She was, by far, one of the most beautiful women Asia had ever seen. When she thought of the amount of time it must have taken for her to look that way, it truly baffled Asia. Then again, if they were in prison all day long, what else was there for them to do?
In fact, Asia was getting the feeling that this was exactly what they were expected to do. It stood to reason, then, that the most beautiful women snared the best of the bachelors that came calling. That meant they probably earned the most power amongst the population as a result. But then again, beauty had nothing to do with fertility. In the end, wouldn’t it be the proven breeders who would earn the most attention?
And if you had both abilities…
But Asia would be damned if she saw so much as a stretch mark on the woman that was approaching her. Could she really have that perfect a figure if she’d ever given birth?
The blonde came up very close to her and Asia held her breath, waiting to see which way this fiasco was going to go next.
“So. You’re human.”
And so was she, Asia realized with sudden surprise. The delicately rounded lobes of her ears should have been the giveaway, but in the end it was her English and a very dynamic Southern accent that clinched the identification for Asia.
“So are you,” Asia returned.
“Rare,” she acknowledged with a sniff. “Most human women choose purge over prison.”
“Purge?”
The blonde laughed through her nose in a short burst.
“The only way you can return to Earth. Didn’t they tell you? You can choose to go through a purge. They basically bake your brain. Wipe it of every memory you’ve ever had in your life. Everything. You don’t even know how to pick up a fork. When you get back to Earth you are basically like a newborn baby and have to learn everything all over again. Even the simplest things, like walking. If you’re human you should have been given a choice, purge or prison.”
“I-I’m not supposed to be in here,” Asia said, knowing it was a mistake the minute the words left her mouth. The entire room erupted into twitters of laughter.
“Sure, honey. You’re innocent. Just like the rest of us, right, girls?” she asked over her shoulder. The entire room came back affirmative. “Except for me. I did what they accused me of.”
Asia wasn’t about to ask. She’d already stepped in enough shit for one conversation.
“Anyway, you’re pretty enough. Leggy,” the blonde observed. “In good shape. You’ll fetch some fair attention if you clean yourself up a bit.”
“I’m not looking for attention,” Asia snapped.
The blonde rolled her eyes. “Oh, do keep from being trite, honey,” she begged, exaggerating a yawn behind her hand. “You can go on about being stubborn and how you’re not going to whore yourself out to the highest bidder like all the newbies do, or you can face facts. We’re outnumbered two hundred to one. Men from every colony along the crevasse come here for the chance to screw us. If you want the most comfortable living you’ll wise up and vie for it. Otherwise you get stuck with the duds and drips. Tonight the men come to have their pick of us. There’s no avoiding what happens next, so you better wise up and pretty up so you can pick the one you want.”
Tonight. Oh God. She’d been tossed into the general population on the night of some sick kind of flesh bazaar! How the hell had this happened? Julian had promised her she’d stay in holding. Considering what was at stake for him, she didn’t think he’d lie to her. That meant that someone else was behind this fiasco. But who? Who would have the power and the connections to do this to her, and why would they want to? She hadn’t been Beneath long enough to make so many enemies, but it seemed like she kept doing so no matter what she did.
“My God,” the blonde said with surprise. “You really aren’t supposed to be here, are you?” She reached out and closed a warm hand around Asia’s upper arm. “I can feel it radiating off you like a sun. Lord, girl, I don’t know who you pissed off, but you’re in deep trouble here.”
She pulled Asia aside, waving off the curious whispering women at her back. She found an unoccupied corner of the room and sat Asia down.
“Listen, once a month men come to buy women for five years’ time. Everyone in this room is fair game and there’s no such thing as saying no. Call it rape, forced seduction, whatever you think it is, it’s going to happen for every girl in here tonight and that includes you. And unless you can vamp it up until dawn when they are forced to leave, you’ve got a world of trouble coming your way.”
“Who are you?” Asia demanded, wanting to know why this woman gave a damn about what happened to her. Was it because she was human, too?
“Just call me Jewel. That’s what I go by around here.”
“Jewel, how long have you been here?”
“Lordy, girl, what are you worrying about me for? Jewel’s an old hat at this particular cotillion, honey, I guarantee you that. Seven years ago I made the choice to come here. One year in, a snake tried to take what Jewel wasn’t in the mood to give and he nearly killed me for it. Unfortunately, I killed him. Murder is truly frowned on ’round here.”
“I know. It didn’t matter to them that you were just defending yourself?” Asia wanted to know.
“It might have, I suppose, but the scum in question was a Gatherer. One of the Ampliphi’s pets, you see. And you don’t have much believability when up against credentials like that. So now…” She raised her hands to indicate the room around them. “The ultimate irony. Now I have to take what I get handed, like it or not. I’d’ve been better off letting the bastard rape me.” “My God,” Asia said. “This is ridiculous!” “Indeed. But it’s neither here nor there, honey. Right now we have to figure out how to get you through the night.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Asia said softly, “I can handle myself.”
