Page 22 of A Delicate Conquest

“Hm.” Mavrel massaged his smarting knuckles. “Seems you know a thing or two. So, what do I do now?”

Rykal grinned. “This is the fun part. You’re at her mercy now, aren’t you? The slightest invitation from her and you’ll fall to pieces. She’s obviously interested, or she wouldn’t be here at all. The trick is not to let her know how deeply affected you are. At the same time, you want to make her understand that you’re not a bad guy. That you won’t make her yield to you against her will or force her into our way of being.”

“I wasn’t planning on that, anyway.”

“Well, you’re Kordolian, and humans are understandably wary. You must make an attempt to understandher.Then, you show her your worth as a male. Both intellectually and physically. Giving her pleasure will work in your favor.”

“You make it sound so simple.” Trepidation coursed through him. “What if, after all that, she just isn’t interested?”

“What if, what if…” Rykal snorted. “You don’t even thinkwhat if.In the early times, when we were just learning about this phenomenon, there was no time to think aboutwhat if.You just go get what you want. The rest will fall into place. It’s a catalyst with a chain reaction. Trust me, if she isn’t already feeling it, she will be soon. There’s a sort of reciprocal Mating Fever. It’s not as obvious, but it still exists. Use it to your advantage.”

Rykal’s words were intriguing, but Mavrel was firmly of the opinion that he would believe it when he saw it.

Still, the First Division warrior’s confidence was contagious.

Surely, he could do this.

Even if it wasn’t planned or tightly controlled.

Even if the future was unpredictable.

Sooner or later, he would have had to step outside of his familiar laboratory anyway.

“Think of it this way,” Rykal said, turning and motioning for Mavrel to follow. “She holds all the power. One command from her, and you will do anything to be able to Claim her. On the other hand, we truly do hold all the power. If we wanted to, we could take any of these humans at any time. Things could be very different. But we won’t do that. If the downfall of the empire has taught us anything, it’s not to do that.”

“Of course,” Mavrel growled. Just like every other member of the Darkstar Mercenaries Group, he’d been given a choice: stick with the empire or follow Tarak’s way of doing things. He’d made his choice. He knew what he’d signed up for and what he believed in.

The Mating Fever had dealt him a very inconvenient paradox.

Make her come to him willingly or face madness and, at worst, death.

The former was the only option.

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Rykal came closer as they exited the training room. “There’s a book. A manual for understanding human females. What makes them tick. What they like. What will turn them off faster than water freezing on Kythia. We’ve encoded the book and downloaded that information to theSylth.I know you process information fast, but even you won’t have time to read the whole thing before the Cultural Event. So let me tell you this. If there’s one part you should internalize before then, it’s Chapter Nine.”

“And how exactly do I find this information?”

“Just search for The Manual.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah. That’s what it’s called.” Rykal led them into the antechamber, where he’d left hiskashkanand boots. He started to dress.

He didn’t even have a hair out of place. Mavrel had been going all out, but Rykal wasn’t even slightly flustered.

The warrior donned his fine robes and tied the belt in a ceremonial knot. Suddenly, he looked polished and elegant.

He sat on a bench and put on his boots.

“The Manual,” Mavrel muttered under his breath as he digested what Rykal had told him.

The synthesis machine would have completed the construction of Bea’s shoe by now. He didn’t have much time.

All he could do was go back to his labs, retrieve the shoe, quickly memorizeChapter Nine,and return to Zharek’s med-bay to offer to escort her to the Central Chamber, where the event was being held.

He couldn’t believe things had escalated this fast, but what choice did he have?

He had to go all in.

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