by T. J. Quinn
“Where am I supposed to hide?” I asked with a slight frown.
“There’s an underground shelter I’ll show you after we finish. You can stay there until the system warns you it safe to come out,” he told me.
“You thought of everything,” I pointed out.
“I tried to. The Septians are allowed to roam within the city limits, and though they don’t venture away from the headquarters, it doesn’t mean they can’t,” he warned me. “They are the biggest threat for you. If they find you, they will take you back.”
“How long have you been planning this?” I asked, too curious to hold back the question.
His smile sent shivers down my spine. “Ever since you turned eighteen.”
“Why me? You’ve been in touch with many other women. Why did you wait for me?” I insisted on knowing the truth.
“You’re not ready to have that conversation,” he stated in a stern tone.
“Oh, please! That’s bullshit!” I ranted.
“If you say so…”
I huffed my impatience. “What else? What other rules am I supposed to follow?” I asked, knowing I wouldn’t get anything else from him.
“You can eat all the food you feel like, and if you know how, it would be nice to have dinner ready for me when I get home,” he replied sarcastically.
“I’m not your wife, and I’m not playing house with you,” I grumbled.
He chuckled. “You don’t have to.”
“Anything else?”
“Be prudent. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Life here will be different from what you’re used to, but use your freedom wisely,” he insisted.
“Yes, I got it. You don’t have to repeat it a thousand times,” I grumbled.
He finished eating and jumped from his chair. “Our link only works if we’re a few yards away, so you won’t be able to call me,” he warned me.
“I won’t need it,” I assured him.
He stood by my chair and leaned over until his face was a couple of inches away from mine. “Will you miss me?” he asked, teasing me.
“As much as I would miss a hole in my head,” I replied, looking away, with the weird sensation that he could read me like an open book.
He chuckled and brushed his lips against mine. “I’ll miss you too,” he whispered before he slid his tongue into my mouth, deepening the kiss and sending my heart into a frantic pace. “The shelter is beyond that door,” he said when he finally released me, signaling a small door to my left. “Once inside, you’ll be able to see what’s going on around the house, through the security system. Do not leave it until you’re told it’s safe.”
“I won’t take risks. You’re the lesser of evils,” I grumbled, scowling.
“I knew you would see things my way,” he said, with a presumptuous grin as he turned around and left the house.
I stood at the table, my heart still drumming in my chest while I tried to make sense of the past twenty-four hours. For the thousandth time, I wish mom was still with me. She always managed to make things brighter, and she was an expert at making me smile, even in the darkest moments.
Shaking my head, I focused my attention on the food over the table, determined to make the best of this weird situation. Whatever the general wanted from me couldn’t be worse than becoming a breeder.
The mere thought of being touched by Sylan or any of his hideous men gave me the creeps.
Once I finished, I cleared the kitchen and went back to the bedroom to make the bed and pick up the dirty clothes the general might have left behind. He wore a slim-fitting navy blue suit under the heavy cloak, which looked much better than the shapeless rags the Septians forced us to wear in the children’s quarters.
I wondered what I was supposed to wear from now on. The general hadn’t given me time to pick up the few things I owned. They were left behind, hidden underneath the thin mattress of my bed.
Sighing, I pushed the bedroom door open and stared at the bed for a few moments as a frown showed up on my forehead. The bed was bigger than most I had seen, but not enough for me to stay away from the general.
Examining the pillows on the bed, I could almost swear we had slept in each other’s arms. How the hell had slept so well with someone so close to me? All my life, I had slept alone, and even when Fallon and I had slumber parties, I always slept on the floor so that I could stretch and roll at will.
One more thing that didn’t make sense. Sighing, I made the bed, admiring the bedcovers, and cleaned up the bathroom. I had to admit the general had done a great job restoring this place and still making it look like a ruinous house from the outside. No one would ever suspect anything.
I found no dirty clothes anywhere, and I wondered if he took them with him. I knew there was a huge laundry back at the headquarters, where all the resident’s clothes were washed. I guess it would be suspicious if he stopped taking his wash there, but I was still curious. He had gone through a lot of work just to get me here.
I couldn’t help wondering how he was going to explain my disappearance. Sylan would notice because he had been after me for a while now. His disgusting lustful looks always gave the creeps. He would know I was gone.
Shaking my head, I stopped asking questions I couldn’t answer and tried to find something to do. I would go nuts all day long just staring at the walls. I had been working ever since arriving at the children’s quarters. We were all assigned a task, and refusing to do it was not an option. The Asseptians had little tolerance for those that were proven useless for them.
By the time the general came back to the house, I was ready to climb the walls. Boredom, anticipation, and little to do were a bad combination for me. I was edgy and in an irritable mood when he finally entered the house, shortly after sunset, carrying a few bags.
“How was your day?” he asked me, with a mocking grin on his face, as he watched me pace the living room.
Calling it the living room was an exaggeration, but since it had the only couch on the house, I thought it was the best name for it. Other than the couch and a small coffee table, the room was empty.
