I figured then he had me all staked out for the bedroom. I glanced at John. He was taking it all in from across the room, all smiles. I pretended comp...ete bemusement."You feel then, Bea, your independence, or your freedom, whatever you want to call it, exists only because men have permitted it?" In a patriarchal society, such as we have, it could not be otherwise," I said."I think you must hate us men very much," he imagined. "Tell me then, Bea. I'm calling you Bea, I hope you don't mind. Tell. Her skirt and blouse were like a second skin, but in my head I was peeling them off to see the real skin underneath. It would be tanned all over, I figured, tanned like her legs and arms and...I think I actually gasped when I saw her face. Even in the shade of her floppy hat, her eyes twinkled above her chiseled cheekbones when she spoke."Lovely view you've got here," she said, almost a purr."I hope you enjoy it, Ms. Welch." Mmm, I hope so too. It looks like you have."I actually blushed, and I. ‘What are you doing?! That hurts!’ The sensation in her bottom was extremely foreign to her, and she panicked, realizing that it had triggered an urge to run to the toilet. ‘Stop!’ Eugenia climbed on top of her from behind, using the full weight of her stockier body to bring Betty down to her knees. She then wrangled the struggling girl to the ground, pinning her under her knees and pushing her face into the topsoil. Betty shrieked, but the sound was muffled by a clump of dirt. She felt Eugenia. Corec nodded, then glanced down at the prisoner, who was lying on his side, still tied up. “Have you learned anything?”“The traitor refuses even to tell us his name or what camp he’s from,” Pavan said. They’d checked the man’s tattoos before Leena had fetched Corec and Ellerie, but the ones to identify his camp and family had been removed, scarred and abraded enough to leave only indistinct smudges.Ellerie drew her rapier and rested the tip against the Seeker’s throat. “What if, for every.