Page 9 of Living Without

A laugh escaped me. “Good for you.”

“No,” she whispered. “It wasn’t good. I was beaten, Nary, and then he lent me out to h-his men. Fighting back isn’t an option here. Please remember that.”

The problem was, I wasn’t bred like that. Stoke was my dad. I was taught to fight back. I was Hawks. No one had the right to mess with me. However, from the tremor in Kelsey’s body, I knew I would have to pick my battles with whatever came next.

“I’ll try not to fight back,” I offered. “Is this room secured?”

“Yes. It’s locked and even if it wasn’t, there’re men on the outside.”

Shit.

“Okay.” I sighed. “I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens next.” And pray my family found me before anything damaging occurred.

“I saw when they brought you in how pretty you are. It won’t take long to sell you, at least you want to hope.” She snorted. “I know it sounds messed up, but s-staying around here isn’t something anyone would want. They’re mean, Nary, and creative. Let’s hope your owner isn’t like them.”

My stomach rolled.

My owner.

“The whole situation is crazy, Kelsey. How can people get away with this type of thing?”

“I honestly don’t know,” she whispered. “But—” She broke off when we heard footsteps outside the door and then the jangle of keys. Kelsey shifted, her tremors worsened. “Do whatever they want, Nary, and they won’t hurt you….”

“Too much” was left off the end of her sentence. My whole body chilled and started to shake. The door flung wide, and I squinted at the sudden light shining in. For the first time, I saw Kelsey clearly and what I saw brought tears to my eyes. She was small in height, her body littered in bruises, and all she wore on her thin form was a silk nightshirt. Black hair sat in a messy knot on her head. Her pale blue eyes were wide in fear, only it wasn’t for herself. As she looked at me, she mouthed, “Don’t fight.”

A bulky man entered first with a smile upon his pocked face. Behind him, two others entered and those two were just as large as the first, and just as menacing. They held their bodies tight, their heads high, and the glint in their eyes told me they were ready for anything to happen. They wanted me to fight, to run, because they’d like a chance to chase, to hurt.

I wouldn’t give them the opportunity.

Kelsey was right. I couldn’t fight, not all three of them. One maybe but not three their size.

“So this is the piece of fluff the Hawks want back. You disappearin’ is really stirring the pot, babe.” He laughed. “It’s good to see. Wanted to fuck with them for a long time. Nothing else I do seems to work, except now.” He waited for me to say something. I didn’t. “That the way it’s gonna be, silent treatment? Fine, I’ll see if I can get you singing.” He looked over his shoulder to the man with long blond hair and then gestured him towards us.

As the man stalked our way, Kelsey cringed back against my shoulder. I did nothing but stare up at him with a glare. The man reached down and gripped Kelsey by the hair. She cried out. I went to reach for her, until she yelled, “No, don’t.”

The man yanked her from the bed. Stumbling, she tripped as he dragged her to the other side of the small room. There he placed her back to his front, so she faced me. He pinned her to his body with an arm around her waist and chest. Tears ran down her grimy cheeks.

She knew what was about to happen, and it wasn’t going to be good.

Shit.

“Baxter, please, don’t do this. Please,” Kelsey suddenly begged. Her eyes pleaded with the man at the door who I’d already guessed was Baxter.

Looking to him, I watched him chuckle. He rolled his eyes and said, “When have I ever listened to you, honey?” With a flick of his hand in my direction, the other man came towards me. I made sure to sit still and appear unfazed, when on the inside I screamed in panic and fear.

When he reached me, he sat on the mattress next to me and then roughly pulled me from my seated position to plant my butt on his lap. He then spread his legs, and I was shifted to sit between them. His arms went around my chest and waist, much like how Kelsey was being held.

My eyes darted to Baxter when he huffed and said, “Still nothing. This is gonna be fun.” He stalked towards us, only to stop right above us. Leaning over he said, “Let’s see what we have. She’s a looker for sure. Don’t you think, boys?”

The man behind me grunted before he ground his erection up against my butt. I flinched in disgust and bit down on my bottom lip to remain silent. The other man holding Kelsey said, “Sure is, even with that scar.”

Baxter chuckled. He then straddled my thighs. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, fighting the urge to struggle. I jumped when his hand touched my cheek. “Yes, very pretty.” His hand slid down my neck, over my chest, and gripped a breast, hard. I whimpered, but then cut it off and closed my eyes tighter. He hummed and said, “Nice handful.”

Think of something else.

Anything else.

Jerimiah’s smile just before he kisses me, how he…

---