Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

Eden

I’m more nervous about meeting other women at the park than I have been about any other step of this process. Being alone with Papi in his house no longer makes me panic about my nudity. When we first arrived, I couldn’t do anything about it at all, including argue. By now, I can argue, but it doesn’t change anything, and I’ve stopped caring if he sees me naked.

But strangers… In public…

Papi feeds me a bottle before he puts me in the stroller and straps me securely. I want to ask for a dress, but I’ve had this conversation with him several times. No matter how many times I ask, there are still no dresses to be had.

“Maybe I should have a blanket, Papi. What if my skin burns?”

He taps my nose and pushes the stroller out the front door. “It’s too warm out for a blanket, and your skin will never burn here. There are properties in all of our food and your formula that protect your skin naturally.”

Darn. That was the last argument I had.

It’s hard to be angry because it’s so amazingly pretty outside. I’m in awe every time we go out. The colors are so vibrant, and the sky is bluer than I’ve ever seen. The air is clean, just like Papi told me it would be. It’s so pure with no pollutants that every inhale seems to bring more oxygen into my lungs than on Earth.

In a few minutes, I hear giggling and lean forward to see women playing in the distance. They’re running and squealing next to some equipment. I recognize the swings. We had one behind the compound, though I hadn’t used it in years. It’s for the kids. After a certain age, swinging is no longer appropriate. Apparently it is here.

I tip my head back to look at Papi. “Can I go on the swing, Papi? We had one at the compound. I went on it as a child.”

“Of course, Baby girl. I’ll push you.”

I clap my hands together. “What are the other parts? What’s the thing with the ladder?”

“The slide?”

I shrug and then gasp when I see a woman sit on the top of it and slide down to the ground. No wonder it’s called a slide. “Oh! How fun! Did you see that?”

Papi is frowning. “You’ve never seen a slide, Little one?”

I shake my head.

He grits his teeth. It makes him angry on my behalf every time we encounter things I never knew or never saw or never did. I’m only twenty, and according to Papi, we will live for centuries, so I’m not that far behind. In a few years, I’ll know everything I missed. After I learn to read better, I’ll catch up fast. Papi already has books chosen to improve my reading and math skills. He’s going to teach me to use a computer, too.

When we get closer, I grow nervous. I look back at Papi again, gripping the sides of my stroller to keep from covering my chest.

“What’s the rule, Little one?”

“No playing with my nipples,” I mutter. It’s not playing if all I do is cover them, but Papi says all touching is playing because no matter the reason, it feels good to stroke them. He’s right, darn it.

Two women spot me, speak to each other, and then skip toward me.

I hold my breath. What if they don’t like me? What if they think I’m weird? I’m not like other women.

My fingers ache from gripping the stroller. I want to cover my chest so badly. Even though both of the women are bounding forward with no regard for the fact that their breasts are bouncing, I feel unnerved. And my stress rises when I spot the piercings they both have dangling from their nipples.

I stop breathing as they arrive.

They stop. The one with the brown, wavy hair says, “Hi. I’m Clara.”

The other woman has lighter hair. “I’m Sara. We’re so glad to meet you.”

I bite my lip.

“Are you going to introduce yourself, Little one?” Papi asks.

I flush as I release my lips. “I’m Eden,” I whisper.

“That’s a pretty name,” Sara says.

It’s impossible not to lower my gaze to their chests. Both of them have distinct characteristics. Sara has tattoos. Some of the men in my compound had tattoos, but I’ve never seen tattoos on a woman before. The hoops dangling from her nipples have purple and yellow stones.

I jerk my gaze up, embarrassed to have been staring.

She giggles. “Don’t worry about looking. It’s odd at first. We’ve all been in your shoes. It doesn’t hurt any of our feelings if you want to look at our piercings.”

Papi unfastens me from the stroller.

I shift my gaze to the other woman’s chest as he lifts me onto my feet in front of them. Clara’s nipples have dark red stones, but what stands out even more is that she’s wearing a bejeweled necklace with something hanging from it between her breasts. Both of the pieces have the same red stones.

“Your necklace is so pretty,” I say because it seems appropriate.

She giggles just as a man comes up behind her. He flattens her back against his front and slides a hand down to her chest. He casually picks up the jeweled part that dangles between her breasts and gives a slight tug. Still holding it, he tips her chin back so that she’s looking up at him.

