Burning for Love Read online

  Still, he said nothing while the Princess fumbled with the flowers and then gave up, and started to pick up a piece of cloud bread.

  “Wait!” James held out a hand to stop her.

  “What? What is it?” She looked up at him with wide, startled eyes that were somehow…guilty? Or was he imagining that? James didn’t know, he just felt instinctively that something was wrong.

  “I just wanted to say you’d better wash your hands before you handle the food,” James told her. “Those honeybell vines smell like they might be poisonous and you were just holding them.”

  He nodded at her fingers, which had light green stains on them from the sap. Normally she would have washed her hands herself, without him mentioning it. What had his curvy little Princess so preoccupied today?

  “Oh…” She stared at her sap-stained fingers. “Of course you’re right. I’ll be right back.”

  She went to wash her hands and came back quickly, immediately pouring herself a cup of steaming tea. James frowned as the steam tickled his nostrils. Was it his imagination, or did the tea smell bitter? Almost as bitter as the honeybell vines…

  Ka’rissa picked up her teacup and frowned at it irresolutely. She nearly took a sip…then put it down again on the dainty china saucer.

  “Something wrong with the tea?” James asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “What? Oh, no—nothing. Nothing is wrong at all,” Ka’rissa said quickly. “It’s just…a bit too hot, that’s all. I think I shall let it cool a bit before I drink it.”

  “But I thought you liked your tea scalding hot?” James asked, frowning.

  “Oh, well…” She cleared her throat, looking nervously away. “Today I choose to let it cool.”

  He frowned. What was going on with the tea? Whatever it was, Ka’rissa wasn’t telling. She kept her eyes down, staring at her breakfast plate though something told James she wasn’t seeing it at all.

  “I think I’ll have a cup of it myself,” he said, moving as though to lift the teapot.

  “No!” Ka’rissa gasped, putting out a hand to stop him. “That is, they only sent enough for one today,” she added weakly, when James raised his eyebrows in surprise at her reaction. “I am sorry. Would you like me to ring for another pot, just for you?” she added.

  He shook his head, still watching her carefully.

  “No, that’s all right.”

  “Very well.”

  Ka’rissa lifted her teacup again and looked at it intently. She took a deep breath, as though nerving herself to do something either dangerous or distasteful or both. A calmness seemed to settle over her, James thought. No, not quite calmness—more of a calm despair. As though she had been nerving herself up to do something desperate and she had finally gotten her courage to the sticking point.

  She lifted the cup to her lips and suddenly James heard a voice in his head—a warm, strong, feminine voice which spoke only to him.

  “Do not let her drink it, warrior. It is poison.”

  This was a startling occurrence that had never happened to him before. He had no idea who was speaking to him but the feeling of foreboding that filled him along with the words was so strong that he acted without thinking.

  Before Ka’rissa could take a sip of the steaming tea, he knocked the china cup from her hand. It shattered into pieces on the floor, splattering the poisoned liquid at their feet.

  32

  Rissa sat there, shocked, her hand still held to her mouth though the teacup she had been holding just moments before was now in pieces on the floor.

  “What…why…?” she began, looking up at James.

  But the big Kindred was already lifting the lid of the teapot and looking inside.

  “No!” Rissa gasped, putting out a hand to stop him. “No, you mustn’t!”

  “Mustn’t what? Find this?” James demanded.

  Using his metal hand—which was impervious to heat or cold, he fished out the limp tangle of honeybell vines Rissa had stuffed into the teapot. He dropped the sopping mass on the table, where it proceeded to leak tea and poison-green sap all over the white tablecloth.

  “Why, Ka’rissa?” He was glaring at her now, a dangerous glint in his metallic blue eyes. “Why were you trying to kill yourself?”

  “Kill myself? I wasn’t trying to kill myself!” Rissa protested weakly.

  “Bullshit,” he growled. Rising, he snatched the teapot off the table and walked to the double doors that led out to the balcony beyond.

