His to Hold

By Jessie Pinkham

Love can be found when you least expect it ... if you take a leap of faith.

Cole Gallagher never intended to date an empath. Empaths bond for life, and they like to keep their bonded anchor happy, which is more responsibility and power over another person than anyone ought to have. Despite his lack of interest in being an anchor, Cole gets talked into meeting a coworker's empath cousin, and he genuinely likes the man.

Aiden is everything Cole wants in a partner: charismatic, witty, cute, and a lot of fun. The catch is that he only has a few months to find an anchor, so Cole faces pressure to quickly make a lifelong commitment. When Aiden is kidnapped, Cole has to decide whether he will let his fears win and walk away, or take a chance on love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Feb 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781773395920

Jessie Pinkham

Some kids have imaginary friends. Jessie grew up in rural Maine where she needed to entertain herself, so she created an imaginary village and she has been dreaming up stories ever since. These days she writes romances which reflect her love of hot guys and a good happy ending. Married to her own Mr. Right, Jessie gratefully acknowledges his support and encouragement. She enjoys exploring the diversity of the universe and therefore cannot commit to a single subgenre of male/male romance. She’s also a chocoholic, avid reader, and travel enthusiast. Too often she rushes out at the last minute because she lost track of time while writing. For more information, please visit jessiepinkhambooks.com.

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2018 Jessie Pinkham

ISBN: 978-1-77339-592-0

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

From one sci-fi fan to others.

HIS TO HOLD

Tea and Empathy, 1

Jessie Pinkham

Copyright © 2018

Chapter One

My sister is looking to buy an empath.

Cole Gallagher looked at his friend Gabe with horror. That’s a new low even for her.

I know. She doesn’t call it that, of course. It’s ‘seeking a mutually beneficial relationship’ or ‘attempting to make a familial alliance’. Skirting around the law by giving money to the empath as a ‘wedding gift,’ with the full understanding it will be transferred to their family.

Fancy words for the same thing. Disgusting. I’m sure she’s taking a regressive view on empath rights, too.

Of course she is, said Gabe. She wants an empath to bond with her so she has someone who wants to please her. To her, that’s the whole point of being an empath’s anchor.

It was well known that empaths bonded with an anchor as a way to keep their sanity, and because they were so in tune to the person, an empath wanted to make their anchor happy. It was why empaths were so easily exploited, and it was reprehensible to anyone with a heart.

Gabe Thorne came from a family without much heart. He was the black sheep of a wealthy family that controlled nearly all the mining rights for the entire solar system and somewhere along the way had exchanged compassion for massive wealth. The Thornes had earned their fortune through a combination of luck and ruthlessness, the latter trait being one Gabe lacked entirely. Therefore, he eschewed the family business, to his parents’ relief, and worked with Cole as a junior architect at McLaughlin, Green, and Callahan, New Kilkenny’s premiere architecture firm.

It’s so wrong to use someone like that, said Cole.

Don’t I know it. I really wonder how we have the same parents.

Anchors have too much power already. The idea of your sister with someone who wants desperately to make her happy is terrifying. He’d met Gabe’s sister once, and that was more than enough to realize how much she craved power.

Gabe frowned. I’m trying to prevent it, but I can’t think of how.

Nothing good can come out of having so much power over someone.

Not for my sister especially.

There’s something wrong with someone who even wants that.

Preaching to the choir, man. I’m just as appalled as you are. Gabe opened his mouth to say more when their supervisor walked in. She always arrived precisely two minutes before the workday started, signaling that it was time to get to their desks. So, meet you for lunch? I’ve got to work on that new pier complex.

The Meaney Memorial Library here. See you for lunch.

As it happened, Gabe was finishing up a phone call when Cole went to their department’s lobby. Cole flicked through the headlines on a news screen, past the politics to which he was largely indifferent. He stopped at the weather, which still called for a pleasant weekend. Excellent. He’d made scuba diving reservations, and their current stretch of clear days would provide good visibility underwater.

