With a little manipulation, he managed to turn it off and put it safely into one of his inner pockets.
“You found it?” she asked when he came back out into the bedroom. She seemed to be moving better now and had wrapped the cloak completely around herself, rather than just huddling under it.
Chain nodded. “Thanks for holding onto it for me. I’m sorry it brought trouble to your doorstep, though. I’m afraid your living area is a mess now.”
“My living room you mean? Let me see.”
She got off the bed rather shakily and nearly fell before Chain caught her.
“Let me,” he said, lifting her into his arms easily and cradling her to his chest. Gods, he liked holding her! Liked everything about the curvy little Elite, honestly.
“Oh!” she exclaimed breathlessly. “You don’t really have to do that—don’t have to carry me, I mean. It can’t be good for your back.”
Chain frowned.
“I don’t understand why you’re so worried about my back. You’re not at all heavy.”
“That’s not what my ex-husband said,” she muttered, looking away. “But thanks, I guess.”
“He must have been a weak male with no stamina,” Chain remarked contemptuously as he carried her through the hall and into the living area. “You say he is your ‘ex’? Meaning he is no longer your mate? Did he die?”
“No.” She sighed. “He left me for his secretary—for another woman,” she explained, clearly seeing Chain’s confusion at the Earth term. “She’s pregnant now and having his baby. In fact, she’s probably already had it by now.” She shrugged. “I don’t keep up with them anymore.”
Though she tried to be casual, Chain could see the hurt in her lovely green eyes. He shook his head.
“That’s something I don’t understand about humans—the way you can just leave one mate and go to another.”
“Kindred can’t?” she asked, clearly curious.
Chain shook his head.
“No, when we bond, it’s for life. If we can find someone to bond with.” He sighed. “Your ex-mate is a fool. Leaving the woman the Goddess sent to him is like throwing away a priceless gift.”
“Well…thanks.” She ducked her head shyly. “He didn’t seem to see it that way, though. Oh…” She was staring in dismay at the mess in the large room. “Wow—they really tore the place apart!”
“I’ll help you fix it,” Chain offered, feeling guilty. “It’s my fault the Varians came after you in the first place. Here—let me just sit you down and you tell me what to do.”
He placed her carefully on the one undamaged chair and got to work on the rest of the room. The drapes he was able to hang back up with her direction, though they were a bit ragged and torn. And he was able to mend the cushions with his blaster set on low, to melt their plasti-leather coverings back together after pushing the stuffing back inside.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” Victoria watched with interest as he worked. “How are you doing that?”
“It’s not hard—and it’s the least I can do after the trouble I brought on you,” Chain told her. “I’m sorry I can’t fix your window-covers the same way but I fear the fabric would only burn if I tried to fuse it back together.”
“That’s all right—I’ve been wanting to change them anyway.” She stood and took a wobbly step towards the bookcase. “I’ll put back the books while you finish with the cushions.”
Chain frowned, thinking she looked unsteady on her feet.
“Be careful.”
“I’m okay—just a little weak,” Victoria said. “I’m sure I’ll feel like myself in a minute. The alien paralyzing ray has almost worn off completely.” She shook her head. “Now there’s a sentence I never expected to hear coming out of my mouth. God, this has been a weird night!”
“Not exactly what you were expecting when you decided to go for a drink with the male who never showed, hmm?” Chain asked, smiling.
She gave him a wry smile back. “No, not exactly.”
Chain nodded, watching her as she bent to pick up the books the Varian scout had tossed aside and slide them back into the bookshelf. Damn, she looked fine in his red cloak—especially since he knew how lush and naked she was under it. When she bent over to pick up the books, her ass was outlined just right by the clinging crimson fabric—it was enough to make a male weak in the knees! To distract himself, he said,
“So you have a male who never showed and an ex-mate.”
Victoria looked over her shoulder at him sharply.
“Yes, why?” she asked, frowning.
“Well, I was just wondering if there are any other males around?” Chain asked, though his nose told him no males lived in this domicile and hadn’t for a quite a while.
“Well, no—why do you ask?” She looked at him suspiciously.
Chain frowned. “I just wanted to know if you have anyone to protect you if the Varians come back.”
“Come back?” Her eyes widened and she put a hand to her breasts. “But…but I thought you killed both of them. Er…disintegrated them.” She looked with distaste at the greasy black spot on her carpet.
“Oh, I did,” Chain said, shrugging innocently as he placed the last cushion back on the couch and bent to straighten the small table which had been flipped over. “But you never can tell if they sent out a homing beacon or not when they got to your planet. I’d hate for them to come back and find you all alone here with no male for protection.”
He could see the indecision warring on her lovely face. Clearly part of her wanted to protest that she could take care of herself, but another, larger part was worried about what he’d just said. He didn’t like to scare her but he also didn’t like leaving her here unprotected. He had begun to think maybe it would be best to take her with him but he could tell Victoria was a strong-willed female—she would need a good reason to come away from her home with a male who was still little more than a stranger.
“I don’t have a man in my life right now, that’s true,” she said at last. “But I’m fine on my own. At least, I have been up until now.”
