Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2012 Rebecca Brochu
ISBN: 978-1-77130-073-5
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Marie Medina
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WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For you as always
LOVE IN THE LAND OF FIRE
Shangri-La, 1
Rebecca Brochu
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Josiah Marx almost ignores the summons when his implant chimes softly in his ear. He’s long overdue for a turn at the pleasure houses and to have his only trip in months interrupted is enough to have him practically snarling in rage and the communal submissive he’s paid for the evening scrambling backwards in fear. He gets control of his temper quickly at her movement and manages to reign in his anger enough to give the wary woman a reassuring smile. She doesn’t seem to notice and instead curls herself tighter in her position against the opposite wall. The sight of her cowering form almost draws a darker frown to Josiah’s face before he manages to catch himself.
Submissives like her are the reason he normally avoids the pleasure houses in the first place and only frequents the more upscale and reputable establishments like The Crimson Lotus when he can no longer ignore his urges. Still even in the more expensive houses there is always the chance of running across something like this. It is a sad fact that those who are indebted to the pleasure houses are normally the ones who’ve been beaten and abused or abandoned for one reason or another and given no choice but to take a position as a communal pleasure giver.
To be fair there was also a good portion of them who chose the lifestyle in an attempt to make contact with as many possible matches in the hopes of finding someone to enter into a contract with and perhaps eventually Bond with. Sadly the number of submissives who willingly chose the lifestyle were far outnumbered by those with no other choice at all.
Abuse of such a nature has always been especially rampant in The Land of Fire. As one of the four Great Lands of Shangri-La, The Land of Fire tended to concentrate on military prowess as opposed to the more peaceable pursuits of the other three. As such the men and women who belong to the house tend to be battle-hardened and quick to both passion and anger. It is a volatile mix of personalities that unfortunately leads to an overabundance of abuse and a frankly sickening number of fearful submissives. Even the ever tightening laws regarding their care and treatment have done little to stop the crimes committed against those who should by all rights be treasured.
As a fourth tier dominant who rose to his position thanks in part to his time in The Land of Fire’s armed services and then the years he’s spent in his current position as an enforcer, Josiah has seen his fair share of both cases and then some. Sadly enough he’s almost become accustomed to seeing the abuse even though it still makes his blood boil each time. It was actually one of the more unpleasant motivations behind him accepting a place on the enforcer squad after he’d resigned from the Crimson Elite, a special operations division of the armed forces, at the age of twenty-nine. He’d been in the armed forces since he was a small child. He’d practically been raised in the barracks, and he’d seen so much death and pain that when the time to renew his commission had come up he’d chosen to retire instead and take up a position where he might do some actual good.
He’s pleased that after almost six years he feels confident enough to say that he actually has.
Still the abuse that he sees practically every day affects him far more than he cares to admit and as a result he’s often far more happy to stay celibate instead of indulging in the pleasure houses on a regular basis.
When he actually does partake, Josiah is always especially careful to treat his temporary subs with all of the gentle care that he can muster, withholding the darker aspects of his passion in an effort to spare them. He knows that there are far too many dominants who do not share the same views that he does and that unfortunately their behavior can and will be overlooked if there are credits available to grease greedy palms.
Besides, at his age without a contract or a Bonded and no actual prospects Josiah’s become rather accustomed to ignoring his baser instincts.
The chime sounds again, slightly louder this time, and with a harsh exhale Josiah reaches upwards to run his finger lightly over the thin metal of his ear implant known as an oricula. His fingertips trace over the delicate pattern that swirls out of his inner ear, up and around the cartilage, forming an intricate cuff that tapers to a point at the end and is adorned with the four small round rubies that announce both his Land and his tier. The small, intricately carved crimson feather that hangs from the tip tells its own story and marks him as someone not to be trifled with. His eyes track back over to the submissive, his gaze taking in her fall of raven curls, her smaller and unadorned oricula, and the collar with a single ruby embedded in the middle that marks her as a first tier submissive. He feels pity well in him when she shifts and the light reflects over the surface of the band
