Free Seducing Eve (Guardians of Atlantis) by Michelle Miles

her fingertip. Then she had to taste him. She bent and touched the tip of her tongue to the vein, tracing it all the way up to his shoulder. He growled approval.
    “Lady, you’re killing me.”
    That resulted in him turning her around, bending her over and taking her from behind. She braced her hands on the wall, smiling the entire time.
    When the blower stopped they stood naked in each other’s arms. He looked down at her with a faint smile.
    “I like you,” he said. “A lot.”
    She couldn’t stop the flush that crept over her and she turned away, suddenly shy. She liked him, too, but this wasn’t permanent. This was for fun. His arms wrapped around her from behind as he held her against his chest. She needed a distraction. She needed her clothes on.
    “ I’m starving.”
    He chuckled. “Let’s get dressed and I’ll get those rations.”
    Once they were both properly clothed, he led her back to the site of their first seduction. He handed her one of the packets.
    She perched on the edge of the bed and tore open the foil packaging. Inside were unidentifiable pieces of…something. The small cubes were white and odorless.
    “What is this stuff?”
    “Freeze-dried fish.”
    Yuck. She scrunched her nose. But she tried a piece anyway since her stomach rumbled. It tasted like cardboard. “It’s disgusting.”
    “It’ s pretty icky.” He winked.
    Delicious warmth spread all over her as she realized he teased her. She didn’t want to like him but it was damn near impossible not to like him. He was so…likeable. She should hate being with him, especially since he was one of them . One of the ones who wanted to keep her down here indefinitely. But she didn’t hate being with him. He wasn’t the one who kidnapped her. He was the one who saved her. The one who kept the bad guys away from her.
    “How can you people eat this stuff?” She sniffed the bag again and scrunched up her nose. No matter how hungry she was, she wasn’t eating that.
    “We don’t anymore. Our food is better today.”
    She cocked her head to the side. She hadn’t thought about what they ate. “How do you get food? Do you grow it?”
    “It’s genetically engineered. Food, plants, pretty much everything.”
    “Even children?” She couldn’t resist the dig.
    He turned serious. “Not everyone agrees with that.”
    “Do you?”
    “No.” He didn’t hesitate with his response so she knew he told the truth.
    Silence stretched between them as they stared at each other. If he didn’t believe in the experiments, then what did that mean for her? Where was he taking her?
    “What are you planning to do with me?”
    “I’m not giving you to Franco.”
    “You said he would never stop looking for me.”
    “That’s right.”
    “So then what happens to me?”
    “I’m taking you to northside,” he said.
    “ I don’t know what northside is but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to go there.”
    “ It’s an abandoned part of the city and you’ll be safe there. I’ve already notified my commander we are coming.”
    She blinked. “How did you do that?”
    He grinned, tapped a finger against his temple. Oh, right. He’s said they could mind speak. They could speak to each other’s minds? That was weird. How was that possible?
    “You told him with your mind .”
    “ Aren’t you a smart girl,” he teased.
    She frowned. “So I can’t return to the surface?”
    “If I try to get you out of here, Franco will find you and take you back to the lab.”
    “But I don’t want to stay here,” she insisted. “I have a life. People will be searching for me and Abby.”
    “You don’t understa nd. I can’t let you leave, Eve.” He closed the space between them and stood in front of her, looming over her. “You have my word you’ll be safe there. My commander is there. His woman is there and she’s human.”
    “So what? That’s supposed to comfort me? That she’s a human? Is she an incubator too?”
    He pressed his lips together