Page 55 of Voracious

Blending into the crowd is easy and I pretend to watch the people fucking as the group go into a room together.

Pushing my foot in the door so I can hear what they’re saying, I deflate at the familiarity in their tone. They’re all swingers, a group of fucking friends not trafficked. Checking their arms just to make sure, each left arm has a corresponding hand. Fucking idiots. They were walking all secretive in mirrored masks and now Dima is alone.

I’ll stumble through the door he’s behind and pretend to be drunk, he’ll be fine. If they touched him then I’ll kill them. Making my way back through the crowd that’s somehow got bigger, I find myself at a crossroad, the security door on my right is the one he went through but the one further down hasn’t been fully closed. The voices float through on a hum. I can’t hearwhat they’re saying but I recognize Rowan’s voice. He was the biggest fucking cunt, degrading each child as he haggled over their bodies, the prick. My throat tightens, the air getting thicker and harder to draw in as his brands burn through my stomach.

There’s no scream coming from Dima’s door, so he isn’t fighting them back. Will he hate me if I make him wait longer? No, he told me to go. He understands why I’m doing this. He’s helping me. Standing between the two doors, I fold in half in case anyone sees me so they’ll think I’ve drank too much. I’m closer to Rowan’s voice, it’s like ants on my skin.

“I can get you an eight-year-old or two four-year-olds. The latter will be more expensive, I’m sure you’ll understand, but who can put a price on being the first owner?”

They’re all fucking disgusting.

They’re children, not fucking collectables or toys for their amusement. I don’t recognize the other two voices, a man and a woman. Sick fucks. Couples are the worst. They play games mentally and pass themselves off as parents. I’ve been in them rooms, stood against the wall and watched as they shake hands.

A door opens and I shut my eyes as though that will stop me being seen. Footsteps move closer from Dima’s side, but I don’t relax until my nose twitches from the smell of his cologne and his rough fingertips touch my nape. They’re not slick with blood; his hands are dry, making my anger intensify because that means he didn’t fight back.

I’m going to kill them.

He’s nice, you don’t hurt nice people.

My head moves back as I look up to gauge how badly they should hurt before they die but he’s free of any mark. There’s no blood on him at all, the only thing on his face is a smile. Three pairs of footsteps move from the other side and Dima hardens, seeing my face. I don’t know how he knows to hide me, but he flattens me against the wall and threads his fingers through myhair, pulling my face into the crook of his neck. He’s good at this, making an intimate picture without touching me any more than he has to, because he cares and he’ll use everyone other than me.

He covers every angle and tilts his body as they get closer, his nose tickling my neck as he wraps tighter around me. The footsteps are right beside us and my eyes close. Rowan’s horrible fucking laugh increases the ants as he walks past us, and my eyes open over Dima’s shoulder to see who the other two people are. The couple are pretending to be in love, holding hands when they were just closing a deal onchildren.

The arrogant bastards aren’t wearing masks. Rowan doesn’t turn and I watch his nape, waiting for the twinge. It happens and I smile, remembering how he screamed when the hot oil fell on him. It’s a shame it didn’t get on anything other than his back so it would be visible to everyone. Fucking prick, I hope he likes being ‘defective’ like he calls people. They keep walking through the hallway and one of the guards steps in front of Rowan, whispering something into his ear, they must be trusted if they’re not wearing a mask. When he extends his neck so do I, but there’s no deep burn marks on his neck for me to get satisfaction when I burnt him, I know it’s there. It was worth the punishments because he actually screamed and he took me back to Yulia so I didn’t have to stay in his disgusting dollhouse.

Dima lowers and picks me up by the back of my thighs as though he’s aware I’m going to escape him and strip the cunt to make sure I’m not going crazy. My legs automatically go around his waist, and he wraps his jacket around me to hold it closed at my lower back.Once the non-burnt Rowan is out sight, I remember Dima wasn’t with me while I looked for Nina and wrap my arms around him, checking his back for any injuries.

There’s no blood on my hands and he doesn’t wince. He walks easily and I breathe out, “You’re okay.”

Soft lips brush my temple and there’s worry in his voice.

“Keep your face hidden for me, lisichka.”

Nodding my head so I don’t cause any more trouble, I hold on to his shoulders and tuck my face tighter to his neck. I’ll get them two fuckers once they leave, I’m not going to let them build up the hope of two innocent children just to be entertained when they crush it.I’ll get Rowan too; they’ll have his contact details then I’ll make sure he can’t get rid of my marks like I can’t get rid of theirs, the vain bastard has enough money to pay for any treatment he wants but I’ll take his full face off and make him watch.

I can’t torture in a dress though, I wonder if Dima will let me wear his trousers. He said to keep my face hidden, so I’ll ask him when we get outside. His steps are rushed, and I peek when curiosity gets the better of me. There’s a man begrudgingly holding open a hidden exit, I’ve never seen him before, but he looks at Dima with open hate. Fucking prick. How can anyone hate Dima? I did at first but that’s because he kept saying he hated me.

He doesn’t let me down when we get outside, and Tali is sat waiting for us in the passenger seat. His eyes harden, tracking the full length of Dima’s body and he clenches his jaw seeing me wrapped around him. Weirdo. Dima carefully puts me in the back before he gets in the driver’s seat and the man who opened the door isn’t there anymore. I look for the two fuckers who are planning on buying a child tonight and hold my hand between the two front seats.

“Dima, take your trousers off.”

I need to be ready.

Tali turns around and shouts, “ANA!”

Pushing my head between the seats, I swing my arm back and his teeth chatter against my palm. “Don’t shout at me!”

He never does it, Valentin has but he does it to everyone, Tali doesn’t hit me back, instead he turns to Dima with a threat.“Don’t even fucking think about touching my sister, I’ll chop your dick off and shove it down your throat.”

He always calls me his sister, never half or anything to diminish the title as though we grew up together.

“Then I’ll make Katya fall in love with me and you’ll be called stepgrandad-uncle dickless,” he adds lower while glaring at him.

Dima is driving further away but we need to stay here, and I rush out as fear takes over. “Stop! They’re going to take them if we go.”

I didn’t do anything for years, now I can fix it, I have to.

Both of them have the same low question, speaking at the same time.

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