Tales of the Forbidden

Published by

Mélange Books, LLC

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

www.melange-books.com

Tales of the Forbidden, Book 1: Forbidden Temptations, Jaden Sinclair, Copyright  2011

Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Credits

Editor: Nancy Schumacher

Copy Editor: Taylor Evans

Format Editor: Mae Powers

Cover Artist: Caroline Andrus

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* * * *

Thanks to Pat Sager,

Who has let me bounce idea after idea off her shoulders When she has had so much going on in her life.

Thanks a bunch!

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Rolls Royce
: BMW AG, Munich Germany

* * * *

www.jadensinclair.com

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Treece was a town that valued its old ways, old customs, with people who preferred to keep things simple and classes of people where they belonged. An old tradition of arranged marriages had been set up for everyone.

When the founders of the town first designed the Compound, it was a chance for every young lady—rich or poor—to have the experience of the rich and the chance for happiness. Their status didn’t matter. Everyone became equal, and to keep it that way, the drink was designed. A simple mixture that helped the people find that right one just for them. One kiss, one taste of pure sweetness, and you knew that person was right and just for you.

But somewhere along the years that equality changed again.

The upper class didn’t like poor girls wedding their rich men. The rich wanted to keep their riches, not share. Yet, one couldn’t change the elixir. Once it picked you, you were matched.

This worked just fine for many years. Girls came, went, married, and stayed. Then things changed once more. The Compound became more of a prison to the unwed girls than a home. Poor fathers were able to sell their daughters as potential wives, servants, or sex toys. The rich didn’t mind this, yet many of the poor did, but had no choice. Some even thought the selling of daughters would lessen the chances of them mating with the upper class.

It didn’t.

The moment no questions were asked, no reprimands were made, more fathers began selling their daughters to the 5

Compound. It became a way for them to improve their own lifestyle or leave, and so many fathers did leave. A trade in flesh some called it; others referred to it as slavery. The rights of young women were stripped away, their lifestyle changed. The young women were ordered about, and kept locked up for the Compound’s celebrations.

Twice a year the Compound held parties. Men who desired to marry would come with the hope of being matched up, paying a small fee to walk through the doors. Girls were paraded about, in the summer and in the fall. Many would welcome the chance to improve themselves, and others would resist with every ounce of strength they had.

6

Treece 4036

“Kera Zoe?”

Kera looked up as shivers went up her spine. Two men in dark suits stood in front of the only exit in the room, both looking right at her. She knew who they were; men from the Compound.

Kera was reading in the public library of Treece, the one and only place in town a poor girl with the hopes of getting the hell out of town could go. At twenty-one she held out the small hope that she was too poor and too old to be considered for the Compound. College was her chosen course in life, and getting into a school far away before her father tried to sell her to the Compound was her goal. Because even though she might be twenty-one, she wouldn’t put it past her father to sell her. Only when she turned twenty-two would she be truly safe from the Compound, or anything else.

The Compound, now there was a thought to make her snort and turn her nose up in the air. The place had been designed to produce elaborate match-made marriages for everyone, but somehow the rules had been changed, and then lost throughout the years. Families of good blood and money walked out through those doors. Not too many poor girls. Girls such as her might be sent to work there, but they rarely ever walked out as brides anymore. Maybe one in a thousand got married but ninety-nine percent of the time girls like her worked at the Compound as whores or slaves, nothing more.

One of the other students in the library pointed at her, and Kera reluctantly stood up. Her heart beat rapidly. Fear wrapped its arms around her body, preventing her from breathing or moving at all as the two masculine, suited figures headed for her 7

table.

“We are here to escort you to the Compound.” One of the men handed her an envelope.

She ripped it open and quickly read the official letter inside.

Her father had left town and sold her to the Compound. How the hell could he sell her? She was twenty-one! Too old to go, too poor for consideration as a wife. And to add more injury to the wound, she would be labeled a trouble maker and kept under lockdown to preserve her virtue for her future husband. All of this she read in the letter.

Kera’s mouth went dry in fear.

One of the men took both of her arms firmly and she was walked out of the library and to a waiting car. Stunned, Kera didn’t even give a thought to trying to escape. All she thought about was how in the hell her father could’ve done this? The Compound was set up for the upper and middle class, not the poor like her!

