Charlotte had half-convinced herself that the whole situation she’d awakened to find herself in was just a terrible, terrible dream, but when she woke up after hours of fitful, exhausted sleep to the sight of another stranger—this one a woman—seated a few yards away from her, she couldn’t even pretend to believe it anymore. “Who the hell are you?”
“Sebastian’s cousin, Melissa,” the woman said. Charlotte took a moment to look the woman over. She looked utterly at rest, and yet there was something about her that suggested to Charlotte that she—like her cousin—could pounce at the faintest movement if she needed to. The woman had deep olive skin, unlike her cousin, and dark hair that fell down her back in a thick, rich cascade.
Large, unusual honey-brown eyes framed by thick lashes made her look mysterious, and full lips that would hypnotize a man, made Charlotte briefly feel insecure. The woman had a slight frame—long legs and arms, medium bust, slim waist—but there was a hardness to her that Charlotte simultaneously feared and admired.
“Here to tell me I have him all wrong, and I should be his—what would you call it, anyway? His concubine?”
“He fucked up,” Melissa said. “That much I think we can both agree on. I told him it would be a better idea to make his proposition to you in your own city, but he thought if he revealed too much to an outsider…” she shrugged. “It would put him at a disadvantage—and the rest of us with him.”
“An outsider,” Charlotte murmured. She sat up, pulling her knees towards her chest and hugging them. “That doesn’t make this sound any less like a weird cult thing.”
“We’re not a cult, any more than the Amish are,” Melissa explained. “And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, we live a lot more comfortably than they do.”
“Electricity, internet—apparently—and phones. Running water. I get it.” Charlotte rested her chin on her knees. “So why are you here, exactly?”
“Because my cousin screwed up and asked me to help him explain some things to you,” Melissa said. “You’re incredibly important—you know that?”
“I’m some genetic miracle, yeah. He told me that much,” Charlotte said, rolling her eyes.
“We need you. It’s a simple thing.”
“If you needed me, and if he had the money to pay me outright, why would he have me drugged and kidnapped?”
“Because he can’t let the rest of the... community know what he’s doing,” Melissa said. “His grasp on the leadership is not what it was even a few months ago.”
“So, kidnapping someone will improve it?” Charlotte raised an eyebrow and Melissa grinned.
“If he’s successful in convincing you to give him a baby—and if you’re successful in doing it—yeah, actually, the kidnapping part will dovetail nicely.” There was something disturbing about the woman’s smile—something about her teeth that unnerved Charlotte, though she couldn’t say what.
“Not really selling this place,” she said tartly.
“We’re a little closer to our animal natures than some other people,” Melissa said. “But we’re good people, and our community is in trouble.”
“That’s not really my problem, is it?” Charlotte pressed her lips together.
“No, it isn’t. But it’s my cousin’s problem, and he’s trying to solve it.” Melissa sighed. “You have no reason to like me or trust me, but I figure a woman can talk to a woman.”
“Okay,” Charlotte said. “Talk to me.”
“I’m barren,” Melissa said. “I’ve tried to have a baby three times, and the most recent time I almost died.”
“I don’t want to sound terrible,” Charlotte said, “but that’s not really my problem either. I hate it for you—I’d hate it for any woman—but that doesn’t make me obligated to have a baby for someone I don’t know and can never trust.”
“This community will die without more children in it,” Melissa said. “My cousin is doing what he can to try and keep it alive. I can’t do my part.”
“I just met you,” Charlotte said, feeling more tired in spite of the long nap she’d taken. “I don’t know anyone in this community, I’ve never been here before. I was brought here against my will.”
“You’re under no moral obligation to cooperate,” Melissa conceded. “But I’m telling you, now that you’re here, you’re not going to be able to leave unless Seb lets you.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Charlotte raised both eyebrows.
“I’m not the one in charge,” Melissa said with a shrug. “Think about it like this: Sebastian is some Viking warlord, your village was raided, you were brought back as spoils for him. You’ll get your freedom if you give him a child—or if you can prove to him you can’t get pregnant.”
“You realize that this deal means that I’m going to have to have sex with someone I hate.”
