The Change: Episode one (11 page)

Daniel was covered in the new clothes before
I emerged, my eyes once again darker, but the trousers and sweater
were no better than the robe. The soft material clung to his body,
outlining thick arms that I needed to make use of. My expression
must have been bad because Daniel raised a hand to protect
himself.

The need and the rage slapped at me, but for
once, the side that hardly ever saw the light of day flew out of my
mouth first. “You look very nice. Blue suits you.”

Daniel blinked, not expecting a compliment,
and I moved to the set-and-waiting table without smiling. “Let’s
eat.”

D

She didn’t like the way I’d been treated.
Knowing that was another relief, and I gave her a shy smile as our
eyes met over the candlelight. I wasn’t ready to be taken yet, but
what was a good dinner without good atmosphere? I’d wanted to play
a bit of sound as well, but I knew better than to attempt it. Music
was sometimes another of those dangerous triggers, like our
voices.

“
Do you pray?”

I looked at her in shock. “Of course!”

She indicated for me to go ahead, and I
bowed my head dutifully. “Thank the Network for the food and the
air and the…”

I felt her sudden wave of rage and froze,
waiting to be punished. I’d said it so many times that the words
often rolled out without feeling. Maybe she didn’t think I
meant…

“
Do you know of
God?”

Now I was confused. That’s who I’d be
praying to, but I instinctively kept that information to myself as
I shook my head. “Who?”

Flames flashed up, and I watched her shove
them back with a wall of determination that I more than
admired.

“
We’ll cover it
later.”

Her eyes went to the camera in the top
corner of the room, and I understood it was something the Network
wouldn’t like. I slowly went back to the food, not sure why she’d
gotten upset. And who was this God? Was she like the Network? I had
no idea how the outside world worked. I hadn’t been trained for
that.

C

I hadn’t realized that the Network denied
the bachelors even a basic knowledge of their origins, and it was a
struggle not to set him straight. The Network was far from God, and
I was mortally offended by their insistence to these men that they
were. Once we were out of this bug-infested place, I’d make sure
his retraining included religion and the wonders of creation. He
needed to know where he came from and the proper ways to worship in
this new world. When the Pruetts sat down to a meal, we offered no
thanks or requests, only an apology for the sins of the previous
generations.

The food was excellent, but the way Daniel
kept checking for my approval had me scowling and him cringing. So
far, he’d done little in his own thoughts to please me, but until
he could help tone down this fiery heat, his emotional state would
have to wait.

“
I need to know some things
you won’t want to talk about.”

He nodded fearfully, and I went back to my
big bowl of stew. It really was very good, which meant we wouldn’t
starve. Cooking wasn’t my skill… killing was.

“
What do you remember about
your life before the Network?”

His face crunched up in concentration.
“Almost nothing. Just words I’m not sure are true.”

I spooned another heaping bite into my mouth
and tore off a large chunk of the rough bread he’d obviously baked.
It was something the Network kitchens couldn’t stock enough of.
“I’d hear those.”

He didn’t want to, but wouldn’t refuse me.
As he spoke, I kept my eyes on my bowl to prevent him from seeing
my rage… my pain.

“
I was sick for a long
time. The fever took away the parts I can’t remember. They say I
was… sold by my family.”

True so far. “Go on.”

His voice became a low rumble that had my
grip bending the spoon into foreign shapes.

“
They used to talk in the
room, when they thought I was too ill to listen. They said I’m
supposed to do something.”

He hesitated, voice dropping to a lower
rumble I wanted to taste.

“
They said I’m
special.”

I raised a brow like I hadn’t known, but of
course I had. He was mine. How could he not be unique? “Special
how?”

Daniel flushed. “I have a
genetic marker that’s
different
. They studied me a
lot.”

There was a sneer to the words, a hint of
the true emotions beneath. Perhaps there was more to him than just
fear…

“
What do you plan to do now
that you’re free?”

He stared at me with a face instantly
clouded by panic. “Free?”

“
You’ll hold your own
papers. I force no man.”

D

She was letting me go.

I’d heard of it from other
Bachelors, but hadn’t believed it.
Freedom.
Even the word was
frightening. What would I do out there? I had to have an owner, a
protector. The Network had made that clear, and I wasn’t sure what
to say.

She’d gone back to her
food, but I stared, full of distress. Candice had done all this to
release one of us from captivity, and I’d looked the worst off, so
she’d picked me. It explained everything and sent a hollow feeling
into my stomach. I didn’t want to be
free
, I thought with a well-hidden
ache. I wanted a loving owner.

My eyes went over her scars and angry
wounds, the burns and missing parts of skin. All of that just to
free a slave? It was unlikely and I studied her harder. I saw the
tension first, the stiff set of her thick shoulders as she waited
for my choice. The feeling of loss hit me next. She was already
upset at the thought of my being away from her.

Confused, I ran through my stores of
Changeling information, but nothing came up about them needing us
willing, outside of mating. I was suddenly sure though, and I
wondered if she would like it if I begged to stay with her. I was
adept at giving a woman what she needed. Wants, however, I had to
guess about.

My shoulders went down and I dropped my eyes
to the cooled food. I might just be reading those things in
desperation to keep from being put out there alone. I wouldn’t
survive, and I was wise enough to know it. Drawing in air to keep
myself calm, I stole looks at her and tried to figure out how to
respond.

C

It was hard for me not to meet his desperate
gaze, observing his dismay from under lowered lashes. I couldn’t
let him see how much pain it would cause me to let him go.

I waited, watching the gambit of thoughts
and emotions on his handsome face. Did Daniel long for real
freedom? After all he’d suffered, I’d give it to him and keep
burning inside to see him happy. His simple response made the
choice for both of us.

