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Liosh laughed.
“Is that why you were so curious last night? I don’t know what else I can tell you but certainly, I’d be honored to be the subject of your paper.”
“Not you specifically—just your people. The Blood Kindred of Tranq Prime,” Melli explained. Now that she had come up with the idea, she was really getting into it.
“That’s fine.” He nodded. “What do you want to know?”
“Oh just things like…how do you attract your mates in the first place? And what are your marriage customs? And things like that,” Melli said.
“Well, if you want to know about our Joining ceremony, it can be rather formal—everyone has to wear the traditional dress of our people, which is a tharp of course, though males and females wear them differently,” Liosh told her. “But more important even than the Joining, is the Bonding.”
“The, uh, Bonding? What’s that?” Melli asked, taking another bite of her eggs.
“It’s the way a Kindred warrior ties his female to him for life,” Liosh explained. “It’s a way to form a permanent mental and emotional bond with the female you love.”
“A mental and emotional bond? How do you mean?” Melli asked, fascinated.
“Remember how it was when one of us wore the Think-me and we could hear each other’s thoughts?” Liosh asked.
Melli nodded. “Yes, that was amazing.”
“Well, the bond between a Kindred and his female is kind of like that,” he explained. “Only it allows not just thoughts but also emotions to flow between the two of them—which enables a sense of unity and oneness that never fades for as long as they live.”
“Oh!” Melli exclaimed. “That must be the reason you guys don’t have divorce or cheating in your culture. How could you cheat if you always had your spouse in your head?”
“I think you mean, why would you cheat when you are bound both mentally and emotionally to the female the Goddess has chosen for you,” Liosh said gently. “It’s a wonderful thing, to find the female who is right for you and to bond her to you. It is what all Kindred hope for, you know.”
“That’s beautiful,” Melli breathed. “Really romantic. But…” she frowned. “How does this amazing bond form in the first place? Is it something that just grows after the two of you get married…er, Joined?”
Liosh shook his head.
“Different kinds of Kindred bond with females different ways,” he said. “With Blood Kindred, though, it has to do with our fangs.”
“Your…your fangs?” Melli faltered.
Though Liosh was such an incredibly nice guy, she could never quite forget that he had those two sets of very sharp fangs in his upper jaw, just where a human man would have his incisors. It made him look a little like a handsome vampire, which was kind of scary. She didn’t like being poked with needles and the idea of being bitten wasn’t very appealing either.
“Do you…do you drink your, uh, female’s blood to bond her to you?” she asked, eyeing the sharp-looking points in his mouth.
Liosh shook his head.
“My fangs aren’t for drawing blood—they are for injecting essence.”
“Essence?” Melli frowned. “What’s that?”
“A pale blue liquid that my fangs produce,” he explained. “I will use it to bond my female to me when the time is right…or I may also use it to heal her if she has any kind of injury or abrasion.”
“Really?” Melli was intrigued. “So you have a kind of pharmacy in your mouth?”
He laughed. “I don’t know if I’d call it that but those are the main purposes of essence—healing and bonding.”
“So—what? You just bite her and inject your essence and then the two of you are bonded?” Melli asked.
“Not…exactly.” For the first time she thought Liosh looked a little uncomfortable. “There’s…a bit more to it than that,” he admitted at last.
“There is? What? Melli asked, taking another bite of eggs.
“Well, in order to bond a female to him, a Blood Kindred also has to be…intimate with her as well.”
“Intimate? How intimate?” Melli asked, taking a sip of the excellent coffee he had made.
Liosh took a deep breath.
“In order to bond his female to him, a Blood Kindred must have his shaft inside his female—all the way inside. He must be injecting her with his essence as the same time he fills her with his seed,” he explained.
Melli felt as though someone had just thrown a glass of ice-water in her face. She let her fork with the next bite of egg drop back to the plate.
“Oh,” she somehow managed to say. “Is…is that so?”
“Yes—that is the only way to bond a female.” Liosh looked at her in obvious concern. “My lady Melinda, are you all right? You seem upset all of a sudden.”
“I’m fine,” Melli said quickly. “Just…digesting all this information…along with the wonderful soy sauce eggs you made.” She tried to laugh. “Um, so do Kindred warriors always bond their, uh, females to them? I mean, do any of them just stay together but, you know, not bond?”
