Instead, a candelabra suddenly appeared, candlesticks flaming, right in front of her eyes.
“Oh!” she gasped, and jerked back.
“Are you all right, Allisandra?” Frowning, the man plucked the floating silver candelabra out of the air and sat it down on the low table which was suddenly there beside the couch.
“I’m fine, only—how did you do that?” She motioned to the candelabra which had appeared out of thin air.
He shrugged.
“Speech to matter transference. Don’t the Kindred of your universe have the same technology?”
“If they do, I’ve certainly never seen it.” Alli looked at the candles, which cast a soft, flickering light over the surrounding area. “Will that work for anything I want?”
“Within limits. You can’t ask for a door home, for instance—that won’t happen. Or a knife to stab me with,” he added, narrowing his eyes at her. “Why would you think something like that, baby?”
Alli flushed.
“Maybe because I just want to go home.”
“You are home—for now,” he said firmly. “Now, I’m going to go change. I’ll be back in a few minutes for your bath.”
“My bath?” Alli shook her head. “I had a shower already tonight.”
He frowned, his mirrored eyes flashing.
“I told you—I need to wash the stink of that other male off you. The unworthy one you let have access to your body.”
“Douglas is my fiancé,” Alli emphasized. “We’re going to get married.”
He shook his head.
“Why would you Join with a male who doesn’t take care of your needs, baby? That doesn’t make any sense.”
Alli felt her cheeks get hot.
“That’s none of your business! And Douglas does all right.”
“He leaves you wanting every time,” the man growled. “Don’t forget, I’ve been watching you for months. You haven’t had an orgasm with him once in all that time. And it’s not just that he doesn’t know how to make you come—he doesn’t care enough to learn. You’re not important enough to him to take the time to give you pleasure.”
Alli felt her temper rising.
“Is that right? And you’re so much better? What am I to you other than just a victim?”
He took a step closer and raised her chin to look deeply into her eyes.
“You will be my treasured and much-beloved concubine, Allisandra. While you live with me, I will tend to your every need and pleasure you very, very thoroughly. You will come as you have never come before because I will make it my priority.”
“You…you will?” Alli didn’t know what else to say.
Slowly, he nodded. The strange, mirrored eyes went half-lidded with lust.
“Can’t wait to touch and taste every inch of your beautiful body, baby.” He leaned even closer, bending down until his cruel, sensual lips were just barely brushing hers and breathed, “Can’t wait to make you come.”
Alli felt suddenly breathless. Her heart was pounding as she looked up at him. Part of her wanted to kiss him and part of her wanted to slap him. She felt torn between the two impulses and so she froze in place.
“You…you…” She faltered, realizing she still didn’t even know his name.
“My name is Kane,” he said, drawing back a little, to look into her eyes. “But while you’re here with me, you’ll call me ‘Master.’ Is that understood?”
Alli didn’t know what to say.
“Yes,” she whispered at last.
Kane frowned.
“Yes, what?” he demanded, his gravelly voice dipping to a soft growl.
“Yes…Master,” Alli said at last. But inside she was thinking, You’ll never be my master! Never!
Kane’s cruel mouth turned up into a mocking smile.
“We’ll see about that, baby. Now get ready for your bath—I’ll be back soon.”
Eight
As soon as he was gone, shutting the big black door behind him, Alli went to try it. Locked, of course. She guessed she shouldn’t have expected anything different. And even if it had been unlocked, where could she have gone?
Well, I could try to steal a ship and get out of here, she thought. The controls of his ship—which she had studied as he flew—didn’t look that different from the ones on her own little Kindred shuttle.
But it’s not like I can just grab a ship and fly right back down to Earth, Alli thought despairingly. We’re in a whole different universe here!
And the one control on his shuttle she had no idea how to work was the trans-dimensional wormhole generator. But what if she somehow did get it to work and made a wormhole and it took her into a whole other parallel universe? Theoretically, there could be hundreds or thousands or even an infinite number of universes, all overlying each other like the thin layers of an onion.
How would she ever know which universe she was actually in or if it was the right one? And if she got into the wrong one, would she mess up the space-time continuum? Would she screw up the flow of time in one universe and maybe start a domino effect that toppled all the others?
Alli knew she was no theoretical physicist. She might mess up the Multiverse just trying to get home—or else get herself hopelessly lost in time and space.
No, for now anyway, she was stuck here, she decided. She would just have to wait and see what happened. So far Kane hadn’t hurt her—it didn’t seem like her pain was what he was after.
It’s your pleasure, I want to taste, baby…
The low, rumbling voice in her ear made Alli spin around, one hand pressed to her heart which was suddenly thundering in her chest. But there was no one there—she was alone in the empty room.
So how had she heard his voice? And how could he read her thoughts?
She thought of what Commander Sylvan had said, about the Kru’ell Ones being able to read the innermost desires of a female and make them reality. It must be a special ability of their kind of Kindred—the same way Blood Kindred could heal their mates by licking their wounds or Touch Kindred could touch their mates using their whisper fingers.
