Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Oh, I…I guess so,” Nikki heard herself say. They were getting deeper and deeper here but somehow she couldn’t seem to stop herself. It’s just one kiss—only one, she reminded herself desperately, but she no longer knew if she believed that.

  “Relax, sweetheart,” Malik murmured, still stroking her thighs soothingly. “I’ll never hurt you—I only want to bring you pleasure. I only want to bring you back to me.”

  Nikki could scarcely believe this was happening—was she really about to let an unknown client go down on her in the middle of showing a listing?

  But he’s not unknown, whispered a little voice in her head. If what he’s saying is true, you do know him—intimately.

  Well, if she didn’t she was about to. Because no matter how wrong it was, she was going to let him do this, she realized. She just couldn’t make herself stop.

  “All right,” she whispered. “You can…can kiss me that way. You can spread me open and taste me…Malik.”

  His soft growl of approval seemed to rumble through her entire body.

  “As my Mistress pleases,” he murmured as he finished taking off her panties. Then he spread her legs even wider and ducked his head to press between her thighs again.

  Nikki felt his thumbs spreading her outer pussy lips and then his hot mouth was pressing against her, invading her inner folds to kiss her deeply, as though he was kissing her mouth.

  She moaned and her hips did that little involuntary jump again and suddenly her clit was pressed right against his tongue. Malik made a sound somewhere between a groan and a growl and then his muscular arms were winding around her thighs, splitting her even wider.

  Nikki gasped and arched her back as he lapped upward, starting at the entrance to her pussy and dragging his hot tongue over her tender folds, licking her swollen inner cunt and stroking her aching clit as he tried to capture every drop of her honey.

  “Malik!” she gasped and somehow found that her fingers were buried in his long, wheat-colored hair as she pressed up to meet him. Oh God, was she really doing this? Was she lying on a strange bed with her legs spread wide, riding his mouth, writhing against his tongue?

  It seemed that she was and it further seemed that she couldn’t stop.

  “Malik!” she cried again. “Oh God, yes…yes, please!”

  Suddenly she heard him speaking to her—but not with his mouth, which was busy at the moment—with his mind. At least that was what it seemed like, as she heard his deep, growling voice in her head, not with her ears.

  “Does my Mistress approve of the way I pay obeisance to her sweet pussy?” he growled softly. “Do you like it when I lap your hot little clit?”

  At any other time, Nikki would have demanded how exactly he was doing this—how was he talking inside her head? But at the moment, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to talk back to him the same way.

  “God, yes, Malik—don’t stop!” she begged, through the strange mental connection they seemed to have. “Right there…right there. I’m so close!”

  “Here?” He tongued the side of her throbbing clit again, sending sparks of pleasure through her entire body, making her toes curl.

  “Yes!” Nikki’s fingers tightened in his hair but he seemed to like it. Pressing forward, he lapped more forcefully, rubbing his hot, wet tongue over the sensitive spot again and again until Nikki felt like she was about to come out of her skin. His tongue seemed to be vibrating somehow, sending shivers of desire and need all through her, pushing her higher and higher until she felt like she was going to explode…

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he sent. “Come for me—want to feel you coming against my tongue. Let your honey come down so I can taste it straight from the source.”

  The combination of his hot, relentless lapping and the dirty words in his deep growling voice being projected directly into her brain was too much for Nikki. With a cry, she felt her orgasm sweeping towards her like a tidal wave. She knew it would be a pleasure so great it might drown her but she didn’t care—she only wanted to come. Only wanted to give Malik exactly what he asked for—her honey straight from the source.

  So close…oh God, she was so close…

  And the two long fingers found her pussy entrance and he was entering her, pressing deep to fuck her as he lapped and sucked relentlessly, pushing her over the edge of orgasm as her pleasure crashed over her like the pounding surf.

  “Oh…Oh!” Nikki cried. Her back was arching, her pelvis tilting to give herself to him completely. Every muscle in her body felt tight with need and she was coming…coming so hard she could hardly breathe.

