Mine To Keep

  Jenika Snow

  MINE TO KEEP

  By Jenika Snow

  www.JenikaSnow.com

  Jenika_Snow@Yahoo.com

  Copyright © August 2017 by Jenika Snow

  First E-book Publication: August 2017

  Editor: Kasi Alexander

  Cover created by: Popkitty

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This literary work is fiction. Any name, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

  Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.

  Contents

  Newsletter

  Mine To Keep

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Epilogue One

  Epilogue Two

  Newsletter

  A Real Man Series

  Out Now

  Want More?

  About the Author

  Newsletter

  Want to know when Jenika has book related news, and giveaways, and free books?

  You can get all of that and more by following the link below!

  Sign Up Here!

  No one would stop me from keeping her as mine.

  Otto

  The world that was once known is gone. In its place is a society where the rich rule, and the female population are auctioned off to the highest bidder.

  I am more primitive than most, living off the grid and surviving on my own. I am a loner, a man who has needs and desires, and I am about to do something about it.

  I may not be wealthy enough to purchase a female for myself, but I’ll have one as mine regardless.

  And anyone who tries to stop me will see exactly the type of man I am, and the lengths I’ll go to claim a woman as my own.

  Sansa

  I lost the only two people I loved, my parent who hid me away from a barbaric society that wanted nothing more than to sell my body.

  Being alone was consuming, and I didn’t know how much more I could take.

  Then I found myself injured, on the verge of unconsciousness, and in the middle of nowhere. When I wake I’m in a strange cabin, and the man who is just feet from me looks at me as if he owns me.

  He’s big, strong and muscular, and seems more animal than human.

  And he’s told me I’m his now.

  Warning: This story is fast, hot, and leaves nothing to the imagination. It features an over-the-top, caveman alpha male who wants his heroine as only his, and nothing will stop him from making that happen. Oh, did I mention the hero and heroine are both virgins *wink*. Lock your bedroom door, because this is one story you’ll want to read alone.

  1

  Otto

  The sun beat down on me, beads of sweat and dirt covering me from the manual labor I'd been doing all day. I brought the ax down on the log, splintering it in two.

  The ax was one of the only tools that I had to work with. With everything from food and water to clothing and weapons being rationed and accounted for, I'd had to make do with things I constructed myself, or things my parents had hoarded from back in the day. I’d also made tools and weapons, and although they were almost barbaric in nature, they did the job. That's all I could ask for in this day and age.

  I picked up half of the log and set it on the chopping block. I brought the ax down on the piece, splintering that one in two as well. I did this over and over again, cutting firewood before finally picking up the pieces and stacking them on the side of the house.

  I'd been born in this cabin, raised in it and away from the corrupt, fucked-up outside world. I'd only been down the mountain a few times to get supplies with my father, but that had been enough.

  The fall of the economy had happened when my mother and father were children. Once adolescents, and my mother needing to escape the female roundup for the auctions, she met my father and they escaped together.

  They needed to get away from the strict rules that the government enforced, especially given the fact that women were a commodity now, pawns to be sold off, given to the highest bidder … the wealthy.

  Sex slaves, vessels for reproduction, maids … these were the things women in this world were made to do.

  It made me sick to think about the depraved and vile acts that were perpetrated on them. But that was our world now, crazy and mad, dictating what others could do, how they felt.

  And it only got worse as the years went by. It would only get worse as time moved on.

  I continued the task at hand, chopping the wood, stacking it up. This was my life, lonely and monotonous, my days filled with doing tasks that ensured I survived, that once I found my woman she would be comfortable and happy here.

  And yes, that was my end goal ... to find my woman.

  I didn't know who she would be, didn't know where she was, but I knew one thing for certain: I needed a woman, a wife, the future mother of my children in my life. I needed that as much as I needed to breathe, as much as I needed to be strong and protect her.

  And I would, until the day I took my last breath. She’d come to realize that she was my life.

  I thought about the time I spent in the cabin with my family, how we’d tried to survive.

  There had been other people who came to us over the years, looking for shelter, a warm fire to lie in front of, or even some broth to drink. We never turned them away. But in the end that had been my parents’ downfall.

  It had been five years since I lost my parents to a drifter who took their generosity as something more. My father had been killed trying to protect my mother from the bastard and in turn I'd killed the motherfucker with my bare hands.

  But at thirty years old I was tired of being alone. I was ready to finally venture out and find a female of my own. I'd never known the intimate touch of a woman. But I had no doubts I could make her feel good, could make her see that she was meant to be with me.

