“What?” she demanded. “What are you talking about? I don’t stink!”
“I’m talking about you, Amanda,” the girl said. “And you do stink. You’re rotten inside—and now everyone will be able to tell it. Because you’re going to smell as nasty on the outside as you actually are on the inside. For the rest of your life.”
Amanda opened her mouth to demand what she was talking about again but the girl turned on her heel and left, her black hair bouncing with the swaying of her full hips.
“Mommy,” came a child’s voice from Amanda’s other side. “Why does that lady smell like a potty?”
“I don’t know, Essie, but we can’t talk like that about people—it’s rude. Come on—let’s get away from here—it’s awful!” And a harried-looking mother with a hand over her face rushed her little girl away.
Looking around, Amanda saw that other people were backing away from her too—including her coworkers and her boss. Some of them were gagging. A man with a service dog on a leash couldn’t get his animal to go past her. The German Sheppard backed away, its muzzle wrinkling as it whined frantically.
Amanda was horrified at what she was seeing. All of them were pointing and whispering. It was just like high school all over again, only instead of Amanda leading the popular kids in making fun of some ugly idiot, they were all pointing at her.
Slowly, she backed away, staring at the group of people. Was this some kind of a joke? An elaborate prank somebody wanted to post on their YouTube channel?
Then she remembered the girl with green eyes whispering, “You’re going to smell as nasty on the outside as you actually are on the inside. For the rest of your life.”
Turning tail, Amanda Brannigan ran away as fast as she could. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t get away from the smell…
Fifty
“So what is it, Sis? What do you want to talk about?” Jodi had a relaxed, happy look on her face Melinda could hardly ever remember seeing there before. Usually, it seemed like her big sister was always uptight about something. But not now—now Jodi seemed like a whole new person. A person who was at peace with herself and the world around her in a way she never had been before.
She was practically glowing, Melli couldn’t help noticing. And her big sister’s smile had a satisfied quality—a look of utter contentment.
She’s glowing and satisfied because she’s bonded, Melli thought. Bonded to a male who loves her and treats her right and probably makes love to her every night.
Melli didn’t mind admitting she was jealous. She wanted what Jodi had—if only she could get it. If only Liosh—
“I know something that will make you smile,” Jodi told her, interrupting her thoughts.
“Oh? What’s that?” Melli asked.
“You don’t have to drop your classes at USF now,” Jodi told her. “And you never have to worry about running into Amanda Brannigan ever again.”
“What?” Melli exclaimed. “Did something happen to her?” She was certain that Liosh hadn’t done anything to awful Amanda. He had expressed the wish several times that she could be punished but as a Kindred, he simply couldn’t hurt a woman.
“As a matter of fact, I happened to her.” Jodi’s green eyes flashed. “I had a little help with it, but basically I got the Tolleg surgeon aboard the Mother Ship to make me a gene therapy treatment to change her smell.”
“Uh…what?” Melli raised her eyebrows in confusion. “I’m not following.”
“She stinks!” Jodi exclaimed, grinning. “She smells as nasty and rotten on the outside as she actually is on the inside now. The last I heard she lost her job and has been banned from her housing on campus. I think she’s moving back home with her mom—I bet that’s going to be a fragrant family reunion.” She laughed.
“Wow…” Melli wasn’t quite sure what to say.
She tried not to let hate invade her life—it only kept you from healing if you did that. Still, there was no denying that just the sight of Amanda Brannigan triggered her—sent her back to that dark place she’d been in after Jason Sykes had raped her.
She had considered just dropping her Sociology class, but since Amanda always seemed to find her and torment her all around campus, she hadn’t thought that would be enough. She’d been planning to drop her classes and stay away from school for her own mental health—now it seemed she didn’t have to.
“Jodi, you did all that for me?” she managed at last.
“Hey, nobody hurts my little sister and gets away with it.” Jodi’s eyes flashed. “Nobody! So don’t drop your classes, Melli—I want to see you around campus.”
