Raine: The Lords of Satyr by Elizabeth Amber Read Free Book Online Page B

wife—”
    “What man would take you as a wife if it turns out that you cannot bear his children?” one of the Venetians countered.
    “A man that loves me,” she replied heatedly, though even she didn’t believe her own claim.
    Salerno raised his hands up and down as though patting out a fire. “Calm down. It’s not possible to experiment tonight anyway. To ensure accurate results, any woman you mated would have to be quarantined for nine months prior to copulation. And for as many months afterward, it would be someone’s task to ensure she remained celibate. That’s the only way to validate that any offspring she bore had resulted from your seed.”
    “But what of my suggestion? The subject could still be given the ultimate test of femininity—one that would determine if it’s capable of motherhood,” the Sicilian insisted. From the bulge in his trousers, Jordan garnered the distinct impression he was willing to take on the job.
    “My family wouldn’t be pleased by such a result,” she said, eyeing Salerno pointedly.
    She sensed the bishop paying close attention. “Is there no medical inspection that could satisfactorily determine gender?” he inquired. “Some evaluation of femaleness other than the ability to bear children?”
    Salerno shrugged. “A woman is what she is because of the uterus. This dictum has been relied upon by the medical establishment since first decreed by Jan Baptist van Helmont, the Flemish physician in the seventeenth century. However, the factual presence of such an organ can only be determined by an invasive physical search.”
    “One that could be performed tonight?” the bishop prodded.
    The spectacled Englishman spoke up, shaking his head. “Gentlemen! You’re not contemplating—? No! It’s too dangerous.”
    “What would you have to do exactly?” Jordan asked, feeling reckless with the desire to strengthen her claim to femininity.
    “Don’t agree to this,” the Englishman warned her.
    “Bah!” Salerno said, waving away the other man’s plea for caution. “The subject is here to be explored of its own free will. What I suggest is a routine procedure I’ve done several times before. A well-informed hand such as mine, lubricated and inserted into its rectum, would quickly detect the shape, size, and location of a uterus if one exists. Any discomfort would be minimal.”
    “Minimal!” scoffed the spectacled man.
    Paling at the description of what was involved, Jordan beckoned Salerno closer.
    “A private moment, gentlemen!” he told the others. They grudgingly turned away as he leaned in to listen to her.
    “If you dare perform such a search,” Jordan whispered, “regardless of what you find, I swear to you I will put an end to these annual demonstrations.”
    “What will your mother have to say on that?” he asked mildly, unconcerned at her threat. She’d made it many times before.
    “I don’t care,” said Jordan firmly. But they both knew she was lying. Her mother was beautiful, sought after, and self-centered. Jewels, society, and gaiety were the substance of her life. Sudden poverty would not agree with her. If Jordan were exposed not to be a verifiable male, her cousin would inherit. She wouldn’t see her own mother cast into the streets, and Salerno knew it.
    His beady bird eyes bored into hers. “Don’t make threats on which you cannot follow through. I believe I’ll perform the search tonight, with or without your agreement. However, I’ll offer to strike a different bargain with you in exchange for your cooperation: one birthday.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “If you make this easy, I’ll not come for you next year on your birthday.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. He was offering two years of freedom. It was almost worth it. Almost, but—
    Without giving her a chance to decide either way, Salerno straightened and craftily rubbed his hands together.
    “The search is on! First, I’ll need my clyster apparatus to cleanse the creature’s