Cursed Read online

  “By the time their fourth week arrives they have been talking for almost a whole Earth month,” Stav pointed out. “Talking and touching and…other things.”

  “Things she’s forced to do,” Charlotte snapped.

  Stav shook his head. “A warrior never forces his bride to do anything. He may seduce her but if she refuses, her word is final.”

  She shook her head skeptically.

  “Yeah, right. So you’re saying if you ‘claimed’ some poor girl and she didn’t want anything to do with you, you’d just say, ‘Oh well, sorry about that’ and let her go?”

  “I cannot call a bride,” Stavros said a bit stiffly. “For reasons I will not go into, it is impossible for me. But if I could, I would respect her wishes. I would never force myself on her. Such an act would be repellent.”

  Charlotte looked at him critically, as if trying to determine the veracity of his statements. Stav met her eyes unflinchingly, letting her know he was telling only the absolute truth.

  “I just don’t think—” she began.

  Suddenly one of those intense, stabbing pains hit her. It felt like a knife in Stav’s guts and he grunted in pain and scrambled to raise his mental shields. They helped a little but not much. The searing, grinding torture in his pelvis went on and on like a cruel fist covered in spikes twisting within him.

  Though the pain was unbearably intense, he saw that Charlotte hadn’t shifted an inch. She still sat perfectly upright in the overstuffed chair, pointing her weapon at him. The only sign of her agony was a tightly clenched jaw and the fact that her full pink lips had compressed into a thin, white line.

  The scent of blood was also stronger.

  What in the Seven Hells is wrong with her? Stav wondered, staring at her closed face. And how can she endure such agony without showing it?

  At last the pain eased though he had a feeling it would be back. Whatever was wrong with her, it was getting worse. And the scent of blood made him think her wound was bleeding more freely as well.

  He sagged in his bonds, panting a little and Charlotte relaxed as well, leaning back against the chair wearily, as though the pain had taken much of her strength.

  “What was that?” he asked frankly, feeling like the time for small talk was over. “What is wrong with you? And where are you wounded?”

  “What are you talking about?” she demanded, glaring at him. “I’m not wounded. You’re the one who’s going to be wounded if you don’t shut up.” She waved the weapon at him menacingly but Stav refused to be quiet.

  “If you’re not wounded, why do I smell blood?” he asked bluntly. “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?”

  Her face changed colors quickly, going first red with embarrassment and then white with rage.

  “You sick son of a bitch! I heard you Kindred had a sense of smell like a bloodhound but I never thought—”

  “Just tell me where you’re wounded,” Stav said steadily. “If you’re unsure how to treat yourself, I may be able to talk you through it. I have had some medical training though most of it has to do with combat injuries. Maybe I can help.”

  She gave a short, barking laugh. “No, you can’t help. Not with this. Nobody can help with this.”

  “You must get help somewhere.” He tried unsuccessfully to keep the worry and irritation out of his voice. “You’re in agony every time one of those pains hits and you’re bleeding.”

  She frowned. “How do you know about my cramps—uh, pains?”

  The fact that her pain hurt him as well was a personal detail Stavros didn’t wish to go into. He didn’t want to have to explain his status as one of the Cursed or what it meant regarding his life expectancy.

  “I told you, I have some medical training,” he said shortly. “Also, my people are very intuitive. But even if we weren’t, I could still smell the blood and see the pain on your face.”

  “Well don’t worry yourself about me—or get your hopes up.” She lifted her chin. “I’m not in any danger. It’s just a…a female thing. That’s all.”

  “A female thing?” Stav was completely at a loss. “What kind of female thing would cause you to bleed and have intense pain?”

  “Are you kidding me?” She stared at him incredulously. “Look, I know your race is like ninety-nine percent male but don’t you have any females at all? And don’t they have, uh…cycles?”

  “You mean a cycle as in the time it takes for a year to elapse?” he asked, frowning.

  “No.” She shook her head in obvious exasperation. “I mean monthly cycles.”

  He shrugged, still mystified.

  “No. Not that I ever heard of. What kind of a monthly cycle is this? Do you mean that you bleed and have pain every one of your Earth months?”

  “Well, yeah—I mean, that’s pretty much the essence of a period. I mean, it’s part of the reproductive system. It—” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m discussing this with you. This is ridiculous.”

  “Nothing that causes you such high levels of agony is ridiculous,” Stav said. “It’s serious and ought to be addressed. Why haven’t you sought treatment for this ‘monthly cycle?’ Even with primitive Earth medicine someone should have been able to do something for you.”

  “My doctor has tried, all right?” she snapped, clearly on the defensive. “But nothing helps except really strong muscle relaxers and they make me so loopy I can’t see straight. And I—”

  Another pain struck, this one even stronger. Though his mental shields were as high as they would go, it still felt like a knife twisting in Stav’s guts. He stiffened against his bonds, wanting to curl in on himself to ease the pain but he couldn’t in this position. All he could do was stay still and try to endure it.

  Through slitted eyes, he watched as Charlotte reacted to the pain. She wasn’t quite able to remain so stoic this time. Though she remained upright—how he didn’t know—her lovely features were twisted into a mask of agony.

  At last, after what seemed like a very long time, the pain began to ease. Stav relaxed back against the headboard, breathing hard. In the chair, Charlotte slumped over for a moment, her silky hair hiding her face.

  “Charlotte?” he asked hoarsely. “Charlotte, are you all right?”

  A soft moan of pure pain was his answer. He was about to surge forward again and attempt to break the wooden posts he was chained to when she finally lifted her head.

  “Fine,” she whispered. “I…I’m fine.”

  “You’re not!” Stavros was more than concerned now—he was angry. Why wouldn’t she do something to help herself? “You said there was medicine you could take,” he said. “Go and take it now before another pain hits you.”

  She glared at him. “Yeah, right. And let you slip away while I’m higher than a kite on muscle relaxers? I don’t think so.”

  Stav blew out a breath in frustration. He couldn’t promise not to try and escape so that she could take the medicine that helped her. He needed too badly to get back to the HKR and find out what the Mother Ship wanted to do that. But if he didn’t promise not to leave, she would continue to torture herself. And him also, since his mental shields had never been less effective.

  Why can’t I block her out better? he wondered. What is it about her that’s so different from any other female I’ve ever met?

  “Take your medicine,” he urged, knowing she would refuse, but helpless not to ask. “Please—the pain is more than you can bear.”

  “I can stand it.” She clenched her jaw, as though determined to get through the pain, no matter how bad it got. “I’ll be just fine.”

  “You won’t—this agony is sapping your strength and causing great physical damage,” Stavros growled. “You must take whatever it is that helps you.”

  “I told you, I ca—”

  Another pain hit, this one worse than all the others combined. Stav writhed in his bonds. Taken by surprise, he was unable to block it out even a little. On the chair, Charlotte moaned and curled in on her