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Part I: The Mine

Chapter One

Damn,he ached

Jess stared into the darkness above his bunk, willing hi He was exhausted from his work in the mines that shift—fourteen hours of pure hell His ck didn’t seeh He was rock hard, and hiswith picture of her

He had seen her for the first ti a cart loaded with food into the dormitories

She had been wearing a long, shapeless dress and a head scarf, like all those damn wo to look at any of them A hundred men starved for food and sex surrounded her No wonder she'd been afraid to look at them

Their guards hadn’t treated her with any respect Of course, they never treated any of their women with respect, but this had been so her own people They didn’t speak to her, they didn’t joke a themselves They looked at her with disdain, as if she wasn’t worthy to call herself a Pilgrim

He had known she was different from the others, too Even swathed in dark fabric, he had felt her presence across the room He could sense her, smell her She smelled like woman, and that first instant he saw her, he kneanted her

Of course, they all wanted her They wanted her even though her fear of theht them food Twice a day, one of them would wheel a loaded cart in to the ry uards,any of the men instantly, but the fear was still there After all, s, even if it leads to their own death The women had to know that…

He had been at the far end of the barracks when she entered, but there was so about her that drew him to her Maybe it was the way she carried herself; she was surrounded by a hundred men starved for a woman's touch, yet she reh a world of her own He hadslaves until he was in front of her, taking the cart and pulling it away gently She looked up at hiuards watched in silence, hands on their weapons, but he did nothing threatening He simply eased the cart out of her hands

Her eyes had been ith surprise when they reen and almond-shaped; feline, like a cat He had felt like he was falling into thehtly dirty, as if she had been working all day Perhaps cleaning There was exhaustion there, and a bit of defiance She hadn’t ducked his gaze, but ht have been afraid of hi to show it