only place I’ve ever known,” Darcy settled on.
Tashire was pretending to lotion the smooth lines of her shapely legs but Darcy could tell she was listening. Cecilee was adding paint to Stasia’s nails in a brilliant shade of blue and glanced up. “Were you happy there?”
Happy was subjective. “For the most part. I had a job which is rare.”
Setting the lotion down, Tashire shifted about to sit on the side of her hips. “Women worked?”
She sounded appalled and fascinated at the same time.
“Well, yes. Everyone who can, tries to find work. It’s the only way to afford a place to live and eat. I was lucky enough to have my mother pay for my education and secure me a role at her place of work.”
Others weren’t so fortunate. Jobs were scarce and only those with the highest skill test ratings or strong family connections got them.
“What did you do?” Amia asked in a shy tone.
Darcy hesitated. Then decided they wouldn’t connect it with her plans to escape. “I worked on computer systems. Tech support officially, but I specialized in electronic security and firewall defenses.”
They blinked, faces blank but trying to maintain interest. Darcy barked out a laugh. “Never mind. Anyway, some twenty plus years ago, a virus hit and spread uncontrollably through our world. Mostly it impacted the men there. After it was over our population suffered a shortage.”
“A shortage of men?!” Stasia was shocked. “How is that possible?”
Shrugging, Darcy said, “It’s what happened. Because men were suddenly in demand, women had to share them.”
“Ahhhh,” they said in unison.
Darcy flushed. Of course, women in a harem would understand sharing men.
“Did you have a man you shared and left behind? Is that why you are reluctant to accept Nikol as your master?”
Cecilee was sharp and had to suspect Darcy wasn’t resigned to her fate. She did cringe at the term master.
“I had a boyfriend briefly.” Seeing their confused looks, she added, “I had a man, not a master. It wasn’t exclusive and he had another girlfriend.”
What a waste of time that had been. Darcy tried not to think of her mistake with Kevin. Thinking she could make him want to be with her exclusively had been the biggest lie she told herself. He damn sure made it clear he wasn’t interested in children unless Darcy paid the going rate for a man’s sperm at five thousand dollars.
“Earth doesn’t sound pleasant. You are better off here,” Amia declared while tugging on her ponytail.
Darcy’s laugh was derisive. “Not exactly. I did leave in hopes of finding someone I could spend my life with. Raise a family.”
They grew quiet. Stasia was tentative as she asked, “Maybe you could raise a family here. We would love to help care for a little one.”
Darcy didn’t want to offend them but nothing about living in a harem and being a slave screamed family values to her. “Are we allowed to see anything beyond this suite? The rooms are nice and the garden is absolutely amazing. But I’d love to see beyond those high walls out here though. Or even a tour of this building.”
Then she could get a better idea of what she was working with and figure out how to get on the next ship off this backward world.
“It would require Nikol’s permission,” Tashire said, getting to her feet. “A guard is by our sides at all times if we do leave for something. We are safer her. To leave is to tempt fate.”
Whelp, guess she thought she’d put Darcy in her place. Except what Tashire didn’t realize was that Darcy didn’t have a place. She made her own way.
Amia and Stasia got up and left too. Cecilee waited until it was just the two of them. “Don’t mind, Tashire. Her experience with the males here has not been the most positive but things are much better now that we have Nikol.”
Right. They had Nikol. And that burned more than Cecilee would ever know.
Chapter 11
Nikol slouched against the opened glass entryway leading into the garden as he coldly assessed the Earth woman. Currently, she was laughing at something said by one of the other tutanis, her face tipped up to enjoy the mid-day sun. There had been no such laughter or smiles when he’d arrived home earlier in the week. Only stilted silences and blatant defiance. His cock hardened in remembrance.
Sparring with Dain at night left him fatigued, but his appetite for this new tutanis continued to grow. At the beginning of his enforced grounding from