“What?” He was already shrugging into the shirt but she stopped him with one hand on his arm. Looking closer, she saw the source of the red liquid. Blood—it was welling up from a cut on his side, somewhere under the waistband of his black flight pants.
“What’s that?” she demanded, pointing to his side. “Why didn’t you tell me you were wounded?”
The big warrior looked down as though noticing his wound for the first time. “A scratch. I got into several altercations on my way back to you. That’s the main reason I was late.”
“It’s a lot more than a scratch. Let me see it.” When he started to refuse, Lauren made her voice strict. “I said let me see it.”
“I would prefer that you didn’t,” he said stiffly. But she was already unbuckling his belt and pushing the black pants lower down his muscular abdomen and hips to see the extent of his injuries. Sure enough, there was a long, nasty gash running up from the front of his right hip to the curve of his back. Thankfully, it didn’t look deep but it was still oozing blood and Lauren was afraid it might become infected.
“Wait right here,” she said. “I think I saw some kind of first aid kit thingy in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
She grabbed the mini-suitcase she’d seen earlier—it was filled with what looked like bandages and bottles with alien script written on them—and brought it back to Xairn. He was still standing in the middle of the ship as still as a statue with a frown on his face.
“Okay now,” Lauren said. “You’re going to have to help me with this because I don’t read Kindred.” She looked up at him. “Uh, do you?”
“I am fluent in over two hundred languages and dialects. And yes, the Kindred common tongue is one of them,” he answered.
Lauren let out a low whistle. “Wow! That’s amazing. Is that a Scourge thing?”
He shook his head. “I have an aptitude for languages. To my knowledge, it is not common among my people. Perhaps…I may have inherited the ability from my mother.”
“You’ve never talked about her before,” Lauren said softly. “Were you…very young when she died?”
“I do not know if she is living or dead,” Xairn said stonily. “Only that my father took me from her soon after I was born.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed…”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and then pointed to a green plasti-glass bottle with a strange looking stopper on it. “That is the disinfectant. You should use it first.”
“Of course.” Lauren felt like she’d really put her foot in her mouth, asking about his mother. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about her or her fate—whatever it had been. She fiddled for a moment with the stopper on the bottle—and it came off in her hand. “Oh!” She looked at it in surprise. The stopper was attached to a long wand with a bulbous end. It was dripping with clear, viscous fluid. She looked up at Xairn. “So I guess I just…spread it on with this?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
Lauren shrugged. “Okay.” Carefully, she touched the bulbous end of the wand to the start of the long gash and began to paint the wound with the viscous liquid.
Xairn drew in a hissing breath and all the muscles in his big body clenched at once.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Lauren looked up at him. “Does it sting?”
“It’s not pleasant but I will survive. Please continue—Slk is waiting for us.”
“All right.” Lauren went back to painting the wound but as she went, she blew a soothing stream of cool air to try and ease the sting.
Xairn looked down at her frowning. “What are you doing?”
“Just trying to make it feel better.” Lauren looked up at him sheepishly. “Uh, my mom used to do it for me. She’d always blow on my cuts before she put the band aid on.” She shrugged. “It made it hurt less. Do you want me to stop?”
A strange look came over his face and his voice was a little less remote when he answered. “No, that’s all right. You can continue if you want.”
“Good.” Lauren smiled at him and went back to the business at hand. When she had the entire cut painted with disinfectant, she put the stopper back in the green bottle and rummaged around in the little suitcase for what looked like a roll of gauze. But as she was about to unroll it, Xairn held out a hand.
“Give it to me.”
Lauren frowned. “You can’t put it on yourself. This cut goes halfway up your back.”
“I won’t try to but I need to activate the qui.”
“The what?” Lauren frowned at the roll of gauze in her hand.
“The qui. It means the Goddess of Mercy bandage.”
“Does it have some kind of microchip in it or something?”
