Time passed strangely in the Hold.

Each day seemed to drag on forever, but the string of days—one after the other, each exactly alike—would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Riana sometimes had trouble keeping track of how long she’d been here. It felt like forever since she’d arrived. Like she’d known Cain—been fucking him—all her life.

But each morning when she woke up, she tried to tick off the days on her mental calendar. Today she thought she’d been in prison for a little over two months.

Cain had been here a lot longer.

This morning, as soon as the lights came on, he got up as usual and headed for the bathroom. But instead of washing up and starting his exercise routine, he crawled back into bed with her when he came out of the bathroom nook.

She rolled over on her side to peer at him. “You feeling all right?”

He had an odd look on his face, but he didn’t look sick or upset. “Yeah.”

“Horny?”

Occasionally, he jumped her as soon as they woke up, but he usually did so before the lights came back on.

Cain gave her a half-smile and made a throaty humming noise that might have been an affirmation.

But he didn’t roll over on top of her, and he didn’t reach over to pull her close. He just lay on his back, one arm crossed beneath his head, and stared at the ceiling.

Genuinely confused by this change in his normal routine, she propped herself up on one elbow and stroked his chest with the other. His torso was solidly muscular, with rippling planes, coarse dark hair, and tight skin. “Cain? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” He turned his head slightly so he could gaze up at her, his eyes skimming appreciatively over her warm face and messy hair. Then they shifted down to her breasts, which were bare and exposed because she was holding herself up and the sheet had slipped down to her waist. She’d gone to sleep naked last night, since she hadn’t felt like putting her dirty clothes back on after she and Cain had fucked.

“You’re acting weird,” she told him, playing idly with one his nipples.

He gave a soft grunt. “I’m not sure, but I think today might be my birthday.”

“Really?” She grinned down at him—although it was a silly thing to be excited about, given their circumstances. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-six today. If I’ve kept track of the days right since I got here.”

She chuckled and stroked her hand up his chest to his neck. And then she caressed the stubbly skin of his jaw—enjoying the rough texture of it. “Getting kind of old, aren’t you?”

He just smiled at her teasing. A real smile. The one she hardly ever saw.

Pleased with her success, she leaned down to press a soft kiss just next to his mouth. “Happy birthday,” she murmured huskily. “Shall I give you a present?”

Cain gently pushed the hair back from her face as she mouthed a trail along his jaw. “What did you have in mind?”

She just made a purring sound and adjusted her body over him so she could kiss a line down his throat to his chest. She spent some time on his chest—flicking his nipples with her tongue and nibbling on a few spots she knew were sensitive.

His breathing picked up and occasionally he would let out a textured sigh—sounds of pleasure that thrilled her and caused her pussy to clench in excitement.

Eventually, she scooted down his body even more until she was kissing his tight belly. She loved his abdomen and stroked it tenderly as she kissed slowly down toward his groin.

Soon her lips once again found coarse dark hair. And then she reached his cock, which was already halfway erect.

The covers had fallen off her completely and bunched up around her feet, so she posed her naked body as attractively as she could when she leaned down to lick a line along his cock.

He sucked in a sharp breath as she licked him, and his erection twitched visibly. She teased him for a few minutes—licking along the veins, fondling his balls, twirling her tongue around the head—until he was fully erect and the muscles of his thighs were tightly clenched.

Then she took his cock in her mouth and hollowed out her cheeks, sucking as well as she could.

Cain groaned softly and jerked his pelvis, making a little thrust up into her mouth.

Her pussy was wet now and starting to pulse. Riana closed one hand around the base of his cock and began a pattern of sucking and squeezing. She knew what Cain liked, so it wasn’t hard to find the rhythm that made his body tighten and caused him to fist his hands in the bedding.

She shifted her eyes up to his face and saw his rigidly controlled expression. His eyes were hungry and possessive, though, as he lifted his head to watch her suck him.

He was doing his best to restrain his need to thrust, but occasionally his hips would give an erratic jerk. Riana didn’t mind. She loved every sign that she was pleasing him. And so she worked his firm, warm flesh with her mouth as she breathed through her nose and bobbed her head.

When she reached down below her head to gently squeeze his balls, Cain gave a barely controlled thrust into her mouth. She slid her mouth back up his cock automatically, trying to avoid choking on his erection.

“Sorry,” he gritted out, his skin glistening with perspiration as the muscles of his arms and belly rippled from holding himself rigidly in check.

She smiled around him and hummed an encouraging response. Then she held onto him firmly with one hand and took more of it in her mouth.

