Chapter Four
A strange noise woke me. It was unusual for me to wake in the middle of the night because of a noise. I’d lived with other people my whole life. Sleeping was never a silent operation. It took me a minute to remember I was in my own Breeder apartment, and, oh yeah, Ethan was there too. It had to be him making the noise. It couldn’t be an intruder, I had nothing to steal.
I glanced down at my naked body. Well, nothing of monetary value to steal. My body had been a prize to be stolen for six years. Throughout the years other men had attempted to touch me. I’d been assigned a eunuch guard to keep men from trying to break into our school and have sex with me, but the guard had been reassigned as soon as I’d been moved to Windy City.
The sound of the refrigerator door shutting woke me into further alertness, and I sat up on the couch to investigate. One dim light was on in the small kitchen that was divided from the living room by a counter. Ethan stood at the counter pouring juice into a tall glass. He glanced up as soon as I stood.
“Did I wake you up? Sorry, I’m not used to sleeping so long. We keep crazy hours on the farm,” he said, lowering the glass from his mouth to the counter.
“It’s okay. I’m kind of hungry too. We didn’t eat dinner last night, did we?” I walked over to investigate what he’d been doing in the kitchen. He had a piece of cold chicken and some veggies on a plate.
“The chicken is good,” he said. “Did you make it?”
I hated that I had to say no. “They’ve been delivering prepared food to me. But I can cook,” I hastened to say. “My weekly kitchen duty wasn’t all accepting deliveries and kissing the delivery boy. I like to cook.”
He grinned at the memory of our adolescent kisses. “I’m a terrible cook,” Ethan said. “A cook was the second employee I hired as soon as I could.”
“Your farm can afford to hire a cook?” I hoisted myself up to sit on the tall counter, letting my legs dangle down. I reached out and stole a carrot from his plate. My bare feet were cold so I shifted to rub them together.
He contemplated me seriously. “Jane, farmers do well financially. You’ve probably heard of my farm.”
“Maybe I have.” I smiled at him and crunched on my carrot wondering why he kept staring at me. “What would you name your farm,” I wondered aloud. “Green Farms,” I said, the light finally dawning. “Of course I’ve heard of you. Your farm is one of the most successful in the country, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Remember when I said I’d originally wanted to be an investor? I did that too, but it took a back seat to farming and training to be a candidate.”
Now I remembered. An Ethan Green was often quoted in news stories as an expert on business matters. Somehow I’d always envisioned “businessman Ethan Green” as an older guy, not my Ethan Green, adolescent produce delivery boy. He smiled slightly then munched on a piece of celery. I frowned as something occurred to me. “Is that why you wanted me so badly? Was winning the Breeder simply another goal on your ladder to total success?” The idea hurt me. His words before had been romantic. I didn’t like thinking that he’d only won me because he had something to prove.
“You actually want a coherent sentence while you’re sitting naked? I can barely remember my name with your breasts in touching range, but I’ll do my best.” He grinned and gave one nipple a tweak. “Jane, I fell in love with you when we were kids. The day they announced you as a Breeder was miserable, because I knew I’d never have a future with you.” He placed his palms on the counter, on the outside of my thighs, and leaned in close. “I chose to compete for you.”
Our lips were close enough to touch, but we maintained a paper’s width of distance. My heart thumped at his words and nearness. Goosebumps dotted my skin, though it was warm in the kitchen. He wasn’t as naked as I was, but only a thin layer of cloth covered his groin area.
I gently touched a dark shadow on his jawline. The abuse he’d taken earlier had to be paining him now. “I loved you too. My first thought when I got my period was disappointment, because I knew we’d lost a future together,” I said softly.
We smiled at each other, but his expression grew serious and he drew closer. “I’ve never believed in fate or magic, but I’m revising my opinion. Six years ago I met you and did everything in my power to win you, because something deep inside knew we were meant to be together.”
There was a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, but I blinked them back and leaned forward to kiss him. I’d never expected romance from my life as a Breeder, yet Ethan was here and that’s what he’d given me, and I’d never touched anything as precious. He made me feel like Jane, his lover, not Jane, the Breeder. Our lips met in a sensuous kiss as our bodies entwined, and I began to pray for the first time ever. While Ethan was confident that he’d impregnate me and win rights to me for the rest of our lives, I wasn’t so certain. But I believed every word he whispered about fate and belonging together and knew I wanted it too. He was the first man I’d ever known, and he was the only one I wanted.
“Make love to me?” It was an unnecessary question, and we both knew it. I couldn’t imagine sitting casually on the kitchen counter snacking on veggies and chatting with any other man. It meant we had to do everything in our power to make it happen, starting right here, right now. My ankles crossed behind his back and I tugged him closer. I attempted to take off his underwear with my toes, but it was a losing battle. He helped me out by taking his hands off my breasts for a quick second to tug them off.
Then his hands were back on me, placing my thighs apart so he could stand between them. He was tall enough, his erection pressed against my lower belly. I scooted my bottom closer to gain a better angle, but we lost contact as he bent to kiss my breasts and agitate my nipples.