“Maybe he’ll grow on you,” Melissa suggested. “At least enough to make it tolerable.” Melissa’s grin flashed again. “I have it on good authority that he’s very good.”
“Please tell me it’s not—not…” Charlotte grimaced as the blood rushed into her face.
“Oh, hell no—we’re isolated and insular, not inbred,” Melissa said. “At least—not intentionally. He’s my first cousin, and my dad helped raise him. I could never do that with him in a million years. But he’s tried with one or two other women in the—group.” Charlotte caught the hesitation, just as she had one other time in the conversation, but she didn’t know what it meant, and didn’t want to know. “And well…” Melissa shrugged and smiled. “People talk. Even when you don’t want to hear about your cousin’s skills in bed.”
“I have no reason at all to trust you,” Charlotte pointed out.
“You’re right,” Melissa admitted. “But you have to trust someone here—you’re going to be here for a while.”
“Not if I make a run for it successfully.” The idea hadn’t quite left her—it couldn’t.
“You wouldn’t do it successfully,” Melissa said, matter-of-factly. “Between my cousin and the people who know about you, we’d track you down long before you could even make it to the closest real road—and that’s miles away from here. Besides which, it isn’t in your best interest to try and escape.”
“Why not?” Charlotte scowled at her.
“Because, the people who don’t know you’re here yet aren’t going to take kindly to a stranger being in our territory,” Melissa said. “If you come to them as someone who belongs to Sebastian—”
“Belongs to him?”
“As someone he’s vouched for, if that makes you feel better?” Melissa cocked her head to the side and there was something uncanny about it. But then she looked at Charlotte straight on once more and the impression disappeared. “If you appear as someone he’s vouched for, you’ll be safe. If you just ran out in the middle of the night or something, the people who don’t know you’re here yet will think you’re an intruder. And they will kill you first and ask questions about you afterward.” Charlotte once more felt as though she’d been plunged into ice water.
“Not really making me feel safe,” Charlotte said, more lightly than she wanted; her mouth was dry.
“The point isn’t to make you feel safe,” Melissa said. “The point is to make you understand what the situation is.”
“Oh, trust me,” Charlotte said bitterly. “I get what the situation is. It’s that I have to have a baby with a monster in order to ever even hope to get free.” Melissa’s eyes widened and for a moment Charlotte felt an unmistakable air of danger.
“Seb isn’t a monster,” Melissa said slowly, her voice low with a rumbling growl underneath. “He’s done a terrible thing to you, and I’m sympathetic. I wish he had chosen to negotiate with you the right way—but now that you’re here, you have choices to make.”
“Oh yes, so many choices,” Charlotte said. “Do you not get how incredibly screwed up this is?”
“I get it!” Melissa held her gaze for a long moment, and Charlotte saw sympathy in it. “Look, all I’m asking you to do is consider what he has to offer you in return for what he wants. He shouldn’t have kidnapped you, but he made sure that the people who did it were ones he could trust. He built half the furniture in this room so that you’d be comfortable and have everything you need. He’s not an unreasonable guy.”
“You just called a guy who sent people to drug someone and kidnap them reasonable.”
“I did, because at the end of the day, he is. He hasn’t harmed you, and he’s not going to do anything to you other than keep you here unless you give him the go-ahead.”
“First of all, that doesn’t sound as reassuring as you think it does,” Charlotte pointed out. “Secondly, he threatened to destroy my life back home if I didn’t agree by Monday.”
“He wants to make sure no one comes after you,” Melissa countered. “You need to look at this the right way.”
“What’s the right way?” Charlotte let her legs slide down, and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Negotiate with him,” Melissa said. “Get more money out of him, get him to pay your rent—hell, if you can get the agreement to work from here, do that.”
“You really think the guy who wants to keep me trapped here to carry his baby is going to give me access to a computer and phone?”
“Monitored, of course,” Melissa said with a shrug. “But if you want to keep your life intact back home, you need to come to an agreement with Seb. Otherwise, your life will be torched and you’ll be stuck here anyway.” Melissa rose to her feet. “I need to help him finish up dinner for you. Think about what I said.”
