Cecilia's Mate

Evernight Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2015 April Zyon

 
ISBN:
978-1-77233-553-8

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Jessica Ruth

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

To Jessica, thank you for giving me such
fabulous advise and making this book so much better.

To Karen, thank you for being there for me and
being my beta reader.

To Moira, thank you for reminding me to believe
in myself.

CECILIA’S MATE

Space Wars, 3

April
Zyon

Copyright
© 2015

Chapter
One

She
looked at the vid diary again and felt ill. She couldn’t believe that her
mother and sisters were as cruel and horrid as they were. Then again, they were
always out only for themselves. She once again watched the video her mother had
recorded. Cece viewed the way her mother moved, wincing as she saw the male
flinch with pain as her mother scored his body with her fingernails.

“We
have once more thrown the miserable bitch to the curb. I can’t believe she still
thinks that my lovely daughters are her friends. As if. She’s a wretch and
she’s so undeserving.” Mother leaned in and kissed the man that she was riding,
the crop in her hand. “Isn’t that right, darling?”

The
male in question moaned around the ball gag in his mouth. It was obvious that
her mother was talking about Sadie. The man beneath her was the one who had
been engaged to Sadie. By the stars, how could her mother do this? Cece bit her
lip when the crop hit the man’s chest. “But you are soon going to marry that
little bitch, ensure that all of her family’s fortunes are yours, and then we
will make sure that she’s gone. She will die. The fact that she will be fucking
you has me angry. But, I will share.”
She
dropped the whip, bracing her hands on the man’s chest as she moved up and down
on him.
“My husband has always been
lackluster in bed and can’t compare to anything we do together. Bastard isn’t
even the father to my dear girls and doesn’t realize it. Idiot.”
She rode him harder. “I don’t care,
though. I have his money. That’s all that matters. Now, I’m going to release
the inflation on the butt plug that’s up inside of you and then you can come.
Do you understand me?”
At his nod the
video went blank.

She
had everything that she’d found hidden in her family’s home. She couldn’t
believe her mother had recorded herself having sex with this man, but then
again her mother was very taken with herself and loved to watch recordings of
her every single chance that she could. Heavens, the woman even kept a vid
diary instead of writing it out. The vid diary Cece had stumbled across wasn’t
the only such incriminating information she had found. When she finally had
everything, Cece placed a private call to her brother, Bracken, and told him
she needed to see him. Not only had the vid diaries contained the complete
details of how her mother and father had milked the Kauller girls’ funds for
every credit possible but also how they were going to ensure Cece married who
they said so they could continue with that control. They had even used poor
Sadie.

However,
one of her other sister’s paramours worked for the marshal’s office and sadly
had decided that there was a great deal of money to be made in war, in
restarting the already simmering tensions between the Craegin and Imarian. His
family owned several of the companies that would be used to build the weapons
of war, so it was with her mother and father’s help he’d decided do it. Cece
didn’t know
how
they were going to do it. Her mother didn’t share that
part, which was odd since her mother so very much loved to watch and hear
herself.

Hiding
the recordings in the lining of her gown, Cece leaned back against the padded
seat and closed her eyes. Oddly enough her mind went to the one man in the
entire universe that made her ache with need. She was thinking of her brother’s
right-hand man, Draven.

Cece
knew just who and what he was to her. He was her bond mate, the man that was
destined to be hers. Too bad he didn’t see her as anything other than his boss’
baby sister. She would deal with it, though. She was only twenty-two years old
and knew there was so much to life she hadn’t yet experienced.

Taking
a deep breath and turning to the sketch pad before her, Cece found her calming
center. Choosing the colors with care, she began to once again draw the man
that had captured her heart and attention.

 
She heard the scratching at the end of the
hall and knew one of her sisters was on the way to her room. Quickly she shoved
the art pad and pencils under the bed and put her glasses back on. Having long
since outgrown the need for glasses, thanks to a medical procedure, she kept
them because it was good camouflage. They felt she was inferior and she was
perfectly happy to allow them to continue to think that. She refused to let anyone
except Bracken see the real her.

