by Stasia Black
“I said out of my fucking way!” he roared when the crowd shifted, blocking his view of her. Fuck being polite. He turned sideways and stomped forward, using his shoulder as a battering ram. Too bad if someone got in his way. He’d fucking warned them.
Curses and shouts came from all sides as he rammed his way forward through the packed bodies. But then he heard something else being murmured in excited whispers throughout the crowd. Something that had his heart jackhammering in his chest.
It’s her.
The new girl.
She’s here.
Right over there.
Bastards were in his way again and he couldn’t fucking see—
Then he finally broke through the crowd. There she was. Frozen like a startled fucking rabbit. Her hands were out in front of her defensively. Her eyes darted back and forth as men created an empty circle around her.
For once they were behaving themselves. Probably because the Commander had only announced one name so far. They were all still hoping their name would be chosen. No one would dare fucking up their chances by jumping the gun.
Nix had thought this whole lottery idea was fucking nuts when the Commander first came up with it, but maybe there was something to it after all. And thank Christ for that, if it was keeping Audrey safe right now.
Speaking of… her eyes went even wider with terror when she saw him.
Yeah, that didn’t make him feel awesome.
“You shot me,” she whispered, eyes narrowing.
He winced. He’d been hoping she’d forget that part.
He held out his hand, trying to get her to calm down. “You were in danger. Travis’s men were maybe a minute behind us. We couldn’t fuck around trying the nice way to get your ass in the truck.”
“So you could bring me here to be a sister-wife to five men?” she spat.
“Technically, in this situation, we’re the brother husbands.”
What the fuck? Nix swung his head to the right. Who’d said that—?
He all but groaned when he saw Clark. If he thought Jeffries was annoying, that guy had nothing on Clark when it came to ego and self-importance.
“Hi there, wifey,” Clark said, smiling in a way that flashed his dimples.
Aw, come the fuck on. Clark? Nix had been so concerned with getting to Audrey, he hadn’t even heard the Commander announce a second name. But Clark, out of all people?
“You can just think of me as the sexy one in this little entourage.” Clark winked at her and under other circumstances, Nix would have laughed at the corresponding look of horror that came over her face. Except for the fact that she looked at Nix the same way.
“Help me get her out of here,” Nix snapped at Clark. This might have been something Nix never expected for himself—he didn’t know who the hell had put his name in for the lottery tonight—but it was now his primary duty to take protect and care for Audrey. Along with Clark, apparently.
“Keep those fuckers back,” Nix growled, stepping in front of Audrey and facing the crowd, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Anyone who wants to fuck with her has to come through me,” he announced loudly.
“And me,” Clark said, puffing up his chest.
Audrey let out an annoyed huff. “How about all of you big, dumb oafs get the hell out of my way? I can take care of myself.”
Where was a damn dart gun when you needed one? Apparently he’d need to keep it handy with this one, if she was going to keep running head long into situations that could get her killed.
Nix turned to face her and her eyes went wide again as she tipped her head up to look at him. Fuck but she was tiny. She couldn’t be more than what, five-six, five-seven, to his six-three?
“Enough,” Nix said. “Watch our six,” he called out to Clark, who nodded. And then he easily scooped Audrey up and flopped her over his shoulder, fireman carry style.
She didn’t seem especially happy about the situation if her constant high-pitched screaming, kicking, and punching were any indication.
He hooked an arm around her legs to lever them in place. He only barely stopped him from smacking her sweet ass. He couldn’t believe anyone in the square had been fooled for one hot second that she was anything but female. She had hips and ass for days.
And damn, having so much contact with all that warm, squirming woman was already fucking with his head. Even if she was screaming enough curses at him to impress a sailor.
“She’s got a mouth on her, that’s for sure,” Clark said approvingly as he came up behind them.
“You’re supposed to be on the lookout for trouble.” Nix winced as Audrey pulled up his shirt and dug her fingernails into his lower back.
