He watched the older boy’s hands on the controller as the holo-planets whizzed by in the air above their heads. They were so beautiful—so lifelike. He wished with all his might that he could play with that projector and control the planets just once…
And suddenly, he had been. He had looked down at his hands—which were suddenly bigger and with darker skin than he’d had before—and watched in amazement as he saw himself operating the apparatus that ran the model.
“I’m doing it!” he thought with excitement. “Look—I’m doing it!”
“No, you’re not—I am! Or I was. What’s going on—who are you? What are you doing in my head?”
The deep, menacing mental voice was definitely not his own, Chain realized. He dragged his eyes from the planetary light model and saw himself—or his body anyway—still slumped in his desk at the back of the room. His eyes were rolled up in his head and he was barely breathing.
Students around him were beginning to notice what had happened and they were pointing at Chain’s body and shouting and waving at the teacher.
“Look, look! Chain’s sick!”
“No, he’s dead!”
“I don’t think he’s breathing!”
There were screams and shouts filling the classroom and at the same time, the boy whose body he had accidentally snatched was shouting at him to “Get out of my head!”
The moment he fully understood what had happened, Chain felt his consciousness fly back to his own body. He sat up with a jerk at the same time the boy giving the presentation lost his own balance and fell over. When he got back up, he was shouting and pointing at Chain.
“He did it! He was in me! That dirty Snatcher stole my body! He snatched me and wouldn’t get out!”
The class erupted into pandemonium and the teacher couldn’t get control restored for half an hour. And by that time, everyone in the class understood what had happened—they all knew that Chain had snatched the Beast Kindred’s body with no warning or permission.
Not that anyone in their right mind would give you permission to snatch their body, Chain thought grimly, as he remembered the awful incident. It wasn’t pleasant to no longer be in control of your own physical actions and reactions.
He had tried to explain that it had all been an accident—a mistake—but it was too late. He had been able to blend in with the rest of the class up until then and the rest of the students treated him kindly. But from that day forward, he was picked on and bullied mercilessly. The other boys called him a “dirty Snatcher” and regularly pounced on him and beat him to a pulp after school.
It got so bad that Chain started skipping class, telling his mother he was going while he actually went and hung around the town, looking for distractions instead. He found plenty of them—none of them legal, however. At age sixteen, he snatched the wrong person—an elected official who was far up on the Twin Moons political food chain. He’d only done it as a joke, but when he gave the male’s body back, the repercussions were swift and terrible.
Chain had barely escaped from Twin Moons with his life and he’d been on his own ever since, though he made sure to keep in touch with his mother, whom he loved dearly, until she had died when he was only twenty cycles old.
After that, he’d been alone in the universe. He made a name for himself as a kind of master thief—someone who could procure items no one else could. He got quite wealthy and had a lovely domicile on a little planet in the Alpha Centauri system.
Chain didn’t really have to steal or Snatch anymore—he was indecently wealthy and could do what he wanted. Mostly he only worked to keep his skills sharp and have fun. That was the only reason he’d taken the current mission to recover both parts of the T’lix-Kruthe—because it was a challenge. He didn’t have much use for the fee he was going to receive once he returned the artifact to Commander Sylvan on the Mother Ship.
But no matter how much property he owned or how much credit he had, there was one thing missing from his life—a bride to share it with.
Chain had met a lot of pretty girls but that was what they were, girls. None of them was mature enough to tempt him to want to make a life-time commitment. And even if they had been, he was certain none of them would want to risk bonding themselves to him and possibly having an M-switch baby.
Chain didn’t want kids anyway—he wouldn’t wish a childhood like the one he’d had on anyone. But he was tired of being alone. The M-switch weren’t wanted anywhere, so his domicile was in a remote location. He got lonely and bored because he was, by nature, a sociable person—even if polite Kindred society had no use for him. He wished he had a female to share it with—to share his life with.
Would Victoria consent to be that female?
He just didn’t know.
I’ll ask her, he thought. I’ll give her the choice. I won’t just bond her to me without warning her first as my father bonded my mother—she ought to know that if we make love tomorrow, it will tie us together forever.
The thought gave him a warm throbbing feeling in the region of his heart and he leaned down and stroked Victoria’s sleeping cheek tenderly. Gods, she was lovely, his full-figured Elite with those big, smoky green eyes and the silver streak in her hair. Not only that, she was also witty, intelligent, and she had life experience and probably didn’t want any more children, since she’d already had two and raised them.
Victoria was perfect for him, as far as he was concerned. But would she feel the same way about him? That he was perfect for her?
Again, Chain didn’t know. But he supposed, very soon, that he would find out.
Thirty-Two
Vicky woke from a wonderful dream about someone who loved her holding her in his arms.
“Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up, beautiful Victoria,” a soft, deep voice was murmuring.
“Hmm?” She rolled over and stretched, trying to find her phone. Had the alarm gone off? Was she going to be late for school? That was one thing about being a teacher—you hardly ever got to sleep in, which was mostly okay with Vicky since she was a morning person anyway. But—
“Victoria, are you awake?” someone asked.