“Careful, cherie. Violence has a bad price to pay. If you hurt one of the paying customers, there will be a world of trouble.”
“It’s Asia. And I am open to suggestions, Jewel.”
“Well, as I see it you have two choices. You either pretty yourself up and go for someone you can tolerate for a single night, or pretty yourself up and go for someone you can manipulate for the night. Most of the men ’round here are the strong and studly type, as no doubt you’ve noticed, but every crowd has the wallflower in it. The shy one. You know, the type where you wink at them the right way and they come in their pants?”
“I know the type,” Asia said with a chuckle. “All I need to do is get through the night. In the morning I’ll be sprung and this will be a distant nightmare.”
“Then it sounds to me like you’re heading for a wallflower. If you want first pick of him, you’re going to have to sex it up a little bit, honey. The shy ones are real popular ’round here. They’re real malleable and easy to swallow, if you get my drift.”
“Yeah, I think I get it.”
“Good. We don’t have much time. I think we’re the same size. Mmm, honey, you need some face time with a mirror.”
“No doubt.”
How in hell had she gotten into this mess? Asia wondered about forty minutes later. She’d shed her simple outfit for something long and slinky, her dark hair swept up tight in a braided topknot and a frightening amount of eyeliner around her eyes. Jewel had picked a gown for her in a color three shades darker than her eyes, the result making their color seem quite stunning.
Asia watched the women around her as they all did some final primping and preening before the prospective men were let into the central building. While Asia waited, she tried to reason out who could have ordered her put into the main population. Who even knew she was there?
Kloe.
Oh, that bitch, Asia thought with venom. Ampliphi Kloe had expressly ordered her to holding. Ordered her away from her precious Julian. The minute she had her here and openly unprotected, Asia would bet her ass Kloe had ordered her put into the main population.
To what end, though? Besides humil
iating her? Perhaps she was trying to make her tainted goods so Julian wouldn’t want to touch her once she was freed tomorrow. Julian seemed very fixated on keeping Asia all to himself. It was very important to him that no one else even think of her in an inappropriate manner. This kind of thing could very well drive him over the edge with jealousy. It could make him act very rashly. Was Kloe trying to destroy Julian? Trying to make him pay for leaving her?
Asia refused to see that happen. No fucking way. That uppity, conniving bitch was not going to win this one. Asia was going to turn on every last ounce of charm she had and then she was going to scare the crap out of some poor guy so he’d be too afraid to touch her. One night. She just needed to make it through this one night.
Suddenly she heard the sound of a huge bell ringing. Like a church bell, it clapped out long, resounding peals. Then, before the last one had faded away, the huge double doors on the east side of the main building began to open. All of the women immediately roused to attention, sitting up and posing as prettily as they could. Asia would never have thought they would have faced this forced servitude with so much eager aplomb, yet there they were, all ready to start vying for the best man in the bunch that came across the walkway and into the main pavilion.
The crowd of men quickly became intimidating and overwhelming. It seemed there were more men being let in than there were available women. Apparently it wouldn’t be just the women who were forced to vie for the best place.
Nervously, Asia stood up and shifted in the silky gown that clung so eagerly to all her curves. Now the only trick was how to determine who was the shyest man in the bunch.
But she’d barely begun looking when, all of a sudden, she found herself staring into furious pine green eyes.
Chapter 13
Julian had known.
He couldn’t explain the instinct that had suddenly struck him halfway through his journey home, but he’d suddenly known Asia was going to be in trouble in the prison. It might have had something to do with Lucien constantly muttering how he didn’t like it. Didn’t like the idea of leaving her overnight. Didn’t trust Kloe not to fuck with her.
He was only saying aloud what Julian had already been thinking.
So Julian had turned around and made his way back to the prison. Knowing they wouldn’t let him in to see her, he’d quickly realized there was only one way he could make certain she was safely ensconced in holding where she should be, and that was by checking the general population to make sure she wasn’t there. And the only way he was going to be able to do that was if he pretended to be a paying customer.
And yet, the minute he saw those familiar eyes across the room, he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He couldn’t believe Kloe would go to such low, underhanded lengths just to make him pay for finding his kindra. Why she should be so jealous was completely beyond him. That she would act so damn irrationally, so beyond what she should be doing in her role as an Ampliphi, made him sick to his stomach. That she would so abuse her power just to punish an innocent woman whose only crime was that he had kidnapped her and brought her into their world!
But the proof was right before his eyes, looking so outrageously beautiful it should have been a crime. And where in all the planes had she gotten that dress? It was nearly transparent and clinging to every single curve on her body. And what the hell did she think she was doing anyway? Getting dressed up so sexily and working a room full of men? Just what was she after? Who was she after?
Julian was so instantly blind with jealousy that he didn’t even notice the way her whole face lit up with relief when she saw him. She immediately picked up her skirts and rushed across the room for him, every step she took shimmering through the dress she wore until he could feel every man in a radius staring at her and watching her approach in appreciation.
