Did she enjoy this? she wondered. She shouldn’t, but his lips took hers hungrily and the knowledge of his wanting stabbed her with desire, like that first burn of a hard drink, the way it entered her head with a hum. At least when he wanted her like this, there was something of him that was hers and she was grateful for that power, such as it was. Sometimes it could feel like everything.

At least a month after her arrival in Pivámoc, Dina woke in the dark, early morning to pounding at her front door. Throwing a shawl about her shoulders, she ran to find Lea at her doorstep in a nightgown and slippers. Her long black hair was plaited into a single braid and dangled from the nape of her neck as she held herself between the legs with one hand, the other pressing hard into her lower back.