2. Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO
ISADORA
“ L ick her clit, Isadora,” Headmaster Mikhail ordered, as I held one of my sisters down in front of him on his desk. “Think of it as wife training,” he sneered.
Tears filled my eyes. “N-no.” I could feel nausea welling into my throat.
He sighed. “Back in the tomb for you.”
He dragged me back down into the catacombs as I screamed, clawing at his hands, and yanking my hair. He threw me into the tomb, my body bouncing off the bones in it.
The sounds of the rats’ claws, as they made their way toward me, echoed in my mind. They crept closer, and I heard the slithers. When the rats came, so did the snakes. After all, predators loved their warm-blooded prey.
How much more could I endure before I lost my will to fight completely?
I sat straight up in bed, a scream caught in my throat. I looked around, not knowing where I was, the dream fading like a poor memory. If I was stronger, maybe I would remember, but I was weak. Worthless. I couldn’t grasp onto the tendrils, as I forgot once more what made me wake up in a panic, to begin with. It would be easier if I just didn’t open my eyes. My nails dug into flesh, and I looked down. A man was below me.
The one without an eye.
I’d seen him around, but why was I on top of him, and why was his flaccid dick sticky between my thighs? Had we had sex? How?
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve always been this empty.
I climbed off him and headed into the bathroom. He hadn’t moved from his spot, from what I could see as I closed the door. I felt between my thighs. We’d had sex. But, who was that man and why did I have sex with him?
Were we in a relationship?
I could hardly remember how I got here to begin with. I just knew that I was in a dark place and now I wasn’t. I didn’t want to search for where I was before either. Ignorance was bliss. I’d like to remain that way.
Something told me I wouldn’t like what I’d find, if I went searching for my memories.
I hopped in the shower, taking care of my hair first. None of the products in the bathroom were in American, or even in Spanish. Some kind of Russian, and I couldn’t speak that language. I just hoped for the best, and that they wouldn’t damage my curls, but I was covered in sweat and needed to get clean.
I finished washing the rest of my body and hopped out of the shower, pulling a towel around my wet self. I took the second towel and threw my hair in it, even though it wasn’t good for my hair, because I didn’t want to trail water everywhere.
Maybe I could ask my sister for a microfiber towel. It was better. Beggars couldn’t be choosers though, and this wasn’t the room I’d been given. Unlike the rest of my sisters, I’d been separated, and kept awake at the behest of Valentina.
I still couldn’t remember anything until the ship, but I was here. It’s not like my life was worth remembering anyway. I’d fucked a man I barely knew, and now, I was going to do an almost naked walk of shame. I hoped he didn’t wake up when I crept back in.
I wonder what it would feel like, not to wake up at all.
I let myself out of the bathroom, and breathed a sigh of relief to see the silver-haired fox in the same place I’d left him. Guess my pussy was so good he was knocked out for good. I smirked to myself a bit, since I didn’t have the memories to know how good it could be.
I crept out of the room and back upstairs to the mid-level. It was better that the guy was a nameless soldier. I didn’t need Valentina going on a warpath.
“Why are you wet?” Valentina asked, as soon as I stepped back into my room.
“I went swimming when we stopped for fuel.”
“In the nude?” Her eyebrows rose like she didn’t believe me.
“What, you never have?” I stuck my nose in the air.
There was a moment of silence, before we both started laughing together. Once we let out the relief, Valentina said she was going to leave me be.
“I only wanted to check and see how you are doing.”
“I’m fine,” I whispered the lie.
We both knew that I was lying, but she didn’t call me out on it. Valentina left my room, and I went to the small closet, grabbed a T-shirt, and threw it over my body. I flopped on the bed, and thought about the hot stranger and all his muscles.
He had tattoos up his neck. His hair was sprinkled in gray, letting me know he was older than me. He was a low-ranking soldier, no doubt. An attractive one, but I couldn’t do anything else with him .
