He took my lips as he took my body, cupping my cheek in his warm palm, hips moving in that time old rhythm. I rose with him. My body welcomed the stretch, the peace, the completion when he filled me, and the sense of bereft with each withdrawal. We were new to each other, yet our bodies found a connection that transcended words. I opened myself to him, let my legs lift to cradle his body, let my hands explore his back and ass, my hips rocking in tandem to his. Urgency replaced the languid sensuality, movements losing grace and gaining aggression. Heat rose, the rush of adrenaline as his body lifted to peak, triggering my climax.
Chests heaving in the aftermath, we shared breath as we stared at one another through the grey light of dawn.
“I need to leave,” he said, glancing at his watch. Rolling off me, he strode toward the adjoining bathroom. The sounds of rushing water followed.
When he returned, he dressed efficiently. Muttered something about new clothes and headed for the door.
For the second time, I realized I’d failed to ask him about my friends.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Carter
WHEN I ARRIVED for my next shift early, I convinced myself I was just being diligent.
This delusion lasted the entire journey from my apartment to the medical facility, up the elevator, and even to the nurse’s station.
She wasn’t here.
Moved on to the allocations team, who would assess her for usefulness. I wondered if she had any skills Taylor could use? If she did, it might go easier for her.
I smirked as I picked up the datapad and went through my round. Something told me she was going to kick up a storm.
Then my amusement faded because she was already a little broken, and I didn’t like the thought of her being broken some more.
Taylor didn’t tolerate dissension. Women without skills were allocated to an owner. Women with skills were still assigned an owner, but they got some choice. The dictator’s plans all revolved around control and reward. The more useful you were, the more rewards you got, while those less useful were offered up to keep their betters sweet.
Blaine had told me that things were different before the collapse. I’d been a young boy at the time and barely remembered my parents, never mind how they’d acted toward one another. But I’d witnessed rape and abuse of every kind in the years before we arrived in Taylor’s world. A woman would always be smaller and weaker than a man. It made sense that they should have the protection of an owner. A few were tough enough to hold their own, but they were few… and invariably had it rough in other ways.
Blaine said it was fucked up, which had always held me back from ownership. I’d been asked, though, a lot.
And now Blaine had claimed ownership, and I couldn’t figure out how I felt about it.
It wasn’t like owning someone was easy. It was a fickle world, and challenges were accepted as the norm. Each new batch of arrivals had a two year probation period before they were allowed to petition for the new women entering… or to challenge if they liked someone already taken.
The pretty ones changed hands a lot. The ones with enormous fucking tits changed hands even more.
She would be better off with a soldier.
Who was I kidding? I could take the guy who’d brought her in if it came down to it. I still trained with Blaine any chance we got, and he never went easy on me. I kept fit. You never knew when the delicate balance was going to tip us back into anarchy, and it paid to be prepared.
So yeah, I could offer a credible level of protection.
The day passed. An incident happened in the southern district and I was diverted to the emergency ward. I forgot all about a pretty redhead with a fiery attitude while I was wading through the blood.
Finally, we’d dealt with the most pressing emergencies, and a new shift arrived to relieve us.
I was tired, hungry, and a little cranky when I got a call from allocations.
Nora
“Doctor Carter!” The prissy allocation woman nearly tripped over her own feet, blushing furiously as the floppy-haired doctor was shown into the room. “I’m so sorry to have interrupted you for this. But the rules state we must follow up on ownership requests, no matter how unfeasible they may be.” The look she sent my way was downright nasty, and I hugged Adam to my chest.
It had all gone downhill from the moment I’d left the medical facility, and it hadn’t been great before. Herded onto a coach and taken to an austere concrete box of a building for allocation and processing. Shuffled from one room to the next with an ever-increasing set of papers neatly contained in a file. I’d been physically and mentally poked and prodded for what felt like hours: questions, tests, interviews.
Did I have any skills? One crusty old dude actually asked me this.
Really? I’d been fifteen when the collapse happened. I hadn’t even finished high school, and I’d been average intelligence at best. After, I stumbled from one nightmare to the next. You didn’t talk about the world before the collapse, that was the rule, but I didn’t talk about life before Sanctuary, either.
Surviving was the only skill that mattered.
It was the only skill I had.
“No problem, Mandy,” Carter replied, resting his hand on her shoulder in a way that was too familiar for my liking.
Huh? What the hell did I care about how familiar they were? Only I did care because an hour ago, I’d boldly announced that Doctor Carter had offered ownership rights for me.
I was officially on the crazy train and chugging off into loopy land.
“If you could give me a few minutes alone with Nora, that would be great.” His tone was light and even, and yet somehow assertive. Without missing a beat, he guided Mandy, aka allocations bitch, over to the door.
“She wants to leave,” Mandy continued. “I explained that her baby’s procedure was expensive. A minimum of ten years is required for that level of debt. Then she suddenly decided you had offered ownership.” She shook her head. “And James is sitting right outside, willing to take on mother, baby, and the debt. I’m so sorry to have even bothered you.”
Carter shut the door while she was still talking.
My breath caught as I watched the tense lines of Carter’s back as he stared at the closed door. Adam fussed, and I bounced him a little, grateful when he settled again. The pants and shirt I’d seen Carter wear at the medical center were swapped for jeans and a faded blue T-shirt that stretched across defined muscles.
Doctor Carter was built.
I tried to recall the man who’d seemed so non-threatening, but all I could see was his power.
He could hurt me so easily.
“What are you doing, Nora?” he asked. Turning slowly, he shoved hands in his jean’s pockets and leaned back against the door. His hair was a little disheveled; he looked tired.
“I—” Yes, what was I doing? I swallowed. If it wasn’t for that familiar voice, I might have thought him a different man. “I want to leave Guilder City.”
His face scrunched. “Not happening, babe.”
The endearment was unexpected and jarring. “I thought maybe you could talk to them…” I trailed off. There had been more that I’d intended to say about how I was no use to anyone as a pet, about how I could work in some other way to pay off the debt.