Five
Gabriel
I laugh, leaning back in my seat, at the panicked expression on her face. She got so distracted by my cards she forgot all about her date with that fucking moron Cole. Immense satisfaction fills me. A little win.
Eve taps out a quick apology text and runs to the shower. I tense, sick anticipation filling me. Eve’s showers have become my favorite part of the day, as pathetic as that sounds. After over a year of celibacy, I’ve grown so sick of porn that I struggle to even get off to it anymore.
Eve gets me hard in an instant.
She doesn’t even have to be naked to do it. I’ve never seen her in lingerie, or anything approaching sexy clothes, but even in a baggy T-shirt and pajama shorts, just the glimpse of the curve of her breast has me unzipping my jeans. And I’m about to get the full show.
I zoom in as she strips and drops her clothes into the hamper even though she’s in a rush. She’s neat and tidy like that. Loves her little routines. My cock presses against my jeans, and I drink in the sight of her as she steps into the shower. I slide down the zip and grip it in my fist .
I’m so sick of my own hand.
Eve raises her hands and runs them through her long brown hair as the water spills over her. Her lips part, and Christ, how I want to feel those lips on my cock. I’m used to confident women who are eager to please, drop to their knees at a sharp word, and swallow me whole.
Eve wouldn’t. She’d be nervous and take her time getting used to me. Her tongue would flick out, and I’d stroke her head, encouraging her. Then I’d grip her hair, reminding her who was in charge. Those pretty green eyes would widen as I pushed deep into her throat.
Fuck.
She rubs shampoo into her hair, and it runs between her breasts as I work my cock in rough, angry jerks. Why does she have to be so fucking perfect? I should have a Ward by now. Some other woman should be kneeling underneath my desk, waiting for permission to touch my cock.
If I had Eve here, I’d chain her to my desk every time I worked. Naked, with a collar around her neck. I’d–
My balls tighten, and come shoots out as brief, unsatisfying pleasure hits me. Not enough. It’s never enough. I look at the mess with a sigh as Eve turns off the water and wraps herself in a towel. If I had her here, not a drop would be wasted. If she didn’t catch it all in her mouth, she could lick it up.
But she’s not. And she never will be. So why am I torturing myself like this? I can’t have her. Even if I could get past stealing her from her happy little life, she’s too damn young. Two weeks to train her isn’t enough. She’d panic at the ceremony, scream for help, and try to run. And then the Brothers would slit my throat and hand my Eve over to someone else for training.
I shudder at the thought .
No Wards can ever leave the Compound. Established Brothers leave instruction on what happens to theirs if they die. Some Wards live out their days in comfort, pursuing whatever interests take their fancy. Others are gifted to a Brother whose Ward has passed on. But if Eve and I failed the initiation, neither of us would be given a choice.
Kendrick would decide. He’d pass her to someone he trusts or even keep her for himself. He’d choose someone stern to discipline and subdue her. And I couldn’t even warn her about it before the ceremony. As Brothers, we have to show mastery over our Wards without telling them what fate awaits them if they don’t perform at the ceremony.
I collect some tissues to clean up my mess. Shit, this is depressing.
On the screen, Eve dresses quickly—trousers and a demure blouse, I’m happy to report—and rushes downstairs to open the door for Cole. He greets her with a big, shit-eating grin and yet another tacky bouquet of flowers. He has no fucking imagination. She takes them with a nervous smile and goes to find a vase.
While she’s gone, Cole pulls out his phone, glances at it, then shoves it back into his pocket in a hurry as she comes back through the door. Interesting. Maybe I should hack his phone, too, and find out exactly what is going on there.
As I pull up the program to do just that, my own phone chirps. I let out an angry breath as I read the message. My dad. Asking for more money when I just gave him $10K two weeks ago. My stomach sinks as I process what this means. Dad’s gambling is turning into a real problem, and I’m enabling him.
I have to stop .
I look up the number for Gamblers Anonymous and, after staring at my phone for far too long, send it through with a message.
ME: I’m sorry, but I can’t give you more cash. You need to get some help. I love you.
He doesn’t reply. I grip the phone and debate calling him but decide against it. He just needs some space to get himself together. I’ll call on the weekend. Until I get my Ward situation sorted out, I need to keep my focus here in the Compound.
Cole leads Eve out of the door, her hand gripped in his. That touch, his hand on my fucking girl, drives all thoughts of my dad out of my head. If he tries to fuck her tonight, I’ll place a fake 911 call and have police kick down the door. See how he likes getting dragged off to lockup.
I return to my next order of business—hacking Cole’s phone.
***
My alarm wakes me at six, shrieking in my ear, but it can’t dampen my mood. Last night, after Eve sent Cole away with blue balls— that’s my girl —he had himself a nice little hookup. I’ve got screenshots of the whole message thread setting it up. Including the lovely photos his side piece sent of her tits.
I’ll send them to Eve later, when I’ve got time to sit and watch the whole scene play out. But for now, she’s safe. Since I got her into the enrichment program, she’s balls to the wall with lectures and extra lab work. I wouldn’t want to ruin her day .
I rush through a quick workout, then shower and head to the refectory for breakfast. I’m repeating my particle transport experiment for the seventy-ninth time today and have a good feeling about it. This time will be the charm.
