It was the wicked kink in her back and the rich smell of food that roused Genevieve the next morning. Room service normally woke her when they finished setting up her breakfast. So she wriggled around in her half-conscious state to lay on her other side and get in a few more moments of sleep ... and nearly fell off the short, hard bank of sofa. She caught herself just in time with a quickly placed hand and foot, just saving herself from landing face-first on the ground.

She bolted upright, instantly pissed and shocked that it hadn’t all been a nightmare as she’d hoped yesterday. No, everything she saw before her confirmed that. From the tiny sitting area with its hard, square gray furniture to the corner that was supposed to be a kitchen where Colin now stood.

He glanced her way. “Good morning.”

She ignored him, still too busy trying to process what was going on. Yesterday, after she’d been treated so outrageously, he’d also tried to make her feel welcome with some chatter during the long tedious walk to his tiny white living module. But she could remember nothing of what he’d said as most of her energy had been taken up with the shock of being sold like chattel.

He’d given her a tour of his home last night. Though in this case, she used the terms “tour” and “home” loosely because the thing consisted of two spaces total: a bedroom and a living area. She’d cringed at having to endure such conditions. It was no better than a cell, and a far cry from the standards she was used to. But her only other choice would have been to sleep outside on the red dirt in the bright, unceasing sunlight. The family home she’d grown up in was a fluid design of multiple levels of open space with stunning marble floors, rich drapes framing expansive windows, and intricate art work that fused even the most functional of items with beauty. Did humans even know what beauty was? She’d seen nothing of it so far, and it scared her to get her first glimpse of their stark exitance. She’d heard tales of how they lived, but this was far worse than she’d ever imagined.

Humans had no magical ability to manipulate their physical world as the Afrit did, so she supposed it made sense that they had to huddle beneath whatever crude dwellings they could fabricate with their hands. The structure conveyed far more than that, however. Outer surroundings were a reflection not only of a being’s level of power, but also of their inner state of the mind and soul. And what she’d seen so far was not a positive reflection of this human’s precious humanity ... whatever that was. She just knew it was something most Jinn held in contempt.

“How did you sleep?” he asked, trying to engage her again.

She frowned and glanced at him, lifting a hand to rub at a knot that had formed in the base of her neck. “Not well at all. You’re going to have to get me a bed.” Not wanting to appear weak, she rose from the couch and faced him.

He pulled a steaming container from a unit in the wall, then went to sit at the small round table where he picked up a fork. “We already have a bed. I told you last night that you can sleep there. I won’t touch you, as I already promised.” He took a bite of his food.

She frowned at his comment. Not this again.

“I’m exhausted. It’s time for bed,” Colin had said last night once there was nothing left to show her.

“Bed? But it’s still day.”

“The days last seventy-two hours here. We stick to our natural circadian rhythms while on missions,” he said. As if to prove his point, the strange round windows suddenly spiraled shut as artificial lights came on. “I’m going to turn in. You should, too.”

For Genevieve, that brought a whole new category of worries. Normally, she slept in the nude. But she had no garments other than the rough ones she had on. And the other important question, in addition to that one, was where would she sleep? This tiny home, if it could be called that, contained exactly one bedroom and one bed.

“Where am I to sleep?” She’d eyed the couch when she saw it earlier and could tell even without touching it that the thing was as hard as marble. not at all conducive for sleeping. She longed for her soft bed at home, and the way it soothed her to sleep with the comforting magic that had been woven into it.

He’d looked startled at her question, and she’d realized that he hadn’t considered it yet. “The only real place for you to sleep is in my bed.”

Indignation had infused her spine. Clearly the oaf thought he would take advantage of her this evening. “In bed with you?” The words rolled off her lips in a sneer.

He frowned. “Look, I wasn’t planning on acquiring a bride today—”

“You mean a slave?”

“—but since there weren’t any other bidders,” he continued slowly. “I think you should just be grateful I took you on. Otherwise, you’d be back on that ship with that sleazy trader. Who, no doubt, would be taking you somewhere out of the network where you could easily be sold into slavery.”

