Ensnared Bride Read Online Free Page B

you.   Please.”
    For a moment he was silent.   Then he said, “Why?”
    She grimaced with a squint of her eyes.   What—did he think she was a spy?   This was ridiculous.
    She looked at him.   “I want to know because you took me as your war concubine, and I want to know what kind of man I’m with.”
    His nod told her he was convinced.   “Mm.”
    He took a deep breath and looked forward.   “A boy who’s not obsessed with fighting in our society is a…”   He lips curled in a sneer.   It dissolved after a moment.   “My caretaker abandoned me in a Dandere slave colony when I was six.   She said if I wanted to build robots then I might as well be a slave.   The Danderes make our battleships and weapons.   They ’re the best cared for and most autonomous slaves in the empire.   I was adopted by a master roboticist named Chutass.   He took me as his apprentice.”
    The elevator opened to another bridge.   This time it was over a giant room full of the drones.   Monica followed Javintore out onto the grated walkway.   She stared at the black drones as he spoke.
    “When I was old enough to be a soldier I was tracked down to be a Hex-lord by the High Command.   This is a position where I ’d be exiled to some miserable lonely outpost to do work no one else wanted.   But I’d made war-bots by the time they’d found me.   I was actually useful to the Empire.   Instead of exile I was giving a factory world and told to make them a million robot soldiers.   I was giving the title of Mek-lord, a made up rank just for me.   It was the highest honor a Krish-kran ever achieved. ”
    “What’s a Krish-kran?”
    He grumbled through his nostrils.   “A Hax-Rah man contaminated by compassion.”
    Oh?  
    He headed back to the elevator once again.   “I had a million war-bots functional in eight years.   Then I moved on to drones.   My army was going to be our secret weapon in the war against the Alliance.”   He took his place beside her.   “But the war never happened.   I have this ship crammed full of robots and no where to go.   I’ve had to seek my own missions.”  
    The elevator opened back at his quarters.   He led the way out.
    “Now you know all about me.”   He headed for the seating area.   “I talked too much because I’ve been alone so long.”  
    Monica perched a cushion ’s length away from him on a rounded sofa.   “I don’t think you talk too much.”
    He looked her over.
    “I’m glad you’re not like the rest of them.”
    His yellow eyes fixed on her in consideration.   “I think I’m glad, too.”
    “So…the reason you wanted me…”   She became sheepish.   It was still hard for her to converse smoothly.   “It’s because you’re all alone?”
    “Yes.”   The word was frank.   She sensed she was getting some of the honesty he demanded from her.   After a moment his yellow eyes focused forward.   “Even if I’m the master of a million war-bots, I’m still a Krish-kran.   I don’t get to have a Hax-Rah mate.   It was a slave, or nothing.”   He looked back at her.   “But that suited me.   I wanted a human female.”
    “Why a human?”  
    He half-smiled.  
    Monica kept an unbroken gaze on him.
    He leaned further back into the cushions.   “Even a suicidal bomber is turning out better than a Hax-Rah woman.”
    She let herself sit back also and fumed.  
    “Monica.”
    The way he said her name always gave her a shiver.
    “I know you’re not suicidal anymore.   What I don’t know is if you’ve given up on trying to kill me.”
    Her face became plaintive.   “I don’t want to kill you.”
    He smiled in full.
    “That’s a start, isn’t it?”

Chapter 6
     

    They sat together at the table to have dinner.   The robot seemed to stop limiting her portions with Javintore present.   Course after course was brought for them, as well as liquid that had a strong alcohol scent.
    “It’s your turn to talk.   I want to