I grumbled in disgust. "I don't see the appeal."
"Me either," he agreed. "But Felicity did mention a problem. If we don't produce children within a year, there will be questions. Tobias, that means we'll have to do it."
"I won't." I pushed out a sigh. "Last night, Callah finally removed the blanket she keeps rolled between us. She's finally realized she can actually trust me to keep my hands to myself."
"Felicity isn't there yet," he said. "She does like the idea of a rebellion, though. I guess she and Callah are becoming friends?"
"That might be the wrong word." I shrugged. "Callah thinks she's more of an ally than a friend. Still, we had another woman in our suite yesterday to have a wound sewn shut."
"Seems most of the wives are wearing black and blue this month," he pointed out. "The other day, I heard men in the showers laughing about how hard they could hit their wives before she began to wail. Evidently, the trick is to make her quiet, not louder."
"Not hitting them seems to work for me," I said.
"But we're different," he said.
"Yeah, we are," I agreed. "I like it better, though. Plus, Callah really is a good wife. She cooks meals when she isn't healing the women, and she's always cleaning. I mean, look at my shirt!" I turned to show him the sleeve I'd ripped on the last hunt. "You can't even tell it was torn."
"Nice," he said. "I know Felicity doesn't sew as well, but I can handle that. I'm just not sure how we can make a marriage work the way you and Callah have. Your wife has friends and her rebellion. Felicity seems to want to know more aboutme."
"To make sure you can be trusted," I explained. "See, women are told we don't get punished. I had to explain to Callah that while women get pain, we get death. The problem is they're all told we get to make the rules, set the rules, and carry out the punishment. It's true to a point, but they miss how other men makeourrules."
"Ah..." He nodded. "That makes sense. Maybe, since I've made it clear I intend to propose, I'll get a promotion after this? Then we won't have to stay." He grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. "Tobias, all we need is the code, right?"
"And to give it to Ayla," I reminded him, moving him forward again. "She's not here, Sylis. She's the other way, and without her help, I can't tell these people anything."
"Butwecould get out," he said. "We know how to get to Ayla, and if we can just get out of there - with our wives - then we'll be free, right?"
Actually, he had a point. A good one. "They'll try to follow us," I pointed out.
"Only if they know we're gone," he said. "We could leave in the middle of the night - "
"It's day out here," I countered. "We'd all be blind."
"Damnation!" he hissed. "We have to figure out a way to do this, because I'm not sure we're going back to the Dragons. The leadership thinks this is working better, and we only lost a 'few' men last time. They called it a success, Tobias!"
"We'll make it work," I assured him. "I'm not sure how, but Felicity and Callah will figure something out. I'm just worried Callah won't be willing to go alone. I mean, without the other women - or the ones in quarantine."
"Yeah," he breathed. "Convince her." He huffed out a laugh. "Maybe try being romantic with her? Felicity wants me to be that way. It makes her happy when I say she's beautiful. You could tell Callah that and convince her this is for the best?"
"How?" I asked.
"I don't know!" he insisted. "I don't understand women at all, and I'm not sure I want to. I certainly don't want to steal kisses from her - or anything else - but she seems to be waiting for me to try."
"Women expect that from men," I explained. "They're told we have urges we can't control, making it sound like we're little more than toddlers!"
"That is not an urge I have," he said, looking over at me as if waiting.
"Me either," I agreed.
Again, he grabbed me, but this time he made me face him as I stopped. "You don't want to kiss or fornicate with your wife?"
"Not at all," I said, thinking about the way Callah tensed at the mere thought of such a thing. "She's myfriend, Sylis. I keep saying that, and I wouldn't do that to her."
His eyes searched my face, looking for something. I waited, unsure what he was thinking, but before I could ask, he did the last thing I ever would've expected.
He surged in, grabbed my gear, and kissed me!
I felt his lips press against mine, but they were hard, thin, and wrong. Surprised, I jerked back, trying to figure out what was going on.
