“What do you believe would be a just punishment for what you did, daughter?”
Tears appeared in her eyes. “I can think of no greater punishment than to have you withhold your pleasure from me.”
Tabitha rarely cried. Even during his most enthusiastic punishment, when his enjoyment overcame his caution, she remained dry-eyed. But now he could see that his desertion was indeed hurting her. How very interesting.
“The punishment stands. Is there anything else?”
Surprise flickered in her eyes, and he almost chuckled. She had thought he would give in. Did she think him so weak as to be moved by tears?
Visibly collecting herself, she finally said, “The promise you made about John. Did you mean it?”
“You know I always keep my promises.”
Her face brightened. Yes, he was being overindulgent, but how could he not give in to her? And though doing away with his son wasn’t his preferred solution, having John gone would make life simpler. Plus, it would give Tabitha happiness. Despite his anger at her disobedience, he couldn’t help but spoil his angel.
“Do with him what you will, however you like. Just make sure it brings no questions from our people. Our family affairs are none of their concern, and speculation can cause worry, disrupting the community.”
“I have already determined the method. No one will ever suspect.”
“Excellent. Now leave me to my accounts. Orientation has already started for our newest member. You know I hate missing one moment of progress.”
Her entire body jerked at the news. “You’ve begun already?”
“Are you questioning my judgment?”
“No, of course not. I’m just surprised you’ve started so soon with her.”
Only to himself had Alden admitted that he had made an exception for this new female. But never had he seen one so ripe or ready. Under ordinary circumstances, orientation with his manifesto was the second phase of training. Weeks of incarceration, along with deprivation of food and sleep, and the occasional drugs, softened their senses, readying each girl to hear his message.
Though he resented his daughter’s question, perhaps this was a good opportunity for her to learn what he had in mind for their newest member. “She is special. It’s as if she was made for Tranquillity.” He deliberately paused and then added, “Made for me.”
A small lip tremble was Tabitha’s only indication of upset. Then she backed away silently, as she had been taught.
Satisfied that he’d made his point, Alden returned to his accounts. Now if only the new girls would be so cooperative. And his newest one? It was all he could do not to single her out and begin the intensive training with her immediately.
No, that would be breaking more of his own rules. He’d already deviated with her orientation. Any other change was out of the question. Discipline flowed from the top down. If he made another exception for her, others might learn of this. They would question his strength.
The fact that she’d already made him desert his longstanding rules concerned him. Was he seeing the qualities of subservience and obedience because they were truly there? Or did he want her so much that he had exaggerated them? A chill swept through him. A woman who made a man so weak as to question himself had an evil inside her that needed to be exorcised.
No, he wouldn’t break any more of his own laws. However, her influence over him could not go unpunished. She would pay a stiff penalty for being such a temptation.
twenty-nine
Seth sat on a rock yards away from the others and listened to the nonstop bullshit blaring at Honor. Alden Pike’s manifesto, in his earsplitting voice, was a blast of insane meanderings. He went on and on about perfection and tranquillity and how he offered both. His ego had no boundaries as he extolled his own achievements and how he offered solace to those who’d lost their way. He’d yet to say that he was a god, but the inference was there. Or if not a god, at the least, some kind of supreme being.
The message was thirty-seven minutes long. Rules, regulations, what could and couldn’t be planted in the garden. What food should be prepared for a man. What sexual services a woman should give to her mate. How they were to dress and conduct themselves. Those and a seeming thousand other ridiculous mandates blared as if they were being yelled through a bullhorn.
Once the message ended, it started again. This was the beginning of the fourth hour. Just how much more could Honor take? He wanted … God, how he wanted to go in and get her now.
An hour ago, he’d been ready to do just that when, in the midst of Pike’s recorded rant, he’d heard Honor’s voice. Out of necessity, her words had been soft. He pictured her putting her mouth directly over her watch to speak.
“Hopefully you can hear me over this crap. I’m okay. Don’t come in. Got a headache from this asshole’s ramblings, but nothing worse. I promise.”
Though the message had been too short, and he’d heard the tension in her voice, her iron will had been there, too. He had to trust her judgment. She had asked for his trust … for him to have faith in her abilities to handle this job.
She believed he hadn’t trusted her before with the truth. Maybe he hadn’t. His main concern had been protecting her. To Honor, not telling her the truth had been like a slap in the face to her integrity.
So now, here he sat, trusting her judgment and cursing himself for doing it.
“You okay?”
Seth looked around at Noah McCall. “This may not drive her crazy; I can’t say the same for me.”
“She’ll tell you if she thinks you need to come in.”
“Yeah, I know. She told me you worked on some cases together before she came to LCR.”
McCall nodded. “First case was a few years back. Takes a lot to impress me, but she did it in spades. Compassion combined with a steely strength is a rare quality. Honor never lets her kindness control the job she needs to do. Nor does she allow her experience to jade her. I don’t have to tell you that she’s seen a lot of bad things and though she’s tough, she’s not hard.”
