But at this point it seemed he had finally gone too far. Without another word, Jodi raised the cup of water she’d been drinking from and splashed the contents in his face.
Then she turned and marched, stiff-shouldered, out of the restaurant leaving Vorn to blink and wipe water out of his face with an inadequate paper napkin as the humans around him stared and whispered about what had just happened.
Sixteen
“My Lady, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all day.” Liosh eyed Melinda with some concern. She had seemed so happy and lively at breakfast. Then something had seemed to suddenly change and she’d been quiet and sad the whole rest of their time together.
“Oh, have I? I’m sorry.” She looked up and smiled at him but Liosh could tell what an effort it was for her. It hurt his heart to see her so sad and down and he wanted badly to make her feel better.
“Was it something that happened in one of your classes?” he asked. He’d been with her through all three classes she had scheduled that day and nothing untoward had happened as far as he could see. Well, except for the fact that they had run into Amanda Brannigan again—the same female who had been so nasty to Melinda at the mall.
“Oh hello, Melli-the-belly,” she’d sneered, giving Melinda that same insincere smile she’d used on their previous meeting. “I see you still have your guy with you—what’s the matter, can’t you go anywhere without him?”
“She chooses not to,” Liosh had said, when Melinda seemed reluctant to answer. “We love each other,” he added. “We have a bond—why should we be apart?”
“A bond, huh?” Amanda had put a hand on her non-existent hip.
“One stronger than you could possibly understand,” Liosh told her. He knew he was carrying things a bit far, but he wanted to put Amanda in her place. It was clear that she’d been cruel to Melinda in the past which made him feel angry and protective of the curvy little female at his side.
“Well, I’m sure that’s just wonderful for both of you,” Amanda said nastily. “Let’s just see how long it lasts, right?”
“A bond with the right person lasts a lifetime,” Liosh had told her. “And that is how long I intend to be with Melinda—for the rest of our lives.”
“Well…” Amanda had said, and then, apparently running out of nasty things to say, she simply added, “Whatever,” and flounced away.
After she left, Liosh had looked at Melinda to see how she’d taken the exchange. He was hoping that his declaration—though it was supposedly pretend—might make her feel better. But her cheeks were red and she seemed more miserable than before, if possible.
Her reaction made Liosh worry that he had said too much. He had felt safe saying it though. If Melinda objected, he could always say that he was just pretending to be her significant other and acting the part. Later, when she was ready to return his emotions, he could admit that he had loved her right from the start.
Now, as they sat in her dorm room on the loveseat again, he looked at her in concern.
“Was it our meeting with that Amanda Brannigan that has you so disturbed?” he asked, since she hadn’t answered his previous question.
“Not…exactly.” Melinda shook her head, still looking miserable.
Which wasn’t really a “no.”
“Was it the things I said to her?” Liosh asked. “Did I express my feelings for you too freely? I was just acting the part of your boyfriend, after all,” he added, hoping to defuse the situation.
“I know you were.” Melinda looked up at him with a tremulous smile. “It was nice of you to try and put Amanda in her place.”
“She is what I have heard Lady Kat call, ‘a nasty piece of work,’” Liosh remarked. “Was she very cruel to you when you were in high school together?”
Melinda looked down at her hands.
“You could say that. But she wasn’t the one who really affected me the most. That was…” She trailed off. “Never mind. It’s ancient history.”
“If you want to talk about it, I’m happy to listen,” Liosh told her.
But Melinda shook her head.
“Thanks but I’d rather not dredge all that up. It was hard enough to live through it in the first place.” She sighed. “I think I’d just like to take a bath and go to bed.”
Liosh wished he could offer to help bathe her but now that her cast had fallen off, he really had no excuse to be with her in the fresher. He cast about in his mind, trying to think of anything else that might cheer Melinda up.
“Would you like to practice cuddling again after your bathe?” he asked, hopefully. In truth, he had been wishing he could hold her again all day. The night before when the two of them had been so close and comfortable with each other made him long for more of the same.
But Melinda looked down at her hands and shook her head.
“I don’t think…don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said in a low voice.
Liosh frowned.
“Why? You seemed to enjoy our cuddling the night before.”
“That’s the problem.” She looked up at him. “I did enjoy it. Too much.”
“But…how can you enjoy something too much?” Liosh asked, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“I mean, I enjoyed cuddling with you so much I’m afraid it might…might lead to something more.” Melinda twisted her fingers in her lap. “Do you know what I mean?”
She’s frightened of me, Liosh thought, his heart fisting in his chest. She’s afraid I’ll want more than she’s willing to give.
“Melinda,” he murmured, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. “Have I made you uncomfortable in some way? Have I made you believe that I’ll demand sexual favors you’re unwilling to give? Because I promise, I would never ask you to do something you’re not ready to do.”
“But what if I’m never ready?” she burst out, her big blue eyes filled with pain. “What if it’s not that I’m unwilling, but that I’m unable to give you what you want, Liosh?”
Then she seemed to get hold of herself because she shook her head and sniffed deeply.
