Filthy Secret

SOLACED

I was all cried out by the time he returned, my head heavy with resignation. No doubt my red eyes and puffy face conveyed my heartache. Not that I’d have guessed based on his nonchalant demeanor

or the broad smile he offered as he lowered the tray.

“Here.” He gestured to the food.

My belly growled as I inhaled the aroma of meat and potatoes. How long had it been since I’d had a decent hot meal? I couldn’t even recall. Walking around me, he pushed my seat toward the table, drawing me closer to the steaming hot plate. My gaze surveyed the gravy and mashed potatoes hungrily. As far as I was concerned, it was a feast.

“Tuck in.” He pushed a fork toward me. “It’s important you eat properly.”

Anxiety intensified at his implication, but my hunger was the loudest call. Reaching for the cutlery, I pushed it into the potatoes and lifted them to my mouth. My senses erupted as I swallowed the buttery mash.

“Good, huh?” His smirk should have riled, but I was too grateful to care. Leaning forward, he ruffled my hair in an almost tender way. “I knew you’d enjoy it.”

I locked eyes with him while I chewed, trying to make sense of everything. I needed him in a very tangible way-for food, for protection from the grotesque mob outside that door-but the truth was, Dylan was as much a threat as any of them.

“You are beautiful, you know.” His hand slid to my damp cheek, caressing my skin. “In another world, at another time, I’d have really liked you.”

I pulled in a shaky breath. What the fuck was I supposed to say to that? This hardly seemed the time for a romantic interlude, but maybe I could use it to my advantage? Perhaps if he had a soft spot for me, he might let me go, sneak me out somehow, make an exception for me-for his child. I was carrying his child, for God’s sake-that must mean something to him.

“Yes, Sir. Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” He leaned against the wall, watching me eat. “You’ve made my first full day on the job very satisfactory.”

A cold shudder of revulsion raced along my spine, my hand pausing by the plate.

“Don’t look at me like that!” He chuckled as though there was anything even vaguely funny about my predicament. He’d signed up to take women against their will, to knock them up for a fucking bonus! The man must have no ethics at all.

“I don’t know what to say.” I pressed the prongs of the fork into a piece of beef. It was succulent enough, but suddenly, the whole meal was less appealing.

“Then say nothing.” Dylan straightened, his tone terser. “That would be good advice for you, regardless.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“What does that mean, Sir?” I put down the fork, my fingers gripping tighter around the handle.

“It means this is your lot now, woman.” Dylan’s dark laughter reverberated around the room. “If I can even call you that anymore. I heard the laws have already been changed. All those single girls of childbearing age whose tits don’t make the grade have lost all their automatic civic rights.”

I knew that much already.

“That barely makes you a woman at all.”

“Wh-What am I then?” I hardly dared to ask, but this was at the root of everything. When men like him stopped seeing me as a woman-a person -everything had gone to hell. “If I’m not a woman, then what?”

“A thing.” He offered me a twisted smile as he shrugged. “Property, a piece of meat, I don’t know.” “Wh-What?”

Logically, I knew that was the new consensus, but it didn’t make sense. Not coming from another human being, not coming from the man who’d ensured I’d come before he impaled me. My brain couldn’t compute the vile words.

“What, Sir.” He moved so fast, I scarcely saw the motion, my first awareness his huge hand at my throat, pinning me back against the chair.

“We’ve been through this.”

His fingers stiffened, making it more difficult to breathe.

“P-Please,” I stammered, panic exploding in my mind. This couldn’t be the way I died-no way. I had to live, had to survive for the baby.

“You’ve gotta learn your place, bitch,” he snarled. “You’re nothing but a glorified cow now. Cattle to be leashed and used.” His hand relaxed, an insidious grin stretching over his lips. “And you can be useful. I already know that.”

Air flooded my windpipe, and relieved, I snatched it in.

“That means a little less mouth and a little more deference.”

“I’m sorry,” I gasped, though I’d never been less sorry in my life. Dylan was the closest thing to an ally I had in this grim place, and although I

loathed him, I needed him on my side. “I’ll do better, Sir.”

“I know you will, sweetie pie.” His hand rose, tapping my chin lightly. “You’re carrying the very first child this unit has produced. That’s quite an achievement.”

Pain throbbed in my head, goading the well of nausea churning in my stomach.

“Maybe I’ll even let you stay with me for a while. I’d like to see what the little bugger looks like.” He snorted. “See if he’s as handsome as his dad.”

I blew out a breath as his hand finally drew away, suppressing the urge to counter him, to query the fact it might not be a boy. What was the point? Modern man, it seemed, had little interest in girls until they were available to spawn the next generation. It was fucking horrendous.

“Th-Thank you, Sir.” It repulsed me to ingratiate myself to him, but there was no choice. This was my future, and bleak as it was, manipulating him to protect what glimmer of hope I had left was all I had.

“You’d like that, huh?” His lips curled. “Like to stay with me?”

I wanted to punch him in the nuts and gun down every man between here and the border, but sadly, that was not a viable alternative. The fork in my hand was looking more and more like a weapon as the seconds ticked by.

“Y-Yes, Sir.”

“Then behave yourself.” He rose, untying the ropes holding me to the chair. Running his fingers through his dark hair, he turned and strode away. “Eat your meal and keep your mouth closed, and maybe you’ll have a chance of getting what you want.”