With a hungry groan, Gabriel lifted Lucy and she wrapped her legs around his midsection as he carried her to the bed where he gently laid down, her hungry body beneath his. Their kissing grew frantic and urgent as they both knew that they had precious little time together.
Her hands grabbed at his jacket’s immaculate brass buttons as he undid clasps of his uniform collar. The jacket was shucked off amid a tangle of moving arms, followed by the white long-sleeved undershirt. He freed his arms from his suspenders and then struggled to open his fly while their bodies ground together.
Once his cock sprang out, he slowed things down as much as he could handle. Her recently shaved pubis was already glistening, and he took the time to pause before he brought his cock up.
Gabriel broke from the passionate kissing long enough to look into her eyes. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Lucy spread her legs wide on the bed and reached down between them to wrap her hand around his hardness. “Take me,” she whispered breathlessly into his ear as she guided him into position. “Please.”
Gabriel moved his hips forward, slowly easing into her until the head of his cock met the resistance of her maidenhead. She winced and he let out a grunt as he pushed through. Lucy let out a muted cry into his shoulder. Then, the moment passed and they both relaxed as he slid into her all the way.
“Are you okay?” he asked, voice laced with genuine concern.
“Mm-hm…” she managed to nod. “Just… give me a moment?”
Gabriel nodded, running a hand through her blonde hair that was beginning to show streaks of her natural red color, while making soothing noises into her ear. Her chest heaved against his, and he could feel the tiny pinpricks of her nipples as they pressed and retreated from his skin with each breath that she took.
She indicated her readiness to continue when she wrapped her legs back around his waist and her arms around his neck, drawing his body closer to hers. Gabriel sucked on the nape of her neck as he proceeded to move inside of her in slow, deliberate thrusts. Her winces of pain soon gave forth to moans of passion as her body accommodated his manhood within her. Soon, she was arching her back and lifting her hips to meet his thrusts.
“Oh!” she gasped when she felt his cock become even more engorged the moment before he came. His cock throbbed inside of her and he groaned hard and long as the passion overcame him. Once he was through, he lifted slightly to look down at her. She smiled back up at him.
“I hope that you enjoyed?” she asked sweetly.
“Uh… yeah… I think that’d be obvious,” Gabriel replied, matching her smile. He lowered himself down to kiss her deeply. “I hope that you enjoyed it even a little bit.”
“Definitely better than I thought it would be,” Lucy admitted as he moved to one side to hold her. “I hope that you’ll be able to do it again before you have to leave?”
Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. “Yeah,” he nodded. “I should have at least one more in me, and the next time should be far more enjoyable.” He then regarded her. “The way you grabbed me, I would’ve sworn you’ve done this before.” With other suitors who were not me…. He banished that painful idea. A shadow crossed her angelic features and Gabriel winced in his gaff.
“Well, some aristocratic families… pay… for their daughters to be appropriately trained before they’re engaged, so that they can properly please their suitors,” she said defensively.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t think.”
“No, it’s okay. Really.” She gave him a sideways look. “I figured you knew that since you’re originally from the Theocracy.”
“My family got cast out when I was young. Besides, us boys never knew what went on with you girls,” Gabriel replied in a bitter tone, hating the fact that this had come up again. “Sorry. Sore subject. I also spent a lot of time abroad before the family got exiled.”
She gasped and he frowned. Didn’t she know what had happened to his family?
“And that’s when you became a Jaeger?” Lucy pressed.
“And that’s when I became a Jaeger,” he confirmed, letting out a long, slow sigh.
“Well, Mr. Jaeger,” Lucy reached for his hand, bringing it up to cup her left breast. It fit well in his grasp. “Can you now confirm the rumor that you boasted about before — pleasing women with your touch?” She twisted her head to give him a peck on the cheek. “After all, it is my last night as a free woman and I want you to give me the pleasure that I hear only a Jaeger is capable of.”
He shared her sweet smile and proceeded to do just that.
***
Gabriel snorted as he woke up to a pounding at the door.
“Jaeger Messenger? I’m sorry, but I’m afraid your time is up, sir,” the guard said from the other side, his voice muffled. Gabriel glanced at the clock and swore under his breath as it was now past midnight. At least they had the decency to give him a little extra time before getting him.
“Yeah,” he said, stretching out his arms as he sat up. “Give me a minute to get dressed, will ya?”
“Of course, sir. I’ll be right here to collect Miss Spence once you’re out.”
Gabriel grumbled under his breath about the whole situation as he grabbed his black uniform trousers and then searched for his boots. Over the course of the night, he and Lucy brought each other to a couple more orgasms — screaming ones in her case. He hastily donned his uniform while Lucy sat up in a ball, wrapped in her bedsheets.
“Like you have anything to hide now?” he said wryly.
“Old habits, I guess,” she said with a half-smile, letting the sheet drop enough for him to see her breasts one last time. “I guess I should get used to this look, huh?”
“Yeah,” he said sadly as he buttoned his uniform top. Lucy slid off the bed, stood up, and helped him get the last clasp at his high collar. “Thank you,” he said.
