Noble Daughter Ch. 01

Astrid knew she was in trouble as she ran deeper into the craggy wastes of the Dead Lands. She had meager supplies and little knowledge of how to survive the unforgiving desert. The wasteland was reserved for criminals and dangerous outcasts that were unfit for civilization. All the garbage from the city, living and non-living, was sent there.

Astrid is the beautiful noble daughter of High Lord Daren Cole. They live in the dazzling modern city of New Athens, a depraved battleground for rich and powerful families. Modern gladiator fights are the epitome of entertainment, but the violence behind closed doors creates city champions.

Astrid was sick of her shiny bloodstained prison. Her father had trained her as an assassin since she was five. He had high hopes of seeing her as a city champion. He would beat her senseless if she refused to participate in his dream. On the eve of her first planned assassination, she decided to run. She couldn't stand the thought of murdering a fellow noble daughter. All she wanted was freedom. She knew she could find it in a place where people didn't pretend to be moral.

She ran under the unmanned turret station along the border wall with her heart pounding. She was finally free of the city. The turrets were programmed to fire upon anything attempting to leave the desert, so there was no turning back.

Her new landscape was an endless horizon of sand, jagged cliffs, and piles of scrap metal. She slept peacefully under the stars that night. She camped beside a large stone outcrop in view of a Ruffian settlement. Scruffy men rode around that place on dune buggies and ATVs armed to the teeth. There were constant gun battles and explosions. The dead were simply stripped of their belongings and dumped in a hole outside the settlement. None of this scared Astrid. It was all up front and simple. The Ruffians weren't trying to deceive anyone with their motives. She planned to sneak in and look for food after sunset.

She wrapped a scarf around her long dark hair and over her face before she crept into the settlement. It would be disastrous to be recognized as a woman alone in the Dead Lands. She was surprised to see signs in the town pointing to various stores, weapon shops, and mechanics. Her heart leaped when she came upon a food ration store. The sign outside read, "Everything Freshly Expired!" Food was scavenged from the dumpsite just like everything else. On her way in, she was startled by a quad bike zooming into the gate. She dived behind a broken refrigerator to hide. The quad bike parked in front of the ration store, forcing her to avoid it for a little while longer.

She crept back into the shadows to explore the town's layout and discover where various scary people were loitering. Then she spotted him again. The owner of the quad bike was walking down the street. He was a tall, lean figure completely clad in black. His helmet had a shiny reflective visor. He had a bag of recently purchased food in his hand. She watched him as he approached a solid metal hut. He unlocked a round iron door and disappeared into it. She crept around the small fortress looking for a weak point, but the place was sealed up tighter than a submarine.

Astrid sighed in disappointment. She had been hoping to steal the man's food. As she turned to leave, she bumped right into the dark figure. She was almost too shocked to react as she stared at her reflection in his visor. No one had ever been able to sneak up on her like that. She couldn't believe what was happening as his hand clamped over her mouth faster than she could blink. Then she was hauled into the building through a hidden side door.

She was flung across the fire lit room into a wall. She quickly recovered herself and spun to attack him, but he blocked both of her kicks and used her foot to launch her into the wall again. She hit it hard the second time and fell to the dirt floor in a daze. She raised up to see the barrel of a gun pointing at her nose.

"Why are you stalking me?" he demanded. His voice was deep and clear in spite of the helmet.

"I was hungry," she said softly.

"What's wrong with your voice? Remove your scarf," he ordered impatiently.

Astrid gulped and nodded. She slowly reached up and unwrapped her scarf, letting her beautiful dark hair spill over her shoulders. She looked up at the man in black, wondering what he thought of seeing a woman in the Dead Lands. She knew it was mostly unheard of.

He stood very still for a long moment, staring at her. Then he slowly lowered his gun and put it back in the leather holster on his right thigh.

"Unbelievable," he whispered in amazement as he slowly knelt down in front of her.

He removed his helmet and set it on the ground so he could see her better. Astrid gasped in disbelief as she watched him run his fingers through his shiny black hair. He was absolutely lovely. He was also much younger than she was expecting. His eyes were bright gray, and his face was beautiful. He had the beginnings of a flattering black beard around his jawline like some of the young nobles in the city.