“I’ll be there,” Melli promised. She sighed. “I’m just not sure if Liosh will be there with me.”
“What?” Jodi frowned. “How can you say that? I thought you two were in love.”
“I thought so too…” Melli looked down at her hands. “Jodi,” she said, wondering how to lead up to the topic delicately. “Um, do you know if Vorn and Liosh ever, you know, talk?”
“What? Of course they talk—they’re best friends. Hey, do you want some tea while we go over this? I know it always makes you feel better and I just learned how to work the Kindred kitchen appliances. You wouldn’t believe how fast you can make things,” Jodi said, jumping up.
She and Vorn were newly installed in a couples’ suite aboard the Mother Ship and she was thoroughly enjoying trying out all the new Kindred technology.
“No, no tea. Not now—maybe in a minute.” Melli put up a hand to pull her back down. “I meant, does Liosh ever talk to Vorn about me?”
“Why would they talk about you?” Jodi asked, a puzzled look on her face as she sank back down onto the massive overstuffed couch beside Melli. All the furniture was built to Kindred proportions, which made Melli feel like a little girl when she sat on it.
“I don’t know…” She shook her head. “It’s just that, well…things are different between Liosh and me now. He doesn’t…” She looked down at her hands. “He doesn’t touch me like he used to. And, um, you know how Kindred like to, uh, taste their women?” She looked at Jodi meaningfully, hoping her big sister would understand and not demand further explanation.
Thankfully, Jodi picked up what she was saying at once.
“Oh my God, yes. Vorn is crazy for that. Half the time I can’t get his head out from under my skirt long enough to have a decent conversation!” She giggled. “Sorry, that’s probably TMI. But it’s like he’s ravenous or something.”
“Liosh was like that too. Before…before the second attack,” Melli said in a low voice. “But now…” She shook her head. “Now he doesn’t seem to…to want me anymore.”
“Oh, honey!” Jodi was instantly concerned. “You must be mistaken,” she told Melli. “Once a Kindred singles you out as his fated mate, he doesn’t just lose interest in you!”
“Well, it seems like Liosh has,” Melli said. “He still holds me and cuddles me if I ask him to, but he hasn’t made a single move on me, uh, sexually since we got here to the Mother Ship. It’s been almost a week, Jodi, and I’m going crazy.”
“What about your problem?” Jodi asked. “The vaginismus?”
“We were getting through that,” Melli said earnestly. “Liosh was healing me with his, uh, essence. You know, the blue fluid Blood Kindred make with their fangs?”
Jodi nodded. “I’ve heard it has healing properties.”
“It does,” Melli said earnestly. “And I was getting so much better! If you would have asked me this time last week, I would have sworn that we would be bonded by now. Except…except Liosh seems to have lost all interest in ever bonding me to him at all.” Though she tried not to cry, tears rose to her eyes anyway and she had to choke back a sob. “I don’t know why he stopped loving me!” she whispered and then she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
“Oh, honey—I’m sure he still loves you.” Jodi put an arm around her shoulders consolingly. “This must be some kind of big misunderstan
ding. Look, I’ll ask Vorn to ask him right now—they just went to the Docking Bay for something.”
“No, wait!” Melli exclaimed, but Jodi had already closed her eyes and there was a look of concentration on her face. In only a moment she opened them again.
“There—done,” she announced, smiling at Melli.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Melli protested. “What if Liosh is trying to find a way to let me down easy and get away and now you have Vorn poking at him.”
“That’s silly—he doesn’t want to get away from you,” Jodi said firmly. “I’ll tell you the minute Vorn gives me the scoop. Now come on, let’s get some tea. Oh, and I have the most amazing cupcakes I bought from that littler bakery Mom’s friend, Kat reccomended. You have to try them.”
Uncertainly, Melli allowed her big sister to pull her into the suite’s food-prep area. Had she done the right thing in asking Jodi to find out what was wrong with Liosh? With the big Blood Kindred feel pressured or coerced by the question?
