Live Another Day by Baileigh Higgins (reading in the dark .txt) 📗

like a puppet. “I mean, why should I believe you?”

“You didn’t believe her story, did you? About looking for her family?” He shot her a sharp look. “Even if she had family near there once, what are the chances of them surviving this long? It’s a wild goose chase.”

“Maybe, but why do you care?”

“That’s a stupid question, Nadia. You know how I feel about you, about us.”

“How can there be an us?” She shook her head. “Don’t you understand what I am?”

“I understand, and I told you it changes nothing.”

Anger overwhelmed her at his obtuseness, and she stamped her foot. “I’m infected, don’t you get that? If you come near me, I’ll kill you. We can never kiss, never…”

“Never make love,” he finished when she hesitated. “Yeah, I got that.”

She blushed when he uttered the words, a wave of hot blood flooding her skin until she felt as if her body were on fire. “Yes, that.”

He smiled, the flash of his teeth white in the glow of the fire. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“I'm not blushing...how did you know? You can’t possibly see,” she protested.

“I know. I always know.” He reached out his hand, and she started like a frightened deer when he gripped her fingers. “Don’t you get it, Nadia?”

“Get what?” The words came out in a strangled whisper.

“It doesn’t matter what you are, what you can do, what we can never do. I don’t care about any of that. As long as I’m with you, that’s all I need.”

Nadia allowed him to weave his fingers through hers. His touch was warm. It reminded her how long it had been since she’d been held by someone, loved by someone. Too long.

She looked up at him. “You really mean that?”

“You know, I do.” He reached out with his other hand and brushed her cheek. “Let me in.”

“I’m scared,” she confessed. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You could never hurt me. Just give a chance, you’ll see.”

“I...I don’t know if I can. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you, Caleb.”

He sighed and pulled her close. Nadia resisted for a second before allowing him to fold her into his arms. She pressed her face into his neck and breathed in his scent. It felt so right, she wanted to cry. “Just think about, okay?”

Against her better judgment, she nodded. “Okay.”

Chapter 15 - Mpho

Mpho moved between the men feasting at the table with fearful caution. In her hands, she carried a jug of fermented beer, the traditional drink of her people. With it, she topped up empty glasses and tried to avoid the grasping hands that clutched at her flesh with such persistence.

She bit her bottom lip when one set of hands, in particular, took hold of her waist. The fingers massaged the flat expanse of her stomach before moving upward to pinch her breasts with cruel indifference. Carlito.

Mpho hated him with a fervor that burned hotter than the fires of hell. All the girls did. He was cruel and vicious, the kind of man who relished in the suffering of others and excelled at torture. It was no wonder Ke Tau liked him so much.

She swallowed a whimper when he pulled her onto his lap. “Come here, sweetheart. It’s been awhile since you, and I played.”

Mpho managed an insincere smile for the inebriated man. “Too long, Sir.”

He leered at her as his hands continued to explore her body with painful precision. She’d be bruised tomorrow. Then his lips twisted into a sneer. “Whore. So eager to throw yourself at me. It’s disgusting.”

She cringed at his outburst. “No, I...it’s not...I’m not…”

“Don’t play coy with me. You women are all the same. Sluts one and all.” He bared his teeth and bit down on her shoulder. Fiery pain shot through her arm, and warm blood welled up beneath his lips.

Mpho cast desperate eyes around for an escape route and encountered the dead gaze of Hiran, Ke Tau’s right-hand man. He watched her for a second before saying, “Carlito, leave the girl alone. We have matters to discuss.”

Carlito growled like a dog and shook his head. “No.”

“I said, leave her.” Hiran’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“No.” Carlito sat upright, no longer drunk as he reached for the fearsome knife he carried.

“What’s this?” Ke Tau said, leaning forward. “Are my two best men fighting over a girl?”

“There's no quarrel,” Hiran said with calm composure.

“Indeed not,” Carlito sneered. “He’s too much of a pussy to challenge me. The girl is mine.”

Hiran’s face took on a dangerous cast made more pronounced by his exotic features. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

“Now, now. Let’s not fall out over something as simple as a mere woman,” Ke Tau intervened. “You can share.”

Mpho shivered at his words, though she remained hopeful Hiran would save her. He was a cold and brutal man, but he held great respect for her grandmother, Rebecca, and treated them well as a consequence.

Before Carlito could reply, a hue and cry were raised at the entrance. A boy stumbled in, short and skinny, his eyes rolling in his face. Two guards flanked him on either side, and Mpho gasped as she recognized him. Kabelo!

Ke Tau raised a hand. “What’s the meaning of this? Who disturbs my meal?”

“He says he’s one of us,” one of the guards said as he nudged Kabelo forward. “Says he was captured that day on the road.”

Ke Tau sat back. “Is this true?”

Kabelo bobbed his head. “Yes, Sir. They kept me there all this time.”

“That’s pleasant. Did you have a good time? Did they feed you? Clothe you? Bathe you?”

The atmosphere changed as Ke Tau’s mocking questions rang out and the mood in the room sobered. Each man sat upright; their eyes fixed on the shivering victim. Like sharks in the ocean, they smelled blood, and it drew them from miles around.

“Y...yes, Sir,” Kabelo mumbled as he plucked at his too clean shirt. “But I escaped as soon as I could.”

“I see. How good of you.” Ke Tau cocked his