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How he could mince that thing with such finesse, how he seemed so undisturbed, irritated me. “You are my mate; do I not deserve an answer? How am I supposed to survive having my baby taken from my arms? How am I supposed to live here with you, knowing she is crying at night, wanting her mother?”
My temper brought the smallest smirk to his cruel mouth, green eyes darting up from his work to watch me settle into the chair. But still, he said nothing.
Grating silence stretched.
Settling my weight, I found I was not ready to give up my anxiety. “You let me lie to them.”
He made a noncommittal noise.
“It was a lie, Cyderial. I didn’t really understand what sex was. ‘A man pours himself inside a woman, and that’s were babies come from.’”
Actual laughter came from the man, tossing himself another bulb to catch with a flourish and set down on his slicing board. “I gave you a bit more detail than that.”
Maybe a little, but not by much. “You failed to mention there was a whole other opening. Or the process of opening. Imagine what I thought. What other girls must think. It’s not funny at all; it’s sad.”
Devious smirk on his face, he began working the papery outer layers off his bulb. “It was the most uncomfortable conversation of my life. Forgive me for laughing, but I’ve had years of nightmares over what took place that night.”
Good. I was glad he suffered a little. I had been mortified. “I guarantee I was more uncomfortable than you.”
Dicing the food, he shot me a wink. “Your face was very red, but you remained at attention. I think I fell even more in love with you watching you maintain such composure.”
Elbow to the counter, I could not believe he was trying to be cute when I was so mad. “You had to have known I did not fornicate with the boy, if you could still hear my song.”
“My head was not right that evening. The hair looked like yours, the room full of your scent, male fluids everywhere. He had been unable to set a knot, so I wasn’t sure if that meant you might have been unbonded.”
How different my life might have been if some academy boy had fumbled through my first real sexual experience. It was an embarrassing question, and I could not meet his eyes, but I asked it all the same. “How common is it for males to open their females the way you opened me?”
All playfulness was replaced by a velvet purr. “How did I open you?”
He was going to make me pay, wasn’t he? For my temper and my denunciations. “You took your time. You showed me my reflection and made it feel good.”
All warmth and sultry hunger, he said, “Tell the tale, and more males might seek to try.”
Why was it my burden to teach males something they should already seek to know?
“Hybrid laws should require males to do it properly.” God, I could not stop thinking of huge Thayer and how tiny Maeve was. Face in my hands, I sighed. “That giant is going to hurt my friend.”
“I will talk to him, and I will talk to the other men. And you—” The unblinking stare was back, the kind that warned he was getting ready to corner me. “—will cease your accusations that I would harm my mate or child in any way.”
Frustrated, I felt a tear fall. “But you are failing to give me answers.”
“Words will not fix what you fear.” He reached forward to thumb the offensive tear from my cheek. “Only time can do that.”
I couldn’t win. Maybe it would have been better had I been locked away for years on end. Then none of this would have happened. “The mated females won’t forgive me for spoiling their plan.”
That got a reaction out of him, one of cold disdain. “The women you spoke with tonight have failed to produce children. Why should they expect you to do something they refuse?”
But there was so much more to it, wasn’t there? “Why did Miranda say you would be our king? Why not one of the other generals?”
“My love, I am about two seconds away from dragging you into the bedroom and fucking you into a silent stupor.”
My spinning thoughts collided into a mess of loudly ringing silence my shock was so great. Never had he spoken to me that way. And to my utter humiliation, slick was already gathering between my thighs, my insides choking down on the plug.
And he could smell it, the flare of his nostrils leaving me to press my lips into a line.
“I will give you what you want, precious girl. But first you will eat, and while you do, you will listen.” He straightened, going back to his chopping. “Do not fault the generals for coveting what I have. They have not encountered a twelve-year-old they wanted to fuck and cannot image the price that exacted.”
My lips fell open. “That is disgusting!”
