Captive - Cheryl Brooks Page 0,60

pulse blast in the dark.

Moe peered at her as though examining a rare and fascinating specimen. “Feeling a bit dizzy, are you?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?” Klara knew there was some significance to being dizzy, but at the moment, she couldn’t recall what it was.

“Just checking.” He leaned closer, bringing his intoxicating scent with him. “Well… Are you dizzy or not?”

Her affirmative reply was more of a hiss than an actual word.

“Thought so,” He leaned back in his chair, nodding. “It usually doesn’t happen that quickly. Should’ve taken a few months at least. Guess we’re what they used to call a match made in heaven.”

Klara wanted to slap him. “Will you please stop babbling and tell me what’s wrong with me?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I’m guessing you’re experiencing your first fertile period. Another round of nooky and the resulting pregnancy will make the dizziness go away. All you have to do is decide whether feeling better now is worth having triplets later.”

Chapter 16

Now that he’d said it, Klara wondered why she hadn’t made the connection herself. Then again, while she might have heard about the symptoms of a Zetithian woman’s fertile period, she had never actually felt them. Nor was severe dizziness the only effect. Her normally sharp-witted mind seemed a bit sluggish.

She pressed her fingertips to her forehead, hoping to push some clarity back into her brain. “So you’re saying I’m not pregnant yet, but getting pregnant will make this awful feeling go away? Immediately?”

“From what I understand, it does,” Moe replied. “And once you’ve conceived, regular sex will prevent morning sickness, and to make sure you get plenty of snard, I’ll crave you as much as you crave me.”

“Regular sex?” she echoed. “In the middle of a revolution? Are you crazy?”

“If I am, it’s because of you.” He leaned closer, drawing in a deep breath. “You smell absolutely incredible.”

“My scent has changed that much in the past ten minutes?”

He shifted in his chair, rather uncomfortably, she thought. “Um, yeah, it has.”

“Are you sure I’m not already pregnant? I mean, it hasn’t been that long since we, um…” Somehow, in present company, she couldn’t bring herself to name the deed.

“Not unless your symptoms are different from every other Zetithian woman’s,” Moe declared. “Dizziness in a Zetithian woman means fertility, not pregnancy.”

“Talk about inconvenient,” Nexbit grumbled. “Your timing really sucks, boss.”

Temfilk popped his fingertips in patent delight. “I think it’s fabulous. The more sex you have, the better.”

“Maybe you think that now,” Klara drawled. “A few minutes ago, you were the one calling a halt to the festivities.”

Temfilk had the good sense to appear contrite. “Sorry. Didn’t know it was becoming a necessity. Don’t know shit about Zetithian biology.”

“Yeah, well up until yesterday, neither did I.” Klara closed her eyes, hoping to at least slow down the reeling images, but to no avail. “I can’t function like this. I’m beginning to wish I’d never gotten up.”

“Just say the word and I’ll carry you back to bed,” Moe said promptly. “Believe me, it’ll be a pleasure.”

A peek at his lap showed precisely how much of a pleasure it would be. For both of them. “Don’t you want to eat something first?”

He shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time my breakfast got cold.”

“Same here. Although I don’t think I could keep anything down anyway.” To be honest, she was no longer sure she could even identify what was on her plate. “What if we don’t do…anything?”

“It’ll stop eventually. Might take several days, though.” Judging from Moe’s pained expression, waiting it out was at the bottom of his list of options.

“Several days?” She groaned in misery. “Inconvenient is right! How does anyone stand this?”

“Well…I could be wrong, but I’m thinking most ladies don’t even try. At least, not if they can help it and their mate is nearby.”

“Mate? We’re mated now? Seriously?” She pressed her fingers to her temples in another desperate attempt to stop the scrolling images. “This is horrible. I seem to have no choice except to become pregnant.”

“Oh, you have a choice,” Moe said. “Although you must admit, what you’re feeling is a highly effective means of persuasion.”

Temfilk nudged her arm, sending the room spinning off in a different direction. “Yeah. It’ll at least get you to lie down.”

“Maybe I should do that,” she said. “Just lie down and wait for it to pass.”

“You can try it,” Moe said, sounding somewhat doubtful. “The trouble is you might not be able to stand that, either.”

“What do you mean?”