by Stasia Black
“They’re the fourth and fifth,” Nix said, coming around the front of the truck as Danny strolled up from the back.
Audrey swallowed. It felt like they were closing in on her. “Who’s the third?” she asked, her voice going much higher pitched than she would have preferred.
“Um,” Graham said, again with his finger on those damn glasses.
“You?” she asked, stepping away from him and feeling like she’d just been punched in the stomach. Sure there’d been that moment at the well spring where she thought he’d led her out for them to fuck with her, but other than that, she’d considered Graham an ally. A non-threatening ally.
Stupid. So fucking stupid that she felt betrayed.
Or that she’d let herself feel for even a moment that he could be a friend in this place.
No wonder Sophia had been so eager to drop her off with him this morning.
“So you think I’ll fuck you because you were nice to me for a few hours?”
Graham’s brow furrowed and he’d looked genuinely upset. Well too fucking bad.
“You can all go fuck yourselves. Enjoy dinner without me.”
She spun on her heel and started stomping away. Back to Sophia’s house since she didn’t have anywhere better to go.
Within a few feet, though, she heard heavy clomping footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder and glared at Nix.
A big, dramatic exit felt far less satisfying when one of the people you were storming away from followed you.
At least Graham was still standing where she’d left him, looking appropriately devastated.
So why did she feel a twinge of regret at her harsh words? He looked like a kicked puppy.
She shook her head at herself.
Graham was a grown up and they were the ones with the fucked-up system. She was the victim here.
Then she grimaced. No. Fuck that. She wasn’t a victim. She was the one stalking off. Controlling her own damn destiny. Not going along like some stupid sheep to that dinner to meet the rest of her fiancés.
Ugh.
She got to Sophia’s house—or rather, the Commander’s house—and was glad the front door was unlocked. And if slamming it behind her once she got inside was a little childish, well, considering the circumstances, fuck it.
She ran up the stairs to her room and slammed that door too. She’d forgotten how ridiculously good slamming doors felt.
Until she was all alone in her room. No. Not her room. She looked around the overly pink, girly room.
Hundred to one odds, Sophia had decorated this place.
Audrey flopped backwards on the bed dramatically. She was starving but she ignored the growling of her stomach. There were plenty nights she’d gone without in the bunker during lean times when Uncle Dale got extreme with the rations. Going hungry one more night wouldn’t kill her.
Her eyelids were soooooo heavy. She’d just close them for a second. Just a few… seconds…
Chapter 10
CLARK
Damn, they weren’t kidding. She was gorgeous. Clark stood at the entrance to the bedroom where she was sleeping. The last rays of sunset washed over her graceful form as she slowly inhaled and exhaled, her softly rounded face empty of any of the world’s concerns.
When Graham had come in earlier bumbling about how pretty and nice their wife was, Clark had just rolled his eyes.
Clark put his name in the lottery for the same reason every other man in town did. He hadn’t had a good fuck in almost seven goddamned years. Some nights he thought he’d die if he didn’t have a wet, inviting female body to sink his cock into.
Before the Fall, women had thrown themselves at him. He was twenty-five when Xterminate first hit. An up and coming lawyer at a big-shot law firm in Austin, he was the shit. He’d been fucking chicks for almost a decade. And going from having a hot, willing woman in his bed every other night to… nothing. Christ.
But he was no animal. He’d never, ever force what a woman wasn’t willing to give.
He’d fought in the Texas War for Independence more because it seemed something to do when everything else was suddenly gone. He’d just happened to be on a weekend trip out to Big Bend when D-Day hit and Austin was blasted off the damn map. Mom, Dad, everyone and everything was just… blam-o. Gone.
So why the fuck not join up?
He managed to survive that shitshow somehow but life after, well, it was pretty much just as fucking ugly and shitty as before. He no longer had any illusions about basic human decency. There was no such thing.
But he heard about Jacob’s Well—finally one place that sounded like it wouldn’t make him want to blow his damn brains out every day, he’d moved here and settled in.
And there, on the bed in front of him, was the woman who would be his.
Well, his and four other guys, but hey, times they were a changin’. He could go with the flow. Especially now that he’d literally won the jackpot.
She stirred on the bed, doing this fucking adorable thing where she scrunched up her nose and batted at the air with her hand.
Then she blinked and screeched, shooting up in bed and glaring daggers at him. “Who the fuck are you?” she shouted.
“Morning kitten,” he said, striding into the room holding his pot of roast beef stew aloft. “Have a good cat nap?” He smiled his most charming smile. In the old days a smile like that would have had the panties melting off even the most frigid coed.
But his Audrey didn’t look even remotely melted by it.
“Get the fuck out of here.” She reached for the closest thing she could, the heavy antique candelabra by the bed. She swung it toward them, dumping the unlit candles as she went.
“How nice,” Nix said, walking in with Graham on his heels. “I see you’re already getting acquainted. Danny’s on his way up and Mateo is—”
“You can’t be in here!” Audrey scrambled off the other end of the bed, still brandishing the candelabra. “This is my room.”
Nix and Clark looked at each other. Then they laughed.
