Page 16 of Pound

The look of disgust on Tony’s face almost made her giggle, almost. He dropped her tray outside of the cell, and she scrambled forward as she watched the precious water spread across the floor.

“Oops.”

The human body could survive longer without food than without adequate water. And while she hadn’t been captured long enough to die from it, she was experiencing symptoms of dehydration.

Tony squatted down with his hand over his nose and spoke to her like she was a naughty puppy. “Meri, Meri, Meri. Did you think rolling around in your own filth would save you? Ha.” He barked a laugh that chilled her to the core. He stood and strode to the far wall and fiddled with something and it made a hissing sound. He strode back toward her cell with a water hose in his hand, taking a few test squirts to the ground.

On one hand, if he sprayed her, she’d have water. On the other, the ambient temperature of the environment and her lack of adequate cover would not be ideal once wet. Worse than ideal. The elements would become more deadly than dehydration.

She was damned either way.

The first stream of water stole her breath. The cold, the pressure on her ribs, the waste splashing into her face. He hosed her down for what felt like forever. He’d entered her cell and was getting closer but never stopped the damn hose.

“Please, stop. I’ll do whatever you want. Just allow me to get dry.” Meri didn’t want to be in the position she was in, but she didn’t want to die either. The water stopped.

Tony looked at her with undisguised lust and unzipped his pants. “Then crawl over here and suck my dick.”

He hadn’t promised to fulfill her request if she did so, but what choice was there? If nothing else, when he was through, she could grab his hose hand long enough to get a few gulps of water and rinse her mouth before he stopped her.

Meri crawled to a man she detested and came face-to-face with his dick. A deep breath and she closed her eyes. She’d do what she had to do to survive. No, to live.

She had always survived, but she hadn’t lived. She planned to do just that once she was free. First, she’d ask Pound out. If he turned her down, oh well. But if he accepted her offer, maybe it could be the start of something wonderful. It wasn’t like she wasn’t half-crazy about the man already. It didn’t matter that they were practically strangers. Her soul knew his. Most people would think she was crazy, Trip especially, but Meri just had a feeling. And for once in her adult life, she was going to act on it.

In her mind, she let herself go to that time she’d watched Pound with the club girl and kept his face, his tortured face, in her vision. Would he look that way if, no, when, they were intimate?

You can do this, Meri. Just imagine it’s him.

Before she could psych herself into it, she heard Anna’s voice. “Tony, Leone needs you upstairs. Now!”

Tony cursed, dropped the hose, and strode from the cell. Meri dove for the hose before someone could take it away. The pressure was too much for her mouth. She fumbled with the nozzle, unscrewing it until water leaked around the fitting. She didn’t bother to finish removing it, just drank from where it leaked.

Tony sneered at Anna as she wheeled past him. He cut the water before he strode out. “I’ll be back, sweet Meri,” he sang as he disappeared from her sight.

Once the water stopped flowing, she dropped the hose and slid backward. She didn’t know if Anna was friend or foe. She had her suspicions, but that wasn’t enough to make her stupid.

“Since you just ruined my chance at getting dry, I don’t suppose you want to strike a bargain with me? Maybe you need sexual favors too?”

The look of horror and sympathy on Anna’s face made her believe her suspicions were correct. She rolled over to a cabinet Meri hadn’t noticed and grabbed a stack of fabric and placed it in her lap. When she returned, she rolled right into Meri’s cell, only stopping when the water hose blocked her path.

“Here, Meri.” She offered her the stack. “I don’t know what’s in it, but it’s what I could reach.”

Meri accepted it and began drying herself as best she could. “Thanks.”

“You were right. I do want a favor from you.”

“Of course you do. But what do I get in return?”

“I’ll help you out of here.”

“I’m listening. Who do I have to blow or fuck?” Meri was over it already. The one person she thought wasn’t like them, was. She felt like a fool.

“No one. Maybe I should tell you a story first.”

Meri stood and removed her wet clothes, including the shirt strip around her ribs. In the stack were a soft cotton jumpsuit, a blanket, and a few towels. Nothing to bind her ribs with but being dry was more important. She wore the jumpsuit and took the blanket to the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“I’ve got nothing but time.”

Anna looked at her watch. “Unfortunately, I do not. Tony will be back shortly, so you get the condensed version. I was married… am married, actually. I guess it’s a technical ‘am,’ but an actual ‘was.’ I don’t really know anymore. He was a good man, the best, and I was a horrible wife. Leone started training me when I was young. I don’t even remember a time when he didn’t.”

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