  With the pleasure, came the memories—a veritable flood of them. Waking up in Mistress Hellenix’s bizarre spa, being afraid that Malik would hurt her but then realizing that he would help her instead. Flashes of him kneeling before her and flashes of her kneeling before him, taking him in her mouth. The salted caramel taste of his cum…the way he had kissed her afterwards, as though searching for the taste of himself in her mouth.

  Then she saw him tied before her at the Banquet of Pain—the way he had opened himself for her, the intimacy of fucking him. Then later, the intimacy of letting him fuck her—take her—bond her to him. They had been together such a short time but they had shared their souls…

  “That’s right, sweetheart—we’re bonded. You’re my mate,” she heard Malik murmur through their link. “I have crossed both time and space to be with you again. I love you, Nicole!”

  “Oh Malik…I love you too!”

  She dragged him up and fastened her lips to his, moaning as he kissed her mouth with the same fervor he’d used on her pussy, pressing his tongue deep inside her, feeding her the secret taste of herself as he crushed her to him, delirious with hunger for her.

  At last they broke apart, panting.

  “You came back for me!” Nikki gasped, looking into the now-familiar silver eyes. “But I thought you were supposed to dissipate or disappear or dry up and blow away after you used the time device?”

  “Our bond kept me anchored to reality,” he told her, running his hands restlessly up and down her back as though to reassure himself she was really here, really real. “But I found myself back on Uriel Two of ten years ago with nowhere to go and nothing to do.”

  “But your family—” she began.

  Malik shook his head. “My family wouldn’t have known me, even if I had tried to contact them. Besides, I was already there—the past me was, anyway. And he hadn’t gone through any of what I had gone through in the ten cycles I worked and waited to restore my home world. He was with my old lover—Havlah.”

  “The girl you tried to bond with but couldn’t?” Nikki asked.

  He nodded.

  “In that timeline—this timeline, I suppose—he was able to bond her to him. She was expecting a child.” He shook his head. “I just…didn’t belong there. I don’t belong anywhere but with you.”

  “I’ve been so sad these last few weeks,” Nicole confessed. “I didn’t understand why but now I know it’s because I was missing you—longing for the other half of our bond.”

  “I’ve been going nearly crazy with need for you, too,” Malik told her, in a low, rough voice. “Gods, sweetheart—I’m so glad you were able to remember!”

  “Me too.” Nikki hugged him close again. “And to think I almost left! I just felt so crazy—all these thoughts were popping up in my head and your bonding scent was making me so…” She blushed.

  “So aroused?” he growled softly. “I understand, sweetheart—your scent does that to me too. Gods, I’ve been so hungry for you.”

  “I feel the same.” Nikki was about to suggest that they renew their bond right there when she heard the front door open and someone called,

  “Hello? Nikki are you here? I hope you don’t mind but I have someone else who wants to see the listing.”

  “Crap!” Nikki hissed. “It’s Missy from my work.” “Quick—where are my panties?” she sent through their
link.

  “Here.” Malik found them and handed them over.

  Quickly, Nikki pulled them on and then straightened her skirt. She tucked in her shirt and ran both hands through her hair, wondering wildly if she looked like someone who had been having hot oral sex in a place she definitely shouldn’t have.

  While she had been straightening herself out, Malik had been re-making the rumpled bed. By the time she was finished with her hasty make-over, it looked pristine. Thank goodness because just a moment later, Missy charged up the stairs with a nice-looking young couple right behind her.

  “Nikki?” she asked uncertainly. “I called but you didn’t answer.”

  “Oh, sorry! We were, uh, looking at the master bath,” Nikki said quickly, improvising. “There are so many echoes in there you can’t hear a thing from outside.”

  “Oh.” Missy looked slightly mollified. “Well, I hope you don’t mind—the Robinsons here would like to see the house.”

  “No problem at all.” Malik nodded agreeably at the young couple. “I believe Mrs. Davis was about to show me a few other listings.”

