“Oh my God, I hope you’re going to eat all that because I certainly can’t,” she remarked. “About ninety-nine percent of this stuff is not on my diet.”
“Diet?” Liosh frowned as he looked down at the array of food he’d bought. “Why would you need to diet when you’re already the perfect size?”
“The perfect size?” Melli nearly burst into laughter before she realized he was serious. “Wow, that’s… really nice of you to say but it’s not true. I wish I was the perfect size.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not the perfect size, then who is?”
“Well, she looks really nice,” Melli observed, pointing surreptitiously at a slender, petite girl who looked to be around a size two walking past their table. “Or she’s really pretty,” she went on, nodding at a tall, thin model-type swaying like a graceful giraffe on the other side of the food court.
Liosh frowned.
“But both of those females are so thin you can see their skeletal structure. Is that really what your people consider attractive?”
“Well, sure.” Melli shrugged. “It’s what most men consider attractive, anyway.”
His frown deepened to a puzzled expression.
“Human males have very strange tastes, then.”
“Not according to social media.” Melli shook her head. “You ought to see some of the Influencers on Instagram.”
“The what on where?” Liosh asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh—it’s a site on the internet.” Melli took out her phone to show him, but realized that the battery had died while she was up in the Mother Ship. “Crap—it’s dead.” She sighed. “Well, I’ll show you on my laptop when we get home.”
“That would be nice. Although if you’re just going to show me more pictures of skeletal women, I’m not sure how much I care to see them,” Liosh said frankly. “Are you honestly going to sit here and tell me you think someone like her is more attractive than a female who has curves, like yourself?”
Melli looked where he was pointing…and could barely suppress a groan. Liosh must have seen the look on her face because he frowned in concern.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look so unhappy all of a sudden? You smell almost panicked.”
“I smell panicked?” Melli frowned at him, then waved aside the strange comment. “It’s just that I know her,” she said in an undertone. “I used to go to high school with her and now she’s in my Sociology class this semester. It’s like I can’t get away from her.”
The “her” in question was none other than Amanda Brannigan, former head cheerleader of the Midtown Mustangs and the same girl who had set her up on her fateful date with Jason Sykes.
Just seeing her tied Melli’s stomach in knots. Unfortunately, Amanda seemed to know that because she always made a point to stop and talk to Melli every time she saw her.
Or maybe “torment” might be a better word.
Melli looked away, hoping not to be noticed but no such luck. Amanda spotted her and made a beeline straight for their table, a nasty-nice smile plastered on her pretty face as her size-zero, non-existent ass swayed with the motion of her impractically high heels. Her bouncy auburn hair, which looked shiny enough to be in a shampoo commercial, fluttered becomingly with each step and her cute little nose with three perfect freckles across the bridge wrinkled in a way every boy at Midtown High had found unbearably sexy and adorable.
“Well, hello Melli-the-belly,” she said, using the unkind nickname Melli had been stuck with in high school even after she’d lost some weight. “And what are you doing here?”
“Oh, hi Amanda.” Melli looked up, giving her a weak smile. “It’s, uh, nice to see you again. We’re just shopping.”
“You’ve been shopping, all right. Is all this for you?” Amanda eyed the huge pile of food disapprovingly. “There’s an awful lot of empty carbs here, Melli. Don’t you think you ought to be cutting back, rather than beefing up?”
Melli felt her whole face get hot. It was just like high school again, when Amanda and the popular crowd would come by her table at lunch and criticize whatever she happened to be eating.
Melli had almost developed an eating disorder because of them. Until after the Junior Prom, that was—after that she’d lost her appetite for nearly a year and the weight had come off. Now, in college, she’d started to work past some issues and the pounds had come back. Not all of them, but she wasn’t quite as thin as she’d been at graduation, she had to admit.
“It’s not all for me,” she said quickly. “I would never, uh, eat all this stuff. We’re just trying some new things—that’s all.”
