by Alta Hensley
"Occasionally I thought I would, but like I've said before, there were some days when this wasn't anywhere near as hard as others, and days when I was tempted to tell everyone that I wasn't a progeny. I actually thought it would be easier, even though I have no idea what would happen to me if I did, but then I reminded myself that I didn't know, and there was still a chance I might get adopted. As the time passed, though, the chance faded, and now, if it wasn't for you, I would have told them what I am. The only reason I'm still going is you. These nights, being able to act like an adult, makes the days much easier to endure than they were before."
"Turning adult women into progenies…" He shuddered. "I used to believe it was better than the poverty out there, but… You're all given a chance at marriage, but is it worth the price that you all pay?"
"For a long time I've been asking myself the same question, and I don't know if it's worth the price we pay, but we don't have any other options. This is what our life is. No one asked us if we wanted to be turned into six-year-olds. I sure as hell didn't know what I was getting into when I entered the facility at eighteen. I had no idea what happened inside one, and I don't think anyone does." She looked at him. "Do any of the staff ever hear anything about the girls who are adopted to be married?"
"Only the success stories." He shrugged. "Any that don't work out are, I think, hidden, because no one wants to believe the facilities don't work. This is the place they send their daughters in an attempt to find them a marriage, even though I now personally think it's the most terrible choice any parents could make. If parents truly understood what went on behind these walls, they'd be appalled. They are led to believe that their daughters are trained to be proper wives and mothers. They have no idea about the mental reassignment… at least my parents didn't."
"When I was younger, I used to dream that someone would come to take me away from all this, but they never did. After a while, deep down, I knew it was never going to happen."
"You shouldn't say never."
"Maybe I shouldn't, but we both know I'm right. If I wasn't, you wouldn't be trying so hard to get me out of here."
"I think you're right, even though I hope you're not." He tightened his arm around her. "I guess it's because I know you, but I can't imagine why no one has chosen you. I really do think you would make someone a wonderful wife. Mental reassignment or not, you're still loving, kind, even submissive, and someone I think any man would really love to come home to."
"Unfortunately, to the buyers, I'm just a name, a face, and a price in a book. It's you who's had the chance to get to know me. It's you who can't afford me."
"I would if I could," he whispered, as he kissed the top of her head again and pulled her closer. "I would do anything to adopt you to be my wife."
Juniper found herself wanting to kiss him more than she ever had before, but she pushed the urge aside, relishing having the adult conversation… The adult woman in her, however, still grew hungry.
"How do you keep pretending? It must be exhausting to do it all the time," he said.
"By reminding myself every day that I have to. I really didn't have any other option for a very long time, but now… if you can find a way out of here, I think you will be my favorite person for the rest of time." She nipped his earlobe as she lowered her hands down to the bulge between his legs and squeezed gently.
Costello laughed. "You may not be six, but you sure can be a brat." He lowered his hand and patted the top of her nightgown-clad bottom.
"You like it when I'm a brat. I've come to the conclusion that you like to spank my naughty bottom."
Juniper was trying to distract her thoughts by being playful. She wanted to tell him she wanted to marry him even if he couldn't afford to do so, but she was scared. Even though he'd already said he loved her and wanted to adopt her, she couldn't be certain whether he was telling her the truth or just trying to appease her. She hoped he was as genuine in his feelings as she was in hers. After all the time she'd spent feeling lonely, she hoped that there was someone who'd make her life better. Biting hard on her lip, she studied him, trying to work out if she should say something when it could just make things harder for both of them.
Their eyes met. She could see the emotion within his as he swatted her panty-clad bottom again. "That's true. I don't care how old you are. You will always be my little June bug."
"Promise me. Promise I won't ever lose you. Please," she pleaded, as he pressed his lips hard against hers. Placing his hand on the back of her head, he pulled her deeper into the kiss as he pressed his tongue past her lips. His conquering kiss captured any sense of reason, any remembrance of the conversation they once had. The only thing she could think of was how bad she wanted him to conquer more than just her mouth.
"Please," she gasped as he removed her nightgown effortlessly, pulling down her panties as well. "Please make me yours. I want to feel like I belong to you—and only you."
He pulled away enough to look into her eyes. For seconds that felt like an eternity, he just stared, his dark eyes penetrating past hers and into her soul. It didn't take sex to have the intimate connection. She already felt a part of him. She already belonged to him in all ways. This man, this incredibly intoxicating man, was her poppa, her protector, and her lover.
Breaking the spell, he flipped her onto her stomach, leaving her for a quick moment as he shed his clothing. Moments later she felt the bed give under his weight, followed by soft kisses onto the back of her neck. One kiss after another, he made his way down her spine. One vertebra at a time, Costello kissed the length of her back until he reached the curve of her ass. He continued to kiss, the whisper of his breath brushing against the surface of her skin. Delicious shivers followed his every touch. Closing her eyes, she allowed the relaxation to take over. All worry, all stress, all sadness disappeared with every caress of his lips.
