Page 171 of Tamed By Her Touch

But how much distance was enough? They could no longer share a lab aboard the Mother Ship—that was clear. He would have to move out and find another place—as far from Clair as possible.

Once the thought of having a lab all to himself would have delighted Kaelus. Now it depressed him. He hated the idea of going to work and not seeing Clair bent over a microscope, sipping her first cup of coffee. Hated the idea of not having her to tease him and call him silly Southern nicknames.

But most of all, he hated the idea of losing the woman he loved and never seeing her again.

All these depressing thoughts had one good effect—they caused his mating fist to deflate and caused his shaft to finally go soft. With a rush of seed that coated both their thighs, his cock finally slid free of her pussy.

“Oh!” Clair gasped as she looked down at the mess. “Kaelus, you don’t think you got me, uh, pregnant, do you? I mean, I am way too old to have a baby!”

A fresh blade of guilt stabbed him. Normally, he didn’t have to worry about getting anyone pregnant—a Kindred usually couldn’t impregnate a woman unless he Bonded her to him. And as a Hybrid, he had always believed that was off the table.

But now he had done it—he had Bonded Clair to him and though she was nearly past the child-bearing years of a human woman, it was indeed, very possibly that he’d gotten her pregnant. Kindred seed was notoriously potent, and he’d certainly pumped enough of it into her.

Fuck—now she would hate him even more, Kaelus thought! Not only had he savaged, bitten, and Bonded her—he might have impregnated her as well!

“What’s that? What did you say? I didn’t catch that.” Clair frowned, cocking her head to one side again and Kaelus realized his thoughts were leaking through the mental barrier he had put up again.

“Nothing,” he growled. Gently, but firmly, he put her off his lap and bent to unfasten the metal restraints around his ankles.

“What…what are you doing?” Clair still looked uncertain—only half awake. Maybe she was in shock after what he’d done to her, Kaelus thought grimly.

“Now that I’m cured of the virus, I need to be free,” he said shortly as he finished unfastening the second restraint. “Sendar might still be around.”

“Did I hear my name?” a voice asked.

Jerking his head up, Kaelus glared at him. He rose to his full height, but Sendar was still armed.

“Uh, uh, uh, my muscular friend–I don’t think so,” he purred, pointing the blaster directly at Kaelus’s chest. “I only came to see how the two of you were getting along–imagine my surprise to see you, Clair, still in the land of the living. And you cured your dear husband of the Savage Syndrome virus–bravo!”

Claire glared at him.

“It wasn't hard once I figured out the connection between the veloria root and the compound a woman’s body makes when she drinks it. A connection I believe you knew all along, Doctor Sendar.”

She spat his name like an accusation, but Sendar only smiled.

“Indeed I did, my dear Doctor Donovan,” he said smoothly. “And I realized how that very compound has enslaved the men of my planet–chemically castrating their deeper urges and desires and turning them into simpering fools who follow their wives around like pets on a leash!”

“So you decided to try out the ‘Love Virus’ on the Kindred of the Glenvarren colony and made them kill their wives,” Kaelus growled. “And then you tried it on me, to see if you could make me kill Clair!”

His fury was a towering thing inside him, but he was still constrained by the blaster in the other male’s hand.

“Indeed.” Sendar nodded calmly. “Unfortunately, in that I failed. Not before I got some most instructive footage however.” He nodded at the recording bee, which was buzzing high above all their heads. “I’ll study it later, at my leisure to determine how best to keep the virus from losing its grip on an infected male.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Clair demanded.

“Because, my dear Doctor Donovan, I intend to free my people from the ‘Love Virus,” Sendar snapped. “I’m working on a strain right now that can’t be cured by the veloria compound–no matter how much the woman has in her system.”

Kaelus stared at him.

“You’re insane,” he said at last. “You want to turn all of Titus Four into a repeat of the Glenvarren colony? You want to force males to…to…rape and kill their beloved wives?” He could barely get the words out as guilt rose in him, sharp and stinging.

Sendar narrowed his metallic eyes.

“I want to free the males of my world from sexual slavery! And if that means killing every last female on the planet, well…” He shrugged. “That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. But first, the two of you will make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Even from across the room, Kaelus could see his finger tightening on the trigger of the blaster. Only it wasn’t aimed at him–it was now aimed at Clair!

“Clair–move!” he sent instinctively through their mental connection. At the same time, he shoved her to one side and launched himself at Sendar.