I inhaled sharply as Dice slammed into me, filling me to the point where I could almost feel his cock in my throat.

Dice was new to the Athens chapter, he’d transferred here from Vegas—hence his name—so he could be closer to his mother who was very sick and lived not too far away. I wasn’t sure how long he would be here, but I was making the most of his company while he was around.

The man knew all the right buttons to push to set my body on fire, and right now I felt like he’d lit a match inside me and I was about to explode.

He braced his body above me, my legs curled tightly around his waist, and my hands threaded through his long blond hair that hung down around his shoulders.

“Shit!” I cried out as he pushed with another powerful thrust, enough to make my body bow off the bed and throw my head back. He took advantage of my exposed neck, ducking his head and taking the sensitive skin in between his teeth.

I moaned loudly. The sharp sting of his teeth and the increasing speed at which he was pounding his cock inside me came together detonating my orgasm.

“Yes, God, yes!” I groaned, my body shuddering and quaking beneath him.

“So. Fucking. Good.” He grunted as he slammed away inside me. “Like a damn vise,” he hissed, and with one last forceful thrust, his body shook while he pressed himself deep inside my pussy, holding there, stretching me to my max and almost setting me off again.

I held on tightly, both our bodies covered in sweat after what was a heavy and hard session. I knew I’d possibly have bruises on my ass tomorrow from his fingertips and sore muscles from the way he had twisted and contorted my body for his pleasure, but holy hell it felt amazing.

“Shit, baby girl.” Dice laughed as he pulled back, hovering over me with a gorgeous smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at the cute nicknames he used for all the woman around the club—club girls and old ladies alike. He was a real charmer and had the pretty boy smile, the bad boy tattoos, along with his deep husky voice which was enough to make any woman melt on the spot.

He was also sweet, respectable and not a total asshole. I guess that was why he fitted in so well here. Sure, some bikers could be obnoxious, misogynistic douchebags—I’d had to screw my fair share of them when friendly clubs and other chapters were in town. But for the most part, the Brothers by Blood treated their women well, or at least, they treated them how they deserved to be treated.

There were a few girls here who were out to be bitches and start drama, and in turn, the boys tended to stay the hell away from them unless they were really desperate for a piece of something.

Dice leaned over and pecked me on the lips, before pulling out of me and climbing off the bed. I watched as he snatched off the condom, tying it and tossing it to the waste basket, then in one fluid movement he pulled on his jeans, no briefs, totally commando, before dragging his cut on over his naked shoulders and grabbed his shirt up in his hand.

I propped myself up on my elbows as he headed for the door.

He turned and looked over his shoulder, flashing me a model-worthy smile. “Think I might really like it here,” he said with a dramatic wink, making me giggle and shake my head.

“Welcome to the club,” I replied, wiggling my eyebrows.

His laughter was deep and throaty as he pulled open my door and headed out into the hall. “One hell of a welcome, sweetheart,” I heard him say as he pulled the door shut behind him and I collapsed back onto the bed, inhaling deeply but unable to stop from smiling.

I loved that feeling you got after having great sex. It was euphoric and addictive, and I just wanted more and more of it.

Growing up in the Colony, as we got older, we were taught about the ways in which a woman was meant to please her husband. We were to keep the house orderly, we feed them when they were hungry, and we provided what the elders made seem like just another one of those services—our bodies for them to use as they pleased.

The catch?

We should never enjoy it. It was for them to gain pleasure from, not for us. If we were taking pleasure from sex, then we were being selfish as it should be preserved only for our men.

I shook my head as I climbed off the bed, a shudder running up my spine as I headed for the bathroom. I closed the door and turned on the shower, waiting impatiently for it to heat up so I could wash the sweat off my body and get clean, knowing I didn’t have long until the club meeting Optimus had demanded we all attend.

My muscles ached in the most delicious way as I slipped under the hot water, letting out a satisfied sigh as it trickled down over the curves of my body. I’d gone from a trapped young girl who was afraid to ever touch my own body in fear that I might like it, to a strong young woman who felt empowered and beautiful knowing I owned my own sexuality.

