"No. What are you talking about?"
"They all want you."
"But you said you'd protect me. That's why you asked to take me as your mate, isn't it?"
"Yes. But that doesn't mean the permission will be granted. You heard my father. The Council of Elders decides that."
Fear and anger knotted inside her. "But you promised! Now that you're safe, does your word suddenly not matter?"
"Yes, it matters," Karic replied, trying with the soothing tone of his voice to calm her rising agitation. "I'm not telling you this to frighten you, only to explain why we must continue to sleep with each other. When the Council meets my claim on you must be the strongest. If it appears to all that we are lovers, well, it helps our cause."
"But how will anyone know if we sleep together, here in the privacy of your lair? Is it necessary to act out this charade for the benefit of your father as well? I can't hide my true feelings all the time."
"It's not my father, Liane. I'll talk to him. He'll understand and help in any way he can, but the others will be watching us, weighing the evidence, determining how best to use your breeding abilities. Sleeping next to me will put my scent upon you, as will yours upon me. It is a subtle but strong mark of our commitment to each other."
"But you are the son, the heir to the throne." Liane couldn't keep the anxiety from her voice. "Surely you can do what you wish in this matter."
Karic shook his head and sighed. "When it comes to matters of survival no one is above the law. The Council determines my mate as they do everyone else's. And by law,
as
heir to the throne, I'm required to life mate with a full blood."
"Why?"
"Our species has been diluted enough, necessary though it was. It was decided long ago that I must restore our blood to fuller strength through my heirs. I've been betrothed to the Cat Woman Kalina for several cycles now. We were to become life mates at the next Mating Festival."
"Then how can you hope"
"The Council rarely forces an unwilling mating," Karic replied, noting her rising anxiety. "Besides, in light of all you've done for our people in rescuing me, I hope to convince them to reconsider their earlier decision. It will be difficult, I grant you, but with my father's influence . . ."
Wariness lifted her brow. "And if this mating is allowed, what will you expect of me?"
A pair of penetrating eyes leveled on her. "I won't force myself on you, if that's what you're asking."
"Even on that nocte when you supposedly can't control yourself?"
"We'll deal with that when the time comes. A lot can happen in three cycles."
"Not as Ear as my feelings for you are concerned," she whispered vehemently. "Those will
never
change." Karic dragged in an uneven breath. "Then arrangements will be made to protect you that nocte. Now, no more of this. What would you like? Are you hungry?"
A heavy weariness suddenly flooded Liane. "No, just very tired. If you'd show me your bed chamber, I'd like to rest.
His gaze softened. "Come."
She followed Karic down the tunnel on the left and into a small, dimly lit room. The oversize bed, set higher than usual from the floor and heaped with furs and cushions, was carved from the side of the cave. Karic pointed out the basin of water and clean cloths set into a wall alcove across from the bed, then gave her a few moments of privacy.
When he returned she was dressed in her sleeping shift. His eyes carefully averted from the revealing garment and the tantalizing body beneath it, he lifted her up onto the edge of the bed. Liane quickly crawled beneath the furs, snuggling down into their silky warmth.
Her glance, already languid with the encroaching mists of sleep, scanned his face. "What will you do, Karic? Aren't you tired?"
He was sorely tempted to join her, to gather her softness to him, to possess her body in the only way he might be ever allowed, but first there were more pressing matters to deal with. Karic sighed and shook his head. "I must talk with my father."
A strange disappointment filled Liane which she quickly brushed aside. She didn't care if he slept with her or not; in fact, she preferred it otherwise. He had lost control once with terrible consequences. He could well do it again, without warning or reason. It was just the foreignness of a new situation among strangers, Liane reassured herself. For the time being, as much as she hated to admit it, Karic was the one link between it all. She still needed him for that, but nothing more. And soon, she wouldn't need him for anything.
Fragile lids lowered to rest long, dark lashes upon the high hollows above her cheekbones. Liane's breathing slowed and deepened. Karic watched her for a time, fighting the yearning and the ache that burned in his chest.
He had told her he'd take her as mate and not force himself on her. Yet how would that be possible, seeing her, living with her, wanting her every sol of his life? He looked ahead to endless sols of heartbreaking hunger and unrequited desire.
His mouth twisted in a grim smile. It was irony of the cruelest kind. Though Liane had voluntarily chosen to be celibate, fate might now force that same choice upon him with a mate as beauteous and desirable as Liane at his side.
But what else could he do, if that was her wish, loving her as he did? For one last, lingering moment, Karic stared down at Liane. Then, squaring his shoulders, he strode out to find his father.
They walked among the trees that edged the valley, father and son, neither speaking for a time. Finally, Morigan halted and turned to Karic.
"What happened in Primasedes?"
"They have a new sensor system for intruders," Karic said, a bitter smile of remembrance on his lips. "It caught me unawares. I was captured and tortured. Then they sent in Liane to attempt a mind seek." "She's a Sententian?"
Karic nodded. "Yes. I was barely able to withstand her, but I did. Afterward, the Lord Commander brought in a machine. It was the Guide."
Morigan's eyes lit with excitement. "You saw it then?"
"Not only saw it, but experienced its effects." Karic's hand clasped his father's arm. "We can fight it. Our Cat's Powers not only withstand it but control the Guide's functioning. I'm not certain what Necator has in mind for it, but I'd guess he plans to gain total control of the Imperium by using the Guide to reprogram peoples' minds."
His father frowned. "So the Cat People aren't the only ones in danger of Bellatorian dominance."
"I'm not so sure it's Bellator's decision. I think Necator and a renegade group of scientists are behind this."
"And what do you suggest we do about it?"