  “Yes,” Nikki said quickly. “We were just moving on—so help yourselves.” She smiled at the couple and she and Malik beat a hasty retreat down the stairs.

  Once outside, with the door safely closed, she collapsed into nervous giggles.

  “Oh my God, I can’t believe we did that!”

  “I can’t believe we didn’t do more,” Malik growled, his silver eyes hungry. “I was about to bond you to me all over again.”

  “It’s a good thing we didn’t start that!” Nikki said, remembering how long bonding sex with a Volt Kindred took and how it was impossible to stop once you started.

  “But I still want you.” Malik’s voice was a deep, needful growl.

  Nikki felt her own lust rise again in response to his.

  “God—I want you too. Luckily, we’re not far from my house and the kids aren’t coming home for another two hours.”

  The thought of her children put a slight damper on her mood though. For a moment she’d been so high on lust and love she’d forgotten her most important responsibility. She was a single mom now and that meant baggage.

  “I can’t wait to meet your sons,” Malik murmured through their link. “Or to adopt them as my own.”

  Nikki gave a shaky laugh. “Well, I think we’re going to have to take things slow on that front. They just lost their own father, after all. They might not be ready for a new one right away.”

  “So your worthless ex-mate left you as he said he would?” Malik asked, frowning.

  “Oh, that’s right, I forgot you don’t know. He didn’t leave—Mistress Hellenix took him,” Nikki told him. “She said he amused her, which is a hell of a lot more than he ever did for me.” She shook her head. “Look, I can tell you all about it at my house. If…if you still want to come, that is.”

  “Didn’t I just say that I did?” Malik murmured gently. Stepping closer, he cupped her cheek and tilted her face up to his. “I want you, Nicole, no matter how many bags you come with.”

  Nikki realized he must have caught her thought about baggage earlier and had to fight to stifle a smile.

  “Thank you, Malik,” she whispered. “In that case, let’s go—come home with me.”

  “Home. That sounds right. Wherever you are is my home, sweetheart.”

  He smiled at her, his silver eyes filled with love and warmth and for the first time in a long time, Nikki felt like her heart was whole. As they turned to go back to her house, she realized that her life was complete. And no matter how many crazy adventures she’d had to go through, they had all been worth it.

  After all, she never would have found Malik if she hadn’t switched places with Mistress Hellenix and her life hadn’t gotten so…Twisted.

  Epilogue

  “This emergency meeting of the Kindred High Council will now come to order.” Sylvan banged the speaking rock on the circular table and looked around at the other Council members. “I am afraid I had to call this meeting because the Kindred of the Mother Ship are facing a very serious threat,” he said. “For an explanation of that threat, I call on Malik of the Volt Kindred to speak.”

  Malik rose and Sophie—who was also included in the meeting at Sylvan’s request—noted how the Volt Kindred’s silver eyes seemed to crackle with electrical sparks. Beside her, Nikki, who was Malik’s mate, sat with her hands squeezed tightly together. Sophie patted her arm reassuringly.

  “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” she murmured.

  Nikki spared her a tight smile. “Thanks. I don’t know why I’m nervous—Malik’s the one giving the speech, not me.”

  “Well, he’s going to do great,” Sophie said, smiling.

  She had been showing Nikki around the Mother Ship and giving her information about the Kindred’s universal health care program and excellent schools. She already liked the other woman a lot and had the impression that she and Malik were thinking of moving up to the Mother Ship at the start of the next school year with her three boys.

  Though Nikki had explained that her sons had been having a rough time after losing their real father, apparently they got along with Malik wonderfully and the big Volt Kindred was doing his best to fill the void in all their lives. Sophie thought it was wonderful that the new family was doing so well together—it took a special male to raise another man’s sons but if anyone was up to the task, Malik seemed to be.

  Then the Volt Kindred began to speak and a hush fell over the room.

  “Members of the Council, High Chancellor, and guests,” Malik said, nodding around the room. “My tale is strange but it must be told—you are all in grave danger…”

  He spoke for almost an hour, going over many details, and no one interrupted him until he was finished. At last he nodded and asked if anyone had questions.

