Given (20 page)

“Who knows why she did it, but I doubt painting and cooking
drove her to kill herself. I’d like you to hire him. You just don’t like him
because he looked at you like he did.”

“It had nothing to do with that. Just, humor me please.
Let’s find someone with a more—acceptable
backstory
.”

“Life isn’t some novel with
backstories
.
If we’re going to do this, let me pick someone I like because they’re real.
If I have to have a ‘fake’ friend, at least let them have a ‘real’
life story.”
She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

His lips compressed into a thin line. “I just want to do
what’s right for you. I know something is bothering you. I don’t want you to be
unhappy,
Kristannie
. No matter what you believe, I do
care about you. More than I probably should, considering you belong to all of
us. I want your heart, not just your body.”

His words thrilled her, even if she knew she shouldn’t trust
them. He was a man who made his living with words. He could easily just be
saying what he knew she wanted to hear.

“Okay, if you want Lee, he’ll be your companion,”
Brax
said unhappily.

Krista squealed and bounced off her chair. She threw her
arms around Braxton. Steve cleared his throat. They turned. Standing with the
housekeeper was a short man with a long face that reminded Krista of a rat. Rat
Face carried a briefcase and wore a very nice, tailored suit.

“Hello, I’m Ken Bentley. I’m
Kristannie’s
caseworker.” He spoke quickly, extending his hand.

Braxton shook it and Krista did the same. They all sat down
at the table.

“I’m pleased to see affection,” Ken stated as he opened his
case and started pulling out some papers. “Will the others be joining us?”

“Steve, could you please tell everyone Mr. Bentley is
waiting?”
Brax
asked politely.

Steve hurried away. Mr. Bentley looked pointedly at
Brax
. “Is your housekeeper straight?”

“Yes,”
Brax
replied truthfully.
The caseworker frowned.

“I’m getting a companion, a gay companion, will that resolve
the issue?” Krista said nervously. She didn’t like Ken Bentley, but she
couldn’t put her finger on the reason why.

“I see,” the man said vaguely. He looked at some paperwork
he’d pulled from his briefcase. “You’ll have to have the companion here during
the hours the straight male employee is on staff. He lives in a separate
building, so as long as you have cameras monitoring his home at all times and
he’s only in the residence when Krista is chaperoned, there won’t be a problem.
I’ve been reviewing the menus that you’ve sent and they seem in order, however
I noticed she was given wine. You do realize this is an off-list item. It’s
counting against you. If there’s another instance of this, she’ll be put back
into lottery circulation.”

Brax’s
quick intake of breath told
Krista he didn’t realize how serious the “special” dinner really was. “I’m very
sorry. We won’t be allowing it again.”

Krista’s anger rose. The men were talking about her as if
she wasn’t in the room. “I’d like to stay here, Mr. Bentley. I’m content with
my placement.”

“That’s very nice,
Kristannie
,
however your presence here is a privilege, and no great privilege comes without
great responsibility. Do you understand me, Mr. Bray?”

“Yes. It won’t happen again,”
Brax
replied before gritting his teeth.

Krista squeezed his leg. The realization of how carefully
they’d need to tread during this man’s visit made sweat bead on her forehead
and her palms began to feel moist.

“I’ve viewed her records from the protection facility and I
see that next Monday is the most fertile day of her cycle. I’ll have the
forecast emailed to you later this week. Please print off the menstrual cycle
tracker.” He turned his attention in Krista’s direction. “Please keep thorough
records of your cycle. This will help you become pregnant by allowing us to
track any changes to your fertility pattern and provide invaluable information
to our experts in Washington. Will you be responsible for this? It will only
help keep you placed here.”

Krista nodded, feeling frantic. She’d tell them anything to
keep herself from enduring this awkward process of a sexual meet and greet all
over again with a new six.

“I’d expect you to allow all six men to have intercourse
with you on Monday,” the rat-faced man informed her coldly.