“I see. But who is ‘we’?” Amanda eyed Liosh with open and undisguised admiration.
“Oh, sorry—this is Liosh,” Melli said. “Liosh, this is Amanda Brannigan.”
“Well, Liosh—nice to meet you.” Amanda stuck out a hand with perfectly manicured nails.
The big Kindred took the offered hand with a notable lack of enthusiasm, shook it exactly once, and let go.
“It’s agreeable to meet you,” he said, not quite sounding like he meant it.
But Amanda Brannigan wasn’t put off in the least. She was used to wrapping any guy she wanted around her little finger and it was clear she considered Liosh prime meat.
“Well it’s agreeable to meet you, too,” she purred, sliding one hand over his thick bicep appreciatively. “My, you’re a big boy, aren’t you? Are you Melli’s tutor or something? She always was hopeless in school. Why, she nearly failed our junior year!” She laughed nastily and rolled her eyes as though Melli was some kind of an idiot.
Melli felt her stomach clench miserably. There was a damn good reason she’d nearly failed her junior year of high school—a damn good reason she hadn’t been able to think or study or concentrate on anything but the awful turmoil churning inside her.
“No, Liosh isn’t my tutor,” she said woodenly, wishing Amanda would just go away. “He’s my, uh…”
She paused for a moment—what could she call Liosh? She couldn’t admit he was her Kindred guard because then she would have to tell why she needed a guard in the first place.
Amanda loved gossip—the more salacious the better and she would spread it everywhere. Melli might as well post a video to the school YouTube channel explaining how the Earth was under the threat of alien invasion and she, Melinda Erickson, was being targeted specifically so she had to have a Kindred warrior to protect her.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Liosh said, unexpectedly. He put an arm around Melli, as though to prove the point, and Melli happily snuggled close. Just being near the big Kindred made her feel instantly better. He smelled so good—that warm fresh scent of his was both comforting and encouraging somehow.
“You’re Melli’s boyfriend?” The disbelief was clear in Amanda’s voice and the set of her sharp brown eyes. “But I mean…what is someone like you doing with someone like Melli-the-belly?”
“If you’re referring to my female’s luscious curves, then please use a less derogatory tone or I’ll be forced to think you’re insulting her.” Liosh’s voice had dropped to a growl and his pale blue eyes were ice cold as he stared at Amanda. “And as for what I am doing with her, I am with Melinda because she is beautiful—both inside and out—agreeable to be with, humorous, intelligent, and kind to others. Which is unfortunately an attribute some females seem to lack.”
“Well…” Amanda’s big brown eyes widened—she didn’t seem to know what to say to this. “You…you must not have known her for long,” she came up with, at last.
Liosh only looked pointedly at Amanda’s perfectly manicured fingers, still splayed possessively on his shoulder.
“Would you mind removing your hand? I am exclusively with Melinda and I do not desire the touch of any other female.”
At last Amanda seemed to take his not-so-subtle hint. Her brown eyes narrowed and she snatched her hand away as though she’d been burned.
“I hope you enjoy yo
ur lunch, Melli,” she spat, glaring at her. “You might as well pack on a few more pounds since your new boyfriend seems to be a chubby chaser!”
Then she flounced off, her bouncy auburn hair waving like an angry flag with every step.
Melli watched her go with feelings of mingled triumph and shame. It was nice that Liosh had put the awful Amanda in her place, but it sucked that he’d had to hear all the terrible things the other girl had to say about her. Melli felt fat and ugly and adolescent all over again—she just wanted to crawl into her shell and hide.
“Hey…” Liosh murmured in her ear. “What’s wrong, Melinda? Why do you smell so sad?”
It was the first time he’d called her by her first name without “My Lady” in front of it, which was nice, but she couldn’t let his comment go unanswered.
“How can you smell how I’m feeling?” she asked, giving him a curious little frown. “I mean, is that even a thing?”
