‘Did he hurt you?’ he asked, and saw small sparks of rage light in her eyes at the stupidity of his question. ‘No. He only raped me. Not even in a very imaginative way. Just plain old-fashioned choking, slapping and rape.’ ‘Chassim,’ he said, shocked; almost rebuking her for how callously she dismissed it. ‘What?’ she demanded. Her mouth was swollen but her lip still curled in dismay. ‘Did you think it my first time? It was not. Or will you pretend to be surprised, and claim that this is not the way of your kind?’