"Destroy the machine. Kill Necator and his scientists. Hopefully their knowledge will die with them."
Karic's brow furrowed in concern. "But whether we could successfully infiltrate a large enough group into Primasedes to carry out such a mission, especially with that new alarm system of theirs, is hard to determine. Necator has probably guessed that I made it back here. Even now he may have his scientists devising new protections for the Guide, not to mention seeking ways to override our psychic abilities to control it. It may already be too late."
"We'll have to discuss this further in Council." His father paused, arching a brow. "Now, tell me more of you and Liane. Though I sense a strong bonding, there's also deep pain and anger." Karic averted his eyes. "She hates me."
"Really."
His son's head jerked up at the dry irony in Morigan's voice. "Really. I mated with her on the nocte of the three moonsagainst her will."
"You had no choice. Couldn't you make her see that?"
"I took more than her maidenhood that nocte. She lost her Sententian powers, too. She hates me above all for that."
Morigan thoughtfully stroked his jaw. "I see. And yet you still want her as mate. Most interesting."
"I love her."
His father chuckled. "I guessed that. What can I do to help you win her heart?"
"Help me gain her as a life mate. The rest is between Liane and myself."
"You know that's not possible. You're betrothed to Kalina, and the Council's decision is law," Morigan said. "Even I cannot change that. Better to satisfy yourself with this femina for a few cycles. I can probably get the Council to postpone your life mating with Kalina until then."
"I said I loved her, Father. I don't want her for just a few cycles, but for the rest of my life. Use your influence with the Council and make them see why it's so important that she be given to me."
"And why do you want a femina who doesn't want you? Yes, I know you love Liane," Morigan interjected, noting the rising frustration in his son's eyes, "but there's more, isn't there?"
Karic nodded. "I promised her she'd not be used for breeding."
"You had no right to make such a selfish decision."
"It wasn't selfish!" Karic cried. "If I'd been self- ish, I wouldn't be trying to protect her at the sacrifice of my own needs."
The Lord of the Cat People stared in disbelief. "You plan to life mate with her and never breed? Are you mad, Karic? The Council will never allow such a thing."
"They don't have to know."
Morigan laughed grimly. "And you tell me this, expecting me to keep such a secret? Have you forgotten I'm lord of all, even before I'm your father?"
Karic strode over to a nearby tree and leaned back against it. The bark was rough against his bare skin, but he welcomed it. It kept him grounded in a reality increasingly hard to bear. He looked agonizingly at his father.
"I hope in time to regain her trust, perhaps even her affection. I . . . I think she was beginning to feel something for me, before . . ."
He sighed. "But even if that never comes to pass, how am I to repay all she's done for me? She rescued me from the Bellatorians," he rasped. "She healed me of mortal wounds. And when the Atrox trackers captured and were ready to kill me, she turned the blaster upon them to save my life, a blaster she'd obtained from them to avenge herself against me after I'd so savagely raped her. And now you ask me to repay her by forcing myself or one of the other males upon her?"
A defiant light flared in Karic's eyes. "I can't, I won't, do that."
"Not even if your own people demand it?"
His eyes went dark with pain. "Don't ask it of me, Father. I beg you."
Morigan strode over to face his son. "May that sol never come, my son," he fervently said. "But if it does I'll not ask it lightly nor without full knowledge of the sacrifice it entails. Will you trust me in this?"
Karic studied his father in thoughtful silence, then nodded. "You know I will, but trust this, too. I'll not go against you or our people lightly, but my feelings for Liane, for the debt I owe her, run deep."
His father smiled sadly. "I know, my son, and understand. If your mother had been in Liane's position and I in yours, my decision would be no easier." He paused. "The Council meets in six sols. Decisions for several life matings must be made then in preparation for the Mating Festival. Your petition will be added to the rest."
"Good."
They resumed their walk. Morigan glanced over at Karic, an appraising light in his eyes.
"What will you do in the meantime to win her heart?"
Karic shrugged. "I don't know. Aside from convincing her to share my bed, something she's been forced to do all along anyway, there's not much else I
can
do. My actions must speak for themselves."
A deep chuckle rumbled in Morigan's chest. "You've still a lot to learn about feminas, my son. Actions are fine, but they like words, too. Have you made her listen to the reasons for the mating urge? Made her understand what a vital part of us it is?"
"Oh, she understands all right." Karic grimly laughed. "She thinks I'm an animal, with an animal's crude, uncontrollable desires."
"Then show her your human sidethe gentle, tender lover. Show her patience and consideration. And tell her, in every way you can, how beautiful, how wonderful she is."
He clapped his son on the back. "Why, you have the perfect opportunity in the next few sols, for who else is fit to introduce her to our life here? For a time she will need you and lean on you for support in adjusting to us. Use that time to foster a desire in her that transcends dependence.''
A faint hope flared in Karic's eyes. "But what of my responsibilities to you and the Council? I cannot turn my back on them to spend it picking flowers and wooing a femina."
His father smiled. "We need you, but not every moment of the sol. And there's no point in you sitting in on the minor judgments. I'll send for you for the important matters."
"Like deciding what to do about the Guide?"
"Yes, most definitely."
Morigan gave his son a gentle shove. "Get on with you. Even now you waste precious time you could be spending with your femina."
"She's asleep," Karic offered by way of protest.
"Then take her in your arms and hold her head upon your heart. Even in slumber, you can begin to convince her she is yours."
A warm, comforting closeness encircled Liane. It felt so good, so right to be there, and she snuggled deeper, sighing with contentment. A sound, low and rhythmic, thudded against her ear. She squirmed closer, easing her body between two muscular, outspread legs.