We’d had sex less than four hours ago, but I was as desperate for him as though we’d been apart for years. Or maybe it was that we were both new to the world of having sex and wanted to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of it. We latched on to each other, desperate to get as close as possible. My heels dug into the muscles on his ass while my right hand grasped his hard length and gave an experimental squeeze.
I didn’t think I could ever get used to having access to a grown male, particularly the very one whom I’d had to sneak around to see. It was difficult to believe I could touch Ethan whenever I wanted. In some ways, I now saw how unfair the last six years of my life had been. I’d been exposed and instructed on sexual play and intercourse on a daily basis. I’d been encouraged to explore my body and practice orgasms, but I’d never been allowed to meet, let alone touch, an adult man. Until now.
I was fascinated by every inch of his body. He gasped when I nibbled on his nipple and I was intrigued to note his were darker and flatter than mine. I couldn’t get enough of running my fingers through the hair on his chest, loving the play of strong muscles under my palms. “Does that feel good?” I asked, my words a vibration against the skin of his chest.
“Everything you do feels good,” he said in a low voice. “Your hands are so soft. They’re so different than mine.”
I let my fingers wander from his chest, up over his shoulders, then around to his back. The wide plane of muscles expanded and contracted under my curious palms. His penis nudged at my entrance and I scooted around to accommodate his invasion. He toyed with me for a little while, pushing a few inches in then back out.
The short contact wasn’t enough. I wanted more, needed more. “Please,” I gasped out. “Put it all the way in me.”
“You want me?” he asked, his voice as rough as a stray dog I’d once encountered at the dumpster outside our school kitchen. The dog had growled with single-minded purpose, intent on staking claim to the contents of the dumpster. That’s how Ethan eyeballed me now. Single-minded.
I couldn’t answer. My body was on edge, ready to die if it didn’t get what it needed. I turned my head to bite the skin on his wrist where his hands held my shoulders in place. The cool countertop under me heated as our bodies moved over it. Finally, Ethan pushed me back and pushed deep inside me. We groaned in unison. I arched back against the counter, ignoring the ridge digging into my shoulder blades.
My neck craned so I could watch his long penis disappear into me over and over again. I glanced quickly at his face, but he was watching the place we were joined also. His skin stretched tightly over his muscles as if he were holding himself taut.
“This is so good,” he growled with his eyes wide, staring at his cock disappearing into me. “Women are amazing. Every man should get to feel this.” His gaze shot to my face. “But they can’t.” He leaned over me with our faces inches apart. “You’re mine. Anytime I want. Mine to fuck.”
His hips sped up, pistoning into me; I would’ve gone sliding on the counter had his hands not held me in place. “Say it,” he said. “Say you’re mine.”
I gripped his forearms, overwhelmed, and too busy absorbing all the sensations of being filled to completion to speak.
“Say it,” he ordered in a harsh tone.
“I’m yours,” I said, my words spilling out from deep in my soul. “My body is yours.” Something inside me snapped in a good way at my concession. For six years, I’d known my body would belong to the government for the purposes of breeding. Now it had narrowed to Ethan. He owned me in that moment, and I loved being owned.
He felt the shift too. His movements became more frenzied. Our bodies slapped together. Sweat-slickened skin slid sinuously in counterpoint. “Your pussy is mine. I own it.”
“Yours,” I said on a cry, closing my eyes against the impending orgasm.
“You exist for my pleasure.”
My head bobbed against the counter. I would’ve agreed to anything he said. Anything to keep him moving against me. Just. Like. That. I broke apart, my body coming in great waves of pleasure until I couldn’t take it anymore. My eyes flew open to see Ethan standing over me, jaw clenched and frozen.
His strong arms were anchored under my thighs, holding my lower body off the counter tightly against him. He was buried deep inside me. My orgasm had slowed, but rippled to life with any movement.
“Jane, stay with me. We’re not done here.”
“We’re not?” I asked dumbly, now realizing that he hadn’t come yet.
He shook his head seriously. It gave me a glimpse into Ethan Green, successful businessman. He was the clear master of this world we’d created.
“I’m going to keep fucking you, and you’re going to come again.”
“I am?”
He answered silently, letting his actions speak. He slowly withdrew partially. It created a shockwave of sensation between my thighs. I wasn’t sure I could handle more. “I—”
“Don’t talk. Just feel. Feel my cock pushing into you.” He nudged a little farther. “Do you feel me?”
I nodded, my eyes wide. A little mewl escaped from the back of my throat. The sensation of him sliding slowly and deeper into me might be my undoing. I started to feel lightheaded, as if my mind were floating above, watching my body have sex on the kitchen counter.
“Feel me, Jane,” Ethan commanded. His finger found my swollen clitoris and started a circling pattern that had awareness slamming back into my body with a vengeance. I hadn’t believed him when he said I’d come again. I was a believer now.