Vicky jumped as the voice registered and she saw a large, dim shape beside her. Holy God, who was in her bed? Had she actually taken that guy she’d met on the dating app—Ted—home last night? She’d been intending to get some sex for the first time in years, but in a hotel room—not actually in her own bed. Had she really—?
“Victoria?” the man asked again and she saw that his eyes were midnight-blue. She could tell this because they were glowing faintly in the dim gray illumination which seemed to be coming in through a huge bank of windows on the far wall.
Vicky frowned. Wait, he had glowing eyes? Also, she didn’t have a bunch of windows in her bedroom—especially not giant floor-to-ceiling glass ones. Living in Florida—which was hurricane country—that would have been a really bad idea. It was hard enough to get regular-sized windows boarded and shuttered up when a big one was coming, let alone windows the size of king-sized mattress!
Slowly, realization began to creep in on her as her memory filled in the blanks. This wasn’t her bedroom or her house—it wasn’t even her planet. And the man beside her was definitely not balding, paunchy Ted who had stood her up after a single glance on Valentine’s night.
No, the man in bed beside her wasn’t a man at all—he was a Kindred warrior—a devastatingly handsome, much-too-young-for-her warrior who had given her two mind-blowing orgasms the night before, when they’d been putting on a sex-show to prove what a good sex teacher she was.
God, what in the world had gotten into her?
“Chain?” she asked, finally finding his name. The events of the past twenty-four hours seemed like a dream—too strange and surreal to be believed. In fact, if she’d woken up in her own bed at home, she would have assumed she’d dreamed it all.
But the big Kindred sitting in bed beside her was no dream—he was very real and he had an extremely serious lo
ok on his chiseled features.
“Good, you’re up,” he said, seeing that she was finally awake. “Here—drink this. It’s caffeine brew—I made it at one of the beverage stations which moved near us during the night.”
“Moved…near us?” Vicky took the steaming mug he was holding out to her automatically and looked around. Her eyes were getting used to the dim gray light coming in through the windows now, and she saw that they were appeared to be sitting in a huge silver beanbag-type bed thing. Not too far away was a cluster of kitchen equipment which Chain had evidently used to make the drink he had given her.
“Yes—remember? Professor Torella has all her furniture programmed to move around at night and rearrange itself,” he said. “Luckily we didn’t go too far—just closer to the pool of vexba oil.”
He nodded to the other side of the bed and Vicky saw the pale early-morning light reflected off the placid surface of the purple pool. It looked silver in the dim luminescence.
“Oh, right,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Sorry—everything that happened yesterday is kind of a blur.”
“Not all of it, I hope,” Chain murmured, his eyes going half-lidded in the pale morning light.
“Oh, well…”
Suddenly, more of the night before rushed back to Vicky’s mind. She remembered soaking in the pool and getting completely relaxed—not that she’d needed much relaxation after drinking the incredibly strong liqueur right before giving her lecture on Tex-Mex food. And then, after soaking in the pool, she and Chain had…
Holy God, did we really do that? Did I really let him massage me and go down on me in front of an audience?
A small audience, but an audience nonetheless, she thought.
Chain, who had been studying her face, nodded and a little smile crooked the corner of his mouth.
“I see it’s all coming back to you,” he rumbled.
“I…I guess so.”
Vicky took a sip from the mug to cover her confusion, burning her tongue on the hot, sweet liquid in the process. She barely noticed.
“Look, Chain—” she began, and then didn’t know what to say.
What could she say, anyway, about the things they’d done the night before?
Vicky knew the current modern worldview was that she hadn’t done anything wrong or even out of the ordinary with the big Kindred the night before. She regularly read articles on Medium, her favorite online writing forum, with titles like, “I Watched my Boyfriend take part in an Orgy,” or “My First Threesome—it wasn’t too Awkward!” or “What a Polyamorous Relationship looks like from the Inside.”
But despite the way the world had changed, inside, Vicky was still an old-fashioned girl. She’d been raised in a very strict home and despite her desire for sex, she was still a little shocked at the things she’d done the night before, especially considering she barely knew Chain.
Well, not exactly barely, she thought dryly. They knew each other a whole lot better in some ways now than she’d ever known Kevin, despite being married to him for over twenty years.
But still, the fact remained that she’d only met the big Kindred the day before and then she’d done a whole lot of things—very pleasurable things, true—but things she probably wouldn’t have considered doing if she hadn’t been full of alcohol and waaaay too relaxed after soaking in the liquid-valium pool.
“Yes?” Chain said, frowning.
Vicky realized the big Kindred was looking at her with a waiting expression on his face, as though he was expecting her to finish her sentence. Only she couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Um, nothing.” She shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of the hot liquid, being more careful this time. “Why did you wake me up?”
“I need to talk to you.” His face and voice were serious.
