Through the Veil Read online

  Through the Veil

  Lacey Thorn

  Reggie finds her mother wrapped up in a cult and barely escapes with her chastity intact. Drugged and on the run, she is drawn by a wondrous song through a veil of fog and into a whole new world.

  Jamison and Taggart are devoted to the task before them, finding and seducing the woman who is to be theirs. When they find Reggie already submerged in the bridal pool, they can’t believe their luck.

  The pool serves one purpose, to prepare a bride for her mating by revving her sexual desire and need. Her body craves their touch, their possession, and that’s just what they desire as well. Let the mating begin!

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Through the Veil

  ISBN 9781419931772

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Through the Veil Copyright © 2010 Lacey Thorn

  Edited by Helen Woodall

  Cover art by Dar Albert

  Electronic book publication December 2010

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Through the Veil

  Lacey Thorn

  Dedication

  To all the people who dream of going through the veil…and finding a different tomorrow…this one is for you. Keep dreaming.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

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

  Tinker Bell: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Chapter One

  What the fuck had her mom gotten her into? That was all Reggie could think as she ran deeper into the woods of the national park. She’d been worried when her mom’s letter had arrived, begging her to come, saying it was important. Her mother’s phone was disconnected and a new address was listed. So being the daughter she was, Reggie had dropped everything and left.

  For the longest time it had been just the two of them and Reggie still suffered from guilt issues at having left home a year ago at twenty. But she had finally made herself believe that she deserved a life of her own. So she’d packed up and moved for all the good it had done her. She was just like her mother. She worked from home as a medical transcriptionist and did most of her shopping by mail. She’d barely gone out in the year she’d been on her own and had no friends.

  So there was no one to miss her now. She should have run when she pulled up to a gate guarded by two men with guns. Especially when they recognized her on sight and greeted her by name. But they’d told her that her mother would be so excited that she was finally here, they had laughed and smiled and tricked the hell out of her. She had left the car with her bags at the gate, and taking only her purse, had followed one of the men to find her mother.

  Her mom had looked gorgeous. She had positively glowed, looking years younger. She’d been wearing a formfitting dress that seemed to be the style for every woman who Reggie saw. Her mom wasn’t sick, wasn’t in trouble, actually seemed better than she’d ever been. When they’d finally found a private place to sit and talk, Reggie had felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. From everything her mother was saying there was no doubt that this was some kind of cult.

  Her mother had asked Reggie to freshen up, offered her one of the dresses that Reggie had politely refused, preferring to keep her jeans, t-shirt and running shoes. Then they had gone back to where the others were so that Reggie could meet some of her mother’s new friends. And with each new woman Reggie had felt her anxiety increase. The women were content to be subservient and Reggie didn’t think it was just the cooking, cleaning and child-rearing that they were expected to do.

  Reggie had been taking everything in when a sudden silence fell over everyone and she watched as they all had bowed their heads. Glancing around, her gaze landed on a man dressed in loose-fitting, white linen-style pants and an unbuttoned white shirt. His eyes took her in from head to toe and when he met her gaze he didn’t seem too happy but quickly tried to hide his displeasure.

  “Daffy, you did not offer your lovely daughter the time to freshen up before leading her to meet everyone?” He phrased it as if it were a question but Reggie could hear the reprimand in his voice.

  “Mom offered,” Reggie said. “But I preferred to stay as I am since I’ll be heading to the hotel soon.” She hadn’t planned any such thing but it seemed important to keep that information to herself. Something just didn’t feel right here.

  “But of course you will stay here with your mother,” he said. “Isn’t that so, Daffy?”

  “Yes, yes.” Her mother grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Regina, you must stay here with us, with me.” The tone of her mother’s voice made her even more uneasy.

  “Well, it is settled then,” the man said. “I will see you later at the evening meal.”

  Reggie had feigned fatigue and her mother had taken her back to where she slept. It was in a big building that reminded Reggie of a dormitory. There was one big communal bathroom that everyone used. Her mother explained that a lot of the women shared a room but her mom had one to herself so that Reggie could stay with her as long as she wanted.

  “Mom, why don’t we go out for dinner?” Reggie asked. “Just the two of us, like old times.”

  “Oh, we can’t do that,” Daphne said, shaking her head frantically back and forth.

  “Why can’t we do that?” Reggie asked. “Aren’t you allowed to leave, Mom?”

  “Dinner is a big event, Regina,” her mom said. “We’ll be dining with Brother Michael tonight. That is a big honor and not to be denied.”

  “I didn’t come here for him, Mom,” Reggie shook her head. “I came to see you, to make sure you were okay. I was afraid that something was wrong, that you were sick.”

