Pride

Julia Payton

Description

He took her against her will…

Now they’re on the run. Maxim, the Colonel and leader of the eastern states of the old United States, and Iolanthe, the Pure he wants for his own, must leave the Citadel after a Resistance attack. Forced together by circumstance, the tumultuous battle of lust that started long ago can’t be ignored any longer.

Tiberius, second in command to the Colonel, is faced with restoring civility to the battle-torn Citadel. Instead he finds complication in the form of a woman from the Resistance. Sophie drives him wild. She may also be a spy. But when her children go missing, Tiberius steps in to help, as he is unable to let Sophie go.

As the tension between the two nations heat up, so do the passions between the Pure and the men that want them. Does giving into their demands mean losing everything? Is freedom worth the price of passion? Both Pure must face new decisions, and as the battle around them darkens, will they let choice sway them? Or limitation hold them back?

This is book two in the Colonel’s Conquest series and does not include a HEA. Although, there will be a HEA by the series conclusion.

Publisher’s Note: This dark dystopian romance is not a wine and flowers romance. The men are warriors and the women are owned. Take the ride if you dare, you’ll be glad you did. This sci-fi story contains elements of danger, suspense, mystery, power exchange, non-consent, adult themes and possible triggers.

 

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Rough Romance
• Alpha (ethology)
• Power exchange
• Mystery
• Dark
• Kidnapped
• Captive
• Dominant
• Discipline
• Sci-Fi
• Suspense
• Danger
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Eclipse Press
• Date de parution: 14 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645633693
• Langue: English

Extrait

Pride
Colonel’s Conquest - Book Two


Julia Payton
Published by Eclipse Press
An Imprint of
ABCD Graphics and Design, Inc.
A Virginia Corporation
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA 22901

©2020
All rights reserved.

No part of the 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. The trademark Blushing Books is pending in the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Julia Payton
Pride

EBook ISBN: 978-1-64563-369-3
Print ISBN: 978-1-64563-370-9
Audio ISBN: 978-1-64563-371-6
v2

Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
This book contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
Dad. This is for you.
And for those who believed in me. Thank you.
Contents



Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39


Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Julia Payton
Prologue

I n a post-viral world, a dictator called the Colonel has come into leadership on the eastern seaboard of the old United States. Iolanthe is one of the genetically immune females, with the ability to birth a viable child. She is one of the Pure. The Colonel, also known as Maxim, takes her captive and wants her to be his lover and companion.
Their nation is a dangerous one. Electrical grids have ceased functioning and without the Colonel’s oversight, anarchy and chaos would be everywhere. Without modern conveniences, the land is filled with the homeless and those who take advantage of them. Iolanthe lived on the streets for years, just her mother and herself. It’s only when the Colonel steps in and takes her into his private home that she sees wealth and power firsthand. She knows that to accept the Colonel is to become his possession. He is likely to want her prized virginity, but that is something she swore to her mother she’d never give up.
The Colonel’s servant Jonathan takes every opportunity to entice Iolanthe, even though he claims to be attracted to other men. The servant doesn’t act like the slave he is reputed to be. His presence is a threat and Iolanthe knows the danger is real. His offered friendship is tenuous and uncertain and not to be trusted.
While locked in her bedroom by an angry Jonathan, Iolanthe takes a mirror and uses it to call for help by catching the sun through the window. She cuts herself on the broken shards and Maxim finds her bleeding. He takes the time to gently stitch her up and in spite of his callous and sexualized attention towards her, she realizes there may be a softer side to the merciless leader.
Iolanthe is in turmoil. Jonathan continues to try to deviously tempt her, to plot, plan and manipulate. Unfortunately, she is attracted to both him and the Colonel. She wants freedom above all else, but the only thing she feels she has to offer is something she won’t give willingly—her virginity. Maxim desperately wants it, yet claims he already owns her so he could take it at any time he chose. She offers it to him in exchange to be let go, but perversely he won’t comply. Desperate to be let go, Iolanthe makes a deal with Jonathan, knowing that when she has to pay it’ll be terrible for her.
The Colonel takes drastic measures to ensure the safekeeping of what he feels is his property: he brings in two of his soldiers to guard over her. One of them, Zahir, blatantly admits he has no trust in Iolanthe, though she can’t understand why.
During this time, Maxim surprises her with an unexpected act of kindness.. An attack occurs while they are out, and Maxim is shot protecting her. Once again, she is aware of the Colonel’s flaws, but occasional mercies.
Zahir doesn’t care for Iolanthe, but Jonathan’s motivations are less obvious. Jonathan is still set on gaining his payment. As she is trying to combat Jonathan’s lusty attention, Zahir catches Jonathan in the middle of seducing Iolanthe. The Colonel, in his rage, punishes her. Iolanthe is condemned to the streets, while Kal and Zahir once again are left to guard her. She doesn’t know how long she will serve under Maxim’s warranted discipline. She only knows that she has done something so terrible that she has been given a sentence and judgment that will see her back into the squalor where she once came from.
Chapter 1

