Free Terran (Breeder) by Cara Bristol Page A

know it yet. Now she felt like crap. “You can’t take somebody because you like them! Where I come from, we call that kidnapping,” she argued with herself and him. “His feelings for me don’t bother you? You’re not jealous?”
    He blinked as if she’d uttered something ridiculous. “No one would be jealous of a female.” He shrugged. “But from what I know of your culture, I understand why you might think that. However, Marlix and I do not have the usual alpha-beta relationship.”
    “You’re not partners?” She raised her eyebrows.
    “We are. But we are more akin to brothers. It is a good arrangement, since neither of us have siblings.”
    “You both are only children?”
    He nodded. “Except for the females, of course.”
    She blinked. “The females?”
    “Our sires’ breeders each produced a single son, but some females too. Two from my sire’s breeder and one from Marlix’s.”
    Tara’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know what stunned her more—the detached way Urazi referred to his mother or to his sister . Good grief! They didn’t even consider sisters siblings. “Do you see them?”
    “I see my sire’s breeder when I go home. I have not seen the two female offspring since they entered the Breeder Containment Facility. I believe the Commander used to visit the female offspring of his sire at the BCF, but she was purchased, and after Commander Dak eliminated the BCFs in his province, Marlix lost track of her.”
    How archaic. Barbaric. Kidnapping paled in comparison to the way women were bought and used. No wonder Marlix hadn’t hesitated to take her. Why would he? She twisted her mouth in wry remembrance of the briefings she’d relied on in making her decision to come to Parseon. They had glossed over so much. Did the Terrans even know how different the Parseon people were? She shuddered now at how many chances she’d taken by exploring alone without an escort. Any male at any time could have abducted her like Marlix had—or attacked her like the betas had done. A paper-thin Treaty offered little protection against Protocol-sanctioned entitlement.
    Tara combed a hand through her curls and sucked in a long breath of air. She remembered the cries she’d heard and the manner in which Marlix had attempted to have sex with her.
    “I heard a female’s voice here last night.”
    Urazi busied himself with peeling a vegetable. For the longest time, he did not answer. “Yes,” he said.
    “Did Marlix, uh, abduct her the way he did me?”
    He shook his head. “No. She was procured. Purchased for the evening.”
    “You hired a prostitute?”
    “What is that?”
    “It is a person who is paid to have sex.”
    “She wasn’t paid. Her alpha was.”
    “That makes it worse, not better,” Tara said. A discomfort that felt a little like jealousy lodged in her stomach. “What about Marlix?” She had no business asking the question. “Did he use her services too?” He’d been with her all night, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been with the other woman earlier.
    Urazi shook his head. “He didn’t want to.”
    Tara knew she was being far too nosy, but what the fuck. Marlix had kidnapped her. She might be rude, but he was a criminal. At least on Terra, he would have been considered one.
    “So let me get this straight—excuse my pun. You and Marlix are supposed to be anointed partners, but you have sex with females?”
    Urazi blushed. “I wish you would not speak of it so boldly. It is not something we are proud of.”
    “But what about the females you purchase? Don’t they talk about it?”
    “They would not dare.”
    “Why doesn’t Marlix just purchase a breeder from the BCF?”
    “I have encouraged him to do so, but he has been resistant to the idea.”
    “He is afraid of shaming himself by overindulging?” she guessed.
    Urazi’s ears turned bright red.
    “One last question, and then I’ll shut up. Is anal sex the norm here?”
    Urazi looked surprised but not uncomfortable.