He shrugged. “It’s a thing for Kindred—we have much more sensitive noses than humans. I guess you could say we smell pheromones and translate them into emotions.”
“What—so you could go up to anyone in this mall and sniff them and know how they were feeling?” Melli asked, not sure whether to believe him or not.
“Well—I mean if they were feeling an extreme emotion like pain or fear, probably,” Liosh said. “But we usually only ‘smell’ the emotions of someone we’re extremely attuned to.”
“Oh, of course.” Melli looked down at her hands. “And you’re attuned to me because you’re guarding me. That makes sense.”
“Well yes…and no.” Liosh sounded hesitant. “The truth is…” He cleared his throat and Melli looked up at him. He looked like he was trying to decide exactly what to say next.
“Yes?” she asked, to keep him going.
“The truth is, I think I’ve been attuned to you from the very first moment I saw you,” Liosh admitted in a low voice.
“You…have?” Melli looked at him uncertainly. “But why?”
He shrugged.
“It just…happens sometimes with Kindred. When we find a female who…” He cleared his throat again. “Who needs to be protected. It’s like instinct kicks in and we just…become attuned.” He looked slightly uncomfortable, as though he wanted to be saying either more or less, Melli thought, but maybe she was reading too much into his expression.
“Well, I think it’s nice you became attuned to me,” she said, smiling at him shyly.
“I’m certainly glad I didn’t become attuned to someone like that female that just left us,” Liosh said frankly. “I can see now why the women in your culture feel the need to be too thin—it’s because they are tormented and made to believe their curves are not beautiful.”
“Something like that.” Melli looked down at her hands again.
“Hey,” Liosh murmured and put one finger under her chin so she lifted her eyes to his. “You are, you know—beautiful, I mean,” he murmured, his deep voice soft. “I don’t care what skeletal Amanda made you think—you’re gorgeous, Melinda.”
“Oh…” Melli felt her heart stutter in her chest and her cheeks were suddenly hot. “You…you don’t have to say that,” she said. “Just to make me feel better, I mean.”
“I’m not,” Liosh said simply. “I’m saying how I feel. Please don’t let her ruin our buying binge together.”
Melli couldn’t help smiling.
“I think you mean ‘shopping spree’ and I won’t let her ruin it. Especially not since you’re my ‘boyfriend’ now.” She put comic emphasis on the word, wondering how he would take it. A human guy who was commitment shy would have backed down from that hastily and helped her turn it into a joke. But Liosh only frowned thoughtfully.
“I hope it was all right that I said that?” he asked. “I thought it would be the best way to get rid of her.”
“You thought right.” Melli’s smile widened. “I don’t think Amanda Brannigan has ever been turned down by a guy in her life—you really put her in her place.”
“Which was also the idea,” he admitted, giving her a sly wink. “But you know, it’s a very convenient fiction for explaining my presence near you all the time. Do you think it would be a good idea if we kept it up as long as I’m guarding you?”
“Oh…” Melli bit her lip. “If…if you want to.”
“I do.” His voice had gone low and soft again. “Of course, that means we will have to act like romantic partners. I mean, I’ll put my arm around you, hold your hand…”
“Cuddle me?” Melli asked wistfully and then wished she could take the words back—they sounded so needy.
But Liosh only murmured, “If you like.”
Melli dared to look up at him and saw that his intense, pale blue eyes were half-lidded again. Shouldn’t be doing this, a little voice in her head informed her. It’s not safe. What if he wants something real? Something long-term? You know you can’t give him that, Melli.
But somehow she couldn’t stop herself from nodding.
“Cuddling…might be nice.”
She was thinking of the way he had held her after she broke her leg, of how wonderful it had been to lean against his broad, muscular chest and just breathe in that warm, fresh scent and relax knowing he could keep her safe. She hadn’t felt that way since she was a little girl.
“I think it would be very nice,” Liosh murmured. He cleared his throat. “And of course, it will prove to people that we are romantic partners.”