“Hardly. Like most Kindred inventions, it’s actually a living organism. But it must be activated in order to work.” He held out his hand again and raised an eyebrow at her.
Giving in to his unspoken request, Lauren handed him the roll.
Xairn raised it to his mouth and whispered something in a foreign language. Then he pressed the roll to his forehead, both cheeks, and lips before handing it back to Lauren. “There. It should work now.”
“What did you say to it?” Lauren asked, beginning to unroll the gauzy substance. No, not substance—animal, I guess. How weird.
“The exact wording is ‘Drink of my blood and be nourished. My body is thine to heal as thou will. A gift for a gift. A life for a life.”
“My body is thine,” Lauren murmured. “Hmm. I think I like that.” She had the right length of bandage that she wanted now but she wasn’t sure if it was permissible to cut it to fit. Maybe she should just wrap it around and around Xairn’s waist until it— The thought died in her mind to be replaced by wonder. As she watched, the qui shortened itself to the exact length she wanted. It broadened a little as well, becoming a little wider than the palm of her hand. “Well.” She stared at it a minute then shrugged and began to press it gently to Xairn’s side.
She wasn’t sure how it would stay on—was there some kind of glue or tape she could use? But the qui adhered to his muscular side at once and stuck nicely without any help.
Lauren was impressed. “That’s good. That’s really good,” she murmured, stroking her hand over his side to make sure the living bandage was smooth and evenly applied. “I wish the Kindred would share this with Earth.”
“Actually it’s old technology. They have much more sophisticated healing methods now.” Xairn’s deep voice sounded strained. Lauren noticed that his big hands were curled into fists at his sides and he was positively trembling as she touched him. She frowned. Am I hurting him? “Are you okay?” she asked aloud.
“Fine.” He gazed down at her, his eyes blazing. The look on his face was so intense she drew back a little.
“Xairn?” she asked, trying to keep the unease out of her voice and not quite managing.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the fire in their red-on-black depths seemed to have died down a little. “Forgive me but Slk is waiting. Thank you for tending to my wound but now we really must go.”
“All right.” Lauren got to her feet and rubbed her aching knees. “That floor is hard. Let me just put the first aid kit back and we can go.”
* * * * *
Xairn refastened his flight pants as he watched her go, her curves still visible—at least to him—even through the voluminous silvery-blue garment he’d bought for her. It was much too large but he had wanted it that way. He didn’t want to be tempted by her, by the sight of her lovely body. But she might as well not be wearing anything at all as far as he was concerned. He kept remembering how she looked completely nude.
Don’t think about it, he told himself fiercely. But he couldn’t help it.
Just before they had left the Fathership and taken off for the Scourge home world, Lauren had dropped the cloak he had given her and offered herself to him. When he closed his eyes he could still see the curve of her hips, her full breasts tipped wi
th tight, berry-brown nipples. And most enticing of all, the tender lips of her sex, half hidden by the neatly trimmed mound of black curls. Gods, she was beautiful. So beautiful it made him ache.
Of course, Xairn was under no illusion that she actually wanted him—she didn’t. She’d only done it because she preferred his touch to the AllFather’s—as any female in her right mind would. His father held horror and madness in his boney, scabrous hands.
And what do I hold in my hands? Xairn asked himself as she disappeared briefly into the bathroom. For Lauren or any female? There was no gentleness in him. No tender caresses—of that he was sure.
It had been all he could do to control himself when she was touching him so gently, healing his wound. Her face had been right on the level of his throbbing secondary shaft and her soft hands on his body had been maddening. His head had been filled with forbidden thoughts—images impossible to block out.
He could almost see her delicate hands wandering just a little to the right and reaching into his unfastened pants. Her fingers would feel cool and soothing, caressing his secondary shaft. And then she would slip her hand around him and touch his primary shaft, his bonding shaft and he would…But Xairn didn’t want to think about what he wanted to do.
