Free Breeders (Breeders #1) by Ashley Quigley Page B

his
room, opening the lavatory door softly. Dropping my clothes into a pile at my
feet, I opened the shower door and stepped in. His face registered surprise and
distrust simultaneously. “What are you doing?” he asked.
    “Trying,” I whispered, looking anywhere but at his naked
form.
    “Thank you,” he whispered back.

 
    Chapter 10
    After that night, I made an attempt to trust Mason more. We
spent the days exploring the Medical Centre, meeting more of the Carers, and
trying to actively show our unity. Night times were a little more strained as
we hadn’t gotten used to copulation, but I performed it without resistance and
without any added help.
    I had been in the Breeding Program for six weeks now. That
was six weeks away from my family, the fact never escaping my mind. Mason and I
were on more friendly terms, but I didn’t love him and I suspected he didn’t
love me. He remained a stranger to me, and I still felt like a science experiment.
Which, in truth, was exactly what both of us were. We had no more unexpected
invitations to see Evelyn, which relaxed me a little. But, at the back of my
mind, it worried me she had left us alone. Mason had seemed to withdraw from me
after his discovery of the vial. He was courteous but never as gentle and warm
as I had seen him demonstrate before. Sitting at lunch together, the silence
between us was drawing me more and more closely to the edge of despair.
    “Should we have Thor and Jules over? It might be nice for a
change?” I suggested.
    He raised an eyebrow at me. “Not before your next medical.”
    Rolling my eyes, “I won’t do that again, Mason. Plus, you
have taken it away from me, so I can’t get my hands on it anyway.”
    “So you would use Haze if you had it then, Ariet?”
    “No, that’s not what I meant!” I cried in exasperation.
    “Have your weekly medical, and then we can discuss this
again.”
    The days dragged on until my scheduled medical. Mason bought
me a book from the Bookkeeper as I had expressed my love of reading. I had only
read a few pages of one book my mother had from the Old World, most of the
pages having been torn out. But here in the Great Tower they had gone to great
lengths to scour the Four Quadrants for books remaining after the Great Illness,
storing them in a huge vault underground. At least that’s the brief explanation
Mason gave me. The books managed to make the next few days on my own bearable.
Even though Mason was there, he wasn’t really there. And I had given up trying
to make him forgive me. After all, it was his family’s fault I was even here in
the first place.
    On the day of my medical, Mason and I walked nervously down
the corridor. Paige led me to the medical room whilst Mason waited outside. The
Healer performed his examination, but half way through he asked Paige to go and
get the UST machine. I had never seen one before and the look of it scared me. “Lay
still, Ariet,” he commanded. This might hurt a little. I winced as I felt it in
my stomach which lasted for a few minutes. “Thank you, Ariet. You may get
changed now.”
    Mason sat impatiently for me whilst Dr. Weler and the Healer
who examined me before flipped on the plasma. “Ariet, Mason,” Dr. Weler looked
at both of us. “You have successfully conceived.” Turning the plasma to face
us, I gawked in disbelief. You are three weeks pregnant.”
    “What?” Mason gasped. “How could this happen so quickly?”
    “Well, considering that we set it up that coitus took place
in Ariet’s fertile window, the chances of conceiving were high. The UST we
performed shows the presence of a fertilized embryo. Congratulations, the first
stage of the Breeding Program was successful.”
    Mason and I sat in shock on the journey back to our dwelling.
We didn’t even stay for the lunch and our usual meet and greet with the Carers
after my medical. Paige came in after Dr. Weler and the Healer left, fluttering
about us in excitement, giving me all sorts of