Page 97 of Tamed By Her Touch

Maera nudged her gently with an elbow.

“And he clearly wanted to be when he was worshipping you.”

Clair felt heat rise into her cheeks.

“It was just a ritual,” she protested, blushing.

“Was it? Or was it a new way for a husband to learn about worshipping his wife? Perhaps something neither of you had ever thought of before but liked very much,” Maera said, smiling.

“Oh, well…I guess you could look at it that way,” Clair said. Could Maera be right? Was Kaelus really eager to practice the Titus Four customs on her? Even though he was so gruff and growly about being made to participate, did he secretly enjoy it?

“I know only what I see.” Maera began gathering the remains of breakfast from the table. “And what I see is a male who watches you every moment you are near him, moves between you and anything he considers dangerous without even thinking about it, knows what you like to eat, becomes angry when another male admires you, and nearly forgot where he was when he kissed you goodbye.”

“Wow—you got all that just from watching us together at breakfast?” Clair was stunned.

Maera shrugged.

“I’m very observant.”

“Well…” Clair said. “Kindred males are naturally protective of women.”

Maera looked interested.

“Of all women? Not just their mates?”

Clair nodded.

“Yes. A Kindred would never hurt a woman—that’s one reason what’s happening on the Glenvarren colony where the males were infected with Savage Syndrome is so awful. I mean with my people—humans—you see men killing women all the time. It’s awful, but it’s true. But with the Kindred?” She shook her head. “Never. A Kindred male would rather die than hurt his mate. It makes what’s happening even more tragic.”

“It would be unthinkable for a male to kill his wife here, too,” Maera said soberly. “Which is one reason I’m eager to help you find the reason the Love Virus makes males loving here on Titus Four but turns them into sexual beasts on other planets.”

“Thank you.” Clair nodded. “You and your husband are so kind to host us and help us with our research.”

“It is the least we can do to help promote peace in the universe,” Maera said quietly. She patted Clair’s arm comfortingly. “Come with me. I think you are going to enjoy our healing conservatory very much and maybe we’ll find some answers there.”

She led Clair from the dining area and through another part of the sprawling house, then out through a wide archway into the morning sunshine.

The air outside was warm and fragrant, but not unpleasantly hot, and the smaller of Titus Four’s two suns was just beginning to rise above the distant lavender mountains. Its pale light mingled with the warmer gold of the larger sun and made the silver trunks of the surrounding trees sparkle as though they had been dusted with diamonds.

They followed a winding path through the garden and Clair immediately began looking everywhere at once. Titus Four was a Xenobotanist’s dream. Plants grew in every imaginable color and shape she could imagine—and some she couldn’t.

Some had translucent leaves that changed from blue to pink when she passed them, while others had enormous blossoms that rotated slowly to follow the suns. One low shrub was covered in fuzzy orange pods which squeaked indignantly when Maera brushed against them, and another plant seemed to shrink into the ground entirely when Clair leaned too close.

“Oh my God,” she breathed. “I could spend the rest of my life here.”

Maera laughed.

“You sound exactly like my old botany professor.”

“I’m serious. Half these species probably haven’t even been catalogued by the Kindred,” Clair told her. “And they’ve been all over the known universe.”

“Many have not been catalogued by us, either,” Maera admitted. “Titus Four has an unusually diverse ecosystem. We estimate that fewer than sixty percent of our native plant species have been thoroughly studied.”

Clair stopped walking.

“Only sixty percent?”

Maera nodded.