by SM Olivier
Sanctuary:
Seeking Asylum
Book 1
SM Olivier
Title: Sanctuary: Seeking Asylum
Series: Sanctuary Book 1
Sanctuary: Seeking Asylum Book 1
S.M. Olivier
All rights reserved.
Copyright© 2020 by S.M. Olivier
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form, or by electronic means or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
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Editing by: Jenifer Knox
Cover by: Jenifer Knox
Synopsis
I was once an average college student with dreams of the Olympics. A better future had been within my grasp. I was weeks away from graduating from college, and I had just received my invitation to the National Team. Sure, I was still nursing a broken heart and coming to terms with the betrayal delivered to me at the hands of people I once trusted and loved dearly. However, things were finally looking up.
Or so I thought. The news began to report disturbing stories about a new virus. This virus was turning people. The infected became violent and attacking anybody and everybody.
My plans for a relaxing weekend with my friends and family turned into a nightmare. We were told to evacuate to Sanctuary. On our journey to safety, I run into old friends and find myself becoming attracted to them and their friends. I realized that even in the most harrowing of times, I could find solace and affection.
This may be a whole new world and life wasn’t going to return to normal anytime soon, if ever, but at least I had five men at my side to face it with.
*** Sanctuary is a contemporary, post-apocalyptic reverse harem, why choose series. This book contains some triggering content that may be sensitive to some readers. ***
Prologue
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Eight years ago…
The ice-cold water swirling around my feet was a stark contrast to the hot, humid air pressing down upon us. We sat on a floating dock that bobbed up and down gently in the middle of a large man-made lake. Surprisingly, Trevor and I were the only ones out here.
Almost everyone else was getting ready for the big Fourth of July bash that my grandparents threw every year at their campground. The Cavaliers, Edens, and Harris-Harrisons−my family− had been coming here since before I was born. It became our yearly tradition to visit the campground Nana and Pop-pop had bought after all their “children” had left.
Typically, the campgrounds were for groups. It was a place for church groups and other large groups to come during the offseason. During the summer months, campers started arriving in the second week of June until the end of August. Late fall into late winter, hunters rented out the cabins near the foot of the mountains. Pop-pop and Nana closed it down to the public the week of the 4th for their family.
Pop-pop and Nana Young had raised Scott Cavalier, Mitch Eden, and my Dad, Bryan Harris. Pop-pop and Nana, unable to have children themselves, began fostering children sometime in their late thirties, after having focused on their careers.
They’d had a lot of children come in and out of their home. The young ones seemed to get adopted relatively quickly, but Uncle Scott, Uncle Mitch, and Dad had been eleven and twelve when they were placed with them, almost being too old by many people’s standards.
Eventually, Pop-pop and Nana decided to adopt them, and just like that, they were a family. Honestly, my uncles and Dad were more than family, though. They were so close, they even decided to join the military together. This vacation was one of the only times of year that Uncle Mitch and his family could spend time with the family he practically grew up with.
Uncle Scott, Trevor’s dad, had been placed in a similar career field, so we were PCSed− Permanent Change of Station− together since my dad had joined. Sometimes the Cavaliers would get their orders first, and other times we did, but eventually we were reunited.
At the age of thirteen, I had lived in four different states and one other country. Granted, I only remembered two of those states, but still, that was an awful lot of moving and making new friends. I used to be able to rely on Emery, my twin sister, and my younger brother BJ− or Bryan Junior− as my friends, but honestly, we were growing apart. Trevor, though, he was my constant. Sadly, we were given orders once again. Uncle Scott, however, hadn’t yet.
“I’m going to miss you,” Trevor said, his voice softly cracking. I wasn’t sure if it was his testosterone or his emotions that made his voice break.
My mom, Aunt Mary, and Aunt Pam became best friends through their husbands. Aunt Pam had been pregnant with Trevor when my mom was carrying me and Emery. And if that weren’t enough, they had even gone into labor together as well. Trevor was born twelve minutes before I made my entrance into the world and nineteen minutes before Emery. Our parents called us the Deployment Triplets.
They embarrassed us by telling everyone we were conceived the nights our dads came back from their deployments. Our parents, and even Uncle Mitch and Aunt Carol, were way too affectionate with each other and loved to gross us kids out by all their sexual innuendo and openness.
“I’m gonna miss you, too,” I said, trying to hold my tears back. “But at least we have the next three weeks together.”
I tried to sound upbeat, even though my heart was breaking. The parents would be leaving by the end of the week, and we would be staying behind to spend some more time with my grandparents. We had been doing that since we were around five or so. However, this year had been more than stressful, and it was a heartbreaking one as well.
This year had been a year of changes. Tough changes. Changes I couldn’t have gotten through without Trevor by my side.
It began with my dad and mom deciding to send BJ to a military boarding school. With Dad regularly deploying, he wasn’t home often. BJ was three years younger than Emery and me, but four years behind us in school because last year he had gotten out of control and was failing his classes. He had been getting into fights, ditching school, and became a “troubled” child.
