Page 19 of Married to the Beast

“What an amazing place you must live,” she remarked. “But…there are other ideas in the Salana books. I mean, they include adventures Salana has where she is…is sometimes intimate with a man. I mean—she kisses men who she is not Joined with, if you know what I mean.” Her bronze cheeks went dark with a blush as though she was admitting something shameful.

Bear tried not to laugh at her innocence because it was clear she was serious. He had seen some of the books the human females read back on the Mother Ship—the idea of a woman kissing someone she wasn’t Joined to was extremely tame compared to those.

“That’s fine,” he said seriously, since Aleena was clearly asking for his permission to read the books. “I know females like to read about romance—I’m sure that’s part of the story.”

Aleena looked relieved and excited at the same time.

“Oh, I can’twaitto start reading some of the ones I’ve missed in the series!” she exclaimed, running her finger over the spines of the books again. “You know there’s a rumor that the author of the Salana books is actually awoman?” she added in a hushed tone.

Bear frowned.

“Would that really be so strange? A female writing books for other females?”

“Oh, but here women are notallowedto write books. It’s only been in the past hundred solar years or so that we’ve even been allowed toreadthem!” Aleena explained.

Bear’s frown deepened—he no longer found this a laughing matter. Any society who kept their females in ignorance and intellectual poverty on purpose was contemptible and wrong.

“You should be allowed to read and write anything you want,” he told Aleena fiercely. “My people—the Kindred—believe that females should be elevated, not denigrated.”

She looked surprised all over again.

“Your people sound very strange to me, my Lord Husband,” she said, forgetting to use his name. “Strange…but nice,” she added, with a tentative smile.

“It shouldn’t be considered strange to treat your mate as your equal,” Bear growled. “As long as we’re together, I want you toremember that—and to feel free to read and write or do whatever makes you happy.”

Aleena’s pale purple eyes were so large they seemed in danger of taking over her face.

“You’re very kind,” she murmured at last. “But…you would even let me write?”

“Of course! Write whatever you want.” He threw out a hand towards the bookshelf. “Maybe you’d like to write your own romance novel.”

“Maybe I would…” Aleena nibbled her lush lower lip. “I…I kept a journal for a time,” she admitted in a low voice, as though confessing to a crime. “It was only supposed to be a record of my day and the recipes I liked but then I started writing little stories—just about the people I met and the things I thought they might do.”

“Journaling is a good way to clear your head,” Bear remarked. “I used to keep a journal myself. What happened to yours?”

Aleena looked down at her hands.

“My father found it. It was during one of the rare times he visited us and inspected our living quarters,” she said in a low voice.

“Was he upset that you’d been writing?” Bear asked.

“It was…one of the only times he beat me.” She looked up and he saw the hurt in her eyes. “He’s usually a very kind man but he said…he said he had to beat the will to write out of me. He told me no man would ever want me for a wife if he found out I’d been writing stories.”

Bear felt a wave of protective anger sweep over him. How dare that idiot, Sir Greggor, beat his daughter just for writing? Creativity should be encouraged and nourished—not punished in that way. He had a feeling if Aleena’s father was there infront of him, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from punching him in the face!

The intensity of his emotions surprised him. Yes, it was unpleasant to be working with a people who were so backwards when it came to the way they treated their females, but he hadn’t expected to have such a visceral reaction to the tales of their cruelty.

“Your father was wrong,” he said at last, trying to keep his temper in check. Aleena didn’t know him well enough to know that his anger wasn’t directed at her. “Idovalue a female who can read and write. Some of my favorite authors in my own culture are female.”

“Really? You have female authors? I mean, everyone knows they write? They don’t have to use a man’s name?” Aleena asked eagerly.

Bear smiled.

“We do have female authors and no, they don’t have to write under a male name. Andyoucan write too—as much as you want. I’ll even give you what you need to do it. Do you want another journal to write in or would you prefer to type?”

“Oh, I don’t know how to type, but a journal would be wonderful!”

“We’ll get you one then,” Bear promised her, smiling at her excitement.

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