I am filled with desires I don’t want, he thought in despair. Why could they not have remained dormant? What is it about Lauren that brings my body to life in this way?
He didn’t have any answers.
Just then Lauren came back. “Xairn,” she said in that soft, sweet voice he loved to listen to. “I just want to say again how sorry I am.”
He frowned. “Why are you apologizing?”
“You got hurt because of me.” She reached out, her fingertips lightly grazing his wounded side in a way that made Xairn quiver. “You were out fighting those horrible splicers to make it possible for me to get home and I didn’t even trust you enough to wait. I went outside the ship even though you told me not to, and gave you a whole new problem to deal with as soon as you got back. I’m so sorry for that.”
The pleading look in her lovely amber eyes seemed to do something to his heart. It was strange but Xairn felt almost as though he was melting inside somehow. And yet, it was not an unpleasant sensation. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, trying to make his rough voice gentle. “I’m just glad things worked out as they did. I…I would rather die that see you sold as a splice whore.” Just the thought of her being passed around from male to male, taken against her will…It gave Xairn a cold, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, as though he’d swallowed a fist-sized lump of ice. I would kill them. Kill any that touched her! She’s mine…mine!
“Hey…” She laid a hand on his arm, shaking him out of the strange, possessive thoughts. Her gentle touch was like fire against his skin but Xairn didn’t ask her to stop.
“It was good that I came when I did and that you used the cubes with the grieza worms to trade with.” he said in a low, choked voice. “You were supremely lucky.”
“Or maybe my guardian angel was looking out for me.” She smiled at him and though Xairn had no idea what a ‘guardian angel’ was, he found himself smiling back—a little, anyway.
“Come,” he murmured. “We really need to go.”
“Okay.” Her fingers slid down his arm and then she nestled her small, soft hand in his large, rough one. She looked up at him. “Is this all right?”
Xairn frowned. “I don’t know. What are you doing?”
“Holding your hand, silly.” Smiling, she interlaced their fingers and gave his palm a little squeeze. “If you don’t mind, I mean.”
It was a bad idea and Xairn knew it. Even such a light, innocent touch sent his senses into overload. But somehow he couldn’t ask her to stop. “No,” he said at last, his voice sounding hoarse. “I…I suppose it’s all right.”
“Good.” Lauren squeezed his hand again. “Because I feel safer this way.”
“You do?” He couldn’t imagine why physical contact with him would alter her feeling of safety or danger but perhaps it was an Earth thing. Or maybe just a female thing—it was hard to say since Xairn had never really known many females in his life.
Lauren nodded. “I do. Now let’s go get our DNA altered.”
Chapter Ten
“She doesn’t seem to be in any danger. Not now at least.” Kat opened her eyes as she spoke and took a deep breath, trying to recover from the intense joining. She was still intimately connected with both her men and though the sensation of being penetrated both in front and in back was still pleasurable, it was no longer so intense as to be overwhelming.
“It sounds like she was though—and Xairn rescued her just in time.” Lock sounded thoughtful.
“I’d give a great deal to know the exact details of what happened.” Deep frowned. “But I suppose the important thing is that he’s looking out for her—protecting her as a proper male should his female.”
“You really think he loves her?” Kat asked, shifting a little. The resulting sensations made all three of them moan. “Sorry…” she managed.
“That’s all right.” Deep stroked her cheek. “And of course he loves her.”
“Did you not see the way he trembled when she treated his wound?” Lock asked softly. “He loves her, my lady. But he doesn’t know how to express that love.”
Deep snorted. “Show me a Scourge who knows how to love and I’ll pay good credit for the sight. They aren’t able to show love because it’s not in their genetics. They’re hardwired for pain and domination—not tender caresses.”
“Maybe Xairn is different,” Kat said, really hoping it was true. “Maybe he’ll be able to show her how he feels in an appropriate manner.”
“Being realistic, my lady, that probably won’t happen,” Lock said.