  “Oh, Regina,” her mom gushed. “I’ve never been so happy. My life is so perfect here. Brother Michael takes care of all of us. I’ve only a few specific duties to see to and everything else is taken care of for me.”

  “What do you do, Mom?” Reggie asked.

  “I take care of helping with the morning meal,” her mother said excitedly. “It is the most important one of the day. Then I go with two other women and clean the worship center. When we are done there it is time to help with the lunch preparations so that some of the younger women can take the refreshments out to the men. Then I have the afternoon to read or sew before starting on the evening meal.”

  Her mom loved to read, sew and cook. She had been meant to be a housewife, which was what she had been before her husband, Reggie’s dad, left them. Her mom had never really seemed to recover. But looking at her now was like going back in time to the younge
r, more vibrant woman her mother had once been.

  “That sounds wonderful,” Reggie said. “But if you are so happy then why the letter to me?”

  Her mom looked away, refusing to meet Reggie’s eyes and a chill went down her spine. She definitely felt like something wasn’t right now.

  “I just wanted to see you, Regina,” her mom insisted, still looking anywhere but at Reggie.

  “Mom, you haven’t called me Regina since I was six,” Reggie said. “Why are you calling me it now?”

  “Brother Michael says that Regina is a beautiful and fitting name,” Daphne said.

  “And yet he calls you Daffy?” Reggie asked with a laugh. Daffy made her think of the cartoon duck.

  “Brother Michael said the name fits me perfectly,” her mom said with a smile and a dreamy look.

  “Mom, you’re not sleeping with this guy, are you?” Reggie asked and her mom finally met her gaze, an appalled look in her eyes.

  “Of course not,” her mom gasped. “Don’t speak of such things out loud, Regina. I am not worthy of one such as Brother Michael.”

  That didn’t make Reggie feel any better. The women here were all subservient in manner and it hadn’t escaped Reggie’s notice that when her mom had offered her a dress to wear she’d been told to just throw “all” her clothes in a pile in the corner of the room. The longer Reggie was here the more creeped out she got.

  “Here,” her mother said, handing her a glass of what looked like tea. “You look hot and tired, Regina. Drink this. I just love the tea here. It is perfectly brewed.”

  Reggie took a sip and it was perfect. Not too sweet and no trace of the bitterness that sometimes came with tea. She really was thirsty so she drank it all down.

  “Mom, I’m glad that you are happy,” Reggie said and she meant it. Perhaps this was the life that her mother needed. She would have to stop at the police station in town and find out what she could about this group. And then she would work on getting her mother out of here. Maybe she would have to get word to her mother that she was sick or something. That thought made her feel guilty. Her mother was a grown woman and Reggie had never seen her look happier.

  “I am happy,” her mom gushed. “The only thing that could make me happier is if you were to join me here.”

  Reggie shook her head. “I can’t, Mom. I have a job, friends, and they’ll be expecting me to check in soon.”

  “No, you don’t,” her mom said with a laugh. “Brother Michael checked. You work from home and have no visitors.”

  Reggie blinked. She was getting really tired and was fighting to keep her eyes open. “How would Brother Michael know that?”

  “He checked on you,” her mom said. “When he saw your picture he told me that you were the one whom he’d been waiting for.”

  “Waiting for?” Reggie asked. That didn’t sound good to her.

  “You’re the one,” her mother stated with awe. “You’ll be the one to give birth to Brother Michael’s son.”

  Reggie was shaking her head now in denial as well as an attempt to clear her vision. “I’m not having his child,” she vowed.

  “You will, Regina,” her mother told her. “It is God’s will.”

  Two things clicked in Reggie’s mind at once. First was that her mother was lost to her. They had never been that close, probably because Reggie had always felt like more the parent than the child. She would never be able to persuade her mother to leave here. The second thing was that her mother had drugged her drink, or at the very least given her a drink that was drugged.

  “Mom, what have you done?” Reggie asked, fighting to stay awake with all she had.

  “It’s for your own good,” her mother stated and she looked angry. “You have been chosen and you plan to walk away as if this is not a great honor. Brother Michael is willing to accept you as his bride and gift you with being his son’s mother. There are many women here who would give anything for that honor.”

  “They can have it,” Reggie groaned. “If there are so many willing then why me?”

  “I told you,” her mother shook her head. “You are the one who was chosen.” Her mom pushed her back on the bed she’d been sitting on so that she lay on her back. “Don’t fight it, Regina. Relax and sleep. I’ll have you bathed and changed when you awake. And soon you’ll be with Brother Michael, his first wife. And I will hold the honor of being the mother of the first wife.”

