Page 18 of Chosen By Swift

“You can go.” She gestured to the men and women running by them. “Catch the one you want.”

Realizing she thought he wanted someone else, he reached out slowly and carefully lifted her chin. She tried to look anywhere but his face so he waited until she finally worked up the courage to meet his burning gaze. “I already caught the one I want.”

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head in disbelief. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“You don’t want me, sir.”

As soon as she called him sir, he was convinced she was the right one. He didn’t like the low value she held of herself. “I do want you.”

She shook her head again, refusing to take his words as truth. “Look at you—and look at me!”

“I am looking at you.”

She blushed, her cheeks and neck turning the prettiest shade of pink. It made him wonder what other parts of her he could make flush with heat.

He noticed the slight swell to her lip. It wasn’t bad. Definitely not from a slap or a punch. “What happened here, darling? Did someone hurt you?”

She dropped her gaze and gulped. Finally, she nodded stiffly.

“Who hurt you?”

“A man,” she said quietly. “He forced me to kiss him, and he was mean about it.”

Worried she had been hurt even worse, he asked, “Is that all he did?”

Her head snapped up, and her expression turned to panic. “No, sir! I’m a good girl! I didn’t let him take my gift. I’m still pure!”

His chest tightened at the desperate way she described herself. Pure. Good. As if her only worth was her sexual history.

“I believe you,” he promised. “It wouldn’t matter to me either way. I only wanted to make sure you weren’t harmed.”

She seemed completely bewildered by him. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to be my mate,” he answered honestly.

She glanced toward the other women being collared around them. “Are you sure you want me?”

He gently turned her face until their gazes melded. “I’m sure.”

She seemed unconvinced. As if to prove her worth, she said, “I have been running my family’s household for the last eight years. I cook and clean. I’m proficient in childcare and homeschooling. I also know my way around a farm, both in the fields and in the barn. Cows, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens—I'm comfortable with all of them. I’m skilled at sewing and mending. I also know how to preserve food, save seeds and maintain a garden.”

Feeling the pressure to reassure her that he could provide, he said, “I’m an officer in the Sky Corps. A pilot,” he clarified, “but I intend to put myself forward for command. I was recently assigned new quarters. They’re the best on the floor. As my mate, you’ll have access to medical care and education. Most of our living costs are covered by my commission. My salary goes toward discretionary spending and savings for my—our—retirement.”

“What’s retirement?” she asked, confused.

“It’s when a soldier or pilot reaches the maximum number of service years required. Some men choose to stay in the service in teaching or support roles. Others take their families to settle on an Alliance planet.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I always thought I’d stay in uniform until the day I die, but if I have daughters, I think I’d want to retire to some safe, quiet place.”

“And if you have sons?”

“Well, they’ll be in the Academy once they’re of age.”

She seemed unhappy about that. “You send your boys away? When? Where?”

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