Seth couldn’t have said it better himself. That was Honor in a nutshell. Every person had a breaking point, though. No way in hell did he intend to find out what hers might be. Seth knew he wouldn’t be able to wait much longer. Hell yes, he trusted her judgment, but he also knew that Honor was all about service and sacrifice. That had been ingrained into her DNA. Damned if he’d allow that sacrifice to include her torture.
She wouldn’t forgive him if things went sour and he charged in too early. Living without Honor’s forgiveness was painful but doable. Living without Honor in the world wasn’t.
Soon, he’d have no choice but to act on his instincts.
Seth’s mouth moved softly, sweetly over hers, their lips sipping at each other’s, his spicy taste sweetly addictive. Large, callused hands, so very gentle, caressed as they glided, covering every inch of her body. Honor groaned her arousal. The image was so clear in her mind, she could almost feel the stinging stubble of his beard against her skin.
Fantasies and memories were keeping her sane. For five hours, nonstop, she’d listened to the same message. When would it end? What indication did she need to give that she was fully on board with Pike’s bullshit message?
An incessant ache throbbed in her head, created not only by the loud, booming voice but also by the lights. She’d remained in the dark for the first hour and then all the lights had been turned on, brighter than they’d ever been. So bright, she’d gasped at the pain in her eye sockets. Two minutes later, she’d been plunged into darkness again. And then the lights had gone on again. Then darkness once more. This had been repeated every few minutes.
She’d received no food or water since this morning. An hour ago, she’d drunk the water she’d used to swish out her toothpaste earlier. Damned if she’d die of dehydration. This bastard would not defeat her.
She figured Seth must be going crazy—listening to this and feeling helpless to do anything but wait for her signal.
And he would be questioning the promises he’d made to her. Not because he didn’t trust her but because of who he was—a protector through and through. He would wait, though … she trusted him.
She couldn’t give the go-ahead yet. Yes, this was painful and, yes, she wanted it to end. However, if she called the team in now, without any idea of where the girls were, this mission could well end without them being found. Worse yet, making the call too soon could put their lives in danger—Pike would have no qualms about killing to protect himself. Honor refused to accept either outcome.
At some point, Pike would believe he had achieved his goal. Was that five minutes from now or five months? At that thought, Honor sat up in bed. No, she had to find a way to convince him that she had succumbed to his will. What would it take to convince the bastard?
Think, Honor, think!
Alden stood and stretched his achy muscles. This was always the most tiresome part of the process. After enjoying their initial reaction of terror, watching and waiting for each girl to break could become tedious. The average girl could take anywhere between two days and a week before he broke her into a gibbering, slobbering idiot.
For entertainment, because of the boredom, he often placed bets with himself on how long it would take each girl. So far this year, he had a perfect score.
The runaway had taken the longest—six days. The skinny blonde had taken four. The fat blonde with the pretty blue eyes had surprised him the most. With her subservient attitude, he’d figured he was being way too generous when he’d wagered three days, but that’s exactly how long it’d taken before she was mumbling his words like a jabbering moron.
He always rewarded the ones who took the shortest amount of time with something special. After all, when they gave in, his real enjoyment of the process could truly begin. So though she’d taken three days, he’d rewarded the girl with an extra glass of water.
Alden checked his watch again. Five hours so far … she was holding out moderately well. The tiny camera attached to the ceiling had shown the normal amount of restlessness. She’d tried covering her ears, putting a pillow over her head, and even singing. Watching her methods of avoidance had been quite amusing.
It was time for a bit of relief. One solid hour of stark silence, during which she would be fed and watered. She would receive another glass of water to brush her teeth. Then music would be piped in. He’d never cared much for music … had never seen the point to it. However, he’d found it had a soothing, if inane quality that calmed. He’d noticed that in the course of a day, many of his people would go around humming the tunes they’d heard during their training. Now, to him, that was beautiful music.
Her musical therapy—or lullaby, as he liked to think of it—would last for fifteen minutes. She would believe the training was over for the night. She would grow sleepy. Weary from the stressful day, she would lie down and begin to doze. And then, like lightning, it would all begin again.
He blew out a tired sigh. Exhausting work, but eventually fulfilling. His future bride deserved only the best of him.
Five hours later
“I’m going in.”
McCall looked up from his crouched position. The man didn’t seem surprised by Seth’s declaration. He shrugged and said, “It’s too soon.”
Too soon? The urge to slam a fist into the man’s implacable face was strong. “How the fucking hell can you think it’s too soon? She’s listened to that shit for ten hours.”
“Yes, and she’s given us a message every hour that she’s fine. You go in now, everything Honor’s gone through will have been for nothing. Do you want that?”
Hell no, he didn’t want that. But neither could he just stand by and listen to her continued torture, either.
When Seth didn’t answer, McCall stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Believe it or not, I know what you’re going through. Before Samara and I married, she went through something similar. I wanted to kill the men responsible as soon as I could. If I had, the entire mission would have been screwed and several young girls would have been sold into sexual slavery. Waiting saved them.”
“And Samara?”
