Chapter 155

• Later that evening as they lay among the furs of the bedding area after another bout of mind blowing sex, Daniel had a distant look in his eyes as Lily lay on top of him on his back. Lily was concerned as she hugged him from behind, her naked breasts pressing into his back. "My love," she whispered, "please tell me; have you ever taken another's life before?"
• Daniel's jaw clenched as he mulled over what he should say to that. "Yes," he finally told her, not wanting to go into the details. There was a sharp intake of breath from Lily and he glanced back over his shoulder up at her. "I take it death is not a usual thing around here?" he asked.
• "No," Lily said softly as tears glistened in her eyes. It was a horrible thing to take another's life permanently. She could feel the pain radiating from her lover and knew deep down that it affected him as well. "Every permanent death, rare as it may be, is felt here and every new life, even rarer still, is celebrated and protected," she explained. "How do you humans put it; our rates are low?"