His palms grabbed her ass as he kissed along the crease of her bottom. To her surprise, he simultaneously pulled her cheeks apart, placed the tip of his tongue against her anus, and licked. In small, delicate circles, he moved his tongue around flesh more sensitive than she ever thought possible. She flinched and tightened at first, but released all tension when his tongue pressed past the tight entrance, turning her body to liquid.
"Oh my!" she whispered between moans. "That feels so good."
He continued to lick, occasionally diving his tongue past the puckered flesh. "I want to claim you here, Juniper. I want to press my cock past your tight bottom hole. Will you let me do that?" He moved his finger to her pussy and inserted it past her juicy folds. Signs of her arousal blanketed his finger with moisture. He used her own wetness to his advantage as he moved his finger from her pussy to her anus. Without pause, he pressed past her entrance and inserted his finger all the way into her.
She bucked against his hand and cried out in pleasure. "Oh, god! That feels even better!"
"That's a good girl. Let Poppa fuck your little bottom hole with my finger." Over and over he moved his finger in and out. In and out, in and out, until she couldn't take it anymore.
"Fuck me, Poppa. Fuck my little bottom hole with your big fucking cock!" She wanted nothing to get in the way of her desire, her want, her need. She would voice it, moan it, scream it if she had to. "Poppa, please!"
The weight on the bed shifted again as he kneeled before her face, his hard cock inches from her lips. She turned her head so she could wrap her mouth around it, still lying on her stomach with his finger deep within her ass.
"That's right, June bug. Lick my cock. Get it nice and wet so I can take this ass of yours." She did as he requested without hesitation, licking up and down his shaft repeatedly, readying it for her.
Costello moaned and pulled away, repositioning himself over her back. He removed his finger, replaced it with the tip of his cock and pressed slowly, gently breaking past the barrier. Sharp, electric pain radiated from her anus, but Juniper still wanted more. She wanted to feel the pain of Costello's claiming. She
pressed against his cock, assisting him to enter her completely. As he moaned, she cried out, pressing even harder against him until he was buried to the balls into her depths. Burning desire: stinging, stretching, fullness. Everything about the pain heighted her hunger even more. She wanted more. She desperately needed more of what Costello had to offer.
"Yes! Yes!" she panted.
"You like your bottom hole fucked, little girl? You like it when Poppa takes you in your bottom?" Costello took her thrusting hips as his cue to continue, pulling out just enough to thrust back in. "Are you a dirty little girl? Does this dirty little girl like to be fucked hard in the ass?"
"Hmmm… yes, Poppa. I'm a dirty little girl. Punish me for being so dirty. I'm a naughty, naughty girl."
He began to spank her ass with every thrust of his driving cock. Over and over he peppered her ass, with swat after swat.
Pain mixed with desire. Sting united with pleasure. Stretching blended with erotic lust. Fullness combined with ecstasy. Higher and higher she climbed… until her body exploded with nothing but his moans of completion ringing in her ears.
Chapter Twelve
Getting through the day was much harder for Juniper than it had ever been before. Every time she looked at Costello, she was reminded of what they'd been doing the night before, and all she really wanted to do was go back to it.
She drew on the chalkboard, focusing on drawing a garden scene, her mind wandering to a place she knew it shouldn't go when she was in the playroom. Costello had started to show her what her life could be like in the future if they worked out how to get her out of the facility.
Emery was still working hard on trying to hack into the facility's computer system. So far it had been three months, and she hadn't gotten anywhere. It might take another few months or more, so Juniper knew she needed to focus on being six. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was, considering she'd been pretending for over a decade, but she'd never had a man in her life before.
She shook her head, switching colors as though that was why she'd shaken her head, when really it was because she knew she'd been an idiot. Letting herself fall in love again had been a mistake. Letting herself fall in love with someone who knew that she wasn't a progeny was… it was something she knew she couldn't have stopped, even though she wished she had, as it hadn't been a choice. It had happened. They both knew better, but that didn't stop it from happening.
Juniper finished coloring a flower in yellow before switching back to the green. Being in the facility meant she and Costello couldn't have a normal relationship. Even if they managed to get her out, they'd be on the run, trying to find somewhere safe, and she still wasn't certain that such a place even existed. For the rest of her life she'd be hunted.
It was odd that the thought of being hunted was nicer than the thought of being trapped in the facility until she reached the menopause. She knew, though, that being hunted at least meant that she was free, and freedom was the only thing she had ever truly wanted. The freedom to live her own life. The freedom to be an adult instead of a progeny. The freedom to have a relationship with the man she loved.
* * * * *
Hanna walked into the playroom and went straight over to Juniper. Juniper, fortunately, was sensible enough to play along, even when Hanna took hold of her arm and led her from the room. It wasn't something Costello knew was going to happen, so he couldn't help being worried. Someone might have found out about the two of them. Was Juniper being taken for questioning? He forced himself to remain calm, knowing that if it did happen, it wouldn't be long until he would be taken as well, but it was unusual that it was Hanna. He steadied his breathing, watching the door, waiting for guards to walk through any minute.
"Costello?" Hanna's voice made him jump as she walked back into the room. "You've been reassigned. Your new progeny will be here in a couple of days, but until then, you have some time off."
