by Gemma James
Libra
Copyright © 2021 Gemma James
Cover design by Gemma James
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Up Next
Newsletter
The Devil’s Kiss
Trashy Foreplay
Swallow Me Whole
Torrent
Epiphany
Playlist
About the Author
To my exceptionally patient readers.
Thank you for sticking with me.
1
September 11th
A smooth voice calls my name, followed by a warm hand gripping my fingers. I urge my eyes open, but a heaviness weighs on my lids. Sinking deeper into the void, I cling to oblivion. There’s no pain here. No heartbreak or trauma. Only a blank canvas tempting me to draw a more appealing picture than the one waiting for me on the other side of consciousness.
Someone says my name again, and this time, insistence creeps into his tone as he gives my hand a quick squeeze.
“Open those beautiful eyes, my sweet girl.”
“Liam?” As rough as sandpaper, his name sneaks past my dry lips.
“I’m here.”
A peek through my shuttered lids reveals him crouched at my side. Concern lines his ragged face, and I search my memory for the cause, but nothing springs to mind. Why can’t I remember?
“What happened?”
“Everything’s okay,” he says, though his words do nothing to offer reassurance or an answer, and that’s when an incessant throb starts in my temples.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I groan, holding my head as my stomach roils.
As if he expected as much, Liam helps me sit up before holding a bowl under my chin. There isn’t much in my stomach to expel, and as I heave, the last few days invade my consciousness.
Days locked away with no food in the House of Virgo, and Liam carrying me out in his muscular arms. Then…Pax slumped on the floor in the dungeon, unconscious.
After the dry-heaves stop, Liam disposes of the bowl then pushes a cup of water into my hands. “Take it slow,” he says.
I swallow a few sips before a wave of dizziness hits, and I slump to the bed, too weak to remain upright. “You drugged me.” It’s not a question, and the guilt in his eyes affirms my accusation.
He dips his head. “I had to get you out of there.”
For the first time since opening my eyes, I let my attention wander around the small room. I’m on a narrow bed, and sitting across from me is another cot. Two oblong windows offer a backdrop for a seating area, the view beyond the glass a portrait of a perfect cerulean morning. Cabinetry takes up the wall next to the door. The space is compact, minimalist, and far from what I’m used to in the tower.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere in the Atlantic.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re on a cargo ship.”
Silence descends as we stare at each other, and I study his answer from every angle. I must have been out for the better part of the night—long enough for him to transport me onto a cargo ship. He didn’t just drug me. He kidnapped me.
I’m smuggled cargo.
“How did you get me out of the tower?”
“An escape tunnel.”
“And you just…what?” A wave of my hand encompasses the room. “Strolled on a ship with an unconscious woman?”
His lips twitch. “It was a bit more complicated than that. I had some help.”
“Did Landon help you?”
Arching a brow, Liam settles onto the edge of the bed. “A crew member did. I set the guy’s family up for life, and he set me up with a way off the island.” He doesn’t press me on why I brought up Landon, and for that, I’m grateful because I’m in no condition to spin a believable fabrication. Instead, I steer the subject away from the tower of men we left behind.
“Where are you taking me?”
Five nervous beats of my heart pass before he speaks. “You should eat something.” He stands and puts three feet of distance between us. “I’ve got some crackers. Once you keep those down, we’ll get some substance into your stomach.”
“You’re not going to answer me?” Despite my foggy head and the deadweight in my bones, I force myself upright again.
“I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
“I need to know where we’re going.” My voice rises an octave as my thoughts crystallize.
Liam drags a hand through his copper hair. “You just woke up, Novalee. I’ll tell you more when the time is right.”
Helplessness festers in my gut. “Why did you take me?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
“Yes. At first, I begged you to run away with me, and again during Mr. Bordeaux’s month, but you said you couldn’t walk away from your duty.”
Clenching his jaw, he allows a heavy moment to sneak by. “I couldn’t let you go to him.”
Him…as in Pax?
Or someone else?
“But leaving me with Mr. Bordeaux was okay?”
“None of this is okay.”
“Then why now?”
He gives a resigned shake of his head. “Because I’m selfish.”
“You took me because you’re selfish?”
“I took you because I’m in love with you, and I don’t want you to marry Sebastian.” His confession lands in the space between us, sending my heart to the pit of my stomach.
“What about the auction?”
He tilts his head, his troubled brown eyes locking with mine. “I think you already know the answer to that question. I’m not going to win.”