  First wife? What the hell? Her mom’s eyes glowed now with a sort of zealous light that sent more chills through Reggie. This was not the woman she’d grown up with, not the cowering figure who just wanted to stay home and in her own world. This woman would go to any lengths, it seemed, to get what she wanted, even drugging and sacrificing her only child.

  “Mom, please,” Reggie begged as she felt the effects of the drug sucking her under.

  “Just sleep, Regina,” her mother said and her smile was anything but reassuring. “Everything will be ready when you wake up.”

  That was what she was terrified of.

  * * * * *

  Reggie awoke with a pounding headache. She had to blink several times before she could focus on the room around her. It wasn’t her mother’s. She was in a much bigger, plusher room now. She lay on a huge bed and she was wearing a white dress similar in style to what her mother had been wearing, only Reggie’s was made entirely of lace. You could see the dark rings of her areolas through the dress as well as her nipples, which were tingling.

  When she looked down she saw that her pubic hair had been completely removed, which disturbed her. Who had shaved her? Her mother? And what the hell was she wearing? She stood up and wanted to laugh. Her dress covered her from neck to ankle and yet revealed everything.

  “Ahhh, I’m glad to see that you finally woke up, my love,” a voice she recognized said from behind her. Brother Michael. She didn’t dare turn around. “I was afraid you might sleep right through our wedding night.”

  That got her turning around. “Wedding night?” she said and her voice actually squeaked. “I don’t remember a wedding, saying ‘I do’ or anything like that.”

  His gaze was all over her, taking in her breasts and sex and making her feel dirty. The lust in his eyes was more than apparent when he finally met her eyes. “There is no need for either of us to say words when our joining was decreed by God.”

  “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that,” Reggie said, edging away from the bed behind her and still trying to keep her distance from him. “I’m not sure that I’m really the one who was chosen.”

  Brother Michael smiled and it was a scary thing to see. “You were chosen, Regina. And we are already bonded. The ceremony was performed while you slept, my love. Our priest checked and vouched for your purity and your mother and her ladies prepared you for our wedding night.”

  Reggie was devastated. A priest had vouched for her purity? That could only mean that he had checked for her virginal status, which meant that he had touched her, while she was unaware. What kind of man of God was that?

  “Then I’m sure he told you that I don’t have a hymen,” she said. She knew that it was on the outside of the vagina no matter what some romance stories said, and she knew that she didn’t have one. She’d used toys, even though she’d never been with a man.

  “He assured me that you have not lain with a man,” Brother Michael said. “It pleases me that I will be your only. And you will hold the title of first wife and be the mother of my heir.”

  “First wife?” Reggie said. “How many do you plan to take?”

  “A man may have as many wives as he desires,” Brother Michael said. “You will not concern yourself with what I chose. Your only job now is to take care of my needs, to see that I am happy and well.”

  He walked toward her and she found herself trapped between him and the wall. He leaned into her, letting her feel the ridge of his hard cock against her abdomen. “I am well pleased with you, Regina,” he said while he ran his hands over her body, stopping t
o fondle her breasts and pinch at the nipples.

  She recoiled against the wall, wanting to disappear inside it. Her hands were flattened against it, somehow knowing that it wouldn’t fare well for her if she gave in to the desire to claw his eyes out. She turned her head when he leaned in and she gagged at the feel of his lips on her neck, sucking and licking at her flesh. She had to get out of here. She could not let this happen.

  “Brother Michael,” she whispered. “Please, I need to use the facilities,” she begged.

  His tongue was licking at her skin, his hands pinching any part of her he could reach and he was rubbing, almost grinding, his cock hard against her. If he didn’t let her go soon she would most likely throw up all over him.

  “Please,” she pleaded again and finally felt him pull back with a groan.

  “I should have thought of that,” he sighed, finally moving back from her. “Right over there.” He pointed toward a door on the other side of the room. “I’ll turn the bed down while you take care of yourself.” He gave her nipple another pinch and tug before stepping back and pointing toward the door again.

  She nodded, feeling the bile rising in her throat. She hurried across the room and into the bathroom. She turned the water on in the sink and splashed her face several times to clear her head. She left it running as she looked around her. She needed a plan, a way out of what awaited her behind that door.

  She looked at the window. It wasn’t very big but she might be able to squeeze through it. She held her breath as she flipped the lock and pushed up on it. No sound as she opened it so she let out the breath she’d been holding. Straight across from her, maybe twenty feet away, was a tree line. If she could get out the window and make a dash for it she just might be able to disappear in the trees. She was pretty sure that it was part of the national park that she had visited as a girl.