For whatever reason, it seemed like Kane—she refused to refer to him as her “Master”, at least inside her own head—had access to her thoughts, both conscious and subconscious. That was a scary idea because Alli had no idea what was going on down there in the unknowable layer of her psyche—she guessed no one did.
Kane had claimed to know what was there though—had claimed that he could read the desires lurking there that she had hidden, even from herself. Was he telling the truth?
Alli guessed she would find out but she couldn’t help shivering at the thought. She still remembered Commander Sylvan’s words to Sophie.
“Some dreams are better left unrealized. Not everyone can face up to having their fantasies made into reality. It can break you mentally and emotionally if you’re not strong enough to withstand the intensity of your own desires.”
Was she strong enough? Alli supposed she wouldn’t know until it happened. Until Kane did whatever it was he planned to do to her. He—
“Well, right now what I plan is to bathe you. So why haven’t you undressed?”
Nine
This time the voice wasn’t coming from inside her head.
Alli whirled around again and saw Kane standing there. He was bare chested now, wearing only a pair of long, silky black trousers that looked like sleep or lounge wear. Alli had bought something similar for Douglas and tried to get him to wear them. But there was no question that the big Kru’ell One filled the trousers out better than her fiancé had.
Alli couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering from his broad shoulders and muscular chest, down to his ripped abs. He had a small patch of curly black hair in the center of his chest which ran down his flat belly into the low-slung waistband of his black sleep trousers. Below that, she saw a definite bulge in the silky material.
Her eyes widened. God! He appeared to be packing a much larger caliber than Douglas w
as. She wished she could see it to be for sure—to see exactly how big it really was…
“Like what you see, baby?” The smirk in his gravelly voice made Alli jerk her gaze up to his face as she realized she’d been studying his crotch for the past thirty seconds or so.
“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered, feeling her cheeks get hot. “I never…I wouldn’t.”
“Oh yes you would, because you just did.” Kane frowned. “Listen, while you’re with me, we’re going to speak openly about what you want. No more euphemisms like ‘conjugal visits’ and ‘going downtown.’ If you want to see my cock and find out how much bigger it is than your lover’s—ask me and I’ll show you. You want me to lick your pussy? Tell me and I’ll do it. But only if you say it right.
No more fucking ‘beating around the bush’ as I believe your people say.”
“I…I’m not used to talking that way.” Alli felt her cheeks getting hot. “And who says I wanted to see your, uh, package anyway?”
“It’s ‘shaft’ or ‘cock’,” he emphasized, frowning. “No more euphemisms, remember?”
“Fine!” Alli snapped, her cheeks flaming. “Well then, who said I wanted to see your cock?”
He grinned at her, his mirror eyes sleepy with amusement and lust.
“You did, baby. And don’t worry—you’ll see it soon enough. And feel it, too. Now, come on…” He made a “hurry up” gesture with one hand. “Let’s go—get undressed.”
Unwillingly, Alli pulled the silky nightshirt over her head. But then she clutched it to her chest, hiding herself as well as she could with it. She didn’t hate her body but she didn’t love it either. She was on the far side of forty and a lot plumper than she wanted to be.
In fact, hadn’t Douglas just told her she looked like she’d gained weight not that long ago? No, she really didn’t want to be naked—especially in front of an intimidating physical specimen like Kane. He was what she’d heard some women call “prison ripped”—so in shape it was almost scary.
Then she realized Kane had his head cocked to one side and a frown on his face. Oh God, had he been listening to all her thoughts about being naked and the way he was so in shape and she wasn’t?
“Of course I have,” he growled, as though in answer to her question. “Did that fool of a fiancé of yours really tell you that you were too plump?”
Alli felt her cheeks get hot.
“I thought you knew all about me and Douglas.”
“I do—mostly. But I had no idea he…” Kane shook his head. “Never mind. Believe me, Allisandra—you’re beautiful. Come into the fresher and let me show you.”
Reluctantly, she followed him through a door at the far side of the large viewscreen. What she saw took her breath away.
There was a vast, round, marble bathing pool with a padded seat running around the inside. Also, a large shower stall which looked a lot like the one she loved on the Kindred Mother Ship back home. But unlike the bathroom in her suite back home, all the walls were mirrored. Every…single…one.
Still clutching her discarded nightdress to her chest, Alli let out a shaky breath as she looked at the multiple images of herself and the big Kru’ell One reflected again and again and again.
“This…is a lot,” she said, shaking her head.
“Too much?” He raised an eyebrow. “Then fix it.”
“Oh—you mean the, uh, speech to matter transference thing?”
He nodded.
“No mirrors,” Alli said at once.
Immediately all the walls were an opaque gray.
Kane frowned.
“No—that’s not enough. I want to show you yourself.” He raised his voice. “Mirrors on one wall,” he directed.
Immediately the wall in front of them was suddenly floor-to-ceiling mirrors again. Alli gave a little gasp but she wasn’t quite as startled this time. Could it be she was getting used to this?
“Now, look…” Kane was suddenly behind her with his big, warm hands on her shoulders. “Let go of this,” he murmured, tugging at the nightshirt still clutched in her hands. “See yourself, Allisandra. See yourself as I see you.”
