Page 145 of Born in Depravity

I thought I was going to be sick. Thankfully, Damien looked at Nikolay and said, “Take her back to the room.”

Nikolay paused for a beat, and I thought he wanted to protest or probably ask to be the one to inflict the punishment, but he nodded and walked over to us. Damien handed me over to him.

I wasn’t sure if I imagined him squeezing my bicep softly before, and then Nikolay was walking me out of there.

My breathing sped up when I heard noise coming out of the room, and just as we reached the final step upstairs, a loud painful scream rang through the house. I turned to Nikolay and closed my eyes. I wished I could have closed my ears.

I didn’t want to hear any more.

“Shh, princess. It’s all right,” Nikolay said, leading me back inside the room. I hadn’t even realized I was making small whimpering noises until he said it.

Once he had the door opened, I didn’t wait. I immediately moved toward the bed and under the covers. I felt the bed shift, and then Nikolay joined me.

I tried to yank off the collar. It only resulted in me hurting myself. I let out a frustrated groan and Nikolay gently pushed my hands away. I waited impatiently until he got it off and I grabbed it out of his hand and threw it on the floor.

If I could, I would have burned it.

He pulled me into his arms, and I went without protest.

I didn’t know when I started crying. I only knew I couldn’t stop, and Nikolay stayed by my side the whole time, comforting me.

I didn’t want to leave the safety of his arms. Not now, and not ever.

I didn’t know when my feelings toward my captors changed, but they did, and the messed-up part about this whole thing was that I wished they would never let me go.

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