When she’d established her rhythm once more, she began to fondle his balls again. Her pussy was so wet now that she could feel the moisture leaking out, and she only got wetter as she saw how viscerally he responded to her ministrations.

She was completely focused on Cain, and so she barely registered the commentary that began from outside the bars of their cell. Vulgar comments, as usual, about her body, her position, and what she was doing to Cain.

She ignored them. By now, onlookers rarely fazed her, and what was more important was pleasing Cain.

But she sensed something change about his mood. And when she shifted her eyes up, she saw he was snarling slightly.

Afraid he was getting distracted and wouldn’t enjoy the birthday blow job, she moved her free hand from his balls so she could rub little circles against the sensitive spot just behind his sac.

His whole body jerked, and he released a thick grunt.

She smiled again around his cock at her success.

Then she gasped in surprise when Cain leaned up, stretching his arms down on either side of her body. It took her several seconds to realize what he was doing.

He was pulling the covers back up over her, shielding her body from any oglers.

Riana fell out of rhythm for a minute, so surprised was she by his action. He’d never done anything like that before. He’d always ignored other prisoners who’d lurked at the bars—except for the first night when he’d told them to leave. She knew it was part of the power play. Acting like they bothered him—letting them bother him—only gave them power over him.

But now he’d made an obvious gesture. Hiding her from everyone else. Blocking their sight of how she was pleasuring him.

With the simple act, he’d made their coupling private. Somehow intimate in a very public place.

His eyes never left her face, never strayed from the sight of his shaft sliding in and out of her mouth. The sudden intimacy made Riana even more aroused, and she found herself unconsciously rocking her hips in a humping motion as she bobbed her head over him.

She massaged him with her fingers and sucked as hard as she could.

Cain clutched at the bedding beneath him as his face twisted.

Then he came. He groaned out a hoarse exclamation—one that sounded like it was ripped out of him—and his pelvis convulsed beneath her mouth. She could feel the spasms of his climax and prepared herself for his release, swallowing as much of it as she could.

Only a little dribbled out of the corner of her mouth as she gave his sated cock a few last, slow sucks.

Then she let it slide out of her lips as she hauled herself up and stretched out beside him, making sure to pull the covers up with her.

“Happy birthday,” she murmured, kissing him leisurely on the lips, letting him taste himself there.

He smiled, even as he kissed her and his big hands slid down her back until they were cupping her ass. When their lips parted, he murmured, “Maybe my birthday is tomorrow.”

She giggled appreciatively and rubbed herself against his body, feeling needy and incredibly turned on.

But it was his birthday, and the blow job had been a gift. She wasn’t going to demand anything in return.

“That was incredible,” he said, his voice deliciously deep and gravelly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Her clit was getting some good friction against his thigh, and she couldn’t help but grind her pussy against it a little.

Before she could get anywhere in riding his thigh, he’d turned her over bodily. She was on her stomach now, and he was on top of her, his weight pushing her into the mattress.

She had no objections at all to this arrangement. In fact, she loved the feel of his hot, heavy body on top of her. But she squirmed beneath him and complained, “Hey, who told you to do that?”

Cain just chuckled, one of his hands squeezing under her body until he could rub her swollen clit. “You looked like you wanted a hump. I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“Don’t you dare stop.” She rocked her bottom to develop a good rhythm with her clit against his hand.

He rocked with her, his groin pressed into her ass and their bodies moving together under the covers. Riana gasped as the rhythm and the weight of his body mingled with the pressure of his fingers on her clit.

Soon, the pressure at her center had deepened to such an extent that she writhed helplessly and made mewling sounds against the mattress.

She came, her hips riding out the pleasure between his pelvis and his hand.

He was starting to harden against her bottom already, so she kept pushing back against his groin.

After a minute, Cain grunted and lifted her by the hips so that her ass was higher than the rest of her. His legs on either side of hers, he parted her thighs enough to expose her slippery pussy.

Then he slid his newly hardened cock inside her.

Her chest and cheek still pressed down into the mattress, Riana gasped as Cain started to thrust, using the same rhythm they’d been mirroring before.

She whimpered as the erotic pressure kept rising inside her, and soon she buried her face in the bed so she could muffle her cries of pleasure.

Cain panted just beside her ear, supporting himself with his elbows and forearms, as he pushed into her in fast, hard thrusts.

Then Riana fell out of rhythm as the tension shattered inside her. She cried out into the mattress as the sensations sliced through her and her pussy contracted around Cain’s cock.

He grunted in response. “Fuck, baby, so good.”

