Page 18 of Beast

A nasty feeling hits me square in the gut. I’m using her,but she’s going to use me, too. She will get something out of our arrangement.“Maybe we should talk about things for a moment. We might have very differentideas about how this whole mating thing works. We’re married, in a sense, butwe should keep it light, you know? Married people on my world don’t necessarilystay together forever.”

She sits up suddenly and turns. Her eyes are wary now andsteady on my face. “Say what you need to say, Dante.”

I swallow a hefty amount of Scotch. Kaja might beuneducated, but she’s far from stupid. I think briefly about lying, but I oweher the truth. “Look, I was ordered by my father to find a consort. You’re thefirst one I saw, so I bought you. The truth of the matter is I don’t want to bemarried. I don’t see the advantage.”

Her face goes strangely blank. “You do not wish to mate withme.”

That isn’t exactly correct, as my dick will attest. “I wouldlove to fuck you, sweetheart. But we don’t know each other well enough for meto think I’ll never, ever want to fuck anyone else. In fact, I can pretty muchguarantee that I will. I’ve never been good at keeping it in my pants, so tospeak.” I give her a smile, trying to coax one out of her. “It doesn’t mean wecan’t have fun. We’ll be married, but we can do as we like. I need for you tolive at home with me for a while, but after that I’ll buy you someplace nice.”

It’s a good plan. There are still places on my plane thatare wild. Once my father decides to scoot his unsuitable daughter-in-law out ofthe family, I’ll be allowed to buy some land and settle her there. I can stillvisit. We are married, after all. Besides, if she’s on the surface, there willbe little chance of her encountering another royal who might decide to take hischances with adultery. It’s strange, but I don’t like the idea of my wifefucking around. “There are some nice places. Most of Canada is still a brutalhellhole, excuse me, lovely wilderness. We can get you a nice cabin up there.”

She stands suddenly and grasps the towel.

“Hey,” I protest, pulling at her hand. “I thought we weretalking.”

“I’m tired. It has been a long day,” Kaja says without ahint of emotion. “Which corner is mine?”

“What do you mean which corner? There’s a perfectly fine bedhere.”

She shakes her head. “I am not First. You will have the bed,and I will find a corner. I prefer a corner.”

I have a sudden flash of intuition. She prefers a cornerbecause she will only have to protect her front. I get the feeling Kaja sleepswith one eye open. I sigh inwardly. I made a mess of this. I should have beenless honest. It would be kinder. I could have eased Kaja into the life I want,but no, I bungled it. “You sleep with me. I’m your husband.”

She shakes her head, a wealth of sorrow in the gesture. “No,you are like the rest. You would use me and cast me aside when you arefinished. I cannot risk it. If a pup were to be born, she would be outcast,too.”

I still. I haven’t even thought about children. The women onmy plane use birth control until such time as they desire children. I neverhave to think about it. Kaja isn’t on anything. If I sleep with her, I couldmake her pregnant. If I’m not ready to be a husband, I’m really unready to be afather.

She wraps the towel around her middle. Her eyes study me,and I have a bad feeling she can almost read my mind. “See, you do not wish formy pups.” She steps out of the tub. “I will speak with your Second. I’ll go tothese woods of his and be alone. I will cause no trouble.”

I’m on my feet in an instant. I don’t care about my nudity.I’m not about to let her run off to some faery forest. “You are not goinganywhere with my cousin. I bought you, and you’re coming home with me. I’msorry I’m not Prince Charming, but we’ll find our way. If, and it’s a mightybig if, you become pregnant, I would never deny our child. Our child would be aroyal. He would have the best of everything. He would not be outcast.”

I’ll attempt to avoid it, of course. I doubt I can liveapart from her if we make a baby. I won’t have my child grow up in the wild,and I can’t imagine having to separate a child from his mother. Kaja will haveto adapt. I reach out and grasp her hand. I’m surprised to find it’s shaking.“Kaja? Are you all right? Sweetheart, you’re burning up.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. Her knees buckle, and Ihave to catch her. Her eyes go to the glass of water.

Reeve said he put the medication the demon gave for her inthe water. Damn it. I should have made it clear I don’t want herdrugged.

Kaja begins to shake all over.

I carry her to the bed and think maybe I’ll let her eatReeve after all.

Chapter Seven

Dante

“Son of a bitch,” I curse as the computer reports onthe “medicine” the demon gave to the gnomes. “It’s colloidal silver and afreaking aphrodisiac.”

The gnome pales, his ruddy cheeks turning stark white in asecond. “I did not know silver was in the solution. I was only told that itwould keep her weak. She was frightening, even in a weakened state. If I hadallowed her to achieve her full strength, I feared she would kill us all. I wasonly following instructions. I certainly didn’t know it contained silver.”

Beck stands over the gnome. His massive frame is a weapon ofintimidation. The gnome practically cowers as Beck speaks. “If Dante had fedfrom her, he could have died. Vampires are allergic to silver.”

I look down at the readout from my tablet again and force adeep breath into my lungs. If I followed my instincts, I would have taken Kajathis way. The instinct to feed from her immediately was almost overwhelming. Inthe past, I considered feeding an intimate act I wasn’t interested in. I nevertook a female in this way, never sunk my fangs into a living creature anddrank. Intellectually, I know my father feeds from my mother, and Susan feedsfrom Colin, but I don’t find the act intriguing. It’s primal and makes mesqueamish. Or at least it did, until I placed my fangs on the back of Kaja’sneck. She glows, and I know she will taste sweet. She belongs to me. Her bloodbelongs to me.

I shake off the dark thought. I’m not some primal seekingout the blood of those around me, keeping virtual harems of females to feed me.I’m modern. I get my nutrition from meal pills.

“I am sorry, Your Highness,” the gnome says, his head downin supplication. “The demon told me it would keep her quiet. Given the factthat she was terrifying on the drug, I did not want to see her without it. Ithought it best to keep giving it to her as I was instructed. The Planeswalkerwarned she could escape if I did not make sure to keep it in her system.”

I glance at Kaja. She’s curled up on the bed the gnomesbrought in for them. It’s the equivalent of a nice pallet. If I was thinking, Iwould have brought my own equipment. Then Kaja would have a proper bed to cryon.