Vicky bit her lip. Uh-oh—he was probably having second thoughts about everything they’d done together too. Doubtless he was planning to try and let her down easy—he was a nice guy, he wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings but clearly she was way too old for him. They’d had a fun time together the night before but in the cold light of day, it was time to face the fact that they were two different people who ought to go their separate ways.
It was surprising how much that idea hurt—the idea of never seeing the big Kindred again after this was all over with. But Vicky told herself not to be silly—that was life. At least she’d had a much more exciting Valentine’s Day than she’d expected. And she’d made memories she would never forget—that was for sure.
“We…we need to talk,” Chain said again and she saw that he was having a hard time finding the words. Well, she decided, she would save him the trouble.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she told him.
“You do?” He looked surprised.
“Sure—you’re going to tell me that last night was fun but you’re not in a good place for a commitment,” Vicky said. “Which is fine—I’m not in a good place either.”
He frowned. “You’re not? Because I have to tell you, Victoria—if we go through with this—if we make love as Professor Torella wants us to, there will be a commitment.”
“Huh?” She frowned at him, not understanding. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about bonding you to me.” He took her hand—the one not holding the steaming mug—and looked into her eyes. “If I make love to you—if we make love together—I’ll bond you to me for life, beautiful Victoria. I won’t be able to help it.”
Her mouth was suddenly dry. The mug sagged in her fist, forgotten, and spilled some pale blue liquid on the silver coverlet.
“I don’t…I don’t understand,” she heard herself say. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. If we make love in order to prove your ‘teaching techniques’ are good enough for Torella to sell us the second half of the T’lix-Kruthe, we’ll be bound together for life. You’ll never be able to leave me—or I, you.”
“Wait, this is…this is just weird.” Vicky pulled her hand out of his. “Am I still dreaming?”
“Of course not.” He frowned. “What would make you think that?”
Maybe because only in a dream would a hot, much-too-young-for-you Kindred warrior tell you that he’s going to bond you to him for life? whispered the voice of Vicky’s inner snark.
Yeah, that must be it.
“It’s just…I don’t think…I don’t see how…” She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts together. “I just don’t see how it could be possible.”
“It’s more than possible—it’s inevitable if we make love,” he said, frowning. “When my kind of Kindred—an M-Switch—makes love with a woman and comes deep inside her, claiming her completely, a permanent soul-bond is formed. This bond can be broken only by death, so it effectively ties the Kindred and his bride together forever.”
Finally Vicky understood exactly what he was trying to tell her. He was letting her know that if they put on a second, even more explicit sex show (and how drunk had she been to agree to that, by the way?) they would be stuck together forever and there would be no getting out of it. She had heard before that the Kindred had a zero percent divorce rate—this soul-bond he was talking about forming must be the reason why.
And of course he doesn’t want to form a permanent bond with you, the snarky voice in her head informed her. You’re much too old for him. He’s trying to be nice about it and let you know so you can offer him a way out. He’s a sweet enough guy not to want to hurt your feelings, so he’s giving you the chance to say “no way—this isn’t happening” so he doesn’t have to say it himself.
Now that she understood what was going on, Vicky found herself on firmer footing. Of course, she felt sad about having to break things off with the big Kindred—really sad actually, which was surprising considering the short time they had known each other. The idea of losing Chain felt as though she was losing a piece of her heart.
But realistically, she had alway
s known their little adventure was just a fling and it would have to end eventually. It was just what they called a “hook-up” these days—what her generation had called a one-night stand. And you don’t spend the rest of your life with the guy you happened to have a one-night stand with. Right?
Right, Vicky told herself firmly. So end it. Don’t embarrass yourself or Chain for wanting more than you already got. You made some amazing memories and had mind-blowing orgasms—don’t be greedy and ask for more.
“Okay,” she said briskly, lifting her chin. “Clearly we can’t do that—I mean, bond permanently. So what’s Plan B?”
For a moment it seemed as though Chain’s face fell.
“So…you don’t feel that we should bond?” he asked, his deep voice hoarse.
“Well, no—of course not.” Vicky’s heart was aching for some reason as she said the words, but she made herself say them anyway.
“It’s because I’m an M-Switch, isn’t it?” He looked away and there was a bitterness in his tone that was impossible to ignore.
“Because of the kind of Kindred you are? Of course not!” Vicky put a hand on his knee. “It’s like I said before—you should be with a girl your own age. I’m too old for you.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said abruptly, looking back at her. “The most beautiful female I’ve ever met, Victoria and to me that beauty is ageless.”
“Well…that’s sweet of you,” she said, uncertain what else she could say.
“I am not being ‘sweet,’ I mean it,” Chain insisted.
God, he was really trying to let her down easy! Vicky appreciated it, but it hurt her heart to think of leaving him and suddenly she just wanted this little play between them to be over.
“Chain,” she said, “How are we going to do this? To, uh, get the other half of the T’lix-Kruthe without, you know, bonding together for life?”
His face went suddenly blank, the bitterness and disappointment she thought she’d seen wiped away in the blink of an eye. In its place was his usual good humor.
Stealing Her Heart Page 17