The dream had hands in it, and a lock clicking shut on the outside.
Zara woke with her own scream in her throat and her nails cut into her palm.
The sheets were soaked through under her back.
The door had no lock on it anymore. That was supposed to be a kindness.
She opened it anyway, because the walls had started to lean in.
Ennio: Well, look at this. Little Miss Moreau came out to play.
Ennio: She was screaming in there. Sounded like a bitch in heat.
Tullio: Maybe she wants company.
Ennio: I know a way to shut a woman up that leaves no marks.
His glove closed on her wrist and pulled, and her shoulder cracked into the doorframe.
Pain went down her arm in a hot line, and her knees almost went with it.
Ennio: There it is. That's the face I wanted.
Saverin: Let go of her. Now.
Ennio dropped her wrist like it had gone hot.
Saverin came down the hall without hurrying, and that was worse.
He took Ennio by the collar and put him into the wall hard enough that the picture beside it jumped.
The nose broke with a wet sound, and blood ran down over Ennio's mouth.
Saverin: Next time I hear your voice near her door, I'll cut your tongue out and hand it to Tullio.
Saverin: Get out of my sight. Both of you.
They went, and Ennio left a red spot on the carpet.
The rage went out of Saverin's face so fast it left him looking tired.
Saverin: You're shaking.
Zara: I'm fine.
Saverin: You're a liar, too.
He picked up her wrist and turned it into the light. Red prints sat on her skin where the glove had been.
His jaw worked, and he let go before his own grip could leave more.
Saverin: Sit down before you fall down.
She sat on the edge of the bed. Her teeth were chattering, and she hated that he could hear it.
Zara: Say what you came to say and go.
Saverin: I didn't come to say anything.
He crouched down in front of her, close enough that she could see the blood drying on his knuckles.
Saverin: Out there, you're safe from everyone but me.
Saverin: Every man in this city would use you up and drop the rest in the harbor.
Saverin: I'm the only one who'll do it slow.
Zara: That's supposed to comfort me?
Saverin: It's supposed to keep you alive. Comfort costs extra.
Her shaking had stopped, and that scared her more than the shaking.
Zara: Stay.
Zara: I'm not asking you to lie down with me. I'm asking you to stay in the room.
He sat on the floor with his back against the bed, and the room got quiet.
After a while she put her hand on his shoulder and felt his breath change under her palm.
Saverin: That's a bad idea.
Zara: I want you. I'm asking. That's different from the other night.
He turned his head. His eyes were black and steady, and something in them had been starving for a long time.
Saverin: Say it again.
Zara: I want you.
He came up off the floor and kissed her, and it wasn't gentle.
His hand slid up her thigh under the hem of her shirt and stopped at her hip, asking.
She pulled him down on top of her and put his hand where she wanted it.
Zara: There. Fuck, right there.
His fingers found her clit through the cotton, and her pussy went hot and wet under his hand.
He pulled the cotton aside and pushed two fingers inside her, and she arched off the bed.
Saverin: You're so fucking wet for a woman who told me to keep my distance.
Zara: I changed my mind. Make me say it twice and I'll take it back.
She got her hand between them and closed it around his cock through his pants, and he made a rough sound against her throat.
Saverin: If you keep that up, this stops being my idea.
Zara: Good.
After that there were no words worth keeping. The bed took his weight, and the dark took the rest.
Later, Saverin lay awake with Zara asleep on his chest and his gun within reach.
Saverin: Sleep. Nobody gets through me to you.