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“He probably doesn’t see anyone not a soldier as a threat. Or at least, sees them as less of a threat. And it’s obvious you’re not as into women as you are men. Marek’s the same way with me.” Laura’s lips curved in a wry smile as she jerked her head to her left, where Marek was deep in conversation with some of the other soldiers sitting near them.
With her thick, light-brown hair, streaked with red highlights, her abundant curves, long legs, flawless complexion, and warm, hazel eyes, Laura looked like the Moon’s ideal of feminine beauty. Next to her, Trish felt too short, too palely colored, and too skinny. She was pretty sure it would take three or more of her boobs to make up one of Laura’s, but Jordan had barely given Laura a second glance, despite the low-cut, tight dress Laura wore.
Trish told herself his disinterest in the gorgeous Laura didnotmake her feel good.
“So, if I started showing more interest in you, he’d move me away?” Trish asked quietly, turning over the thought in her mind. Not that she wanted to be moved away from Laura, but since she was getting insight into Jordan from someone who seemed to know him, she might as well gather as much knowledge as she could.
Maybe she’d never get to use it, but maybe she would. Maybe it would never matter that she knew the main entrance was located on the northeast side of the Compound, or that Jordan saw civilian males as less of a sexual threat than female soldiers, or that he would move her away out of jealousy, but maybe it would.
If nothing else, she at least had to try. This morning had proven to Trish that she was becoming far too comfortable with the new routines in her life.
When she’d woken up alone, without his overwhelming presence there, and thought about the way she’d reacted earlier, the first time he’d woken her up, Trish had nearly panicked again.
Stockholm Syndrome. That was what it had been called during ancient Earth times. Identifying with her captors and eventually turning to their side.
It didn’t help that everyone was so freaking nice and welcoming to her, either. Like Laura, who acted as though Trish was just like her: just another female citizen—one who maybe didn’t know as much about how things worked, but no big deal.
Laura coughed, although it sounded more like a laugh, and her hazel eyes were amused. “Well, I doubt that.” She leaned in toward Trish to murmur in her ear. “I’ve been with Marek for almost ten years now and, while it’s been a while since Jordan last had a girlfriend, everyone knows he likes to watch… and he especially likes to watch girl-on-girl.”
So many emotions cascaded through Trish, all at once.
Terror—at the idea of being watched, the memory of how everything had happened with Bella. Relief—Jordan had promised Trish wouldn’t have to do any public scenes. Guilt —fuckingguilt—that he’d given up something apparently everyone knew he liked, for her. Curiosity—why had he done that when he hadn’t needed to? Incredulity—did Laura really just call Trish Jordan’sgirlfriend?!
The idea of her having that title seemed ludicrous. Everyone knew how Trish had arrived at the Compound and why she was still there. But Laura hadn’t said it ironically.
More curiosity—what had Jordan’s previous “girlfriends” been like? Had they been there by choice? Fear—what had happened to them after their relationships with Jordan had ended? Had they been released, like the Moon’s captives? Or had something more awful happened to them? Worry—if she couldn’t satisfy Jordan, if he wasn’t getting what he wanted from her, what would he do with her?
Some part of Trish insisted he wouldn’t harm her. She hated that trusting, stupid part of her because she was pretty sure it was leading her down the Stockholm Syndrome Highway, and she was trying to pay more attention to that now.
Trish leaned in toward Laura. “Are any of his um, past girlfriends still around?”
“Nah, Jordan never goes for the soldier type, so they all had to leave the Compound afterward. I’m still friends with Anya. She’s in the Union now.”
The Union. Far away across the ocean, but it sounded like she kept in touch with Laura. So, it meant his exes survived. That was reassuring.
“Did… Were they like me?” It wasn’t the clearest question, but from the look Laura gave Trish, she understood what Trish was really asking.
“No, they were from Earth,” Laura said. “I think a couple of them just wanted Jordan because of his position, but eventually they decided dealing with his demands wasn’t worth it. Anya really liked him, but she said he was ‘too much’ for her in the end.” Laura shrugged. “I think he might be the only person I’ve ever met that needs as much or more control than the Wolf.”
Control was definitely key for Jordan—specifically, control over Trish. He pretty much controlled every aspect of her life right now; was attentive to it, in fact. Even Bella and Alex had more breaks from the Wolf’s attentions than Trish did from Jordan’s. The other two prisoners had moments where they weren’t being watched; where they had privacy in the room they shared. Trish rarely had any time to herself.
This quiet conversation with Laura, while Jordan was sitting on Trish’s other side, was as close to a private conversation she’d had since coming here.
Laura made it sound like Jordan’s ex-lovers had left him. Was that the key? Had he taken Trish because, as his prisoner, she couldn’t leave him? Because being her captor gave him the control over her he craved?
She turned to look at him and studied the profile of his face as he talked to the man who sat next to him. As if Jordan sensed her eyes on him, he turned to meet her gaze, smiled, and curved his arm around her body, pulling her against him and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead before returning to his conversation with his arm still around her. Like she was really his girlfriend or something.
When she looked back at Laura, the other woman smiled approvingly. Like what Jordan had just done had been cute. Which, okay, it would be, if Trish were seated there of her own choice and not because she’d been kidnapped and ripped away from her life as she’d known it.
Sure, there had been plenty of things wrong with her life, like a lack of people who cared or were even a part of it, but it had still been her life. If Trish was going to choose someone to be a part of it, she wouldn’t have chosen someone like Jordan. She wasn’t sure she would choose someone like Laura either, considering Laura thought this whole situation was totally fine.
Maybe they saw Trish’s arrival as okay because she’d been from the Moon initially, but, now that she was Jordan’s woman, they saw her more as one of their own and therefore someone to take care of? Because they definitely did try to take care of her.
As if to prove that point, Trix came by just at that moment with a plate of special desserts for Trish and Laura, made just for them. Trish had never had anyone make any food especially for her. Never.
Jordan fed the sweet fruit tart to Trish with his fingers while the rest of the table covered their smiles, nudged each other, and pretended they weren’t watching. It was behavior Trish had seen in others, when they thought a couple was being cute.
These people were messing with her head.