Some of men in the crowd starting hooting and laughing as they went past. Nix rolled his eyes.
“Thank you, thank you,” Clark shouted. “Glad to entertain. We’ll be here every Wednesday and Saturday. Matinees on Sundays. Bring the kiddies.”
It would be bad to start off this relationship by punching Clark in the face, right? They were supposed to work so closely together as a unit that they became family. A clan.
Nix scoffed and— Goddammit. Sharp pain sliced through his shoulder. Well, she had good teeth, nice to know.
This time he did spank her ass. “Bite me again and just see what you’ll get.”
She seemed to lose some of her fight and went limp over his shoulder.
Family.
Ha.
They were getting off to a bang-up start. Then again, he’d always been shit as family.
Which was why he’d never put his name in for the damn lottery.
But as he finally walked down the familiar streets to the Commander’s house and handed Audrey off to Sophia and Camila, the way his chest went tight at the sight of Audrey’s obvious distress—he knew it was already too late. Maybe it’d been too late the moment he heard gunshots back at the field, and after going to investigate, saw the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on running for her life.
He’d only been that afraid once before in his life.
And look how that had turned out.
But no.
This time he’d protect her.
This time, everything would be different.
Chapter 6
AUDREY
Sophia was nothing but apologetic when Phoenix—or Nix, as Sophia said everyone called him—deposited Audrey back to her pink prison.
Camila, on the other hand, watched Audrey warily. That woman had seen some shit, Audrey was sure.
“I’m so sorry everything got out of hand,” Sophia said, deep distress lines carved in her forehead. “If you would’ve just given us a little bit of time, we could have explained everything and—”
“How many days does it usually take before you spring the whole five husbands on a girl?” Audrey asked, carefully eyeing both Sophia and then Camila. She’d decided to take the path of least resistance—at least for the moment. She would gather information, learn all she could, and escape when her chances were better.
“Daddy would have explained it all tonight,” Sophia said, sitting down on the bed beside Audrey and taking her hand. Audrey wanted to yank it back but she just took a long breath in through her teeth instead and looked to Camila.
Sophia, Audrey understood. The Commander was her dad. Who knew how long she’d been brainwashed by all this shit?
But Camila? She didn’t seem naïve. So what was her deal?
“You’ll be so happy here,” Sophia gushed. “Just look at Camila. She came to us a year and a half ago and now she and her husbands are as happy as can be. Isn’t that right, Camila?”
Sophie’s beaming faced turned to the other woman. Camila couldn’t be much older than thirty but compared to Sophia’s exuberant youth, even Audrey felt ancient and world-weary. And Camila was in one of these insane so-called marriages?
“And when exactly is this, happy occasion,” Audrey let sarcasm positively drip from her voice, “supposed to hap
pen?” Aka, how quick did she need to make sure to get the hell out of here?
“Usually within the first few weeks,” Sophia said, then hurriedly added, “but you have three months to consummate the union.” Her cheeks went pink at the word consummate and she looked down to her lap. A virginal tell if Audrey’d ever seen one. Was it just because she was the Commander’s daughter that she’d been left unmolested by the scores of men in the town? According to Uncle Dale, there were only a handful of places in the world still safe for women. Nomansland being the only one he knew of anywhere nearby.
Audrey frowned and looked to Camila
“Even though you get married pretty quick, it’s up to you when you all start living together. But look,” Camila held up her hands. “It’s not my place to tell you all this stuff. The Commander will be here right after the lottery celebrations finish and—”
“And you’re okay with that?” Audrey exploded. “The fact that they’re just raffling us off like we’re, we’re—” she sputtered, “—cattle or something.”
Camila sighed and Sophia looked wounded. “I told you it’s better for the Commander to explain things,” Camila said.
Screw this crap. “Oh, so he can start doing whatever brainwash voodoo he’s obviously done on you and Sophia?”