It had taken me a long time to reach this point though, and I’d had to go through hell to get here.

 

“You look so pretty, Sapphire,” my little sister Emerald gushed as she sat on the floor of my bedroom, staring up at me with wide eyes. The white wedding dress I wore had long lace sleeves with an elastic band that hooked over my middle finger. It cinched just slightly at the waist and then flowed outward with fluffy tulle and a lace overlay. “I hope I look as beautiful as you on my wedding day.”

I was the eldest of my father’s daughters, the first to be given away.

It was customary for this to happen anywhere between the age of sixteen and eighteen, but I honestly hadn’t expected it so soon. I thought I’d have more time, and now, my time was up.

Tomorrow was my wedding day.

The man in question was, a forty-two year old man who already had five wives and thirteen children—his eldest the same age as me.

My stomach churned. His daughter and I, we were friends, we grew up together, and now I was to be her father’s sixth wife?

This man was almost the same age as my own father.

Young women were always given to older men, they were meant to take over our father’s job of turning us into a respectful lady. You belonged to your father until you belonged to your husband.

In my case, had I been offered into the life of a man my age. A man who I could see myself growing old with, who looked at me as if I was important and not just another tick on his sheet to get him through the pearly gates. Maybe I would have found some kind of escape from the hell I endured under my father’s roof.

With that thought, I reached up and lightly touched my cheek, the area still tender and slowly beginning to yellow as the bruise faded. It matched the ones my father had given me hours after he hit me across the face.

Those were for disobeying him and making him look like a fool to the progression.

The Colony did not believe in makeup on any normal day, only for days like weddings where we were expected to look our most beautiful for our husbands. For the last week, I’d worn my bruises as a walking advertisement for what happened when we argued with our elders’ decisions.

“You still look pretty,” Emerald whispered, her eyes darting to the door where I knew our mothers and women from the Colony were in the large kitchen, beginning to prepare a feast for the five marriages that were to happen the following day. “I just can’t believe you’re getting married.”

I didn’t let the words fall from my lips. Scared because if I said them out loud, someone would most definitely hear them and try to stop me.

Because there would only be one of two things happening tomorrow.

I would be far away from this place, hiding and making plans for a new life.

Or…

I would be dead.

There was no way I was getting married to that man, and if it meant going to hell, then so be it.

 

I palmed my chest, rubbing away the ache I felt inside.

I guess you could say I was one of the lucky ones.

My grandmother was seen as the Colony crazy lady. An example of how the world outside tainted the soul, given that she wasn’t born and raised inside those walls and had stories of the outside. The only reason she was there was because my father was her only living relative and only child. If she didn’t join, she would have been alone, and she would have missed out on the lives of all her grandchildren.

She sacrificed her sanity to be with us.

My grandmother taught me about history and fueled my love of science. When she died, I took whatever I could get my hands on before the elders destroyed it, which mostly consisted of hidden books, newspapers and her own personal diary, making sure that I held onto them and didn’t let my father know I had them.

If he’d known, he would have burned them, destroyed them, and then punished me for thinking differently than the way in which we’d been taught.

With my grandmother passing away a few months before the letter came announcing my engagement, there was nothing left for me at the Colony other than my brothers and sisters, who I knew were not ready to believe what I had to say.

So I ran.

I left that world behind, knowing I might never see my brothers and sisters again. And if I made it out, I would be classed as dead to them, cast out never to speak with my family again.

It was dangerous and scary, but I knew if I didn’t do it that my soul would slowly be suffocated, and those people inside the Colony would try to break me down and drown me in their teachings until I had no fire left inside and succumbed.

So I fought my way out.

I fought for this life I had now, one where I was able to make my own choices and had people behind me who would help me stand when I felt weak.

This was my family now, and I couldn’t wait to show Emerald just how beautiful the world could be when you were free.