She certainly hoped not—just as she desperately hoped that Liosh really did still love her, exactly as Jodi said.
Fifty-One
“Of course, I love her. I love her so much it hurts,” Liosh admitted in a low voice, looking down at the drink he’d ordered at the small bar that was closest to the Docking Bay.
He had hemmed and hawed and “beat around the tree” as Vorn put it, when his friend first asked him what was wrong but when the Beast Kindred asked point blank if he still loved, Melinda, he couldn’t help but answer from the heart.
“I do love her,” he repeated vehemently. “Too much to hurt her,” he added in a low voice.
Vorn frowned. “What in the Seven Hells is that supposed to mean, Brother? And if you love her, you’d better show it. Jodi tells me she’s over at our suite this minute crying her eyes out because she thinks you don’t want her anymore.”
“Melinda thinks that?” The very thought of her being unhappy—especially because of something he had done—tore at Liosh’s heart.
“I’m afraid so. She’s telling Jodi you don’t want to taste her anymore,” Vorn said bluntly. “What could have made you lose your taste for your female’s honey, Brother?”
“I haven’t lost my taste for it—I crave it more than ever,” Liosh exclaimed. “But I don’t want to hurt her or rush her, Vorn. She was attacked—twice. And the second attack wasn’t that long ago, you know. I’m trying to give her room and time to heal, that’s all.”
“And driving yourself nearly crazy not touching or tasting her in the meantime, I’m guessing,” Vorn said, looking at him shrewdly.
Liosh sighed and took a long sip of his drink.
“True,” he admitted. “But I refuse to be like one of those Earth males who force a female to ‘get over’ something that happened to her just to meet their own selfish sexual needs. Melinda is going to have as much time as she needs to get better before I touch her sexually in any way ever again.”
“I’d say the fact that she’s crying to my mate over the fact that you don’t taste her anymore is a pretty good indication she’s had as much time as she needs,” Vorn said dryly. “If I were you, I’d go get her and put my tongue between her legs right this minute, Brother—it’s clear she needs you.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Liosh insisted. “Besides, she fears me now, Vorn.” He raked a hand through his hair and took another drink. “She saw me go into Rage—saw me rip that male that attacked her to shreds with my fangs.” He shook his head. “That memory needs time to fade.”
“If she’s so afraid of you, why is she telling Jodi she craves your tongue between her thighs?” Vorn asked reasonably. “Have you asked her if she’s afraid of you?”
“I don’t have to.” Liosh looked away. “I can see it in her eyes every time she gets near me. I don’t want to hurt her, Vorn—don’t want to frighten her any more than she is already frightened of me. I’m just trying to be careful.”
“All right, all right.” Vorn held up his hands. “I won’t try to tell you your business, you know your female better than me. But can I at least tell Jodi to give Melli some reassurance?”
“Of course.” Liosh nodded swiftly. “And I’ll try to reassure her myself tonight. I just need to be careful while I do it.”
“Right.” Vorn nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the silent communication with his mate. “Done,” he said opening his eyes and nodding at Liosh. “Now come on, drink up, Brother—I want to get back to my bride.”
Liosh couldn’t help the stab of envy that went through him at those words. How he longed to Claim Melinda as his bride, the same way Vorn had claimed Jodi! But he didn’t want to frighten or rush her.
He wasn’t sure when he would be able to Claim her, he admitted to himself. He only knew he loved her and wanted her desperately. If only he could find a way to show her without pushing her too far!
Please, Goddess, he prayed, Help me find a way. Help me Claim my bride and show her how much I care…
Fifty-Two
“So that’s why he’s been so stand-offish lately? Because he thinks I’m afraid of him?” Melli asked, surprised.
“That and he thinks you’re still fragile after the, uh, second attack by Jason Sykes,” Jodi nodded. “See? I told you he still loved you. He’s just being sweet and kind and patient.” She took a sip of her tea—she had finally talked Melli into a cup and had given her a cupcake to go with it.