“There has to be a mistake,” she pleaded. Boxed in by both men she felt like a prisoner going to her execution.” My father can’t do this. I’m twenty-one—too old for this shit!”

They didn’t say a word. Both faced straight ahead, as if made of stone.

Located on the outskirts of Treece, the Compound, a very large, four-story building with bedrooms on each floor, was much like a myth to Kera. Thick concrete fencing and tall iron gates surrounded the grounds, which were always locked.

Once the mansion came into view, Kera began to truly panic.

She had heard rumors from other young girls who’d gone in and come out married, but without proper information, she wondered, could it really be that bad? But there had to be some truth in the rumors, and seeing the place made it all very real for Kera; all
too
fucking real.

She stirred in the seat, causing the men sitting next to her to acknowledge her presence. They restrained her arms again when she made a move for the door, forcing her back into her seat.

The car stopped in front of a set of large double doors. The car door and the double doors opened simultaneously as Kera prepared to fight for her rapidly diminishing freedom.

8

The men still held her arms, but she struggled to break loose as they pulled her from the back seat. A woman came outside, and Kera stopped struggling in order to make eye contact.

She wore a black skirt and white blouse, her salt and pepper hair twisted up on the top of her head in a severe bun. The woman’s cold gray eyes narrowed on Kera. Kera suspected this woman used that look to intimidate others to get what she wanted and to keep the girls in line.

“I’m the Mistress of the Compound.” She held her hands together in front of her and her head high. Kera got the impression the woman was very proud of her role at the Compound. “Welcome.”

She turned her back on Kera and began walking inside. With the men still holding her arms, Kera was powerless to do anything but follow her.

“This is a mistake,” Kera said. “I don’t belong here. My father has no right to do this!”

“Correction.” The woman didn’t turn to look at Kera, but she thrust one finger up in the air. “Under the laws of Treece, you still live under his roof, and that gives him all rights to your well-being.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it!” Kera yelled. “I’m twenty-one. Too damn old.”

“Twenty-two is too old,” the Mistress corrected condescendingly.

They walked down a long, cold marble hallway, past many closed doors until they came to a staircase with sets of stairs going in three different directions. The Mistress strolled toward the left staircase and Kera’s escorts forced her to follow. During the long walk the Mistress explained things to her.

The Compound had various wings and staircases. There was a wing for servants, a wing for those girls in waiting, a more restrictive wing for the trouble-makers, and runaways, and one whole floor of elaborate bedrooms devoted to the married couples. The servant girls walked around freely, dressed in black with white aprons around their waists. Some carried buckets, others stacks of sheets. These were the poor girls who had no other place to go in the town. And if Kera didn’t find herself a husband, then she would be joining their ranks to serve any who 9

came through the door.

They ascended another flight of stairs and started down one last hallway before the Mistress stopped in front of a door. She pulled out some keys, unlocked the door, and stood back. The men shoved Kera inside.

She stumbled in, but managed to keep herself upright, barely. She turned to the woman and glared at her. “This is wrong. I don’t belong here.”

“I agree, but it’s out of my hands. Your father has signed you over to us, so it’s our responsibility to see if you can make a match. Since you are twenty-one, soon to be twenty-two, that only leaves us one day before the next feast to get you ready.

Also, your father mentioned you are a troublemaker, so you will remain in your room, only to come out for meals and class.”

“What?” Kera couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re going to keep me locked up in this damn place?”

“Your things have been brought over,” the Mistress continued, acting as if Kera hadn’t just questioned her. “You will be brought down for meals, unless you behave poorly. You will also have your only class today.”

“And what class is that?” Kera crossed her arms over her chest and leaned to the side. Now she was pissed. She didn’t like her father telling her what to do, and she sure as hell didn’t care for this woman doing it either.

“Each young and inexperienced girl who comes to the Compound for any celebration will attend the sex education class. After all, you all need to know what your husband will expect from you and how to please him.” The Mistress looked Kera up and down disparagingly. “But in your case you’ll get the quick videos in order for you to know what to expect.”

