Page 31 of Broken Embers

“It’s okay,” she says. “We all break at times.”

I pull on the boots and jacket, then reach beneath the pillow on the bed to pull out the candy bar she’d left for me. “Thanks for these, by the way. They came in handy.”

“You’re welcome,” Valeska replies. “Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

We slip into the hall. The lights are low. Doors closed. It’s eerily quiet—like the place is holding its breath, hoping we don’t get caught as we navigate the corridors. I follow her down a side stairwell I didn’t even know existed. The metal creaks under our boots, and each step seems a little too loud, like it knows we’re running.

We’re almost to the exit when we hear it.

Footsteps and they’re coming fast and heavy.

“Fuck,” Valeska whispers as she looks over my shoulder. “It’s him.”

Before I can even process who ‘him' is, she shoves me into a shadowed alcove and steps out into the corridor.

“Out for a stroll?” I hear a deep voice say to her in Russian. I peer around the wall. There is a tall, blonde, handsome man staring down at Valeska.

“I thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow?” Valeska’s voice is defiant, but also a hint of fear. I see him take a step closer to her, and she stiffens.

“I came back earlier to see my favorite girl,” his voice lowers, becoming seductive. His hand slips into her waistband, yanking her closer. “I haven’t had a good fuck in days and I’m so fucking horny right now.” He starts pawing at her breasts and leaning in to kiss her throat. “I want to plow my cock into every hole you have until you're screaming and begging me for mercy like you always do…” He starts rubbing himself against her.

“Stop!” Valeska tries to push him away. “You’re disgusting."

“You love it, you fucking whore and you know it.” His hand grabs her crotch, and he squeezes it.

“You’re hurting me.” Valeska tries to push him away again, but he grabs her and crushes his lips to hers. “Mikhail… stop!”

I freeze and instinctively draw back into the shadow—Mikhail, Valeska’s brother? My stomach lurches… what the fuck.

“Stop I said,” Valeska says more forcefully right before Mikhail yelps.

“You fucking bitch—you bit me?”

I hear the slap and the thud. My head turns to see Valeska drop to the ground.

Before I can stop myself, I launch out of my hiding place. “Leave her alone you fucking pervert!” I ram the full force of my five-foot-four frame into him, and he barely moves an inch.

And I feel like I’ve just hit a fucking brick wall. My vision swims for a few seconds. Mikhail becomes a blur of movement, reaching to grab me by the arm and dragging me toward him.

“And who do we have here?” he sneers, voice curling like smoke. “A new pet for me to play with.” He draws in a breath as his leery eyes rake over my body. “You’re tiny, aren’t you?”

I twist, kick, and try to claw at him.

But he just laughs, holding me like I’m a mere feather, and compared to him, I feel like one. He’s stronger. So fucking much stronger.

He slams me into the wall. My head cracks back against the concrete, and stars burst in my vision. One hand wraps around my throat. The other claws at my shirt, lifting as his hands seek out my breasts. Fear courses through me, and still I try to fight, squirm away from his hands, but he leans into me.

“You’re so small and feisty,” he purrs. “Good. I love that. It’s going to be such fun breaking you in.” He rams his rock hard cock against me. “I bet your pussy is so fucking tight that my huge cock is going to rip you in half when I fuck the shit out of you.”

I thrash beneath him, scream again, even as his hands grope my chest. Fingers bruising. Pain flashing. “Oh God your tits are so firm.”

He squeezes one of them again, and the pain rips through me. My breasts are so sensitive from being pregnant that I feel the bile rise in my throat.

“Get the fuck off me!” I squirm again and again, but he just leans harder against me and starts to grind into me, his mouth crushing against mine. I’m trying to move my lips away and keep them from opening, but he forces them and I feel his teeth grind against my lips and taste blood in my mouth.

My breathing becomes labored as his weight is crushing into my chest. I start to feel dizzy, and then there’s a sound.

A crack. Like a bone breaking.

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