Then his pelvis pistoned against her bottom, and he lost the rhythm too, groaning out another hard climax.

They collapsed together onto the bed in a tangle of hot, sweaty flesh.

Cain didn’t roll off her immediately, and she didn’t want him too either. She loved how it felt when he held onto her this way.

“That was a very good morning,” Cain murmured at last, sounding hoarse and pleased and lazy.

“Yeah.” Then Riana smiled to herself, thinking that sometimes just being with Cain brought a kind of light to her world that was totally absent here.

“What?” Cain demanded, pushing her hair out of her face so he could see a little more of it.

“I was just thinking,” she admitted, knowing she couldn’t tell him the truth of what she’d been feeling. “We should do it again tomorrow.”

* * *

Other than their extended lovemaking first thing, the morning passed as nearly all their mornings did. On their midmorning run, however, something about Cain’s demeanor struck her as different.

He usually ran with absolute focus, his eyes straight ahead, as if he were channeling all of his angst and energy into the motion of his body. But this morning, although he ran as hard as he ever did, he seemed watchful. And more than once she saw him studying various parts of the Hold.

It wasn’t like he was on the hunt for an object to use for his device, but he had something on his mind—something other than exercise.

When she’d worn herself out, he locked her into their cell and took off at a run again. Breathless and bright red from her exertion, Riana splashed water on her face and then took off her sweat-soaked camisole, keeping her back to the bars of the cell so she didn’t unnecessarily flash whomever might be passing by.

She’d done what she could to repair her outer shirt, but she mostly just wore her camisole now. It was on its last legs, and once it became too worn to wear she wasn’t sure what she would do.

Cain would find her something—she assumed. But she didn’t like the idea of it.

When she’d washed up as best she could, she pulled on her button-up shirt so she could rinse out her top. She was gentle as she wrung the water out, wanting the fabric to last as long as possible.

When she left it to dry, she found her piece of a comb and started picking at her hair with it. She worked on it some every day and had basically gotten it to the point where it didn’t feel so much like a rats’ nest.

Hall was in his cell as normal. He hadn’t come over to talk to her again, after the last confrontation with Cain, but sometimes he would meet her eyes or smile.

She still wondered about him and sometimes wished she could talk to him more.

She ignored a random man who passed by the cell and started giving her a hard time about being a whore—one of Thorn’s lackeys—but the man was still there when Cain returned from his run.

Cain calmly smashed his fist into the man’s face before he unlocked and entered the cell.

Riana blinked in surprise. “That was unnecessarily violent. He wasn’t doing anything unusual.”

Cain’s lip curled up in a snarl, but he didn’t say anything as he walked over to the sink to clean up.

His softer, more tender mood from this morning had clearly vanished completely. He was back to being stoic and grumpy.

Riana wasn’t surprised—Cain would never be a soft man—but she was a little disappointed. At times, she thought he was starting to open up to her more. That he was starting to think of her as a real companion, as a partner.

But she was continually reminded that he kept far more from her than he shared. He didn’t treat her like a lover or even a friend—at least not all of the time.

He was a very confusing man, and she wondered if he’d be so tight-lipped in different circumstances. Sometimes, she wished she could get Hall to do her a favor and get a good read on what Cain was feeling about her.

She was pretty sure Cain liked her, cared for her at least to a certain extent. After that day a month ago when she’d almost been raped, she’d come to understand that much. He needed her. If not to survive, then at least to soften the stark, bleak lines of his life here.

But she wanted him to like her for real, to need her simply for who she was.

Not just because she was the only one he had.

As he washed up, she saw the old man she called the Tortoise doing his regular circuit of the Hold. He passed right outside the bars of the cell, and his eyes were focused downward. He looked somehow paler than normal, and she saw that his hands were shaking even more than they usually did. He swayed slightly mid-step, but evidently caught his balance and continued, until he’d passed out of sight.

She felt a weird pang—something she hadn’t experienced in a really long time.

“What is it?” Cain asked, turning around and seeing her preoccupation.

“That old man.” She gestured toward where the man had disappeared. “The Tortoise. The one who goes around in circles.”

He obviously knew who she referred to. “What about him?”

“He looks like he’s going to faint. I think he needs food.” She wasn’t sure why she’d even noticed it, since she’d grown somewhat callous from the harshness of life here. But she felt that pang in her chest that spoke of concern, empathy. “Could you get him some food, do you think?”

Cain stared at her. “You want me to get him food?”

“I’m worried about him. He looks like he could drop dead.”

“That might be a kindness.”

