Her body begins to tense against mine, and her movements become frantic, uneven. She is close to coming, and I cannot help myself; I lean down and press my nose into her bouncy, curly hair. “All of that will be nothing compared to what I do for you with my cock.”
She cries out and her back arches, her nipples pointing at the air. I bite down on the inside of my cheek, my hands gripping at the wall with the effort not to touch her, not to scare her. She moans long and hard, and her entire body shudders. Her splayed legs tremble, and then I feel another rush of wetness drip onto my thighs. She’s come, and come hard.
Tee-fah-nee falls back against my chest and moans. “Oh, good gravy.”
These words do not make sense together, but the look on her face is one of bliss, and she turns and cuddles against my chest. Daring, I slowly put my arms around her and am pleased when she doesn’t pull away.
“Well, that was…something else,” she says, breathless.
I agree. I cannot wait to do it again.
Chapter Nine
TIFFANY
The guards are standing outside of our cell. It’s cramped, and someone’s legs are tangled with mine. My hip hurts from resting on the same spot for the last few days, but I don’t have any other options. There’s no room to move around.
An orange, two-fingered hand slides over the bars, almost caressing them. It sends a warning prickle up my spine, but there are people pressing against me on all sides and I can’t move.
The door to the cage opens. We all cringe backward as one of the guards steps forward. He points a finger and sweeps it across the people in the cell.
Not me, I think. Not me.
To my horror, I’m saying the words aloud. “Not me. Not me.” Oh God. They don’t like it when we make noise. The orange, rough-textured hand pauses in its sweep.
The others flee from me to the opposite ends of the cage. It’s not that they’re cowards. I don’t blame them for running. It’s that we’re in a hole so deep that self-preservation is the only thing that matters anymore. I cringe backward, but there’s no one around me anymore. I’m all alone.
The hand points.
Not me. Not me. Please, not me.
No one’s listening anymore, though. Rough hands grab my bare arms, tear at my skin. I start to scream. “Not me! Not me!”
“Tiffany – wake up.”
I jerk awake, gasping. Fear drums through my body, my heart racing in my chest. I cringe back when a skinny white arm reaches out through the darkness to pat my shoulder.
“Bad dream again,” Josie murmurs, voice low. “Didn’t want you to have to sleep through it.”
I rub my forehead. The panic still feels all too real. “Thanks.”
“You okay?”
“I’ll live.” Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever be ‘okay’ again. I rub my arms under my blankets, positive I can still feel rough hands gripping me, holding me down, pulling my legs apart despite my efforts.
Josie’s quiet for a moment, then whispers again. “I was just wondering, you know. You haven’t had any dreams in the last while and I thought you were getting better. Are the guys bugging you? I’ve been trying to keep them busy.”
“You’re doing an awesome job, really, Jo. I’m so thankful.”
I can practically hear her beaming in the dark of the cave. “I’m glad. I’ve been working on a really big competition for the next round. It’s gonna be epic.”
“Great.” I try to muster enthusiasm, but I don’t care about the competition, because I don’t want the winner.
A pause. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.” I know what’s triggered me today. It was the heavy-petting-time with Salukh. While I enjoyed it, clearly my brain hasn’t unpacked all my baggage about the situation.
“You’d tell me if you weren’t, right? Because you haven’t had a nightmare in over a week.” She emphasizes this again.
She doesn’t believe me and I don’t blame her. “I’m fine, really. I just…the only times I seem to get good sleep are with Salukh around.”
I hear her blankets rustle and she sits up. “Salukh?” Her gasp is overloud in the too-quiet caves. “Oh em gee,” she whispers after a moment. “Are you two doing it?”
“No! We’re just friends.”
“Riiiight. Friends that gather herbs together. You can’t see it, but in the dark I’m putting air quotes around the words ‘gathering herbs’. Because don’t think I’m the only one that’s noticed that there’s not a lot of herbs in those baskets when you guys are gone all day.”