Is'haaq had been outside. He had been banging on the door for almost fifteen minutes before he walked off.

She couldn't even call out for him.

She was sore all over. And she was so tired of trying to undo that bastards knot.There was not a muscle on her body that didn't ache...

Her front lock creaked once again. Slight clicks echoed throughout her flat before the knob turned and he opened the door. He turned back, his voice far away from her as she closed her eyes and turned her face into her pillow.

She didn't want to see him.

His hands were gentle on her wrist as he untied the rope that had bound her to her headboard, running his fingers gently over the deep red indents on her skin.

"Juri?" his fingers combed through her hair as the mattress dipped down beside her.

She turned her body to him, burying her head against the side of his thigh, desperately trying to hold on to him.

Hold on to something real.

She gasped as he touched once of the bruises on her shoulder.

"I just need to hold you." Her voice was dry and cracked, muffled against the denim of his jeans. She pulled herself around him, her arms holding his legs and her thighs touching his knees. She ignored his reaction to seeing her naked body. Her arms began to shake, and her belly constricted as the first true tears fell down her face.

He picked her up, settling her onto his lap as if she were a baby. His arms enfolded her, and he bent forward, covering her body as she curled herself around his stomach. She didn't want to think about it but she could still feel him inside of her. She could feel the sticky mess he left over her body before he got up and dressed and she could feel the blood between her thighs from his ruthlessness. She hated him. She hated that dick-faced cunt more than anyone in her whole entire life. She wanted him to die.

She wanted to die.

She didn't want to think about it for a second longer. She didn't want to remember it or dream about it or feel its ghost-like presence over her body anymore. she was sobbing. Hard, deep, painful sobs that burned her lungs and made her throat raw. She buried herself deeper into Is'haaq, gripping his t-shirt so tightly, she thought it would tear.

Wails thrummed through her ears. Her own wails- a sound she had never made before, but it was rooted in pain so absolute that it was the only way she could expunge it. She could feel him against her gums. She could feel the way he pushed himself down her throat and pinched her when she scraped her teeth against him. Her body was hot and cold and she wanted to...

She kicked. She began kicking even when she felt skin against her knees. She kicked and she punched and she lashed out till his arms stilled her movements in a painful hold.

She cried.

And she cried.

And she cried until she could cry no longer.

Her body could no longer do it.

Her body was tired. She was so tired of crying that she collapsed into him, softening her hold and allowing him to support her.

Until her eyes closed and sleep overtook her.

*** 

Is'haaq couldn't put her down.

Her sheets were putrid. They were absolutely vile. It was sticky and bloody and wet and he couldn't let her sleep in all that filth. He stood up and covered her with an old throw that had been pushed against the end of her bed.

She couldn't stay there.

She had slept soundly on his backseat. He kept looking back to make sure she was still okay. He hated the way she looked. There was barely an inch on her body that wasn't covered in red finger-shaped imprints. Her throat, her thighs, her stomach, her back, her ass, her breasts. She still had blood dripping down her legs when he picked her up and it had stained his t-shirt as he held her close to his body. He should have gotten there faster. After he had read her message, he should have just dropped everything and left.

The sun shone over her face and he prayed it would bring her warmth. He should have bundled her in something else. She was naked beneath a thin throw and it wasn't enough. He turned his heater a little higher and turned back to check up on her once again. She was still asleep. He drove slowly over the bumps, careful not to wake her up as he took the back roads to his flat.

Storm mewed as he walked into the flat, his tail flicking as Is'haaq walked right past him. Juri grasped his shirt as he put her down, unwilling to let him go, before he kissed her knuckles and covered her with his duvet. He closed his curtains and switched off his radio before he got back into bed with her. He laid close, winding an arm around her stomach to pull her to him to make space for Storm to lay on her other side. Storm had grown fond of Juri's presence and Is'haaq supposed he had an innate sense for knowing something was wrong with her.

A tear rolled down the side of his cheek before he could stop it.

And another one

And another one...

Until he stuffed his fist into his mouth, not wanting her to wake up just yet.

***

Something bumped against her stomach.

It was small an soft and it kept nudging into her.

And it mewed.

She opened her eyes, smiling as Storm nibbled on her finger. "Hi." She stroked the fur between his ears till he began to purr and nuzzled even closer to her. "You just wanted attention, didn't you?" she whispered, knowing Is'haaq was still asleep beside her. His deep breaths against her shoulder were evidence enough but she couldn't help the slight giggle when he began to snore.

"Don't laugh."

She burst into peals of laughter and she didn't even know why. It wasn't very funny but...

