The Breed Read Online Free PDF Page B

college. It was only since Mom had died that I had stopped
drinking it because it reminded me too much of her. Made me too
sad.
    “Believe it,” Lukas said grimly. “It’s the
truth—Mom was drugging you for years to suppress your cycle.
Unfortunately, it also suppresses emotional responses and any kind
of sex drive. Tell me, Lexie, up until a month ago have you ever
had any kind of desire at all?”
    “No,” I whispered through numb lips. Oh, I
had gone through the motions. I’d lost my virginity at college to a
socially acceptable boy. It hadn’t been great but I had comforted
myself that the first time isn’t supposed to be. But the next time
wasn’t very good either. Or the next or the next. By the time I’d
gotten out of college and started helping my father run the
company, I’d become resigned to the fact that I just wasn’t a
sexual being. Oh, I could have sex well enough—it didn’t
hurt or anything. But I felt very little during the act. No
emotional connection and certainly no pleasure. It was more an
annoyance than anything else—just another waste of time when I
could have been doing something productive.
    “I didn’t think so,” Lukas murmured, shaking
his head. “I hate to tell you this but I’m afraid you’re in for a
hell of a shock.”
    “What do you mean?” I couldn’t keep the fear
out of my voice.
    “I mean you’re about to have ten years of
suppressed hormones coming down on you at once.” He shook his head.
“No wonder your breasts are so sore and your nipples are leaking so
freely. Your body is trying to make up for lost time.”
    “I won’t let it.” I jumped up, feeling
suddenly wild. “I’ve still got plenty of Mom’s tea. I’m going to
drink a cup right now! Hell, I’ll drink a whole pot .”
    Lukas was on me faster than I could see him
move. “The hell you will,” he said harshly, grabbing my arm. “Don’t
you know that interrupting your cycle could kill you? Especially
after such an extended suppression.”
    “What about you?” I glared at him.
“Why didn’t she give you the tea too? Why only me?”
    “She didn’t have to,” he said simply. “If the
female of a breeding pair doesn’t come into heat, the male won’t go
into rut either. My hormones—my body’s responses—are dependant on
yours.”
    “What? What are you saying?” My head was
spinning and I stumbled and would have fallen if Lukas hadn’t
caught me. I wanted to sit back down in Mom’s chair but he led me
to the loveseat instead and pulled me into his lap. “Stop,” I
protested weakly. “I can sit on my own.”
    “But I don’t want you to,” he said softly.
“And I don’t want you so far away from me.”
    “Lukas,” I said, trying to sit up and get
away from him. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say but you’re
my brother.”
    “I’m your mate,” he countered, pulling me
back down. “Or I should have been. Remember I told you the Breeder
mark indicates not only the tribe but also the individual’s
intended mate? Well I believe our marks matched, Lexie—matched exactly . You were meant for me and I was meant for you.”
    This was all too much for me. Lukas was my
brother—I was sure of it. Every fiber of my being said he was. And
here he was telling me that it wasn’t true—that instead of being my
big brother, he was my predestined lover. The only man I was
supposed to be with for the rest of my life.
    “I can’t accept this,” I said, putting a hand
to my head. “It can’t be true.”
    “It’s true, all right,” he said softly. “I’ve
been waiting for you, Lexie—waiting for years. Ever since I
uncovered the truth.”
    “Which was about the time Dad disinherited
you, I guess,” I said, frowning at him. “What did you do—go to him
and accuse him of stealing Breeder babies?”
    “Pretty much,” he said calmly. “He blustered
and tried to deny it but by then I had already tracked down the
surgeon who dyed our irises and did the gene