Chapter 4
The exclusive school, with its heavy security measures, was a long way from the towns, and their shops and local life. That meant it was a long way from any men. Or so it was intended to be. Virgin students, long past their primary studies, were placed in advanced education academies when their wealthy families wanted them away from local temptation and pure for marriage.
Giss, whose parents were both dead, was of course there for another reason. She was being kept hidden so Urcolin, Larsinc, and even Larsinc’s pirate comrades couldn’t find her. It gave her the opportunity to come of age, which she had. It also provided time for the scandal to die down and for their greedy neighbors to call less sharply for her removal from Zawri’s charge.
Although Giss had been thoroughly examined after the night in the cave and had been pronounced still a virgin by a physician, there were those who felt that Zawri and Gissandre shouldn’t be left living independently. The neighbors might side with Urcolin if he made up a story to get control of her. And he felt he had a right to her, since earlier on the day she’d met Larsinc, she’d started to break under Urcolin’s pressure to marry him.
She clenched her fists under the dining table. Of course that had been well before he’d manipulated things and sentenced Larsinc to a presumed death sentence in the Wilds. She and Zawri had said over and over that there had just been a misunderstanding and that Larsinc was only trying to save her from the storm. Giss knew that if Larsinc had been found with another young woman, he’d have had a lighter sentence or none at all. Urcolin had been jealous. She’d seen it on his face. He’d wanted Larsinc dead. Gissandre almost could’ve forgiven Urcolin for his early manipulations to get her, but his sentencing of Larsinc she would never forgive.
Giss knew that Larsinc thought her betrayal of him was straight forward, but she hadn’t just done it to protect herself. Based on Urcolin’s past actions, if she’d admitted to consensual sexual activities, Urcolin would’ve had legal support to kill Larsinc outright. She knew that. No matter what he’d gone through in the Wilds, at least he’d survived. That would have to be enough.
The more she thought about things, the firmer her plans became. If she didn’t reach Zawri for counsel on the matter, she would leave Junistar as soon as possible because if Larsinc could find her, so could Urcolin. Giss had already decided that she would rather die than become Urcolin’s wife. She still felt that way. The difference now was that before she ever tried to walk into the churning sea again, she’d try to kill him rather than herself.
She wondered if she would see Larsinc before she left Junistar. A part of her wanted to. He’d claimed to be a Ketturan warrior, but the court denied he was. If he’d lied about that and about the fact that he was part of a pirate crew, how could she believe anything he’d said? Several people had speculated the pirates had seen her and taken her with plans to traffic her off-world. Such a sinister accusation. That would’ve explained why he’d exercised restraint in not compromising her virginity, since it would make her more valuable on the open market it was argued. Larsinc should’ve been grateful she’d steadfastly denied that he’d touched her and claimed he didn’t understand the language. Otherwise he’d have been killed outright. Of course, if she’d admitted to being on the beach of her own accord, her curfew-breaking might have become a focus. Upon deeper questioning, she’d refused to say he’d taken her from her home. She’d only said she’d been out before curfew and that he’d taken control of her, which had prevented her from going home, but that she believed he was only trying to protect her from the storm. Technically everything she’d said about him had been true. He had taken control.
Now that he was out of the Wilds, shouldn’t he have had more important things to do than finding her? Like looting and pirating? Not that her own lies were justified, no matter who he was. She bit her lip and steeled herself against the wave of guilt that washed over her. Maybe she’d made the wrong choice, but she’d panicked in the moment. And she doubted the truth would’ve led to better consequences. He’d seduced her into spreading her thighs for him and into getting her to swallow a mouthful of his seed from his foreign cock. The courts would not have been merciful to a pirate seducer of an eighteen-year-old girl. He might not have been an abductor, but he’d have been an opportunistic predator in their eyes.
After the sentencing, Zawri had done everything she could to get him freed and to protect him while he was in the prison colony. She’d fed money to the factions in the Wilds to keep Larsinc from being targeted. Giss knew it was still a terrible thing to be sentenced to, but it seemed that he was free now and would be fine.