She shivered and bit her tongue in time to stop her
declaration that Monday was just for
Brax
. Once he
left, what they did with the schedule was their business. As long as she was
pregnant quickly, they didn’t need to know how many men she took on a night.
Sitting with the cold, clearly uncaring social worker left Krista feeling
dirty.
Brax
took her hand under the table.

“I’m pleased to see genuine affection, but emotion only goes
so far,” the man stated. “We need to see results. Your placement here is about
pregnancy, not about romance. I’m sure you know that.”

“Yes, I believe that was covered by the wonderfully
informative video presentation I watched on my last day in the protection
facility. Thanks for that, really helpful stuff.” She couldn’t stop her natural
sarcasm and immediately regretted it as the man began scribbling furiously on
his legal notepad. “I know my place, if that’s what has you worried. These
gentlemen have performed their duties well, and if I’m not already pregnant,
I’m sure it’ll happen soon.”

Mr. Bentley glanced up over his glasses, and then began
writing again. She gave
Brax
an apologetic look, but
his quick grin told her he wasn’t angry.

“I will be delighted to provide these fine men with many
children. We are working at that diligently,” she added. Once more, the social
worker paused in his writing to look at her. She decided it was time to stop
talking.

The others came in and sat down. Twenty tense minutes later,
Mr. Bentley shook everyone’s hands and left. Krista let go of an audible sigh
of relief and slumped in her chair.

“Well, that was uncomfortable.” Jared’s words were met with
nods of agreement.

“Damn, I think he hates us,” Max added unhelpfully.

“Hey,
dude’s
gotta
do his job,” Damon said.

Krista glared at him, and she wasn’t the only one.

“Let’s just make sure we do what needs doing and that Steve
doesn’t transmit the food list until we double check that only ‘approved’ foods
appear,” Jared suggested.

“So what are we doing about Monday? He wants us all to sleep
with Krista. I know it’s your day,
Brax
, but I think
we should do our best to maximize her odds of pregnancy,”
DeAnthony
said.

“I’d accept that, if
Brax
agrees
to it. I’d like to spend the night in your arms again
Brax
,
but how will you feel knowing I’m so…used.” She looked down at her hands,
studying her nails so she wouldn’t have to see his face.

“I could never see you as
used
,
Kristannie
.
If you’re all right with it, then I can accept it. Take them as you want throughout
the day, but I’d like us to have supper alone together in my room, and spend
the night with you in my bed.”

“I’d like that too.”

“Sorry to interrupt the love fest, but tonight is my night.
You okay with that?” Max asked. Krista thought his voice sounded a little off,
as if he were nervous.

“Yes, Max. I’m okay with it. Where would you like to meet?”

“I’d like you to come to my room, whenever you’re ready. I’m
not too hungry. I think I might just as well skip supper. I’m going upstairs to
watch TV.” He left the room quickly and as soon as he was gone Jared snickered.
Krista gave him a withering look and he quieted.

Steve started serving them supper. Krista loved the
delicious cod, but she didn’t overeat. Knowing that Max felt uncomfortable made
her sad. He’d gone through something terrible and didn’t want to hurt her. It
made her want to give him the best she had inside to give. When she excused
herself from the table,
Brax
grabbed her hand and
squeezed it.

“Max can be a hard man. Do you want me to come with you?”
There was worry in his eyes. She knew he was worried that Max might have
another outburst.

“I think I’ll be all right. Thanks for worrying about me.”
She leaned over and placed a kiss on his lips, as soft as a butterfly’s
flutter. There were a few grumbles from the others, but she ignored them. As
much as she wanted harmony, they’d have to understand she needed to be human
too. If she wanted to kiss
Brax
, they’d just have to
accept it.

She went to her room and put on the dress Max had picked out
for her the day they did the internet shopping. It was slutty, definitely not
the kind of thing she’d buy. The sleeveless, black dress barely covered her
ass. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair. Max was a hard man,
Brax
was right, but he’d also shown her a human side. He
wasn’t impossible to reach. Tonight, she wanted to reach him.

