Swallow it Down - Addison Cain Page 0,47
rooms. My reasons were selfish, and I believed John’s graphic details of your sexual history.”
“And right there, you summed up everything that is wrong with the society that you built. You believed John.” Saying so was oddly freeing and equal parts excruciating. The women had no voice, though they were the prize men desperately sought to attain. They had nothing but what the men decided they should have. “Even after the world ended, men have learned nothing. And thanks to you, on this save the human race ship, you created a system that reduced us down to nothing but a commodity. You’re breaking the very women you expect to raise your children.”
“That would be a historically accurate thing to say about the male population in general. But we outnumber you, and I’ve done my best to keep the ladies onboard secure.”
Secure? Is that what he called it? “You whore them out for tattered bits of old carnival tickets.”
“They can say no. You did.”
Her lip shook, because it wasn’t that simple. “You force them to breed on Level 9.”
He didn’t deny it. “Yes. A diverse gene pool and population growth are necessary to keep everyone on the ship alive. Not only for this generation, but for our children’s generation. And so on. The amount of work it takes to keep the machinery operating, to provide food, to protect the borders cannot be managed by a few. If we don’t leave the children a legacy that’s safe and ordered, they will scatter, and the work done here will have been for nothing. If we don’t give them enough diversity in potential mates, it won’t take many generations before the population will become inbred. Not everything can be about you, or about me, or about the women who I have sacrificed for the greater good, or even about the men enslaved by a herd mentality system they cannot break free of.”
“You’re an evil man.” Yet saying so tore her apart. It dragged her shoulders down, stole her gaze from his. It left her sitting up in bed with her knees under her chin as she stared at a boring bit of cruise ship art on the far wall.
Dragging red curls behind her shoulders, he spoke gently. “Make me a better one.”
God, his moves on the game board were expert, Eugenia afraid he might actually win. “I can’t.”
“Then take me the way I am.” Fingertips tripping down her naked spine, he added, “Enjoy a life with me where you will be better kept than any woman living in these times. I will give you children. Many, I hope, because I love kids as much as you do. I always have. Of course, there will be arguments, disagreements, and disappointment before the inevitable acceptance of your new life.”
“No.”
His slow stroke reversed, until his fingers might delve into her hair. Until he might pull her back down into his arms by her roots and make her look him dead in the eye. “Hear me when I say this. I do love you. So much so that your fear is justified. But it is also misplaced. You lack facts and always assume the worst.”
Tucked in his embrace, she arched a brow. “Can you blame me?”
“No.” The captain’s mask slipped, Eugenia viewing a man in torment. “But you can’t imagine how much I wish you’d have come to me willingly.”
She couldn’t bear to hold his gaze when he tricked her into seeing him and not the captain. It produced the worst kind of ache behind her ribs. “You could have asked me—”
“Don’t be coy, Eugenia.” A man could not have looked more lovesick. “I’ve asked. I’ve even begged.”
Why was this killing her? “You said it yourself. Everyone has to pay.”
The verbal gauntlet was lifted, the captain brushing her lips with his fingertips. “And I’ll gladly pay. I’ll take liberties, because I can. I will force you to stay safe on this ship, Eugenia.” Firm, softness turning to iron. Even the quality of his voice became sinister. “I’m not asking anymore. From this point forward, I take.”
And he drove home his point with a fiery kiss.
One that hurt when her torn lip was mashed against her teeth. A searing kiss that set her body aching when his arms squeezed too hard.
And he knew it hurt her.
The captain’s statement was loud and clear; he would hurt her if he had to.
He was the glass in her food she was expected to eat with gratitude. An internal injury that would grow