’s getting to the good part when he pauses as though his full attention is required. Once the scene has been introduced and he works it out, he slowly asks, “Are you listening to aliens fuck?”

It’s not fucking, it’s docking. If he shut up and didn’t interrupt he’d know that. I turn into a librarian and reprimand him while going back to the line he opened his mouth during.

“Shh, this is the good part.”

Vibrations move under me as he restarts his push-ups and stops interrupting.It’s always funny, it doesn’t matter if they’re docking or invading a planet, but there will always be something to laugh at. I’ve listened to this one hundreds of times and anticipation has my lips twitching, knowing they’re going to ruin the ship when trying to work out how to dock with different anatomy. When it happens and they argue, Dima laughs with me, he’s not copying mine, he does it at the exact same time.

Turning so my stomach is against his back, I fold my arms under my chin so it’s not digging into him. His eyes are on mine straight away, they don’t leave as he goes through his workout and listens to the book with me. There’s only one chapter left after the funny part has ended and he taps my calf with his instruction. “Hold on to me.”

Doing as he said, I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He doesn’t drop me as he rises to his fullheight and stretches before going to the pull-up bar. This is fun and my smile is wide, crazed, as he jumps up with me on his back like a koala. Repositioning my arms so they’re not blocking his air, I wrap them under his arms like a backpack.

I know it’s not the time for conversations, he’s working out and focused, but I can’t help myself.

“Dima?”

He doesn’t say anything and hums in response as he slows, waiting for what I’m about to say. My voice comes out small, wanting him to know but unsure of the words.

“I think I trust you now.”

He drops to his feet and unfolds my limbs before he squats down so I can get off.There’s awe on every inch of his features as he turns around and holds my face.

“Thank you, lisichka.”

He presses his lips to my forehead and doesn’t say anything else. His hands are still on my face, and I move one arm to pat his back. It feels nice when he cups the back of my head and copies me, but it stops when I do, and he stares intomyeyes. There’s still some discomfort from him seeing them but I don’t punch him in the throat like I want to, not when I want him to pat my back again. Instead, I stay still as he traces my jaw line and I like being under the moons in his head. He softly presses his lips to my forehead again before he turns, squatting for me to get on his back, and he shuts up so we can listen to my book.

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