“But…what if I don’t want him to be patient anymore?” Melli asked, frowning as she put down her own teacup. “What if I feel ready to take the next step?”
“Do you?” Jodi asked frankly. “After all, Melli, it’s only been a little over a week since that bastard Jason jumped you again.”
Melli lifted her chin.
“I refuse to let my present be determined by my past,” she said bravely. “Yes, I’m ready, Jodi. I want what you and Vorn have—I want to be bonded to Liosh and know that we’ll never be apart again. After that, I was going to take the semester off and stay up here with Mom, but now I guess I won’t have to—thanks to you giving Amanda Brannigan the stink-eye—literally.” She gave her sister a smile that Jodi returned wholeheartedly. “What about you?”
“Well, I don’t want to see James anymore than you wanted to see Amanda Brannigan, but I’m not letting him run me out of USF,” she said firmly. “I’m going to finish my degree at least—though I might focus more on other kinds of counseling since I don’t think anybody here has much sexual dysfunction.”
“Unless you count having too much sex as a dysfunction,” Melli said dryly.
“Exactly.” Jodi laughed. “Anyway, after I finish my degree, Vorn and I might head back up here to the Mother Ship. Honestly, it’s so much nicer than Earth.”
“It really is,” Melli agreed. “It has everything you need and want with none of the pollution or political nastiness of Earth. Everyone here is just so…happy.” Having finished the blueberry cupcake Jodi had offered her, she reached for another—a pale peachy one that had a faint fruity aroma.
“Oh, wait—don’t eat that one!” Jodi exclaimed, grabbing her by the wrist before Melli could bring the luscious-looking cupcake to her mouth.
“What? Why not?” Melli put it down and turned to her sister in surprise.
“Because, that’s a bonding fruit cupcake.” Jodi blushed a little. “The lady named Lauren, who owns the bakery, only sells them to mated women.”
“But why?” Melli asked. “I thought bonding fruit just helped a girl, er, open up more—especially girls who are mated to Twin Kindred. At least, that’s what Liosh told me.”
“It does do that, but it’s also an aphrodisiac—a really strong one,” Jodi told her. “So you have to be careful. According to Lauren, once you eat it, you pretty much have to have sex. Which is why she only sells them to mated women.”
Melli frowned. “Well why in the world did you buy one? It’s not like you and Vorn need any help in that
department. You two are constantly going at it twenty-four/seven—like a couple of bunnies.”
“I know that, but, well…Vorn and I like to try new things.” Jodi’s cheeks were getting red. “We’re very…experimental, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I have an idea,” Melli said dryly. She was pretty sure that the side of herself that Jodi had been suppressing the whole time she was with James was finally coming out into the open. And though she was glad for her big sister, she didn’t really need to know the dirty details.
“So anyway, I just thought I’d try it.” Jodi shrugged. “So pick another one—any cupcake but that one.”
“Okay.” Melli shrugged and selected a chocolate one instead. But even as she took a bite of the luscious dark chocolate, her eyes lingered on the peach bonding fruit cupcake as an idea formed in her mind…
Fifty-Three
“Are you ready to go back down to Earth tomorrow?” Liosh asked, as they were getting ready for bed. They had been sleeping together—well, cuddled up with each other anyway—for the entire week they’d spent aboard the Mother Ship. It was just that cuddling was as far as it went, Melli thought sadly.
Well, maybe that would change tonight.
“I think so,” she called from the bathroom—what the Kindred called the fresher—where she was just finishing brushing her teeth. “Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to make sure you felt ready,” Liosh told her.
“I’m ready,” Melli told him. “I’ve missed enough classes—I need to get back.”
She could see through the crack in the partially open door that he was wearing a long pair of satiny dark blue sleep trousers and nothing else. His broad, bare chest was mouth-watering in its muscular smoothness, she thought longingly. She seriously wouldn’t mind licking him all over like a great big ice cream cone.
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