“You ought to get out of town for a few days—just until the threat passes,” Chain suggested. “In fact…” He frowned, as though considering it for the first time. “Maybe it’s best if you come with me. I can keep you safe if the Varians try to track you.”
“Go with you where?” Victoria demanded, placing a hand on one lush full hip and frowning at him. “I don’t even know you. All I know is that you’re a Kindred warrior who can hop into other people’s heads—which is kind of weird, honestly.”
“I told you I was an M-Switch Kindred,” Chain pointed out. “I never tried to hide it. That’s what M-Switch means—that I can leave my own body and take over the body of another for a short while.”
“But that’s bizarre.” Victoria protested. “I mean—what if you just want me to come with you so you can hop into my head and make me…do all kinds of things?”
Chain gave her a knowing grin.
“Why, Victoria my lovely little Elite—what kind of ‘things’ do you think I’d have you do?”
She blushed, which made her cheeks a becoming rosy pink and brightened her eyes.
“Well, you know…sex things.”
Chain raised an eyebrow at her.
“You mean I might want to hop into your body so I could touch you all over and you couldn’t stop me?”
“Well…yes, I guess.” Her blush deepened.
“You can put your fears to rest,” Chain told her. “I’m an M-Switch Kindred—the M stands for ‘male.’ Meaning I can only jump into the bodies of other males—I cannot jump to your body because you’re female.”
Her face cleared. “That’s a relief, anyway.”
Chain frowned. “Even if that wasn’t the case, Victoria, if I wanted to take advantage of you, don’t you think I could have done it earlier while you were completely paralyzed from the Varian’s ray?”
“I suppose so,” she said uncer
tainly.
“Please believe me,” Chain told her earnestly. “I may be a scoundrel and a thief, but I am not an abuser or a rapist. I prefer my females to be completely willing—willing and eager—before I take them.” He gave her a grin. “Or they take me. I’m not opposed to being on the bottom sometimes. In fact, I rather like it.”
“You’re a Kindred—that’s definitely in your favor.” She ignored his innuendo, sounding thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of any Kindred hurting or abusing a woman. Mostly when they’re in the news for any kind of violence it’s because they were defending a woman they love.”
“Exactly. Because we worship the Goddess and revere all things female and feminine,” Chain told her earnestly. “So when I ask you to come with me for a couple of days, it’s only to protect you from danger. Not to try and take advantage of you in any way—I promise. And if an oath is necessary to satisfy you of my truthfulness, I’ll swear to it.”
“An oath?” She looked at him uncertainly.
Chain came over to her and dropped to one knee before her. Reaching up, he took one of her hands in both of his and looked earnestly into her eyes.
“Beautiful Victoria,” he murmured. “I, Chainor of the M-Switch Kindred do give my oath to protect you from all that is harmful or dangerous for as long as we are together. I will shield your body with my own, lend an ear to all your troubles, share your sorrows and joys, pleasure you thoroughly and deeply if you so desire it, and be the best damn companion any female could ask for if only you’ll come with me for a few days until I’m certain it’s safe for you to return to your home.”
“Wow…” She looked down at him, though she didn’t have to look far because of his height. Even on one knee he was almost as tall as the curvy little Earth female.
“Well? Will you come with me?” Chain asked. “At least let me take you to the Mother Ship while I fulfill the second part of my mission and get the other half of the T’lix-Kruthe. Then I can bring you back to Earth on my return.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit the Mother Ship,” Victoria murmured, though she still sounded uncertain. “I hear the wait to take a tour is years long. But…I don’t know…”
“Why? Don’t you believe me when I swear to take care of you and keep you safe?” Chain asked anxiously. He hoped she wasn’t taking his oath lightly.
“Oh, yes actually—I do.” She nodded. “I’m just not…used to grand romantic gestures—that’s all.” She nodded at the way he was still kneeling before her and he saw her cheeks were a bit flushed.
Chain frowned. “Didn’t your ex-mate ever go to his knees for you, beautiful Victoria?”
She shook her head.
“Not even when he proposed. Kevin is a very practical man—he’s an electrical engineer, you know. He was always more about logic than emotion.”
“He sounds like a boring bastard, if you don’t mind me saying so,” Chain remarked. “What fun is life with no ‘grand romantic gestures’ as you put it?”
“I wouldn’t know since I’ve never had any.” Victoria sounded like she was confessing something. “Kevin was the only man I’ve ever, er, been with.”
“Really?” Chain raised his eyebrows in surprise, when he understood what she meant. “I would think that a people like humans who are biologically able to discard mates and find new ones at will would be much more sexually active than that.”
“Well, most people are,” Victoria said tightly. “But Kevin and I got together young and I believed in honoring my wedding vows. So he was the first—and last—man I’ve ever been with.” She shook her head, her cheeks going rosy. “God, I don’t know why I told you that. It’s what my daughters would call a ‘major overshare.’”
“No, no—don’t feel like that,” Chain protested. Rising to his feet, he took both her hands in his and looked at her earnestly. “I want to know all about you, Victoria. I know that we met by chance, but I find you fascinating—I’m glad you shared such an intimate detail with me.”
