Chapter 221

It was a startling and fairly frightening realization. But she felt safe in the compound. Everyone watched out for her, even when Jordan wasn't around. Everyone cared for her. She had actual friends, who waved to her in the hallway, chatted with her at mealtime, and never once looked at her with pity because she was an orphan, or contempt because she wasn't rich. They all came from different places, different backgrounds, and yet they came together and none of that mattered. It was completely different from the way she'd grown up on the Moon, where background and family status were all that mattered and everyone was judged by that. Even winning a scholarship to Earth had been seen as a reason for derision, because anyone who mattered wouldn't need such a thing.

She told herself that she'd gotten used to the demands Jordan put on her body, the pain and pleasure, the punishment and rewards, but the truth was, she'd started to like it.

Leaving