Page 61 of Bought and Shared
“I’ve contacted a few friends of mine to meet us just outside the compound. I’ve also got a man on the inside. He hasn’t seen or heard about a woman being kept captive, but he’s going to look into it and get back to me ASAP.”
“Is this contact of yours human or Voltan?” Oren asks.
“He’s one of us,” I reveal, a smirk caressing my lips.
“Good,” Oren says with a sigh. “At least one thing has gone right today.”
Aurora
I’m left tied to my bed for another hour before an unfamiliar man enters the room. Since Micah has revealed himself to be a despicable wolf in sheep’s clothing, I’m in a state of shock. I can’t stop thinking about what he did when we were alone and I’m as jittery and nervous as a newborn colt as I await his next move.
The stranger who has entered my room looks like he’s lived most of his life in the military. Short hair that’s buzzed on the sides, squared away clothes, a rigid stance, and eye contact so direct and intense it makes me squirm in place.
I’m instantly wary of him and recoil against the headboard to protect myself the best I can the moment he sweeps into the room.
Glancing at me passively, the cocky man swaggers over to the edge of my bed. “It’s time to get up.”
Unfastening my restraints, he watches me cradle my wrists and rub the feeling back into them. Pins and needles sting my hands as I gnash my teeth against the blooming pain.
“Up and at ‘em,” the man prompts, and I gingerly get to my feet.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I say, embarrassed that I have to confess this to a complete stranger.
Grabbing me by the elbow, he leads me over to the door. “I’ll take you down the hall where you can use the facilities and wash up. Your mother has clothes waiting for you there she wants you to change into.”
The man is brusque as we move, but at least he’s not lecherous. I appreciate that fact, as I’m fairly exposed in my skimpy silk gown.
After I freshen up and change clothes, I’m led downstairs where my mother is making the evening meal. As though I haven’t just been kidnapped and told I would be forced into a marriage I don’t want, she sets me to work.
Having done these tasks a thousand times before, my hands easily perform the familiar actions by rote. Before I know it, I’m sitting at the table with my family, the evening prayer being spoken aloud.
Bowman, the soldier who fetched me from my room earlier, is sitting to my left. Across from me is Micah, eating his meal with great enthusiasm while talking to my father, who sits at the head of the table, about new potential revenue streams for the commune. My mother, at the far end of the table, refuses to look at me, which makes it incredibly hard to try and solicit her help.
Halfway through our soup, a latecomer joins us. I’ve never seen him on the compound before and I know he isn’t human by his good looks, massive size, golden skin, and multicolored eyes. What is a Voltan doing here?
The Voltan man flicks his gaze in my direction before he greets the others at the table. “Sorry I’m late. I was just finishing up my chores and it took longer than expected.”
My mother smiles politely at him, stands, and prepares him a bowl of soup as he sits down at the table next to Micah. Once served, the alien tucks into his meal with gusto. Not able to help myself, I stare in his direction, wondering why he’s at my father’s table. We’ve never hosted any Voltan at dinner before, as my people aren’t fond of them and lack basic trust for any outsiders.
When no further information is forthcoming about our unexpected guest, I return to staring off into space contemplating what my best possible escape routes are off this compound.
Unfortunately for me, I’m not allowed to go anywhere unescorted. Bowman is my shadow, standing outside my bathroom door and sitting beside me throughout the meal. He might not be anywhere as large or foreboding as our Voltan guest, but there’s no way I’m giving him the slip or outrunning him to freedom any time soon.
I eat my soup, but not much else. As dinner comes to a close, I grow incredibly drowsy. Unnaturally so. When I glimpse Micah staring at me with a smug expression, I know he’s done something to my food. I’m sluggish, overly warm, and moving as gracefully as a sloth.
When I nearly fall out of my chair as I’m shifting in my seat, Bowman catches me before I hit the floor. “I guess the drugs kicked in,” he says dryly.
He tries to sit me back in my seat, but I seem to have lost the ability to hold myself upright. My vision is fuzzy and there is a funny taste in my mouth that is only getting stronger with time.
“I think you might have given her too large a dose,” Bowman notes, as he stops me from listing to the left.
Micah shrugs. “I don’t want her to become a problem.”
Faintly, I hear my mother crying and my father soothing her as I try to maintain consciousness. Before I know what’s happening, I’m in the arms of our Voltan guest, and he’s carrying me from the room as I slip into unconsciousness.
Kal
The compound is vast and I’m not sure where they’re hiding Knox’s woman. Trying to keep a low profile, as I’ve only just been invited to update their outdated technology they pretend not to have, I discreetly check all of the likely places but come up empty-handed. That must mean she’s being hidden directly in Israel’s home. Which doesn’t surprise me, as I’ve just learned the girl is his daughter. However, to hear how the leader of the movement rails against the “Jezebels” who fornicate with the enemy, I’m shocked he’s allowing the girl to return home at all.