Jacob sits at a table by himself, digging into a huge plate of bacon and eggs. He’s a mountain of a man, six-foot-four and muscled like a UFC heavyweight. People always assume he’s stupid until he opens his mouth. He’s running some potentially earth-shattering tests in the biochemical field and has only been in the Brotherhood for four months. He and I have become good friends.
I gather my own breakfast, less than a quarter of what he’s eating, and join him. He gives me a shrewd look and narrows his eyes. “You look too happy. What is it?”
I think about lying to save myself the embarrassment of the true reason for my good mood but give up on the idea. What’s the point?
“It’s just Eve. Her boyfriend is cheating on her, and I’m going to send her the evidence tonight.”
It sounds even more insane than I thought it would said out loud, and the look Jacob gives me only confirms it. “Oh. I assumed you made progress with your work. That’s wonderful news, Gabriel. I’m so happy for you,” he says in his flat, British monotone.
He takes another bite of food, chewing thoughtfully, before setting his fork down and giving me a serious look over. He lowers his voice. “Are you insane? Why are you wasting your time with this? You can’t take her. Two weeks isn’t long enough.”
As if I didn’t know. My hand curls into a fist as my good mood evaporates. “I fucking know. But that doesn’t mean she needs to be with that asshole. ”
He stares at me with real concern. “Look. If she’s the one you want, why don’t you talk to Kendrick? Maybe he can bend the rules. Put your ceremony off for another six months.”
The idea hits me like a wash of icy water. What if he’d do it? If I could join the next ceremony, six months after my own, I could take Eve. Why didn’t I think of speaking to Kendrick? Stupid. I’ve been too busy jacking off to her in the shower.
Hang on, though.
Would I really do it?
I wouldn’t be rescuing Eve. I’d be taking her from a perfectly happy, if dull, life and into servitude. She’d hate me for a long time. Possibly forever. She’d miss her friends and her freedom. I’d be taking away her future.
But maybe I could give her a new one.
She can’t afford graduate school and won’t get to use her skills to full advantage. She’ll probably end up slogging away for a shitty pharma company, making cosmetics or something equally useless. She won’t have the connections or reach to get the top-level positions she deserves.
If I could get her acclimatized, she could be a part of groundbreaking projects at the Compound. Many Brothers choose Wards who are their intellectual equals, and after the difficult adjustment period, they settle into working at the Compound. The Brotherhood never lets talent go to waste.
Would it be enough? Would it balance what I’d have to put her through?
Jacob is still staring at me, and I force my attention back to him. “Good idea. I’ll do that.” I cast about for a new topic. “Did they find out who leaked the new search engine?”
The Brotherhood guards its tech like mother wolves guard their cubs, but thefts still occasionally happen. A brand-new, cutting-edge search engine one Brother spent eighteen months developing found its way into the hands of an upstart Silicon Valley mob.
Jacob’s face darkens. “They got it from the fucking Calders. Kendrick’s keeping quiet, but everyone thinks we must have a mole.”
“Shit.”
I’d never heard of the Calder family before I joined the Brotherhood, but here, you can’t go a day without hearing their name. The organization, almost as secretive as ours, is known for stealing tech and selling it to the highest bidder. They also dabble in arms trading and human trafficking. Anything to make money, no matter the cost.
I mentally run through all the people I trust with sections of my work. No one knows everything, but I have an assistant who helps with modeling, and I ask for help with the IT side on occasion.
Though the inner parts of the Compound are for Brothers only, the outer layers are almost a city. Cooks, groundskeepers, cleaners, guards, maintenance workers, IT professionals. The list goes on.
Brothers live like kings in their castle, so other people on site are unavoidable. But if the Calder family has managed to get someone on the inside, all of our work is at risk.
Jacob cracks his huge knuckles. “If I find out who it is, they won’t need to call in the guards.”
I nod in agreement. After getting bullied in school, I took jujitsu classes and worked in the gym to put on some muscle. I know how to handle myself in a fight. But Jacob would smash my skull without breaking a sweat.
“Is Kendrick on it?”
He shrugs. “Who knows? He never tells us shit.”
“True. ”
We finish eating, and I leave for my lab. Today is a big day—my seventy-ninth attempt at teleportation. I manage to keep my focus as we set it up, checking and rechecking the lines of figures. But even as I push the button, my mind strays back to Eve. Good job, too. It’s as big of a failure as the other seventy-eight tries.
Normally I’d sulk, but today, I have something to look forward to. Once I make it back to my room I grab a beer, settle into my desk chair, and pull up my favorite show.
Eve is sitting on the sofa with Billie, engrossed in the TV. Probably one of the ridiculous reality programs she loves. She’s wearing her Parker U hoodie, and no matter how much I stare, I can’t tell if she’s got a bra on underneath. Her legs are curled up beneath her, and both girls suddenly shriek and look at each other, scandalized.
Something on the show got them all excited. I pull out my phone, explosive text message ready to go. It’ll come from a private number, of course. I hesitate, oddly unwilling to spoil the scene in front of me. Something sharp lodges in my chest as the girls chatter excitedly, then settle back down, waiting for the next onscreen drama.
If I take her, I’ll be stealing this.
The other Wards make friends with each other, of course. They visit each other's apartments, hold parties, and do activities together. But Eve won’t have Billie anymore. Or any of the future friends she’ll make if I don’t steal her life.
For a moment, the selfishness of what I’m contemplating almost paralyzes me.
I grip the phone tightly, staring at the message. Then I press send. Whatever future Eve has, it won’t involve that fucker Cole.