“You also told me you’d talk to Stu,” she pointed out, teasing.
“And I meant it. I will. But I think you’re going to have to face him also. I think there’s a skeleton or two in his closet, and you’re probably the only one who might be able to break the door down.”
She sighed. “Okay, but only because you’re right. I like him and I’m attracted to him, and I hate to see him hurting.”
“You have a sweet soul, Ariel. I mean it. If you decide to enter into a relationship with me, I’ll be over the moon and bend over backward to make sure you have everything you want and need in life, including giving you the space to have relationships with other men too. I’d be honored and humbled to say you’re mine, even if I share you with others.”
“I think you’re just as amazing, Kes. Every time I’m with you, I feel more and more drawn to you. Thank you for…everything. It means the world to me that you treat me with more respect than I’m asking for. And that you’re willing to stand up for me.”
“Always.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead before reaching for the door and leading her into the hallway. When they reached the Schamas’ apartment—the family who had graciously taken her in when she’d arrived with Layla—she gave Kester one last brief hug in the hallway and then entered the family unit.
She was grateful no one was in the living space. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. And she made her way to her own room and shut herself off from the others, climbing into bed and staring at the ceiling. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind.
She hadn’t heard a single sound coming from Stuart’s door after he’d barricaded himself in his room. She’d hated walking away, and a part of her had wanted to pound on the door and insist he talk to her. But they’d both needed to cool down. She was still steaming from his insinuations, and she knew he was probably beating himself up for the way he’d treated her.
Tonight hadn’t been the right time. She would find him later. Besides, he wasn’t the only other man she needed to confront. Kester was right. Tarin was also courting her. She and Tarin hadn’t discussed it in so many words, but she wasn’t blind. And she liked him too.
It was a bit awkward living in a world where she was altering her mindset on what constituted a relationship. She’d been raised in a two-parent home. Not many of those existed anymore. They weren’t practical.
Ariel wasn’t sure what the current statistics showed, but she knew only about one in seven or eight people was female. Maintaining a society in which only monogamous relationships were permitted wasn’t feasible. Years of attempting to preserve that standard had led to the crumbling of society.
People weren’t meant to be alone all their lives. It spelled disaster. It had led to kidnappings and rapes and arranged marriages. Rich people buying females for their sons. Richer people stepping in at the last second and paying a higher fee.
Militant groups hunted constantly for women who were hiding, finding and bringing them in. Forcing them to breed with groups of men they’d never met and didn’t choose. Even one faction of the government—what was known as The Republic—believed in a doctrine in which women had no rights and shouldn’t be permitted to choose who they married, presumably for the “good” of society. Good for some men maybe. That would never be good for any woman.
Society had been on a progressive path for several decades before the decline in female births began. It was gradual at first, slowly leading to unrest over the years. By the time Layla and Ariel were born, the world was no longer a safe place to raise a girl, let alone two of them.
Their parents had made the right choice when they’d left society and moved off the grid. Ariel had led a relatively carefree, happy life for nineteen years. Right up until the day militants had discovered them and killed both her parents. It was sheer luck that Ariel and Layla had been away from the cabin picking herbs when they heard the gunshot that killed their father.
Thank God their parents had taught them how to survive, and more importantly, how to shoot. It saved their lives. Ariel and Layla had shot both the militants, felling them at the same time. It was too late for their mother, however. She’d been stabbed while they were interrogating her in search of her daughters. She died in Ariel’s and Layla’s arms.
There’d been no time to grieve. Not for the next two weeks while Ariel and Layla made their way west in search of their mother’s best friend and midwife, Julie Imes, when The Wanderers found them.
They were here now. Safe. In an environment that maintained female autonomy. She had choices in this bunker. She could enter into any relationship she wanted. Or two. Or three. Or ten if she wanted. She could also leave if it wasn’t working out.
No one would ever force her to bear children if she didn’t want to. No one would force her to carry a pregnancy to term if she chose not to also. In fact, Julie had started Ariel on birth control shots as soon as Ariel had arrived. She hadn’t been emotionally ready to have sex with anyone yet, but in the event she might have been taken at any point by militants, she wouldn’t want anyone among them to be able to impregnate her either.
Birth control was power in her world. Autonomy over her own body was important. It went a long way toward giving her the confidence to know that there were still people in the world who believed in basic human rights for all.
Including women.
Ariel rolled onto her side, closed her eyes, and took several cleansing breaths. She knew her days living with the Schamas and sleeping by herself were numbered. The path to whatever her new life was going to look like wasn’t going to be an easy one, but she was strong. She could face whatever was coming her way.
She suspected Tarin and Kester would figure heavily in her future. The question was whether or not Stuart would join them. He’d been the first man she’d met aside from her sister’s prospective family unit when she’d arrived. She’d swooned over his easy smile when he’d glanced at her in the rearview mirror when he’d picked her up to bring her to the compound.
She’d never forget that connection, albeit brief. It had been there. She knew she hadn’t dreamed it. Stuart Duggan had looked her in the eye and sparks had flown before he’d shut himself down and gone into grumpy mode.
It remained to be seen if she could penetrate his thick walls, but one thing was for sure, she had to try. She could see pain in his eyes, and she suspected there was a story behind that pain that would bring her to her knees. He’d closed himself off from the world, and that included her.
Stu could dig his heels in all he wanted, but he had a formidable opponent, and she was coming for him.