Read Online Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three) by Wendy S. Hales - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Wendy S. Hales
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godmother. Hans was the godfather of the only boy, Harmen, who was named for the healer Herme. Protected by members of the three species and adored by the entire SOSC, the quadruplets never lacked for attention and visitors.
“Great Fates, Hans, what the hell just happened? You’re pale as a ghost.” Umbrae had been his partner before she’d mated and gotten pregnant. She was also one of the few people Hans trusted completely. A highly effective assassin, Umbrae was deadly when necessary, but she was also one of the most generous and compassionate females he’d ever met.
“My … friend Cassie has turned up. No one’s heard from her for the last twenty years.”
Umbrae’s brows creased as she looked in his eyes. “Friend, are you sure that’s all it is?” Hans shifted his gaze and nodded. “Okay, whatever you say.” She grinned, pulled Erisa onto her lap, and blood-nursed the baby at her wrist.
“How do you keep up with them all?” Hans tried to change the subject for both of them.
“Only Tana and Erisa need blood. Well, and Enlil, of course.” She blushed; sharing blood with one’s mate was far more intimate than blood-nursing a child. “At least I get to eat all the iron-rich food I want.”
Harmen crawled into Hans’ lap, spreading cookie crumbs up his arms. His godson let out a sigh as his eyes drooped and he fell fast asleep. “You know Conlon’s partner Mattie, right?” He needed to tell someone. If anyone would understand feeling hopeless, it would be Umbrae. Of course, she’d never let hopelessness get the last word.
Umbrae laid Erisa on one of the sleeping mats and rubbed the hair of a sleeping Jestyl’s brow before lifting Tana to her opposite wrist. “Yes. She’s come with Conlon to some of the family gatherings Jess and Shane throw.”
“Her full title is Princess Matalina Aleen, and she and Cassie—Princess Cassiopeia—are only a few years apart and closer in age to me than any of my sisters. We come from neighboring colonies; I’ve known them all my life. The three of us grew up together.” Though she nodded, she didn’t rush, push, or prod him for more information. Maybe that was why she was so easy to talk to—why he continued, “and I love Cassie … I shouldn’t … it’s forbidden … but I do. At one time I thought she loved me too.”
“Forbidden is a pretty menacing word, Hans. Are you sure it’s the correct one?”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, yeah. We Tellus are pretty tight-lipped about our culture, but being a royal sucks. Being heir to the crown and/or throne really sucks. Sexual intimacy between members of royal bloodlines is forever binding. I’m not sure how to put it delicately.”
Umbrae scoffed, “Then just spit it out. I’m hardly a delicate flower.”
Umbrae had spent centuries under the control of a blood master who not only used her sexually he’d also traded her to others. Hans swallowed at her subtle reminder. “Until I sexually mate with another royal, I am sterile. So are princesses like my sisters and Cassie and Mattie. The mingling of bodily fluids binds us genetically. If I have sex or even open-mouth kiss a female of royal bloodline, that female will be the only person capable of having my young … and I would be the only one able to sire her young too. My eldest sister is heir to my mother’s crown. Her marriage was arranged, and as first-born, she and her husband will one day sit at my parent’s throne. I am heir to my father’s crown as first-born son, only son. My nuptial is pre-determined, contracted and arraigned to the eldest daughter and heir to a different throne. My other sisters can marry and mate with any one of royal bloodline if they want children or whoever they want if they are willing to let their individual bloodline die out, since they wouldn’t be able to conceive. My mating was arranged before my birth.”
“I take it the female you’re supposed to marry isn’t Cassie.” Umbrae gave him a
“Great Fates, Hans, what the hell just happened? You’re pale as a ghost.” Umbrae had been his partner before she’d mated and gotten pregnant. She was also one of the few people Hans trusted completely. A highly effective assassin, Umbrae was deadly when necessary, but she was also one of the most generous and compassionate females he’d ever met.
“My … friend Cassie has turned up. No one’s heard from her for the last twenty years.”
Umbrae’s brows creased as she looked in his eyes. “Friend, are you sure that’s all it is?” Hans shifted his gaze and nodded. “Okay, whatever you say.” She grinned, pulled Erisa onto her lap, and blood-nursed the baby at her wrist.
“How do you keep up with them all?” Hans tried to change the subject for both of them.
“Only Tana and Erisa need blood. Well, and Enlil, of course.” She blushed; sharing blood with one’s mate was far more intimate than blood-nursing a child. “At least I get to eat all the iron-rich food I want.”
Harmen crawled into Hans’ lap, spreading cookie crumbs up his arms. His godson let out a sigh as his eyes drooped and he fell fast asleep. “You know Conlon’s partner Mattie, right?” He needed to tell someone. If anyone would understand feeling hopeless, it would be Umbrae. Of course, she’d never let hopelessness get the last word.
Umbrae laid Erisa on one of the sleeping mats and rubbed the hair of a sleeping Jestyl’s brow before lifting Tana to her opposite wrist. “Yes. She’s come with Conlon to some of the family gatherings Jess and Shane throw.”
“Her full title is Princess Matalina Aleen, and she and Cassie—Princess Cassiopeia—are only a few years apart and closer in age to me than any of my sisters. We come from neighboring colonies; I’ve known them all my life. The three of us grew up together.” Though she nodded, she didn’t rush, push, or prod him for more information. Maybe that was why she was so easy to talk to—why he continued, “and I love Cassie … I shouldn’t … it’s forbidden … but I do. At one time I thought she loved me too.”
“Forbidden is a pretty menacing word, Hans. Are you sure it’s the correct one?”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, yeah. We Tellus are pretty tight-lipped about our culture, but being a royal sucks. Being heir to the crown and/or throne really sucks. Sexual intimacy between members of royal bloodlines is forever binding. I’m not sure how to put it delicately.”
Umbrae scoffed, “Then just spit it out. I’m hardly a delicate flower.”
Umbrae had spent centuries under the control of a blood master who not only used her sexually he’d also traded her to others. Hans swallowed at her subtle reminder. “Until I sexually mate with another royal, I am sterile. So are princesses like my sisters and Cassie and Mattie. The mingling of bodily fluids binds us genetically. If I have sex or even open-mouth kiss a female of royal bloodline, that female will be the only person capable of having my young … and I would be the only one able to sire her young too. My eldest sister is heir to my mother’s crown. Her marriage was arranged, and as first-born, she and her husband will one day sit at my parent’s throne. I am heir to my father’s crown as first-born son, only son. My nuptial is pre-determined, contracted and arraigned to the eldest daughter and heir to a different throne. My other sisters can marry and mate with any one of royal bloodline if they want children or whoever they want if they are willing to let their individual bloodline die out, since they wouldn’t be able to conceive. My mating was arranged before my birth.”
“I take it the female you’re supposed to marry isn’t Cassie.” Umbrae gave him a
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