“Great! Just great,” I barked at him.
He chuckled. “That good?”
“There’s nothing to do!” I ranted. “What am I supposed to do, all day long, between these walls?”
“I’m sure you’ll find something,” he assured me.
He took off his cloak and hung it on a coat rack behind the door. The one I had used the night before was there too.
“Like what? Gardening? You don’t want me outside, and I doubt I would be able to grow anything on that contaminated soil. Cleaning? There’s so much I can do here. Cooking? I never learned, and even that wouldn’t keep me busy.”
“You could try to learn how to cook,” he suggested.
“With what? There are no books here, no internet, no television,” I ranted a bit more.
“There’s an abandoned library in the outskirts of the city. Would you like me…” he started saying, but I interrupted him rudely.
“Yes… I would love to go to the library.”
“I wasn’t suggesting taking you there. That’s too dangerous,” he pointed out, deflating my newly found enthusiasm. “I can bring you a few books every day.”
“That won’t work. You wouldn’t know what I want to read,” I protested. “I need to see the books for myself.”
He shook his head. “Too dangerous. Especially, right now, with Sylan looking for you,” he said in a firm tone.
That pulled my attention away from the abandoned library. “What did you tell him?”
He grinned. “I scolded him and his friends for letting you escape. He wanted me to send the dragons after you,” he explained in a scornful tone.
“Did you?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Of course. I told them to go looking on the roads leading out of the city,” he replied.
“You misled them,” I concluded.
“Of course. I couldn’t tell them I brou
ght you here.”
“Why not?”
“I have my reasons,” for a moment, his eyes darkened. “But this is why you can’t leave the house for now. I will go to the library every day, and I’ll bring you all the books I can find. You’ll choose then.”
“Not much I can do, is there?” I grumbled.
“Exactly. Now, let’s eat; you must be starving,” he said, carrying the bags he had brought with him to the kitchen.
There was food in it, and it smelled delicious. I hadn’t eaten anything after breakfast, feeling awkward going through his things.
“Did you have lunch?” he asked as he took the food out of the bags.
“I wasn’t hungry,” I told him, avoiding his eyes as I sat down at the table.
It wasn’t entirely true. I just hadn’t been hungry enough to surpass my embarrassment.
He scoffed, and I knew he didn’t believe me. “This is your home now,” he pointed out, again reading me like an open book.
“Calling it my home doesn’t make it so,” I grumbled.
He sighed. “I know. Just try giving it a chance, will you?” he asked, putting some food in front of me.
I rubbed my face a couple of times, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “I’m trying… but put yourself in my place. My life changed radically in a matter of minutes. I need time to adjust.”
“You can take all the time you need,” he assured me.
I raised my head and looked him in the eye. “And yet you expect us to share a bed,” I spurted, probably confessing one of the reasons I was feeling so out of place.
His face hardened, and his eyes darkened. “Nothing will happen without your consent. The bed is big enough for both of us,” he said, in a tone that didn’t admit arguing, but I wasn’t feeling compliant.
“If you truly don’t expect anything to happen between us, why sleep on the same bed? It doesn’t make sense,” I insisted, mainly because his kisses had shown me how easily I would consent to whatever he asked of me.
I guess I was more scared of myself than of him.
“And yet, that’s what will happen. Get used to it,” he said, in a curt tone that finally shut me up.
We ate in silence, and he helped me clean the kitchen before he left the house without a word. Not sure what I was supposed to do, I paced the living room for a while until I decided it was time to go to bed. Things might be easier if I was already sleeping by the time he came back.
The bathroom had been the best addition the general had made to the house. With just a toilet, a chipped sink, and a small shower stall, it wasn’t luxurious, but it had running water, and that was great. Water had never been a problem on the headquarters, but we had no privacy at all while bathing. There were no shower stalls, just dozens of showerheads lined up on a huge bathroom.
Being able to shower alone was a privilege I thought I would never have again. So, I decided to enjoy it for as long as possible, trying not to waste that much water.
I was still rinsing the soap out of my hair when the bathroom door opened up, and the general walked in. Startled, I turned around to look at him, my hands barely covering my naked body, while the cold water ran down my body.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, feeling the heat coloring my cheeks.
“It’s my house, too, remember?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe.
“Would you mind? I’m taking a shower,” I asked, hating the hideous grin he had on his smug face.
“Please, don’t stop on my account. Just pretend I’m not here,” he said in a teasing tone.
I pursed my lips and opened my mouth to protest some more, but I closed it before I uttered the first word. I knew it was useless. Pursing my lips tight, I turned my back on him and finished bathing with shuddering hands.
It still amazed me how his eyes on my naked body felt like fire trails. Why was I so aware of him? Why was he different from all the other men I had met so far?
I turned off the water and wrapped my body on one of the towels neatly folded on a shelf, and wrapped my body on it before I turned to face him.
“See? That wasn’t that hard, was it?” he asked, still teasing me.
“If you say so…” I grumbled as I walked towards the door, hoping he would get out of the way.
