Love in the Land of Fire Read online

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2012 Rebecca Brochu

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-073-5

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Marie Medina

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  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 and for the first time he notices the blemish, the swirl of damaged silver that marks her as Disavowed.

  She’d been Bonded once, had vowed her loyalty and her life to a single dominant only to be rejected and thrown away sometime afterwards, the dominant’s family sigil forcefully removed from her collar. To undergo such a thing was to be Disavowed, to be marked as unworthy or useless. Josiah knew that she would be unlikely to enter into another contract or to ever Bond again. There were few who were willing to take a chance on a submissive that had already been turned loose after being Bonded.

  Feeling his already flagging desire fully deflate, Josiah presses down firmly on the center of his oricula and listens as the voice of the Lead Enforcer of his unit, a man named Eagan, comes across the communication line he’s just opened.

  “Marx, I was wondering if you were going to answer me or not.” Eagan’s voice is amused and Josiah knows that the other man isn’t actually bothered by his delay in answering his comm request.

  Eagan’s a lighthearted individual with a temper to match his fiery mane and larger build. He’s also been happily Bonded for over twenty years to a serene blond from The Land of Water and is one of the kindest and most intelligent enforcers Josiah has ever met. It’s no wonder he’d made L.E. at the tender age of thirty-five.

  “I was…indisposed, Eagan. I thought I put in for leave today?” His voice is sharp and he makes an effort to soften it when he catches the submissive flinch slightly out of the corner of his eye.

  “Damn I’m sorry about that, Marx, but I just got sent a p.a.t.c.h about a case that I think you’re the best one to handle. I wouldn’t have interrupted you if I had anyone else that I think would be suited for this kind of thing.”

  Josiah pinches the bridge of his nose with his opposite hand, clenches his eyes shut and breathes out a low hissing sigh. If Eagan thought he was the only one for the job then it was either one of two things; first, something that required his particular skill set from the Crimson Elite, or second, it was something that would be best handled by someone with Josiah’s particular feelings when it came to the care and treatment of submissives.

  Neither option promises a particularly pleasant assignment.

  “Is this a Crimson Elit
e thing or more of a morals issue?”

  “Ah, I would say that it might be a little bit of both to be honest with you.”

  “Fine. Give me a minute to get back to my transport and then you can p.a.t.c.h me the file.”

  “Thanks, Marx. I’ll make sure you’re put in for time and a half for this one since it’s interrupting your leave.

  Eagan out.”

  Josiah gets to his feet slowly, still aware of the submissive in the corner, and redresses with quick and efficient movements. When he’s done he approaches the woman carefully, fully aware of the dangers of cornering anyone, even a submissive, and crouches down to make himself less intimidating.

  “It’s alright, sweet; I’m not going to hurt you.” Josiah’s careful to keep his voice gentle and coaxing but she sits still and silent and after a few moments he sighs deeply once more, rises to his full height and heads for the door.

  “I’ve got to go, but you can keep the credits and the time that I paid for. Take the rest of the night for yourself as well. Rest, eat, sleep, do whatever you need to do in order to regain some strength and peace. If your madam has any issues with what I’ve told you to do have her comm me and I’ll set the situation straight.”

  He’s almost gone, the door sliding open in front of him and one foot over the threshold when her voice stops him cold.

  “Why would you do that? Why would you be so kind to someone like me even when you didn’t get what you paid for?”

  He takes a moment to consider and then answers her with something as close to the truth as he’s willing to get at the moment.

  “Let’s just say that I knew someone in your position once and I know how hard it is. A good meal and an undisturbed night’s rest is less than you deserve but it’s all that I have the power to give you.”

  Josiah resumes his movements and the door slides closed behind him, the submissive’s soft sobs ringing in his ears.

  Chapter Two

  Josiah moves swiftly through the wide-open corridors of The Crimson Lotus, stopping on the way out to have a quiet word with the handler at the front desk in an effort to make things easier for the submissive he’s left behind. It only takes a few moments to convey his wishes before he leaves and he knows from the way that the handler’s eyes take in his tier gems and the feather that marks him as Crimson Elite that he will be obeyed.

  There are not many who are willing to defy direct orders from an individual of his tier and skill set and that fact is something that Josiah uses shamelessly in this situation.

  He moves seamlessly through the bustling street outside the pleasure house, gaze as watchful as always and his stride eating up the sidewalk as he moves to the charging station where he’d stored his transport. He enters his pass code to release the locks that keep his sleek black model grounded and is inside in a quick series of fluid movements and queuing up the startup sequence in seconds.

  Once he’s settled Josiah takes a moment to prepare, to roll his shoulders and stretch his neck in an effort get into the correct frame of mind for the task ahead. He stops after a few seconds and reaches down to activate his p.a.t.c.h. The Personal and Technical Communications Handheld is as long as his forearm, as thin as paper, and folds just as easily into its docking station, which comes in the form of the wide silver cuff around his left wrist. The piece of tech is extremely useful and enables him to send and receive data to and from other units that are on the network. It makes his job as an enforcer easier by far as it allows him to compile the data on his cases no matter where he is.

  P.a.t.c.h active, Josiah presses a finger to the centerpiece of his oricula and informs the implant to initiate a connection with Eagan on a secure channel. He waits patiently for the other man to answer and when he does they waste no time in getting down to business.

