Page 19 of Savage Desires

I hear the woman gasp behind me but ignore her as I attack my new owner. I only get one solid punch in before he recovers enough to grab me. I don't stop fighting. I kick, hit, bite, and claw while he tries to restrain me. All the while, he's telling me to calm down and that he's not going to hurt me.

Yeah, right. You don't pay ninety-three thousand dollars for a human being to have a nice little chat. I've been part of this world for too fucking long to believe that lie.

He finally gets his arms around me in a way that has my arms pinned to my sides. No matter how much I writhe, I can't get free. I don't dare give up, though. I fling my head back and come in contact with his face. I'm pretty sure it was just his chin and didn't break anything, but still satisfying as fuck.

"Calm down, Beauty. Fuck," he growls.

I instantly still at his words. My mind grabs onto his words and matches them to a voice I never thought I would hear again.

"Come on, my Beauty. It's time to wake up."

Have I finally lost my mind and am hallucinating? If I am, it seems like a cruel joke to have the man who's about to kill me bring up the best memory I have. Kisten is the only bright spot from the last six years of my life, and I hate the thought of it being tarnished so cruelly. I start to wriggle in the man's arms, desperate to banish thoughts of Kisten because he doesn't belong here with these monsters.

His grip tightens until I swear my ribs might crack. I can't hold in the small cry of pain it causes. He's holding me so tight I can hardly take a breath. Every exhale allows him to constrict me further, so I can't replenish the oxygen leaving my lungs. It feels like I'm suffocating on nothing.

"I need you to calm down, Beauty. I'm not going to hurt you."

I laugh weakly at his words and the fact that the man who bought me sounds like my savior. "I'm sure you tell all the women you buy that," I say, the words more like tiny gasps with hardly any sound.

"If I admit that I really don't hurt the women I buy, I doubt you'll believe me. I swear I have no plans to harm you or Lexis," he says, sounding earnest.

His mention of her name reminds me that we aren't alone. The woman—Lexis—is standing against the wall, her hands covering the bottom half of her face as she watches us. She still looks petrified, and the fact that she's against the wall instead of attempting to help me says all I need to know. She's not on my side.

"Lexis, have I harmed you in any way?" he asks.

She shakes her head no.

"Did I buy you?"

She shakes her head no again.

"Why are you here?"

"B-because t-they gave me to y-you," she stutters.

"See, beauty. I haven't harmed Lexis, and she's been with me for hours. I swear I won't hurt you. I'm going to help you both."

I don't know what to do. I swore I would fight to the end, but if what Lexis said is true and if I can believe the man who sounds like my savior but can't possibly be him, then shouldn't I stop fighting and see what happens? Or is that wishful thinking, and will it end with me chained up for his pleasure?

I'm so damn tired. My arms and legs feel like they weigh a million pounds. I exerted every ounce of energy I had into my attack. The longer he holds me, the weaker I feel myself getting. Not being able to catch my breath is just making things worse. It seems like a stupid idea, but I decide to believe Lexis… not him. I don't think I could ever believe the words of a man who purchases women from human traffickers.

I nod my head and stop squirming. My body sags in his arms now that I'm no longer struggling against him.

"Good girl, my beauty. I'm going to set you down, okay?"

His voice is strong and sure. The cadence and tone are calming, just like Kisten's. It makes me want to cry. How can I miss someone I don't even know? The time in the cage twisted my mind. Conjuring fantasies of Kisten rescuing me and us living a happy life together. Even the dreams of him violently killing the people who kept me a slave were beautiful.

"Okay," I whisper.

He sets me on my feet, releasing his hold slowly like he's unsure if he can trust me not to lash out again. I wish I had the energy to do so, but I don't. Hell, I can barely even keep my eyes open. I'm completely at his mercy from this moment on. When he fully releases me, my body sways. Before I can fall, he picks me up like I'm a bride and carries me to the bed. I whimper when he sets me down on the soft mattress. He steps away, and I get my first look at his face.

My eyes widen in shock and fill with hot tears.

"K-Kisten?"

His name is barely a whisper. A question, not a statement. A prayer. A hope. A dream I never dared to dream.

"Hello again, beauty."