As she’d been born annoyingly attractive, men had always embarrassed themselves—either over her hair, her tits, or her face.
A curse when trying to be taken seriously in academia. A boon in competition of any kind against the straight opposite sex.
Until now.
“Don’t get me wrong, siren. Every last one of them would like to. But they can’t.” The captain looked so damn pleased with himself. Railing his fingers down his overly defined abs as if to entice her to see all he had on offer. As if to remind her how good he’d been the night before. “You belong to me.”
Which deserved peels of unhinged laughter. “You got twenty-something-million tickets sitting on a roll you’ve tucked away for just such an occasion? I mean, if you’re telling me you paid the price, I can walk right off this boat.”
His grin grew. “Well, the door is locked, so you’re going to have a hard time with that.”
“You leave me locked in this room and I will bust apart your wood furnishings and use the fragments to start a fire. A spindle, determination, friction... I’ve done it before. And my hands have the calluses to prove it.”
He shook his head, countering, “There are children and babies on this boat. More than you’d expect. We take them all in, seek them out, and, as you know, create more.”
Deep inhale, closed eyes, pursed lips exhale. Her lashes flared open, heartrate leveling. “I’ll give you this. I don’t think you’ve ever outright lied to me. That’s not your trick. So get to the point. Describe, in detail, what you intend to do now.”
“This is the question you should have asked six months ago. But you clung to safety in an ideal—one we both knew was ludicrous—because it was the only thing you had left.” Close enough to touch her now, her sheet, his towel, all that was between them beside a mountain of female regret. “You’re stubborn, you’re smart, and you use anger like a shield, because without it, you’d fall to pieces.”
Oh, he wanted to dig in the knife, while she knew a thing or two about him. “And you fuck the women as many nights as you can tolerate it, because they degraded themselves to earn tickets, and the burden of the chore should be shared. You’re the real whore on this ship. You fucked them, you fucked me, for pay.”
“You’re not entirely wrong.”
“Does it make you feel better to play your part in the show? Those blowjobs where the women try to get you to look them in the eye, where they show off to earn favor? Is it different for men? Is an orgasm just an orgasm?”
“We made love last night. It was different.”
“I DID IT FOR TICKETS!”
“No, you didn’t. You did it, because I’d taken your last excuse away and you were starved.”
“And you came in me.” The hurt in her voice, knowing her eyes stung and that he could see it… was killing her. “You came in me, Aaron. That was wrong.”
Cupping her cheek, he used his thumb to wipe the single spilt tear. “Eugenia, honey, I waited six months. You can’t blame me for being unable to wait any longer. I know what I did. I know what I’m going to do. Because I’m starved too.”
“It all sounds so pretty when you say it that way, but I remember clearly what you said yesterday. You don’t go down to Level 9.”
“I’ll make an exception.”
More tears came. “Is it begging that you want from me? You can have it. You already took everything else. Please don’t put me down there. Give me the same chance you give the rest of the women. Let me earn my way off.”
Pain in his voice, he said, “You think I’d be able to survive watching that?”
&nbs
p; “And why should you get to have what no one else on this ship is allowed?” A fair question, but spoken with rancor.
Trailing his touch from her face, down her throat, soft over the tops of her breasts, the captain hooked a finger where his sheet covered her, pulling enough to warn that she best let go. “You know why.”
But she held that sheet. That final, wispy barrier between them. Held tight. “I’m not pregnant.”
Cocky smile, the male looked right at her kiss-swollen mouth. “We can work on that.”
With a flourish, the blanket was ripped away, thrown to the floor, despite Eugenia’s yelp and sorry attempt to catch it.
Hot lips landed on her shoulder, the captain pressing her down to the bedding, pulling at the towel around his hips and fighting his way between her thighs. As if she were wet and ready.
Which she was not.