The Bear’s Mail Order Menage

She was unwilling to give any of these men that satisfaction. Even when the giant dug his hideously strong fingers into her thin upper arm, twisting her around mercilessly as if she was a rag doll and not a human being, she retained the dignity she had somehow managed to keep, even in the awful hovel she was confined to. He shoved his face down right into hers and she willed herself not to look away. She held her breath to keep from gagging at that same smell of rot she had noticed on the men who had first taken her.

“If you think your little boyfriend is going to save you, you’re wrong. There ain’t a thing in the world that’s gonna set you free. Get used to that. Make your peace with god, bi*ch, because you’re about to find out if it’s him you’re going to see or if it’s the man below.”

So that was it. He was meant to be her executioner. Joshua must be on his way, he must, and they were afraid of his coming. Why else would they all of the sudden be acting so hastily? She had very little confidence that he would reach her in time for it to keep her safe, but just knowing that he had tried was giving her some kind of small peace. She could go out on that. She knew that many people made their exit with far less.

The hand that was not holding her arm crept up to her throat and began to squeeze. She struggled for air, fought as hard as she could, but the space it had to make its way down was rapidly shrinking and the light was starting to move in from her peripheral in a disconcerting pinpoint. So this was what it felt like, she thought passively, this was what it felt like to die.

It was painful, but it could have been worse. She could just let go now and nothing would hurt her any longer. She could just let go and whatever would come next would be out of her control. There was some relief in that after trying so hard for such a long time.

“I suggest that you let her go.”

She must have been hearing things. There was no way that Joshua was in this room with her now. Maybe she just wanted to hear his voice again before she went so badly that she conjured it up. But the fingers closed around her windpipe loosened ever so slightly and her eyes opened slowly, struggling to see though their haze.

“Hey! Sh*t, they’re here, they’re fu*king here! Where the hell is everyone?”

They? The fingers loosened again and she knew that she was very close to being able to wriggle free. She could smell the fear coming off of the giant now, something she had not expected. Something was happening here that she didn’t quite understand but it was the hope she needed to hang on for just a little bit longer.

“They aren’t coming to help you. They’re otherwise occupied at the moment.”

“Speak English you jackass!”

“English? You want me to speak English? My brother is outside with the rest of your inbred family and they aren’t going to get by him. Now let her go. Now. Let her go now or I’m going to fu*king end you.”

All it took was one swift kick to the balls and Alina felled the giant. Standing behind him, real and breathing, was Joshua. He was actually here. Despite the awful things she had written in that letter, despite leaving him to handle all of the fallout of the monumental thing they had done, he had come after her. He had come to rescue her just like the men did in the movies. Looking at it now, she realized that she could have, in all likelihood, she could have managed this escape on her own. She could have found a way. It wasn’t a lack of ability that had made her weak it was a lack of moral.

“Alina! Babe, are you ok? Please tell me you’re ok.”

She started to sob and ran to him, jumping into his arms and wrapping her arms around him so tightly that she could have actually injured a lesser man. He didn’t even move with the force of her body hitting his. He took her in his arms and kissed every part of her that he could touch. Her fluttering eyelids, her flushed skin. He kissed her like he hadn’t believed that he would ever see her again, a belief that wasn’t actually all that far-fetched.

“Thank you. I’m so sorry. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. Out of everything in my life, there is nothing that I would more like to take back.”

“No, don’t. Don’t even think like that. You know what I would like? I would like to tell you something and then I would like to take you home. If you still want to call that your home. I want you to be happy.”

“It’s the only home I’ve ever known. What do you need to tell me?”

“God, that I love you, woman. I love you so much more than I thought I would ever love anyone. And there’s a lot more I want to say, but not here. I just want to get out of here. I want to go home.”

“I do too, but we have to do something first.”

“What’s that?”

“We have to help my neighbor.”

Joshua looked at her like she was stone cold crazy and she burst into laughter. She hadn’t laughed in days and that felt like years. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt and she kissed him again, over and over again so that they could have been on their honeymoon instead of standing in the middle of the room that had been her prison cell.

“Alright, darlin, I give. What the hell are you talking about? Your neighbor?”

“I believe she’s talking about me,” Eva called out of the vent through which the two of them had been communicating, “and I would more than appreciate it if you would do what she’s asking. It’s getting awfully old lookin’ at these same walls.”

“Who is that?”

“She’s one of the McCallisters, but they locked her up for not hating the people in Charlotte. It’s the least we can do to let her out, right? May we help? Please?”

“Sh*t, we have to! There’s no way we could just leave her here.”

Joshua, refusing to let go of Alina for even a moment, looked cautiously around the doorframe into the hallway. There was nobody coming for them and so he swiftly kicked the door to Eva’s room in. Before they even had the opportunity to enter she was on her feet and out the door. Alina wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t this.

The girl looked to be in her mid-twenties and was barely over five feet tall with wild red curls and sharp green eyes. Despite her dirty clothing and the purple bruises under her eyes she gave them a grin that stretched from ear to ear. It was impossible not to smile back and Alina took her by the hand and the three of them left the building.