“Girl,” he said, his deep voice hoarse. “We need to talk.”
Inwardly, Lan’ara cringed. Not sweetheart and not her name—just “girl” again. So they were back to that. Need must be really angry with her.
“Yes, my Lord?” she asked in a quavering voice, daring to put her head out from under the covers. What she saw confirmed her fears—he was definitely upset. Need’s face wasn’t angry but it was pale and drawn, like a man who has just received terrible news. What in the universe could that awful Trollox have told him?
Need got right to the point.
“Did you go into Drung’s room even though I forbid you to?” he asked bluntly.
Lan’ara swallowed hard. There was no point in lying.
“Yes, my Lord,” she said in a low voice. “But only because I saw my file just inside,” she added quickly, hoping to mitigate the situation. “And I wanted so badly to find out what was happening to me—to my body. I—”
“You know damn good and well what’s happening,” Need said. His flat, cold tone disturbed her more than if he’d been shouting at her. “It’s exactly what was designed to happen.”
“My Lord?” Lan’ara asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.
“Did you read the file?” he asked. “Well?” he prodded when she didn’t answer at once.
“I…I did,” Lan’ara admitted.
“And what did it say?” Need demanded. “Well? Tell me, girl.”
“It said…said about how…how I was injected with the…the Lust Bacterium,” Lan’ara said haltingly. “About how it would make my…my juices sweet and—”
“Sweet and addictive, you mean,” Need growled.
Lan’ara frowned in confusion.
“My Lord?”
“Stop calling me that!” he roared suddenly. “You’ve been calling me that from the first, trying to manipulate me into caring for you! Haven’t you?”
When she didn’t answer, he strode forward and seized her by the shoulders.
“Well, haven’t you?” he demanded.
He was scaring her now—scaring her badly. What had Drung said to him to make him treat her like this?
“I…I was only doing what I’ve been t-trained to do,” Lan’ara stuttered, her cheeks flushing with fear and guilt.
“Exactly. What you’ve been trained to do.” Need released her suddenly and wiped his hands on his trousers, as though he’d touched something dirty. “Get up,” he told her. “Get dressed. And don’t let me see you naked again.”
“My Lord?” Lan’ara quavered.
He glared at her.
“I won’t have you tempting me again—not now that I know what you are. And to think I almost bonded you to me for life!” He spat on the floor, as though to get a vile taste out of his mouth. “You make me sick.”
“But why?” Lan’ara began to cry—she couldn’t help it. “Why, my Lord?” she sobbed. “What have I done? I’m sorry I went into Drung’s room—I swear I’ll never disobey you again! Please!”
“Shut your mouth, girl.” The volcanic anger was gone, replaced with a coldness Lan’ara sensed she couldn’t melt, no matter how hard she tried.
Since her words couldn’t move him, she looked at him mutely, trying to plead with her eyes. For a moment, she thought he might be melting. His bronze eyes locked with hers and Lan’ara put all of her heart and soul into the look she was giving him. But then he shook his head and looked away.
“Get dressed,” he said again. “I’m never touching you again. And from now on, you sleep on the couch—at least until we get to Genu Six.”
Then he turned on his heel and left without another word.
Forty-Seven
Need was so angry he could barely see as he stabbed in the call coordinates for Genu Six. It was true—everything Drung’s left head had told him was true. The girl had even admitted as much. She’d told him herself what the file said about her being injected with the Lust Bacterium. And she’d said that she’d been trained to manipulate him.
What other evidence did he need that she was a fake—a fraud just trying to win his heart for her own ends—exactly as Drung had said?
He was angry with her—so angry and hurt he felt that his heart might explode and spray deadly shrapnel that would poison his entire body. But as enraged as he was, he still wouldn’t give her to Drung. Lan’ara might have hurt and betrayed him, but she didn’t deserve to be sold to the Trollox—no one did.
Wouldn’t give a canine I liked to that big bastard, Need thought morosely.
But Senator Pouncenblast was another matter. If he still wanted the girl, he could have her and welcome, as far as Need was concerned. All he wanted was to get her off The Dark Heart and away from him so he could forget her…forget how close he’d come to giving his heart, only to have it ripped from his chest again.
Just as he was wondering if Genu Six was going to answer, the viewscreen flickered to life and the narrow fish-face of the Senator’s personal secretary appeared.