Her face fell and she pushed his shoulders. Pain rolled inside her chest at his words. He didn’t choose her. It had been a mistake. "Why did you not say that?"
"Because it delivered me to your doorstep," James said, by way of an answer, stressing his words.
Her wide eyes turned to study him.
"What is the Rite of Mairrit?" he asked softly.
"It … it means you wish to be only mine," Shana said. "That you would live with me until we had girl children, usually the holy number three. It was started in times when finding men were scarce and we needed our population to grow. I thought when you … that you wished to…."
"It sounds like marriage," James said.
Shana shrugged not understanding his term. "After three female children are born, you would unfortunately have to die, but--"
"Whoa," James said, holding up his hands.
"You must take me back. I understand now that you did not wish for the Mairrit. I will take our daughter and raise her. Hopefully there will not be too much shame on our names at your escape. Perhaps I will say you were killed. So long as you do not come back, it will be fine. You will live and our honor will be intact. I might need to cut off your finger, perhaps an ear."
"Daughter?" James asked, pleasure curling in him at the idea of a child. He never really thought he’d want a baby. But seeing Shana, having spent the night with her, he could glimpse a picture of another life.
"Yes," Shana said, touching her stomach. "The baby you put in me. The doctors gave me the hormones to conceive a girl. That is why I wanted you to take the green pill. The others I gave the white pill to. They dreamt of sex while I exercised."
James laughed, shaking his head. "That settles it."
"What?"
"You have to marry me," he said.
"Marry?"
"Um, Mairrit, without the killing me in the end part," he said.
"I don’t know. What would I do?" she asked.
"I’m Captain here and if I say it, you can be part of the team," he said. "I promise we’ll see a lot of battle."
Shana grinned, pleasure flooding her face at the idea. "Does this mean you’ll want to go and get your men before they are executed?"
"Do you women kill everyone?"
"Only males," she stated. "It avoids attachments once the child is born."
"You have to tell me if you get the urge to kill me," he insisted, kissing her ear. She shivered, nodding in agreement. "And don’t go trying to cut off my anything--ear or otherwise. Got it? Besides, is attachment so bad?"
"I’m beginning to think not." Shana sighed. "I don’t even mind the baby so much, but the idea of three of them...."
"Oh, well," he answered, "with marriage, there’s no set number of children. Though, I like the idea of a son."
"A male?" she frowned, unconvinced it was a good idea. "I can train the girl for war. You’d have to train the boy to the kitchen. I don’t cook."
"We’ll train him for war," James chuckled, moving to kiss her neck.
"But he’ll be a … male," she said, as if the very idea was ridiculous. "They belong in the kitchen."
"Hey, what are you saying?" James laughed, knowing he had a lot of work cut out for him if he was going to change her opinion about the male sex. "You think you can take me in a fair fight?"
Shana grinned, turning to meet her lips to his. Simply, she said, "Yes."
"We’ll just have to see about that," James answered, kissing her harder. Their lovemaking became a battle of the wills, each trying to gain the upper hand but not pushing it too far. After they met their release, James kissed her. "I think I love you."
Shana shrugged. "All right, but I don’t understand."
"It’s how I feel for you," he whispered, nuzzling her ear as he cradled her body to his.
"I know nothing of this love," Shana said, yawning in contentment. "But I feel as if my heart beats for you."
James chuckled, closing his head. "That will do, baby doll, that will do."
The End
Rite of Passion Page 4