“Is this a necklace, Clara?”

“No, Sir,” she whispers.

I’m mortified to have misunderstood. I turn to Papi. I want to cry and run from this place.

Papi squats down next to me and pulls me into his embrace, holding me so that I’m facing Clara.

Clara’s cheeks are dark red as she lowers her gaze to mine.

“I’m sorry,” I say softly. I want to fall into a hole.

Sara steps closer. “Don’t feel bad. I didn’t know what it was the first time I saw it either,” she says.

That makes me feel better. I guess.

Clara’s Papi—I assume he’s her Papi—gives the length of chain another tug and holds on to it at her throat.

Clara’s breath hitches. She meets my gaze. “It’s a collar and a leash. My Papi likes to keep me very close, and I feel safer when he attaches me nearby or holds the leash in his hand.”

My heart races. A collar and leash. Like the leather kind I’ve seen on dogs. But on a human. “Oh. Well, it’s very pretty.” I’m embarrassed, but I know my manners, and hopefully I can smooth over this awkward introduction. I’m very confused, though.

“I’m Kalbrac,” her Papi informs me. “We’re glad you’re here, Eden. Clara has been asking me when she could meet you for days.” He smiles warmly. When he finally releases the length of chain so that it dangles between Clara’s breasts, he slides his hand over to cup one of her breasts and plays absently with the ring through her nipple.

I’ve fallen into another universe, and that thought nearly makes me laugh since I really have entered another universe.

Clara squirms. “Papi…” she whines.

He chuckles and bends over to kiss the top of her head. “Be good.”

Her nipple is swollen now. It’s bigger than the other one from him touching it. That’s what mine look like when Papi torments just one of them. It’s maddening. I bet she’s at least as embarrassed as me. That calms me a bit.

Papi sets his lips on my neck behind my ear, and I know in a second, he’s going to pierce me. I don’t even have time to react before he does. I’m starting to recognize the types of injections he gives me. This one is a combination of calming plus arousal. I’m squirming because my pussy gets wet, but I’m also less likely to run away.

Another man joins Sara. “Hey, Little songbird.” He squats down behind her like my Papi. One of his hands immediately comes around her, cups her breast, and fondles her piercing. I guess this is a thing.

I can’t imagine how much more aroused I will be all the time if Papi has my nipples pierced and then plays with them. It seems like I would lose my head. Both women look like they’re going to shortly.

Papi rises, pulls a blanket out of the back of the stroller and shakes it through the air so that it lands in a big square on the grass. I guess it’s grass. Nothing on this planet is exactly like Earth, but this green covering on the ground is similar to grass. Like it’s a variety I’m not aware of.

Papi comes back to me, lifts my chin, and kisses me. “Would you like to sit down with Clara and Sara for a while and talk? I’ll take you on the swings and down the slide in a bit, okay?”

Clara and Sara shake free of their Papis and plop down on the blanket, so I join them. I’m nervous as I sit.

“Be good,” Clara’s Papi says with a lifted brow.

“Papi…” she groans.

He leans over her, lifts her leash, and tugs it just hard enough for her to have to sit up straighter. “Do you want me to bring you with me so you have to sit and listen to me talk with Retmor and Raevion?”

“No, Sir,” she whispers.

“Are you going to move an inch from this spot?”

“No, Sir.” Clara shakes her head.

Kalbrac kisses her temple and then follows my Papi and Sara’s to a bench. They can still see us, but they’re far enough away that I can’t hear what they’re saying, which means they can’t hear what we’re saying either.

“It’s so hot when he does that,” Sara mutters.

I look back to find her fanning herself with her hand. Is she hot? Then it occurs to me. She’s pretending to be hot from that exchange between Clara and Kalbrac. I understand because I have to agree. I’m squirming a bit from how unbelievably dominant her Papi is.

Sara turns to me and giggles. “Her Papi is so over the top. She’s the only Little girl I’ve ever seen who has a collar and a leash. Sometimes she wears a harness, also bejeweled with the pretty red stones.”

“Why?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound rude.

Clara shrugs. “He worries more than other Papis because I was really sick when I met him. I had a tumor in my head. The doctor on the mothership—I’m sure you met Dankin—took it out, and now I’m fine, but it made Papi very nervous, and he’s overprotective.”

