“Then don’t blame yourself. Trillions of dollars have been spent over the decades to manipulate DNA in this way. It’s messy and imprecise. The military puts down three percent of Dominants every year. That’s the official number. Unofficially, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was closer to ten percent. Accidents, missions gone wrong, other reasons being listed as cause of death; it’s shocking that these experiments are still going on. It’s glorified eugenics.”

“Why don’t people stop it, then?” Daniel asks.

“Because they can’t. Have you heard of Operation Sea-Spray?”

“No.”

“In 1950, the military sprayed bacteria over San Francisco. It looked like fog. They said that they thought the bacteria was harmless, but it wasn’t. There were illnesses, even one death, and health complications, but people accepted it. The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is another example of what civilized society allows. So long as there is a group of people that others are willing to let be harmed, the experiments will go on. Now people can say we signed up. We knew what might happen. We got paid for it. We deserve this. And occasionally something they do to us can become a useful gene therapy, and so everyone celebrates that their chances of dying might have gone down because ours have gone up.”

“So I guess you’re not recording this part of our time together,” Daniel says.

Liam laughs. “No, I’m not. I won’t record anything we do, Daniel, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Daniel looks at the man beside him. Really looks. At his strong hand on the wheel, the cut of his jaw, the perfection of his profile. His soft hair and the shape of his mouth. Desire is there—a longing so sharp it could kill him.

“I don’t want him or anyone to know what we do together. Swear to me you won’t tell anyone, not ever.”

“What if disclosure could help you? If getting what you need makes you healthier, your father might let you live your life.”

“I know him. You’re wrong. If submission makes me better then I’ll be one of those statistics.”

Liam sighs heavily and doesn’t answer right away, thinking it over. Which is what Daniel needs to surrender completely to this man and his own biology. He needs Liam to be on his side, to be honest, a man of his word.

“He will know you were with me. He’ll know we slept together. He’ll know your health has improved. I can leave out as much as possible, but if I’m ordered to be honest, I don’t see how I can keep my promise as you are envisioning it.”