“But how would you do that?” she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. “What method could we use if not…” She looked pale and fearful again. “If not by breeding?” she finished in a frightened whisper.
Ty frowned, wondering why she feared the act of love so much. Maybe it was a cultural thing—any people who called the joining of two bodies and souls “breeding” as though they were nothing but animals, might not be very interested in giving and receiving pleasure. But that was none of his business—protecting Ellina was.
“You would need to ingest my essence,” he told her. “I believe in that way you could gradually become immune to any kind of poison or harmful substance that might be put into your food or drink.”
“Your essence?” She frowned. “But…didn’t you tell me that comes from your fangs?”
Ty nodded reluctantly.
“That is the intimate part, unfortunately. My fangs cannot produce essence unless they are stimulated by some outside source.”
“Like poison?” Ellina suggested.
He nodded. “Yes, but they also react to the female I am guarding.” He didn’t tell her that a regular Blood Kindred’s fangs produced essence tailor-made to a female he wanted to bond to him—or that his own fangs were even more specialized to protect and give pleasure because of the manipulation of his DNA. She didn’t need to know any of that, he argued with himself—she only needed to know how he intended to keep her safe.
“So…how would I get your immunity? Would you, er, milk your fangs for me so that I could get the essence?” Ellina asked uncertainly.
Ty cleared his throat.
“Unfortunately, you would have to do the, er, ‘milking,’ as you put it. You would need to stroke my fangs with your tongue in order to get them to produce essence tailored especially for you.”
“Oh!” Her eyes widened. “I understand now—I would have to kiss you.”
“Not exactly,” Ty said quickly. “The two of us kissing wouldn’t be right—it wouldn’t be appropriate, as I said before. But if I sat on the couch and you leaned over me and just…”
He made a motion with one hand, hardly knowing what he was trying to say. Now that his suggestion was out in the open, it felt more improper than ever. It was certainly not something he would have offered to any other subject he’d ever guarded on any of his previous missions. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the Potentate had slapped him or reported him for impertinence.
Instead, she sat there, staring up at him, a look of consideration on her lovely face.
“Well…” she said slowly. “Would it work right away?”
Ty frowned, feeling worse than ever.
“Unfortunately not,” he said stiffly. “It would probably take a couple of days—maybe weeks—of you, er, milking my fangs for their essence in order for you to build up immunity. However,” he added quickly, “Once you did, you would be protected from poisons and harmful substances for the rest of your life. And I…” He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t have to worry about you after I leave.”
He was almost certain she would turn his suggestion down flat. After all, call it what you would, it really did amount to kissing—deep kissing—which he shouldn’t be doing with the female he was supposed to be guarding. Especially considering she was the ruler of an entire planet and he was nothing but an off-worlder commoner.
“I understand if you don’t like the idea,” he said after she had been silent a long moment. “I never should have mentioned it. Forgive me. I—”
“No.” She put up a hand to stop him. “No, I want to do it,” she said, looking up at him. “Only you’ll have to er, show me how. I…” She bit her lip, her cheeks going pale purple in a blush again. “I’ve never kissed anyone, you see. Not really.”
Chapter Ten
“It’s not really a kiss,” Ty protested. But he sat on the couch beside her and Ellina scooted close to his side. His satiny gold uniform shirt gleamed richly in the firelight and his clear eyes seemed to be glass-green at the moment. He frowned at her. “And how old did you say you were?”
Ellina bit her lip. “Twenty-three,” she admitted.
His frown deepened. “And you’ve never been kissed?”
“Once. But it wasn’t for real.” Her cheeks got hot with shame at the memory and she looked down at her hands.
“Hey, what happened?” He reached out to lift her chin so that their gazes met. “Whatever it was, it must have made you pretty upset,” he said softly. “Want to tell me about it?”
“Not really,” Ellina said, and then found herself telling anyway.
“I was thirteen years old and just beginning to realize I was different from the other palace children,” she told Ty. “I mean, I’d known for a while but when your body starts to develop it becomes more obvious, you know?”
He nodded. “Go on. Who was it that kissed you?”
“Hennessey Tolland—the son of one of the High Chamberlains.” Ellina cleared her throat. “He told Jellra Gornrun to tell Papier Thrubstood to tell me that he liked me and he wanted to meet me behind the big gold pillar at the head of the Temple of Thufar.”
“So you went?” Ty guessed.
Ellina nodded. “Of course. I was so excited. Hennessey was so handsome—I thought so then, anyway—and I had never imagined someone like him could ever like someone like me.”
“Why, though? You’re lovely,” Ty rumbled, making her blush again. “Were you especially awkward at that age? I know I was.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She sighed.