Maxim
H e lost her. He fucking lost her.
It was all Maxim could think, all he could fucking feel. Jonathan laughed from somewhere deep in the house as Maxim paced through the brownstone, hurrying to find him. Maxim wanted war. He wanted death. He wanted to find his uncle and search out the meaning for the betrayal and the hurt he had caused him. Why? Why had his relative done this to him? It didn’t seem plausible that one-minute Iolanthe was nearly his for the taking, and the next she was spread out like a banquet, with Jonathan lavishing all thought and attention on her. His fists clenched, the same as his heart. Why?
He followed the manic laughter. Down the stairs, into the dark basement, into the cells below. Jonathan stood in the black of the dungeon, his taunting derision making Maxim ready to plunge his knife into Jonathan’s belly. He didn’t though. There were some things for which he had to show restraint, and his uncle was the one person he’d promised to always care for. He failed many, many times, and it constantly grieved him. Maybe this was his penance, losing Iolanthe. Losing the one woman–
He focused, avoiding the angry and bitter sobs that wanted to rack over his body. He turned to his uncle. Jonathan’s viperous tease lifted the shackles upon his skin.
“Why did you do it, Jonny?” he asked.
The laughter stopped. His uncle laid his hands upon the metal bars of a cell, caressing them as a lover would.
Jonathan clicked his tongue, examining him. “You want her. A shame.”
Maxim flinched. He said nothing. He wouldn’t dignify his hurt. He answered quietly, his hands outspread, taming a violently wild beast.
“Why did you do it?” he asked again.
He had to know. Why?
Jonathan cackled, a disgusting parade of pride and tribulation. Introspectively he looked at Maxim, but there was nothing gentle or kind in his gaze.
“If I had been normal,” Jonathan said in mock sadness.
Was he truly upset, a man given to torment and pain? No, decidedly not, though Maxim once thought his uncle capable of normal emotion. Numbness radiated from him, a psychopath’s destructive force. Despite his ability to consume violence and rage, Maxim didn’t understand mindlessness. He felt a shiver of unease inside. His uncle kept speaking.
“If I had been given a useful body or a useful way of life...”
He paused and licked his lips while looking at Maxim, lasciviously and with disgusting lewdness, as if he perused Maxim for a sexual mark. He continued.
“Then maybe. Maybe I would have let you keep her.”
Maxim growled. “You’re a bastard.”
“No...” Jonathan laughed again. “That distinction falls to you.”
Whispering, Maxim looked helplessly to the man before him, the man who controlled him by guilt and his own shame. He found himself begging. Him—the Master.
“What am I supposed to do? She’s gone.”
“You sent her away, not me.” Jonathan crowed with delight. “The one woman you could love, and your own damned pride got in the way. Did you really think I wanted to fuck her?”
Maxim’s brow furrowed and his fists clenched tighter, creating bloody indentations in his palms. “You had her on the–”
“She’s a lovely woman, yes. Definitely fuckable,” Jonathan said, his hazel eyes riveted on Maxim’s reaction. Maxim fought not to give one. Jonathan continued, smugly proud. “Her nipples feel like–”
“Enough!” Maxim spat his defeat. He whispered as he shook his head, “Enough. I understand. You hate me, and by proxy... her.”
“True.”
Jonathan’s hand stroked the metal bar like a man easing an erection. He sighed with false pleasure. Maxim startled.
Again, his uncle laughed. “You see how easy it is to lie? She never knew how much I wanted to wrap my fingers around her pretty neck and ta