Giss herself might not be so lucky. The fake identity Zawri had arranged for Giss would only hold up until Urcolin started looking beyond written class rosters. That could happen anytime, and she knew it would. Urcolin was used to threatening and bribing people into doing what he wanted. He would get the information eventually.
Giss could go on the run, sending word secretly to her sister just before she left. If the transmission wasn’t intercepted, Zawri could continue to claim she was away at school, so that Zaw and the property would be protected. Urcolin would not be able to prove that she’d been on Junistar, nor would he be able to find her easily in the vast universe. It was the best solution. Because if he found her now, there would be no way for her to escape him again. She was nineteen, which was a legal age to be responsible for her own actions. Her own assent was all it would take for them to be married. And if he captured her, he would force her assent. Then someone’s death, his or hers, would really be her only means of escape.
She thought of the slaves on his estate…the scars on their bodies, their limbs in splints. Zawri had shown her the truth of things. Urcolin was a vicious man for whom cruelty was a pastime. In a moment of despair, when he’d closed down all other marital prospects, she’d hoped she might be able to live with him and use his power to protect her sister. But she would never forget the way he’d struck her in the stomach and grabbed between her legs when she was being held in a cell right after she’d been found with Larsinc. There was no doubt in her mind that Urcolin planned to beat and rape her the moment she was under his power. She didn’t plan to give him that chance.
* * *
Larsinc had been watching the school long enough to know the best way to infiltrate it without triggering any alarms. He also knew the safest route to Gissandre’s room. He looked forward to confronting her.
Under cover of darkness, he climbed the back barrier, using spiked shoes for traction. Then he dropped into the workspace between the barrier and the school. He passed the windows of the other girls who were engaged in sleeping, socializing, or studying.
Stalking Giss had taught him that his little cat was always alone in her room this late in the evenings. He pushed his hands in the warming cloth coil belted around his waist. His fingers were stiff from the cold, but his anticipation made the pain negligible. He forced his tall frame through the maintenance crawl space. With pressure, he tripped the lock on the ceiling panel above her room. He lifted the hatch and swung down to the floor of the dark bed chamber.
Gissandre sat up, her moonlight-colored hair cascading over her shoulders. As beautiful as ever with her wide eyes and startled expression, his body celebrated the sudden nearness of her. He moved quickly, grabbing her and using a hand to cover her mouth when she gasped.
“Quiet,” he ordered, pulling out the headdress gag he’d brought.
“Larsinc?” she rasped when he moved his hand long enough to uncurl the expandable rubber gag. He pushed it into her mouth before she could react. Slapping her hand away, he secured the straps and pressed the engagement button. She choked at the gag’s rapid expansion in her mouth. Clawing unsuccessfully at the straps at her temples and chin, she whimpered. The sound was well dampened by the device, so it was barely louder than a whisper.
He waited for her struggles and faint mewling to subside. She clutched his thigh, breathing loudly through her nose. Removing the satin-padded cord from his pack and forcing her onto her belly, he bound her forearms together in the middle of her back. Her whimpers turned to angry noises of protest. If her thrashing was anything to go by, the muting effect of the device infuriated her.
He caught a handful of her silky hair and tightened his grip on it, using it to push her nose into the covers. The moment she began to panic, he released her.
“Those few seconds of breathlessness should tell you everything you need to know about how powerless you are.”
She inhaled sharply.
“I told you there’d be a reckoning. That’s now.”
She made a frantic sound. It didn’t weaken his resolve. She would get what she deserved.
He shrugged off his coat and set it behind him. From his pack, he withdrew a light cube. He clicked it on, casting faint shafts of light on the bed and his prey. The corners of the room remained dark, which he didn’t mind. She was the only thing he needed to see.
He pulled her slim body over his lap, pushing the crown of her head toward the floor so the silvery strands of her hair swept across the tile as he settled her into position. He lifted her sleep shift, exposing her smooth, pert ass. She twisted, trying to fling herself off.
He held her until she wore herself out and subsided into submission.
“From here on, every time you resist, I’ll add five lashes.”