Seth had never seen McCall smile. The one that spread across his face now was filled with pride and love. “She’s one of the gutsiest women I know. She survived that and so much more.” He eyed Seth again. “She wouldn’t have wanted the outcome to be any different. The hell she went through is something I’d give my life to prevent, but we saved lives by waiting until the time was right.”
Nodding, Seth looked away from McCall’s penetrating black eyes. Yeah, he was sure every emotion of his was there for the world to see. Didn’t take a psychic for McCall or anyone else to know his feelings for Honor.
“Thorne and Livingston come up with anything?” Seth asked.
“Last time I heard from them, they’d spotted two more soft areas.”
“Good.”
While Seth had been listening to Honor’s torture, the other men had kept themselves occupied by looking for areas to breach. Seth had identified two the first day. Finding the best one was imperative. When they got the go-ahead from Honor, their plan would need to be in place so they could execute it immediately.
“If they find—”
Seth held up his hand for Noah to stop talking. Was that Honor’s voice? Even though he still had the earbud in his ear, he’d listened to Pike’s noise for so long, he wasn’t sure if he had imagined Honor’s whisper.
He shot a glance at McCall. “Did you hear—” He broke off when Honor’s voice came through louder. “I’m going to try something,” she said.
Frozen in place, he waited. What the hell did that mean? What was she going to try?
Curled up in a corner of the room, Honor was creating what she hoped was a picture of a broken mind. Pulling at her hair, twirling it with her fingers, alternately rocking back and forth and jumping up to pace, she mumbled Pike’s insane mantra, rules, and manifesto. After hours of hearing it, she had no problem reciting it verbatim.
Would this work? Was this what he wanted to see?
When she’d been given an hour of silence and a meal, she had come up with this plan, but waited a couple of hours before putting it into action. The creep had to be convinced that she was well and truly indoctrinated. Was this too soon? Who knew? She only knew she wasn’t going to listen to this crap any longer. With Pike’s ego, he would probably congratulate himself on bringing her over so soon.
She’d started her act by pacing back and forth. Knowing where the camera was, she made use of it by giving Pike a show she figured he wanted to see.
After ten minutes or so of pacing, she’d dropped into a corner. With her legs curled up for warmth, she’d stared blankly into space and begun to fiddle with her hair. Then, as if it were just a natural occurrence, she’d begun to mouth the words blasting through the loudspeaker. Able to match the words exactly, she’d gone on and on, hoping that at some point, Pike would get the idea that his manifesto was the only thing occupying her head.
She had allowed herself to talk to Seth for only a couple of minutes every hour. Covering her head with her pillow, she’d given him updates on her condition and nothing more. If she let loose all the things she wanted to say to him, she greatly feared, she would lose the ever-present control she’d worked so hard to achieve. When this was over and she was back in his arms, she would tell him what was in her heart. Things she should have told him before. Her pride had stood in the way of giving him the forgiveness he’d asked for. How silly all of that seemed now.
Picturing Seth had helped keep her sane as had remembering his passionate lovemaking, his tenderness, and those little quirks that made him unique. Did he know that when he was angry, it showed in his mouth first? Those sensual lips would curl ever so slightly; then his eyes would turn flinty blue. Had he ever noticed that he always put his left shoe on first? Or that after they made love, she often put her head on his chest just to listen to his heartbeat?
She remembered all of these things from the past, and had picked up new memories lately. Had she ever told him how she admired him, adored him, loved him? Of course she hadn’t. She’d fallen back into his arms and into his bed so very easily, but never had she given him the words she should have. Words he deserved to hear.
What they had was too wonderful to let go of again. Yes, she knew he still had some issues to sort out. But those things, whatever they were, had to be minor compared to living without each other.
Now she had to convince Pike that she was ready for his next round of training, then find and rescue Kelli and the other girls and get the hell out of Tranquillity … and then she would tell Seth what was in her heart.
Alden was in the control booth, eating his dinner, when he noticed the delightful change in his woman. Enthralled, he watched her mumble the words that would stay in her head forever. She had gone over the edge even more quickly than he had ever hoped. From the moment he’d seen her, he’d felt their deep connection, and their discussions yesterday had only confirmed his belief—she had indeed been made for him.
Her coming over so quickly would make his life so much easier—another indication that she was meant to be his mate. Even subconsciously, she was trying to please him.
Finishing his meal, Alden barely saw the old hag who took his tray. His mind was on the upcoming event. It was time to begin the next phase. Group orientation. The women would be allowed to see one another for the first time—a bonding moment.
He always found it interesting how they reacted to one another. Some seemed so pleased to see another human being, they actually cried. Others acted as if they didn’t even see anyone at all. Of course, all of that changed when the training began. Hard to ignore shrill screams when they were right beside you. And then each one would wonder when it would be her turn.
Alden stood and headed to the cell. First he would give his woman the brief reprieve of a bathroom privilege, including a shower. A small amount of water to sustain her—no food, though, since vomiting was often a distasteful result of this phase of training.
Sweet Justice Page 28