“Lock is right, unfortunately,” Deep agreed. “He’s more likely to want to tie her to the bed and ravage her than prepare her favorite meals and bring her flowering vegetation.”
Kat frowned. “I hope you’re wrong about that. Because I can tell that Lauren cares about him too. I don’t know if she knows it yet, but it’s easy to see. The way she looks at him—the way she touches him.”
Deep shook his head. “She’d better be careful there. It’s the touching that’s likely to drive him over the edge.”
Kat was troubled. “So you’re saying…”
“The more she touches him, the more he wants her and the harder he has to fight against his natural impulses,” Deep finished for her.
“Don’t despair, my lady.” Lock kissed the side of her neck gently in a way that sent a shiver down Kat’s spine. “He cares for her—that much we can see. I would venture to say that Xairn will do his utmost to hold back his Scourge nature in order to keep from hurting Lauren. Wouldn’t you, Brother?”
“I would.” Deep kissed her cheek. “In the mean time, we know she’s safe. So why don’t we turn our attentions to more pressing matters?” He pulled halfway out of Kat’s pussy and pumped slowly back in, as though to illustrate his point.
Kat groaned. “God, you’re insatiable.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Do you want me to stop?”
She shook her head. “No…no, I think I could be up for round two. And I can tell both of you are.”
“Indeed we are, my lady,” Lock murmured in her ear. “And this time there is no fear to get in the way. We can all fully enjoy the experience.” He followed his brother’s lead, pulling halfway out and thrusting slowly back into Kat’s rosebud.
She moaned and threw her head back, letting it rest on Lock’s shoulder. “You’re right—I’m not a bit afraid. Except maybe that you two will wear me completely out.”
“I doubt that,” Deep growled. “But it will certainly be fun trying.”
Kat moaned again and gave herself up to pleasure. It was going to be a long, long night and she didn’t mind one bit.
Chapter Eleven
They walked down a long stone corridor with massive stalls
on either side—some empty and others occupied by alien ships. Not many of them looked as normal as their little silver Kindred ship, but Lauren didn’t get a chance to admire or inspect them. Xairn set a fast pace, pulling her relentlessly onward. The rough purple-brown stone pavement hurt her bare feet and made her wish she had taken a chance and worn the blue and crimson slippers she’d gotten from Blix after all.
Xairn said nothing until they reached what looked like a blank stone wall. “Here,” he murmured. Then, pressing his palm to the wall’s surface, he muttered a string of harsh, alien syllables.
Lauren watched, her eyes wide, as a crack appeared in the stone wall. It widened until there was enough room for both of them to walk through into the dimly lighted area beyond.
“Come,” Xairn said tersely, pulling her through. “Stay close to me at all times. Even though we’re within a reputable house, this is still splicer territory.”
“No problem.” With a shiver, Lauren pressed closer to him, wrapping her other arm around his and pressing her cheek to his shoulder. “Is…is this Slk person a thought thief too, like Blix was?” she asked in a low voice.
Xairn shook his head. “No, but he is a very skilled negotiator. Just let me make the deal and we should be fine.”
Lauren thought he sounded worried but she didn’t like to ask why—he obviously had enough on his mind already. They walked quickly through another, shorter and smaller corridor and came out into a well lighted living area that looked like a mansion.
The floors were of the same purple-brown stone of the parking area but they were smooth and level. Large carpets of bright orange, red, and blue grass were placed at intervals like stepping stones down the hallway they now found themselves in. There were strange works of art on the walls—some of which appeared to be alive—but again Lauren didn’t get a chance to examine them. She only got a few brief impressions.
One which caught her eye looked like an ant farm but all the insects had human-looking heads and were wearing clothes. Another frame appeared to contain fireflies with colored neon lights. They formed a picture of Lauren’s face as Xairn rushed her past. Her eyes, depicted in the fireflies’ brilliant yellow glow, followed them down the hallway.
Brides of the Kindred Volume One Page 135