I know Landon is adamant that Sebastian will come out victorious, but Liam doesn’t know about my brother’s mysterious plan…unless the chancellor does know—just like he knew my next move on the chess board before I did.
Sidestepping the deep end of that dangerous subject, I wave my hand around the room. “After this, they’ll kick you out for sure.”
“They’ll have to find us first.”
Us. Because in his mind, there’s still an us. Unable to speak, I watch as he pulls the promised crackers from a cupboard.
“You need to eat something,” he says.
I don’t think I can eat—not with his words ricocheting in my mind. It’s hard to believe I’m free of the Brotherhood. Harder still to believe I have one captor now instead of twelve. But the thought of never seeing Sebastian again burns with the agony of a thousand knives, and I have no choice but to ask the question Liam doesn’t want to hear.
“What if I want to go back?” As soon as the words spill from my mouth, I realize how insane they sound. There’s nothing but pain and degradation awaiting in that tower…and yet I can’t help but hope the fierce lion who stole my heart will return from exile soon.
“Why would you want to go back?” On th
e surface, Liam’s question is a simple one. A logical one. But underneath his tone, a trace of hurt resides.
He knows why.
We both do.
The truth thrives on the silence between us as I nibble on a tasteless cracker. He turns his back to me, his sudden fixation on the windows telling me what he doesn’t—that he can’t bear to look at me.
“I know you love him,” he says, his voice thick and raspy with the pain he tries to hide for my sake.
“I care about you too.” My lashes flutter, holding back the evidence of the ache in my chest.
“Not in the same way.”
I’m not sure how to feel anymore, especially during moments like these, when the shards of Liam’s heartache bloodies my soul. He’s made mistakes, even done things that border on the unforgivable, and yet…
He’s always protected me, even when I didn’t want him to.
“Liam...” As tears burn my eyes, I stare down at my hands. “I love—” My voice cracks, saving me from making a hopeless declaration. Because I do love them both, but in very different ways. Liam is the concrete foundation keeping me on my feet, and Sebastian is the wild vines growing through the cracks, endangering my foothold.
As if he senses my quiet turmoil, Liam crouches in front of me, cradling my face with one hand. “Don’t cry. God, I can’t help myself when you cry.”
“I want to go back.” My tears fall with a bitter plea, those salty drops torturing his wounds. “I know hearing this hurts you—”
“Then don’t say it.” He tangles his fingers in my hair. “I know how you feel about him, but I think you love me too. I want a fair chance…just try, my sweet girl.”
“Try?”
“Try to think of us anywhere in the world, laughing and loving and free.” Closing his eyes, he rests his forehead against mine. “I can be what you need.”
“I know you can.”
“Then let me.”
“Too much has happened…too much has changed.” I’ve changed, the fabric of my soul weaving a new existence. How can anyone come back from the things I’ve experienced? It’s not something I can erase by running away, no matter how much the weaker part of me wants to forget and find freedom.
But gaining freedom means letting go of Sebastian, and the thought of never seeing him again terrifies me more than facing a month under the rule of Pax.
“It’s not that simple.” I shake my head. “I can’t turn off the way I feel.”
Liam stands, his disappointment palpable. “We’ve both changed, but the connection between us hasn’t. I’m selfish enough to fight for you.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets, and for the first time, I realize he’s wearing jeans. It’s such a foreign look on him—a cunning style used to trick the world into believing he’s harmless when, in fact, he’s declared war on my heart.
“Why did you vote to keep him in the auction?” I stare at his towering form through my tears. “You gave me hope—” My voice breaks again, and I clear my throat. “You’re not taking me back, are you?”
“After the month of Libra is over,” he says, pausing with an air of reluctance, “if you still want to go back to the tower…to him…then I’ll accept it.”
“What?” My lashes flutter as I process an answer I couldn’t have foreseen. “You’ll take me back?”
“Under one condition.” Looking down at me, he clasps his hands behind his back. Despite the denim encasing his legs, he’s no less commanding than when he wears a tailored suit.
“What’s your condition?”
“Between now and then, I want you to give yourself to me. Every piece of you, Novalee.”
A confusing tingle flares between my legs. “You want my virginity?”
He all but grinds his teeth. “Not until you’ve made your choice. If you choose me, we’ll marry, and then I’ll have you in my bed the way you deserve.” His eyes dim to burnt umber. “Not on an elevator floor, ass-fucking in the traffic of people’s filth.”
My mouth slackens. “How did you know about that?”
“I’m aware of many things.” He drags a hand down his face. “The security team saw the two of you on surveillance footage.”
