Would we still be here now? About to lose everything to try and save our children?
Maybe, but at least if we’d spent those years loving each other, it wouldn’t feel like we wasted so much time now.
I feel a hand start to graze my body, and Langston’s body changes in the familiar way. His lips thin, his hand twitches, his eyes glaze over into darkness. He’s fighting every nerve in his body to not save me. Saving me means losing Rose, and our kids will always come first.
“Stay,” I half mouth, half say to Langston.
Another hand touches me. I try not to focus or think about where. It’s easy to tune out when I’m so focused on not showing any signs of distress to Langston. I don’t want him to suffer because he thinks I’m in pain—I’m not.
The debt I lost said that any man in this room could touch me where they want. So far, I’ve been poked and prodded everywhere—places no one but Langston deserves to touch. But the hand we’ve been dealt means we have to fight to get to that place. And when we do, I have a feeling our happily ever after is going to be short-lived. Even if we find happiness together, something will come along and take it away. The world always takes from us. It’s why I’ve been so opposed to us being together.
I feel the man slide his grubby finger inside me. I don’t react. I’m not in pain, not really. This will all be over soon, so fucking soon.
Langston looks like he’s about to combust. But if I could stay in my chair while that sadistic woman almost cut off all the blood supply to his balls, then he can sit in his chair for this.
Langston can’t put up with it, though. He rushes onto the stage. The man who was fingering me steps back, probably because he thinks Langston will punch him. Langston takes a deep breath as he stands in front of me, shielding me from the rest of the men.
“Langston, I’m okay. I promise,” I say, making my voice sound as strong as possible.
“I know you are. I’m not.”
“We have to play the game. We have to win. There is no other option.”
“I know.”
“Then, what are you doing? Go back to your chair.”
He tilts his head as cocky grin spreads. “I’m having my turn.”
I frown, confused, just before his hand cups my sex.
“Oh.”
I bite my lip to keep the sex noises that are begging to leave my body as Langston rubs a thumb around my clit before slowly pushing a finger inside of me.
God, it feels like no other man. I could be blindfolded and fucked in the exact same way by every man here, and I’d be able to tell the difference between Langston and everyone else. He may have just recently become my husband, but he’s been my everything for so much longer.
My breath speeds up as he touches me. My cheeks flush, and my toes curl on the stage.
I prepare myself for the inevitable—someone is going to yank him off of me.
Langston leans into my body, his lips resting on mine. My eyes are closed as the pressure builds inside me. My mind begins to soar above all the wickedness of the room. Vile creatures walk among us every day, only to haunt our dreams later. I float above it all.
“Come, my wife.”
I do.
Langston’s mouth closes over mine, keeping all of my noises to himself. His body blocks the crowd so they can’t see my face as I come apart, as Langston claims me in front of everyone while protecting me in the only way he can.
“They can touch you all they want, but you’re mine,” he says loud enough for the whole room to hear.
“Leave,” I breathe out.
“What?”
“Thank you. I hate you. Now, leave. It’s easier for both of us. Go take a break in the bathroom or grab a drink at the bar.”
He frowns.
It’s my turn to help him.
He doesn’t like it, but eventually, he walks out of the room.
I exhale, feeling a weight lift from me.
More touching me, defiling me, trying to make a claim on me, but all I feel is Langston. His touch still tingles everywhere, and when they touch me, it ignites his touch once again.
I don’t know how much time passes. I’m blissfully ignorant to it all until Kiff finally tells me I can step down.
One step, then two, then…
I fall.
The room breaks out into laughter.
I don’t care.
My head spins. I must have gotten lightheaded from how long I was standing upright.
“We are going to take a twenty-minute break and then start the next round of games,” the host says.
Twenty-minute break.
My stomach heaves, and I know how I’m going to be spending my time.
I force myself up before I race to the bathroom.
I clutch the toilet as I dry heave. My stomach churns, but nothing comes out. Sweat forms and mixes with the blood seeping from my wounds before making a small puddle on the floor underneath me.
I expect Langston will burst through the stall door at any moment. This is the women’s bathroom, but that wouldn’t stop him. I expect him to search me out the second he realizes there is a break.
He can’t find me here. He can’t find me crumpled on the bathroom floor, a complete mess.
I flush the toilet and then use the seat to push myself up. My feet wobble, and the world spins around my head. I hold my arms out by my sides, trying to keep my balance. They flail a bit as I walk over to the sink and wash my hands. I try to wash some of the blood and sweat from my body, but it’s no use. All it does is smear.
I decide to focus my attention on my face, thinking I can at least wash enough off, so my eyes no longer sting.
“I said macaroni and cheese, not cheese pizza,” a soft voice says.
I turn the water off, my ears perk up, and my eyes search the three stalled bathroom for the source of the voice.
I throw open each of the stalls, but the room is empty.
Speak again, I beg the silence.
Did I just imagine that sweet little voice in my head?
“You are so incompetent. When I get older, I’m going to get you fired,” the sassy voice says again.
I grin as I look up at the vent directly above me.
Rose.
She’s here.
Right above me.
My heart flutters, coming alive again with true hope I didn’t know I could feel anymore. Rose is here. She’s alive, and from the sound of her voice, it sounds like she’s giving them hell.
This all won’t be for nothing. We will be able to get her back. Maybe sooner than we think?
I consider my options to get to Rose. Leave the bathroom, find the stairs, count the doors to her room, and then try to sneak in. That’s a lot of things that would have to go perfectly for me to be able to find her.
Or?
Or I climb up through the vent.
My time to make a move is running out. We only had a twenty-minute break. This could all fail miserably, but my gut tells me I have to try.
I can still hear Rose’s voice, but it’s softer now. I can’t make out her words.
I have to try.
I run to one of the stalls and climb up on the toilet. I look around for my next move and decide the best option is to climb up onto the wall of the stall. I stand on my tiptoes, barely able to reach the top of the wall while I balance on the top of the toilet.
I grab hold of the top of the stall, and then I clamber up. I slip and slide, but somehow I manage to hang on until I can hike my leg up onto the top of the wall.