  And even though I wanted that because I lived off the grid, and in the eyes of the government had no financial standing or privilege to own a woman, I had to find one for myself.

  I grabbed a rag and wiped the sweat from my face, down my neck, and along my chest. I'd gotten rid of my tattered, once-white T-shirt hours ago when I’d started working.

  This was my home, would be my home until the day I died.

  Fuck anyone who thought that they could keep me from what I desired, from what they thought I wasn't worthy of having. A woman wasn't a piece of property, wasn't something to be used and abused.

  Once I found my wife she'd be my equal. She'd make this cabin a home, a true home with children and love and laughter.

  And anyone who thought they could take that from me would know the kind of wrath I could inflict upon them. I might be a man by all accounts, but being away from society and civilization made me more barbaric, more animalistic then what would be considered normal.

  And I fucking embraced it.

  It was what had kept me alive, what kept me strong. I might not have been able to save my parents, but things had changed. I’d changed. I wouldn’t let anyone try to stop me from acquiring what I wanted.

  It was that fierce determination that would provide safety and protection for my woman and children.

  It would be what kept us alive.

  Sansa

  I was alone, had been alone for the last couple of months. Ever since my parents died I only had myself.

  The house I lived in was beat down, aged and weathered. My parents had lived here for longer than I’d been alive. My mother had been spared from the female auctions because of her age and health ailments. It had been those things that had saved her life in the end.

  It had been her medical history of infertility that had allowed her refuge from the barbaric practice of female auctioning, but she didn’t want to risk being sold for servitude. Instead she’d escaped, hidden, and lived her life like she didn’t even exist.

  But then a miracle had happened and she conceived me. It was the biggest secret she ever kept. I was the biggest secret she ever kept. And because of that, and the threat of the government taking me and selling me off to the highest bidder, she and my father had essentially kept me in this one-room, windowless haven for my entire life.

  Staying inside was the only way I could have ever survived in this fucked-up world. But I found myself making my way outside when the moon was high and the night was still. It had been those nights that I’d stared up at the bright moon and twinkling stars, wishing we lived in a different world.

  But now I was truly, utterly alone. It wasn't safe for me out in that world. Hell, it wasn't even particularly safe to venture out the front door. But I had to survive. Staying here would lead to me being captured.

  The supplies I had wouldn’t last, and if I stayed any longer I'd end up dying in this house.

  I was young, had my whole life ahead of me, and I wasn't going let some disgusting, barbaric and ritualistic society deem what I could or couldn't do.

  I had to leave this pla
ce. I had to make my way farther up north and hope that I found something better. I had to hope that I could find a life that was filled with more than just looking over my shoulder and wondering how much I was worth to the highest bidder.

  I started shoving supplies in a bag, anything nonperishable that I could take with me. I didn't want to particularly leave at this moment, but the house wasn't safe.

  Once the bag with the supplies was packed and I was out the front door, I turned around and looked at the only place I’d ever known as home. Memories of my childhood, of the love my parents had for me, filled my head and had me smiling. I would miss this place, miss the age and the smell of dust and mold that sometimes permeated the air.

  I had to do this for myself. I just hoped in the end I wouldn’t regret it.

  2

  Sansa

  I managed to leave when the moon was high and in between the security detail that occasionally monitored the streets.

  I'd been watching their routine, plotting out when I would leave for months now. It was all I could do after my parents died to keep my mind off the horrible things that would happen to me if I were found.

  But it was daylight now, hours upon hours after I’d initially left. I wiped at the sweat on my forehead, despite being in the thick woods with the sun partially blocked off. I’d been walking for so long that my feet ached and my legs burned.

  I stopped and tipped my head back, looking at the massive trees that surrounded me. Their branches caused the light above to flicker in sporadic intervals to the forest floor.

  I started moving forward, but minutes later I knew I needed to rest. I found a large boulder and sat down. Reaching into my bag, I grabbed one of the water bottles I’d filled before leaving. After taking a healthy drink from it, I shoved it back in my bag. I needed to ration my food and water, because I didn't know how long I'd be out here.

  It was tranquil in the middle of nowhere, though, peaceful even. I wondered if there were others high in the mountains, hidden from the disgusting and corrupt world that we now lived in.

  Although my stomach started cramping and gave a growl, I didn't grab anything to eat. I'd eaten a few hours before I left and I needed to save up as much as I could.