“It’s only right that I have my own bed,” she said, anger flowing through her. “Courtesy demands it. I’m a woman, and I’m also your guest. You’ll have to sleep somewhere else.”

He clenched his jaw, making the muscle at the corner twitch. And somehow his eyes became even more piercing. “There’s nowhere else to sleep. Just the sofa and the floor.”

“Take the floor then. There’s plenty of room for you there.”

“No,” he said simply.

Genevieve had felt her fury spike even more. “Yes!”

Instead of answering, he’d vanished into the bedroom. She’d stormed after him, ready to physically shove him out if she had to. But she’d stopped in her tracks just on the other side of the doorway. He’d unzipped his coveralls and removed the shirt beneath revealing a firm chest and sleek abdominals that tapered downward. His shoulders were powerfully round and arms corded with muscle. His was a body used to physical labor, so much different from Jinn men. And she found that the sight of it stirred a new emotion inside her, one much less hostile. She ripped her eyes away and tried to look anywhere but directly at him.

“Get out!” she said.

He dropped his coveralls to the floor in answer. Him standing there with nothing but his underwear on made her blush like a maiden, but it helped her to concentrate more on her fury. She moved to push him out of the room. Placing her hands firmly on his chest, she shoved and then shoved again with all her might, trying to ignore how the smooth skin and ridges of muscle felt beneath her palms. He didn’t even sway from the pressure. She leaned in with all her weight, shoving her feet against the floor and even emitting a small grunt at one point, but she couldn’t move him. He simply would not budge. And then she’d heard a rumbling sound and notice the way his chest had quivered beneath her hands.

She glanced up to see amusement in his green eyes. The man was laughing at her! Enraged even further, she began pummeling him with her fists. But she ceased after only a few seconds because doing so hurt her hands, and she’d backed away panting.

He sighed as he looked down at her. “Genevieve, I just spent a good deal of my earnings on you, and I worked hard all day. I need my sleep. It’s only one night. We can put some pillows in between us if that will make you feel better. And tomorrow, we’ll figure something else out.”

Her fury peaked and spent, she could feel weariness settle upon her as her panting slowed. She was exhausted as well. So, she’d glared at him, grabbed the silver blanket off his bed, and left the room without a word to curl up on the couch (which was indeed as hard as she’d surmised). There she’d shut her eyes and tried to wish it all away. Those damn Mahrid! They would pay for what they’d done. But, lacking powers of her own, she’d had no choice.

The man was out of his mind if he thought he could lay in the same bed with someone of her standing. Sure, it was a standing she would soon be losing, but as of now, it was still hers.

“That is utterly impossible, and I refuse to discuss it again,” she said in clipped tones.

Her mother had warned her of human lust and how the men of Earth were highly attracted to Jinn women. If she was in the same bed with him, he would definitely try something. Other than kissing, she didn’t have first-hand knowledge what he might try because she’d been a bit of an outcast in her dimension so far, but she had some knowledge of relations between men and women.

She moved to the table and sat in one of the simple white chairs across from the odious man. It was then as she saw his food that she realized what the uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensation in her stomach was, hunger. “Where’s my breakfast?”

“If you want breakfast, you’re going to have to make it yourself. I need to get to work.” He fixed her with his calm green eyes, which reminded her of the many landscape paintings back home that she favored. They were the same soothing green as the moss that covered river rocks. The kind of green that could intensify with light or emotion, but then cool as if submerged beneath water. She’d seen those things in real life on occasion. But for the most part, Jinn favored environments embellished with ornate art and architecture rather than the crudeness of nature.

Though this human was mild-mannered and patient, there was something about him that sent nervous tingles running through her body every time he looked at her. She shook off the feeling, huffed, and set her shoulders back. “Weren’t you listening? I wasn’t lying when I said that I don’t do menial labor.”

