Burning for Love (Kindred Tales)

“Was it the Duke?” he demanded, his hands squeezing into fists. “Did he force you last night? Is that why you didn’t want to let me give you a bath and sleep beside you? Because you were afraid I would find out?”

“Y-yes…” She hung her head, tears dripping down her cheeks to patter onto the white lace morning gown she was wearing. “He…he forced me, James. I know I’m ruined anyway, but I don’t want to have his baby! But I can’t help it now—he…he stuck his tongue right in my mouth! And now I know I’m pregnant because my Moon Blood didn’t come.”

It was difficult to think past the Rage which had suddenly consumed him…but something in her words struck him as odd.

“He…stuck his tongue in your mouth?” James demanded, struggling to think past the all-consuming, protective wrath that had gripped him.

“Y-yes.” She nodded her head, her breath hitching in her throat.

“And that’s how you know your pregnant?” he repeated.

She nodded again. “Y-yes. He pushed me against the pillar and…and gave me a deep kiss and f-forced his tongue into my mouth. So now I must be pregnant.”

James shook his head, still trying to grasp the situation. He still wanted to go find the Duke and rip his fucking head off for causing the female he cared for so much pain and distress. But first he had to help the Princess, who seemed to be laboring under a grave misapprehension.

“Princess,” he said carefully, taking a deep breath to try and dispel the Rage. “Did the Duke…did he put his shaft inside you? Inside your pussy?”

She looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Put his what in my pussy?”

“His shaft,” James said patiently. “The, er, pole of flesh that all males have between their legs.”

Her eyes got even wider.

“Men have a pole between their legs? Do you have one?”

“Well…yes,” James said, frowning. “But we’re getting off the point. What I need to know is if the Duke put his pole—his shaft—between your legs, into your pussy.”

Ka’rissa shook her head, looking bewildered.

“How would he get to my pussy? I had on my pantalettes and chemise and goodness knows how many flounces and shirrs in my skirts.”

“So…he only kissed you?” James persisted. He thought he was beginning to understand what was going on here, but he wanted to be sure.

“What do you mean only?” Ka’rissa demanded with an indignant sniff. “He kissed me on the lips and stuck his tongue in my mouth! That’s how babies are made! And he made one in me!”

“No he didn’t and no they aren’t.” The Rage dissipated completely and for a moment, James had a strong urge to laugh with relief. He pushed the odd emotion away and tried to remain serious. “Princess,” he said quietly. “I think you have some very wrong ideas in your head about the process of biological procreation. Let’s have a talk.”

34

Rissa stared at him, uncomprehending.

“What do you mean?” she asked, at last. “How can I have wrong information? A man kisses a woman on the lips and when he puts his tongue in her mouth, his seed goes down her throat and gets planted in her belly—then a baby grows. Everyone knows that!”

But James was shaking his head.

“I’m afraid you’ve got that completely wrong,” he said quietly. “Completely and utterly wrong, Princess.”

“I have it on good authority that I am right,” she protested.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

“On whose authority?”

“Well, my friend Alyssa,” Rissa said.

“Is that the silly little redhead I’ve seen flirting with every male in the palace?” James demanded.

Rissa glared at him.

“Alyssa is not silly! She is very knowledgeable.”

“She’s misinformed,” James said gently. “Probably because your culture chooses to keep females ignorant of the facts of procreation.” He shook his head. “But I didn’t know you were this ignorant.”

“I am not!” Rissa protested.

“I’m afraid you are, sweetheart. Gods…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I was grown in a tank but even I know you can’t get pregnant just from kissing.”

“How do you know I’m not really pregnant?” she demanded. “After all, my Moon Blood is late.”

“That’s probably more to do with your Heat Cycle than anything else,” James told her. “In the book about Royal anatomy that I scanned, there was some mention of the fact that a strong Heat Cycle in a Royal female could interfere with her menstrual cycle.”

“Really?” Rissa looked at him, still half disbelieving.

“Yes, really.” He nodded. “I’ll show you the passage from the book if you want to see it.”

“All right.” Rissa nodded and he got up and drew the curtains, casting the room into darkness. Then he pointed his ocular scope at the blank wall and began showing her the relevant passages.

As Rissa read from the book he had scanned in the restricted section of the Royal Library, she began to feel a cautious measure of hope. Could it be that he was right and her Moon Blood was only late because of her Heat Cycle? Did that mean she really might not be pregnant?