  Slinging my backpack over my shoulders, I stood and started trekking up the mountainside. I had no destination in mind, no plans either. This was probably the stupidest idea I had ever come up with, but staying behind, trying to live where the militia were too heavy, was even stupider. I would rather take my chances out here in the wilderness, away from everyone, than chance being snagged up and sold off.

  As the hours continued to move on and my stomach started cramping and growling more fiercely, I decided to search for some kind of shelter for the evening. Once I had that set up I'd get something to eat and start again in the morning.

  I started climbing over the rocky terrain, gripping onto boulders and hauling myself up higher. I was almost at the top when my foot got wedged between two rocks, my shoe not allowing me to pull free.

  Wiggling and twisting my foot was pretty fruitless, and when I finally reached down to try and get loose I fell backward. But with being stuck between the boulders and my body still falling, the momentum had my foot twisting in an unnatural way.

  I cried out in pain just as I fell. My head cracked back and stars instantly danced in my vision. The pain was consuming, and soon darkness swept me under. I was helpless to stop it.

  Otto

  I had my ax strapped to my hip, a knife attached to my ankle. The bow and arrow that was slung over my back moved seamlessly as I made my way through the forest.

  I was looking for food, any animals that I came across, hell, anything edible at this point.

  Although I had food stocked up and rationed for when supplies were low, I always made sure I was one step ahead of the game. I always made sure to have extra in case shit hit the fan.

  I came across some wild berries and started picking them and tossing them in the small bag that was attached to the other side of my hip. When the bush was picked clean I started picking edible flowers and flora.

  As I continued to make my way through the forest, listening to the sounds of wildlife, focusing on my surroundings, I stopped at the top of the rock hill and just absorbed everything. The boulders stretched on for as far as I could see, a rocky terrain that was as dangerous as it was beautiful.

  A hawk flew overhead, its cry wild, free. Something sounded to my left. I crouched low, looked to the side, and saw a rabbit ten feet away. Its back faced me as it scoured the forest floor for food.

  Being quiet, stealthy, I reached behind and grabbed my bow. The few arrows that I’d brought were attached to a loop on my pants. I pulled one out, set it in place, and pulled back.

  Focusing was key, and keeping my breathing steady and even would help my aim be accurate. I exhaled and released the arrow. The kill was swift and clean, painless for the animal.

  I placed the bow on my back again and made my way toward my kill. Once I had it in the bag attached to my hip, I was about to head in the other direction when something caught my eye. A flash of dark green fabric was partially visible, the material lightly blowing in the breeze that had picked up.

  I moved closer to get a better look, making sure to be quiet and slow. Chances were it was just a piece of debris, but I was high up in the mountain. So how had it gotten here?

  And then, when I was just a few feet from it, the boulders not obstructing the full view anymore, my heart stopped. There, lying amongst the rocks like a broken doll, was a woman.

  My woman.

  That declaration came through me like a slap to my face.

  I could see blood had dried on the rock her head was on, and scanned my gaze down her body to see that her foot was stuck between two boulders. Nothing else mattered in that moment except her. She was hurt and I needed to get to her.

  First I worked on getting her foot loose. Once that was done I gently lifted her in my arms, her small body seeming frail, fragile in my hold. She was tiny compared to me, but I could see that she was a woman.

  All woman.

  Her curves spoke of that, as well as the mounds of her breasts that pressed against the material of her tattered shirt. But she was still younger, far younger than my thirty years.

  Her dark hair hung over my forearm, and the dirt that was splattered across her face and body told me she'd been out here for a while. Although she was obviously still alive because I could see the rise and fall of her chest, I didn’t know how long she had been out here or how severe her injuries were. I needed to get her back to the cabin and look her over, make sure I could heal her.

  I looked at her face, took in her high cheekbones, her full lips, the way the pink of her flesh could be seen under the dirt that covered her.

  This possessive side rose up in me like an angry beast, demanding to be free, roaring out to claim her as mine. It was such an instant, powerful reaction that my whole body tensed. I'd never experienced such emotion. It could've brought me to my knees right then and there.

  My heart was thundering a mile a minute as I continued to make my way through the woods and toward my cabin. The feel of her in my arms, the way I was already so territorial of her, made me realize one thing.

  I would heal her, and then I would make her mine.

  3

  Sansa

  I felt something warm and wet on my head, but my entire body was weighed down, heavy, unmovable. I thought I'd made a small noise, but maybe that was in my head, maybe I’d imagined it all?