“You can’t be for real,” she said flatly. “Why would you want to know about me or my life?”
“Maybe because I find you beautiful and interesting? Not to mention extremely alluring.”
Chain gave her a half-lidded look that seemed to make her blush harder. What an interesting mixture she was! A female of mature years who had life experience in almost every other area, yet she was almost as inexperienced sexually as a virgin.
He was willing to bet that “grand romantic gestures” hadn’t been the only area her ex-mate was lacking in. A male who wouldn’t go to his knees for a female he loved, even to ask her to bond with him, probably wasn’t very good in the bed chamber either, where it was also important to spend time on one’s knees—tending to a female’s pussy with your tongue.
“Well…thank you for your kind words,” Victoria said at last, a bit stiffly. “But I know you’re just being nice. I’m old enough to be your…well, if not your mother, at least your much older sister.”
Chain frowned. “What do our respective ages have to do with anything? Am I not allowed to find you attractive just because you happened to enter the universe a few years before I did? Think of the stars and the planets—does a star refuse to allow a planet to orbit it because it came into existence after the star did? Of course not—that would be foolish.”
This earned him a smile, albeit a grudging one, Chain thought.
“That’s certainly a unique way of looking at things,” she remarked.
“It’s the only way of looking at things,” Chain declared. “Why limit your chances of happiness in any way? Life’s too short for that.”
Her reluctant smile widened to a grin.
“I like your way of thinking, Chain. You’re pretty much the exact opposite of my ex.”
“Knowing what I do of that poor excuse for a male, I’ll take that as a compliment.” Chain made her a sweeping bow which actually made her giggle. He liked the sound of her laughter—it was low and musical and completely feminine. Sexy.
“All right,” she said when he came back up. “I’ll go with you. But I have to be back here by Tuesday night at the latest so I can teach on Wednesday.”
“You have my word,” Chain swore. “The danger should have passed by then and you’ll be able to resume your normal life.”
Though for some reason he didn’t like to think of the little Elite coming back here alone. But if this was the only way she’d come with him and let him protect her from the possibility—however slim it might be—that the Varians would come back to Earth searching for the T’lix-Kruthe, then it was a promise he would gladly give.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he said to her.
“I’m not sure I do,” Victoria said, a little smile playing around the corners of her lush mouth. “Not completely, anyway. But you’re a Kindred and they’re all supposed to be protective of women.” She shrugged. “No offense—it’s just that I’ll have to get to know you better before I decide if you’re totally trustworthy.”
Chain frowned. “Why would you agree to come with me if you don’t trust me completely?”
“Because,” Victoria said lightly. “I’ve been waiting my whole adult life to have a little fun and adventure—and I have a feeling you can offer me both.”
Chain grinned back. He respected her honesty and liked the attitude she was taking towards their impending trip together. Even if he only took her to the Mother Ship and stayed with her a day or two to give her the tour, he was certain it would be an experience neither of them would ever forget.
Eight
Was she crazy, agreeing to leave town—hell, to leave the whole planet—with a man she’d never met before tonight, Vicky wondered? She was sure her daughters would think so. And this was something she would never allow them to do. In fact, if either Melli or Jodi called her up and said, “Mom, I’m thinking of taking a trip to Europe with Carlos, this guy I just met in a bar,” Vicky would have done her best to talk sense into them.
> Which is probably what they’ll do to me if I let them know I’m leaving Earth to go to the Mother Ship for a couple of days with a strange Kindred, Vicky thought. Rather than telling them she was going off with Chain, it might be better to text them a little white lie—maybe say she was going to visit a girl friend for some time off. It wasn’t normally something she would do but she didn’t want them worrying about her.
Yes, a little fib wouldn’t hurt, she assured herself as she reshelved the last of the books. And when she got home, she was going to call a professional carpet cleaning service to deal with that spot where the alien lizard man had been disintegrated.
The thought made her shiver as she stared at the greasy black stain on the carpet and she realized she had other things she had to do before she went off “skylarking” as her granny would have said.
“I need to pack,” she told Chain, as they walked back to the bedroom together. She nodded at the open door of the master bathroom. “And I have to put some cardboard or something over the bathroom window where that lizard guy broke through. I can’t just leave it like it is.”
“I can handle that while you get your clothing packed,” he said, nodding. “But this reminds me that I never tended to the wounds you got from the broken glass. Forgive me for forgetting.”
Vicky made a shooing gesture.
“Don’t worry about it—I’ll slap on a few bandages and be just fine.”
He frowned. “Why should you take such half-measures when I can heal you completely?”
“You can? How?” Vicky asked with interest. “Do you have some kind of special Kindred medicine you can give me?”
“You might say that. May I?” He was suddenly kneeling before her again—he could move really fast and was surprisingly graceful for such a big guy, Vicky thought. He was lifting just the hem of the red cloak, which she was still wearing wrapped around herself, and looking up at her with his eyebrows raised.
“May…may you what?” Vicky was disturbed to hear the faint breathiness in her own voice.
Stealing Her Heart Page 5