“We were almost at the railroad when we saw soldiers coming.” Luke Rivers answers my unspoken question. “We separated to hide in the trees. When the coast was clear, we couldn’t find Duque. Then we heard his screams.” He pauses, and I swear he’s shivering. “We searched for hours and we were about to ask for backup when we found him. Like this.”
“It looks like two soldiers attacked him,” says my dad.
Duque, still under the effects of a tranquilizer, stirs.
“Let me die,” he whispers.
Rey’s eyes are full of an agony we both know well. It’s the feeling of being powerless when the people you love are suffering. Dad assures him the worst of the bleeding is over.
The door opens, and Baron Diaz enters the room, demanding to know what happened. Baron’s face slowly changes from concern to disapproval.
“Why he didn’t fight?” A collective gasp is the only answer to his question.
“Dad!” Rey’s voice is a mix of shock and contained anger.
“All evidence shows that he did and looked what happened, compadre. It made his attackers more violent,” says Dad.
I don’t know if I should give privacy to Rey and Duque at this moment. I want to stay with Rey, but something tells me that Duque, unconscious as he is, doesn’t want anyone to see him like this. Especially not a female friend.
Dad takes the decision for me. “Everyone, please leave the room. Duque’s wounds will need particular care. Rey, you can stay.”
I look up to see Rey’s face. His gaze is intense. He reluctantly lets me go, and waits until he thinks I can’t see him to drop on his knees and cover his head with his hands. His despair breaks my heart. I feel desperate too but for different reasons.
If Duque’s life will never be the same, I hope he had the chance to love Veronica physically. I hope he wasn’t a V man.
I close the door behind me and head to my room. I’m sure the image of the raped man on the table will haunt my dreams.
* * *
I make my way to the clinic after a day of unsuccessful attempts to get a job in Shiloh. Duque’s attack isn’t uncommon in Starville but still stirs a round of gossip. People who usually ignore me try to start conversations, but I know they only want to be nosy about Duque.
According to Dad, his godson’s anus was destroyed by the attack. Duque’s had a colostomy and will remain at the clinic for a while, so the Diaz relatives spend a lot of time here. He has made it clear he wants to be alone. It mustn’t be easy for him. He must feel as though his attackers emasculated him. It doesn’t help that a sobbing Veronica and her father came to ask him to liberate her from their engagement.
Baron’s family is a very tight knit group. My aunt Olga Busko and Pastor Adriel Lee Rivers tried to pay a visit Duque and were dismissed. Not even the multitude of Diaz cousins and aunts have gotten to see Duque. I know Rey needs some space at this moment. I tried to comfort him once, and he acted as though he didn’t want to see me. Unfortunately, we’ve had more soldiers than usual at the clinic lately, so I remain out of sight. When Rey’s ready, he’ll search for me.
I can’t stop thinking about the hell Duque’s going through. I can’t shake this feeling that the next victim will be me. If my worst nightmares came true and someone violated me, would it be possible for me to have a normal life? To enjoy it? Just then, I hear a velvety voice.
I turn and see Tristan flashing a dazzling smile hurrying up to catch up with me. “Hello, Miss Velez,” he says with an accented voice. “Are you on your way to the clinic? Me, too.”
I smile shyly. “Isn’t that fraternizing?” The punishment for Accord cops who fraternize with either side of the war can get nasty. They’re supposed to be neutral.
“You’re worth of deportation, torture, and death,” he says, grinning.
I grin back at him. Tristan is so easy to like. Walking to the clinic accompanied by him carrying my backpack, puts me in a good mood.
Tristan’s only twenty-one and has been a cop for four months. I’m usually completely tongue-tied around strangers, especially young guys. He doesn’t mind the long lapses in which I’m quiet, though. Between asking me polite questions and spilling the beans on Gary’s whereabouts—sent to a hospital in Gyges before deportation—Tristan’s been talking a lot about his “boss.” He evidently looks up to him. I’m surprised to hear that Aleksey is only twenty-five. He looks so mature. Not surprised to hear that he has never lost a fight and that he’s a lone wolf.