The fact was, even if she wanted to, she didn’t know how. Food had always been taken care of by the servants, that was the most she knew about the matter. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. She wondered when Itembe and Chin-Sun would finally realize that they’d somehow gotten her vacation mixed with someone else’s. Though she couldn’t imagine whose it could possibly be. Who in their right mind would knowingly ask for such horrible circumstances? She wished they would hurry up and retrieve her. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take this. But as time continued to tick by, worry gnawed at the lining of her stomach. They couldn’t have done this on purpose. Could they? But if they had, the questions was why?

Colin continued to eat his breakfast, the corner of his jaw flexing with every bite, his forehead smooth and unconcerned. He looked at her and blinked but didn’t respond.

Was the man slow? “I’m hungry. I need food.” She said again, enunciating each word clearly.

“I heard you the first time. If you had said please, I might have gotten it for you. But like I said, you’re going to have to get it yourself. I have to get to work. Not like it’s hard, anyone can push a button.”

Appalled, she glanced at the various smooth control panels in the kitchen. She didn’t even know which one to use much less how to make it work. Besides, she was his—ugh—property now, which meant it was his job to take care of her. How could he possibly shirk his duty? Then another shocking and awful thought crossed her mind. “You bought me just so you could starve me to death?”

“Of course not. I wasn’t planning to bid at all.” He sighed and drank the last of what smelled like coffee. “Look, if we’re going to get along, you have to understand that you’re going to be pulling your own weight around here. I don’t mind that you don’t have any skills yet. But I do expect you to work on acquiring some.”

He rose and deposited his dirty cup and plate on the counter with the others there, then went to the door, which slid soundlessly back into the wall at his approach, allowing a warm breeze to sweep in. “I’ll be back this afternoon and we can go over what kind of partnership we’re going to have. You were tired last night, so I didn’t want to get into it then. But the sooner we work that out, the better.” And then, without a backward glance, he was gone.

Genevieve’s mouth dropped open and she sat there staring for several moments. He’d just left her here without any regard whatsoever! What in Gehenna was she supposed to do alone on a strange planet all day? And on top of that, how was she supposed to feed herself?

“Chin-Sun! Itembe!” she stood and shouted, rage making her feel uncomfortably hot. “You’d better fix this right now!” She folded her arms and waited for them to appear, but nothing happened. Not even one tiny ripple of air shimmered to indicate that they’d heard her. If they thought they could get away with this, they were sadly mistaken.

“I mean it! This isn’t what I paid for, and you know it.” And then, though she knew it was useless, she squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her fists, and tried to will herself back to the island. But the stillness of space remained unaffected. She stomped her foot in frustration, sending tingles of pain up her shin. But she didn’t give up, she continued to call out to them, determined to put this nightmare to an end. They would hear her, or they would be sorry!

*****

THREE HOURS LATER, she found herself laying on the couch bored out of her mind. Her throat was raw from shouting, and her stomach now twisted painfully with hunger. She’d searched for something to eat, but that had led nowhere. Not one single compartment held anything resembling food, just dishes and such.

She’d stepped outside at one point. But it had taken no more than a quick glance at her surroundings to see that there was nowhere to go. In the distance, off to the right, was the small shamble of a town they’d come from. Other than that, there was nothing. A wide-open expanse of earth stretched in all directions, its rich orange and red colors were suffused with an unreal clarity from the light of the double suns overhead, providing a striking contrast with the light-blue sky. Only a few ragged plants dotted the landscape here and there. They were bunched in scraggly clusters as if it was necessary to stay in groups in order to survive.

She had no food, no transportation, and no way to contact anyone else she knew. Right now, she had no doubt that whoever had gotten her vacation was enjoying a level of pampering she herself had only dreamed of, while she was trapped in their damned nightmare until it ended.

A thousand curses on Chin-Sun and Itembe! She pulled the strange thin silver blanket over her body and tried to sleep, but the sunlight radiating through the round windows kept her awake. They’d shut on their own last night somehow and then reopened this morning. If only she knew how to make them close.

Anger flared within her once again, making the movement of blood past her ears audible as it rushed by in rhythmic whooshing throbs. Maybe if she focused on counting it, the thrumming would hypnotize her to sleep.

She had no choice but to practice a virtue unfamiliar to Jinn: patience.