Tempting Trade, page 11
part #1 of Desolate Lands Series
I stared at him, mouth open. My brother had offered to sell himself to some Russian mobster in order to get in with Chris and his men? The words didn’t compute, and I shook my head.
Jackson sighed. “Chris also told your brother we had bought you, and he said he would buy you back, so long as your brother repaid half of the cost out of his earnings. The rest would be a goodwill gesture on their part because they think Simon can be that valuable to them in the long run. I spoke with Simon. I assured him you were safe here, but that we’d return you if that’s what he wished, either to your parents, or to the prison to stay with him there. He said so long as you are safe, he’s happy for you to remain here. He didn’t seem keen on spending any of his upcoming fortune on getting you back, or frankly, to have you there at all.”
“You bastard.” I screamed at Jackson, seeing red. “You lying, fucking bastard.”
I wanted to launch myself at him, to slap him across the face, but I didn’t dare. He stood in front of me, huge, unmovable and despite my boiling hot rage at his words, my fear of him held me in check.
“It’s true, Milly,” Ben interrupted our conversation. “He’s sold out to them. He’s happy to leave you here, and he’s happy to help them traffic women. He’ll be a rich and powerful man. Or he would be, if we weren’t going to bring those fuckers down.”
Ben’s words didn’t help with the anger building within me, they only made it worse.
I whirled around and confronted him. “Oh, and I’m supposed to believe you upstanding citizens, am I? You’re liars. Bastard liars.”
A voice I recognized came to me in the gap between my rant and I stopped, panting, I paused and listened, my heart breaking.
It was Simon. “So long as you guys promise not to hurt her, you can keep Milly. She’ll only get in the way here. And if she goes home to Mum and Dad she’ll do something stupid like organize a search party to come and get me. I don’t want rescuing. This is my chance to get out and do something with my life. I can earn a lot of money here and become part of something bigger. Milly will only get in the way. And she’s safe with you right?”
“Yes.” This was Jackson.
“Well then. She was going to marry that idiot Blake, and she’d have had a hell of a time with him. He’s gay and she’s no clue. She’s not the sharpest tool in the box, and she’s a total fucking princess, but if you can put up with her, then good luck to you.”
“What about your parents? They’ll be worried about you both.”
Simon snorted. “Tell them you have Milly and she’s safe. She’s more secure with you at your place from what Chris tells me than she is here or at home. Mum and Dad need to let me get on with life. It’s up to you if you want to let Milly go visit them or not.”
Jackson’s voice came much lower when he spoke again. “Do you understand that I’ve bought your sister to be my…”
“Sex slave. Yeah, I get it.” Simon sounded bored. My eyes filled with tears. “But you’re not going to harm her. You’ve paid a million pounds for her and that tells me you’re into her. Big time.”
“How do you know I’m not a sick fuck who likes to torture young women?” Jackson rejoined.
“Are you?” For one moment, Simon sounded genuinely concerned.
“No.”
“Well then. And I understand I’ll be seeing a lot of you in the coming weeks as we prepare for the Russian’s visit, so you can update me on how she is getting along. I can even see her. This way it all works out for the best. She won’t be safe back home. Blake won’t have her now. There are increasing raids on the compound. I think it’s best you take care of her. She was going to be sold as nothing more than a baby making machine to Blake, by her own parents. I don’t see why it is any different you buying her for similar reasons.”
“Your love for your sister is inspiring,” Jackson drawled.
Simon made an odd little sound, one I recognized. It was the noise he made when embarrassed. Something he hated more than anything. “She’s a spoiled little fucking bitch, and my whole life has revolved around making sure she’s pampered and happy, all so she can make a good marriage and cement our family’s future. Well, now I am the one who will cement our family’s future. Not her. She’s nothing more than a toy for an Altered to play with.”
“I’ll remember this conversation.” Jackson’s tone was enough to make the hair on my neck stand on end.