  “No, wait!” Rissa exclaimed urgently. “Don’t do that!”

  “Too late—it’s done.” James upended the teapot, pouring its steaming contents into the decorative oolie hedges below.

  Rissa felt a terrible weight growing in her chest.

  “James, I needed that tea!” she protested as he came back and plunked the now-empty teapot back on the table with a dull thud.

  “Needed it for what—to kill yourself?” he accused again.

  “I told you, I was not trying to kill myself!” Rissa protested hotly.

  “Then why did you put poisonous honeybell vines in it?” He pointed to the soggy mass of vines in the middle of the table.

  “I…” Rissa shook her head, her heart pounding and her throat tight. “I cannot…cannot tell you,” she whispered.

  “Ka’rissa…sweetheart…” His voice went suddenly soft and coaxing and he came to kneel in front of her. “I can tell something’s wrong,” he murmured, looking her in the eyes. “You haven’t been yourself since last night and now this morning, you try to drink poisoned tea—tea that you poisoned yourself.”

  “I…I needed the tea,” Rissa protested again in a small voice. Her chest was so tight she could barely breathe and her hands were beginning to tremble.

  “Tell me why.” James took her hot, shaking hands in his large, cool ones and pressed gently. “Tell me why you think you needed the tea, Ka’rissa,” he murmured.

  Suddenly, she couldn’t hold it inside any longer. Though she was certain it would make him despise her, the ugly secret came pouring out.

  “Because,” she whispered, her eyes overflowing with tears. “Drinking tea with honeybell vines in it is the only way I can get rid of the baby.”

  33

  “The baby? What baby?” James looked at the Princess blankly.

  Ka’rissa was shaking and crying, the sobs being torn from her throat were painful to hear. All he wanted to do was gather her to him and comfort her, but first he had to get to the bottom of what she was saying.

  “What baby?” he asked again.

  “The one…the one growing inside me—in my belly.” She put a hand to her stomach and burst into fresh sobs.

  James shook his head.

  “Are you trying to tell me you’re pregnant?”

  “Y-yes.” She nodded her head, tears spilling from her lovely eyes. “I…I must be. My Moon Blood didn’t come last night and I’m never late with my female cycle.”

  James shook his head, trying to understand.

  “So…you think you’re pregnant just because your menstrual cycle is off?”

  “No, not just because of that.” Ka’rissa swiped at her eyes, which were red with weeping. “Because…because…” She shook her head. “Oh James, please don’t make me tell you! You’ll hate and despise me if I tell you.”

  Again, he had that feeling of a cruel hand squeezing his heart. Her pain—gods, it was so hard to watch! And yet, he didn’t want to get away from it—all he wanted to do was hold her close and comfort her.

  “Sweetheart,” he murmured, reaching up to stroke one hot, flushed cheek. “Nothing you could tell me would make me despise you.”

  “This would,” she insisted, tears still leaking down her cheeks. “Oh, James—I’m so ashamed! But you must know, I never asked for it! He did it before I could stop him.”

  Concern and the desire to comfort her turned to Rage is a split second. A red curtain fell over his vision, making everything look bloody and dim. At the same
time, James felt an animalistic growl rise in his chest. He had heard other warriors talk about going into Rage when their female was threatened, but he had never expected to have anything like that happen to him.

  It’s not supposed to happen, because I’m not supposed to be having all these emotions! he thought. But it didn’t seem to matter to his body that he shouldn’t be going into Rage—the red curtain had dropped and the fury he felt filled and encompassed him unlike any emotion he had yet felt.

  “Was it the Duke?” he demanded, his hands squeezing into fists. “Did he force you last night? Is that why you didn’t want to let me give you a bath and sleep beside you? Because you were afraid I would find out?”

  “Y-yes…” She hung her head, tears dripping down her cheeks to patter onto the white lace morning gown she was wearing. “He…he forced me, James. I know I’m ruined anyway, but I don’t want to have his baby! But I can’t help it now—he…he stuck his tongue right in my mouth! And now I know I’m pregnant because my Moon Blood didn’t come.”

