At last my futuristic series in complete!
“Raw Future” blurb:
Adena is determined to marry both Arthur and Ghedi. Not because Arthur will be leader one day, and he and Ghedi are friends with benefits, but because they’re the only men she could ever love. She’s also determined to go on a journey and find more food for their village. Arthur and Ghedi are hot to marry Adena, but agreeing to her going on the journey with them takes them longer to accept.
With Koby, Pagan, and Ruby, plus Zuri, Tau, and Udo, they set off to find where the food manufacturing site is to provide for their village. They circumnavigate the city but find no fresh food stocks.
Then they’re captured by the Prince of the South and his people. Left with almost no food, they have to decide whether to attempt to go home, or to remain with the prince. Oh, and stay alive, too.
STORY EXCERPT
Adena took out her tiny hoard
of chocolate powder, and her day’s allowance of milk, which she’d saved for
this evening. She had little enough to offer Ghedi and Arthur, as all
foodstuffs were stored centrally and all meals were cooked and eaten
communally. But she hoped offering them a hot chocolate drink would tempt them.
It wasn’t as though she could announce in public she planned to seduce them and
ask them to marry her. Although she hoped once she was naked, they’d get the
message fast enough.
She’d also said she needed to
talk to them, which was true. She’d let them think it was about the food
resources though, which was important
to her. But getting them to mate with her was more important right now. She
knew they were interested in her, but the big question was, just how interested
were they? A bit of fun for one night, or something longer lasting?
Ghedi and Arthur arrived
together, which told her they’d talked about her with each other. That was fine
by her. She wanted this to be a three-way partnership, so sharing was fine by
her.
A little nervously, she brought
out the thermos of hot chocolate she’d made and three of the cups from the RV’s
shelf. They had to sit on the mattress on the floor as the table and benches
were used for storage, but the floor was very comfortable. Much nicer than in
the hut she shared, which had a floor of hard-packed dirt. Besides, being on
the mattress was a good start to the seduction she planned.
“Thank you, Adena. But hot
chocolate, although absolutely delicious, wasn’t why you asked us to come here,
was it?” said Ghedi.
“When Ruby and her two men
arrive, we need to plan a journey to find a new source of food. Foods produced
more recently. Basically we need to find where the source is so we can go
there,” she replied.
“Andy and I know this. Andy is
already planning it, but we need to wait for Koby and Pagan to get here because
they may have more information to share with us,” said Arthur.
“Koby, and Pagan, and Ruby.
Ruby is a part of that team. Just as Zuri is part of the group with Tau and
Udo. It was Zuri who found the food. Women think differently from men,” Adena
said firmly.
Ghedi nodded soberly. Arthur
looked torn. “I know that women think differently, which is why Zuri found the
food supply, not a man. But the danger is extreme. Gangs roam the world looking
to rape and murder people, and steal anything we may find.”
“And possibly it’s also why Tom
and George never told Andy what they were doing. And never brought back the
milk powder our children needed so desperately,” she added tartly.
Ghedi nodded again. This time
Arthur nodded, too. “So maybe just a few women who can be well protected, like
Ruby and Zuri, to remind the men of women and children’s needs,” he said
slowly.
“I’m going, too. I can drive as
well as any man—better than most of them. I went last time, so I’m experienced.”
“But the danger. How can we
protect you?” argued Arthur.
“The answer’s obvious. You and
Ghedi will marry me. As a triad, there are two of you to protect me if I need
help. Not that I needed you last time, and I may not need you this time either.
But with two of you I’d be amply protected.”
Adena kept her gaze on the men’s
faces. Neither of them looked very surprised. She wondered if they’d been
thinking along similar lines to her all along.
Carefully, Ghedi placed his
empty cup on the bench. “That’d work,” he said.
“If we married you, it wouldn’t
be just for the trip. It’d be a permanent, life-long union. You’d belong to us
forever,” said Arthur.
“You would belong to me, too.
We’d be three equal partners,” Adena replied.
“Yes,” said Ghedi.
“I agree, too.”
Berengaria
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