She closed her door and walked quietly down the hall. She
heard the TV and saw a light, this was Max’s room. Krista knocked softly. The
door flew open. She stepped back, surprised.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“No worries. Hi,” Krista said as she walked inside. His room
was tidy and very plain. Not a single personal effect sat on the dresser and no
art or photos hung on the wall. The room looked empty.

“You don’t have to do this, Krista. I’ll tell them you did,
if you like. I don’t want you to feel forced,” he said, and she noticed the
twitch in his cheek.

“I know. That’s why I’m willing. Thank you, Max, I promise
this won’t be rape.”

“Really?”
She could see how
surprised he was.

“I mean it. I like you, Max.”

He gave her a doubtful look.

“We didn’t start off on the best foot, but I don’t think
you’re an asshole…anymore.”

He grinned. “Make yourself comfortable.”

She began unzipping the side of her dress. The zipper was on
the left side. Max stopped her hand. “Sit down. I want to relax with you a
moment, just talk.”

She nodded, feeling relieved.
“Sounds
good.
So what do you want to talk about?”

“For starters, I hate your social worker. What a jerk!”

“Agreed.”
She giggled. Max smiled.

“His visit did make me think. Do you really want to be here?
Would you be just as happy if they put you back on the lottery?”

“No. You guys, with the exception of Damon, have been really
good to me. I know you’ve done more than what’s expected. This isn’t ideal, but
it could be a lot worse. I saw things on the internet—terrible things.”

“Damn internet, so that’s what had you so riled up?”

“Yes, and if I want to look at it, I feel that I have the
right to. That’s the thing. You guys are letting me be human. The consequence
is that I’m starting to care about you, but also that I’m not blind to what’s
going on in the world. Those things could happen to me, I need to know so I can
be prepared.”

He grunted. “I get it. I just don’t want you to get upset.
If you see something that gets under your skin like that again, just talk to
one of us, me even, that way we’ll understand. Geez, for all we knew you wanted
a new placement.”

“That wasn’t it at all. I saw some men in military uniforms
teaching guys how to restrain a woman without injuring her for sex. Damn it, I
just don’t get it.”

“There’s a big push to shut the lottery down. You know
they’ve started it out East. One of these days, they might just throw you all
back into custody and just go
invitro
. Things are
getting worse. Those who don’t know how to treat a woman—girls who can’t accept
things like you do—they’re fucking it all up for the rest of us.”

She made a thoughtful noise. “I didn’t see it that way. I’m
sure most don’t. People tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to major life
events.”

“You’re grounded. I was worried we’d get some drama queen,
but so far you seem pretty normal.”

“Gee thanks, I feel so special.”

“I’m not Braxton. I don’t have his ability to seduce you
with words. I think I’ll do a good job with my dick, but probably not my
mouth—words, at least. We all have something to offer you, if you let us. Even
Damon, I know he feels like shit. I was going to hit him, but he was beating
himself up badly enough for both of us. We’re all mad about this. He just
really didn’t realize how hard it was to share. I think he’s jealous, and he’s
also not one who’s going to be able to say the right words.”

“You seem to be doing okay. I don’t want lies or poetry. I
want something real. I want a family, and even if this isn’t exactly a
fairytale, I want whatever joy we can have.”

“Do you mean that?” Max’s eyes grew wide. She could see the
hope in his expression.

“I do. I want to be loved, and I know I can love you all,
even if it’s not all equal or perfect.”

“I’ll take what you can give me.”

She reached out for him and he flinched. She dropped her
arm, feeling hurt. After everything he’d said, his immediate rejection was
shocking.

“I don’t like to be touched,” he mumbled.

“Sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“Stand up,” he ordered huskily. She did.

Max took hold of her zipper, and slowly began sliding it
down. She stood still, listening to the sound of the teeth releasing. The
fabric slipped to the floor with a whisper, pooling around her feet. She
stepped out, naked. She hadn’t worn a bra or panties. Max’s quick intake of
breath and tenting fabric at his crotch told her he liked her nudity.