Page 16 of Married to the Beast

“Forgive me, but that sounds very strange to me. For us there is no compromise—the man of the house makes the decisions and the woman abides by them.”

“But how is that fair for the female?” Bear objected. “If she has no say in anything? There should always be a middle ground—a compromise.”

She shook her head again.

“I’m sorry but I’m not even sure what a compromise between a man and a woman would look like.”

Bear had an idea.

“I tell you what—how about we make a compromise right now?” he asked. “You can call me ‘my Lord Husband’ when we’re out in public together but when we’re in private—just the two of us—you can call me ‘Bear’ like my friends do.”

Aleena gave him a tentative smile.

“I think I like that. Bearrr…” She rolled the R at the end, making it sound exotic. “Does it mean anything?” she asked. “Myname, Aleena, means ‘one who is longed for’ because my mother tried for over a year to conceive me.”

“My full name, ‘Bearick’ means ‘strong’ in my native language but the shortened version, Bear, is also the name of a large, predatory animal that lives on Earth, which is the planet the Kindred of the Mother Ship are currently protecting,” he explained. “Some of my friends have said I look a little like a black bear—because I’m big and my hair gets shaggy when I don’t have it combed down.” He pointed at his hair—which could get rather out of hand when it wasn’t tied back neatly as it was now.

“I will help you tame it—if you like,” Aleena offered shyly. “I’m very good with hair—my mother taught me.”

“That would be very kind of you,” Bear murmured, trying not to imagine those soft little fingers running through his hair. But probably she was just offering to be nice and nothing would come of it.

“Come—we should go have a look at the cooking area.” She came to him and held out her hand trustingly. “Do I need to go to the market and shop for food, or is there something I can use tonight to make you dinner, my Lord…I mean,Bear,” she corrected herself quickly.

“I think the agent I dealt with said they would stock a few things for us, but I don’t know much about your cuisine,” Bear said, enfolding her small hand in his again.

He found that helikedholding her hand. He had always been a tactile male—he enjoyed touching his partner, holding and caressing her. The past five years since Zelia’s passing, it was as though that part of himself had gone through a drought. Now, just feeling Aleena’s small fingers entwining with his was like rain on a field of thirsty crops.

Stop thinking like that,he warned himself.She’s not yours to keep and you know it!

But he didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, he pulled her gently with him as they left the lovely Sun Room and headed for the food prep area.

8

ALEENA

The cooking area was bigger than any kitchen Aleena had ever been in. It was a vast room with many different appliances lined up along the walls—some of which she barely even recognized. Clearly the former owner of the house had insisted on gourmet meals every night. She hoped apprehensively that Bear—it seemed so odd to call him that!—wouldn’t demand fine dining all the time. All the cooking she’d learned to do on the little stove in her mother’s house was simple fare.

“Wow—this is big,” her new husband rumbled, as they looked around. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a food prep area this large.”

“Neither have I,” Aleena admitted. She went over to the shiny silver range and oven combo. Sliding open the drawer where the food was put for cooking, she examined the heat jets—there were so many of them! Unlike her mother’s oven at home which had only two, this oven had eight nozzles for heat—two on the top, two on the bottom, and two on either side. Aleena supposed that must be for even roasting.

“Can you manage in here?” Bear asked, looking over her shoulder. “It looks complicated.”

“Oh, yes—of course I can!” Aleena said at once, though to be honest, she wasn’t sure.

But she couldn’t let her new husband think she couldn’t perform in the kitchen! The only place more important when it came to keeping a husband happy was the bedchamber and of course, she had no experience there at all. The kitchen would have to be her forte until he changed the color of her eyes and she learned what he liked best in bed.

“All right then. Let’s look in the cold storage unit and see what they left us,” Bear rumbled.

He strolled to the other side of the kitchen and opened the biggest refrigeration unit that Aleena had ever seen—and it wasfullof food! Going over, she ducked easily under his arm to examine its contents.

“Ohhhh!” she breathed when she saw what the fridge held. There wereprandletongues in creamy mousse and pickledpilipigeggs, jellied clovenclodderhooves,pringtails in brine, and many other gourmet ingredients she had never even heard of.

“Well, it looks like they left us plenty to eat,” Bear remarked from behind her. “Uh, do you know how to make this kind of food?” he asked Aleena. “I’m new here so I don’t know anything about Karpsian cuisine.”

“Oh yes, I can cook it! I know all about it,” Aleena said quickly.

Though to be honest, she wasn’tquitesure how to use the exotic ingredients. She was certain if she’d had more time in her father’s house growing up, she would have a better idea. Her stepmother and half-sister ate delicacies like pickledpilipigtails every day. But she felt she couldn’t let her new husband find out that she didn’t know much about fancy cooking—he might disavow her on the spot if he thought she couldn’t manage a woman’s most basic task!

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