Farmers must be kept happy, after all. He wondered if she would avail herself of his training tonight or would opt to get to know him better first.
He tamped down his excitement, but already blood surged southward, thickening his cock. A chance to lie with her, to lose himself in lust, was too tempting a thought. Could he tempt her to forget her natural reticence? “I’m trained, you know. I could give you a massage. Draw your bath . . .”
Her head swung his way, green eyes narrowed. “Let’s get this straight. I don’t need a servant or a sex worker. I need a partner. You aren’t obligated to pleasure me. So long as you pull your own weight, I’ll be satisfied.”
He suppressed a grin at her terse tone. “And what if I have needs, ma’am?”
Her jaw clenched. “You’ve a hand. Use it.”
She stomped away, but he couldn’t help smiling. He’d noted her heightened color. He’d shocked her.
Now she was thinking about the coming night and all the delightful possibilities.
Mary eyed Colm from beneath the sweep of her thick eyelashes as he bent over the bowl of stew she’d heated for their dinner. Ever since he’d offered to pleasure her, she hadn’t been able to get certain lusty images out of her head. It had been ages since she’d taken a sexual partner.
And what if I have needs, ma’am? She wished she could look at him as though he was just another machine she’d been provided with for convenience, because dammit, she had needs, too. Yet, even though she understood the necessity of physical release, somehow the thought of using a prisoner in that way felt sordid.
He really didn’t have any choice in the matter. And even though he’d offered, he might have done so because of his conditioning, not because of any true attraction he might feel. How could she know for sure? Certainly, they were destined to mate, and they both had an obligation to reproduce. However, deep inside, she hoped they’d find some affection first. Some spark of attraction to make the act feel less like another of her daily mandated chores.
Sitting across from him, she freely admitted more than a spark existed on her side. Although his features were rugged, he was a handsome man. With a square jaw and sharp, blunt blade of a nose, his face was strong and masculine. His cheekbones were as sharp as arrowheads. When he spoke, white even teeth flashed between firm lips. Already, her nipples tightened as she imagined those lips tugging at their tips.
His size alone fed a feminine hunger to feel his weight pressing over her. Thick dark hair caused her fingers to curl against the need to comb through it. His watchful eyes inspired images of him rising up to gaze between their naked bodies as they came together.
He’d be attentive to her pleasure, his training would assure that. But would he really want her ?
Mary pushed aside the foolish thought. His wants should be secondary to their mission. They were ordained to mate, to produce progeny and populate this planet, just as they were ordained to nurture the fields.
“Would you like to join me on the porch?” she asked. “The fireworks should begin soon.”
“Fireworks?” A dark brow arched, seeming to mock her flight of fancy.
“Okay, missiles, actually. Seeding the clouds. This will be the first time I’ve seen the seeding since leaving the dome. Would you like to watch?”
In answer, he gathered their dishes without being asked and took them to the sink. Then they both headed to the open door and the dark porch outside. She sat atop the steps, making room for him to join her, then trained her gaze on the sky. “It’s supposed to look like Fourth of July,” she whispered. She angled her head to glance his way. “Where was your home, Colm?”
She was entitled to his answer, but wanted more. Not intending to pry, she glanced away in case her question caused him pain.
“Arizona,” came his gruff reply. “You?”
She smiled. “Iowa. My great-great-grandparents were farmers. It’s partly why I decided to apply for the land grant.”
“Were there other reasons?”
She grimaced. “I wasn’t the best student. No aptitude for math or science. And since I didn’t want to be consigned to factory work, I volunteered for this.”
“Did you leave anyone behind?”
She shook her head. “My parents died several years ago. There wasn’t anyone.” Although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, she asked, “Did you leave someone behind?”
Colm drew a deep breath. Sorrow deepened the grooves beside his mouth. “My father. He was in enforcement. And my little brother. Also a cop.” His mouth tightened, and then he shot her a pointed glance. “You haven’t asked me the important question yet.”
She swallowed hard. “What crime did you commit?”
His smile was bittersweet, a thin twisting of his firm lips. “My crime was daring to question.”
Shock rattled through her. “You were a rebel?”
“Imagine that,” he said, his tone filled with bitter sarcasm. “They sent one of my kind here.”
She shook her head. “Were you involved with the bombings?”
“No. I chose civil disobedience. I never wanted to harm anyone.”
His glance fell away and she noted the tightness of his jaw. “But you did?”
His glance fell to his hands, which gripped his knees. “I broke into a comm facility. I was the one with the skills to get us inside. We intended to divert the feed and post our own transmissions. Free radio. Tell the truth about what the governments were up to.”
“Up to?” She snorted. Seemed everyone had had a conspiracy theory or two.
His gaze swung her way, his eyes cold as a Martian glacier. “You don’t get it. Whole regions of the Earth were dying. Our only hope was population reduction and plantation projects. Plans were already in motion, plans every single government in the Seven Sectors supported.”
She shook her head. “A grand conspiracy?”
His eyes narrowed. “How about extermination? World population extermination.”
Mary studied his face. Colm believed what he said. How the hell had he gotten past the psych evaluations? “That’s ridiculous. They’re already practicing population control.”
“It wasn’t working fast enough.”
“How do you know?”
“I was military, ma’am,” he bit out. “Part of the group responsible for security around the Seven Sectors summits. I heard everything. That’s why I’m here, and not in some hellhole prison camp on Earth.
They didn’t want word getting out before they could begin. While I slept in stasis aboard the prison ship traveling here, it happened. It’s done.”
Cold, like ice water spilling down her spine, shivered through her. “But news feeds . . . there’s been no mention. Something that big—”
“The feeds are fiction,” he ground out. “To keep you happy. To keep you working and productive. The next waves of colonists are already in transit, just as dumb and oblivious. It might be years before you all learn the truth.”
Mary grew still. Everything he said made sense. “Extermination . . .” She raised her glance to the sky, searching for the small speck of unblinking light that was the Earth. “I don’t know why that’s so shocking.
It’s what the doomsayers have been talking about for years. The end of the world.”
“No. New life. That’s the name of the initiative. Their comforting spin for those who were allowed to live.”
Mary sat silent for a long moment, and then dragged in a deep breath. “Do I want to know how they did it?”
“I was arrested before I could find out. But it had to be fast, targeted.”