“I should be thanking you after everything that you’ve done for me,” Lucy said, matching his sad smile. “I want you to have something.” She bent slightly while raising her left leg up, using him for support. Reaching down, she slid the garter down her thigh and off her leg before presenting it to him. “Typically, this is reserved for my husband who was supposed to take my maidenhead,” she said, looking at it as if it contained some secret of the universe. “They’re going to take it tomorrow anyway if I don’t do something with it.” She looked into his troubled eyes. “Since you’re the one who took my virginity, I want you to have it.”
Her hand shot up to his lips when he started to protest.
“Yes you can, and yes you will,” she said with conviction. “This means a lot to me, and I’ll go to the auction block with some comfort that at least one thing that I treasure in this world belongs to you. We have this night together and no one can take that from us.”
“Dammit Lucy,” Gabriel growled, feeling a pit of sadness develop in his gut.
“Please,” she pleaded with him, her big blue eyes begging him. “Please do this for me.” She placed it in his hand and closed his fist around it, then kissed his knuckles softly. Once that was done, he finally nodded stiffly. “Thank you,” she said with a small, resigned, smile.
“I swear to whatever god or gods that exists out there, I’m going to find a way to set you free,” Gabriel said.
“I know you will.” She leaned up and kissed him passionately on the lips. “Now go.” She turned him and pushed him toward the door. “Just… don’t look back at me when you leave. Please? I don’t think that I could bear it.”
Gabriel didn’t think that he could bear it, either, even if he wanted to. If he did, he’d be tempted to draw his beamer and his blade then cut through the guards before they could react so he could rescue her. But he knew in his gut that wouldn’t do either of them a damn bit of good. No, the best way was to pursue his investigation. With a shaking hand, he knocked on the door and the guard opened it, nodding politely at him albeit with a somber expression. Gabriel managed
a dashing smile. “I really hope that these things are soundproof.”
The guard was kind enough to laugh despite the graveness on each other’s faces. “Don’t worry, sir, we turn a polite ear away.”
“Good man,” he said with a tight smile. Gabriel marched by him, determined not to lose his resolve even though he could hear Lucy weeping as she was led back to her cell. Out of everyone in the cell block, she was probably the only innocent one here. As a Jaeger, he received a monthly report on the public auctions that listed out everyone’s infractions so that buyers could determine who they wanted to take a chance and bid on since they were getting an inmate to house for a very long time, after all.
Because she was from the aristocracy, Lucy was listed as one of the premier auction options. Her reserve price was listed so high that Gabriel doubted that he’d seen that much gold in one place, let alone in his personal bank accounts… or the bank accounts of twenty Jaegers for that matter. So, buying Lucy was out of the question.
He couldn’t buy her… there was no way he could afford her once the bidding started… but he knew someone who did have enough money and power to do it. And the man happened to owe Gabriel a few favors.
Once he was out of the building, he ran, but not toward home. With Lucy’s garter still clutched in his fist, he didn’t stop running until he was back to his office. The place was naturally deserted except for the few clockworks that marched around doing menial janitorial duties. He went straight to the office that he shared with Deliverer and picked up his telephone. After dialing the correct number, he waited as the operator put his call through. A minute later, the call was answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Deak? This is Gabriel.”
“It’s a little late, don’t you think?” Deak asked, his voice sleepy.
“Yes, I know it’s late and I apologize. I don’t have time to talk much, but I’m calling in a solid. You really fucking owe me, and you have to move fast. Like be here in Atlanta yesterday, fast.”
CHAPTER 8
“Up and at ‘em!” the chief guard yelled as he moved cage to cage while rattling the bars with his club. “It’s auction day and you inmates will be the first sold before we move to the voluntaries. You each have ten minutes to get cleaned up and doll yourself up the best you can before you’re moved out.”
Lucy didn’t bother groaning or putting up a fuss like some of the other women in the adjoining cells were carrying on. She simply rolled out of her cot and trudged over to the pot in the corner to relieve herself. Then she took a quick, but cold, shower from the faucet that protruded from over the pot. After drying her body with the tattered blanket from the cot, she stood in front of the cracked mirror and opened the small back makeup box that had been left on the sink. Lucy opted for just a bit of eye shadow, blush, and ruby red lipstick. She had no desire to go overboard. Just as she finished, one of the guards returned to her cell.
“Let’s go,” he commanded her as he opened the cell.
Lucy complied with the order, walking out of the cell with her head down. The guard pulled her into the line of inmates on her side of the cell block and turned her to face forward. She was right in between two other women, both brunettes, one of which was trembling with apprehension and the other who had a guarded look on her face.
There was a sudden rustling of chains and then the snapping sound of metal clashing together. Alarmed, Lucy chanced a look forward. Four guards were coming down the line. One of them had manacles that he was slapping on the wrists of each prisoner. The one behind him placed his set of manacles around the ankles, and the final guard threaded a long chain through each set of manacles, from their collars, through the wrists, and down to the ankles. The free end was attached to the back of the next prisoner’s collar. Lucy managed to crane her neck far enough to see that the inmate at the very front of the line had her free end of chain hanging off the wall like a lead.
