Chapter 15
Sloane
Afew days later, I was heading back to my classroom. I’d taken the time off to nurse my new husband back to health. It was the least I could do since he’d taken my share of that beating.
Everyone had been busy that night either watching my husband get punished or hiding.
The beatings usually riled up the single men, so most of the older women hid in their homes with the doors barricaded anytime a punishment took place.
It didn’t always save them, but it worked enough that they always tried.
The streets had been empty, leaving me with enough time—and no witnesses—so I was able to easily move the rest of my stash over into Rip’s home. It was imperative that no one know what I’d stolen or where I kept it.
My heart had broken seeing Rip when he’d come back that night. He still wore the bruises, but had been out of bed the next day, refusing to lay there and rest. He would rather deal with the pain than lay around.
He’d left early this morning to meet with Ethan.
I kept my eyes down as I walked. The last thing I needed was to cause more trouble for Rip.
Now that I was married, Ethan would use my husband in order to make me behave.
It was one thing when I did something that I knew would earn me a punishment, but to do something knowing someone else would take it for me?
That would, by default, have me behaving.
That will please Ethan.
I made a face at that thought and opened the door to my classroom. I had about thirty minutes before it would be filled with students and I needed to set up my materials.
As soon as I’d gotten back to my new home, I’d checked on Mae.
She’d insisted she was fine and had gone back to the row of houses where the unmarried older women lived.
She’d given me a hug and apologized for getting me and my man in trouble.
I told her no woman should have to apologize for what happened to her.
I sighed as I sat down behind my small desk. Pulling a small piece of paper out, I studied it. On here was the tally of all the items I’d stolen from The Order. I had everything I needed except money. There wasn’t nearly enough of that.
We were hardly ever given cash. Everything here was bartered.
I taught everyone’s children, so they built me a house, dropped off extra food, etc.
Ethan gave us all rations, but I would get extras thanks to my position.
To get out of here we would need more than food.
We needed a way to the real world, and a way to stay there.
Like I’d told Rip, Jacob and Bruce were the only two allowed to go into the city to pick up supplies. Ethan claimed it was safer that way. I knew the truth.
He doesn’t want any of us finding out this way of life is bullshit.
My head snapped up at the thought and I looked around, worried that I may have said it out loud and that someone might have overheard.
When I saw that I was still alone, I relaxed.
We couldn’t even think a curse word without worrying that we’d be overheard and hit for it.
That was the life the women and children here led.
The men had it better, but only marginally.
In all honesty, this wasn’t a place for anyone.
Ethan was the only one here who had control and free will.
The rest of us were his slaves. Bruce and Jacob enjoyed being Ethan’s slaves.
They were sadists, they loved to hurt people.
Ethan afforded them that opportunity as often as possible.
Jacob was less vocal about it. Bruce liked to crow and get involved with every punishment he could.
But out of the two of them Jacob was the more dangerous one.
He was the one Ethan went to the majority of the time when he needed someone disposed of in the middle of the night.
I was pretty sure I was the only one here who knew about that part of Jacob other than those in Ethan’s inner circle. There were very few he trusted. Jacob and Bruce were two who had that trust.
I frowned down at my tally, trying to figure out how to get more money.
That was the only thing holding me back.
We weren’t going to have an easy time getting jobs, and Ethan would be searching for us so we’d need to lie low for a while.
That meant we had to have enough finances to find a place to stay and for food.
“Hi, Sister Sloane!” Amara said as she came through the door. She gave me a wide smile.
“Good morning, Amara. Have a seat.” I taught three separate classes for the different aged children. This morning I was working with my mid-range class.
As students began to fill the seats, I hid away my tally sheet and focused on them.
We laughed together as I taught them the various subjects I had on my syllabus.
If Ethan ever figured out where I’d learned most of what I was teaching, he’d kill me.
I planned on being out of here long before that happened.
