Aliena Read Free Page A

approached him. Her hair, now brushed out, was long and lustrous, with a gentle curl. Beautiful? She was a knockout.
    He took her in his arms. “Now lift your face, and I will lower mine, so that our mouths can touch.”
    She lifted her face. He lowered his. Their mouths touched. Hers was mushy.
    He drew back. “Firm your lips.” Then he tried again. This time she was firm.
    He felt as if he were touching a little bit of heaven. He kissed her deeply, then drew back, surprised by the potency of what was supposed to be a demonstration.
    “I felt it!” she said, amazed. “A warm rush of feeling!”
    “That’s it,” he agreed. “You mind may not know it, but your body does, and it responded. That could be just a passing effect, or it could be the beginning of love.”
    “The body,” she agreed. “It knows what I do not. That is surely an avenue.”
    “An avenue,” he agreed.
    “Please. Again?”
    “I’m not sure that’s wise. We don’t want to get carried away by the moment.”
    “Please. I want to learn love.”
    “Aliena--”
    He was cut off as she rose on tiptoes and caught his mouth with hers. This time she was firm from the start. She pressed herself against him so that he could feel her breasts at his chest. What a dream she was!
    She let him go. “It was stronger. I am learning.”
    “You certainly are,” he agreed, his pulses racing.
    “The body I think is made for love. I yield to it and learn.”
    “Enough! I am trying to treat you with proper respect. Don’t make me lose control.”
    “If you lose control, what will you do?”
    “Breed you,” he said succinctly. “And we might both regret it.”
    “Mating. You said pregnant. What is that?”
    “Let’s return to the chairs, and I’ll explain.”
    They sat down again. This time she crossed her legs. The hem of the dress snagged, exposing too much of her thigh.
    “Pull your dress down,” he said.
    “It is wrong?”
    “You are showing your leg almost up to your panty line. That is provocative.”
    “Offense?”
    “No. It’s another inducement for me to mate.”
    She adjusted the hem. “I did not know. I apologize.”
    “No need.” Then he plowed on. “When two human beings mate, and it takes, his seed is inside her. It meets with her egg, and it grows inside her.”
    “Inside her!” she said, as if surprised.
    “Yes. It grows for about nine months, until she births it. Then she has a baby. She suckles it—that it, it sucks on her breasts and they provide milk—and that is what feeds it. It is completely dependent on her. So unless she wants to have a baby, with the attendant responsibility, she is careful about mating.” He paused. “It is different in your culture?”
    “Very different,” she agreed. “I agree, mating should be carefully considered. It is far more committing than I realized. Thank you for teaching me this.”
    “Oh, you’re welcome,” he agreed bemused. What kind of culture kept girls ignorant of the mechanics and consequences of mating? This was over-protectiveness on steroids.
    “The man is stimulated by the sight and proximity of the woman, and wishes to mate, and depart?”
    “In essence, yes.”
    “But the woman wishes the man to stay?”
    “Yes, to help her take care of the child they make.”
    “So she seeks commitment. What causes the man to commit?”
    “Love.”
    She pondered, working it out. “If I wish to be a part of this culture, and not to be alone, I must obtain the love of a man.”
    “That’s a vast oversimplification, but in essence, yes.”
    “But the mechanism of love seems similar to the mechanism for mating. How can they be separated?”
    “Ideally, they go together.”
    “But if the male and female preferences differ, how can they?”
    Brom smiled. “This is the age-old problem, perhaps the basis for the so-called war between men and women. They have to find way to compromise.”
    “Compromise?”
    “Each gives somewhat, and obtains somewhat. They try to find