Charlotte watched her leave, and in spite of her resentment toward everyone in the community, and towards Sebastian—and his family—in particular, she had to think about what the other woman had said. Ultimately, Melissa had a point: she was stuck where she was, at least until she could find a way out. She had no faith that Sebastian would ever let her leave, even if she gave him a kid. How could he? She would go directly to the police and tell them what had happened as soon as she could.
But in the meantime, she needed to do damage control. I need to do whatever I can to make this work. Charlotte took a deep breath. She couldn’t leave the house—between Sebastian’s warnings and Melissa’s, she believed she wouldn’t be safe outside of the place she’d been brought to—but maybe she could keep things on an even keel. Maybe she could convince Sebastian to make some concessions to make her more cooperative.
By the time Sebastian came to the bedroom door, Charlotte had made up her mind. “Willing to at least eat dinner with me?”
“Where’s Melissa?” Charlotte wasn’t about to make it easy for him, even if she was going to eventually cooperate—at least somewhat. If I end up having to have sex with him, and I probably will, at least he’s easy on the eyes, she thought, examining him intently. Muscular, with broad shoulders and slim hips, the jeans and tee shirt that Sebastian wore fit him exactly. Almost against her will, her gaze dropped down to the front of his jeans, and then she quickly looked away, feeling the blood rush into her face.
“She had to go home,” Sebastian said.
“I like her better than you,” Charlotte told him tartly.
“Well if you could make a baby with her, I’d hand you over,” Sebastian countered. “But she’s barren, and two women can’t make a baby anyway. Dinner?”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to admit that she was hungry, and the appealing smells coming into the room from another part of the house.
“I could eat,” she said. She climbed off the bed and hesitated for only a moment before walking toward the door. Sebastian stepped back and Charlotte followed him through the hall, across the living room and to the kitchen where the table was. She had to admit—deep down in her mind—that the meal spread on the table was impressive. Wilted greens, mashed potatoes, some kind of grilled steak, and more mushrooms, these braised with garlic and some kind of chilies.
“I got some wine out, too,” Sebastian told her. “I figured red is usually right for steak, right?” He sat down and Charlotte took the other spot he’d set, two seats away from him.
“Yeah,” Charlotte said. Sebastian opened a bottle of red wine and poured some into a glass.
“You’re not going to pull the whole no trust thing on me again, are you?” Charlotte rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t get poisoned this morning—or afternoon—whenever,” Charlotte replied. “Besides, it’s been made clear to me that I don’t have any control over the situation, so I might as well enjoy the food.”
Sebastian grinned. “Good to see you re-evaluating your position,” he said.
“Well, when one is backed into a corner, not much choice,” Charlotte said.
She began eating; she wasn’t sure what the steak was, but it was delicious, especially with sips of the red wine that Sebastian poured for her. The greens were tender, sharp-tasting and crunchy all at the same time, seasoned perfectly, and the potatoes were the texture of ice cream, but warm instead of cold. “So,” she said after a few moments of sampling the food. “You want something from me.”
“A baby,” Sebastian said, nodding.
“Yes,” Charlotte said. “I have some thoughts about that.”
Sebastian raised his eyebrows, setting down his fork and knife. “I’d like to hear them,” he told her.
“You offered me a hundred thousand to carry your baby,” Charlotte said.
“Actually, I offered you seventy-five thousand and that apparently wasn’t enough, so I graciously upgraded it to one hundred thousand.”
“So, we’re at one hundred thousand, as it stands,” Charlotte said. “I would like to add some conditions and see if you’re still willing to move forward.”
“You’re making demands?” Charlotte took another sip of her wine and nodded with a slight smile.
“Unless you’re willing to try and impregnate me against my will, I figure you’re as stuck as I am,” Charlotte said. Her heart beat faster in her chest, and she couldn’t deny the mixture of fear and excitement that made every nerve in her body tingle. It was difficult for her to determine whether the fear or the excitement was stronger.
“I can’t take you against your will,” Sebastian conceded. “My—nature—won’t allow it.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow at that pronouncement, but decided not to ask questions; it would make her position weaker to look like she was less than in perfect control.
