Page 92 of Voracious

Tali has a box of pizza and holds a slice out in silent offering as we sit and watch. I nod and he brings it to my lips when he sees the drops of blood on my hands. He hands the box to Val who rolls his eyes before he becomes a human table and holds it on his forearms in front of us. Tali wraps his other arm around my shoulders and continues feeding us in alternating bites as Val mutters, “Why the fuck am I holding it?”

“Want me to feed you too, you big fucking baby?” Tali whispers so we don’t distract Dima.

King Annoying Dickhead storms closer, rips the box off Val’s arms and holds the edge in one hand. Vlad doesn’t look at any of us as he snaps, “Shut the fuck up and eat.”

Val comes to my other side, probably to stop me hitting his — our — annoying ass brother and kisses the top of my head as he asks, “Dima said you didn’t find her.”

I nod and open my mouth as Tali brings the pizza slice back to my lips.

“We’ll find her, you know that, right?” Val whispers.

I nod, again, and we all fall silent as the sound of wet crunching vibrates through the warehouse. Dima fist is bloody and I can’t determine if it’s all his or if some of it is his dad’s. We all just watch as his anger turns to pain and wait for him to finish or need us.

My eyes start to droop, and I lower to sit on the floor and conserve my energy. Tali follows me, crossing his legs under him and gently tilts me so my head is resting on his shoulder.I’m imagining things, the taps I do that always soothe me gently touch my joint, each finger moving in ascending order while the palm remains flat against me. It’s probably some weird genetic thing, a phenomenon between siblings despite never growing up in the same environment.

THIRTY-SIX

Dima

My knuckles are split but I keep forcing my fist forward. All I can hear is the cunt lie. Trying to fucking tell me he never raised his hand as though I wasn’t a witness. Deluded fucking prick. He went to prison for killing her, but he did it magically without hurting her. Katya might think he isn’t worth death but there’s nothing he deserves more.

The weak cunt is close to death, and I let him drop. I stamp on his chest so he can feel the same death Mama did, so he can experience how she fucking laid there choking on her own blood while he didn’t give a fuck and went to change his shirt. Fucking prick. The mind of a child is like a sponge, mine didn’t soak up knowledge but blood.

All those months I spent avoiding the local newspaper because it had his fucking name on it. Not my mother’s. Just this prick’s face and name because his crime meant more than her life. Does he even fucking know how difficult it is to sleep on the street and avoid those headlines? The very thing I’d use to make sure the place was dry for Katya to sleep or to fucking create warmth had this cunt all over it.

The only thing that calms me is when I turn to see my sweet hellion is sat with her legs crossed, her head on Tali’s shoulder and her eyes closed. Fuck this, I’m not wasting my time to hear my father die when she’s tired. Vlad has already disappeared, unhappy with not being able to get his hands dirty, and Valentin steps closer to me, blocking me from going to Ana. He doesn’t act like a prick for once and nods in her direction.

“Take her home. I’ve got this, you cleaned my messes up for years.”

It’s startling that he’s finally growing up.

Ana snaps her eyes open when I’m two steps away. The dopiest most adorable sleepy smile takes over her face seeing it’s me and she uses Tali for support to stand as she holds his head and nearly pushes him over. Once she’s in my arms all that overbearing rage lessens to a manageable level and I pick her up, ignoring everyone else.

She’s already had less sleep with her nerves over going to the sex club, all the shit that’s happened has taken it out of her and she drops her head on my shoulder, falling back to sleep as soon as she knows she’s safe.

My hellion doesn’t even stir as I get her in the car. Or while I drive. The only time her eyes flicker is when I’m laying her in our bed and there’s no fear on her face. She’s even sweeter as she sits up, wiping the sleep from her eyes, before removing her contacts.

“Are you okay?”

Her question comes out uncertain, like she’s never asked or been asked that before.Kissing her forehead in answer, I go to wash the blood off me, but she follows me. She doesn’t stop in the bathroom, she strips off and walks under the spray. Her arms wrap around me from behind, her cheek pressed against my back, my hellion keeps wrecking me as she kisses the center of my spine and whispers, “You’re a good person, the best.”

She’s wrong. So fucking wrong, I’m far from good and it would be laughable considering my hand is already starting to swell, but she has a moral code that’s set in stone. I don’t move her hand or try to fuck her when she’s fighting her sleep. Cute little thing.

Wakingup with my woman half laid on top of me is the best thing in the world. Even if her hair is in my face and her knee is dangerously close to my balls.

She’s wide awake and smiles up at me. “You have a day off, Val called earlier but I didn’t want to wake you up.”

As if we work in an office and he’s my manager, little prick. I’ll take the day with my hellion and pull her, so she’s fully laid across my chest.The movement tugs on her earphones but she doesn’t move away, just gently lifts to free them and closes her eyes with her ear resting over my heart.

I adore the little reactions she has when she’s reading, something funny will happen and there’s always that snort laugh, whatever is happening now has Ana twitching her thighs. I massage up the back of her thighs and a soft brush of air blows across my pec. Trailing the tips of my fingers up her inner thighs, she gasps, “How does that work?”

She’s talking to herself, cute as fuck.

“Give me the other one, lisichka,” I say and wait for her to put it in my ear like she usually does.

She hesitates.

She never hesitates, and there’s a blush on her cheeks, so I don’t force her to move as she holds the earbud hostage. Whatever alien fucking she’s witnessing must be intense for her to be shy. Kissing her temple, I don’t say anything more eventhough I’m intrigued as fuck when she fully immerses herself into it. I make a mental note of the chapter she’s on, so I know what to recreate as I sit up.

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