The Breeder by Eden Bradley Read Free Book Online Page A

him, to rub the water into his flesh…
    “Nitara. Good morning. Or good evening, I don’t know which.”
    She sighed. “You are not supposed to.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    He sounded resigned today. Almost defeated. She stepped closer to the cage.
    “You are not yourself today, Akaash.”
    “Ah, it’s morning, then.” He waited, his brows raised, but she could not answer. “Never mind. It’s not important. I’m glad to see you.”
    “Are you?”
    Her pulse sped, heated.
    He nodded, his watchful gaze on her.
    “I shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t care.”
    “Neither should I,” she said, her voice a low whisper. She moved closer, laid her palms on the rough iron bars. “I should not be talking with you. I should not know you. I should only desire you, and make you desire me, so that on the day of my Sacrifice we are brought together in irresistible need. But I do know you, or at least part of you.”
    “And?”
    Her chest went tight, as though a heavy weight rested there, pressing her down into the hard, cool earth. “And I don’t know how I will do this. Sacrifice you to the Goddess.”
    He remained silent, but his chest rose and fell with ragged breath.
    “Akaash…” Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know how I will fulfill my duty to the Goddess. Yet not to do so would mean my death, as well as yours.”
    He said quietly, “I don’t want you to die for me.”
    “How can you say that? How can you care for me at all, after what has been done to you by the Temple?”
    “Because you understand this is wrong.”
    She nodded, the tears pouring down her cheeks.
    “What will you do, Nitara?”
    “What can I do but obey the laws of the Temple, handed down by the Goddess herself, to ensure the continuation of the human race? My responsibilities are…enormous. But I don’t want them.” She wiped her tears with an angry hand. “I’ve always had doubts. Ever since my mother was taken from me there have been questions in my mind. And recently, it seems as if the Goddess herself is sending messages to me…but it is sacrilege to even think so.”
    “I’d comfort you if I could, Nitara.”
    His face was soft with sympathy.
    “Akaash,” she said, his name coming out on a sob. “I would not see you dead. Tell me what to do.”
    He leaned toward her, as much as his chains would allow. “Tell me, is there anyone within the temple you can trust utterly?”
    “My sister, Leilin. And my twin brother, Nikkan.”
    “Twin?”
     “He is the guard who brought me to you the first time.”
    “The guards have more freedom than the breeder girls, I would think.”
    “Yes, although he is a eunuch, so he remains always in the temple, unlike the Sun Guards, who accompany the priestesses into the city. Why?”
    “Can he get a message to anyone outside of the temple?”
    “I don’t know. But I’ll find out. Tell me what I will do if he can?”
    “I must try to get a message to Dhatri. To the people of my clan. Even shamed as I am, they may help me to escape.”
    “None have ever escaped, that I know of.”
    “I must try. Will you help me, Nitara?”
    “Yes.”
    She was damned in even considering this. She didn’t know how the Goddess, or worse, the angry God of the Sun, might punish her. But she had to try.
    “Akaash, if you cannot escape, you will die at my hand. There is no other way. Unless I refuse…”
    “And then your people will kill you before they take my life.”
    She nodded. The tears were burning in her eyes once more.
    “Nitara, if I must die, let it be at your hand. Let me touch you first.”
    His own eyes were bright with emotion. She reached through the bars, her finger stroking his cheek, and he held perfectly still. Then he turned his head and laid a soft kiss on her fingertips.
    A jolt of need, desire and emotion rocked her body, her mind. Her heart.
    “I will try my best, Akaash.”
    He nodded.
    “Do something for me now, Nitara.”
    “I will do whatever you ask.”
    “Give me