he didn’t feel as he kept to her side while they weaved together through the crowd, following their half-naked guide. For her, he’d stay calm. For her he’d keep to his plan and slowly infiltrate the commune until the whole system was down. And he’d bring Isaiah and Sarah back home to her in the process.
It wouldn’t be easy. It was a town full of the detestable ones, the outcasts of society, those whose inclinations ran towards perversions that others in the territory frowned upon. Maybe Tiberius, with his dominating ways and lust for control would have been slated as one of those outcast members had he ever acted upon his wants instead of hiding behind numbing self-denial and military aloofness. But the difference was, he didn’t sexually crave children or want to sell them off to others, which was the sticking point in his craw—not the rampant nudity or the obvious kinks and fetishes which abounded. Nothing prepared him for seeing these children in captivity. Nothing at all. He usually didn’t care what people did for pleasure as long as it didn’t bother or affect him. But perversions that involved the bondage, control and rape of minors made him want to burn the whole commune down, having no remorse.
His justice for this, when it came, would be swift and sure and mighty. These powerful untouchable ones wouldn’t know what hit them.
Their guide stopped in front of a home set apart from the others. The yard was filled with gardens and there was a small porch that wrapped around the outside of the house. It was quaint and private, but he didn’t trust anything about it. Of course, Tiberius wasn’t a man who trusted much in life.
“This will be yours during your stay.” The woman bowed again. “I hope you are pleased, Lady of the Pure?”
She asked Sophie, but ignored Tiberius. Sophie looked to him, and he grunted, answering for her.
“It’s fine. When can we see your leader?”
The guide gave him a beatific smile. “When you are rested and purged from your long journey, the Most Pure will grant you an audience. Now please, enter and enjoy yourselves with the amenities given as our special guests.”
The woman left. They were alone.
The house they were provided was one of the larger ones, denoting status. Tib couldn’t give a fuck, but for Sophie’s sake, he kept silent. She stayed still only a moment before her eyes and fingers wandered away from his. He missed her clenching touch, even if it had only been because she was terrified. He wanted her back in his embrace, so he did what he did best: he went still and silent, aloof and cold.
They walked inside quietly, and Tib watched her for a breakdown. Sophie gave him a watery smile, but she kept her back straight. He nodded at her strength. Like calm waters she soothed him, but that wasn’t enough for right now. He had to prove himself, too. He went around, his training in force, checking each window, door, the floorboards for traps of any kind. He found nothing incriminating. Tib let her wander the new surroundings, just after he ascertained it was clear of any major danger.
Inside the house, on the left side of the main room was a bedroom with a king sized, four-poster bed set in an alcove, draped with masses of pillows and a thick comforter. Curtains could shut out the rest of the home from the bedroom, which gave the bedroom and the furniture inside a warm and decadent look. He wished he were in a better position to take advantage of the amenities, but the time was not now, maybe not ever.
They stood in the main room. There was a large divan, made for two, which sat on top of a Persian rug, its back resting up against the back wall. Floor to ceiling windows spread up the back wall, while up on the ceiling were skylights covering most of the roof. The kitchen was galley-sized, with stainless steel appliances and potted plants resting on the high windowsill. A bathroom with a full-size soaking tub and a toilet sat tucked in the back corner. There was even a small fireplace.
Yes, luxury. Prestige. Goddamn payoff, is what it was.
He barely looked around, but Sophie did. She examined each detail, running her hands along the countertops and up the walls. Her eyes turned to him, and then she lifted her shoulders in defeat.
Quickly, Tiberius bolted the door behind them and he moved, taking her slight form to his larger one. His body cradled her, making it look like he was embracing her in a lover’s lock. Really, though, he wanted the privacy to speak with her without any monitoring being done. She looked up at him, wide amber-brown eyes settling over his face with expectation.
“I don’t know if we’re being watched or listened to. I don’t think we are, but just for safekeeping, all vitally pertinent conversation must be done like this,” he whispered in her ear, posting a quick kiss to the skin of her throat.
She bowed her head, nodding. Her face nestled into his chest, sinking her fingers into the muscles of his back. She stayed there, her arms about him. He heard her begin to cry softly. Tib gathered her closer, breathing in her scent of sweetly baked things and the ripe tartness of hearth and home. She felt frail in his grasp, ready to break.
“Oh, darling,” he said, his mouth over her earlobe, reassuring her with soft kisses down the column of her neck. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Her voice quivered. “Tiberius… I’m so afraid.”
“I know, darling. But we’ll see it through.”
“What if I can’t rescue my babies from these monsters? What if they’re destroyed by them?”
He wondered the same thing. He couldn’t lie.
He breathed her in. “Then we’ll help them get through.”
She looked up at him, her eyes wet. “You didn’t sign up for any of this terrible mess. I’m so sorry.”
She made it a question, roughly unanswered. His eyes burned into her, and he lightly kissed her sweet, pouty lips.
“I’m not going anywhere, Sophie.”
His voice sounded husky and full of promise. Well, he’d just proclaimed it to her, his intention to keep her. Her eyes sparkled with desire, with trust, with hope. But instead of responding, she lowered her head back down to his chest, inhaling like she wanted to ingest his scent, as well. Her fingers smoothed over his pectorals, traced his nipples through his shirt. He set out a low groan and shifted into her, letting her know how her touch made him want her.
“This place,” she said quietly, “is monstrous. Can we save them? Can we get out alive?”
“Yes.”
He had to convince her. Her fear would leak back to them, and they would use it against her. Sophie was vulnerable, but he didn’t see how he could fix it. In this game, these commune leaders held all the cards.
Most Pure. What the fuck was that, anyway? Tiberius held his temper. For now, his arms fastened around the woman he wanted beyond anything.
He had to have her, to make her his. What a fucking terrible time and place for his dick to respond to her, but Tib’s cock was reacting, and responding more with each breathy sigh she gave, and each shift of her body against his.
“Darling,” he said, his voice rough. “You need to rest.”
“What I need is to be held, sir.”
He gritted his teeth in desire. He needed release. Some of it stemmed from the frustration of not being able to act when he saw the fuckery in the town,