She sucked in a breath. “You don’t mean that. Maybe you could just give him my food, then. I can stand to skip a meal, and he really needs it.”

“What’s gotten into you?” It was a real question. Cain’s brows were drawn together, and he was watching her with obvious confusion on his face.

She sighed and leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know. I know kindness is a sign of weakness here. I know if we’re nice to one person, we’ll be besieged on all sides.” She closed her eyes. “I just don’t always…”

“You don’t always what?”

She opened her eyes to meet his. “I guess I don’t want to really be what they’ve made us. Sorry. Never mind.”

It had been a futile thought anyway. Nothing was going to change where they were, what they were, who they had become in this prison.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

She stiffened in surprise. “What?”

“At mealtime. Later. I’ll see what I can do—without making a big deal.”

The pang in her chest started to transform into something warm and full. “You will? For that poor man?”

Cain gave a strange, stiff nod. He didn’t look soft in any way, but he felt almost vulnerable to her for just a moment. He muttered, “I don’t want to be what they’ve made us either.”

Then he went back to his device, kneeling on the floor to work on it.

She lay on the bed as she always did and watched, feeling like something had changed, although she wasn’t exactly sure what it was.

Cain worked for about an hour, until Riana started getting drowsy. She was about to drift off to sleep when she noticed something odd about his manner.

He’d sat back on his heels and was just staring at the crude, ungainly machine. Sometimes he did that when he was trying to decide what kind of part he needed or when he was trying to work through how to design a certain section of it.

But he never sat back like this for so long, and he never had this particular expression on his face. He didn’t look thoughtful or frustrated or impatient.

He looked watchful again—like he had earlier on his run. Quiet and almost wary.

Suddenly, Riana wondered if he was done.

She turned her gaze to the device, but it didn’t look significantly different from how it had before. He’d added a lot of new parts over the last two months, but they had all been small and hadn’t made a significant difference in the appearance.

If it was done, though, why didn’t he turn it on and test it out?

Maybe it couldn’t perform its function in this cell. Maybe he didn’t want any other prisoners to see what he’d made.

Or maybe he didn’t want her to know he was done.

As if in response to that thought, Cain glanced back at where she was sprawled out. She gave him a groggy smile and half-closed her eyes. This seemed to reassure him because he turned back to stare at his machine.

Her suspicions roused even further at this sign that he wanted to keep her unaware of whatever was going on here, Riana’s gut churned, and her heart started to hammer.

He hadn’t responded a month ago when she’d begged him not to leave her when he managed to escape. At the time, she hadn’t been surprised or particularly worried. She hadn’t really expected an answer to her plea.

But now she wondered if that should have been a warning.

He wouldn’t leave her out of viciousness or cruelty, but maybe his escape plan would only work for one.

Maybe that was why he’d never let himself get truly close to her.

Because he’d always known he was going to have to leave her behind.

Cain stared at the machine for a long time while Riana pretended to doze.

But she was brutally on edge and, even though her eyes were closed, she knew when he stood up.

She could sense him looking at her for a several seconds, and she wondered if he knew she wasn’t asleep. He didn’t say anything, though, and soon she heard him moving in the cell. She heard a scraping sound and knew exactly what it was.

He was moving the device.

That did it. She jumped up from the bed, unconsciously smoothing out her disarranged shirt. “Going on the hunt?” she asked cheerily, when Cain’s head jerked up to stare at her.

He’d moved the machine over toward the door of the cell.

Swallowing over the lump of fear in her throat, she continued, “I’ll come too.”

Cain shook his head, a tight, unreadable expression on his face. “No. Why don’t you stay here this afternoon?”

Riana’s hands fisted at her sides. “I don’t want to stay here. I always go with you. Why can’t I go today?”

“I’ve got something to do. You can’t come.” He turned his back on her, as if his words had settled the question.

A wave of terror and rage slammed into Riana, and she acted on instinct and panic rather than any sane reason or sense. She strode over and grabbed him by the arm, holding on as hard as she could. “I’m going to come. I’m not going to stay here!”

Cain turned back around and stared at her, but he didn’t look as astonished by her intensity as torn. He pulled his arm away from her grip and reached out to hold her by the upper arms. “You have to stay. There’s no argument here.”

His tone was even and filled with absolute authority.

All of it was only assuring Riana that he was about to leave her. That he was going to make his escape. Without her.

She struggled in his grip, trying to pull away so she could hit him, pound on his chest, somehow express the panic, rage, and betrayal she was feeling.

“Riana,” Cain gritted out, his hands like iron, utterly unbreakable. “Stop it. What’s gotten into you?”