Camila leveled her eyes on Audrey, but Audrey didn’t back down. Sure her last comment had come out bitchy, but she stood by it. She was just calling a spade a spade.
“You been out in the world lately, little girl?” Camila’s jaw worked as she took a step toward Audrey. “Maybe what we have here isn’t perfect, but it’s a helluva a lot better than what’s out there.” She shook her head and turned to Sophia. “I’m sorry, Soph, I know I said I’d help out, but I gotta go.”
She brushed past Sophia and out the door.
Sophia looked even more upset, head swinging back and forth between Audrey and Camila, like she was torn about whether to stay or go after her friend. Audrey was about to tell her to go, by all means, go, but then a knock came at the door.
And the Commander himself stepped in. He seemed even taller up close. He was still in his military fatigues. Audrey couldn’t help but to swallow when staring down the tall, stern-faced man. She stood up from the bed. He was in dark military fatigues, maybe in his early forties? He’d almost be handsome if it wasn’t for those hard, gray eyes and too sharp jaw. The guy was all edges.
“What was all that about?” he asked Sophia, looking out the door and down the hall. “Cam looked upset.”
“Oh, just a misunderstanding,” Sophia tried to wave it off, but her distress was still clear on her face. Then she shook her head and smiled. “Hi Daddy.” She stood up and gave him a brief hug.
“I was just telling Audrey here you’d be here any minute to tell her about all the wonderful things you’ve down with Jacob’s Well Township.” She turned back to Audrey, her easy-going smile back in place.
The Commander’s hard face softened for just the briefest moment. “Do you mind giving me and Miss Audrey a few moments alone? Thank you for all your help today.” He pressed a kiss to Sophia’s forehead. She smiled worshipfully up at him and then, with a smile and one last quick wave at Audrey, left her alone in the lion’s den.
The resounding noise of the door shutting behind her struck an ominous note to Audrey.
Shit. She was alone with the Commander. What the hell happened now? Was this the part where he initiated her into his harem or something? Because if he thought for one second she was going to—
“Take a seat.” He gestured to two wing-backed chairs by the bay window opposite the bed.
“No thanks, I’ll stand.” Audrey crossed her arms over her chest.
One edge of his mouth quirked up. “Sophia said you were spirited. That will serve you well here.”
Audrey’s hands tightened into fists. This fucking guy. “Having your daughter work as your spy, huh? Real classy.”
He didn’t take the bait or react to her tone. “Sophia’s hardly a spy. She’s just worried about you. She gets like that about all our newcomers.”
“Newcomer. That’s a nice misnomer for kidnapping and enslavement.”
He scoffed at that, like she’d said something outrageous.
“Cut the bullshit,” she said. “When are my husbands going to come to drag me off and rape me? If you think I’m going down without a fight, you’ve got another fucking thing com—”
“No one’s going to rape you.” The Commander all but spat the words.
Well, looked like she’d finally managed to ruffle his calm demeaner. She huffed out a humorous laugh. “Oh, so you’re one of those people who think if it’s done under the umbrella of this ‘marriage’ bullshit,” she used air quotes, “then it doesn’t count as rape? Well let me tell you, buddy, no always means no.”
Those piercing gray eyes of his went even harder. “I would never condone violence against any woman, married or not, in the Jacob’s Well township or the Central Texas South territory for that matter. It is our most strictly enforced law. If a man raises a hand to a woman in violence, he loses the hand and then is banished from the community.”
Audrey paused, momentarily startled. Surely he didn’t mean that literally. Did he? She narrowed her eyes at the Commander.
“The world’s population has been decimated by war, disease, and famine. Healthy female survivors like you are the only hope for the human race.”
Okay, wait. What? This stuff was the last thing she’d expected him to be spouting.
“With you coming, we now have one hundred and forty-seven women in Jacob’s Well, and I treat that as an awesome responsibility.”
“So I don’t get it. If you revere women so much, why won’t you just help me get where I’m trying to go?”