There was something important I was forgetting, or perhaps, someone. My brain kept telling me that there was something wrong. A foreboding feeling sat on the back of my neck every day.
I hoped it would go away when we got to Russia.
I walked out to get some food. I wasn’t hungry, but I couldn’t help but think that there was strength in numbers. I didn’t want to be alone. Valentina was already there, a plate covered with a mound of food. She was eating for two, even if she hadn’t announced yet.
I could see her slight bump from miles away.
Little things didn’t escape my notice.
I walked the buffet line, and grabbed some sliced oranges and a bottle of water. It had been a long time since I’d eaten anything substantial.
I sat at a table by myself, and cut a small sliver of orange with my fork, not wanting my hands to get dirty.
“ Malen'kiy angel,” a husky voice whispered in my ear. “Imagine my surprise when I woke up to find you’d fled my bedroom.”
“What would you do if you woke up in bed with a stranger?” I murmured, not turning toward him.
His woodsy scent enveloped me as he straddled the seat beside me. “I would at least let them have another round in the shower, before sneaking out to do my walk of shame,” he whispered back.
This time I turned and looked at him. Caught up in his dark eye, my mouth dried up, and I forgot all the words I was going to say. He was magnificent. Dark and dangerous, but touched by time, in a way that said he could handle himself.
I should stay away from him.
Yet I leaned towards him, wishing for his touch. He looked down at my plate with a scowl. “That isn’t enough food to eat, malen'kiy angel. ”
I shook my head in agreement, but said, “I’m not starving.” Do I even like this food? I can’t remember.
“Why are you here then?”
Having his full focus on me was terrifying.
“So I’m not alone,” I answered honestly.
He growled and got up from his seat. It shocked me and I jumped, but he wasn’t attacking me. No, he stalked to the buffet line and grabbed a plate. Oh, maybe he was hungry as well.
It was a rather abrupt way of ending the conversation, but I could understand if he couldn’t help himself, and needed to grab something nutritious to eat as well. With that in mind, I cut off another small sliver of orange. I chewed and swallowed the small bite like it was the largest, most grandiose meal.
When I looked up from the bite, I noticed the stranger back in the seat next to me, with a plate of pancakes, sausage, eggs, toast, and assorted fruits. A well-balanced meal for a man his age.
He cut a slice of the pancakes and held the fork in front of my mouth.
“Open, malen'kiy angel,” he demanded.
Like magic, my jaw dropped open, and he slipped the fork in between my lips. I chewed and swallowed, all without breaking his stare. When I finished the bite, I had the strangest urge. I opened my mouth to show him I’d eaten every crumb.
“Good girl,” he praised.
A wondrous spark exploded in my chest with those two words. Wetness spread between my thighs. I would do anything for him to say those words to me again. I would walk through fire to feel the way I did at this moment.
In silence, he fed me more of the meal. I had to stop him when I finished a quarter of the pancakes, and had a couple of bites of fruit. I already felt nauseous from the ship rocking. Eating too much was asking for the rest of my stay to be stuck in the bathroom .
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Does he even care who I am, or just what I represent?
I peeked up at him and saw the dark aura surrounding his body. What had I done to set him off? I squirmed out of my chair and sank to my knees. The room grew quiet. I could barely stand it, my heart pounding in my chest.
I didn’t know where they sent bad ones to on the ship, but I knew it was dark. I didn’t want to be in the dark. “I’ll be good. I’ll be good. I’ll be good,” I whispered, rocking on my knees.
“Isadora!” Valentina shouted from across the room.
She was skidding on her knees in front of me, her arms wrapped around me so quickly that I flinched half a second too late, hating her touch.
“What did you do to her, Benedikt?” I heard Valentina address the terrifying man before me.
“Fed her,” he said, lazily. “I didn’t know it was such a crime.”
Benedikt . I mouthed his name to myself, feeling eyes on my head as soon as I did it.
“This is no time for your jokes. I don’t want my sister hurt any more than she already has been,” Valentina hissed.
“Then take better care of her.”
