A stranger’s firm hands pulled her from the lake, where she fell immediately to her back, staring up at a sun so blinding she couldn’t make out the shadowed faces standing over her.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty one?” Someone was pawing at her face, turning her chin and brushing wet, red curls off her cheek.
Trying to swat off the attention was almost more effort than her exhausted muscles might put forth. “Hands off the goods.”
“And bossy to boot.”
The sounds of her companion being pulled from the water, of his sputtering and coughing, were ignored. Eugenia, still blinded by the sun but doing her damnedest to point her eyes in the direction of the dark figure hovering closest, muttered, “Mister, just tell me one thing. You got air conditioning on this ship?”
A masculine chuckle was the only answer supplied.
Her companion coughed, then sucked in a breath to say, “Brought the girl for sale. As you can see, she’s a beauty. A great ride too.”
John. Fucking puppy-eyed John.
How dare he! After she’d hunted for him, shared resources... allowed him to travel with her and glimpse the precious map.
Even though someone held a canteen to her lips, even when clean water warmed by the sun splashed her tongue and was gulped. Right then, right when that water hit her gut, she knew it. John had been planning to sell her all along. That’s why the pussy kept pushing for City. That’s why he suggested the shortcut when his whining never won her.
His voice was coming closer. John crawled near where she guzzled. “Do we have a deal for the girl?”
“No.” Authoritative, definite.
Maybe there was a God.
Or maybe there was just nothing but evil. “A slave can’t sell a slave. You want water, boy. You work for it. If you don’t work, you get tossed over with the rest who failed to pull their weight.”
In raggedy underclothes, head pounding, muscles noodley, Eugenia found the strength to lean up on an elbow and spit every drop of life-saving water in her mouth at the traitor. “Pig!”
The same man who had deemed her a slave at first glance ordered, “Get her off the ramp before that creamy skin burns. Take her to the women on Level 15—in the air conditioning. Have them clean her up and keep her alive. This siren’s too valuable to let die.”
Fighting with the little strength she had, biting, hoarse screams, and pathetic flopping did nothing to keep her from being shouldered like a knapsack.
It wasn’t a short walk, but she didn’t give up, powerless to move her arms more than a sorry swing but sharp with her tongue. She threatened the stranger’s life, swore she’d tear off his cock if he put it anywhere near her. His mother. His family. Creative in her expletives until a door opened and cool air blasted her back.
There really was air conditioning on that boat! One taste of it on her skin and she went from spitting hellcat to sobbing wreck.
The trivial thing she’d craved most from the life stolen when the bombs fell was just as divine as she remembered.
“Hey, Joan, here’s a new one. Captain wants her cleaned up and kept alive. Level 15.”
“Well”—a woman spoke, a no-nonsense, middle-aged voice—“won’t that just get the men frothing at the mouth? And just look at all that red hair.”
“Temper to match. She’s a biter.” Hefting Eugenia down against something soft and forgotten, the bruiser who dragged her into air-conditioned hell warned Joan, “Watch yourself.”
“Yeah, I heard you. Now go. No men are allowed up here until the bell.”
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Addison Cain
USA TODAY bestselling author and Amazon Top 25 bestselling author, Addison Cain is best known for her dark romances, smoldering paranormal suspense, and twisted alien worlds. Her antiheroes are not always redeemable, her lead females stand fierce, and nothing is ever as it seems.
Deep and sometimes heart wrenching, her books are not for the faint of heart. But they are just right for those who enjoy unapologetic bad boys, aggressive alphas, and a hint of violence in a kiss.
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Don’t miss these exciting titles by Addison Cain!
The Alpha’s Claim Series:
Born to be Bound
Born To Be Broken
Reborn
Stolen
Corrupted
Wren’s Song Series:
Branded
Silenced
Cradle of Darkness Series:
Catacombs
Cathedral
The Relic
Standalones:
Swallow it Down
Strangeways
The Golden Line
The Irdesi Empire Series:
Sigil
Sovereign
Que: Book Three (coming soon)
A Trick of the Light Duet:
A Taste of Shine
A Shot in the Dark
Historical Romance:
Dark Side of the Sun
Horror:
The White Queen
Immaculate