His hard stare met hers and his jaw worked. “I’ve seen the slums in San Antonio. The slave markets in Mexico and Louisiana. We give you three months to get to know your partners and to consummate your marriage. I assure you, that’s a far more generous offer than you’ll find anywhere else in the territories.”
Audrey huffed out a breath and shook her head. It always came down to the same thing when it came to men, didn’t it? Even if this guy wanted to dress it up and pretend it was something nicer. “You really think it’s not still rape? What about your daughter, huh? When does she get raffled off to be gang-raped by five guys?”
The next second the Commander was right in front of her, finger in her face. His voice was ice cold. “You’ll want to keep a civil tongue when it comes to my daughter.”
Okaaaaaay. So, it probably wasn’t the best idea to piss off the guy in charge of her immediate future. Still, it wasn’t in her to apologize to this asshole. She just jutted her chin out and started heading toward the door. “I’ll take my chances out there.”
He stepped in front of her, easily blocking her path with his large body.
She stopped, chest going tight. In spite of her bravado, every second she spent in this place made her feel more and more claustrophobic. This guy was talking about consummating a marriage with five men. Did he mean one after the other, all at once? Or like, did they each take different nights? What the hell, this entire thing was insane!
“So I’m a prisoner here,” she spat.
“If you leave, you’ll die.” His voice was perfectly calm again.
Which just fucking enraged Audrey. “Are you threatening me? So all that was bullshit about raising a hand to a woman—”
“I’m simply stating a fact. Unlike you, I know exactly what dangers lie outside the boundaries of my territory.” For a second, he got a distant look on his face. But then his attention snapped back to her. “And that’s simply an unacceptable waste of resources.”
Resources. Was he calling her a fucking resource? Why not be blunt about it? There was only one part of her that was the resource—her cunt.
“If you think I’m having sex with you, you can fuck—”
His burst of laughter cut her
off.
“Not me. I’m not one of your five.”
“What?” Okay, now she was really confused. Wasn’t that how these things worked? This guy was the cult leader or whatever, so he got to have all the women?
“The lottery is a win win for everyone. It helps keep the men in line. We only rescue a new woman—”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed at the term rescue.
“—four or five times a month. Well,” he waved a hand, “last year we came across that slave shipment headed for Fort Worth and got fifteen at once. But nothing like that since. And when you’re talking a ratio of one woman to every twenty men on earth, well,” he shook his head, “I never said peace didn’t come at a price. Believe me, there were plenty who wanted to make it ten men to a marriage instead of five. But I fought for it.”
She gave him a saccharine smile. “What a saint. How convenient that the price for peace is one you don’t have to personally pay.”
Just like before, the easy-going guy disappeared and he slammed the wall beside him, eyes going icy. “Everyone has paid in this war. You’re no better or worse than anyone else. And you’re right, when my daughter turns nineteen, she’ll be old enough for the lottery. Which is why I’ve made damn sure to build in protections every step of the way so the women are safe.”
He started listing things off on his fingers. “A man has to live in the township for a year before he’s eligible for the lottery. Even then, he goes through a vetting process. When he applies, I put one of my agents on him to learn everything possible about his habits, his vices, whether or not he’s prone to violence, what kind of porn he likes to jack off to—”
The Commander ignored Audrey jerking back from him in distaste and continued, “and there are different tiers to the lottery so that out of every five chosen, there’s always one man I’ve known long enough to trust with my own life. It’s his job to ensure the physical safety and emotional well-being of the women put in his charge and to keep the other men in line.”
His gaze skewered hers. “I don’t know a single person whose family wasn’t torn to shreds by everything that’s happened the last decade. What we’re trying to do here is give people new family units, clans, and then build a community on those bonds. Is it a new kind of family? Sure it is. And maybe it’s one we’re not so comfortable with at first. But it’s a new world now. We have to change with it if we’re going to survive.”