Leaning forward, I asked, “What is it like?” I glanced around the cell. Thinking of the Blood Pit, I wondered out loud, “Is it like the Blood Pit?”

901 frowned and shook his head. He regarded me strangely. “No, it’s a country. The Blood Pit, here, is a place. A place Master created.” He gritted his teeth and hissed, “This is hell.”

I flinched at the harsh tone of his voice. I lowered my eyes and admitted, “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know about anything outside of these walls.” I tapped my head. Catching 901’s attention, I added, “In my head, I see some things not of this pit.” I licked my bottom lip and continued. “I hid under a bed, the room was cold … but they found us.” Tears filled my eyes. I could feel the sadness and fear I felt at that moment like it had just happened yesterday.

“Who found you?”

My stomach dropped and my face paled. “The Wraiths. They came and took us.” Letting a teardrop fall, I added, “And I waved. I waved to a boy who tried to get me to stay with him.” Taking a much-needed deep breath, I asked, “Was that Russia? The place where the Wraiths came? Was that in Russia?”

“Yes,” 901 replied. I watched the thick muscles in his neck and shoulders tense, and he confessed, “I was taken by the Wraiths, too. From Russia.”

My heart pounded so hard I heard its pulse in my ears. “You were like me,” I confirmed, and shuffled closer still. “And I was like you.”

901 stared at me. He didn’t respond. He didn’t utter a single word. He simply stared until he reached for a chunk of bread on his plate and handed it to me. I took it and sat back against the wall.

We ate in silence. I watched him as we did. 901 didn’t look my way. When the growling in my stomach stopped, I leaned back against the wall and asked, “You don’t want me with you, in here, do you?”

901 froze. I waited for several seconds before he shook his head and answered, “No.”

I felt my heart deflate at his honest reply.

“Females make the warriors in this pit weak. I don’t want to be weak, and I don’t want to fuck you. I don’t want anyone. I don’t need anyone.”

I wasn’t a pleasant gift to him, like Maya had told me the monebi were to other warriors. I was nothing but a nuisance.

I didn’t know why, but a slice of pain cut through me at this stark rejection. Sighing deeply, I shuffled back to my corner and meekly said, “I understand.”

901 remained unmoving until the chiri came to take away his food. I closed my eyes, praying for sleep to hurry and take me … when I heard the soft hiss of the bracelet, and then I felt the searing pain of the drugs injecting me.

I stifled a cry as the drugs shot through my blood like a flow of flames. It took only a minute for my thighs to clench together and my core to pulse in need.

“No!” I heard 901 bite out.

Opening my eyes, still able to speak through the drugs, I said, “Don’t.” 901 had jumped to his feet. At my words, he stilled. As a wave of blistering heat poured through me, crashing at the apex of my thighs, I met his furious gaze and commanded, “Don’t.” I gritted my teeth when my stomach cramped. “Just leave me.”

901’s head whipped back in shock. “You’ll die.” I saw his hands ball into fists at his sides. A moan escaped my mouth as I slid down the wall, placing my hand between my legs. 901’s chest moved up and down, the sign of his ragged breathing. I could see his length hardening under the thin fabric of his black pants. My need was causing him to react.

He cursed, then took a reluctant step forward. “No! Stop!” I shouted. He did.

“You’ll die!” he snarled, sounding angry this time.

Even as the pain, the unbearable need, built within me, I managed to demand, “Then let me die.”

I saw the impact my words had on the warrior. He staggered back, my response seeming like a physical blow.

Recovering quickly, he moved to my side, his expression determined and stern. “I won’t let you die.”

A bead of sweat dropped off my head as he glared at me. My heart sank when I realized he meant every word. But I wanted to. I wanted to let go. Then, as 901 hovered close by, I also heard the scarred male from my dreams telling me to hold on. I felt my little finger twitch, as if I could still feel his finger wrapped in mine.

I squeezed my eyes shut as a bolt of pain forced my back to arch. Panting, breathless, I opened my eyes and pointed to the cell door. 901 followed my finger and asked, “What?”

“Guard…” I rasped. “Get the guard to take me.”

This time, 901’s gaze wasn’t hard or stern, it was positively savage. “You want a guard over me?”

Unable to keep fighting, my body sagged on the floor and I said, “I don’t want you to take me … because…” I hissed as my channel contracted, then forced myself to add, “you don’t want me. You don’t want this … I couldn’t stand to be the one who took away your choice.”

I stretched my body, trying to fight off the cramp seizing my limbs. My vision became blurry as the drugs built and built, making it almost impossible to endure. 901’s expression became engulfed with pain. As quickly as it came, it disappeared. As I pressed my fingers to my core, 901 kneeled beside me, his blue eyes beaming down, directly at mine.

I watched as his breathing increased. I watched as his hands hooked onto the waistband of his pants and pulled the fabric down. I shifted as his hard length came into view and he stroked it with his hand. My legs opened as he began crawling over me. His huge chest covered mine, his arms bracing on either side of my head as he lay at my entrance.

I shook my head, feeling the cold floor beneath me. But 901 leaned down, and in a familiar tender move, brushed back the sweaty strand of hair from my forehead. I paused, the pain momentarily forgotten as he watched me. A small blush covered his stubbled cheeks as he studied my face. In this moment, an unfamiliar feeling sprouted in my heart. This feeling caused me to raise my hand and place it on his cheek. 901 gasped at my touch, his lips parting at the feel.

And we stayed that way, paused in time, locked in the moment, just his gaze trapped in mine.

As another wave hit me, 901 began pushing inside me, quickly extinguishing the brunt of the pain. I gripped his heavy arms as a loud needy cry spilled from my lips. Sliding his hand from my head to my chin, 901 made me look into his eyes as he said, “I do want you, krasivaya. I won’t let you die. I’ll take you, but I just can’t let you have me … it’ll make me weak.”