"What about Juniper?"
The smile on Hanna's face told him the answer before she even opened her mouth. "She's been adopted, Costello. After all this time as a progeny, and we're all so happy for her. I'm sure you are, too."
Even though he wasn't, Costello nodded. The world seemed to be closing in on him and he struggled to find his breath. Clearing his throat, he asked, "I'll keep the same room?"
"Yes, you will. Go and enjoy the time you have to yourself, okay? Maybe you should put in for a vacation day away from the facility. It would do you good." She paused, studying him before adding, "Don't think about the past or the future. Just focus on the present."
"I will." He forced a smile, even though his teeth were so clenched that his jaw ached.
He followed her mechanically, the two of them separating once they left the room. He tried not to let his emotions show until he reached the privacy of his room, where he sank into his chair and stared at the wall, stunned. She was gone. She was going to her new husband while he was trapped in the facility with another progeny. This was what he'd wanted for her. He wanted her safe, adopted. Anyone who could adopt her could financially provide for her. Juniper was safe at last. This was a good thing…
Breathing deeply, doing everything he could to push the tears away, he lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Juniper was gone for good. He didn't know what step he should take next, but he couldn't stay at the facility any longer. He'd only stayed there as long as he had for her sake.
* * * * *
Juniper stared at the man in front of her. The man who was to be her husband. Even though she was grateful that she could finally act like the adult she was, she couldn't accept that someone who wasn't Costello was going to be her husband. She loved Costello. She wanted to be with Costello. How could she be with the man she loved when she was someone else's wife? Someone she didn't know, who was looking at her with this amusement in his eyes that made her want to slap him. Biting hard on her lip, she told herself not to do that. He had paid a lot of money for her, and she should give him a chance, no matter what she felt for someone else. He'd bought her. She shook her head. It seemed impossible, but he really had paid that much money for her.
When she was escorted into a small room with a chair sitting in the middle of the floor, she had panicked. It wasn't until Hanna patted her back to soothe her that she noticed a man with a white coat standing next to the chair. He had a syringe in his hand and motioned for her to sit. She had been brought to the room to have the mental reassignment reversed. After a quick prick in her arm, she would no longer be expected to be a child. Luckily for her, everything went fine and the procedure did nothing to her… other than allow her to finally act like an adult. Just like that, she had been freed from the shackles of the facility and given to the man who now stood before her.
Smiling, he took hold of her hand and led her out of the facility. His hand felt wrong… much too small, much more like hers than Costello's, and it took all of her willpower not to pull free. When they were further away from the facility than she had ever been in her life, they stopped. He turned to look at her, his grey eyes meeting hers, before shaking his head. "You are all grown up." He brushed a hand through his blonde hair, a habit she herself did often. "If it wasn't for the date of birth, and maybe your blonde hair, I wouldn't have known it was you."
"What are you talking about?"
"There was a time, Juniper, when you were my sister. But now you are Juniper Ambrose, unwanted daughter of Lana and Thomas Ambrose, who dropped you off at A-21 Facility in the autumn of 2146, the very same time of year that you were taken from your bedroom in the middle of West Trent Woods. You went to bed that evening as usual, but when we all woke up the next morning, you were gone. Making a fuss wasn't something anyone did when a girl went missing as it was so common—not to mention that the government had ways of dealing with trouble citizens who caused too much commotion. So we decided the most logical thing we could do was begin hunting for you instead. We knew you'd be at a facility. We just didn't know which one." He extended his hand to hers, wh
ich she tentatively shook. "I'm Jaxton. Your brother."
Finding the words to reply to that was impossible. Juniper just looked at him, at the man claiming to be her brother, and told herself that he had to be making it up. They didn't look alike, and she couldn't really remember what her brother had looked like over ten years ago. And yet… their hands… she lifted hers and held it out, and he somehow understood why she was doing it, so he pressed his hand against hers. "I was stolen? I don't remember anything like that."
"I wish I knew how to help you accept what I just told you, but we have been working on finding you ever since it happened. For years we searched, and everyone gave up hope. But I refused to give up. Once I believed I'd found you, it then took several years to come up with the cubic gemstones required."
"They weren't just poor? My parents didn't give me to the facility?"
Her brother shook his head. "They weren't rich, but they didn't need to put you in a facility. They had a decent dowry saved. But it didn't matter. Eighteen-year-old girls are extremely valuable. The facility will get them one way or another." He reached for her hand and continued to lead her away. "We need to leave and get you out of here."
"And go where? Where are you taking me?"
"I have some friends in a town about fifty miles from here. I used their address for the application. They've agreed to let us stay until I can come up with another location. Unfortunately, there is no home right now. And just to be safe, I feel we need to stay on the run. I'm still not certain the facility won't figure out that I'm your brother."
"Aren't we going home to Mother and Father?"
He shook his head as they walked down the winding path to the main road. "Shortly after you were taken, I became a poppa in order to start saving for you, and to maybe get some inside information. Part of being a poppa is giving up your past life as you knew it." He paused for a moment, squeezing her hand. "I lost contact with them. Since my employment, they've moved. I have no idea where they went."
