Page 24 of Claimed (The Captain’s Captive #2)

The conflicting emotions that flickered across Alex’s and Bella’s faces when Lisa and Ken were brought to the Wolf made Trish feel a little better about her own reactions. She wasn’t the only one to feel a sense of satisfaction, of a kind of karmic justice, at the new captives’ predicament.

The expression on the Wolf’s face was the most interesting, though.

He watched Alex’s and Bella’s reactions with a benevolent expression on his face—the kind of expression someone wore when they gave a gift.

Was this his gift to Bella and Alex? A punishment for their cheating exes as a present from the Wolf?

Earthers had an entirely different morality from the people on the Moon. Then again, the morality on the Moon wasn’t all that great in a lot of areas, either. Trish wasn’t sure which she preferred.

Ken started shouting threats and was gagged.

Trish was a little surprised, since he was the son of one of the ministers colluding with the Wolf and might have a point.

But it seemed the Wolf didn’t care all that much about that particular alliance.

That, or he felt it was secure enough for him not to care about Ken’s father’s reaction.

The Wolf waved his hand and looked over to Nurse Roche, who stood along the wall near one of the doors. “Nurse Roche, please take Slut and Bitch to be processed. I’d like to spend a little bit of quality time with my Pet and Toy before they go.”

Slut and Bitch. Surprisingly apt nicknames. The Wolf had apparently figured out exactly who they were.

As Nurse Roche came over to lead Lisa and Ken away, several guards assisting, Jordan began to pull Trish toward the door where they’d come in.

Trish glanced back at the dais, where the Wolf had Bella squirming on his lap, one hand on her throat while Alex knelt between her spread legs.

Trish was surprised Jordan didn’t want to watch.

Trish was concerned by her twinge of disappointment at realizing she and Jordan weren’t going to watch what was probably the last time Bella and Alex would be on display.

Being here on Earth had done a number on Trish’s head.

Jordan felt strange as he took Trish out of the room.

His stomach churned, his chest was tight, and it felt like his jaw was permanently clenched. The last time he’d felt like this … well, it had been before he’d met the Wolf.

He didn’t like it.

But he had to obey the Wolf’s orders.

While the Wolf extended Jordan more leniency than anyone else, there were certain things he was resolute on.

Like the previous warlord, the Wolf allowed his soldiers to take a man or woman who caught their fancy.

His soldiers were given the opportunity to show their captives what life would be like, but then they had to let them go.

No one could complain because the Wolf followed his own rules. He always let his captives go.

Most of the Wolf’s soldiers didn’t have to go through offering freedom more than once.

The majority of those taken by his soldiers chose to stay.

Life was better in the Wolf’s compound: safer, more stable, and his people were all good at providing pleasure.

Although the Wolf’s domain extended beyond the compound, his territories still weren’t as safe as it was behind these walls.

The Wolf insisted on giving the choice though—a drastic change from when the old warlord had ruled. When the Wolf had taken over and forced the old lord’s soldiers to release anyone who wanted to go, there had been a mass exodus.

Some had come back eventually, but not many, and very few to the person they’d left.

Jordan wished he was more sure of Trish. Even though he was determined to go after her again once he’d left the Wolf’s employ, he now realized he wanted her to choose to stay with him.

It would mean something if she did.

Something intangible. Something Jordan had never had.

Something he hadn’t known he’d wanted until this moment.

And he had to ask her now because Alex and Bella would be leaving within the next couple of hours. Trish had to be given the option of going with them.

Jordan took her back to his room and sat her down on the bed before stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest as if to try to hold in the uncomfortable emotions he couldn’t control.

“You have a choice.” He jumped straight into the conversation.

He didn’t know any other way to broach things, after all.

Trish sat on the edge of the bed in the position he’d placed her, the way she always did in the mornings.

Her obedience helped to calm him, but only a little.

“I’m … retiring, for the lack of a better word.

I have all the money I need and a place on an island near the equator.

The Wolf is going to promote Zadia in my place and will only call on me if he has need. ”

Trish stared up at him silently.