Lucy’s heart thudded in her chest as the guards got closer to her. Finally, it was her turn, and in expert precision, they had her collared and manacled like everyone else. She was just another inmate in the line to be sold off into involuntary slave status. A nobody. She felt faint now that the cold iron touched her nude body. She started to hyper-ventilate.
Another guard came up to steady her, and placed hand on her shoulder. “Relax,” he said in a calm, reassuring voice. “You’ll be okay. Take some deep breaths and just focus on a point on the back of her head,” he said, pointing to the girl in front of her.
Lucy swallowed hard and managed a shaky nod. “T-Thanks….”
He smiled before moving on down the line. She risked another glance and saw that he was giving the same instructions to others who were just as nervous as she was, if not more so. Across from her in the other line, the guards were in the process of shackling those women. At least I’m not like that one girl over there, Lucy thought as she observed a petite blonde wet herself the moment she was shackled and chained. The guards took it in stride and paused for a moment to scrub the girl down before continuing on.
Once the last of the prisoners was secured, the chief guard called out, “March!”
Taken off guard, Lucy was pulled forward. She stumbled, but managed to get into the right walking rhythm with everyone else. Her line was walked out first and the other line was placed into step behind them. They were led through the maze of corridors up a couple of levels before being ordered to halt in one exceptionally long and open hall. Then they were all ordered to face forward with their backs to one wall.
“Now, listen up, girls,” the chief guard commanded. “Your collars serve a dual purpose: to remind you and others that you are, at your very core, an inmate. You are someone who has broken the law and will have to serve out your sentence. The other reason is to dissuade you from attempting to escape as no one in their right mind will help you remove your collar. If you ever attempt escape, the Jaegers will find you…”
Lucy tuned him out, disinterested in what the collars did as she had no desire to ever escape. Her fate now was far preferable to what awaited her otherwise. So, she just stood there in line, feeling morose, until the chief guard finished his spiel and moved on.
Minutes later, a distinguished-looking Consortium offi-cial with a couple of aides marched down the line of soon-to-be slaves, checking numbers on collars against a list. Lucy was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t Mr. Muller.
“Lot five-nineteen,” she heard him call out while he glanced at the brunette ahead of her. “Contract Number I.S. zero zero eight three one zero one zero five zone nine. Chloe Craith, no real domestic skills, assigned as a pleasure slave. Starting bid of one hundred gold.” He handed a quill pen and a parchment to her and pointed to the bottom. “Sign here, please.”
“Um, what if I don’t want to sign?” she asked in a tiny voice, uncertain at the terms laid out before her.
The official sighed as if he heard that line a million times. “Then we yank you out of line and you go to the place that the judge in your case sentenced you to.”
Wide-eyed, the girl hastily grabbed the pen and signed, tip scratching against the parchment contract.
“Thank you,” he said, handing the signed parchment over to one aide and getting a new one from his other aide.
They stepped forward in front of Lucy. One aide lifted her chin to look at the number on her collar while the official started talking. “Lot five-twenty. Contract Number I.S. zero zero eight three one zero one zero five two zero. Lucy Spence, no real domestic skills. Assigned as a pleasure slave. Starting bid of one hundred gold.” The parchment and quill were thrust toward her, and the official pointed at the bottom where there was a line with her name underneath. “Sign here, please.”
Lucy’s bright blue eyes scanned the document. It didn’t really contain anything that she wasn’t expecting. With no skills beyond some basic domestic (and even that was a stretch), she was fit only to be a pleasure slave and serve at the whims of a purchasing master wh
o could then sell or trade her at will, and she was to remain such for the length of her sentence of ten years. Her heart sank. Ten years! She’d be a slave until she was almost forty. But, considering that a breeder camp was her only other option, the choice was easy. Lucy grabbed the quill and signed without hesitation.
The Consortium official thanked her and went on to the next woman in line and Lucy’s thoughts drifted, blocking out everything and wondering again why she was being punished for deeds that her brother had done.
She had always tried to be a good daughter and did as she was instructed, but that had obviously gotten her nowhere. She was in this predicament now because she had followed what her brother dictated. Then, in order to keep her family’s name clean, she cooperated fully with the Consortium Jaegers since they were, after all, the supreme law of the land and her teachings told her that she was to respect all authority. But, somewhere along the line she was made out to be the villain in all of this. Why?
A second official came down the line. He held a boxy device with two antennae on the top in his hands; he was studying it intently. This got Lucy’s attention. She watched as the man stopped every so often in front of a slave, frowned, made a couple of adjustments to the instrument, and then did something to the back of the collar before moving on. He paused in front of her, adjusted the small screen he was looking at again, and then reached up behind Lucy’s neck to run his brass-encased fingers along the metal that was touching her neck. Lucy let out a tiny yelp as the collar shocked her just a bit after he pulled away.
“What was that for?” she asked, glaring at him while trying to rub the spot.
“Just a small deterrent in case you ever get the insane notion of running,” he replied causally.
Lucy snorted. “Like I have anywhere to go now….”
Messenger Page 7