I could hear his shrug, even though I didn’t have the courage to glance up and look.
If I told him I wanted to die, would he even care?
“I-I Y-you… ugh,” Valentina sputtered, trying to withdraw her knife.
Benedikt stood, ignoring her completely, and I watched his shiny shoes as they pointed toward me and walked my way.
“If you need anything, malen'kiy angel ,” he murmured, his voice a low, dangerous caress against my ear. His lips lingered just long enough to send a shiver down my spine, as he pressed a kiss to my cheek; soft, yet claiming. Straightening, he shot me a look that promised more than comfort, before turning on his heel and disappearing down the hallway, each step deliberate, commanding.
I braved the world and looked up at his back. Powerful, like he was. His stride wasn’t meek, it shouted to the world that he was a leader, through and through.
“Shit, if I wasn’t locked down, I would say Benedikt has grown hotter with age,” Valentina murmured, concealing her knife once more.
I wanted to scratch her eyes out for looking at my man like that. Wait, my man? Benedikt wasn’t mine. Just because he said some friendly words, and gave me a bit of affection, didn’t make him trustworthy.
He was a man after all.
“Let’s find you some pants, and take a walk on the deck,” Valentina suggested, pulling herself off the ground before offering me her hand.
We headed back to her room and she lent me a pair of tights.
“What was that back there?” Valentina brought up the incident.
“I just didn’t want him to be angry with me,” I whispered.
Valentina drew me into her arms. “Is that what they were teaching you while I was gone?”
I nodded my head, not wanting to tell her the awful truth. I didn’t remember any of my time at The Academy. It was like my mind didn’t want me to relive anything, and had wiped the slate clean.
I remembered this ship. I loosely remembered my family, and that there was some big deal happening. I couldn’t force it. Nor did I want to. The mind was only protected from things that were too horrific to process.
I can’t even remember a reason to keep going.
So, whatever happened, I didn’t want to know.
We promenaded along the deck. I saw Benedikt once we rested on the side rails. He headed toward the helipad and pulled out his gun. Intrigued, I watched as he tried to hit his target in the same spot. Sometimes he got it, other times he missed it.
Valentina sighed, “poor Benedikt Petrov.”
“What about him?”
“It just sucks that Roman took his eye like that. I feel like they could’ve talked things through, and worked on a better solution.”
Confused, I pulled my focus off my new obsession. “What do you mean?”
Valentina looked around, like she was worried someone would hear her. “I forgot you weren’t around. Benedikt pulled his gun on me for threatening Roman’s life, and he took Benedikt’s eye in payment.”
“What?” Shocked, I clutched my throat.
I wasn’t sure if I’d met Roman, but he sounded awful. Valentina nodded, her doe eyes wide. “That’s the way it is in the Bratva.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’ll never have to worry about it,” I muttered. “Unlike you.”
Valentina squeaked. “I have the protection of Tiffany Petrov. I should be alright.”
Confused again, I groaned. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, she’s the Pakhan’s wife. A woman who took back her power, and mutilated a ton of dicks across Russia.”
I could get behind someone like that. “She sounds interesting.”
“Wait until you meet her,” Valentina gushed.
“I-I’m meeting her?”
Valentina nodded. “Of course. You’re my sister from another mister and missus. You’ve got to meet her, silly.”
“If you say so.” Agreeable. That’s what I needed to be.
I don’t know who I am, and I don’t think I care enough to find out .
I turned toward Benedikt, watching him grow frustrated from his shooting.
Pliant.
Agreeable.
Submissive.
These words echoed in my mind, as I watched my new obsession cuss at himself, and wave his gun around like a maniac. Despite having only one eye, he was attractive. Plus, he didn’t need both of his eyes for me to sit on his face.
Maybe I could distract myself from my unknown future with him. I took my eyes off him, and stared up into the sky at the sun. I wish I could be free. From what? I don’t know. But free anyway, from the chains I couldn’t see.
That was my one wish.