“Iwillbe the man to get you pregnant. I want you for always.”
“You—you do?”
“I made up my mind the minute you left the kitchen six years ago.”
“Made up your mind to do what?” I asked. His hand was pressed into the cushion of the couch, and I laid my palm on it. His skin was warm and tan from days out in the sun on his farm.
“I made up my mind to win you,” he answered calmly, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to win a Breeder.
My heart raced a little at his words. “What are you talking about? You can’t simply make up your mind to win the Breeder. Every man wants to win the Breeder. It doesn’t mean theycan.”
“I did.”
“How?” I asked, my question ringing out like a bullet. Inside, I was thrilled. I hadn’t been alone in my feelings of love. He’d wanted a future too and had done everything in his power to make it happen.
“First I studied all the past winners. I read through the history books and watched old news clips trying to see what the men had in common.”
“What did you find?” I turned toward him, for at this point, he’d moved to sit next to me on the couch. My knees angled in his direction, and my side rested against the back of the couch.
He smiled thoughtfully. “It was funny, really, because it was so easy. I couldn’t believe I was the first to figure it out.”
“What?” My head leaned forward, dying to know what he’d learned.
“Out of the last fifty years of winners, fifteen of them have worked in food farming.”
I fell back against the cushions. “Really? That many?”
He nodded, pretending not to hear my sarcasm. “Think about it. Given the sheer number of career choices, there should’ve been fifty different careers for fifty different winners, but there weren’t. The greatest percentage worked in farming.”
He did make a good point now that I thought about it.
“I switched career directions the next day. I’d been planning on being an investor. Even though I was apprenticed to a farmer, I’d planned on leaving the minute I was eighteen.”
A desk job. I eyed the muscles bulging from the thin shirt covering his torso. It was obvious he worked out in the sun doing tough labor.
“I knew if I were to be chosen as a candidate, I had to rise to the top of my industry and make my farm stand out.”
“But...”
“The fighting part came next,” he continued as if I hadn’t interrupted. “I made a point to employ former military personnel who could train me in hand-to-hand combat. It turned out to be a good match for all parties.”
“I can’t believe you did all that for me,” I finally managed, stunned he’d made a career out of trying to win me.
His look penetrated deep to my soul. He reached for his backpack, riffled through it and pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper. “Did you think I was going to let you go after this?”
My breath caught as I recognized the last letter I’d written to him six years ago. I’d managed to sneak it into the kitchen early one delivery morning, but I’d never known if Ethan had ever received it “My note,” I whispered.
“Your note.” His beautiful lips were a straight line.
My nipples tightened as Ethan’s gaze intensified. “I made up my mind six years ago to win you, and now I’ve done it. I’m not going to let you go. Ever,” he said.
The silence between us had weight and depth. It was shocking that he’d made it his life’s goal to win me. But then he was close enough I could smell the soap on his skin and it didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that hehadwon me and was here with me now. His lips found mine and soon we were sprawled on the couch kissing as if there were no tomorrow. I remembered there might be only thirty tomorrows and I tightened my grip on his wide shoulders.
It was easy to believe this man had tackled an impossible goal. He surveyed me now as if I were the next mountain he had to tackle. He didn’t yet realize that my body was attuned to his and I’d been hyperaware of him the moment he’d vaulted onstage as the winner. No. I’d been aware of him the moment he’d first entered my school kitchen with an armful of produce, before I’d understood what it was to sexually desire a man.
Our tongues rubbed against each other with no agenda at first, and then he took it to a new level. He explored my mouth with a thoroughness I hadn’t imagined. His taste in my mouth was addictive. My breasts pushed against his chest. I wasn’t wearing a bra, but my shirt felt constricting. I wanted it off. I pushed at Ethan’s chest. He backed off a little, giving me space to tug off my top. The look in his eyes was worth it. To him I was the most beautiful woman in the world, and I remembered that he’d always considered me that way, even before I became a Breeder and desirable to adult males around the world.
Every schoolgirl dream I’d had of living in a sexless partnership with Ethan melted away as the reality of having him sank into my pores. After forcing him out of my dreams, he’d exploded back into my every hope. He wanted me forever, and the same held true for me. Unfortunately, the only way to make that happen was to get pregnant. I knew I’d have to offer myself to him whenever and wherever he wanted. No problem.