He was close enough at that point for her to attack him, but she was too stunned by his appearance to do it.

"You're a female," he said as he studied her soft features and elegant green eyes. "I haven't seen a female since I was a child. You're amazingly beautiful."

Astrid felt her face blushing as she stared into his wild eyes.

"Thank you, I guess."

"What in god's great earth brought you to this shit hole? And what were you planning to do to me?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

Astrid stared at him worriedly for a short moment. He was pretty, but that didn't make him a good person. She made a split-second decision to defend herself before it was too late. She gave him a lightning-fast punch to the throat and dived for his gun, but what happened next was a blur. The man's arms snapped out, and he grabbed both of her wrists before her punch landed. He was holding her steady an inch from his face and his eyes looked furious.

"Damn, you're fast!" he said in amazement. "But you're obviously not a Ruffian. Let me demonstrate something," he growled before he jerked her to her feet and clamped his hand around her throat. His gun was pressed to her temple before she realized he had drawn it.

She was shocked and humiliated at that point. A contending city champion was being tossed around like a rag doll by a wild man.

"How do you move so fast?" she asked, barely above a whisper. She was struggling to get air through her pinched windpipe.

"Fighting for your life in a desert for twenty years has that effect on a person. I'm guessing you came here from the city for some stupid reason. Did you think I looked less brutal than the other men in this town? To a Ruffian, my physical appearance screams DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" he growled before he pushed her against the wall again.

She crashed into it and stumbled to the floor in a daze. Her arms were shaking as she pushed herself up again. He walked over and pressed his gun to her temple. She froze as he leaned in close to her face.

"If you attack me again, I'll beat you senseless. Understand?" he demanded.

"Yes," she said with a dry rasp in her voice.

"Good," he sighed and put his gun away. Then he sat down on the dirt floor in front of her.

She recoiled from him and scooted against the wall with her legs pulled to her chest.

"Stay still. I won't attack you unprovoked," he said as he scooted closer.

They stared at each other curiously for a moment. Astrid was scared and angry that she had misjudged the wild man so completely. She flinched away from him when he reached for her hair.

"I'm not going to hurt you now," he sighed. "I just want to look at you. You feel very delicate compared to me. Did I injure your neck? Let me see it," he ordered as he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head up.

"Ah!" she yelped and stumbled forward a little.

"Shit..." he whispered when he saw the massive red welt he made on her throat. "That's going to bruise. Sorry about that," he sighed and let her go.

She leaned against the wall with tears pooling in her eyes. She was exhausted and emotionally crushed. She finally understood how poor her chances of surviving were.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you crying? If you can't take a little bit of pain, you're not going to survive out here, even with my help," he said, shaking his head at her.

She looked at him in surprise for a moment.

"You... you're going to help me?" she stammered.

"I don't have anything better to do. If I let you go, you'll be dead in a few days, especially if anyone sees you talking to me. I have more enemies than you can shake a stick at. It was very stupid of you to follow me."

She didn't know what to think about her new situation. She was almost too exhausted to care. She took a deep breath and leaned her head against the wall to rest. She closed her eyes for a short moment, but she jumped when she felt something tickle her ear. She turned her head and met two wild gray eyes inches from her face. They stared at each other in surprise for a moment.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a gulp. His beautiful face so close to hers did strange things to her heart.

"Just be still for a moment. I won't hurt you," he said as he leaned in close to her neck and inhaled. "Mmm, you smell really good. I've never smelled anything like you before," he whispered with hot breath on her cheek. It sent an excited shudder up her spine.

"Uh... thanks. What's your name?" she asked as she nudged away from him a little.

He was making her extremely nervous. She wasn't used to being so close to anyone. It was common in the city to allow everyone at least six feet of personal space, especially strangers.

"I'm Jet. What's your name?"

"I'm Astrid. It's nice to meet you... kind of."

"How come you smell so good? Have you bathed recently?"

"I haven't bathed in a week," she mumbled in embarrassment.

