Page 14 of Taken
The washroom Jordan took them to was a large tiled room with plenty of showers. It was currently empty, but Trish got the idea that it was the communal bathing room. From her time at University, she knew this was standard: there wasn’t enough room in the residences on Earth for most places to have individual bathrooms and bathing rooms. Only the very wealthy owned or stayed in places that did.
Like when they’d first woken up, Jordan secured all three of them with their arms above their heads and washed them off. Trish fought off tears of humiliation as he lingered over his task with her, taking twice as much time as he had with Bella, and he’d taken longer with her than he had with Alex. He was thorough but gentle, and Trish didn’t know whether she was more humiliated at having her bathing watched, or at Alexand Bella seeing the strangely tender and intimate way Jordan handled her during moments like this.
When they left the bathing room, a redhead in a dress was standing with food ready for them. Jordan gave Alex and Bella theirs, but took his and Trish’s from the woman, who gave Trish a friendly wink before she walked away. Trish watched her go, both confused and slightly alarmed. Bella and Alex ate as they walked, but Jordan kept hold of his and Trish’s sandwiches.
The courtyard Jordan took them to had gardens, benches, and a pool, as well as other soldiers milling about, enjoying some down time. He gave Alex and Bella goggles and ordered them to exercise in the pool, before taking Trish off to the side to one of the benches and tugging her onto his lap. Once there, he proceeded to feed her, bite by bite.
To her consternation, as he fed her, some of the soldiers came by to introduce themselves. She recognized Paul and Bruno from the night before—two men who had been ‘rewarded’ by Bella—and Trish shrank in on herself. Both gave her friendly smiles and treated her with a kind of gentlemanly respect that made her confusion even greater.
“It was nice to meet you, Trish,” Paul said. “I hope you’ll settle in well here.” He looked at Jordan and nodded in a more militant way, rather than saying goodbye, before wandering off.
Jordan stroked her hair as he chatted with the soldiers who came by. Or, really, they mostly spoke to him. Other than commands and occasional observations, he wasn’t exactly a chatty person, but he was a strangely good listener. If she didn’t have to dislike him because of the circumstances, Trish might have even said he was a good leader.
In some ways it was interesting, getting to see the culture of the Wolf’s Compound up close; the way the men and women got on together. The women were all just as intimidating as the men, but everyone was strangely kind. More than that, they acted asthough her presence was a welcome one. It was enough to make a person to start wonder if they were going a little crazy, but all Trish had to do was look at Alex and Bella moving about the pool to remember she was a prisoner.
Just a different kind of prisoner, apparently. When she got up the courage to quietly request some time in the pool for herself, it was immediately granted—but Jordan got in with her. Others were using the pool as well, and everyone’s nudity made Trish feel a tiny bit better about her own, although nothing could make her feel better about the Viking of a man trailing her every move. Even when Jordan took them all to the bathroom, he stood outside the stalls. Trish supposed she should be grateful he didn’t come into hers with her.
He was constantly touching her. Her hair. Her breasts. Her legs. Her waist. And she was so used to it now that it went beyond not noticing it as much: it was starting to feel a little strange when hewasn’t. The realization had her feeling panicked.
And then Jordan took her, Alex, and Bella back to the main room where the Wolf waited—without allowing them to dress after they’d gotten out of the pool.
6
In front of Trish and Jordan, Alex wrapped his arms around Bella protectively.
It wasn’t fair because it wasn’t as if Alex could reach Trish, but the jealous spikes she’d been feeling all day were becoming larger and larger. Not because she wanted Alex—she didn’t—she just wanted comfort. From someone other than Jordan. It grated on her that the big Viking was her only source of comfort at the moment; he was more than willing to cuddle her, but she shouldn’t want to cuddle him.
The bed had been raised in the center of the room, but Trish’s eyes were immediately drawn to the dais, where the Wolf stood.
“Ah… Pet, Toy, and Jordan’s little girl,” the Wolf said, his eyes glinting as they roved over the three of them. Trish shrank into the only cover she had nearby—Jordan. Whichwasn’tappealing, yet she allowed herself to feel reassured by his presence and by the arm he wrapped around her. After all, he was less scary than the Wolf, whose interest in her was definitely more academic than anything else. “Looking all shiny and new. I do hope you’re hungry.”
As soon as he said the words, Trish’s stomach growled, and Jordan stroked her arm soothingly. She glanced up at him, buthe was focused on the Wolf, who looked at her and then Bella, and gave Jordan a nod. Immediately, Trish tensed.
“Up on the dais,” Jordan said, pushing Alex forward, but Trish could already tell by the way he was holding her against him that she wouldn’t be joining Alex on the dais. Fear curdled in her stomach. As Bella started to follow Alex, Jordan grabbed her arm. “You’re going to the bed, Pet.”
Dropping his arm so he was holding Trish’s hand, Jordan gave Alex a shove when he tried to turn around and reach for Bella. Immediately, several soldiers were there to keep Alex in place while Bella and Trish were led to the bed. Trish’s legs were trembling so hard she could barely walk.
“Who wants to see the girls eat?” the Wolf asked loudly, his voice echoing around the room.
Everyone cheered.
Trish looked up at Jordan, pleading with her eyes, but her heart sank at the hot, hungry look on his face, which she knew had nothing to do with food. Jordan wanted to see it too. “All you have to do for your meal, girls, is eat each other first.”
Once Jordan released them and stepped back, Trish stared at Bella, wringing her hands at her sides. She didn’t have the experience; she didn’t have the courage… She just wanted to crawl under the bed and never come out.
The catcalls and cheering didn’t help, either. Trish hated the audience, and, unlike yesterday, she was having trouble ignoring them. Yesterday they’d been more focused on what was happening with Alex, Bella, and the Wolf, anyway. Now she felt like every eye in the place was on her and Bella.
“It’s okay,” Bella whispered to her, taking Trish’s hand and squeezing. Somehow, she ignored the cheering that one touch ignited. “We can do this.”
Trish nodded, feeling like her spine was so tense it was ready to snap, her heart sinking. She almost hated Bella, inthat moment, for being so willing, even though Trish knew they didn’t have another option. Her eyes flicked to Jordan, hoping he would intervene, but he just smiled, lust evident in his expression.
Trish turned back to Bella and her breathing picked up, as if she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. “I’ve never done this before,” she whispered. “I don’t know how to do this.” A particularly loud catcall made her want to die. “Oh my god… everyone’s watching…” It felt like she was going to melt. The only thing worse than someone knowing she was inexperienced would be everyone knowing just how inexperienced she was. Not that she should care what any of these people thought, but sometimes “should” didn’t mean much. It was human nature to care about some things.
“Just follow my lead,” Bella said, and she leaned forward and kissed Trish on the mouth.
Trish stiffened against those soft lips. Why wasn’t Bella fighting more? Worse, Bella’s lips were moving, trying to open Trish’s, trying to give them all exactly what they wanted—a show of two women together. That’s what they were all cheering for. She didn’t want to hear the cheers get louder, didn’t want to entice their interest. Maybe if it was boring,theywould all get bored, and it would be over.
Unfortunately, she was right, but her hope for the outcome was wrong.
