Page 65 of Coal Hearts

She flicked a look at the nurse still fiddling with vials of my blood before glancing at Peter. He shrugged and gave her a soft smile.

“She means no offense, Dr Belford,” Peter said. “She’s fresh off the plane, and I haven’t had time to tell her our secrets yet.”

Dr Belford, with her late forties face, silver-toned temples, and mousy brown hair, returned his smile. Her dark eyes seemed kind but cold. A complicated mess of medical professional and hired criminal.

Catching my attention again, she said, “I do it because I had mountains of debt from study. I entered this profession to heal and help, yet when I finally became qualified and paid my dues, working my way through the shitty jobs in my local hospital, it all came crashing down when my superior pinned his mistake on me.” Her eyes tightened. “With one lie, he destroyed my reputation and stole my license. To add insult to injury, I was summoned to attend court for the death of the patient he’d overdosed. I faced ten years jail time; I wasn’t even in the ward at the time.”

“H-How could an accusation like that stick, then? If you weren’t even—”

“It stuck because men band together. The old boy’s club in that hospital was a thousand times worse than even this club and its sadistic members.” Her nose wrinkled, adding more fine lines around her eyes. “We believe we won the battle for women’s equality? Let me tell you...we didn’t.”

My mouth fell open. “You dare say that to the girl who’s just been kidnapped? The girl you’re about to inject with birth control, knowing full well she’s going to be raped?”

The doctor didn’t flinch. She stared at me down her sharp nose. “Look, you’d be wise to—”

“I’ll handle this.” Peter moved from the wall, coming to stand beside me. I stayed sitting on the uncomfortable table, our eyes locking even with the height difference. Tucking my straight hair behind my ear, he said softly, “Learn who your enemies are and don’t confuse them with your friends.”

I shivered from his touch but didn’t have time to push him away before he cocked his thumb at the doctor. “Melanie Belford and Rose Ulrich are friends. Without them, our pain would last far longer. They patch us up, give us drugs, and write us notes if we’re not fit to serve. Don’t piss them off.”

He grinned at the doctor. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten out of being fucked, all because Dr Belford wrote me a note saying I had a bad case of the stomach flu and in the sanitary interests of everyone involved, I should sit the night out.”

The doctor blushed as Peter pecked her adoringly on the cheek. “My ass thanks you, Mel.”

“Now, now. How many times do I need to tell you to stop trying to seduce me?”

He kissed her again, softly, sweetly. “The offer is there. Any time you want to let loose some of that tension, I’m yours. I owe you a hundred orgasms for the way you’ve looked after me.”

My cheeks burned as the nurse, Rose, came to join us and slapped Peter good-naturedly on the shoulder. “Flirt.”

“Only for you ladies.” Peter grabbed Rose’s hand and kissed her knuckles with a flourish. “I’d happily serve both of you. We could ask Ily to step outside—”

“You’re incorrigible.” Rose laughed under her breath.

“I’m horny,” Peter murmured, kissing his way up her arm. “It’s true what they say. Live in a brothel, and sex becomes your harshest master and greatest freedom.”

Pressing my hands over my red-blooming cheeks, I shook my head. “Who the hell are you people? What the hell is this place?”

Peter let Rose go and bowed. “I’m so glad you asked. I’ll tell you. But first...are you up the duff?”

I crossed my arms. “That is none of your—”

“First lesson.” Swooping into me, he grabbed my golden cuffs and planted my arms to the side. His strength belied his svelte leanness; I struggled unsuccessfully in his hold. “Everything about you, every burp, fart, climax, and allergy is now my business. If you have a kink you like, you tell me. If you have a terror that incapacities you, you tell me. Every sickness, every secret, every sexual and seemingly mundane thing...I want to know about, want to know why?”

He let me go and slung his arm over Dr Belford’s slender shoulders. “We need to know so we can protect you. You belong to the Master Jeweler. You will get on your knees, you will gag on his cock, you will let his asshole friends stick their dicks in you, but when they are done, you have us. We take care of one another. We look out for each other. And we’re not about to let some girl who thinks she’s better than us taint our little family.”

Anger tinted his dark eyes, making them gleam with midnight. “I get that this is hard. You’re cursing everyone and thinking we are all your enemies, but you’ll soon learn that we aren’t. We are all you have. We are all you’ll ever have from now on, so...I will ask you one last time.” Grabbing my cheeks, he snapped, “Are you or are you not pregnant?”

I trembled in his hold.

I looked past him to the doctor.

I flinched as the nurse gave me a pitying smile.

And my fight hiccupped. My rage and despair all paused, interrupted by the awful, awful realisation that this wasn’t a game. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was real. This was happening. And there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.

Grabbing his wrist, clutching the cold metal of his matching cuff marking him as property, I licked my lips and said, “No, I’m not pregnant.”

“Alright then.” Letting me go, he backed up so the doctor could stick me with her needle. I jerked from the sting; she gave me an understanding smile.