“But…but I was told that a man always takes his wife on their first night together.” Her eyes were wide and wet and filled with fear and anxiety. “Always,” she repeated.
“So you’ve never made love, er…been taken before?” he asked her.
Quickly, she shook her head.
“I am a virgin, husband. No man has laid a hand on my flesh before—this I swear on my Song and my honor as a daughter of one of the Seven Great Houses.”
Well, that was good, anyway, Brand thought. At least her fear didn’t stem from some kind of abuse or rape, which was what he had feared. Maybe it was just misinformation and dread of a potentially traumatic experience that was making her so upset.
“What do you know about…about being taken?” he asked, wanting to test his theory.
She dropped her eyes, her creamy caramel-brown skin growing rosy with a blush.
“I…I was told how it would be. How my husband would rip off my dress and…and force his shaft inside me.” Her eyes flickered up to his and back down for a moment. “My aunt said I must…must expect to bleed, because you are so much bigger than me.”
“Goddess,” Brand whispered hoarsely. He was horrified at the awful things she’d been told and the terrible fear in her eyes. Her aunt must have given her the idea that he would rape her that night and the poor little female had been trying to work up the nerve to just let him do it! What kind of sick people were the Q’ess to treat their females with such callus cruelty?
“But now you will not do it—you will not take me,” she went on, while he was still trying to think what to say. “Even though you are supposed to.”
“No, I won’t,” he said firmly, frowning. “Especially not right now, when you’re scared to death and your head is filled with misinformation.”
“I don’t understand.” She shook her head, her long hair rustling against the blanket he had wrapped her in.
Brand sighed and leaned back against the headboard, getting more comfortable with her in his lap.
“All right, baby. Let me see if I can explain…”
Thirteen
Allara looked up at him uncertainly, wondering what he would say—what he would do.
Why had he not acted as he was supposed to, she wondered? Why had he not taken her? Her aunt had been so certain that he would. She had told Allara that the moment he ripped off her dress and saw her naked, he would not be able to restrain his carnal lust.
But he didn’t do it! He refused—why? Was it just because I was upset? Because I was a coward?
She hated herself for her cowardice. Even now, she ought to be enduring his penetration. Instead, she was curled up in his lap like a child. And though she knew she must complete her mission, she could not avoid the deep feeling of relief that the inevitable had been put off—at least for a while.
But for how long? Allara didn’t know. She looked at her new husband and waited for him to speak.
He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his thick, black hair, as though gathering his thoughts. Then he looked down at her.
“First of all, I want to make one thing clear—I will never, ever take you against your will, Allara,” he rumbled. “My people have a name for that—for forcing a female against her will—we call it ‘rape’ and it’s the worst crime a male can commit aside from murder.”
She shook her head.
“I do not understand.”
“I know, baby.” He stroked her back. “But I’m going to try to explain. You see, my people—the Kindred—have a system in place for the kind of situation you and I are in now.”
“The situation of being married?” she asked.
“The situation of being married without knowing each other first,” he corrected her gently. “Our system is called the ‘Claiming Period’ and it allows a male and female to get to know and love each other before they actually make love.”
“I still do not understand ‘make love’,” Allara told him.
“That’s our term for taking a woman. Only when you make love, the male and female ‘take’ each other, in a way. But that’s what happens at the end of the Claiming Period and you and I are right at the beginning.”
“How long is this ‘Claiming Period’?” Allara asked suspiciously. How long would she have to wait until he would take her, so she could finally complete her mission?
“It can take up to a standard month. And in this case, since we just met each other, I think the whole month is necessary—four standard weeks or thirty standard days,” he added, for clarification.
Thirty days? Thirty days until she could complete her mission? Allara could hardly believe it. She must change his mind about this—she could not wait so long to do what must be done. She might lose her nerve if the deed was put off for such a length of time.
“Thirty days?” she exclaimed. “But…but you own me, husband! Why do you not just take me now? I…” She lifted her chin, trying not to let her voice quiver. “I promise I will not run from you this time. I will be still and try to stay open for you.”
“Allara, listen to yourself,” he said, frowning. “You’re asking me to hold you down and take you while you’re frightened and crying!” He shook his head. “I can’t do that to you, baby—I won’t do that. I’d rather cut off my own hand than hurt you that way!”
His vehemence took Allara aback. Why did he feel so strongly about not hurting her? About doing something, which, according to her aunt, every man did to his wife as often as he liked?
“But…it is the way things are done—my aunt told me so,” she protested. “She said that every woman must endure it—that it is simply a man taking his husbandly rights.”
“Baby,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “If you do it right, nobody has to endure anything. I hope by the time I finally make love to you, you’ll be as eager for it as I am.”
Allara didn’t see how she could be eager to be savaged by his thick shaft, but she said nothing of that. Instead, she tried once more to do her duty so that she could complete her mission.
“But husband,” she protested. “I cannot wait thirty days to be a proper wife.”
“My main concern is that you’re not a frightened wife,” the big Kindred said firmly. “And why should it matter how long it takes to consummate our Joining, anyway?”
“My aunt told me you would want to take me at once,” Allara told him. “She said the moment you saw me…” She could feel her cheeks getting hot but she pressed on anyway. “The moment you saw me without my dress, you would throw me to the floor and take me.”
A horrified look crossed his face.
“Gods, no wonder you were so frightened, sweetheart! I’d like to think I have a little more self-control than that! Look, let me explain a little more to you about the Claiming Period, and maybe you’ll understand the Kindred way of doing things.”
“You say that this ‘Claiming Period’ lasts for four standard weeks,” Allara said, trying to understand. “At the end of that time, you will take me?”