There was a video story about empaths, too, which Cole watched with Gabe’s sister in mind. Turned out it was the one hundredth anniversary of the Prohibition of Human Breeding and Empath Rights Act, which had given empaths legal equality. Shamefully, Tusnua had been the last planet in the Human Union to pass this law.

A woman onscreen explained. "Before the Prohibition of Human Breeding and Empath Rights Act, empaths were created in labs from genetically engineered DNA, then grown in artificial wombs. Eventually the recessive genes started showing up in naturally conceived children, and they, too, were denied all rights. Because empaths were originally created in labs, the idea was that we were sub-human, a very self-serving view for those who wanted to keep empaths in servitude.

Today, one point nine percent of the population is empathic, and we’re still at much higher risk for abuse. Young, unbonded empaths are particularly vulnerable to abduction, with kidnapping rates twelve times that of the general population.

It was depressing news. Empaths were originally supposed to give an edge in diplomatic negotiations, but soon fell victim to sick bastards, and now, centuries later, the exploitation continued thanks to people such as Gabe’s sister.

Max, their administrative coordinator, cleared his throat. Cole, do you have a minute?

Sure.

I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with Gabe. I know this seems like it’s coming out of nowhere, but I have a younger cousin who’s an empath, so the subject is important to me.

Understandably.

He’s looking for an anchor.

Cole wondered what this had to do with him. I trust his parents aren’t looking to sell him off.

Of course not. That’s actually why I brought it up. They want someone who will treat Aiden, my cousin, with utmost respect.

I imagine that’s hard to find. Most people who want to be an anchor are in it for the power, aren’t they?

Sadly, yes. That’s why I think you should speak with them. You could be a good anchor.

What? This came out of nowhere, and was very unwelcome at that. No, no. I’m not interested, flattered though I am.

Max leaned forward. "Don’t you see? It’s people who aren’t looking for the power who make the best, most considerate anchors. Aiden doesn’t have a choice. He has to find an anchor. If he doesn’t, he’ll end up bonding with a random person. It’s not about interest for him, it’s about necessity."

Max, I can’t…

Please, Cole. Just talk to them, that’s all I ask. He’s developing his empathy faster than expected, and he doesn’t have a lot of time left. We need to find someone who will be good to him before it’s too late. I’d been thinking about you for a few weeks, and hearing you talk with Gabe this morning convinced me.

That made one of them. Cole frowned. This is crazy.

This is my cousin’s whole life.

Cole looked at the pleading expression on Max’s face and took a moment to consider the man’s side. It was true that an empath would end up with an anchor one way or another, and he could understand wanting to make sure a family member wasn’t abused. Still, it was a hell of a thing to ask.

One conversation, Cole. See if you click. Some people have to be anchors, and we need more people to step up and be responsible about it.

Cole was tempted to ask why he couldn’t leave that to other people, until he realized such an attitude was exactly the problem. He wasn’t happy about it, but faced with Max’s earnest plea he caved. One conversation.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

He already wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

****

Tusnua’s calendar was divided into forty-nine weeks of eight days each, three of which were designated the weekend after old Earth parlance. As an architect Cole’s job allowed him to work the traditional five days and enjoy his remaining three how he saw fit.

This morning, instead of his usual lazy first day of the weekend around his apartment, he took a train from his local station to the intercontinental hub. From there he boarded a train to the northern hemisphere. The final leg of his trip was a five-minute ride to the city of Arnstadt in the region of Tusnua originally settled by German-speaking people some two hundred and fifty years ago. In all, it took him an hour and twenty-five minutes to arrive on the opposite side of the planet.

He tapped his watch. Give me directions to 814 Hauptstrasse, Arnstadt.

Proceed fifteen meters north/left.

The condo building was close to the city transit station, as promised. It was a fancier place, the kind with a