"Kelburn." It didn't sound like a name, the way she said it. "I don't like him and he wouldn't marry me."
"He wouldn't, but he'd give you children if you were humble enough. There's a fifty per cent chance you might conceive."
She provocatively arched her back. Not even the women of Kelburn's race had a body like hers and she knew it.
"Racially, there should be a chance," she said. "Actually, Kelburn and I would be infertile."
"Can you be sure?" he asked, knowing it was a poor attempt to act unconcerned.
"How can anyone be sure on a theoretical basis?" she asked, an oblique smile narrowing her eyes. "I know we can't."
His face felt anesthetized. "Did you have to tell me that?"
She got up and came to him. She nuzzled against him and his reaction was purely reflexive. His hand swung out and he could feel the flesh give when his knuckles struck it.
She fell back and dazedly covered her face with her hand. When she took it away, blood spurted. She groped toward the mirror and stood in front of it. She wiped the blood off, examining her features carefully.