I whimper and push vainly at Daniel’s chest, but he’s got me pressed against the wall of the building. I’m trapped against his body as he grabs my leg and pulls it to his hip, practically wrapping me around him even as I struggle.
“We’re being watched,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Quit fighting.” And then he goes back to kissing me.
My fists stop beating him on the chest as I realize this is all an act. My eyes open, and I look at Daniel’s hard face. His eyes are slits, and he’s watching a nearby doorway even as his mouth crushes against mine again.
I’m not responding. I can’t. This is too much like the times in the brothel. There’s no delicate lead for me to take. I need to sit quietly and accept. I need to trust Daniel.
But I can’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks—or the saliva from pooling in my mouth. I’m going to throw up if this continues for too much longer. Wait it out, I tell myself. It’s not like before. It’s not. But even as I tell myself this, I remember the gun pressed to my head and the awful feeling of futility as I dropped to my knees in front of the man who’d bought me.
“Shit,” Daniel says against my mouth. “So fucking sorry, fighter. Just hang on for me.” He hitches my leg against his hip again and grinds his pelvis against mine. Even as he does, I feel something jostle, and I realize he’s pulled a gun free of its holster and holds it against my leg.
When I think I can’t bear this any longer, he lifts his mouth from mine and scans the street, tilting his head. I swallow hard and wipe the back of my hand against my mouth surreptitiously, trying to scrub away the feelings.
“I don’t see the gunman anymore, but I don’t want to take chances,” Daniel says. He gives me a quick, apologetic kiss on the forehead. “Come on. We’re going this way.” He drops my leg and gestures that I should head down the alley.
Shivering, I do so, trotting a few steps ahead of him as he watches carefully behind us. My earlier buoyancy has been entirely deflated. I was feeling so good this morning, so normal. And now, poof, it’s gone again.
I want to curl up and cry, my go-to after I’ve been violated, but we don’t have time for that. We’re in danger—I can tell from the tense set of Daniel’s shoulders and the way his mouth is in a firm, angry line—so I choke back the feelings and let Daniel lead me on.
Eventually, he points ahead and leads me through an alley door. We’re back at the hotel, but the back entrance, where fresh laundry is delivered and food trucks bring in packages.
We head through the back halls of the hotel, up the fire escape stairs, and eventually make it back to our room. The hallways are empty, but Daniel presses himself against the wall next to the door, carefully pushing me behind him. It’s clear from his raised-gun stance that he expects trouble in our room, so I wait for his signal, pulling out the gun I now carry with me at all times. It makes me feel a little better to hold it, knowing there’s an option if a man other than Daniel tries to shove me down against another dirty mattress in the future.
I can always shoot someone, right? Or yourself, my brain reminds me, but that’s not an option. Then again, neither is whoring.
“Wait here,” Daniel says in a low whisper. “I’m going in. Shoot anyone that comes out of this doorway. Even me. If it’s clear, I’ll call you ‘fighter baby’. Got it?”
“Got it,” I choke out in a low voice, even as he heads through the door, gun at the ready.
There’s an incredibly long moment of silence, and I scarcely breathe, waiting to hear something, anything.
A moment later, Daniel says, “All clear, fighter baby. Come on in.”
I release the breath I’ve been holding and enter the room. Immediately, it’s clear to me that the room’s been ransacked. My clothes have been torn apart and strewn across the room, and the bed has been overturned. Thank God Daniel took the bag of guns with us. He refused to let them out of his sight, and I see now he was right to do so.
I swallow hard at the sight. “Good thing we went out for breakfast, huh?” I try not to think what would have happened if they’d have found me in bed with Daniel, rubbing up against him. Both of us could have been killed.
“Looks like your friend hasn’t given up on you yet.” Daniel’s mouth is set into the hard, angry line I’m becoming all too familiar with. “Goddamn it. Least we have most our ammo still on us, but it looks like you’re going to be wearing that outfit for a while.”
“At least there’s that,” I agree faintly.
“You okay?” he asks me.
My lower lip feels like it’s on the verge of trembling, but I nod. “I’m fine.” I’m not, but there’s no point in going into how fucked-up my head is at the moment, because it doesn’t matter.
“Let’s go,” Daniel says. “Pack your things again, and we’ll head to a new hotel. Change of plans. We’re heading for the best hotel money can buy. Figure since they’re going to know where we are anyhow, we might as well hide in plain sight. They’re going to have to work a lot harder to try and steal your ass on Main Street.”
“Okay,” I say in a small voice again.
“You sure you don’t know why Freeze is so hot for you? You great with pony play or something?”
“I don’t even know what that is.”
“Never mind. I’m being a jackass. This shit’s not making sense and I’m getting riled trying to figure it out.” He rakes a hand through his short hair and blows out a heavy breath. “Fuck. Let’s go.”
I pack my things quickly, tuck my gun back into my belt, and try to remain calm while Daniel texts something into his burner. When I’m ready, I nod at him and we leave the room behind. As soon as we get back out into the streets, Daniel hails a cab and puts an arm around my shoulders, like we’re a couple. I don’t shrug him off even though I’m feeling so weird right now. I don’t want to be touched, not at the moment, but I don’t tell Daniel to take his hands off of me.
We get in the cab. Daniel tells the driver an address in Portuguese and then puts his arm over my shoulders again. “Can’t believe we’re finally Mr. and Mrs. Parker,” he says in that drawling fake Texas accent I’m starting to learn is his “let’s pretend” voice.
“That’s right, baby,” I say quickly and press a kiss to his cheek, even though my voice sounds a bit more wobbly than I’d like.