  “The situation is this. Rafe Zweil, a fourth tier submissive, was reported as insubordinate and violent by one Noah Frisch, a second tier dominant, and get this, Zweil’s supposed future Bonded. We’ve not been able to pull up a contract on record but there’s still the possibility that it was an in-house agreement. Apparently Zweil refused to submit to correction and instead pulled a runner, but not before he managed to wound Frisch and incapacitate at least four guards on his way out. I’m sending you a p.a.t.c.h file with all of the information we’ve managed to gather on him as of now. As for identifying him, we haven’t managed to get a recent still shot of him but there is a video from a surveillance camera that’s more than sufficient, and let me tell you right now that this one is one hell of a sub. He’s completely wasted on a two; he should be matched with someone on his own level. There’s no way anyone else will be able to handle him.”

  Josiah takes Eagan’s words with a grain of salt, familiar with his superior’s almost complete inability to talk without exaggerating at least to a small degree, as he reads through the basic information they’ve managed to gather on the other male. It reads like any other straightforward report and lets Josiah know small things about his subject. Zweil is a twenty-nine year old fourth tier submissive, six foot-two with black hair and green eyes. He’s rated high on the intellect scale and apparently has a history of violence. The majority of the reports on his record have been filed by the previously mentioned Frisch and Zweil’s own Head of House, a paternal aunt by the name of Jean.

  Overall it’s neither the best nor the worst report that Josiah’s ever read so he’s hard pressed to see what makes this Zweil so special. Except of course for the fact that the younger man is, by all rights, being done a grave injustice by being promised to someone he outranks to such a major degree. Functioning matches between two individuals separated by only one tier were rare, and a match between a four and a two is practically unheard of. With such a large gap between ranks there is practically a guarantee that the relationship will fail as either one or both of the pair would be unable to accommodate their partner’s needs.

  Still Josiah is careful to keep an open mind when he accesses the video file that’s attached. He’s hardly prepared for the way he feels his breath catch in his throat and his cock harden against the seam of his leather pants almost immediately at the sight of his subject apparently fleeing what should be his home. The desire that had dwindled within him earlier roars back with a vengeance.

  Rafe Zweil is beautiful.

  His description doesn’t do him justice at all. It doesn’t say that Zweil is lean and tightly muscled with tanned skin and legs that go for miles, or that his raven hair falls in a rippling wave to just below his shoulders. It fails to mention that he is obviously skilled in hand to hand from the way that his movements contain the grace and awareness of a seasoned fighter as he takes down the guards that try to stop him from working his way across the open grounds of the compound.

  When Zweil turns and for a moment seems to stare directly at the camera recording his every move, Josiah pauses the film with a touch of his finger and silently calculates the other things the file fails to adequately explain. It doesn’t touch on the angular planes of the male’s face, on the sharp line of his jaw and the delicious length of his throat. More importantly it neglects to mention the way that his brows arch upwards over a pair of almost startlingly green eyes that are wide with fear and pain.

  It’s that look, the one that Josiah’s seen in the eyes of hundreds of other submissives over the years, that snaps him out of his daze and prompts him to rewind the video and watch it once more with analytical eyes and a dawning suspicion. It isn’t long after Zweil first comes on camera that Josiah swears softly under his breath, his dark suspicions confirmed.

  Rafe Zweil had been beaten and badly from the looks of it.

  It’s in the way Zweil limps on screen, his face tight with pain and his movements stiff as his eyes dart everywhere in search of an escape. He’s wearing a look of almost panic in those first few seconds before the guards rush onscreen and Josiah knows in his gut that this submissive is running from something far more damaging than a routine corrections sess
ion. The look on his face is too hunted, too desperate, for him to be doing anything short of running for his life.

  Josiah’s all the more impressed at the way the other man manages to push back his pain in order to force his body to move fast enough and smoothly enough to take down the guards he encounters. At the same time it worries him more because this time around he can see what those actions cost the injured male. He sees the grimace on his face, and the way that his lips are pursed in a white line as he presses a hand against his ribs and forces himself to stay upright and continue moving until he’s finally out of the range of the cameras.

  Zweil’s not only beautiful and apparently intelligent, but he’s also a survivor, and that’s a trait that Josiah can deeply appreciate in another person.

  Josiah’s silent for another moment before he remembers that Eagan is still on the channel and that Zweil is out in the city somewhere alone, unprotected, and injured.

  Josiah needs to find him fast.

  “Do we have a location on him, Eagan?” Josiah’s voice is sharp and this time he doesn’t try to tone it down at all.

  “He’s caught your attention, hasn’t he? I figured you’d like him. From what little bit I saw of that video he seemed like he’d be your type.” Eagan sounds contemplative and it pisses Josiah off to a small degree because now is not the time to discuss his preferences in male submissives.

  “Give me a location, Eagan.” He grits the words out between clenched teeth even as he refolds and docks his p.a.t.c.h before he completes the ignition sequence on his transport and prepares to head out in whatever direction Zweil was last seen.

  “Alright, alright. No need to get uppity about it. Reports have him last seen going west towards the Ember Harbor district. If he makes it onto a cargo ship and out of Fire territory we’ll have no chance of getting our hands on him again so you have to get to him before he gets out. Apparently he did a lot of damage to Frisch and he’s demanding reparations. Zweil’s going to have a lot to answer for when you bring him in. After what he’s done today he’ll be lucky to end up in a pleasure house afterwards.”