Chapter Five
His sturdy body occupied most of the exit space, and if he didn’t move away, I would have to rub my body on his on my way out.
He didn’t move, not even when I stopped just a few inches away from him and cleared my throat, silently asking him to move.
Instead, he straightened, towering over me with his massive body. “Actually, for me, it was very hard… watching the water go down your luscious body and wishing I was the soap caressing your skin,” he said, in a hoarse tone.
Even telepathically, I could perceive every nuance of his voice and how it changed to express his feelings, like right now. He wanted me. So much it amazed me his stillness.
With one finger under my chin, he lifted my face, forcing me to look at him. Lust was written all over his face, and I gasped. Not because I was scared. I wasn’t. I was hot.
The fire in his eyes ignited one in me, and I was flushed and shuddering with a hunger I had never felt before. What kind of dark magic was this? How could I feel this way for a man responsible for enslaving my people? One responsible for unspeakable atrocities... This wasn’t right. It was unacceptable.
Furious with myself for the desire coursing through my body, I slapped away his hand and pushed him out of my way.
He pulled me back before I was able to take more than a couple of steps, pressing me against his hard body.
“Let me go!” I snarled, through gritted teeth, my eyes locked on the hand imprisoning me.
“You have nothing to say?” he asked, ignoring my demand.
“Your feelings don’t concern me,” I replied, in my coldest tone, still not looking at him.
He pulled me closer. “You’re lying,” he stated, nuzzling my neck, inhaling my scent, sending jolts of energy rushing to my very core.
“Or so you would like to believe,” I said, oozing scorn.
“Perhaps, I should prove it to you,” he whispered, and my heart jumped to a frantic pace, beating so loud I was sure he could hear it.
“No!” my scream echoed in the night, silent, but he didn’t listen.
The tip of his harsh tongue scrolled down my neck, right over the pulsing vein that proved him right.
“Your heart is beating faster...” he murmured. “Your nipples are so hard I can feel them through the fabric covering you,” his hand cupped one of my breasts, slightly squeezing it. “Your eyes shine with lust, and your arousal flushes your cheeks… and your scent…” he inhaled deeply. “It becomes spicier, even more intoxicating when you’re aroused.”
Damn man! Every single one of his words raised my arousal to levels I didn’t know were possible. I was melting down. How was I supposed to spend the night with him in the same bed and not surrender to his seduction?
“That’s just a physical response any healthy woman would have in the face of an attractive man,” I said, in a shaky tone, trying to dismiss his words, though we both knew I was lying.
He chuckled and stepped aside. “If that’s all it is, I can’t wait to see how you’ll respond when you’re really interested,” he mocked me. “But I’m happy you find me attractive,” he pointed out, turning my cheeks as red as beets.
“I… I mean…” I tried to deny my own words, but he didn’t let me.
His finger closed my lips, and he shook his head. “No more lies tonight, salavíf,” he warned me. “Go to bed. I’ll join you in a few minutes,” he commanded, and for once, I simply did as told, as he closed the bathroom door on my back.
Back in the bedroom, I combed my tangled hair with a brush I found over a small table while trying to decide what to wear during the night. The shapeless dress and underwear brought with me were drying out in the bathroom, and even
if it wasn’t, the idea of putting it back on repelled me.
I hadn’t seen any clothes other than the general’s suits, and I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of putting on one of those. But sleeping with just that thin towel wrapped around me was an even worse idea.
“What’s the problem?” he asked, from the bathroom door, with a small towel wrapped around his waist.
God, the man was breathtakingly hot. With broad shoulders, narrow waist, powerful legs, and well-defined muscles, the man was a gift from the gods. The small patches of scales scattered through his body only seemed to make him more attractive, and my hands itched to touch them, to touch his entire body.
I cleared my throat and looked away, suddenly aroused. “I have no clothes to put on,” I mumbled.
“Clothes… I should have thought of that,” he said, with a self-deprecating tone.
“You forgot to get me clothes? Or your plan was always to keep me naked and chained to your bed?” I asked scornfully.
He laughed. A low, hoarse sound that brought a smile to my lips, despite my firm resolve of showing only disapproval and scorn.
“You really shouldn’t give me such good ideas,” he warned me, still smiling. “I’m afraid I didn’t think about clothes. I might have thought about them before I decided to bring you here, but Sylan’s insistence on getting you rushed things,” he explained.
“I can’t go to bed naked,” his eyes shined, and I shook my head. “I will not go to bed naked,” I rephrased my words, making sure there was no doubt in my mind.
“I can give you one of my tunics,” he offered, walking to a small bag on the floor, next to the shelves where he kept his suits, taking a white tunic from it.
I hadn’t checked the bag, feeling it was prying, but I was glad he had something I could put on.
“Will this do?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” I nodded.
The tunic was several sizes bigger, but it would cover me from the neck down, so I put it on before taking off the towel. His sudden intake of breath startled me, and I raised my head to look at him.
“What? What’s the matter?” I asked, looking at my body and back at him.
