Page 106 of Tamed By Her Touch

“Good. And I need to compare this new compound against the viral research.”

“That data would be in the Blood Archive,” Maera said. “But I’m sure we can get it.”

Clair bit her lip. The Blood Archive—where Kaelus was.

For the first time since getting absorbed in the science, Clair thought of Kaelus again. Immediately she remembered him kneeling in front of her and kissing between her thighs.

Great. Thanks, brain.

But there was something else too—Kaelus was a Xenopharmacologist—this was exactly his territory, and Clair couldn’t wait to show him.

The thought gave her a ridiculous little rush of happiness, and it occurred to her that whenever she discovered something exciting in the lab, Kaelus was the person she wanted to tell. Even when he was being grumpy or telling her not to touch his equipment…even when he complained that she was distracting.

Especially now that you knew what he actually means by “distracting,” whispered a naughty little voice in her brain.

Clair did her best to push that thought aside and looked back at the two molecular structures hovering in the air.

“Maera, has anyone ever connected veloria to the Love Virus?” she asked.

The other woman hesitated.

“Not scientifically, as far as I know.”

“But culturally?” Clair prodded.

Maera was quiet for several seconds.

“There are…old traditions,” she said at last.

Clair turned toward her.

“What kind of traditions?”

“Well, my grandmother used to say that a woman should always drink her veloria if she wished to keep peace in her home.”

Clair frowned.

“What did she mean by that?”

Maera shrugged.

“I assumed she meant that a healthy goddess made for a happy household.”

“Maybe.” Clair’s frown deepened. “Anything else?”

“Well…” Maera cleared her throat. “There is one other thing—but it’s considered very private and sacred. I normally wouldn’t divulge it to an outsider but…”

“But what?” Clair urged her. “Please, Maera, anything might be helpful.”

“Well, we have a ceremony called ‘the Taming,’” Maera said. “When the young men in our society become sexually mature, they get…restless.”

“Go on,” Clair said. “So what do you do?”

“An experienced older woman will ‘tame’ them—slake their sexual needs.” Maera’s cheeks were purple with what Clair assumed was a blush. “As I said, we don’t like to talk about it but it is necessary. If they are not tamed, the young men may become…difficult to handle.”

“I see.” Clair nodded thoughtfully. Things were beginning to make sense. More and more she believed that veloria nectar was connected to the puzzle she was trying to solve. She looked at the transformed molecule again.

“Did women drink veloria before the Love Virus became…well, the Love Virus?”