Alli didn’t want to see—but it didn’t seem she had much choice. Slowly, she let him slide the nightshirt out of her hands until her fingers were empty. She kept her arms crossed over her breasts for a moment…then slowly let them drop.
“See?” Kane murmured in her ear. “Beautiful.”
Her reflection didn’t look all that gorgeous to Alli. She liked her breasts well enough—they were still pretty perky with their dark pink nipples. But her tummy wasn’t as firm as she would like and her hips and ass were much too large.
“If you say so,” she muttered, feeling embarrassed.
“I do, baby. Now…see yourself as I see you.” Kane’s gravelly voice was soft in her ear. Gently but firmly, he put his hands on either side of her head and placed his fingertips on her temples.
Something happened to Alli’s vision. It flickered for a moment—as though all the lights had gone out for a split second. But before she could get worried or upset, she looked at her reflection again. What she saw made her draw in a deep breath.
Her curves were luscious, her breasts were full, her nipples were taut, pink peaks that looked deliciously suckable. Her long red hair flowed around her shoulders like a river of fire and her eyes were like emeralds. She really was beautiful.
“Wow…” Her voice was shaky. “How did you do that? And is this really how you see me?”
“Of course.” Kane smiled and ran his hands down her shoulders and along her arms until they landed on her hips. He was still standing behind her but Alli no longer thought their reflections looked so very mismatched. Her own curvy body seemed to compliment his muscular frame. They were like the very definition of male and female—hard and soft… angular and curvilinear.
Perfect.
“That’s right, perfect,” Kane murmured in her ear. “You’re gorgeous, Allisandra. And now that you can finally see how beautiful your body is, I’m going to wash it. Going to wash you all over and get you nice and clean, baby. And you’re going to open yourself and let me do it.”
Ten
“Um…” Alli wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I…I can wash myself,” she offered, lifting her chin. “There’s no need for you to, uh, go to the trouble.”
Kane frowned down at her.
“You have to get used to my hands on your body, Allisandra. I’m going to be touching you everywhere while you’re with me.”
“I…I don’t want you to,” Alli whispered. But it was a lie and she knew it even as she spoke it. That deep throbbing had begun again between her thighs—the need that she’d felt earlier with Douglas—the itch he had failed to scratch was back. Why was that?
“Because you have needs—needs I’m bringing to the forefront of your mind,” Kane murmured to her. “They’ll get worse too, you’ll see. You’ll not only get used to my hands and mouth on you—by the time I’m finished with you, you’ll be begging for my touch.”
Alli lifted her chin.
“Don’t you think that’s kind of arrogant of you?”
Her defiance only made him smile.
“You’ll see what I mean a little later, baby. For now, it’s time for your bath.”
Alli bit her lip, feeling hot and uncertain all over again.
“Where are you going to wash me?”
“Everywhere,” he said firmly. “But to start with, in the bathing pool. Go on—get in.” He gave a nod towards the large, oval bathing pool in the center of the room. Reluctantly, Alli went to it and looked in. It looked deep and she wasn’t a very good swimmer.
“It’s all right, baby,” Kane told her. “I’ll be with you the whole time.”
“Really?” Alli gave him a quick glance.
“Of course.” Kane started pulling down his long, black sleep trousers. “How else could I reach you to wash you?” he rumbled.
Al
li looked away quickly as the black silky material slid down his lean hips. She waited for a moment, hoping he would just slide into the pool and tell her to follow. But then she realized he was just standing there, waiting.
Waiting for what, she wondered?
“Waiting for you to get your look,” he murmured, in answer to her unspoken question. “Go on—do it.”
Unwillingly, Alli found that her eyes were drawn to his crotch. Sure enough, his cock was every bit as long and thick as she’d imagined it might be. It put Douglas’s puny equipment to shame. In fact, it put every other male equipment she’d ever seen to shame, and that was including porn images.
She couldn’t help staring for a moment—he wasn’t even hard! How big would he be if he got an erection?
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Kane’s deep voice sounded amused. “For now, are you done looking?”
“Yes.” Alli tore her eyes away, feeling embarrassed. “I…I am.’
“Good.” And without another word, he finally climbed into the pool. “Now come to me, Allisandra,” he murmured, holding out a hand. “Don’t be afraid to come in.”
Alli found herself on the lip of the pool and then she was taking his hand and stepping down into the fragrant, steamy water. She gave a little gasp as her body adjusted to the temperature—it was just this side of too hot and it seemed to caress her body like a warm glove.
When she was all the way in, the water reached just to her chest. Her full breasts floated in front of her, her nipples poking out provocatively.
“Well, aren’t you beautiful when you’re wet?” Kane murmured in her ear as he slid around behind her. “Here, let’s do something about this.”
Before she could ask what he meant, he had twisted her long hair deftly into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and secured it with a pin.
“Now I can reach you better,” he murmured.
Alli found it disconcerting to have him standing behind her like this when they were both naked. He was so big he loomed over her. She started to turn and face him, even though that would put her breasts on display again, but Kane was too quick for her.
Dark and Light: A Kindred Tales DUET Novel. Contains: Saved by the Drake AND Captured by the Kru'ell One Page 17