But she ignored all of them and beelined for Julian. There was a minuscule measure of comfort in that for him. The major comfort came a moment later when she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He heard her release a sound that, on anyone else, might have been mistaken for a sob. Asia was tougher than that, though.
Wasn’t she?
“Julian! Thank God. Oh, thank God you came back!” She was nearly throttling him, but Julian didn’t really care. All he cared about was that he had her safe in his arms and none of the other bastards around him were going to get anywhere near close enough to touch her.
“I had this terrible feeling that you were somehow going to get yourself into trouble again,” he said hotly against her ear. “Just…something about the way our luck has been turning since all of this started.”
“Julian, did you ever think that it isn’t luck? Someone is doing this to us, Julian, and I’ll bet top dollar that it is that bitch Kloe behind this!”
“Shh. Easy,” he soothed her, his hand gliding down her supple back as the slippery material of her dress removed any kind of friction from the equation. “Careful what you say. The Ampliphi are far more powerful than you know. There are few secrets from them in this world.”
“Then does that mean the other Ampliphi are going to know what that bitch has done to me?” Asia demanded. “God, Julian, can’t you see? Can’t you see what almost happened here tonight?”
“I know. I know,” he assured her. Julian couldn’t help clutching her tighter when he thought about it. He reached for her mouth on instinct, crushing her beneath his suddenly frantic kiss. His lips were numb when he started the thing, his fear still too fresh in his mind and his senses still numbed by the shock of seeing her there. Yet it took only a moment for his mouth to awaken to the recognition of her, to remember who she was to him and the undeniable link they would have now and forever. She might not have felt it, but he sure as hell did.
In fact, the entire room felt it. The minute he was locked into the kiss, his tongue seeking for hers, the synergy of the kiss took over and exploded out into the room around them, even as it resonated deeply between them. People all around them gasped or grunted, feeling on a visceral level the energy the couple gave off. Asia’s heart began to race as her entire body flushed with a ridiculously eager response. She knew the desperate nature of his kiss was because of how close a call they’d just had, but knowing didn’t change how it felt. He was eating at her mouth as if he was starved for her, and she supposed on a literal level he truly was. But knowing and logical thinking weren’t going to help her. All she could do, all that was required, was to stand there and accept the brutal power of Julian’s passion. When, Asia wondered, had she become so used to needing the way he kissed her? When had his embrace turned into an anchor?
Probably around the same time her entire world had turned into a savage and unpredictable storm. But now the storm was clutched within her own embrace and she was being swept away by it. She opened wider to the incredible masculine taste of him, her tongue seeking it with nothing short of desperation and more need than she would ever have thought herself capable of. She knew, logically, that had she been in her own world with familiar feet under her, this probably wouldn’t be happening, but it didn’t change the need one whit.
Asia was mistaken. What she thought was a matter of circumstance, Julian knew to be a matter of destiny. They were meant to be together. They were kind, and that was a connection like no other. It didn’t help at all that she was so beautiful and felt like pure moving sin between his tightly grasping hands. Her body was so warm and alive, safe in his arms yet a working danger to his sanity. He had to remember where they were and the danger that existed all around them, but he couldn’t seem to make himself draw away from the precious delight that was her mouth.
Julian indulged for just a moment or two more, taking the sweet taste of her willing kisses onto his tongue for a long, hot exchange of need, making sure she felt and understood the nature of the man she held between her hands and wrapped up inside her arms. Then, very reluctantly, Julian drew away from her mouth. He was breathing hard, barely an inch away from th
e temptation of her mouth, reveling in the rose red flush of abuse his kisses had left behind on her lips. She was panting softly, her warm breath hitting his face in rapid little puffs. Her normally cool-colored eyes were now electric blue and hot with her lightly roused desires.
“Julian,” she whispered on the barest of breaths. “I want to open my mind to this, to your world and the need of your people, but it’s really hard for me to do when I keep being forced to fight the dangers in your world instead. I thought your world, your colony, desperately needed me!”
“They do,” he said. “You saw it for yourself, Asia. They’re starving more and more, day after day.”
“Then why are these women in your world so against me? Why are they so bent on destroying me? Julian, there are literally hundreds of men to fulfill their needs. Why are they doing this?”
“I wish I could tell you,” he said honestly. “I don’t understand it any more than you do. Especially as pertains to Kloe. I am ashamed of her. I am shamed that your experience in this new world has so been tainted by them. They think that destroying you will make me better available to them? Well, they are wrong. You are kindra, zini. There are no other women after you. If they take you from me tomorrow, they may as well be free to take my life. I can no longer live without you.”
His words made Asia’s heart clutch fearfully in her chest. It was too much. Too much responsibility, too much unlike her, too dependent…just too much.
“I can’t Julian, I’m not cut out to be anyone’s kindra. I’ve never been the type. I doubt I ever will be. I wish…I wish I could be otherwise. I wish I was the type of woman who could believe in happily-ever-afters, but I’m not. I don’t need fairy-tale endings and true love and all of that. I need stability and the ground under my own two feet. I need to kick ass and take names. I can’t just sit pretty like a queen and make babies!”