“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m going to watch some damn sex movie or be willing to put up with your bullshit, lady.”

“It’s either that, or you may remain in your room until the time comes for your celebration. That choice is yours. Your breakfast will be delivered here in a few minutes.”

The Mistress turned and walked out of the room, leaving Kera alone. When she heard the turn of a lock, her temper blew, and she screamed in aggravation.

10

She glanced around the bedroom and sighed. It was simple, plain, and not drafty like her bedroom at her father’s house.

There was a full size bed with thick covers and fluffy pillows.

A cream-colored comforter lay folded at the foot of the bed. Two nightstands stood on either side of the bed with lamps on them, one held a clock. Under a window with bars was an oak table with a lamp and a chair.

She had a small closet with everything she owned already inside it. Also, a personal bathroom, complete with shower and bathtub; yet another luxury she lacked at home. Hell, there were times she was damn lucky to have the water turned on, which was always cold because they never had the money to get the water heater fixed.

As she ran her finger across the bathroom countertop Kera thought to herself that if circumstances were different this would be her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape the curse of poverty set upon her by her father.

But she’d been
sold!
Her father sold her! He didn’t give a damn about what she might want to do with her life. All he gave a damn about was making a fast buck.

“Good one, Dad.” She sighed. “You managed to finish fucking up my life perfectly.”

An hour later her breakfast came. Oatmeal, the one dish that she hated with a passion. Hell, she’d rather go hungry then eat that shit. And it came with dry toast and a small glass of juice.

Wow! She really was impressed now.
Not.

The summer celebration was already in the works, which meant her sorry ass was going to be there, with her agreement or without it. Great! At noon, her door opened and she found herself escorted by personal guard to her first, and only, class.

The personal guard didn’t surprise her considering they’d labeled her a troublemaker. They wanted her to attend a sex class, but she had other plans. She turned on her guard and shoved her knee as hard as she could into his groin. He collapsed, moaning in pain and holding himself. She took off running.

She ran for her life, for her freedom, going by memory back the way she’d come into the Compound. By the time she made it back down the stairs, an alarm had sounded.

Kera escaped outside to the gates as they were closing and 11

slipped through them easily to run down the sidewalk, hoping she would make it.

Her first mistake: looking behind her to see if she was being followed. Yep she was. The second mistake: not keeping her full attention on where she was going. Kera collided with two men.

They all went down, with her landing on top of one’s hard chest.

“Oh shit!” he moaned.

Kera closed her eyes while she tried to catch her breath, her sides burning from the run. She sort of felt sorry for the guy she was on. He had caught the brunt of the fall, cushioning hers, after all.

“Where the hell did she come from?” another asked.

Slowly Kera opened her eyes and looked to see who she’d landed on.

He was big. That much she could feel for herself. He wore a white t-shirt stretched tight across his chest and over his muscular arms. As she lowered her field of vision, she saw the shirt tucked into tight-fitting jeans.

His hair was long, touching his shoulders and dark as night.

He had full lips, a straight nose, narrow cheeks, and eyes that seemed to be just as dark brown as his hair, paired with long pretty lashes.

“Shit, where the hell did you come from?” she asked, pushing away from him and scrambling back to her feet.

“There she is!”

Kera turned her head and saw two guards coming for her.

She tried to push past the man she’d knocked down, who had also gotten to his feet but he didn’t budge.

Two guards halted when they reached her, grabbed her arms that were jerked back. All Kera could do was glare at the guy on whom she’d landed, currently blocking her way to freedom.

She couldn’t speak. She glared at him as he stared back at her so boldly, until she could see him no more, thanks to being dragged back to the Compound.

The Mistress awaited her at the front entrance. Kera was escorted up the steps to the woman, who greeted her with a stinging slap to the face.

“Now you’ll spend the whole time here in your room. Meals 12

will be brought to you. You will have no contact with anyone.”

Kera snorted. “As if that’s any different from before. And you can take that shit you call food and stuff it up your ass.”

“Since you are so very particular in your eating habits, you can make do with oats for the rest of your stay.” The woman looked like she’d sucked on a lemon.

“Ask me if I give a fuck,” Kera retorted angrily as she struggled to be free.

“Take her to her room.”