Mom tried her best, but BJ was strong-willed and just missed my dad. They put him in the military school thirty minutes from home. Even though he came home on most weekends and holidays, I still missed my basketball buddy.
The military academy was working wonders on him, even though he had only spent nine months there. I had to admit he was more responsible and disciplined, but that didn’t mean I didn’t miss him, especially now.
“I just wished Emery would hang out with us like old times,” he grumbled.
We had been the three musketeers for such a long time that her choice to change had affected him too.
Emery and I had reached a crossroads in our lives, and at the beginning of last summer, it became evident that we were old enough to make our own decisions. Dad encouraged it. Mom hadn’t liked it. She had hoped since we were identical twins, we would be like inseparable or something.
I secretly had, too. Mom dressed us identically until we could dress ourselves. After that, she just purchased us the same exact clothing until recently. Ever since we were six months old, though, it had been clear we had two distinct personalities. As we grew, it became apparent that we also had a lot of different interests.
“You know she doesn’t think we’re cool enough for her anymore.” I frowned.
Emery was very much into Barbie and baby dolls. I liked balls, wrestling, and bicycles. Emery hated getting dirty, and I fought my mom over a bath.
Mom and Dad thought we needed to get involved in activities, so they compromised. We’d been modeling since we were born, and when we were three, Mom had us in gymnastics. But last summer, while I went away to gymnastics camp, Emery had gone to cheer camp. It was the beginning of our separation.
It shouldn’t have been such a surprise to me that Emery became a cheerleader. As much as I loved her and craved closeness, I was unwilling to become a cheerleader to follow her, and she didn’t want to continue doing gymnastics with me.
She also held a grudge against me ever since I’d decided I was done modeling. Dad had a rule in that area, an all or nothing approach. If we both didn’t do it, neither one of us could do it. She knew why I was done with modeling, but she behaved as if I should just get over it. She was well aware of the circumstances surrounding the decision of why I chose to quit modeling, even if she lived in denial of it. There was a good reason why I chose to quit.
“Do you think it’s because of your… mom?’ he asked, knowing the subject was still sensitive for me.
It had been months, but I was still known to break down in tears over the topic. I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent the tears from falling.
Watching my brother getting shipped off was hard. Realizing my sister and I were taking different roads had been difficult. But losing my mother had devastated me.
Watching my beautiful mother die had rocked my world. I still felt lost and in a constant state of grief six months later. One day she was okay. The next day her head started hurting her. When she developed migraines, they became unbearable. I had to call the ambulance after a terrifying episode. She visited the doctors, and it was all downhill from there in a blink of an eye. She had an aggressive tumor that took her from us by winter break.
I felt Trevor lean in, and he linked his pinky with mine as if he knew I was wallowing in my grief. He seemed to always be intuitive like that.
“I think that has a lot to do with it,” I admitted. “However, I also think she enjoys creating her own identity. I’m just thankful you were there for me. I don’t know what I’m going to do without you.”
And it was true. I didn’t know what I would have done without Trevor. Emery had taken her solace with her new best friends on the cheerleading squad. BJ didn’t want to be home; instead, he took comfort with his new friends at the military academy. Dad had come back early from his deployment and had only stuck around for a month after Mom died.
Dad tried to tell us that the military owned him. He had to go back. I knew it had been hard for him to lose his wife, his best friend so quickly. I knew it was hard to look at Emery and me and not see my mom. Everyone said we were the spitting image of her.
Eventually, Emery and I moved in with Aunt Pam. We had been living there for the last six months, and Trevor had been my only constant. Dad had just gotten back from his deployment three weeks ago and told us about the move. A move I had to make with just Dad and Emery, since BJ decided he wanted to stay in the academy.
While we stayed part of this summer with our grandparents, Dad would be packing the house up. When he picked us up, we would be moving into our new home. At least I would have BJ there in the new house until the end of the summer to help me adjust to my new life.
“We’ll be joining you soon,” Trevor spoke again.
I knew that was wishful thinking and not a guarantee.
I looked over at him. When had I developed a crush on my best friend? I mean, I knew he was always cute, with his ash-blond hair and soulful brown eyes, but he had always been so skinny and was just a few inches shorter than me. Emery and I had always been tall for our age, and although Uncle Scott was six-foot-two, Aunt Pam was only five-one. Up until a few months ago, everyone thought Trevor, the youngest Cavalier boy, wouldn’t be as tall as his dad or brother. But then he’d hit a growth spurt.
He wrestled, and his coach encouraged his team to lift weights. It seemed like he had grown to my height and filled out into his lean frame overnight. Suddenly, his voice became deeper, and I wasn’t the only one to notice the changes. The girls at school started to see it as well. I saw it in the way they were suddenly talking to him.
“I hope so.” I sighed, brushing my tears away. “I don’t want to lose you, too. Dad doesn’t even think he’ll be there long enough to settle in. He says he might have to deploy again. He’s started to look for a live-in nanny for Emery and me.”
