Chapter 9 Lana
LANA
“Take it, baby,” he says again. The authority in his voice triggers something inside of me. He leans closer. “For me, baby. Take it.”
I shouldn’t want this. His dominance shouldn’t turn me on.
But there’s a part of me, deep down inside, that I can’t quite ignore.
“Take it for me, baby,” he says again, his voice low against my ear.
The words send heat spiraling through me despite everything I've been through. Despite the clinical setting, the humiliation, the way they bought me like an animal.
My body betrays me, responding to the dominance in his voice in a way that makes shame burn in my chest.
I nod, unable to speak as the last of the liquid flows into me. My abdomen is stretched, full to the point of pain, but I hold still under his grip on my throat. The pressure of his fingers is just enough to remind me who's in control.
"Good girl," he murmurs when the bag finally empties. "Now you're going to hold it for five minutes."
Five minutes. It might as well be five hours. My muscles clench involuntarily, fighting to keep everything inside as cramps roll through my belly in waves. Sweat beads on my forehead despite the cool air.
Aiden's thumb strokes across my pulse point, a gesture that's almost tender. "Breathe through it."
I focus on his face, on the blue of his eyes. They're not cold anymore. There's something else there now, something I can't quite identify.
I try to count the ceiling tiles again, but they blur as tears sting my eyes. The fullness inside me is unbearable. I clench my muscles tighter, determined to do this for him.
I don’t even know this man, but there’s something about his words, his mannerisms that makes me want to follow him.
Maybe it’s the way I’ve been captive for who knows how long.
Maybe it’s that deep seated need inside me, the one that made me sign up for the “consensual” slave auction in the first place.
"Two more minutes," Gavin says, checking his watch.
Aiden's hand moves from my throat to my hair, stroking it in a way that feels almost comforting.
It's confusing—this mixture of dominance and gentleness. I don't know what to make of it, but I find myself leaning into his touch despite everything.
"You're doing so well," he murmurs. The praise washes over me.
I focus on his face, on the strong line of his jaw, the intensity in his eyes. There's something there I can't quite read—a complexity that the men at the facility never had. They were simple in their cruelty. This is... different.
A particularly sharp cramp grips my abdomen, and I gasp, my body arching involuntarily. Aiden's hand immediately returns to my shoulder, pressing me back down.
"Almost there," he says. "Stay still."
I obey, though my body screams for release. The pressure inside me builds until I think I might pass out.
My focus narrows to Aiden's face, to the steady rhythm of his breathing. I try to match it, inhaling when he does, exhaling slowly through my mouth.
"Time," Gavin says finally.
He slides the nozzle from me, and I clench every muscle in my body, terrified to spill a drop.
I don't move until Aiden nods.
"Bathroom is through there," Gavin says, gesturing to a door I hadn't noticed before. "Can you walk?"
I'm not sure, but I nod anyway. Aiden helps me sit up, his hands strong and steady on my shoulders. The movement shifts everything inside me, and I bite my lip to keep from crying out.
My legs tremble as I slide off the table. The tile is cold beneath my feet as I take one careful step, then another. My stomach cramps violently, and I pause, pressing a hand against my swollen abdomen.
"I've got you," Aiden says, suddenly beside me. His arm wraps around my waist, supporting me as we make our way to the bathroom, a small space off the exam room.
Aiden helps me all the way inside the small room, and the bathroom door closes behind us with a soft click.
I barely make it to the toilet before my body gives out, releasing everything in waves of relief and humiliation.
Aiden stays with me, his hand resting on my back as my body empties itself. I should be mortified that he's witnessing this, but I'm too grateful for the release to care. The cramping gradually subsides, leaving me weak and shaking.
"Better?" he asks when I finally stop trembling.
I nod, not trusting my voice, or him. Not yet.
My legs feel like water as I try to stand. He steadies me with both hands, his grip firm but gentle.
“Good girl,” he says again.
"Thank you," I whisper. The words are barely audible, even to my own ears.
I’m not quite sure what I’m thanking him for—letting me release? helping me up? buying me?—but he doesn’t ask me to elaborate.
Aiden turns on the small sink and wets a washcloth with warm water. Without a word, he begins cleaning me—gently wiping my thighs, my bottom, between my legs. The intimacy of it should terrify me, but instead I find myself relaxing under his careful touch.
"What's your real name?" he asks quietly as he works.
I freeze. My real name. I haven't said it aloud in so long that I'm not sure I remember how it sounds in my own voice.
I shake my head, remembering my place. “One twenty-seven.”
Aiden frowns. His brows pull together, creating a crease between them that I find myself wanting to smooth away.
"That's not a name," he says, his voice low but firm. "It's a number."
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat making it difficult. "It's what they call me."
He studies me for a long moment, his blue eyes searching mine as if he could find my real name written there. I drop my gaze, focusing on the tile floor beneath my bare feet.
"When we're done here," he says finally, "we'll get you some clothes and something to eat. Then we'll talk."
Talk. The word sends a fresh wave of anxiety through me. Talking means questions. Questions I'm not sure I want to answer.
But I nod anyway, because what choice do I have?
He helps me back to the exam room where Gavin waits. The metal table gleams under the harsh lights, and I shudder at the thought of climbing back onto it.
"We're almost done," Gavin says, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves. "I just need to check a few more things.”
I’m frozen in place until Aiden’s hand presses gently against my lower back. “Come on, baby,” he says. “Now.”
His tone is gruff, commanding, at odds with his gentle touch.
And it’s exactly what I need.
I climb onto the exam table and lie back, allowing Gavin to direct my feet into the stirrups once again.
When Gavin lifts a speculum from the metal tray beside him, my breath catches, and I look at Aiden.
“You can take it, baby,” he says. “Take all of it. For me.”
And so I do.