“Whatever,” Simon replied. “Hey, Slim, mate, wait up.”
Jackson clicked off the recording he’d made on an old, battered smartphone.
“I’m sorry, Milly. But you need to know. Your brother is not your friend.” Jackson said.
“Who is?” I replied curtly, my voice cold.
I died inside at all I’d heard, but I was determined never to give these men the satisfaction of seeing it. I didn’t know who to trust anymore.
Alexandru…Alex, went to find my parents and brought my dog back. Jackson and Ben went to look for my brother, but then Jackson took the bottom out of my world by playing me that recording. I’d known my mother held disdain for me, you could say the feeling was mutual, and she wanted to sell me off to enrich our family, but I hadn’t believed Simon to be the same.
I had been way more naïve about my family, this world, than I’d ever realized. And perhaps, just maybe, despite the way they’d gone about getting me here, these men were the good guys. I’d never felt so worn down by life before, but the way these guys lived, the way the Ferals lived, the people at the prison, it seemed this was the world these days, and I’d been living in a silly dream. Now I needed to wake up.
I wanted time to think, to get my head together and figure this out. I wouldn’t get very far only relying on myself, no one could in this world, not even someone as big and strong as Jackson. You needed people to watch your back. My choices were stark, go home to the compound, and let Mum find someone new to marry me off to, or help these guys.
There had to be a way to do so without prostituting myself out to some government official. It hit me hard that I had no real use to anyone. Simon did. He could speak a ton of languages. I’d coasted along, doing my degree, hoping to be a vet, when there were so few of them still needed, and thinking being married to Blake would be acceptable, despite us not loving one another.
But if what these guys were telling me was true, I did possess a power. I simply didn’t know how to use it yet, but Jackson could teach me.
Too tired and upset to think clearly, I needed some time alone and some sleep, so my brain could function properly again.
“Come on, Tilly.” I turned to the men. “I’m going to bed. Thank you for getting my dog, Alex. Thank you for finding my brother, Jackson.”
I spun on my heel and climbed the stairs, followed by my dog.
Chapter Nine
Milly: A Howling Good Time
I reached my room and hauled one of the bedside tables in front of the door after closing it behind me and locking it. I wanted the extra security, and not from the Ferals or Foamers. I didn’t want any of the men who lived in this place getting in. Not that I worried they’d hurt me physically. Logically, why go to the effort of giving me my own room, helping me get my dog, and all the other stuff they did if they wanted to rape me or harm me? If they simply wanted to take me, they could have done it long before. But, I craved some control over my environment, and it felt like a small way of getting it.
I sighed and headed to the bathroom. Wow. It was as run down as they’d said. The grimy sink wore a myriad of paper-thin cracks. The bath looked useless as it had a massive crack of its own. A shower attachment perched above the tub, and I hoped that at least worked. Over the sink there was a vanity, one of the doors half open. Curious, I slid it all the way and give a small gasp.
There on the shelf sat some soap, still wrapped in cellophane. By the soap was a box containing a big brand moisturizer, totally unopened. I took it and opened it, the fancy packaging reminiscent of an earlier life where these things were taken for granted by many.
Inside, the bottle was pristine. Even better, it still had the silver foil seal over the opening. I clutched it to me, delighted at the small luxury. There also was a toothbrush, still wrapped, and toothpaste. There were some other things, but these had all been opened and partially used. Obviously, some of this stuff was Jackson’s Aunt’s, but what about the rest of it? The unopened stuff?
I wondered if I should use it. Then I tore at the silver foil with my teeth.
I needed to toughen up. The rest of the world had, and I’d been going on my merry way, thinking Dad would protect me, when he’d basically colluded with Mum. I’d believed it might not be so bad to be married off and that Blake could grow to love me, when he had no intentions of doing so. Worst of all, I’d believed my brother to be decent underneath his asshole exterior, when he might be borderline evil. And me? I’d hardly been an innocent in it all. I’d coasted along hoping for nothing more than a safe, easy life. I still hankered after those things if I were honest. Little luxuries, reminders of the past, moments of safety, those things mattered to me, but now I knew I needed to grow up and start being useful.