Her
eldest sister walked into the room. Didn’t knock, simply strode in as if it
were her room. “Hello, Silly.” Cecilia winced when her sister called her that.
She hated that nickname, desperately. “So Mother has arranged a marriage for
you. I figured that I would take you to the local male whores so you can at
least go into the marriage experienced.”

“What?”
Cecilia felt the blood running from her face. Her stomach lurched and she felt
dizzy. Even her vision went a bit gray around the edges at this proclamation.

“That’s
right.” She watched her sister sit down and lean back in the chair. “Tomorrow,
Silly, I’m taking you to the whore house. Mother might even come along.”

Oh
God she was going to be sick. Her mother was a sadist and would do anything in
order to make Cecilia hurt. She tried to make sure everyone around her hurt,
especially the lovers that she loved to video herself beating. “And has Father
signed off on this marriage?”

“Oh
you know he doesn’t have any say in anything. He’s such a limp dick bastard. He
only gets hard when he’s with other men.” Her sister’s words shocked Cecilia
and had her eyes widening, but her sister continued. “That’s why he’s always
gone. He lives with his male lover. The only crick might be that bastard
Bracken, but with him trying to deal with that idiot bride of his, we can get
this over and done with as soon as possible. You see, he’s buying you.” She
looked down her nose at Cecilia. “It’s the only way you will be able to find a
husband. I mean, really, look at you.” She snorted. “You are ugly. You have
this nasty red hair.” She rolled her eyes, and Cece watched as she tugged on
her own perfect brown locks. “And you wear glasses. How many Craegin women wear
those? And then when you add to it that you want nothing to do with sex? No
male will want you, so we sold you to a man who is willing to have you for
show, and you will accept his attentions so that he can live his love life as
he truly wishes.” She smiled devilishly. “He’s going to be my lover and the
father of my babies. He’s ever so handsome and cruel. Oh you are going to love
that.” Her sister twisted slightly, then added, “My husband-to-be won’t have a
thing to say about it, either. After all, he’s our father’s lover so
…
”
She shrugged. “Keeping it all in the family, you know.”

Bile
rose in her throat. Her dizziness increased and a cold sweat broke out over her
whole body from her sister’s words. This was insane. Surely she came from an
orphanage or something because she was nothing at all like this woman, or her
other sisters, and definitely not like her mother, who loved to dominate men.

“So
be ready tomorrow at three, Silly. I’m taking you to get your cherry popped.”
Her sister winked and rose. Brushing her hands down her immaculate and
expensive gown, she added, “Oh, and do wash your hands and get rid of those
silly crayons you use. You are twenty-two now, not two. Why Mother allowed you
to continue to play with crayons, I will never know.” With that her eldest
sister flounced out of the room.

She
stared at the door. This simply wasn’t possible. She couldn’t do this. She
would never do this. With a shaky hand she packed her art supplies, her sketch
pads filled with images of Draven, and of her brother and new sister-in-law, and
climbed out of her bedroom window. Dropping the case to the ground, she jumped
to the tree and caught the branch that was the thickest one closest to her
window, the one she had used all her life when she wanted to escape the
confines of her home.

Cece’s
grip slipped as she worked her way down from where she was so precariously
situated. She scrambled to find purchase but because of her nervous fear she
misjudged the limb she was to grab next and dropped down a couple of meters
before she finally was able to get a tight grasp. She finally made it down with
only a few deep scratches and a couple of gouges. Grabbing her case, she raced
off toward her brother’s new home. If she was good with her timing, his men
that were moving him and Sadie today would be gone and she wouldn’t need to
endure another moment of Draven ignoring her. She could handle just about
anything, but
him
turning his back to her time and
again was something she just couldn’t accept.