“As soon as a betrothal is announced,” Graham hurried to explain, “everything becomes communal. Property, wealth, status and standing in the township. What’s ours is yours and yours is ours.” He shoved his glasses up his nose and looked at the floor like he was afraid of being chastised.
Clark just put the stew pot on the nightstand where she’d grabbed the candlestick from and sat on the edge of the bed, one leg crossed over the other. “Yes, Kitten, so if this were your room, it would be ours as well. But this is the Commander’s house and therefore, the Commander’s room. Your room is in the house that was bequeathed to us as the newest betrothed family. About five houses down—” He glanced out the window to get his bearings and then pointed, “—thataway.”
Audrey just glared back at him. “And I suppose you think my body belongs to you too? So you’re all here to take what’s yours, is that it?”
“You haven’t started eating yet, have you?” came Danny’s baritone as he barreled into the room. He looked around at everyone then his eyes paused on Audrey, candelabra still raised over her head.
“What’d I miss?”
Clark rolled his eyes but then he settled his gaze on Audrey. Like she could feel his eyes on her, she looked back at him.
“I’m sure you’ve been informed that no one here will take anything you aren’t willing to give. But baby, I assure you I’ll make it my mission in life to make you crave what we can offer you.” He didn’t bother hiding the husky drawl at the end of that sentence. Neither did he miss the way his kitten swallowed as her eyes darted momentarily to his lips.
Then her eyes widened like she was appalled at herself and she took another step back.
“No use cornering yourself over there, gorgeous,” Clark said. “Come. Dine with us.” He lifted the lid off the pot. “Venison stew. When was the last time you had fresh meat?”
Her face jerked toward the pot of stew and he’d have sworn he saw her
nostrils flare. Jesus, if she was that voracious for some stew, what other hungers could he awaken in her?
The lottery was, well, what it was—a total crapshoot. The women who were brought back were usually at least in their thirties if not middle-aged. Or at least they all looked that way, life had been so hard the last decade.
To be fair, Clark would have enjoyed any of them. He’d realized over the last handful of years that there was beauty to be found in any woman. It was the shape of them—whatever form that shape came in. The rounding of the hips. That softness of the breasts and stomach. Soft where men were all hard. So, so soft…
Shit, he was staring. And getting hard. Fuck, he hadn’t realized how difficult it would be just being in the same room as her and knowing that one day, one day soon if he had anything to do with it, he’d have his hands on all that softness. He’d hear her womanly moans of pleasure as he—
Nix smacked him upside the back of his head and he was roughly jerked back to the present.
Right. Fuck. Focus.
If there was one thing all his playboy days had taught him, it was that—contrary to popular belief—the way into a woman’s panties wasn’t through charm and wit alone. That helped, sure. But the way to win more than a one-night pass into the gates of heaven? Build trust.
“Some stew?”
“So you can drug me and make it easier on yourselves?” she spat. “No fucking way.”
“Audrey, we would never—” Graham sputtered but Clark held up a hand to cut him off.
“You’re right to be wary,” Clark said. “I have no idea what it’s like to be coming into this situation like you are. To have been through what you have. What any woman has in the last decade.”
“Danny, if you would,” Clark gestured the big bronze-skinned man forward. Clark had never had much to do with him before. The Assistant Trade Secretary and a general laborer didn’t have much in common. Except now, they had Audrey, so he supposed he’d get to know him fairly intimately. Maybe a few years ago, the thought of sharing his wife would have disturbed Clark, but, considering the new circumstances, only having to share her with four men seemed like a luxury.
He took a bowl and spoon from the tray Danny had carried upstairs. With the ladle, he poured himself a generous helping of stew. For once, there should be enough to go around. The town made all sorts of concessions for a newly betrothed family. As if a woman wasn’t enough incentive. The Commander was a smart bastard. The hope of winning the lottery was enough to keep even the most unruly townsfolk in line. Guys would do anything not to fuck up their chances at getting their name on the ballot.
Clark took a loaded spoonful and popped it in his mouth. Fuck, it was still hot but he didn’t care. The flavor of the meat exploded on his tongue and he didn’t conceal his groan of pleasure. Because while trust was the main way to connect to a woman, good old-fashioned lust had gotten plenty of men most of the way there too.
He glanced at Audrey over the rim of the bowl and saw her eyes locked on his mouth. Her eyes were dark with hunger and he didn’t know if it was his lips or the stew she was eyeing. He’d go out on a limb and say it was both.
Back before the Fall, it had been popular belief that men needed sex more than women, but his extensive experience had shown just the opposite. He knew some women who were all but starved for it. Who could barely wait to get him out of the club or to his car or even to the back alley of the bar before they were yanking up their miniskirts and tugging on his belt.
“See,” he said, licking the spoon lazily, eyes still on Audrey. “Perfectly safe.”
Her eyes narrowed, but then glanced back to the stew longingly before finally snapping back to his. “Leave the bowl on the bed and back up.” She shook the candlestick in a circle. “All of you. Back up.”
Nix nodded at them and they all shuffled back until they were lined up against the wall with the window to the outside. The setting sun caused the light in the room to dim gradually as the minutes passed.