“Soldiers and civilians admire Prince Aleksey but they don’t accept him because he’s different. They don’t see him as a human, but the Velez family does.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask intrigued. “Girls swarm around him all the time!”
Tristan stops walking and hands me some headphones. “Yes, because he’s attractive, but they think of him as a stunning piece of flesh, not a person. A little bit as though he is a freak because he’s a giant. Listen.”
His j-device projects an image, and I put the headphones on. Tristan recorded his patrol and something more. I recognize Elena and her girlfriends talking in sexual terms about Aleksey for some minutes. Admiringly. But then …
“Can you imagine having kids with someone like him?” a giggling girl says.
“No way. He’s gorgeous, but there’s no room for his freaky offspring inside me. What a creep! His dick on the other hand …” answers Elena.
Their words make me furious. They’d be lucky if someone like Aleksey did as much as to turn to look at them. Too bad I can’t fight an untrained person because Elena has been getting on my nerves lately.
Tristan seems pleased by my reaction. “Prince Aleksey rejects everyone because he likes his solitude, but also because women see him as a sex-toy. He’s been lonely forever, devoting every minute of his time to our missions. But I’m sure if he found the right girl he’d be different.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because there’s been some diplomatic turmoil. Nationalists and Patriots regard Gary as a war hero. He saved many civilian lives of both countries. Now, many people around North America see Prince Aleksey as the bad guy.” Abruptly irritated, I kick a pebble out of the way. Of course! Gary, the rapist, would become popular, while Aleksey, the different one, would become the bad guy. Tristan doesn’t like this either. “He doesn’t care, but I wish people understood him. He’s saved my life twice and yours, too.”
I make a mental note to analyze all this information later. That’s when I notice some girls shooting me darker looks than usual. They’re always lusting after the younger cops, and here I am, effortlessly talking to one of them. Unchaperoned.
“You Starvillers aren’t very welcoming, are you?”
His offhand, friendly attitude makes it easy to talk to him. “I don’t think you’re about to ask for a Starville girl’s hand, right?”
“Their hands?” He chuckles. “Prince Aleksey and I are the only unmarried cops in our battalion, but we can’t marry Americans. If we married a Patriot citizen, Nats wouldn’t admit us in their country and vice versa. It’d be a disaster if Americans denied us access to occupied towns. There are a lot of abuses as it is.”
.“Because the UNNO does nothing to stop it,” I said sharply.
His face becomes serious. “We’ve made mistakes, but the good outweighs the bad. You don’t have the official numbers, but I do. Americans need us, and we want to help.”
Another deluded innocent like Olmo who sees what he wants to see. I look at him skeptically. Doesn’t he know the way most Accord cops turn a blind eye to Patriots crimes? Didn’t a cop attack me? No point in discussing this with him. Let’s see how he acts on recruitment day. When the troops break the recruitment protocol, will he risk his life to stop them?
“So … you’ll protect Starvillers, even if they aren’t agreeable, won’t you?”
Tristan observes me intently with a fascinated expression. “Well, Starvillers have their fun side too. I can’t
wait for the Assumption of Mary feast.”
The Assumption Feast and the Anniversary of the Patriot Constitution occur on the same date. Starvillers pretend to celebrate a Patriot holiday when in reality they celebrate the religious party. One of the few liberties we have in Starville is freedom of creed. Religious books are the only approved readings by Patriots. The soldiers never miss a Sunday service.
I kick some pieces of rubble. “How can people celebrate at a time like this?”
“They were going to cancel after the air raid but we haven’t been to a town feast ever, so we pushed for it. Prince Aleksey took charge of the music and the ornaments. Are you going to the party?” In response, I flinch. “You should come,” he says flirtatiously. “I can walk you home after.”
It almost sounds like a date. I better not read much into this, but I’m glad I got a lot of information about Aleksey. I understand his proposition now.
We wave goodbye at the clinic’s courtyard, and I hurry to my room for another workout.
I take a broomstick with the intention of practicing wooden sword fighting. I’m only wearing short white pants and a white tank top.