"That is recent, but you can use my bathwater when I'm done with it if you like. I bought some this morning. I need to eat and workout first," he said as he stood and walked over to a metal cabinet and pulled a brown bag out of it. He walked back over to Astrid and sat down in front of her again.

Astrid was rather flummoxed by Jet's behavior. He went from threatening to kill her to treating her like a new pet. She figured social behavior in the Dead Lands would be primitive, but she honestly wasn't expecting someone as random as Jet. She watched as he began taking packaged food and bottled water out of his bag.

"I'm going to share this with you, but don't think it's a handout. I expect you to work and train to earn your keep. How long has it been since you ate?" he asked as he opened a package of expired beef jerky.

Astrid breathed in the heavenly scent of peppered beef. It made her mouth ached as her saliva glands started working again.

"A day and a half."

"That's not too bad. Eat this slowly, so you don't choke. Drink a little water first," he ordered as he handed her an old plastic bottle filled with clean water.

"Thank you!" she said with fresh tears in her eyes as she grabbed the bottle and brought it to her parched lips.

She gulped down half of it before she stopped to breathe. She grimaced from the pain in her throat where Jet had choked her, but that was all forgiven since he was sharing his food.

"Don't drink any more of that tonight. I'll slap you if you do," he said as he snatched the bottle out of her hand. "You'll get the rest of it in the morning. You need to learn the fine art of water rationing," he grumbled as he put the bottle away.

Then he gave her the beef jerky. He watched her bite off a mouthful with tears pouring down her face.

"Will you please stop crying! It's a complete waste of water!" he snapped.

"Sorry. I can't help it. I wasn't expecting to find someone as kind as you out here," she said as she wiped her tears away and took a deep breath.

"You're not very smart, are you? I'm not being nice. I have to take care of my property. You're my slave now. Like I said earlier, you're as good as dead without me," he said as he laid a small pack of butter-flavored crackers beside her leg.

She looked up at him in horror as he stood and walked across the room. He plopped down on an old mattress in the corner that was covered with a tattered blanket. There was a milk crate for a nightstand. It was holding a brightly burning oil lamp. It was the only source of light in the metal bunker.

"Excuse me?" she snapped. "What kind of slave am I?" she demanded.

"I haven't figured that part out yet. I'm not entirely sure what women are good for. You're pretty to look at, so that gives you some value. Other than that, you're a useless mouth to feed. If you become a huge burden, I'll probably sell you," he said as he took a different water bottle out of his bag and turned it up for a long drink.

"Oh... I see," she said in realization. "I'll try not to be a burden then."

Astrid was beginning to wonder just how naive Jet was. He didn't look much older than twenty, and he was apparently clueless of the virtues of women. She could definitely use that to her advantage.

"I'll need to resupply in the morning to keep both of us fed. That will make our exit more difficult. Some asshole always tries to attack me when I leave town," he grumbled as he put his water away and stood.

Astrid watched in surprise as he began to remove his leather gear. He kicked off his boots and tossed his jacket on the bed. He had a tattered black shirt on underneath it all. Astrid raised an eyebrow when he pulled it over his head, revealing an unbelievably lean torso. He was prettier than any Greek statue she had ever seen. Her eyes grew very wide as he began to remove his pants. He slid them off his thighs in one fell swoop and tossed them on the bed with the rest of his clothes. She was relieved and disappointed when he left his black underwear on. She knew it would have been proper for her to look away, but she wasn't in a proper place anymore.

Once he was mostly naked, he proceeded to do a perfect handstand in the middle of the room. Astrid stared in disbelief as he effortlessly did ten graceful push-ups like a seasoned acrobat. It was the most impressive thing she had ever seen a man do, and she had seen a lot of crazy stuff from the gladiators in the city.

After his push-ups were done, he lowered himself to the ground and rolled out of the handstand, back to his feet. Then he launched into an explosive display of spin kicks and jump kicks. What impressed Astrid the most was the sheer speed of his attacks. No one in the city would stand a chance against this wild man, and he was also pretty enough to win the hearts of all the noble daughters. She suddenly felt less terrible about losing to him earlier.

"What are you staring at?" he grumbled as he punched at the air and did a few more lightning-fast spin kicks.

