Bride of Death Read Online Free Page A

connection heated and she trembled. It was her stomach growling that broke his intense exploration of her mouth.
    He laughed and stroked her cheek with his thumb, releasing her wrists. “Lunch before medical then.”
    She sighed. “I suppose so, though this was just getting interesting.”
    He shuddered. “You have no idea.”
    “Do you have another name aside from Hinlior?” She boosted herself to her feet and ran her hands down the folds of her dress.
    “Althur. My mother named me Althur.” He got to his feet and adjusted his trousers.
    “Althur. That was the best moment I have had in months.”
    He grinned. “It would be best if you called me Hinlior when we are in front of the men.”
    “Of course. Is there a chance that we will be alone again?” Her body was very interested in the answer.
    He sighed. “It would be wiser not to.”
    Her inner female snarled. She wanted him, and her body was telling her that he was the one. His attitude toward her future in reproduction had driven her irritation. She actually didn’t mind the idea of settling down, but an endless round of strange men was not something any Prothean woman saw in her future.
    He extended his hand, and she placed her fingers in his, taking up their standard means of running around the ship.
    The shift from warrior to woman was difficult for her and not one that she thought she would ever have to undergo, but her body was very specific about what it wanted, and what it wanted was holding her hand formally as they took the lift to the officers’ dining room.
    In front of his men, he was always stiff and polite. He relaxed when he was alone with her, but those moments were few and far between.
    After lunch, where they talked about the history that she had been taking in, they headed to the medical centre where an older physician ran the scanners over her, jerking his head up abruptly.
    He spoke quickly to Hinlior, and thanks to her knack for language, she managed to translate Anvin into something she could understand.
    “She is ovulating.”
    The general straightened. “What?”
    The physician shook his head. “I don’t understand it. Four days ago, her system was completely dormant. I was in conference with the enclave for the best supplement to stimulate her.”
    Hinlior looked queasy. “We don’t have a breeder on board.”
    Saloa cleared her throat and tried to work out her words in Anvin. “It wasn’t a breeder that got my system active.”
    Both men whirled to look at her; the physician stared at her. “What did it?”
    “I met a match that suits my biology. When that happens, Protheans become receptive.” She spoke in Prothean and Hinlior translated.
    The physician ran his hand through his hair. “What...how long will this last?”
    “I have forty-eight hours where I can get pregnant. After that, it is another six months before anything happens.” She shrugged. Once a female Prothean had been triggered, the distance between her receptive phases shortened dramatically until it was a constant biologic signal. That was why the Protheans could out breed most other species. Once they got started, they didn’t stop. A viable breeding pair with good medical treatment could put ten or more children into a world if there were no population restrictions in place to sterilize them at a certain level. They were world fillers.
    The six-month gestation didn’t hurt either. The two most populated educational choices were obstetrics or paediatrics.
    “We could put her into cold sleep.” The physician was frowning.
    She shook her head. “It won’t work. My body will just turn off, not pause its programming. If you want to test me as Life Bringer, I am going to need to find a partner to make a child.”
    Hinlior’s eyes lit with an inner fire. “We have no registered breeders on board.”
    She waved that off. “Registered breeders are for pure-blood Anvin women. Any child I bear will be out of your specifications. Allow me my