“Don’t do it,” she choked, the one thread of her mind that could still think rationally telling her to keep her voice down so no one else could hear. “Don’t leave me, Cain. You know I’ll die here without you. You can’t just leave me behind!”

Something tightened on his stoic face. “What?”

“I know you’re done. I’m not stupid. I know you’re taking it to do whatever it does.” She nodded helplessly down at the device. She was practically sobbing now, but without tears. She was far too horrified to cry. “And now you’re leaving without me. After everything, how can you—”

“Riana!” The one word was as sharp as the bite of a blade. He shook her a little to get her attention.

She fell silent, his face blurring in front of her eyes.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He sounded furious. Impatient. Almost disgusted. And for some reason, the very human tone from him comforted her. “I’m not going to leave you behind.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at him, too dazed to take it all in.

If possible, Cain looked even angrier. “Stop looking like you can’t believe it. What the fuck kind of monster do you think I am? I’m not going to leave you here.”

“You’re not?” She sounded like an idiot—even to her own ears.

“Of course not.” He shook her a little more, although not nearly hard enough to hurt. “Of course, you’re coming too.”

The knot of panic was finally relaxing inside her—leaving an overwhelming flood of warmth and relief. “Oh.”

Still looking annoyed with her, Cain explained in a low voice, “I am finished with it. I think it will work, if I can figure out a plan to use it to our advantage. I need to find a place to put this thing, so it can...do its job.”

Riana frowned as her hazy mind tried to keep up. “But—”

“Unfortunately, it’s not a spaceship to fly us out of here.” His voice was dry and sharp now, and she understood why. Obviously, it wasn’t a spaceship. The jumbled parts barely looked like a working machine. “I’ve got a couple of ideas, but I need to scout them out, and it’s too distracting if you’re with me, since I’m always worrying about keeping you safe.”

“Oh.” She squirmed with sudden embarrassment. “I thought you were moving the thing now and then going to leave me.”

“I’ll have to wait until lights out to move it. I was just seeing how heavy it was. But first I’ve got to find the best place to put it, if you’ll let me leave for a minute.”

“Oh. Sorry. I guess I was stupid.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah.”

“Well, you don’t need to be snotty. I was scared, and you’re always going around keeping secrets. I didn’t know.”

Something colder than impatience flickered in his eyes. “You should have known. Unless you genuinely think I am a monster.”

“I don’t,” she admitted, reaching out to touch his chest, worried she’d actually hurt him and that was what triggered his coldness. “But we’re all on survival instincts here. And if your escape plan could only handle one…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered her intense terror of losing him.

His face softened unexpectedly, and he stroked her cheek with his knuckle. “I see. I don’t have it all completely worked out yet, but whatever the plan ends up being, it will have to work for two.”

Riana managed a shaky smile at him. “Good.” They held the look for several seconds, and it felt like they shared something in the gaze.

Then Riana glanced down at his precious device. “What does that thing even do?”

“I have no guarantee it will do anything. I’ll explain when I get back.”

She wanted to know right now, but she just nodded and stepped back, recognizing that this was important and she couldn’t get in his way.

He locked the door behind him and disappeared out of sight.

Several minutes later, she heard an uproar. Maybe a fight. Maybe something else. She couldn’t really tell by the nature of the noise. She assumed it was Cain’s doing. In a few seconds, he appeared at the door of the cell again. Before she could open her mouth to ask what was going on, he’d picked up the device and left again.

He must have shaped some sort of distraction so he could plant it—so he wouldn’t have to wait until after lights out and fumble around in the dark.

She huddled on the bed, trying not to get scared, until Cain reappeared. She was so glad to see him she jumped off the bed and threw herself into his arms.

She’d never done anything like that before, but she wasn’t even self-conscious. Cain felt a little stiff at first—maybe from surprise—but then he put his arms around her and held her close for a minute.

“Did you not believe me when I said I’d be back?” Cain muttered eventually.

She pulled her face away from his shoulder. “I did. But I’m all confused and nervous, and now you’ve given me hope that maybe we can actually get out of here. I’m so edgy I can barely stand it.”

“I know,” Cain murmured, stroking her back with a surprisingly gentle hand. “I’ve been putting this plan together for a year now, and I’m still not sure of the final details. I have to think things through myself before I share them. I wasn’t holding out on you on purpose. I didn’t realize you’d catch me at it, put together an absurd theory, and go into a panic about it.”

To Riana’s surprise, she realized he was actually apologizing to her for keeping her in the dark for so long. She felt a warmth fill her chest and squirmed a little in pleasure. But, keeping her voice dry, she muttered, “It was a perfectly reasonable theory.”