I rinsed my face, looked around for a towel and not finding one, wiped myself dry with the hem of the top I wore. I plastered the moisturizer on my face, my dry skin singing at the relief. I hadn’t used the soap, so I still wore some make-up on my eyes, but I couldn’t be bothered to try and scrub it off.
Next, I took the toothbrush out of its wrap and cleaned my teeth. I padded back into the bedroom and smiled to see Tilly up on the bed. I shucked my clothes and clambered beside her.
Wrapping her in my arms, I sank my face into her fur, and closed my eyes.
**
“Milly. Hey Milly.”
I woke up with a start, my mouth dry and heart pounding.
A huge figure loomed over me and I reacted on instinct, opening my mouth and screaming.
“What the hell?” The figure reared back and shook its head as if trying to dislodge water from its ears. “Way to go deafening me.”
Where was I? This wasn’t home. The room was huge, I could make out enough in the low light streaming in from the open curtains to see as much.
“You were having a bad dream,” the low, sexy voice of the stranger began to sound familiar.
Jackson. My brain came online at last. “What are you doing here?”
“You were dreaming. Or more accurately, having a nightmare. You shouted loud enough to wake the dead. I didn’t like listening to you cry out and came to wake you. Sorry if I startled you.”
My mind now back online, I remembered the bedside cabinet in front of the door, I turned to see it still in place. “How did you get in here?”
He pointed behind him to a crack of light behind the now partially opened curtain on the wall to the right of the bed. “There’s an adjoining door between my room and yours.”
What the hell? This made me angry. “You didn’t think I’d like to be somewhere where I get control over who comes and goes in my space?” I asked him, keeping my voice calm because I didn’t want to anger him again, but I didn’t like him being able to walk in whenever he wished.
He blew out a breath. “Jesus, Milly. I’ll get you a lock for the door tomorrow, okay? Along with some clothes and whatever other feminine things you need.”
Feminine things. As if. “There aren’t many feminine things left to get,” I informed him.
“Depends if you know where to look,” he said right back.
This vaguely peaked my interest. How come none of us in the compound knew about these places? I wondered what else they could get. Maybe medicines too, some people at the compound had been really sick the previous winter and we hadn’t been able to get the antibiotics they needed. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. Now, are you okay? Your nightmare sounded horrendous.”
I sat up, pulling the sheet with me to cover my bare breasts. “I don’t remember it. Something vague about Chris having me back at their prison, and then another part where I was in a strange room with Slim doing something to me, but I can’t recall.”
“What?” His voice was harsh. Way too harsh.
“It’s just a dream,” I said.
“No. It’s not. I dreamed the same thing. You were running down a corridor in my dream, and Slim caught you, took you to a room and he…well, anyway.”
“What did he do?” I asked. I remembered Slim was hurting me but nothing more.
“He whipped you.” Jackson said.
Oh. My. God!
“You and I shared a dream, and it makes me think it’s more than our sub-conscience working things out.” Jackson sat on the bed and I automatically shuffled up to give him room.
“Why do we share dreams?” I asked.
“I think we share some blood,” he replied.
“So, we’re related?” I asked in shock.
“Nah. No more than two people who have had the same blood transfusion are. When they spliced us, they also did all sorts of weird shit. One of which was giving blood from a supposed white witch and psychic to some of us. I got some, you did, too, I believe, and so did one other female. She’s dead now. I can’t say for sure you had the same blood, but they definitely gave you something when you were in hospital because your records are heavily redacted for that time. I’ve had a contact of mine in the resistance look once I had some of your details, and I spoke to him before I came to bed.”
I nodded, but my mind whirred, Doc was right. Jackson was looking into me. Trying to find out what had happened to me.