Audrey crawled back over the bed, awkward with the heavy candelabra in her hand, and sat against the headboard. She snatched the bowl of soup up and began to all but shovel it into her mouth.
She was voracious.
Fuck but Clark’s cock was aching. He shifted on his feet, glad he’d opted for formal wear. He slipped off his suit jacket and folded it over one arm in front of his body to cover up the hard-on tenting the front of his slacks.
All in good time, buddy. All in good time.
“So sorry I’m late, so, so sorry,” said Mateo as he walked into the room holding a tray of—
“Holy shit, is that chocolate?” Danny yelled, jogging over to Mateo, eyes glued to what he held.
Mateo jerked back so violently he almost dropped the tray.
Everyone in the room gasped at the thought of the chocolate truffles spilling—even Audrey, Clark was gratified to see.
“Step back,” Nix ordered Danny. He yanked Danny back by his elbow.
“Hey man,” Danny jerked his arm back. “I just wanted to see. Chill out.”
Mateo glared at Danny. “They’re for our wife.”
Audrey’s whole demeanor went cold at that. “You think I’ll whore myself out just because you scrounged up some chocolate?”
Mateo was a tall, rail thin Hispanic guy. He had the perfect, smooth, symmetrical features that would have made him perfect for modelling back in the day. He didn’t flinch at Audrey’s harsh words. He just walked around the foot of the bed.
Which Clark could admit took balls considering the heavy brass candelabra she’d grabbed up again.
Mateo stopped several feet away and dropped down to his knees, head bent toward her. He set the tray down on the ground. “I’m your servant. I vow to protect you with my body and to give you all that I own. I vow to see to your food, shelter, and safety for as long as we both shall live. I vow to—”
“Stop it,” Audrey snapped, stepping back from Mateo’s bowed form. “Get up.”
Mateo nodded and got to his feet. He lifted the tray toward her again. Clark had no idea how the hell he’d pulled that off, getting his hands on some chocolate. Mateo was a mechanic and tinkerer—he worked at the shop in town fixing old shit that Clark and Henry then bartered.
It was a good job.
But still. Fucking chocolate? It was the one thing that was prized almost as much as gold.
“I assure you these aren’t drugged,” Mateo said. “I’ll take a bite of any one of them to prove they’re safe.”
Danny brightened. “Hey, I can do that too. I’ll show her how safe they are.”
“Shut up,” Clark and Nix said at the same time.
Audrey just glared at all of them in turn. “I told you I can’t be fucking bought with fucking chocolate.”
Mateo just nodded his head. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you could. I should have been more sensitive to the situation. Is there anything else I can bring you to help your comfort as you settle in?”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed in on Mateo shrewdly. “You said you’ll do anything I want you to?”
Mateo nodded eagerly. “Yes. Anything that’s within my power.”
Audrey leaned in, never breaking eye contact with Mateo. For a second Clark was almost jealous of the skinny bastard. He was standing closer than any of them had gotten to her all night.
“Then get me a truck and help get me the hell out of here and back on my way down to the coast where I was trying to get when that fucknut,” she jabbed a finger in Nix’s direction, “shot me in the ass with a tranq gun!”
For a second it looked like Mateo was almost considering it. Clark was about to go knock some sense into the man when his head suddenly dropped and his face knit in pain.
“I am sorry. I vowed to protect you. I can’t in good conscience do something I know would put your life in danger.”
Audrey huffed out in frustration then clenched the candelabra tighter. “Get out of here,” she yelled, taking a swing that Mateo on
ly managed to dodge at the last second. “All of you! I can’t stand to look at your faces for one more second.”
Nix nodded his head toward the door and one by one, they headed out. It was probably the right move. They weren’t going to get anywhere with her tonight. But Clark couldn’t help stealing one last lingering glance her direction.
Standing there like an avenging angel, eyes flashing and red hair glinting in the last rays of the setting sun like a halo of fire, she was the most magnificent thing he’d ever seen.
Chapter 11
AUDREY
One week later and Audrey was no closer to getting the hell out of there. But, true to their word, none of her fiancés had laid a hand on her.
They had, however, continued to barrel their way into her room every night for dinner. Nothing as extravagant as that first night. But Mateo always managed to bring a little something extra.
Yesterday it had been cornbread sweetened with honey. The day before, two whole oranges, just for her. She’d stopped resisting the gifts of food. God knew she could use the nutrition and variety in her diet. And so what if they were eventually expecting something in return for the supposed ‘generosity’? She’d be long gone before they came to collect, she’d make damn sure of that.
Because during the long days, she’d been scouting and making plans. Under the guise of wanting to be useful—or, as she’d put it to Nix, wanting to earn her share so they couldn’t say she owed them anything—she’d been strategically taking on odd jobs here and there throughout town.
Like helping out at the soup kitchen line and conveniently noting where the surplus grain and jerky was kept. That kind of thing. She couldn’t get out of wasting a couple afternoons volunteering at the library and helping with candle-making. Both Sophia’s ideas, and Audrey hadn’t known how to beg off without looking suspicious.
But today she was getting back to some meaningful scheming. She was volunteering at the stables and trying to butter up some of the horses again. Get them familiar with her scent. Get them to like her.