Cain actually chuckled.

“Can’t you please tell me what’s going on now?” Riana begged, fisting her fingers in his shirt. “I feel like I’m going to go crazy.”

“Yeah. I’ll try to explain what I’ve got in place so far, but I’m still not sure of the final details.”

“Well, maybe I can help with those. I do have a brain that basically functions, you know.”

Cain sat down on the edge of the bed, pulled her down to sit down next to him, and started to explain.

Several minutes later, Riana was staring at him, thinking as quickly as she could. His plan wasn’t bad—it could possibly work—but it required them getting into the control room, which was going to be a really hard thing to manage.

After a minute, her mind landed on the obvious answer.

“Hall,” she whispered. “We can get Hall to help.”

Cain stiffened. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, why not? If we can get to a transport, there’s room for three people as well as two. And Hall has that Reader power that might be exactly what we need.”

“I’m not going to trust both of our lives to him. We have no reason to think he’s on our side.”

She was getting frustrated, since Cain seemed to be acting on testosterone rather than reason. “Well, we can trust that he wants to get out of here as much as we do. What is he going to do? Ruin the only chance he has to escape by tattling?”

“He could turn me in and take what I know he wants.” Cain’s expression was completely impenetrable.

“What is that?”

“You. And this cell.”

She groaned. “Cain, please. If he has a choice between escape and this cell, which do you think he’s going to take? He’s a smart guy, and he has a certain ability that we might need. Is it even possible that I might have an idea that contributes to our getting out of here, or am I really just a possession to you?”

She hadn’t intended to ask the final question, but it burst out before she could stop it.

It lingered in the air, defined the space between them.

Cain breathed heavily, but he didn’t argue anymore. He was obviously thinking, weighing options, until finally he relaxed slightly and nodded. “Okay. But we don’t tell him until tomorrow. I don’t want him to have any chance to come up with his own alternate plan.”

“Agreed.” Her chest had loosened, and for the first time in so long she felt something like hope.

It definitely had to do with the slim possibility of their escaping, but it also had to do with the fact that Cain had given weight to her opinion, treated her like an equal partner.

She wondered what he was thinking about the future, whether there was any chance that he’d want them to stay together.

She wondered if this crazy plan—even Cain’s ungainly machine—would even work.

After they’d talked, they had sex—slow, quiet missionary under the covers. Riana was drained and clingy after her stressful day and her scare. And, after his two climaxes that morning, Cain was able to take his time without urgency taking over.

The motion seemed to match the deep emotion she was feeling. Riana kept her arms around his back, holding him as tightly as she wanted. And Cain thrust into her with a slow, steady rhythm, angling his hips to give her as much pleasure as he could.

She’d come a second time when the noise outside the cell altered. It wasn’t the mealtime roar. And it wasn’t the sudden burst of sound that followed the outbreak of a violent altercation.

She wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Cain was getting close to coming. His speed had picked up and his expression was tightening. But he must have noticed her distraction because he gritted out, “Checkup.”

That was it. The armored vehicle must have entered the Hold to pick up the next prisoner for a checkup.

Riana moved her hands up so she could stroke his scalp, loving the texture of his closely shaven hair beneath her fingertips. “Are you going to come?”

“Was thinking about it.” His hips jerked a few times, as if he momentarily lost control of them.

She squeezed her pussy around his cock. “Oh good.”

He grunted at the pressure, and his features twisted with effort.

She squeezed him again.

He let out a muffled exclamation, and a wash of pleasure transformed his face as he pushed a few last times into her tight pussy.

She pulled him down into her arms afterward, feeling oddly tender and possessive. He breathed heavily against the crook of her neck, and then he pulled up to look down at her face.

She thought he was going to say something, but he didn’t have the chance.

The noise of the armored vehicle had been getting closer and closer.

Until it suddenly appeared just in front of the cell.

It stopped there, and both Riana and Cain turned to stare at it in surprise.

It only took her a second to figure out what was happening. One of them was getting taken for the checkup.

The thought nauseated her, even though she had no idea what the checkup consisted of, and she was suddenly terrified that the timing was intentional. That somehow their plan or his device had been discovered.

“Just a coincidence,” Cain murmured under his breath, obviously having read her silent terror. “Don’t panic.”

There was a mechanized claw at the front of the vehicle, which was usually the way they picked up the prisoners for the checkup—so the guard could avoid leaving the protection of the vehicle and risking attack. But since there were bars in front of this cell, the claw couldn’t do its duty. So instead the guard pulled the vehicle alongside the bars until the door to the vehicle was lined up with the door to the cell.

