TEN

 

 

The men were whispering about her, Shea was aware of it. She just hadn’t figured out if their whispers were in support of her or if they were judging her. She’d noticed Kipling on her tail a few times that day and Lev too, and couldn’t work out why they’d loiter in the shadows watching her rather than just doing their jobs or approaching her.

It could be that the men were afraid of her after what they’d witnessed in the mess. Raid had taken his fury out on her last night and by their reckoning she’d gotten away with angering him in a way none of them ever would.

To some degree, the men were right, she had used a tool that was at her disposal and not theirs. If the next time he got upset, she wasn’t the one facing his wrath, they may fear what Raid would do to them.

When Shea went to put the evening report on Raid’s desk, he was in his office with two other guys. He took the report without looking at her and carried on his conversation like she didn’t exist.

Shea wasn’t offended by the way he treated her in front of others. If anything, it tickled her. Their morning coffee was a secret they shared. Everyone knew she’d been tasked with delivering the morning report. Maybe her comrades thought things were physical between them, maybe not. No one knew anything for sure, it was all whispers and guesses. The only ones who knew the truth were her and Raid, and even she felt a little in the dark.

Shea couldn’t have known that her excitement about their burgeoning possibly-maybe relationship would die fast that night, but it did.

She’d just had her shower and was getting ready for dinner when it happened. There was a knock on her bedroom door, something she hadn’t heard since Diego had left the compound. It was still too early for her friend to be back. So, she went over and opened the door expecting Raid, maybe, at a push, Kipling or Lev. Instead, it was Curley from the kitchen and he was holding a tray of food.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Your dinner,” he said, thrusting it at her, forcing her to take it. “While Diego’s not in town, you eat here.”

“Says who?”

“The Laird,” he said and turned to amble away.

For half a beat, Shea considered going straight to Raid’s place, then she remembered what the guys had said about Raid being around at chow time when Diego wasn’t. The Laird would be in the mess, so there was no point in her storming to his home. Tempted as she was to go and throw the tray in his face, she backed into her room and slammed it onto the dresser instead.

Being insubordinate in front of the men would force Raid to punish her. If he didn’t, it could cause trouble in the ranks. She wouldn’t do that, she couldn’t. The inmates were the dangerous ones and the employees called themselves comrades for a reason. Aggravated though she was, she didn’t want them turning against Raid and they might if they sensed she was his weakness.

Shea didn’t eat the food Curley had delivered. Lying on her bed, fuming, she hoped her Laird would come to her tonight. If he asked her to suck his dick, she’d tell him exactly what he could do with it.

Bastard.

The longer she lay there, the more she came to terms with the truth she’d told Raid: this place was growing on her. Maybe not the place, she still didn’t understand the need for a secret prison, but the people were coming to mean something to her.

She didn’t want Diego, Kipling, Lev, or even Curley, to be exposed and thrown in jail cells of their own. They were good men; she couldn’t see a single bad seed, and understood Diego when he said picking the right employees was vital. They had to get the right people, hence why everyone went through a rigorous recruiting process. Everyone except her.

And Raid. He might be the most infuriating man she’d ever met. Despite his volatile moods and overbearing nature, it was clear that he was proud of this place. His father had run it before him, maybe his grandfather before that, she didn’t know for sure.

Raid owned the building, the land, everything, and he took care of those who were there. No one went hungry; no one froze in the forest at night. Shea didn’t want to be the cause of any kind of uprising that could bring the whole operation crashing down.

Keeping the peace was important. Funny, it wasn’t so long ago she’d have only thought that about her own self-preservation. If anarchy broke out, she’d be the first to lose her protection. Now she found herself caring about how this place would carry on surviving after she was gone.

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was a sense of loss. Returning to civilization was a smart goal, yet she could barely remember what was out there in the real world. The men here had made her part of their family and she was still planning to turn her back on them at the first chance… or was she?

 

 

The next morning, Shea went to Raid’s place, as she was required to go. Striding onto the balcony, she threw the reports onto the table without ceremony. Her frustration hadn’t cooled. Whatever her feelings about the compound and the other employees, she was still pissed at him for having her consigned to her room like a naughty school girl when she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Anything interesting?” he asked in his usual flat tone.

If anything, he was more distracted this morning. He was poring over other papers that were laid out on the glass table. The presence of the other paperwork may be why he was preoccupied, but his lack of notice only heated her infuriation.

Shea didn’t want to be ignored, and wouldn’t just let her displeasure slide. “Interesting?” she asked. “You’re going to ask me that like nothing happened last night?”

Raid didn’t acknowledge her tone much less react to it. “I don’t know what happened last night,” he said, picking up the documents she’d thrown down. “I haven’t read the reports yet.”

Her Laird didn’t need to read words on paper to know why she was upset, or he shouldn’t. “You know what you did,” she said, dropping onto the couch at his side, pinning her glare on his profile. “Why not just send me back to my cell if you want to keep me shut in?”

He cast a half glance her way. “If that’s what you’d prefer.”

“Raid—”

“I said it,” he said, finally giving her his attention when he twisted to put his hand on the back of the couch behind her. “When I say it out loud, it happens. It’s not a suggestion or an offer, it’s the law.”

At least he wasn’t playing dumb any more. “The law,” she said, folding her arms.

There was no apology or retraction, he was just Raid, arrogant, at ease, Raid. “Yes,” he said. “Eating in your room won’t be the only change. From now on, you’ll be showering here in the morning.”

