[b]Jessalyn - Bookstore - Tremblay[/b]

Jess studied the man as he spoke. She was getting so many different readings from him it was hard to know just what kind of a person she was talking to. But at least he was honest enough to tell her that he wouldn't hurt them as long as there wasn't any point to it. Honesty was something she could work with.

Shifting Ben a little, she asked the next thing that was upmost in her mind.  "What do you plan to do with us? I am no use to you right now. I can't work, not with Ben. And according to most of the men I have come across my only value is for sex," Jess flinced and her voice shook a bit as the words left her, showing how much that opinion hurt her. "Are you really going to house and feed us without getting anything in return?"

Once he answered she asked about where they would stay. "Will we be safe? From the other... people here?" she paused briefly but was sure he knew what she meant to ask : would she have to fear the men here?
If he was as smart as he seemed she knew that these questions would reveal just what kind of life she'd had up until now. Except for her time with Floyd and Abram Jessalyn had lived in fear of falling into the hands of those who would hurt her for their own pleasure. She had read once that some animals would take a female and kill her offspring in order to force her to mate...

She felt her stomach growl. Being a portable milk machine meant you needed to eat regularly. If she didn't eat, Ben didn't eat. But she didn't even begin to know how to ask him for food. She actually felt... shy...
God how long had it been since she'd felt shy? With Floyd... that was the last time...

Jess also knew she needed to gather herself some of the baby supplies he had claimed to have. If he wasn't going to let them go, she needed to find out where they were going to be kept so she could start making it comfortable for her son. It crossed her mind that she was wanting to nest, like a bird.