I keep training all afternoon. I’m about to go to the clinic’s shower when I hear steps outside my door.
Someone’s outside. There’s a soft knock, and a masculine voice caresses my name.
I open the door to find him standing there.
Chapter 14
Rey’s body and face display desperation, fury, guilt. I haven’t seen him so distressed since the troops recruited Angie, and it’s a heartbreaking sight. His beautiful amber eyes peer into mine in an agonizing look. It’s heartbreaking.
He needs me.
“Duque.” He repeatedly blinks. “He says … he’ll kill himself.”
Oh, no! Duque! I think I understand how Duque feels. I’d want to be dead too if they recruited me.
We run to each other arms and hug tightly. I know what it’s like to have your family hurt by rape. I can’t stand to see him like this. I want to do something, say something. But I’ve never been good with words. I put my arms around his neck and rest my head on his chest. He puts his arms around me, pulling me closer.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, sharing our emotions, silently at first.
We move to cuddle on my cot, talking softly. Not about TCR as we usually do. He talks to me about his pain and his fears. He tells me he’d feel devastated if Duque weren’t around and how much he wants to kill Duque’s attackers. He wants to protect Reyna from danger, as he promised on his mother death’s bed, but now he thinks he’s failed Duque. He fears he’ll never be free to start his own family. I feel exactly like him. The war has hurt us both in similar ways. His pain is my pain; his fears, my fears.
My hospital cot is too small for both of us. Our bodies are tightly pressed. I feel his chest falling and rising in the rhythm of his breathing and right now it’s tense. He moves a little to accommodate me better in his arms and accidentally brushes against my breast. The contact of his body against mine makes me shiver. It feels thrilling. Arousing.
The atmosphere in the room changes, and I realize my body is shaking. Rey must have noticed it too because the tenderness in his eyes turns into something else.
He puts his hand under my chin to force me to look up before kissing me. Desperately. With all the passion he has. And boy! He’s a very passionate man. We are so close that I immediately feel when he hardens.
I’m so shocked that my first impulse is to reject him. But my slight push on his muscular shoulders doesn’t do anything to stop him. If anything, his kiss gains intensity. His hands roam up and down my stomach, my waist, and my hips. They gently move up and down my bare legs stopping at my calf. He moans softly in my mouth. His sounds of pleasure have an unwanted arousing effect. I don’t want to feel like this now when he’s so vulnerable and disrupted.
I don’t reciprocate. My lips are unyielding.
He takes his shirt off and rolls me on the bed, so he’s on top. Rey’s lips graze their way down from my lips to gently suck my neck. Waves of pleasure travel down my core.
If I let go, I won’t be a V-girl anymore. Hesitantly, I trail my hands over the solid muscles of his stomach. He responds automatically, rubbing his body against mine.
Reason disappears when he slowly, deliberately rolls up my T-shirt to kiss my stomach. It makes my body ignite with fire. And he does not stop.
I finally have his full acceptance. I’ll lose my V tonight.
Chapter 15
We’ve kissed for so long that my lips feel swollen. It’s been a nice make out session, but neither of us has dared to move things forward.
Rey’s clothes are on the floor, and I’m still wearing my white tank and underwear. We haven’t ever seen each other naked yet, and our clothes feel like a barrier. Someone has to take the lead.
I put his hands on the hem of my tank. He gasps, but takes the invitation along with the top. A rush of self-consciousness makes me blush; I have some imperfections here and there. What if he compares my body to his ex’s flawless figure? But Rey’s eyes tell me he doesn’t find any fault in my body and he leans to kiss the skin above the edge of my bra.
I close my eyes and moan. His mouth follows the line of my bra. The feeling of his lips on my skin makes every nerve and fiber of my body buzz in anticipation. His hands on my back fumble to unhook my bra.
A sound startles us, and we pull away from each other.
Aleksey is at the entryway, looking at us with disapproval. His voice sounds forcefully casual. “I was looking for Dr. Velez. Obviously he’s not around.”
