Page 97 of Lesson In Faith

How could she not when his voice was soft and understanding? More than that—and she truly believed his voice was as effective as a leash around her neck—was the way his hand slid around her nape, squeezing lightly, drawing her mind away from the sick memories and guiding it to that simple connection of skin on skin.

“It starts when you’re twelve. As soon as you’re old enough to be traded, you’re scheduled to see him. For the girls who get traded on the eve of their twelfth birthday, Dinan is permitted to examine them the day before—another dead giveaway,” she said sourly. “A parent or guardian assigns a security officer to escort you to Dinan’s clinic and stand outside in case you panic and run. There are multiple punishments for that, including getting shot. Once inside, Dinan orders you to strip off everything before he makes you get on an examination table.”

Merrick’s fingers tightened slightly, but his face remained relaxed.

“He checks everything—heart, lungs, reflexes, ears, eyes, you name it. Anything and everything required for a wife to do her duty at a moment’s notice if she’s chosen by an elder. After that, he straps you down. Here,” she whispered, dragging her fingertips over her chest, then over her hips, “and here. Wrists, thighs, and ankles too. If you struggle or fight, he fastens your head down. He takes a blood sample to test for banned substances and then…”

“Then?” Merrick prompted gently.

“I don’t know.” Her breath shuddered out. “He sedates you. The next thing you know, you’re being carried home, fully dressed, by the security officer. No idea of what time it is, what day. No recollection of what happened after the needle slid into your vein. You feel dirty and violated even though nothing hurts. A month later, you go through it all again.”

“Well.” He kissed her forehead. “That explains a whole fucking lot, darlin’.”

Emotionally exhausted now, she sighed and leaned forward, pressing her breasts against his chest and relaxing into him. His hands instantly shifted to her back, stroking up and down as though he realized how much it cost her to tell him the sordid details.

“I just need you to tell me one more thing, little owl. Do you know where your father and the community are?”

She nodded, rubbing her cheek over his warm skin for comfort. “I don’t know where Jedidiah is, but I guarantee he’s out with a team, hunting for me. He won’t stop this time, not until he finds me. I’m too much of a threat now, so he’ll hunt until he knows I’m dead.”

“He’ll be hunting a long time then, won’t he?”

“The community will be in lockdown. We used to have practice drills for events such as this—emergencies where their reality is threatened by an outside source. There’s a path leading west from the compound that takes you to a rock formation about twenty minutes in. On the north side, there’s a concealed entrance. It’s small and narrow, barely big enough to fit one person at a time, but it opens up after about ten feet into a series of manmade caves that stretch underground. The community version of a safehouse.”

“They have a cave system at their disposal?”

She nodded tiredly. “Built decades ago. It’s a natural fortress, Merrick; no one can breach it without detection, and Jedidiah will have men guarding the entrance. Most of the elders are too fat and lazy to defend themselves, let alone the women, so they hired security to do it for them. Armed security.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it anymore, little owl. I’ll give the data to the relevant people and they can work out the logistics. This shit is all gonna come to an end soon, and Jedidiah’s empire is gonna crash and burn.”

Tamsyn settled her face into the curve of his neck, nuzzling her nose against his throat.

Maybe her father’s empire, his pride and joy, the thing he devoted all his time and attention, would hit the ground and implode. It was once her greatest wish to watch it do just that, standing in the middle of it as it all tumbled down around his head.

Now, all she could hope for was that it didn’t snare her as an added casualty before it all turned to rubble and broken dreams.

Chapter Ten

Merrick

He felt her eyes on him all the way across the bar.

His shift started in five minutes and his schedule was damn near full until ten, so he’d dropped Tamsyn off at the VIP tables with Callie, Tabitha, and Sierra, while trying to ignore the desperately pleading glances she kept firing at him.

The women were kind, compassionate, and friendly; he had no qualms about leaving his little owl with them in general. It just felt as though he’d dropped a loyal puppy off at the pound against his will.

Eli and Evander were always talking about the familial aspect they wanted to create in Serenity. They’d modeled it on their experiences at Avalon, the club Jasper and Anarchy belonged to in Phoenix. The same club they’d appropriated Liam from a few months earlier.

So far, the dynamic wasn’t quite as close knit as his bosses hoped.

Callie and Sierra were both Littles—Callie worked long hours writing her books, being a loving wife and adorably cheeky sub/Little for her Daddy Dom husbands; Sierra spent all her time repairing stuffed toys and selling them in the Nursery before fulfilling her duties as wife and sub in her own Daddy-Little marriage.

Tabitha was more complex.

Now Merrick knew who she was and what she did for a living, it was hard to see her as Grit’s submissive, learning the ropes. Honestly, he was pretty floored to imagine a strong woman who took out society’s trash in the way she did submitting to anyone.

Liam wandered down the bar, sliding a bottle of water over to him. “Your girl looks like she wants to cry, Merrick.”

Guilt churned in his belly. “I’m not looking.”

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