You are Mine by Lisa G Riley Page A

lost both of
their daughters. She herself could never go home again, unless
Brickman were killed or caught and both of those things seemed
increasingly unlikely. He’d been like an unholy siege this time
when he’d punished her. Using a long, thin, sturdy stick made of
cane, he’d battered her everywhere except her stomach, torso and
back. He’d even harkened back to one of his favorites: striking the
bottoms of her feet with a small baton, so now she was hobbled for
at least the next…she did an internal assessment and based on past
experiences estimated two days. She’d have to stay off her feet for
at least two days.
    She heard the door open and before she could
help herself, whimpered in fear. Her back was to the door, so she
had no idea who it was and prayed that it wasn’t Brickman.
    “Hello, Ms. Ida,” she heard a familiar voice
say. “Mr. Brickman says that you must eat something to keep up your
strength for your baby.”
    Ida heard him approach the bed. “I’ve
brought you a turkey sandwich, vegetable soup and low-fat milk. The
boss says I should also dress your wounds -- shit!”
    Her caregiver had placed his load on the
bedside table and then turned on the light. She heard the shock in
his voice when he finally got a good look at her, and going by
experience, knew anger would soon follow. She forced herself to
move, each inch making her body scream in pain. She quickly shook
her head and mouthed the words, Don’t, Ivan! You need to stay
calm , she continued and looked at him with her one good eye.
The other one had been swollen shut with one punch of Brickman’s
fist. It had been the final blow and had completely felled her.
She’d fallen unconscious across the very bed she lay in now.
    Ivan could sometimes be brutish, was ten
years younger than she, one of Brickman’s best soldiers and he
loved her. And she loved him. They hadn’t planned it, of course,
and they were both terrified of what would happen if Brickman found
out, but they couldn’t help themselves. He was always the one
Brickman sent to take care of her after he’d doled out one of his
punishments. They’d begun to talk and in the midst of all the pain
and fear, they’d found one another. She carried his child. She
didn’t dare tell Ivan because then he’d want to either kill
Brickman, or run away. He’d already brought up doing one or the
other on several occasions. She believed the success of either was
an impossibility, but Ivan was an idealist and still believed in
his dreams, and in hope. She was constantly having to keep him
grounded in reality -- their reality, an outrageously dangerous
actuality by anyone’s standards.
    They could neither talk nor make love
anywhere inside any of Brickman’s homes, but they’d managed both
and shared an intimacy that she’d never in her life shared with
anyone. She looked at him after he’d gently brushed the hair back
from her face and found herself arrested by the tears rolling down
his cheeks. He was brutish, but he’d never been anything but
careful with her. She was a small woman and could always sense when
big men were extra careful in their handling of her. Ivan had been
like that from the first.
    “Can you sit up?” he asked softly.
    Ida nodded weakly. “If you’ll adjust the
pillows so I can lean against them, I should be fine.”
    He did and after a few minutes of her trying
to bite back her cries of pain, she was sitting up with her back
against a stack of five pillows. He began to feed her the soup.
“How bad is it?”
    “Pretty bad,” she reluctantly admitted
between swallows. She could see the rage in his eyes, and while she
was gratified by it, she knew they couldn’t afford it. I’m going
to be okay, Ivan , she mouthed and tried a smile. You’ll
see .
    That’s not the point , he insisted,
mouthing each word angrily. I hate the fact that you’re hurt at
all.
    I know, sweetie, I know, but we’ll get
through it. You’ll see.
    Ivan nodded, but she could