“Milly, your file is full of holes. My guess is they were following you, at a distance, to see if you would be of use to them. Then everything went to shit, and they released the virus and didn’t need us anymore. They never deleted all the old files, why would they? Most people can’t even get a phone to work anymore. But, when they were still on top of these things, they removed a hell of a lot of your information. It makes me think we are right, and they did stuff to you when you were in hospital.”
Witches? Vampires? Weird, preternatural blood transfusions. This new world I found myself in was a trip, and not in a good way.
“I don’t want Chris and Slim to take me,” I said, my voice sounding small. Not least, I didn’t add out loud, because I didn’t want to see Simon for a good long while.
“They aren’t taking you,” Jackson bit out. He scrubbed his hand over his face. I could see him better now my eyes had adjusted to the low light. “I’m sorry, Milly.”
“What for? Kidnapping me? Buying me? Planning on using me to get your ends-justify-the-means results?” I froze. Oh Lord, there I went again with my speaking before I thought issues. Jackson didn’t seem angry though.
He gave a low rumbling growl, so quiet I had to strain to hear it. I’d love to know what DNA they gave Jackson because I would put money on some of it being big cat. “I’m sorry for telling you about Simon, playing the recording too, in front of the others. It was a dick move. I should have done it in private, but Milly, you needed to hear it. You needed to wake the fuck up.”
“Yes, it was somewhat of a harsh move. One of many.” I couldn’t resist adding. I didn’t know why I continued to push at him, but I did. I was poking the lion, and I knew I should stop, but couldn’t. Like when a toddler has a tantrum because they are pushing boundaries but needing to know they are still loved. I kind of needed to know Jackson wouldn’t turn on me even if I was being bratty. I tried to stop myself, but then more attitude would spill out.
He stood and began to pace. “Look, I don’t do this well. I don’t have girlfriends or even female acquaintances, other than my aunt, and she was as hard as they come. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
He stood by the window, looking out, and the moon chose that moment to come out from behind a cloud and bathe him in silvery light. He looked beautiful. Heartbreakingly so.
A loud, eerie, howl rent the air, a sound like nothing I had heard before. Every single one of the tiny hairs on my arms stood on end in response and I shivered. It seemed like it came from inside the house. “What the hell?”
“Shit. Come on.” Jackson shook his head.
“What?”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me up, exposing my naked form as the sheet slid from me. He didn’t even look, simply hauled me into his arms, and headed straight for the door to his room. “Not leaving you to sleep alone,” he muttered. “Should have figured this would fucking happen.”
What was happening?
“Tils,” he called my girl to him and she came running. I think at that moment I possibly fell a tiny bit in love with him, or enough to muddy the hate. He remembered my dog, didn’t even flinch when she hopped onto his bed.
He kicked the door between our rooms shut behind him, and then put me down before sliding a heavy bolt into place.
I covered myself. My nudity was more on show in here because of the lamp he had by his bed. He stalked to the other door, the one leading to the corridor, and slid another heavy bolt into place.
“This hasn’t happened in ages. It’s because of you,” he said, glancing at me. He didn’t seem to take in my nudity at all. He seem…scared almost.
What could scare a man like Jackson?
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s Ben,” he replied.
Ben? Whatever did he mean.
Jackson rummaged around in a drawer. He pulled something out and threw it my way. “Here.”
It was a t-shirt. One big enough to fit me like a nightdress. I pulled it on gratefully and as I slid it over my head I got a whiff of the most delicious scent I had ever smelled. Pure Jackson. He must have worn this not that long ago. It smelled of man, and something else. A sexy, musky scent. Something almost familiar from my youth. An aftershave, I thought. But a heavily masculine one. It reminded me of motor oil, cigars, leather seats, and whisky.
I wanted to lick the damn t-shirt, but another howl rent the air and curdled my burgeoning desire.
“What did you mean it’s Ben?” I pressed.