Her mouth fell open. He went back to his papers like he hadn’t just cracked the whip and stunned her. Before he could pick up his pen, she grabbed his forearm and pulled him back around. She shouldn’t even be touching him with such propriety, but couldn’t bring herself to care about that, though he obviously did because his focus was on her hand clinging to his arm.

“Why? Why do I have to—”

“Because there are stalls in the communal bathroom,” he said almost like that was explanation enough, although he did continue. “With flimsy curtains that offer no protection.” The measured breath he took seemed to be his attempt to hold onto his temper. “You’re here in the morning anyway, no one has to know.”

Simple from his perspective; not from hers. “Except everyone will notice I’m never in the communal shower room and I’ll go into work every morning smelling like your soap.” Trying again to return to his work, he growled aloud when she tugged him back. The sound betrayed how his patience was wearing thin. His taut mood didn’t deter her. “Or is that what you want? You’re trying to put some kind of mark on me—”

“My mark’s already on you, Poppet. You smell like company soap every day. I am the company,” he said. “Diego will bring back whatever fancy shit you asked for. Until then, I’m sure there’s company soap in my bathroom.”

Shea tsked, not buying it. “You don’t smell like company soap,” she said, all too aware of his amazing scent. Maybe that was why she was so drawn to him over the other men who all had the same generic smell. The spark of attraction between them had never been easy to ignore. It had grown with every second they’d spent together. Sitting there with his body heat beneath her hands, Shea wanted to hold onto him for longer, even if he was frowning. “You can’t do this to me, Raid… They’re already talking about us.”

Impatience became instant anger. His whole body grew rigid. “Who? Who’s talking?”

His focus was in the wrong place. Specific names didn’t matter, he couldn’t punish people for speculating when they’d invited it. Although, she could only say they had if they were really moving toward being intimate. If they weren’t, then the rumors could be quashed by them staying away from each other. The remedy really was that simple.

If they didn’t keep their distance, and did start… something, then they couldn’t blame the others for gossiping about it when there was little else of interest going on that was worth talking about. Women might be more notorious as scandalmongers, but men weren’t averse to spreading interesting news as it came their way.

“It doesn’t matter who,” she said, unaccustomed to the unwelcome warmth in her eyes that she didn’t want to identify as tears or distress. Shea prided herself on being strong, no matter what life threw at her. Except, these days, some of her thoughts weren’t making it easy to keep moving forward without doubts. “I don’t know if they’re afraid of me or…”

“Or what?”

Being weak or pathetic on her own time was one thing, but she wouldn’t let him see her have a meltdown. “Nothing,” she said and tried to turn away. Her Laird grabbed her and yanked her back to him, closer than she had been before. Raid didn’t have to ask her to keep talking, she knew he wanted her to share her thoughts, so she did. “Does being with you open the door to them being with me?” His eyes flared. “What will happen when you get tired of me? I know I’m a novelty here on the compound. A novelty for you… Are you even attracted to me? Do you see me or am I just a woman?”

Being intimate with Raid was something she wanted; Shea was attracted to the man. Except, she had no idea how long he’d been out here alone and it did seem only fair that as the man in charge, he should have first shot at the only woman around. After he was done with her, she had no idea what the future would hold. Already it felt like the others were treating her differently and that was just after a couple of days of reporting straight to Raid.

He let her go and tried to ease away. “You misunderstand what I’m asking you,” he said.

While he might think she was getting ideas about pinning him down to a commitment that wasn’t where her reservations were coming from. Shea was trying to make him see that even after he’d forgotten about her and returned to his life as it had been before, she’d still have to work with the others and look them in the eye.

If Raid was just looking out for her, it would be fine, she’d be able to tell her colleagues that when they began to question her. But, for her, this wasn’t that. She needed him to open his eyes and be man enough to admit his motivation for altering the rules.

“No, I don’t,” she said. “You want me to shower here because it’s safe. You’re not asking me to move in or to be with you. You’re trying to do Diego’s job while he’s not here. Except… I never felt about Diego the way I feel about you and that’s not making this easy on either of us.”

“Shea—”

“I want to shower here,” she admitted, figuring someone had to be blunt. “I want to see where you sleep. I want to get undressed there. I want to be exposed for you… I want to belong to you… It’s insane. I want to invite you to watch. I want your eyes on me, your hands—”

“She,” he said, but didn’t seem to have anything to follow it up.

“Raid,” she breathed out and slid a hand down his torso to find that his dick was solid in his pants.

As soon as her fingertips made contact, she exhaled again and her head fell back as her mind filled with ideas of what she might do if she could let herself belong to this man all the way. It was some fantasy to conjure and one she didn’t want to chase away.

Slipping off the couch, she knelt between his feet and pushed him back to unfasten his pants. “Shea,” he said with a tone of warning.

Putting her fingertips to his lips, she shook her head. “Don’t ruin this for me, Raid. Let me just have this… then you can have whatever you want. I’ll comply. I’ll follow all your orders.”

Though he was still tense, he rested against the back of the couch, and stopped objecting. Shea pushed up his shirt and kissed the muscles of his stomach before she let her lips trail down to the member she’d already pleasured once.

More accustomed to his length and his girth, she rose on her knees to take him into her mouth. This time was slower, more relaxed. Although his hand rested on the back of her head as she bobbed up and down, he didn’t pressure her, not until the very end when he took her hair in his fists and forced himself deep into her. Shea guessed it was what he liked to do as he came to climax.

When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, sipped his coffee, and left without him having to give her the command. Getting to know the Laird wasn’t going the way she’d thought it would while making her plan to obtain information, but Shea couldn’t claim she didn’t like this new direction.