“Sorry—that was stupid of me,” she said in a low voice. “Here I am acting like you really like me when we’ve only been pretending and practicing and—”
“I do like you, Talli,” Liosh said softly. He stroked her cheek gently with one finger, still looking into her eyes. “It’s probably too early to declare myself, but, well…from the moment I saw you, I wanted you for my own. I want you to know, though, that I’m willing to wait. And if you don’t feel the same way—”
“But I do feel the same way,” Melinda exclaimed. “I felt the same way about you right away—that you were the one for me. But…but I can’t, Liosh.”
“Can’t what?” he asked gently, still cupping her cheek.
“I can’t ever bond with you.” She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.
“Why not?” Liosh was utterly confused now. She had admitted to feeling for him the same way he felt for her, so why was she saying they could never be bonded? “I don’t understand,” he said again.
But Melinda only shook her head.
“You should forget about me and try to like some other girl once this assignment is over for you,” she told him. “You don’t want me, Liosh. I…I’m broken. I’ll never be able to be with you the way you want me to.”
Then, before he could say anything else, she rushed into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
Seventeen
The ride home was terse and silent. Jodi was still pissed off at the big Kindred. How dare he critique her relationship with James? How dare he say such awful things about her fiancé right to her face?
Don’t you mean, how dare he say such true things? a little voice whispered in her head. Vorn only talked about James not being responsive to your needs or sensitive to what you’ve been through lately. Admit it—he’s not wrong.
But Jodi wasn’t willing to admit that. She was too angry and not just at the way the big
Kindred had talked to her. No, she was also pissed off that she was going to have to go home and spend another night with his warm, leather and smoke and spice scent tormenting her while she was completely unable to meet her needs.
What the hell am I supposed to do with myself? she wondered as the sleek Kindred shuttle-car cruised down Fletcher Avenue. How am I ever going to get to sleep tonight? I’m so horny I’m climbing the walls!
Yet she knew that she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it—anything to help herself. If James had come home for some “alone time” as she had requested, she might have been able to get off. But without any of her props to dress in or her toys to play with, the orgasm she needed was going to be out of reach.
Admit it, Jodi, that little voice whispered again. You use James as a prop too. You close your eyes when he’s inside you and pretend he’s someone else…someone bigger…someone who will make you mind…
Jodi was trying so hard to push that particular thought out of her mind that she nearly missed the fact that the shuttle-car had stopped. But after a moment her eyes registered that the scenery outside was now stationary instead of moving.
It was also extremely eye-catching.
Blinking in pink and red neon outside the window was a sign that said, “The Todd—Couples Superstore!” In smaller script below it read, “Proudly serving the Tampa Bay Area since 1969!”
“What the hell?” Jodi turned to glare at Vorn. “Why did you stop? What do you think you’re doing, bringing me here?”
“I think I’m trying to make peace,” Vorn said heavily.
“What? By bringing me to a porn shop?” Jodi demanded.
“Look…” He spread his big hands in a gesture of truce. “Let’s not beat around the tree—we both know what you need and we both know your fiancé isn’t here to give it to you.”
“What are you saying?” Jodi glared at him. “That you’re hoping this place will get me hot and bothered enough to ask you to give it to me?”
“No, Goddess-damnit!” Vorn growled. “I’m saying I broke your favorite toy—the one you need to get off, apparently. So we’re going to go in here and I’m going to buy you a new one so you can fucking get yourself off and both of us can get some rest tonight.” He stabbed a finger at her. “Because I damn well can’t take another night like last night. Your scent is every-fucking-where in that domicile and it’s driving me fucking crazy.”
Jodi opened her mouth, intending to tell him coldly to take her home and then take himself back up to the Mother Ship. She leaned forward…
And somehow found herself kissing him.
What the hell are you doing, Jodi? What’s wrong with you? Stop this—stop it right now! a little voice in her head was screaming, but somehow she couldn’t seem to stop—didn’t want to stop.
The big Kindred’s mouth tasted hot and spicy, like cinnamon candy that burned your tongue. And he was kissing her back, running those big, hard hands all over her body, cupping her breasts, twisting her nipples in a way that shot sparks of pleasure straight down to her pussy which was hopelessly, helplessly wet.
Jodi kissed him back, tugging at his thick black and gold hair, trying to get closer, wanting to press herself against him, to feel that big, hard body covering her own, holding her down, filling her up…
Then Vorn was pushing her away, panting harshly with the effort.
Jodi found she was panting herself. She looked down and saw that her blouse was half unbuttoned and her bra was clearly visible. Her hair had pulled loose from the neat bun she’d pinned it in to teach that day and a glance in the rearview mirror showed that her lipstick was smeared from the famished kiss they’d shared.
“We can’t,” Vorn said, his voice coming out in a low, hungry growl. “You know we can’t. You’re fucking spoken for.”
“No, I know, I know.” Jodi tried to straighten her hair and button her blouse with hands that shook. She wiped at her smeared lipstick. Why had she done that? Why had she attacked him that way?
And why had he stopped her?
“You can’t do that.” Vorn pointed a finger at her. “It’s hard enough to resist you as it is, Jodi. You can’t fucking jump me like that.”