  It was difficult to think past the Rage which had suddenly consumed him…but something in her words struck him as odd.

  “He…stuck his tongue in your mouth?” James demanded, struggling to think past the all-consuming, protective wrath that had gripped him.

  “Y-yes.” She nodded her head, her breath hitching in her throat.

  “And that’s how you know your pregnant?” he repeated.

  She nodded again. “Y-yes. He pushed me against the pillar and…and gave me a deep kiss and f-forced his tongue into my mouth. So now I must be pregnant.”

  James shook his head, still trying to grasp the situation. He still wanted to go find the Duke and rip his fucking head off for causing the female he cared for so much pain and distress. But first he had to help the Princess, who seemed to be laboring under a grave misapprehension.

  “Princess,” he said carefully, taking a deep breath to try and dispel the Rage. “Did the Duke…did he put his shaft inside you? Inside your pussy?”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes.

  “Put his what in my pussy?”

  “His shaft,” James said patiently. “The, er, pole of flesh that all males have between their legs.”

  Her eyes got even wider.

  “Men have a pole between their legs? Do you have one?”

  “Well…yes,” James said, frowning. “But we’re getting off the point. What I need to know is if the Duke put his pole—his shaft—between your legs, into your pussy.”

  Ka’rissa shook her head, looking bewildered.

  “How would he get to my pussy? I had on my pantalettes and chemise and goodness knows how many flounces and shirrs in my skirts.”

  “So…he only kissed you?” James persisted. He thought he was beginning to understand what was going on here, but he wanted to be sure.

  “What do you mean only?” Ka’rissa demanded with an indignant sniff. “He kissed me on the lips and stuck his tongue in my mouth! That’s how babies are made! And he made one in me!”

  “No he didn’t and no they aren’t.” The Rage dissipated completely and for a moment, James had a strong urge to laugh with relief. He pushed the odd emotion away and tried to remain serious. “Princess,” he said quietly. “I think you have some very wrong ideas in your head about the process of biological procreation. Let’s have a talk.”

  34

  Rissa stared at him, uncomprehending.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, at last. “How can I have wrong information? A man kisses a woman on the lips and when he puts his tongue in her mouth, his seed goes down her throat and gets planted in her belly—then a baby grows. Everyone knows that!”

  But James was shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid you’ve got that completely wrong,” he said quietly. “Completely and utterly wrong, Princess.”

  “I have it on good authority that I am right,” she protested.

  He raised his eyebrows at her.

  “On whose authority?”

  “Well, my friend Alyssa,” Rissa said.

  “Is that the silly little redhead I’ve seen flirting with every male in the palace?” James demanded.

  Rissa glared at him.

  “Alyssa is not silly! She is very knowledgeable.”

  “She’s misinformed,” James said gently. “Probably because your culture chooses to keep females ignorant of the facts of procreation.” He shook his head. “But I didn’t know you were this ignorant.”

  “I am not!” Rissa protested.

  “I’m afraid you are, sweetheart. Gods…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was grown in a tank but even I know you can’t get pregnant just from kissing.”

  “How do you know I’m not really pregnant?” she demanded. “After all, my Moon Blood is late.”

  “That’s probably more to do with your Heat Cycle than anything else,” James told her. “In the book about Royal anatomy that I scanned, there was some mention of the fact that a strong Heat Cycle in a Royal female could interfere with her menstrual cycle.”

  “Really?” Rissa looked at him, still half disbelieving.

  “Yes, really.” He nodded. “I’ll show you the passage from the book if you want to see it.”

  “All right.” Rissa nodded and he got up and drew the curtains, casting the room into darkness. Then he pointed his ocular scope at the blank wall and began showing her the relevant passages.

  As Rissa read from the book he had scanned in the restricted section of the Royal Library, she began to feel a cautious measure of hope. Could it be that he was right and her Moon Blood was only late because of her Heat Cycle? Did that mean she really might not be pregnant?