This was the hard part. The part he had to force his jaw to unclench for so he could get the words out. The part that made his heart hammer inside his chest.

“You can come with me.”

He’d said it as more of an order than anything else. It was what he wanted.

“Or … stay here?”

Trish’s soft, whispered question sent unexpected pain lancing through his chest. Why did the idea of her not wanting to be with him hurt so much?

He’d always wanted a woman who would do as he wanted, as he said, and, while he’d been disappointed when things hadn’t worked out, when he’d been called too demanding, possessive, or controlling, he hadn’t cared that much.

Now, he’d taken Trish, turned her into his babygirl, given her pleasure, taken care of her needs, kept her safe.

He’d been far more demanding, possessive, and controlling with her than he had in any of his past relationships with women, and yet the idea of Trish not wanting him, not wanting that, made his chest ache and feel empty, even though it had never really bothered him in the past.

“Or go home,” he said, firmly. There was no way he’d be able to tolerate her staying here.

The only way to stay in the Wolf’s compound was to work for him, or to be with someone who worked for him.

There would be no occupation for someone like Trish, who was far from being a soldier, tactician, or scientist—and the Wolf was unusually well educated in Earther history and culture, so he wouldn’t need an expert on the areas Trish was well versed in.

And Jordan would kill any man or woman who tried to claim her for their own.

“Home?” She sounded confused.

“To the Moon.” He glanced at the timepiece on his wrist. The Wolf should be wrapping things up soon. Jordan could try to drag this out … or he could get it over with. “Alex and Bella will leave for the shuttle in ten minutes. You can go with them or stay here with me.”

It was an exaggeration. He didn’t know exactly when they’d be headed for the shuttle, and it was possible the Wolf would take longer with them than he’d planned—he probably wasn’t looking forward to letting them go.

But Jordan needed to know. He needed her answer.

“What would I do if I stayed with you?” Her voice sounded high and uncertain … but she considered it.

What did he have to offer? Just the things he’d been giving her. What he’d been doing. That was who Jordan was. He stepped closer, unable to keep from reaching out and touching her, fear that it would be the last time trickling through him. He caressed her cheek and cupped her chin in his fingers.

“The same thing we’ve been doing.” Which she’d liked.

He’d made sure she’d come around to liking it.

Jordan had seen the way she’d responded to his dominance, to his care …

to having friends and being able to continue her studies, and to belonging to him.

No longer his lonely little girl, no longer scared of him, no longer unhappy all the time.

Say yes, say yes, say yes ….

“Be mine. Decorate my home. Sleep in my bed. Let me take care of you.”

He said the last like a plea. Jordan wanted to take care of her.

Make sure she was sheltered. Fed. Pleasured, constantly.

That her darker needs, the ones she didn’t like admitting to, didn’t go unministered.

There was something inside her that called to him; that had called to him from the beginning.

“Why me?”

Jordan struggled with the answer. It was a complex one; too complex for a man of few words who was unused to verbalizing his emotions. Finally, he settled for, “Because I don’t want to let you go.”

It was the truth. More than that, it was at the heart of his emotions.

Since he’d taken Trish, Jordan’s life had been better, and he didn’t want to go back to the way things had been.

He also didn’t like the idea of being separated from her, of her being on her own where he couldn’t take care of her.

And he especially didn’t like the idea of her back on the Moon with their attitudes and supposed superiority.

A long moment stretched, agonizing in its length, and then Trish nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

Savage joy and triumph streaked through Jordan, unexpected and intense. He hadn’t been expecting that answer, at all. He would have let her go … but he would have gone back for her. Watched over her. Probably taken her again because he couldn’t bear the idea of being without her.

But he hadn’t expected her to choose to remain with him.

His fingers firmed on her jaw as he looked down into her guileless, blue eyes. He wondered why, but … Trish was the one who asked questions, not him. Especially not when he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Say it again, babygirl,” he rasped to be sure he hadn’t merely heard what he’d wanted to hear. His cock hardened in anticipation, eager to claim her.

“I’ll go with—” The little smile on her face slayed him, and he didn’t give Trish a chance to finish her sentence.