“
You don’t really want me,
right?”

Those pain-laced words blasted through my
layers of ice like they didn’t exist.

Shoving the table aside, I had him pinned
against the cold wall an instant later, feeling the blood-red of my
irises, the need tickling up my thighs, my spine.

He trembled, bracing for my anger, and I
leaned close.

“
I want you more than my
own life, Daniel!” I let him see how much he already meant to me,
and my kiss was a hard press to his clenched lips, urgent and
intense, as waves of Change rolled.

D

My first thought was only to survive, and I
stayed as still as I could, feeling myself shake. My mind went
immediately to rule number eight next, but I hesitated to push
Candice in any way.

My new master was deadly. I’d seen it in the
first introduction, when she’d had no mercy on her fallen attacker,
but she wasn’t drawing blood now… though she was affecting it. My
body was recognizing the new match… and approving. I hadn’t been
bred in almost a year, and I couldn’t stop myself from hardening
against her hip. I’d expected a beating, not an embrace, and I was
unprepared for my own response. In the past, only the drugs got my
cooperation.

Her lips were soft and hard
in equal measures, iron hands around my wrists, and then she
changed
. Her body melted
against me, tugging at my pent-up desires… I let myself hesitantly
return her kiss.

C

Control. It returned slowly and I softened
my touch, eased my grip. Instead of trapping him, I leaned against
his hard body like a lover… and felt the truth pressing into my
side. He might be leery, but he also wanted me! His lips moved
against mine in confirmation, and I groaned at the feel of it. The
stubble on his skin was a delicious torment sliding across my
cheek, and I drew back carefully, flames crackling through my
body.

“
Are you
registered?”
Have you done this
before?

The thrill at his hesitant nod came from my
need, but the fury at his violation had my grip tightening again
and him tensing for a blow that wouldn’t come.

“
Shhh….just a taste….” I
soothed him as best I could, and when I dipped my head back to his
lips, he met me with a shudder of fear and want.

In my delight, I let go of my tight control
a bit, running my fingers down his back to wrap him in an embrace
that he went to willingly. I could have him, now if I wanted!

The fire grew hotter, testing me, and I gasp
as his lips went to my jaw, my neck. His body leaned against mine
with baking need, hands now trailing my arms. I’d planned to wait,
to give him time to remember me, but my control was flying away in
thick chunks. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

I pushed away the caution, sliding my hands
down his lean hips...

D

Her nails dug into me
through the soft clothes and I tensed, but only felt more shaky
desire when she slid her warm hands under my shirt and up the bare
skin of my back. It pressed me close and I tried not to rock
against her hip, but was suddenly sure I would before long. She was
too hot, too
ready
, to ignore.

She was also dangerous, and I was suddenly
bracing to bleed in order to be fully bonded with my new owner. I
wouldn’t be out there alone. I’d be at her side after this, where
she could make use of my talents when she wanted them. I would be a
very grateful mate.

Steeling my nerves, I dropped my hands to
her shoulders… and then around her waist…

She drew in a sharp breath, and I tightened
the hold, sensing what she needed. Most of my renters had wanted to
be in charge the entire time, but a rare few liked a bold
partner.

Before I could make the
choice, she rubbed against me, and I was dazed with the waves of
need already bringing me up through the levels of passion.
Without
the drugs, I was
now ready to finish a complete session, and the feel of it was
exciting. I’d never had a woman that my body wanted, and some of my
fear slipped under the heat.

C

His breath caught when I rubbed against that
iron bar, his grip on me tightening, and then he shocked us
both.

Daniel jerked me off my feet and spun us
around, so that I was now the one pinned by the wall. His mouth
slanted over mine, demanding my surrender, body pressing against
me! I shuddered as the heat rose to an almost unbearable, perfect
height of pleasure and agony.

His hand slid inside my
shirt, the hot skin under
his
fingers now trembling, and I arched as he
squeezed.
Yes!
Another chunk of control blasted off.

I tried to pull back then, to stop, but the
lust was stronger, and so was he. His grip on me tightened
further.

“
Just a taste…
Shhh…”

His throaty copy of my own words cracked the
remaining ice, and I writhed in his knowing embrace as his hand
shoved inside my pants. Not giving me time to hurt him, he was
clearly no virgin to handling the needs of a Changeling.

Lightning flashed as his fingers touched me,
my body reaching out, and I sobbed against his mouth. The flames
rose as he began to stroke, carrying me into a world where only we
existed…

D

I used my most reliable tactics, bringing
her up so fast there was no time for her to flip, but the feel of
this! I wanted to slow down, to explore her silken and rough skin
until I was exploding with it.

I shifted, rocking against her in short,
quick jerks that had her groaning in the start of release. My body
throbbed at the image of her pleasure, and I felt my own needs rise
up to carry me into a haze of shocked lust. I stroked harder, hands
and hips in perfect time. I already couldn’t wait to do this
again...

My free hand curled behind her neck, glad
her red eyes were closed. Her lips parted, face tightening, and I
pushed a rough finger into her heat as I spoke.

C

Searing, burning, thrusting ecstasy consumed
my body at his mating motion, and I felt the snap coming…

“
Thank you… for picking
me.”

He pushed deeper, sending me into pleasure
that I’d never felt, and the Change was banished to a dim corner as
brilliant light exploded. I wanted to do the same for him, but even
as I began to shatter, I felt his own release arching against my
thigh, drenching… scalding. We groaned and pulsed, holding onto
each other for support. Our breathing was harsh in the stillness,
two hearts racing together, steaming.

As I drew back, I tried to smile. “I’d start
every day as such.” During the Games, I’d had no fear that any weak
emotion such as love drove me, only the return of a beloved
possession. Oh, how wrong I’d been!