She sighed, looking down at her covered body.

It was real.

She turned around taking Storm with her so he could settle between them.

She wanted to touch Is'haaq's face, but she couldn't. Not with that man's filth still over her. "I need to shower." She sat up, wincing as her body pulled unnaturally.

"But-"

"Please, Is'haaq." She felt her throat tighten. "I just want to shower."

He moved Storm off her lap and lifted the duvet off her still wrapped body. "Okay..."

She lifted the throw before she sat on the toilet. "Fuck..." she burned as she peed. She clenched her thighs together, trying to ease the pain but her skin on the inside was too raw to heal. She couldn't even wipe. She finished up quickly and stood up to wash her hands. She looked into his mirror and prepared herself to drop the blanket. She closed her eyes, counting down from three before she opened them and she wished she hadn't.

She looked disgusting. She still had his semen over her but it dried and stuck to her skin. Dried, brown blood was matted into her thighs and her body itself was red from the way he groped her. She didn't bother turning around when Is'haaq walked in. He would need to see what she had done...

What she had chosen to do.

"Go away, Is'haaq." She said it but they both knew she didn't mean it.

"No." He walked to the shower and fiddled with the taps before he stepped closer to her. "Come on." He held his hand out to her and guided her into the shower. "Let me look after you." He stood outside, waiting for her to consent before he stripped off his clothes and joined her.

She closed her eyes, unable to watch the way his lips pulled down as he looked at her. His arm brushed her own as he reached past her for the shampoo. He rubbed his hand through her hair, detangling it as he went along before cleaning it. She loved that smell...  His smell.

The suds ran down her forehead, but he caught them before they could go into her eyes. "Tip your head back."

She did as he asked and felt the soap run down her back as he washed out the shampoo. It was gentle and slow and she moved closer to him so she could steal his warmth.

"Open your eyes, Juri." His breath was on her ear and his hands were running down her back as he dragged her sponge over her skin. She could barely breathe as the steam billowed around them. He ran the sponge over her shoulders, and down her arms. He moved slowly and cautiously over her wrists, yet still she gasped in pain.

His palm grazed her shoulder as he reached for the body wash once more and goosebumps popped up all over her skin. He started at her neck, massaging the sponge over her skin in circles before he moved to her chest. He was still careful...

He got down on his knees, as he washed her stomach and carried on. He skipped over the juncture between her thighs as he moved the sponge down her legs and to her toes.

He stood up, and squeezed the sponge of soap before he moved the shower head across her body to rinse her out. "Turn around for me." She turned, closing her eyes as she felt his hand run over her stomach and down to her sensitive area. He didn't use a sponge, instead changing the setting on his shower head to mist and running it over her skin. She pressed her head into his shoulder as her skin burned beneath the water and grasped her lip between her teeth to stifle her cries. "It's almost over." He reassured her, still keeping the water on her.

"Thank God he used a condom. He's not..." in me.

Is'haaq didn't reply, except to drag a washcloth gently over her tender skin. "It's almost done. I'm just washing the blood away."

"How are you so okay with this?"

He shrugged, rinsing her off one last time. "I've done this before."

He washed his hands under the water and had her stand beneath the spray once more before he closed the tap. He opened the door, allowing all the steam to escape before he grabbed their towels from the rail. He wrapped a towel around his waist before drying her off. He dried her off as gently as he washed her. He started from her hair and working his way down to her toes before he wrapped her up in it and helped her out of the shower.

He sat her down on the chair in his room, rummaging in his cupboard for something for her to wear. "You're going to have to go without panties," he said tossing a track-pants and a t-shirt to her.

"I'll survive."

He nudged Storm off the bed to gather his sheets, her throw and his duvet cover and bundled them up into a ball into his washing basket. She hadn't bothered moving as he worked. She simply watched as he dug into his cupboard for new linen and remade his bed before he dropped his towel to get dressed.

"You're still not dressed?"

She didn't reply. She didn't know how to ask him to help her... to look after her.

He stepped forward, lifting her up from her chair before he pushed her towel off her body. He bent down, helping her step into the pants before he rolled it up her body and grabbed the t-shirt.

"Lift your arms then."  He teased, chucking her under her chin.

She stretched her arms high into the air, shivering as the cold air of the room hit her body. He wrapped his arms around her first, rubbing her back to warm her up.

She dropped her arms, winding them around his shoulders and pressing herself into his chest.

She thought she couldn't cry but she was wrong.

She needed him. Everything in her needed him and in that moment, he kept her whole as her body broke down once again.