  Everyone did.

  “But how can we possibly know if this fantastic tale is true?” one of the Council members demanded.

  “Because I remember it too.” Nikki’s voice was a little shaky, but she stood and lifted her chin, supporting her man in a way that Sophie admired. “I saw what the Knower had made out of Uriel Two and I saw Malik destroy its core processor,” she said. “I was there.”

  “I have memories of our concerns about the Knower and Uriel Two as well,” Sylvan spoke strongly. “We were concerned because the facility where it made its Replicants had increased production. And let us not forget the attempt on my life by one of those self-same Replicants—an assassin bot sent by Mistress Hellenix of Yonnie Six.”

  “I do remember that,” Councilor Lor’iim said. “But…I don’t remember where the assassin bot came from.”

  The other Councilors murmured in agreement.

  “Because it came from a timeline that is no longer open,” Sylvan told them. “That is why you cannot remember the origins of the Replicant that was sent to kill me.”

  “So you’re saying that this AI—this Knower—is still out there somewhere?” Councilor Tagon asked.

  “It is. I was told by the Time Warden that it had projected itself into the body of one of its remaining Replicants—probably one of the ones in a Replicant brothel it owns in the Cantha System,” Malik said. “I was also told that we must find the Shannom-rah—the ancient crystal capable of recording and storing trillions of complete personalities—before the Knower can get its hands on it and use it to transfer Kindred personalities into Replicant bodies.”

  “The Shannom-rah? I thought that was a myth,” Councilor Lor’iim objected.

  “Unfortunately not. It is very real,” Malik said. “It used to be in the collection of Mistress Hellenix—I thought that it might have been sent back there when the timelines were changed.”

  “It was but I’m afraid it isn’t there anymore,” Sylvan said regretfully. “When Mistress Hellenix was seized at her domicile, the Sacred Seven of Yonnie Six confiscated some of her more valuable collections and auctioned them off to pay f
or her legal fees. It is how they do things on that planet,” he added.

  “So…where did this crystal that records people go?” Sophie asked, speaking up for the first time.

  Sylvan had asked her to be there because she also had memories that didn’t jibe with the current timeline and he wanted her to be included. He had asked Dark, the warrior who had helped Nikki get home in the current timeline, to be there for the same reason but so far the big Kindred hadn’t said a word. He just sat silently beside her, staring at Sylvan as though he was trying to stare a hole through him.

  “I’ve been tracking the Shannom-rah,” Sylvan said grimly. “The new owner is a Trollox by the name of Gorn G’rime. And he makes his home in the Cantha System.”

  “You mean the same place the Knower’s Replicant brothel is located?” Sophie exclaimed.

  Sylvan nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. And to make matters worse, the intelligence we have on him suggests that he visits the brothel often and has even bought some of the Replicants to serve as domestic help in his household—he’s apparently very wealthy.”

  “We have to get that crystal from him!” Councilor Lor’iim exclaimed. “We can’t allow the Knower to get its hands on it!”

  “Has an offer been made to buy it?” Councilor H’jas asked.

  “It has. But Gorn has refused. He is apparently very proud of his new acquisition and will not be parted from it,” Sylvan said.

  “Then we take it!” one of the Councilors said, frowning. “By force if necessary.”

  “Unfortunately, Councilor Bel’icos, that would cause an altercation with the Trollox race and they number in the trillions and are notoriously ready to kill not only the warriors they fight but all of their families as well,” Sylvan said dryly. “So taking the Shannom-rah by force would put us in a less than optimal situation.”

  “Then what are we going to do?” Councilor H’jas demanded. “The crystal cannot be left in the hands of this Gorn person—it could be taken by the Knower at any time.”

  “I agree.” Sylvan nodded. “If we cannot buy the Shannom-rah or take it from Gorn, we must steal it. Though I do not usually like to resort to underhanded practices, in this case it is the only way.”