Page 21 of Living Without

I jumped as the door to the room opened. I hadn’t even realised Malcolm had closed it. Baxter and another man I hadn’t seen before strode in. “Let’s get this done. I want her sold quickly. I know men. They’ll snap this virgin bitch up in a few days.”

The thought of being sold ran a cold shiver over my body. God, I hoped my family would come before then.

Dread filled my mind.

They’d been searching for Baxter for so long…

Was my hope useless?

I placed my hand over my unsettled stomach. Tears pooled in my eyes and my bottom lip trembled. Hope left me, leaving me icy inside.

“Bitch, get on the fuckin’ bed,” Baxter ordered. When I didn’t move straight away, Malcolm gave me a shove towards it. I stumbled over, my hands landing on the bed as my knees hit the edge. “Make this look good, and then you and Kelsey can have lunch, dinner,andbreakfast. Fight me on it, you both get nothing for four days.”

I met his hard eyes, then looked to the ground. Kelsey needed the extra food. Nodding, I climbed onto the bed and faced the camera. Leaning back on my knees, I gripped the hem of my slip. With a deep breath, I pulled my gaze up to the camera and smiled.

“Perfect,” the cameraman said. “Now pull up the dress a little more and bite your bottom lip. Yes, brilliant.” He snapped picture after picture. I wanted to cringe away from the bright flash, but didn’t. It would be over soon, and then at least Kelsey would get some much-needed food in her stomach. Mine wasn’t faring well either. Something I hadn’t had before. Hunger.

Even though Josh and I had a shit dad in our lives before Stoke came along, Mum had always made sure we were taken care of. She’d protected us from many things, made sure we did our homework, were fed and warm. After our dad died from doing stupid shit, and Stoke came into our lives, Mum was finally happy. Stoke was more of a father to Josh and me than our real dad had been. He brought us safety, rules, and taught us the wrongs and rights of life.

Another reason I knew my family would be trying everything they could to find me. Stoke, my dad, protected what was his. When I became his daughter, actually even before that, when he started dating Mum, I knew he would fight his way through anything to keep us safe.

My thoughts immediately led me to Saxon. Would he be looking for me?

With everything I’d seen, the way he guarded me, even if he thought I didn’t know, I could honestly say he would be right there with Dad looking for me.

The heat in my chest caused a nest of humming birds to flutter in my belly.

The knowledge of Saxon’s determination made my heart beat in a frantic pleasant patter.

He was an arse. He was cruel sometimes. He was even a prick.

But he’d always been mine.

He pushed me away for a reason, and if I ever got out of the situation I was in, I would find out for once what was holding him back. I would demand to know, and if he didn’t tell me, I would kick his arse. If he still didn’t tell me… I would let him go. I would walk away, but not before I told him I loved him. Not before I swore, no matter how many days passed, years even, he would hold a part of my heart. Even if he kept being a dick, he would always have a place in my mind.

My body jolted. My mind came back into the room when Baxter yelled, “Stop, I’m sure that’s enough photos.”

I watched as the photographer nodded and smiled down at his camera. “Oh, these are good. They’ll love her.”

“Good. Money’s with the man outside the door. Now get.”

He smiled and said, “Always a pleasure working with you.” He sent me a wink before he walked to the door and exited the room, shutting it again.

My eyes flicked to Baxter. He smiled and pulled something from his back pocket, handing it to Malcolm. Then Baxter started for me. Eyes wide, I scuttled back. Swallowing hard, repeatedly, fear bombarded my senses. My back hit the wall as he grabbed my wrist and jerked me from the bed. Before I stumbled to the floor, his hands went to my waist. He lifted me and placed me on my feet in front of him.

“Now it’s time for a new photo.” Looking over my shoulder, I saw him lift his chin to Malcolm. I glanced there to see Malcolm raise an instant camera.

“W-what’s this for?” I asked.

“Stand still and be good,” he ordered. One hand—oh God—one hand slid down and cupped my mound. He ground one finger in hard against my opening. My hands twitched to fight back, to push him away. His other hand gripped my breast.

“Why are you taking this?” I whispered.

“Just a picture to send home to your people.”

I sucked in a hard breath and cried, “No!” Quickly, so he didn’t expect it, which he didn’t, I pushed my body back, he stumbled a little, and I gained room to move away from him. My knees hit the bed before I swiftly moved over it to stand on the other side.

“You can’t do that to them, please. Please don’t send them anything.”

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