Is she going to make me strip naked? Here? Now?
It didn’t matter. If he didn’t find a way to escape her, which seemed an insurmountable feat at the moment, a little embarrassment today would save him a lot of agony later, though there would be pain, nevertheless.
He tugged his undershirt from his jeans and was about to pull it over his head when another voice called out from the barn.
“What’s going on here?” Rosa exclaimed as she hurriedly crossed the short distance to them. “Darla? What are you doing here?”
Darla flashed a dismissive glance at the head guard, and then her hard eyes locked on Jake. She crossed her arms and tilted her head. “I’ve come to check on my property,” she said with a meaningful smirk.
Jake saw Rosa’s shadow come up beside him and he glanced at her briefly as she turned toward Darla. Rosa nodded her head and he heard someone he couldn’t see hustle away from the scene, but he didn’t dare investigate who or why. He focused all his attention on Darla, careful not to look her in the eyes, but still keeping her face in his peripheral vision.
Striving to appear compliant was the best way to avoid her unpredictable wrath. Monitoring her facial expressions, he’d learned, prepared him for her inevitable cruelty.
“Have you talked to Monica?” Rosa queried, as if the redhead had not spoken.
“Not yet,” Darla said with a calculating grin that made Jake cringe. “I wanted to look my slave over first.”
“You’ve no right to do anything here without discussing it with Monica first.”
“He’s mine.” Darla bristled, and her arms dropped to her sides, hands balled into fists. “I can do anything I want with him.”
Rosa’s gaze darted between Darla and Jake.
Jake could hear the laughter coming from the river, and he hoped none of the kids wandered back to witness this mortifying fiasco.
He shivered under Darla’s icy glare. Sweat sheathed him, and even though he was standing in the warm summer sun, the slight breeze caressed his skin like an arctic blast.
“Take off your shirt, slave,” Darla said again, and Jake’s eyes flicked to Rosa.
“No, Jake,” Rosa said. “Do not move.”
“You’ve no authority in this, Miss Santos. He’s mine.”
“Not right now he’s not.”
Darla ignored her and turned to Jake. “Did you hear me, slave?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“No,” Rosa repeated when Jake moved to comply. The steely power in her voice caused him to drop his arms again. He didn’t know whom to obey. He wanted to follow Rosa’s directives, but refusing Darla would bring him an unavoidable beating upon his return, or even now.
Darla’s hand flashed toward his groin, and Jake knew he’d hesitated too long. He squeezed his eyes tight and inhaled sharply, his whole body cringing in anticipation of the pain to come.
But nothing happened.
“You will not touch him,” Rosa said in a tone he’d never heard from her before. She sounded dangerous, like a mama bear protecting her young.
Jake’s lids lifted, and he was stunned to see Rosa’s work-hardened hand tightly gripping Darla’s pale wrist and forcing her back, keeping the hated woman from hurting him the way she had so many times before. He sagged in a moment of utter relief, before dread and shame washed it way.
He’d just frozen in place, waiting for Darla to lash out at him. And now, he just stood there letting Rosa defend him.
You’re worthless as a man, he thought bitterly. No longer inhibited by the drug, righteous anger roared through him, along with the desire to do something about it. Nothing was stopping him now, except fear of reprisal, but his fury burned that away too. Although it would be a stupid move, he desperately wanted to confront Darla himself.
Man up and look at her! his long-lost pride demanded, resurrected by weeks of normalcy, revived self-esteem, and the courage Rosa’s support instilled in him now.
He turned his gaze to glare at the flame-haired woman who had caused him so much grief. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Darla lunged forward, attempting to reach him, to punish him for daring to challenge her, if only with his eyes.
Rosa stepped between them and pushed the other woman back once again.
“I may not be able to keep you from speaking,” she said, returning to Jake’s side, “but you will not touch him without Monica’s permission.”
Darla stepped toward Jake and he tensed to meet her attack on his own this time, but Rosa moved into Darla’s path. She glared at the head guard, then her eyes shifted over Rosa’s shoulder to Jake.
“You’re mine, slave,” she hissed, leaning forward, her eyes boring into his. “Don’t let Miss Avery’s soft-hearted practices go to your head. You’ll do as I say or you will pay for your disobedience.”
His shoulders slumped as his rage and unexpected courage deserted him.
She was right. Defying her would gain him nothing. She’d make sure the Section Guard patrols doubled, tripled around Monica’s home and he’d never escape. He might salvage his pride for a few months, but she’d only rip it away from him again in the end. He dropped his head and lowered his eyes. He couldn’t win.
His hands trembled slightly as his fingers reached for the hem of his white T-shirt.
* * *
If you’ve enjoyed the story so far and would like to find out what happens next, get your copy of Jake’s Redemption today.
Turn the page to see more books by Jamie Schulz
* * *
The Angel Eyes Series Book 1
A man bound by chains.
A woman burdened by regret.
Will love set this tortured pair free?
In this nightmarish future where women own men, Bret Masters refuses to serve anyone. But after spending years evading slavers in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, he’s furious when he’s finally caught and sold. So, although his mistress has a pretty face and deliciously tempting curves, he vows to escape.
Angel Aldridge hides her pain behind fences