Jodi glared at him.
“I didn’t mean to do it! And besides, it’s your fault I’m this hot! You talk about my scent but yours is driving me insane!”
For the first time since she’d met him, the big Kindred actually looked shocked.
“My scent?” he asked, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s that…that musk you exude,” Jodi snapped. “I don’t know if it’s some kind of aftershave or a Kindred cologne or what but every time I’m close to you I smell it and it makes me want to…to do things I shouldn’t do,” she ended weakly and then looked away. “Things like what I just did,” she whispered.
God, what had she just said? What had she just admitted?
And what had she just done?
“My scent,” Vorn repeated, as though stunned.
“I guess you can’t smell it, huh?” Jodi demanded. “Any more than I can smell the scent of my ‘hot little pussy’ as you so bluntly put it last night. But it’s there—it’s all around me.” She made a swirling motion with one hand, indicating the way the scent filled the interior of the car. “It’s like leather and smoke and spice and sex and it makes me think of all the things I want but can never, ever have!”
God, she really had to stop talking—the things she was saying were stupid…crazy…
True.
Vorn still looked stunned.
“But you can’t be smelling my scent,” he growled. “That would mean my body was putting out its Mating Scent, which is completely wrong.”
“What the hell is a Mating Scent?” Jodi asked, frowning at him.
“A scent—a pheromone-based smell that’s meant to draw a female to you—to a Kindred, I mean,” he explained. “But only the right female. Only one you’d want to bond with for life.”
“Well…” Jodi threw up her hands. “I guess we know that’s a stupid idea. We’d want to strangle each other.”
“If we didn’t fuck each other to death first,” Vorn said darkly. “There’s something about you, little girl. Something that calls to a part of me I haven’t thought of since I left my home world of Rageron. A custom of my home tribe that…” He shook his head. “Never mind. The point is you’re taken by another male—even if he is a sorry excuse for a human—and you hate my guts. So there’s no way my body ought to be making my Mating Scent for you.”
“Well, I wish you’d tell your body to turn it off, then,” Jodi snapped. “Because it’s driving me every bit as wild as the scent I’m apparently putting out is driving you.”
“We’re pushing each other higher and higher,” Vorn murmured, frowning. “This is a vicious cycle, baby. If we don’t break it, one of us is going to snap and I’ll wind up buried balls-deep in your sweet little cunt before the end of the night.”
Jodi felt a thrill of fear…mixed with something else.
“You…you told me Kindred wouldn’t commit acts of sexual violence against women,” she reminded him.
His golden eyes narrowed.
“Who kissed who just now? I didn’t say I was going to rape you—more like we’re going to end up raping each other if we can’t stop this.”
“You could just go back to the Mother Ship,” she pointed out.
Vorn shook his head.
“Already told you, that’s not happening. What if the Varians come while I’m on my way to find a replacement to guard you? I’m not leaving you alone, little girl—especially not at night.” He gestured to the gathering dusk outside the car.
Jodi put a hand on her hip.
“Well then, what are we supposed to do to, uh, break this ‘vicious cycle’ as you put it?”
Vorn looked out the window for a moment before turning back to her.
“Exactly what I wanted to do in the first place,” he said. �
�We’re going to go into this fucking store and buy you every-fucking-thing your little heart—and pussy—desires. Whatever you need to get off, we’re getting it.”
“I don’t think you understand,” Jodi protested. “Sex toys—at least really good ones—are expensive. And I’m living on a TA’s salary. I don’t have a whole lot to spare from groceries to feed the ‘spank bank’ as I’ve heard some of my male students call your personal fantasy life.”
“Don’t worry about the cost,” Vorn told her. “It’s on me. It’s the only way to save both your relationship with that asshole James and my sanity so I’m more than willing to pay.”
“But…but you can’t just buy me sex toys!” Jodi exclaimed.
“Why not? I broke your best phallus, didn’t I?” Vorn sounded completely reasonable. “And in my culture, when you break a possession of the host while staying as a guest in their home, you pay it back ten times over.”
“Ten times over?” Jodi arched an eyebrow at him. “You do know that the python—that’s the dildo you broke—cost me over a hundred dollars, right?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He pulled a platinum card out of an inner pocket and showed it to her. “Come on, baby—stop beating around the tree and let’s go in there and find something to make your little pussy happy.”
To her utter surprise, Jodi burst into laughter.
“The expression is ‘beating around the bush’,” she exclaimed, through a fit of giggles. “And could you please not talk about my pussy like she’s a spoiled princess who needs a spending spree to keep her happy?”
“Hey, whatever she needs to be happy, she gets,” Vorn said seriously, but she thought the corners of his mouth were twitching too. “Because when pussy’s unhappy, we’re all fucking miserable.”
This only made Jodi laugh harder and soon he joined in, a deep, rumbling chuckle that seemed to vibrate her bones and was somehow extremely pleasant to listen to.
At last, her stomach aching with the unaccustomed laughter, Jodi finally wound down.
“Oh—I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so hard!” She wiped at her streaming eyes and pushed her hair out of her face.
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