My body welcomed his over and over as his fingers moved in counterpart, squeezing more feeling than I knew possible. He was right. I was going to come again. The pleasure was laced with a twinge of pain at the overwhelming nature of it all.
I didn’t lie back passively enjoying the orgasm. I bucked my hips. My fingers dug into the lip of the countertop. My head and neck twisted from side to side. I screamed. Dimly I felt his penis jerk, releasing hot come deep inside. I couldn’t control my breathing and my lungs expanded and contracted, desperately seeking air.
I felt like we were the only two people in the world who knew this kind of pleasure. In a way we were. Only a select few got to enjoy sex. We were the lucky ones.
With my legs wrapped around him, Ethan picked me up off the counter and carried me easily to the bedroom. We collapsed together on the big mattress, with our bodies entwined. I was shivering from the orgasm that echoed through my nerve endings. I’d had no idea sex could go there, but I was too tired to think about it more. Holding Ethan close, I fell asleep.
* * *
The next morning a loud knock at our door jolted me to awareness. I stretched, and yawned, prepared to ignore the knock, but it grew more insistent. Ethan’s warm body next to mine was too great a lure. At a third knock, he growled and strode out of the bedroom, leaving me tangled in the thick covers aching for his body heat.
I heard male and female voices that got closer. The doorway to the bedroom filled. Ethan stood there with two people behind him. “Jane,” he said. “We have to get up.”
I struggled to sit against the metal lattice headboard and blinked at the unfamiliar people who were now fully in the room, laying out a case on the low wood dresser across from the bed. “Who are you?” I asked.
The woman turned to me. “We’re the doctors assigned to you.”
“Doctors?” I asked, feeling a bit foolish. Of course there would be doctors. How else would they know if and when I got pregnant? As I asked, Ethan was being guided to the other side of the bed by the male doctor. Ethan stood several inches taller than the other male.
The female doctor walked to me with a tablet. “We will check in with you every seventy-two hours.”
“Why?” I scooted to the side of the bed, conscious of Ethan’s and my nudity, but the doctors seemed oblivious.
“You’re the Breeder,” the woman answered, as if it were obvious. She stuck a thermometer under my tongue before I could get any more questions out. A flexible sticky patch was slapped over my heart to get the rest of my vitals. I knew the drill and sat quietly to not interfere with the results.
A second later, she removed the patch and attached it to her electronic tablet, which displayed the results. I waited. She didn’t seem disposed to share anything with me. I was aware of a similar drill happening on the other side of the bed. I grinned over at Ethan, who sat on the edge of the bed watching the male doctor.
Finally both doctors seemed satisfied with their data and started packing up their equipment. “How soon could you tell if she’s pregnant?” Ethan asked.
“Within forty-eight hours of conception,” the female doctor replied then turned to me. “You’ve been taking your vitamins and supplements?”
I nodded.
“Good. You’re setting the right pace for success. Three incidents of intercourse within twelve hours is excellent.” She glanced at Ethan. “We have supplements for you, if you need assistance.” Her eyes flickered to Ethan’s lower body then back to me. She glanced at her watch. “It’s been eight hours since the last attempt. You should probably engage once we leave.”
I felt my jaw lower and looked to see how Ethan was handling the news we were being watched. He didn’t look at all disturbed. As soon as the apartment was cleared of medical personnel, I turned to him. “Are there—”
“Hang on,” he said, standing and reaching for my hand. He tugged me into the bathroom and turned on the shower. When the water was hot, we stepped inside. “We can talk privately in here, but I’m sure they’re watching.”
My head swiveled as I scanned the small stall, trying to see cameras. Ethan’s back was to the water stream, and moisture beaded on his chest.
“Why are you shocked?” he asked me. “Did you really think they’d leave the Breeder on her own? It’s for your own safety. What if I turned out to be abusive? They couldn’t risk their most precious asset.”
I put my palms flat on his chest and leaned my cheek to his skin. “It makes sense. I guess I felt private here. Special. Like we were the only two people in the world. I know everyone saw us during yesterday’s big show, but today I don’t like knowing strangers are watching us. It was one thing to allow it yesterday for the world, but that was ceremonial. This month belongs to us.”
His strong arms came around my body, squeezing me in a warm hug. Hot water sluiced down, getting caught where our bodies connected. “When this is over and you’re pregnant with my child, I’ll take you to my farm where we’ll have as much privacy as we want.”
I couldn’t imagine it. I hadn’t been truly private since getting my period six years ago. Living on a rural farm sounded like heaven, and I knew if anyone had the resources to make it happen it was him. But not even Ethan Green could change the laws of succession if I didn’t get pregnant by him. I smiled up at his compelling face. When I was fourteen, I’d been positive he was the most handsome boy in the universe. Now I wasn’t sure if he was handsome. I didn’t have enough experience or data to make a judgment, but to me, Ethan’s face was beyond appealing. “I’d like that,” I said and leaned up to kiss him.
He caught me in a tight embrace, backing me up against the shower wall. My legs came around him and I guessed we were about to make love again. I guessed correctly.