“Oh…oh, yes—of course.” Melli nodded quickly.
Liosh looked down at the food.
“Do you mind if we take this with us back to your domicile? I think I would rather not be in this crowded, noisy environment anymore.”
“That would be fine.” Melli put some of the new clothing together to get an empty bag and began packing away all the food-court delicacies. Luckily, Liosh had inadvertently gotten almost all of them to go, so they were easy to pack away.
The big Kindred was right, she thought—it was time to go home. At least back in her dorm room, she could be sure she wouldn’t run into awful Amanda Brannigan again—she was rooming someplace else entirely, thank goodness!
And maybe you and Liosh can cuddle, whispered a little voice in her head. Melli tried to shush it. There would be no need to cuddle at her dorm room—they would only be doing that in public, to prove they were a couple.
Still, she couldn’t push the thought away entirely. There was a part of her that ached for warm, gentle physical contact with the big Kindred. A part that just wanted to be wrapped in his muscular arms and held close to his broad chest for hours on end.
Stop thinking like that, she warned herself. Wanting to be loved-on all the time isn’t right—it’s exactly what got you into trouble with Jason Sykes.
That particular thought got her back in line quickly. Above all else, she never wanted to go there again. Even a cold, dry existence without ever being touched again was better than that.
Melli was sure of it.
In fact, she didn’t even want to think about the possibility of the past repeating itself. Better to just keep her needs under wraps, as she’d been doing for so long, and try to act like a normal person, she told herself.
Better to just try and forget what she longed for so desperately and get on with her life, than to stir up the sludge at the bottom of her memory and let the monsters that lurked there come out.
Liosh thought Melinda seemed subdued on the ride back to her domicile. Was she still upset about their encounter with the awful Amanda Brannigan? She had been a nasty piece of work, Liosh acknowledged to himself. She had said awful things to Melinda but in a way that made it seem as though she was trying to be friendly. He shook his head. What a strange contradiction—why weren’t Earth people more straightforward?
But was it only the chance encounter that was making the lovely little female quiet and withdrawn? Or was there something else? Something more specific?
Liosh ran ov
er the conversation they’d had with Amanda in his mind in detail. Melinda had seemed especially upset when the other female had mentioned she had almost failed a certain grade in the school they went to together. Her eyes had widened and her scent had become sharp with pain and fear…but what was hurting or frightening her? Why had a remark like that caused such a visceral reaction?
Liosh had no answers but he wanted to find out. He shot Melinda a sidelong glance and saw that she was looking out the window with a melancholy expression on her lovely face. What had put that look there?
Melinda had a secret, he decided—something she wasn’t telling him. Something that was making her sad.
Whatever it was, Liosh wanted to find it out. Maybe he could help her with it and put a smile on her face again. That was all he wanted—just to care for her.
If she would let him.
Seven
“Here you are—make yourself at home.” Jodi spread her arms, indicating the small room which was apparently now Vorn’s—at least, for as long as he stayed there.
The words sounded hospitable but the look on the Earth female’s face was anything but. The set of her eyebrows and the downward curve of her mouth didn’t say “guest”—they said “intruder.” Vorn wondered if she knew how easy it was to read her…how poorly she concealed her emotions.
Her scent was hostile too—hostile and hot, Vorn decided. Not that her being upset with him made him aroused. No, what he smelled on her was sexual frustration—a tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
It was the same way it had been in the car—why in the Seven Hells didn’t she just go take care of herself, he wondered? It wasn’t like he was stopping her.
Or was he?
There were other strange smells in this room as well—not just Jodi’s unaddressed heat, he realized. Under the overpowering, artificial flower stink coming from the small device plugged into the wall, there were much more interesting things for his sensitive nose to decipher.
His nostrils wrinkled. Was that leather he smelled? And latex? And the smell of her pussy—stronger and sweeter than ever. But this time it wasn’t coming from her.
Taming Two Warriors Page 4