Pretty clever, actually. That way, there was no risk of being attacked by the other prisoners.

Not that Cain himself wasn’t threat enough.

When the door opened, Riana understood she wasn’t the only one who realized this. The first thing she saw was a gun—an old-fashioned automatic weapon which was all they used in the Hold, probably as a precaution against one of the prisoners getting a hold of a more sophisticated weapon. Then she saw Davis lean out. “Unlock the cell,” he called out.

Neither Cain nor Riana moved. They were still entangled intimately under the covers, and they just stared at the unexpected arrival.

“I have no qualms about killing one or both of you.” Davis didn’t sound vicious or nasty. Simply matter-of-fact.

With a long exhalation, Cain extracted himself from Riana’s arms and sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his pants. Then he walked over to unlock the cell door.

Davis wasn’t stupid. He leaned back as Cain approached, making sure the gun was out of the range of Cain’s hands.

But Cain didn’t put up a fight. She hadn’t expected him too.

Escape was almost within reach. He wasn’t going to blow it now.

Evidently, it was Cain’s turn for a checkup because he was manacled at his wrists and feet. And then, to her horror, he was gagged.

“Why are you doing that?” Riana gasped, sitting up and barely remembering to pull up the sheet to hide her bare breasts.

“Protocol,” Davis explained calmly, “When we can’t use the claw.”

“Oh.”

Only when he was being hauled over to the entrance of the vehicle did Cain begin to struggle. He was trying to say something around his gag, and he jerked and fought against his restraints.

Davis aimed a hard blow at his side, causing Cain to briefly double over.

“No,” Riana cried out. “Don’t.” She was so upset she started out of the bed, forgetting the fact that she was naked and that Cain’s semen was leaking out of her pussy.

Davis turned back to her. She saw his eyes slide down to take in the sight of her body and a new expression appeared on his face.

It only lasted a moment, however, before he regained his business-like passivity.

But the brief flare of heat she’d seen made her self-conscious, and she pulled one of the blankets off the bed and held it up to shield her body.

By that point, she’d figured out what Cain was trying to express. So she explained, “The key. To this cell. There’s only one of them and he has it. I think he wants to give it to me.” Her eyes strayed to the rest of the Hold. “Otherwise, I’ll have no protection here.”

Davis thought for a minute but then must have decided this was reasonable. He went over to Cain himself and took the key. After studying it for a minute to make sure that was all it was, he walked it back over to Riana.

His eyes held hers for a long moment. “Are you all right here?”

It was an absolutely idiotic question. No one could be all right in the Hold.

But she understood what he was asking her. His eyes had drifted over to Cain’s big, animalistic form.

“As well as can be expected.” She kept her eyes cool, even though she suspected Davis was being as kind as he was allowed to be.

He’d kept her from being raped by the other guards that first day. She remembered that.

With a curt nod, Davis turned away from her and herded a shackled Cain onto the vehicle. Riana felt vaguely sick as the doors of the vehicle slammed shut, but she hurried over to lock the door of the cell before it pulled away.

Davis wouldn’t torture Cain for fun, and he wouldn’t kill him unless Cain put up a fight.

It should be all right.

It was terrible that the checkup happened just before they were going to make their escape, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Cain would be back before lights out.

She spent the rest of the day huddled in bed. She wasn’t about to leave the cell at mealtime to try to get any food, but she wasn’t hungry anyway.

If Cain had been here, he would have found the Tortoise and given him something to eat.

Hall came over, standing outside the bars until Riana noticed him and sat up.

“Do you need anything?” Hall asked, the way he had last time. This time he added, “I can get you some food.”

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry. But thanks.”

“Are you going to be all right in here by yourself?”

“He’ll be back before lights out.”

“Are you sure?”

Her breath hitched because it was a fear she had herself. “Of course. It’s a checkup. He’ll be back.”

Hall inclined his head, although he didn’t look convinced.

“He’ll be back,” Riana repeated, as if saying it enough would make it true.

“Chances are, he will,” Hall said. “If the worst happens, and he doesn’t come back, I can help you. You’ll need someone.”

She nodded jerkily, knowing he was right, knowing that if anything happened to Cain, Hall would be her best and only option. He might not be as strong as Cain, but he seemed to do all right. He still had his cell, and everyone else seemed to avoid him because of his gift. He wouldn’t hurt her.

The thought of fucking him made her feel faintly sick—not because he was unattractive or because she doubted his virility, but because he wasn’t Cain.