“So you’re going to have to make a deal with me, then,” she said.
“I suppose I am. What do you propose?”
Charlotte took a deep breath. “I want one hundred thousand dollars, and a guarantee that I’ll be allowed to leave this place once I give you a baby,” she said.
“That’s easily done, and I’ll do the paperwork for the one hundred thousand tonight.”
“We’re going to have a contract specifying all of it tonight,” Charlotte said, chiding him. “I want all the particulars in writing and your signature on it. Not that it amounts to much, but if I ever do get free, if you haven’t held up your end of the deal I want to be able to take you on in both criminal and civil court.” Sebastian chuckled, and Charlotte felt her cheeks warming, but she plowed on anyway. “I also want to be able to continue working from here, if my job will allow it. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice my entire career and everything I’ve built just because you want a baby.”
“That I can’t agree to,” he said. “As soon as I give you access to a computer and a phone, you’re going to try and get someone to come save you.”
“You can monitor me,” Charlotte countered. “Make it so that I can only access email while you watch, and don’t give me internet access unless it’s to do work.” She thought to herself that it was possible for her to come up with something once she’d won Sebastian’s choice, but that would come later.
“You can request a leave of absence,” Sebastian told her. “Family emergency.” He smiled slightly, and his bright eyes glittered.
“They don’t have to grant it, and it will look terrible on my resume, and they won’t give me a good reference if they have to deal with that,” Charlotte explained tartly. “You kidnapped me right before the end of a major project.”
“Sorry to inconvenience you with my attempts to keep my community functioning,” Sebastian said.
“Since you’re taking over my life with this for the next—let’s be optimistic—at least ten months, I figure I should be able to do damage control.”
“You can have supervised time with a computer, and with a phone—but if you make any attempt to use either one to call for help, that goes away instantly.”
“Understood,” Charlotte said. She took another sip of her wine. “And just so we’re both clear on this, there’s not going to be anything other than just... just the getting me pregnant part, right?” She raised an eyebrow, feeling the heat in her cheeks intensifying.
“I told you before, this isn’t about sex. It’s about getting a child,” Sebastian said. “As soon as you’re pregnant and we know that it’s happened for a fact, you can hang out in your room reading books day and night for all I care.”
“I’m not going to be confined to this house,” Charlotte said sharply. “Before you kidnapped me, I went to the gym, I traveled... I was used to doing my own thing. I’m not going to agree to be an actual prisoner the whole time I’m making a baby for you.”
“Once we know you’re pregnant, I’ll reveal you to the—the community.” There it was, that odd hesitation that she’d noticed in Melissa, too. But there was no time to try and puzzle it out. “I’ll vouch for you, and then you’ll be free to do what you want in territory—as long as it’s not an escape attempt.”
Charlotte nodded. “That seems fair,” she said. “Are we in agreement as to what we’ve negotiated?”
“One hundred thousand dollars and your freedom when you deliver the baby. You can work from here to maintain your reputation as long as you don’t try and call for help. You get the freedom of the territory—but no further—once you’re pregnant, and once you’re pregnant you will just be a guest in this house, not someone who shares my bed.”
“I’m not sharing your bed now,” Charlotte pointed out. “I’m just agreeing to have sex with you for the purposes of getting pregnant.”
“You’re not on birth control, are you?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow, and then grinned. “Although unless you’ve got an implant or whatever, you’re just prolonging the inevitable.”
“I was on the pill, but my doctor wanted me to take a month off before my next annual,” Charlotte admitted. “She was going to check me up and give me the implant next month.”
“Okay then,” Sebastian said. “Finish your dinner, and we’ll write up the contract. Do you want it notarized?”
Charlotte—in spite of herself—snickered. “I think I’ll be fine with a simple signature,” she said. “But I want my own copy of it.”
“You’ll have it, along with the proof that I have the money to pay you,” Sebastian said, inclining his head toward her. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”
Charlotte raised her glass flippantly, but she was relieved that he’d been willing to mostly concede to her demands. Melissa—so far—had been right. Now if I can only trust him to follow through with what he agreed to, this might not be so bad. Definitely there are worse guys I could have agreed to let impregnate me.