Rey jumps off the bed. Aleksey briefly glances at my pointed nipples showing under my bra while I hastily fumble for my tank and shorts. Rey notices it, too, and his expression changes from surprised to angry. He throws a sheet over my barely dressed body.
Aleksey points a finger at Rey but his eyes are on me. “You might not know this, Starviller, but this is my clinic. Dr. Velez can stay as part of the personnel, and by extension his family. But you’re wearing your welcome out, Diaz.”
Rey’s face contorts with fury. “This isn’t your clinic and you have no business in here.”
“I’m the leader of the Accord unit that built this clinic. Respect visiting hours.”
Rey strides toward Aleksey, fuming. “I don’t remember you carrying brick after brick to build the clinic.”
Derisively, with an almost bored expression, Aleksey points toward the door, indicating that Rey should leave. It only irritates Rey further.
“You have no authority here! I won’t take orders from you,” Rey snaps.
“And I won’t take seriously a guy with the head of his penis on full display.”
I suppress a nervous giggle. In truth, the erect top portion of Rey’s penis shows above the band of his underwear. If I weren’t so embarrassed, I’d find it funny.
Rey doesn’t find any humor in the situation. He slides his pants up, fuming. His bulky muscles bulge in rage. Before I can blink, he throws a punch, aiming at Aleksey’s massive chest. The Accord cop easily blocks the blow. That only infuriates Rey, who hurls himself against Aleksey. I haven’t ever seen Rey attack anyone with such intensity.
Aleksey, on the other hand, doesn’t need to put much energy out to block Rey’s attacks. The ex-soldier looks as though he’s only toying with Rey to enrage him.
Rey hasn’t had the training of a soldier, but he’s very strong and never gives up. After several failed tries, he manages to land a right hook on Aleksey’s jaw. Aleksey’s eyes turn murderous. I’ve seen those eyes before. If Aleksey uses his full force on Rey, he’ll kill him.
“Enough!” I yell. Neither pays any attention.
I take the broomstick and make a swing at them. Both stop to stare at me.
“I said enough!” I make my voice stern. “You two! Leave my room now!”
None of them move. They glare at each other, fuming.
Aleksey sha
kes his head. “I won’t go until I’m sure he’s gone.”
I turn to Rey, the one I’m sure can be reasonable. My eyes plead with him.
His response takes me aback. “I won’t leave you alone with my Angie.”
When Rey realizes what he’s just said he blushes and seems ready to bolt out of the room. Was he thinking about her while we were touching?
Aleksey turns to look at me, a malicious look in his eye. “You want to give your virginity to someone who mistakes you for someone else?”
The V-word. So unnecessary. My fists clench and hot anger courses through me. I miss those times, not long ago, when I couldn’t picture Aleksey as someone capable of speaking in full sentences. If he’s going to say things like that, I’d rather he just shut up.
Rey’s ready to fight again, but I stop him. He leaves the room after throwing a dark look at Aleksey that says: I’ll get you back for this.
“Now it’s your turn to go,” I say acidly “As soon as you tell me why you’re here—and don’t give me that ‘searching for my father’ crap.”
“I saw your friend coming up, but never saw him climbing down. I assumed he wouldn’t stay with his brother. That maybe he needed a warmer bed.” He looks me up and down. “Not that I blame him.”
Hot anger burns through my veins, and I glare at him. I’ve been looking forward to my deflowering for so long, and he had to ruin it and make fun of me. He knows I want this, and not only did he interrupt, but he has the nerve to say these things.
He makes his way to leave the room, his red cape swishing as he turns around.
Aleksey is near the door when my knife almost hits him. Years of military training makes him duck reflexively. The knife nails his cape to the wooden wall, making him stop. I take pleasure in his look of surprise when he turns to see me.
My body shudders in fury. “You told me I could take this room, but that doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do with it! If you want, I’ll move out. But never, ever, enter my room again.”
I hear the sound of his cape ripping as he frees it from the knife, but by then I’m walking through the corridor furiously. I’m almost at the courtyard when I turn to glare at him one last time. He’s glaring back, looking positively enraged.