And the only way she’d be in the position to fuck anyone else was if Cain was dead.

“I watch you sometimes,” Hall said, in a different, almost reflective tone.

She stiffened. “You aren’t the only one.”

Hall made a face. “If I wanted to see fucking, I could see that anywhere. That’s not why I watch you.”

She was confused now and genuinely curious. There seemed to be depths to Hall she hadn’t even scratched the surface of, and she doubted she ever would. “So why do you then?”

“Because it’s too easy to forget in this place what it means to be human. And I can see it still in you.” He nodded toward the corner of the cell, where Cain’s device had been. “And even him. It’s kept me sane.”

Riana was strangely touched by the admission, by its obvious sincerity—so unlike the ironic charisma that seemed to be his typical demeanor. “Thanks,” she mumbled, not sure what else to say.

He’d turned away to leave, obviously seeing the conversation was over, when she called out after him, “Hall.”

He looked back with a lift of his eyebrows.

“Tomorrow. We could use your help tomorrow.”

She saw his face change as he processed the words, knew he’d understood what she was saying. He glanced over yet again to the floor of the cell where the device used to be.

“I’ll be here. Say the word.”

“We’ll let you know.”

“Thank you,” he said, just before he walked away. “If I have to stay here much longer, I’m going to kill myself.”

The words were light, almost carefree, but Riana suspected they were true.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on unmercifully, and her reasonable calm at Cain’s departure gradually altered into anxious dread.

What was happening to him? What were they doing? Were they hurting him? When was she going to get him back?

She couldn’t keep track of time in her mind as well as Cain did, so she could never predict the exact time of lights out the way he did. She was sure it was getting close, though.

They were going to give him back to her this evening, weren’t they?

She was starting to have nightmares about them keeping Cain overnight when a voice outside of the cell startled her.

“Riana. Let me in!”

She jumped out of bed at the sound of Cain’s voice, and she stumbled over to unlock the door.

Only when she’d let him in did she have a chance to look him over.

He looked terrible. There wasn’t any evident damage to his body, but he was limping and hunched over. His face looked stretched and exhausted.

She grabbed him and hugged him to her. “Cain, are you all right?”

“Yeah.” His low mutter wasn’t convincing, and he pulled out of her embrace.

“What did they do to you?”

He didn’t answer. Just gave a brief shake of his head and limped into the bathroom. When he came out, he washed his hands and face in the sink and stood blankly in the middle of the floor.

“Cain, tell me what’s wrong,” she begged, feeling helpless and scared and overwhelmed.

He rubbed at his face. “I’m all right.” This time, he seemed to be making the effort to sound convincing.

But Riana still wasn’t convinced.

Instead of demanding answers, her eyes overflowed with sympathy. She put an arm around him and urged him toward the bed.

He didn’t resist. When he’d gotten into bed, he rolled onto his side, facing away from her. He seemed to be closing in on himself.

She made a choked sound in her throat and pressed her body up against his back, wrapping her arms around him. She stroked his chest, hating how tense and stiff his muscles felt.

He’d gone fully into defense mode, and she had no idea what they’d done to him to make him.

Pressing kisses on his shoulder and the back of his neck, she murmured silly, soothing words and stroked and caressed him as much as she could. The lights went off, leaving them in darkness, but she didn’t stop touching him.

It wasn’t remotely sexual, and it wasn’t going to turn into that. But the feeling in her gut and her chest—deep, swelling, overwhelming—was every bit as strong as physical arousal. She felt tender, protective, almost maternal. She wanted to take care of him. Wanted to make him feel better.

And had no idea how she could do it.

So she kept stroking and kissing him softly until his body started to relax at last. His breathing slowed down, became thick and hoarse. And finally he turned around in her arms so he could hold her as tightly as she was holding him.

Intensely relieved at these signs that he was recovering, Riana snuggled up against his chest. Eventually, she whispered into the dark, “Can you tell me what they did to you?”

One of Cain’s hands was tangled in her hair, holding her head against his shoulder. His other hand, stroking her lower back, stilled as he replied, “Not now. I’ll try to tell you tomorrow.”

She didn’t push him any further. She knew he meant what he’d said. He wanted to tell her, but he wasn’t psychologically able to open up to that extent yet—not after his defenses were just starting to come down.

“All right,” she murmured, pressing another kiss against his skin, tasting the salty bite of him. He even smelled different—like whatever they’d done had affected the raw, natural scent of him. She hated the change and wanted him to smell like himself again. “Just go to sleep now. We’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”