"Uh... nothing," she said as she turned her attention to the pack of crackers beside her knee.

She savored them as she watched Jet tear through invisible enemies. She thought it was funny that he didn't seem embarrassed to be almost naked in front of her. She wondered how he would react if she stripped down to her underwear in front of him.

Thirty minutes later, Jet's impressive display of acrobatics and kickboxing ended. He sat on a tattered rug on the floor so he could stretch. He was as flexible as he was fast, and the lovely gleam of sweat on his skin was making Astrid feel warm all over. There were many noticeable scars on his body. She wondered just how much he suffered in the Dead Lands.

He hopped up from the rug and yawned as he wiped the sweat out of his eyes. He retrieved a large jug of water from the corner and carried it over to a tall tin pan next to the rug. Astrid realized that was his bathtub as he dumped half the water into it. Then he quickly slipped his underwear off before Astrid had a chance to look away. She gasped and quickly put her hand over her eyes, but she had already seen every tempting part of him.

"What is your problem?" he grumbled as she heard a soft splash.

She slowly peeked between her fingers to see him sitting in the small tin tub. He was staring at her with a look of annoyance on his handsome face.

"I'm sorry. I'm being silly. I guess bodily modesty isn't important to Ruffians. This world is very different from the one I know," she explained.

A concerned and embarrassed expression came over his face after her comment.

"Am I... doing something wrong?" he asked.

"No. Don't worry about it. I'm just being silly," she insisted.

"If you say so... would you mind handing me the bar of soap off the bed? I don't want to get my feet muddy and ruin my new bathwater. I'm usually not so forgetful, but you keep distracting me," he grumbled as he began splashing water on his arms and neck.

"Sure," she said with a nod as she stood to retrieve the well-used piece of soap. It smelled like cedar. She was thoroughly admiring his beautiful back and arms as she approached the tub.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he took the soap from her and began lathering up his chest.

She stood there a moment, chewing on her lip as she stared at him. She was feeling unbelievably drawn to him. She smiled as she watched him struggle to soap up his back.

"Hey... would you like me to help you?" she asked.

"Help how?" he grumbled with an eyebrow raised as he looked over his shoulder at her.

"Let me scrub your back where you can't reach it. It's the least I can do to thank you for the food," she said as she held out her hand for the soap.

He stared at her warily for a moment.

"Do women normally help men bathe in the city?" he asked, still looking uncertain.

"Yeah, all the time," she said as if it were common knowledge.

"Okay... have at it," he sighed and handed her the soap.

Jet sat patiently in the water as Astrid knelt behind him. She couldn't believe she had volunteered to do something like that for a strange wild man. Her hands were slightly trembling as she reached into the water to re-wet the soap. She softly brushed his thigh by accident, causing him to jump. She bit her lip in embarrassment. She had never touched a naked man before, but she had a sudden desire to touch him all over. His perfectly toned muscles, shiny hair, and wild gray eyes were seriously clouding her judgment.

"Sorry," she whispered as she lathered up her hands.

Her face felt hot from blush as she placed her hands on his back and started rubbing. She ran her fingers over the taut muscles between his shoulder blades, sending a shudder all over his body. He moaned softly as she worked along his shoulders and neck.

"That feels so good," he breathed as he leaned into her hands as she dug her fingers into his tight muscles.

She could feel the tension in his body release against her touch. She worked down his spine in a circular motion, often squeezing and pinching the taut muscles. She bit her lip again as she worked on his lower back. The temptation to slide her hands over his butt cheeks was overwhelming. She decided to move back up at that point and work on his arms. She squeezed and rubbed his forearms and biceps before returning to his shoulders. His body language suggested he was thoroughly enjoying his massage. She took that opportunity to put her hands on his sides and squeeze the temping muscles over his hips. He groaned and shuddered from the sensation.

Her whole body felt hot from his reactions. She wanted to please him more. She gulped as she slid her fingertips over his tight stomach. She loved how soft and warm his skin felt in contrast to the hard muscles underneath. A yearning for something more intimate came over her, and she slowly leaned her cheek against his back.