The hours passed quickly and soon I set the children free to go complete their daily chores. My heart leapt inside my chest as I realized that I had someone to go home to. Rip was proving to be an intelligent, caring man and I enjoyed our time together.
I started supper as soon as I got home, surprised that he wasn’t back yet. I wasn’t sure what he and Ethan were speaking about today, but I hoped there wasn’t any more trouble. That was the last thing my husband needed.
He didn’t know it yet, but the community was buzzing with gossip about him.
Everyone was quite impressed with not only the way he’d handled himself during the whipping and the beating, but that he’d stepped up and taken my punishment as well.
Not to mention that he was up and moving around after only a few days.
His ability to withstand pain was what was impressive to me.
Ethan, of course, managed to spin that to his benefit.
He crowed about Derek being a fine example, taking responsibility for his failures.
Not complaining, arguing, or begging. Ethan was enough of a bastard to take full advantage of that.
It wasn’t all bad though. The women were all half in love with Rip already.
The kids had quizzed me about my new husband with a form of hero worship in their eyes.
It was all incredibly dangerous. The more the people admired him, the angrier Ethan would get. Ethan would get away with this beating, but over time it would be a problem as Rip’s reputation began to grow. If it got bad enough he’d see Rip as a threat to his leadership. That was never good.
The door opened and I smiled at Rip. “Hello.”
“Hey, Angel.” He came over and brushed his knuckles over my cheek.
I dropped my eyes as pleasure coursed through me.
He was very demonstrative and I loved that.
I just wasn’t used to it anymore. Receiving a soft touch wasn’t something I’d had in a long time.
My mother died when I was nine years old.
She’d been the only one who’d cared about me.
There was no doubt in my mind that Ethan had her killed.
That had made stomaching being here all the more difficult for me, but I’d had no choice.
At the time, I’d been too young and by the time I was old enough I’d decided I wouldn’t leave the innocents here to suffer while I escaped.
Some days I wondered if I’d made the right decision.
Then the guilt for letting those intrusive thoughts into my mind would pull my mood into the dark depths for the remainder of the day.
If I escaped, Ethan would think I had help and he’d kill anyone who he suspected of assisting me.
That alone was enough to keep me here for now.
There was only one person in The Order that I tip-toed around, and that was Jacob.
At first glance he seemed like the quiet shadow who followed Ethan around.
Once I’d figured out he was a killer, controlled only by Ethan, I grew a newfound fear of the man.
That fear led to a form of respect. I wasn’t stupid and I didn’t want to end up in a shallow grave that no one would ever find.
Ethan was smart to never do any killing himself. It kept his hands clean enough that the people here didn’t blame him. He had his lackeys do the killing for him. There were always plenty of people willing to do his dirty deeds.
“Smells good.”
I looked back up at Rip and smiled. “Thank you.”
“Is that bread?” he asked, motioning to the dough I was rolling out.
“It’s for a pie crust.”
Interest sparked in his eyes and a smile formed on his handsome face. “Pie, huh? Any chance it’s apple?”
“It is,” I confirmed.
He groaned and my eyes widened as heat shot straight between my thighs at the sexy male sound of appreciation. My eyes dropped to his mouth as he licked his lips.
“I love apple pie.”
“Good,” I breathed. Clearing my throat, I looked back down at my dough.
What was wrong with me? We’d only slept together on the night of our wedding, but over the last few days this persistent ache had built up inside of me.
It was like an itch I couldn’t find so that it could be scratched.
That ache flared brighter as Rip moved in closer to me.
“Something wrong, Baby?” he asked.
I blinked and stared harder at the dough, fighting not to look over at him. His body was pressing against my back and his voice had gotten raspier. Did he somehow know what he was doing to me? No, that wasn’t possible… Was it?
Shaking my head, I used my rolling pin to continue working. “Of course not. Go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Rip’s chuckle was dark and wicked and my eyes darted toward his retreating back as he went to do as I’d ordered.