“You’ll never lose me,” he promised fervently. “I promise I’ll call you every day. I’m sure Dad will get his orders soon, too.”
I tried to pretend I wasn’t hyper-aware every time his feet brushed mine. After the fifth time, I looked over him. His soulful eyes were intent on my face. Why was he looking at me like that?
He reached over and cradled my face. His thumbs wiped my tears from my cheeks, as he had done several times since the loss of my mom. He had touched me in comfort, and he had helped me in the dark of the night when my nightmares plagued me. However, this touch was different. There was this hum of awareness crackling between us.
Where did that come from?
He leaned in, and I knew what was coming—my first kiss. I closed my eyes, as I had seen the girls do in the movies, and felt the gentle brush of his lips on mine. We kissed like that for several moments before I felt his tongue push against my lips. I opened my mouth, and my eyes widened as I felt his tongue enter my mouth. It was…different. It wasn’t unpleasant, but I never really thought about what it would feel like to have a boy’s tongue in my mouth. It was a little wet and sloppy, but it’d get better with practice. Right?
I mentally shrugged. That was okay. I knew Trevor had kissed Cathy Muster last summer, and it had been his first kiss and crush. They dated for a few months, but he was thirteen, what did he know about kissing?
I had seen our affectionate parents kiss. I also saw Corbin Cavalier sneak in a string of girls when his mother was working the night shift at the hospital since we moved in with them. He was five years older than us and was considered a player. In the six months that I had been living with the Cavaliers, I didn’t think I’d ever seen the same girl twice. Corbin loved making out, and he didn’t seem to care if Trevor and I walked in on him and his girlfriends in the many scandalous positions that went passed kissing.
I had been beyond embarrassed numerous times, but Corbin didn’t seem to care. He seemed to be overly confident that Trevor, Emery, and I would never say anything. We didn’t, and we wouldn’t, but he was braver than I could ever be.
Trevor reached out and I felt his warm hands caress my tanned hips and over my ribs. It felt really good to feel his fingers on my bare skin. I knew I made a sound of pleasure. Suddenly, I was thankful for Aunt Pam insisting that my dad allow us to wear bikinis. Up until this summer, we had always worn one-pieces.
Mom and Dad might have had zero compulsions with their public displays of affection and weren’t shy in letting us know how they loved their “adult time,” but they wanted us to dress modestly. When we modeled, they were strict with what shoots we were able to take. Secretly, I wished they had been just as severe with who they trusted to monitor us while we were on the job.
Mom and Dad had discussed a lot of the things they felt were age-appropriate for us as we grew up. However, Mom knew Dad was going to fight to keep us as his little girls as long as possible and had enlisted Aunt Pam’s help with these matters. Mom had written letters and had given them to Aunt Pam in the event that he needed to be reminded of her wishes.
Mom had told Aunt Pam that she would allow us to wear makeup− in moderation− our freshman year of high school. She also said she would let us wear bikinis by that point. We were going to be freshmen this fall, and Pam had talked to my Dad in permitting us to w
ear them.
I had picked out a modest bikini, one you’d see on women volleyball players. It had a blue and black razorback top and a pair of matching boy-cut shorts. Emery had pushed her luck with a bright red, halter-top bikini with matching string bikini bottoms.
Dad had nearly flipped when he realized he no longer had little girls. This past year we had filled out quite a bit. Our breasts had developed more, and since we were both athletic, you couldn’t miss the fact that we had long, lean legs and a great butt to go with them. Not that I cared. In fact, when my boobs filled out, I had been disgruntled. I had gotten unwanted attention, and I had to suddenly be conscious of what leotards I purchased so that my girls wouldn’t flop out.
I was yanked back from my thoughts as Trevor laid back, pulling me towards him so that I was now draped halfway across him. I was surprised to find out that I liked lying on him like this. He pulled away from me for a moment before he latched onto my neck. The initial contact felt good, and I let out a breathy sigh.
He must have taken that as a sign to continue, because his hands were cupping my breast. He was a bit clumsy in his movements, and I tensed for a moment. He was fumbling with his hands, and although I was happy he was as inexperienced as I was, it felt uncomfortable.
“No finesse, baby bro,” Corbin’s deep voice said with humor.
I squeaked and hastily stood up. I covered my bared stomach and looked towards Corbin, suddenly very self-conscious about my near-naked condition.
I knew I must’ve been beet red, even underneath my tan. I nearly groaned aloud when I noticed he wasn’t alone. Wyatt, Emery, Ashlynn, and Cara− or was it Cora?− was with them.
Wyatt Eden was almost five years older than us, like Corbin. When those two were together, they were trouble. They also were man whores. Wyatt’s parents were more…open-minded, so they allowed Wyatt to bring his girlfriend, Cara, Cora− or was it Carey?− this summer.
I was utterly shocked when Aunt Pam and Uncle Scott had allowed Ashlynn, Emery’s friend, to accompany us. They knew Corbin had expressed an interest in her. However, I was certain Aunt Pam didn’t understand how her oldest son was with girls.