Sara rolls her eyes. “All Papis are overprotective. It’s in their genetic makeup or something.” She holds up her thumb and pointer with a tiny bit of space between them. “It’s just that Kalbrac is a teensy bit more worried than the others.”

Clara seems embarrassed. She doesn’t look directly at either of us for a moment, she fidgets with imaginary lint on the blanket, and her cheeks are pink.

I don’t like her being uncomfortable, so I say, “I’m sorry about your sickness. I’m glad Dankin fixed it. What, uh, what’s a tumor?”

Both women stare at me, blinking.

Now my face heats to a thousand degrees. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m not from…” I don’t know how to explain myself.

Sara gasps. “You’re not from Earth?”

Clara’s eyes pop open wider.

I swallow and shake my head. “I’m from Earth. It’s just that I was raised in a compound. Papi says it was like a cult. Do you know what a cult is?”

They both nod, which is a relief.

“Well, I never heard of a cult before I escaped. And there’s a lot of things I’ve never heard of. Like tumors.”

Both women scoot closer before they reach out and take my hands.

“I’m sorry,” Sara says. “You must be so confused with all the changes.”

I nod, trying not to get emotional. I’ve never had any real friends. I need some. Tears slip down my cheeks, and I pull my hands back to swipe at them.

Clara pats my knee. “Don’t cry. We’ll help you learn stuff. Everyone will.” She twists around to look at the playground where they came from a few minutes ago. “See all those other Little girls? They’re all so nice. Everyone we’ve met has been kind. No one will judge you or make fun of you. I promise.”

Sara nods. “We all come from different backgrounds and places. Some of us were poor. Some were rich. Some are educated. Some are not. We’re all equal here. No one is better than anyone else. It’s not a thing.”

Clara squeezes my knee. “I think Fate chooses only nice girls to come to Eleadia. Otherwise, how come there are no mean girls?”

I smile. “I’m nice.”

They both grin.

“How long were you away from the compound when you went to the club?” Clara asks.

“About thirty minutes.” I giggle. It’s kind of funny when I say it out loud. “I escaped in a delivery van. That’s the only time I’ve ever been in a car of any sort. The man driving it didn’t even know I was in the back. He went to Club Zoom next. I think his girlfriend had gone there for the evening, and he picked her up.”

“Yikes, he’s lucky she didn’t get chosen.” Sara winces.

Clara tips her head to the side. “So you went inside the club?”

“I went in the back. A man let me in.”

“Oh, wow. You must have been really scared,” Clara says.

“Scared out of my mind, and shocked when Papi found me. He was so big I thought I was hallucinating.” I giggle. This is fun. This is what it feels like to have friends. To laugh and talk without anyone hushing us and telling us not to sin.

Sara looks at my hair. “Your hair is so pretty in those loops. It looks like it’s really long.”

“I’ve never cut it.”

“Oh wow.” Sara’s eyes are wide. “I guess when I think of cults, the women never cut their hair. Did you wear skirts and dresses?”

“Yes. Always.” I kind of like that they seem to know about where I came from even though it’s weird that I don’t know anything about where they came from. It’s just more proof I was lied to.

I lower my gaze to their chests again. “Did it hurt?”

“Nope.” Sara shakes her head. “Your Papi will numb your nipples. It’s so fast and painless.”

“Isn’t it strange having something dangling from your, uh…”

Sara looks down. “It’s definitely strange. I’m still not used to them. They sway with every movement, and Papis are very strict about not letting us touch them.”

I’m aware of that already. Papi has told me not to play with my nipples more times than necessary.

Clara holds up both hands and squeezes her fists. “Sometimes it’s so frustrating. They tingle and drive me mad with the need to touch them.”

I would assume she’s right.

“You’ll get used to them, though,” Clara adds, “eventually.”

There are a few moments of silence, and then I ask, “Would you mind teaching me stuff? About Earth I mean. Papi says he will teach me everything I want to know, but he only knows things from studying. He wasn’t even on Earth more than a few hours.”

Both women nod.

“We’d be happy to,” Sara says, “I’ll ask Raevion to set up times we can get together at one of our houses.”

“Thank you.” I feel teary again. They really are kind.

A shadow falls over us, and I look up to see Papi and the other two men returning. “Who’s ready to go on the swings?” he asks.