  There was so much other information in the book too. It chiefly interested her to find that it was not necessary for her to have a man with Royal blood in his veins to slake her Heat. According to one of the footnotes, an ancestress of hers—Queen Lenore the Headstrong—had actually fallen in love with one of the gardeners from the Royal gardens and married him. They had been blessed with six children, all of which had the Sheen to their skin and had carried on the bloodline of the Very First Family with no problems.

  If Queen Lenore could do it, why couldn’t I? she found herself thinking, as she looked at James. But no—he had no emotions for her. Or did he? Rissa was beginning to wonder about that…

  “Do you feel better now?” James asked her, interrupting her thoughts.

  “I am beginning to,” Rissa said cautiously. “It’s only that my Moon Blood has never been late before and the way the Duke kissed me—”

  “You’re going to have to get over the idea that a kiss can get you pregnant,” James said flatly. He switched off his scope and looked at her. “The normal, biological method of procreation involves more than just a kiss—at least in most species of humanoids,” he added.

  “What does it involve then?” Rissa demanded. “How does the man’s seed get planted in the woman’s belly and grow into a baby if not by him sticking his tongue in her mouth?”

  “First of all, your womb is not connected to your mouth in any way,” James lectured. “That’s a whole different organ system. And secondly, a male’s seed does not come out of his tongue, it spurts from his shaft. So you cannot get pregnant from a kiss. You get pregnant when a male puts his shaft inside you and fills you with his seed. Incidentally, that is also the way your husband is supposed to ‘slake your Heat’ when you are finally Joined to him,” he added.

  Rissa was still skeptical. She had never had any kind of lesson on humanoid anatomy—it was considered an indelicate topic for a young lady. And Alyssa had seemed so certain when she had given her the forbidden information. She wanted to believe that the big Kindred was right, but he was contradicting “facts” that she had known since the age of fifteen—it was difficult to wrap her head around.

  “Prove it,” she said to James, frowning up at him.

  He frowned back. “Prove what?”

  “The pa
rt about the male’s seed coming out of his shaft,” Rissa said. She looked at the crotch of his tight leather trousers—he still persisted in wearing his Kindred uniform of a black shirt, trousers, and boots with a more colorful frock coat over it for appearances sake. In fact, some of the other, more fashionable males in court, had begun to copy him. They had even started wearing silver gloves on their right hands in imitation of his metal arm.

  But it wasn’t his fashion sense that Rissa was interested in now. She wanted him to prove that everything she’d thought she knew was wrong. She wanted to see his shaft for herself.

  “You gave me a lesson on female anatomy, in a way, when you, er, ‘introduced’ me to my own forbidden areas,” she said to James. “Now I think I need a lesson on male anatomy. And since you happen to be male, you can show me, James.”

  He frowned, his brow wrinkling.

  “Princess, I don’t think that would be appropriate.”

  “Yes, it would!” Rissa insisted. “I want to see if your information is correct! Please, James…” she added, giving him a pleading look. “If I can just be certain that you are right and I am wrong about how babies are made, I shall feel so much better. Also…” She stopped, nibbling her lower lip.

  “Also what?” he asked, making a go-on motion with one hand.

  “Well, eventually I am going to get married,” Rissa said haltingly. “And, well…I want to know what to expect on my wedding night. Please, James—do not leave me in ignorance.”

  She wasn’t sure if it was her words or her pleading looks but at last the big Kindred nodded reluctantly.

  “All right,” he said at last. “What do you want me to do?”

  35

  “Take off your trousers,” Ka’rissa said at once, her lovely eyes alight with curiosity. “I want to see this ‘shaft’ you say all men have between their legs.”

  James groaned inwardly. He still thought this was a bad idea, but the Princess had been so distraught and she was so certain that the misinformation she’d been given was true, he felt he had no choice other than to prove her wrong. He could show her text books and anatomy diagrams all day, but it was clear she required more visceral proof.