I swallow hard, wondering what else he’s seen, heard, or discovered. “So you’ll let me go back?” A dubious note enters my tone. Why would he risk everything just to return to the tower with me?
“As long as you give me what I want.”
“If not my virginity, then what?”
“I want what you gave Sebastian. Your body, your heart…a willingness to try.” His gaze is as unwavering as the ultimatum settling between us, those prying eyes spreading heat across my cheeks. I almost look away—almost lose the courage to stand my ground in the power of his stare. Giving in to his demands would be as easy as breathing. The chemistry has always been there. The connection and need.
The want.
But deep down, I know the guilt will eat me raw. The heart wasn’t designed to love two men in equal measures. Despite its two halves, the heart was meant to love as a whole.
“Do I have another option?”
“None that you’ll like.”
Clarification isn’t necessary. His intentions shape the dominance of his mouth, enforce his confident stature, solidify his rigid jawline. When Liam decides something, he’s not easily swayed. Not long ago, he was willing to let me go if it meant ensuring my happiness, but the man standing before me now is a pillar of possessive power. A man whose self-sacrificing nature is nowhere in sight.
He’s left me no choice. Short of escaping Liam, the only way back to Sebastian is to give the chancellor what he wants.
2
As the ship journeys across the Atlantic, I recover from my final days in the House of Virgo. Someone comes to the door of our room three times a day like clockwork to bring us food. Liam keeps me out of sight like the stowaway I am, though neither of us leave the room while we’re at sea.
It’s imperative we lie low, Liam insists.
So with the constant thrum of the ventilation system in my ears, combined with the crew’s scampering footsteps on deck, I do my best not to go mad from boredom. Mealtime marks the rhythmic peaks of each day. It also helps me regain my strength and mental fortitude.
But nothing fortifies me against the rage building inside, because knowing I have no choice and accepting it are two different things. My anger infiltrates the space like an odorless gas leak, just a spark away from igniting.
Commanded to stay out of sight once again, I listen as Liam greets our mysterious ally while the smuggled food exchanges hands. The guy sounds older, his indecipherable words reaching my ears with a raspiness that makes me think he indulges in nicotine.
This unseen messenger is our only contact on the ship, and I consider calling out for help. But deep down, I know I won’t make a sound—not when leaving Liam means returning to Zodiac Island. In my heart, I know the chancellor is a man of his word. He’ll take me back to the tower at the end of Pax’s month.
But only if I give him what he wants first.
As he sits across from me at our tiny table for two, finishing off his bowl of bland vegetable soup, my reluctance to give in weighs heavily between us. In spite of his stated intentions, Liam has barely touched me. We’ve spent the previous three nights in separate beds, and the days are filled with games of chess and silence.
Uncomfortable silence that seems louder than the constant hum of the ship. Our tense coexistence comes to a head after dinner as we battle each other on the chess board, the pieces scattered in a haphazard mess.
Kind of like this situation.
“How long are you planning to give me the silent treatment?” he asks, moving his bishop. When he meets my gaze, there’s a challenge in his soft umber eyes, though that calculating stare has nothing to do with the game before us.
Licking my lips, I push my queen two spaces to the left. “I never said I was giving you the silent treatment.”
His lips curl into an amused smile. “That’s the point. You haven’t said much at all.”
“I’m processing everything.”
Still sporting that annoying smile, he moves a castle right into the path of my pawn. “You had me figured out by sundown on the first day, Novalee. Your brain has already processed every angle.”
This man reads me like no one else. He sees through my words as easily as he smelled the innocence on me that first day in the library all those months ago. “Okay,” I concede, my pawn overtaking his castle. “I have been giving you the silent treatment.”
“Why?”
Surely, he must know, but I’ll play out this game anyway. “You’re trying to strong-arm me into a decision while keeping me in the dark.” I hold his gaze for several beats. “Until you can be straight with me, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Always at an impasse, are we?”
“I guess so.”
Folding his arms, he leans back. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“I need you to be specific.”
“Let’s start with where we’re going then.”
“We’re going to a private island,” he answers quicker than I thought he would, and I’m stunned into silence as he makes his next move on the board, bringing my queen closer to peril. “Next question.” His expectant eyes meet mine.
“That’s it? Next question?” I raise a brow. “Just like that, you’re ready to tell me what I want to know?”
“I’m ready for us to move forward. Now that you’ve had a few days to regain your strength and process the situation, I think it’s time we come clean with each other.”
“You mean it’s time you come clean with me.”
“I’m not the only one keeping secrets, my sweet girl.”
