She panted as someone touched her back.
Looking up, she saw Noah there.
They were covered in blood, but they had won. They had been victorious.
Claps echoed around the room, and she looked up to see that it had been watched from a vantage point above them.
“Very impressive. I have to say, I didn’t think you had it in you to actually kill them. Well done you, Skye.”
Noah still held the gun in his hand, but there were no more bullets.
The doors opened. She swallowed past the lump as the other men came in, carrying bats.
“Put the gun down. There are no more bullets,” she said. “We can’t win this. Not here. Not like this.”
“Skye?”
“There’s four of them, Noah, and only two of us. We’re not going to win this.”
She took hold of his hand, the one that hadn’t been holding the gun. Seconds passed. The threat was there.
She knew how Noah felt as she felt the same. Killing them wouldn’t help their situation. It would only make it worse, and right now, they were outnumbered.
Finally, he dropped the cuff, and the bats were lowered.
“Until next time.” Accent guy spoke up, and she glanced back.
He wasn’t happy. Whatever was next, it wouldn’t be good. They were both grabbed and shoved into a tiled room. Holding onto Noah, she let out a scream as they were suddenly powered by water jets, freezing cold water covering them from head to toe. Noah held her close, and she stared at the tiled floor, seeing the dirt and filth wash away. They were being washed. The icy cold blast felt like it was burning her skin. She couldn’t enjoy it.
Just as quickly as it started, the water turned off, and they were marched back to their cell without another word.
Skye was just happy to have been allowed back with Noah.
If he hadn’t won, she’d have stuck the cuff into her own neck and bled out. It was the only way she’d have ever been able to deal with that ending.
The moment their cell door closed, Noah grabbed her face, pressing her back against the door, and taking possession of her lips.
“There’s no way I’d want another to touch you. You’re mine, Skye. All mine.”
****
Later that day or night, they had no way of knowing what time of the day it was, Noah watched as Skye used the toilet. She held onto her back, and she was in pain.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He got up from the bed and moved closer to her. There were bruises all along her back and chest. The beatings they were constantly getting were starting to take their toll. They had bruises on top of bruises.
“Don’t. Please, let me have this.”
He took a step back, giving her the privacy she needed to take a pee. After everything they’d been through, he figured she’d be over this, but alas, not.
Once she finished, he turned and went to her.
“I need to see.”
“No. It’s fine.”