Brides of the Kindred Volume One

by Evangeline Anderson

  Lauren opened for him at once, moaning softly as Xairn stroked her tongue with his own. God, he tasted incredible! It wasn’t just the strawberry—his mouth tasted of some hot, exotic spice she couldn’t name. Something intoxicating and immediately addicting at the same time. She gripped his shirt, wishing she could tear it off. She wanted to feel his skin under her fingers, wanted to be naked with him…But then, suddenly, Xairn was ending the kiss, pushing her gently but firmly away.

  “I’m sorry, Lauren.” He shook his head as though to clear it. “I…shouldn’t have done that. I’ll go now.”

  “No!” she exclaimed, but he was already turning away. “Wait,” Lauren implored him. He paused for a moment, turning his head to see her.

  “What?”

  “This.” Taking a deep breath, she unbuttoned her blouse and reached for the snap in her front-hook bra.

  “Lauren…” Xairn’s deep voice sounded strained but she ignored him.

  “Here.” Pealing back the pink lacy cups, she bared her breasts to him. Then, reaching behind her, she dipped into the bowl of sticky-sweet puree. Biting back a gasp as the cool liquid hit her hot skin, she painted it liberally over one tight nipple. “I think you’ll find it tastes even better this way,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Come back and take another taste.”

  “Lauren,” he whispered again and there was a warning in his voice she deliberately ignored.

  “It’s all right, baby,” she assured him, painting the other nipple with the cool, sticky puree as well. “You’ve done this before, remember?”

  “As if I could forget,” he growled. And then he was on her, gathering her into his arms and sucking her right nipple deeply into his mouth.

  Lauren gave a breathless moan as he worked on her, lapping and sucking, taking as much of her breast between his lips as he could at one time. She was dying, exploding, drowning in lust, overwhelmed by the need that had been growing between them for so long.

  Xairn switched to her other nipple and she buried her fingers in his thick black hair and urged him on, thrusting her breasts up and out, offering herself to him, letting him know that she wanted everything he was giving and more. She vaguely remembered that he hadn’t wanted her to move this way the first time he’d touched her sexually but she no longer cared. She couldn’t be still as a statue when he was sucking and licking her breasts so fiercely. Couldn’t keep herself from moaning and pressing against him when he was finally giving her what she so desperately wanted. Couldn’t—

  “No!” Xairn pulled away, breaking her train of thought with his hoarse gasp. “I can’t.” He was almost panting, his big hands curled into fists at his sides. “Cant’ do this. It will lead to more, to other things.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping.” Lauren was filled with a mixture of lust, love, and frustration. Her nipples throbbed, swollen and sensitive from his delicious, wild sucking and her pussy was so hot she felt like she was on fire from the waist down. God, she needed him! And she wasn’t about to let him get away. She tugged at Xairn’s hair, trying to pull him close again. “Come on, baby, it’s going to be okay,” she coaxed.

  But Xairn shook his head and started backing away. “We should stop now, before things go too far. Before I hurt you.”

  “You won’t hurt me,” Lauren insisted. “In fact,” she added, with a sudden burst of inspiration, “You can help me.”

  “What do you mean?” He frowned at her warily.

  “I mean I’m dying over here, Xairn. Not literally,” she added hastily when his eyes widened with concern. “But sexually, you’re killing me. Just look…” Biting her lip, she unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down her thighs. It was against her nature to be an exhibitionist but in this case, she didn’t think she had a choice if she wanted to keep him here with her. “Look how hot and wet you’re making me.” She gestured to her pink silk panties which were nearly soaked through with her cunt honey. The outline of her pussy lips was clearly visibly through the thin fabric, swollen with need and desire.

  “Lauren…” Xairn’s voice was rough and his eyes had begun to flicker, changing from ocean blue to red-on-black but at least he was still here—for now.

  “Just look.” Heart pounding, Lauren slipped her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and pushed them down, baring her pussy completely. God, she felt like some kind of a porn star, coming on to him this way, but if this was what it took to keep him with her she was willing to do it, willing to do anything.

  “I’m looking.” Xairn’s red-on-black eyes roamed over her body hungrily. “But I shouldn’t. And I don’t see how I can help you.”

  “You can stay with me. Touch me,” Lauren gave him pleading look. “I need you Xairn.”

  A low groan was torn from his lips. “Lauren, please, you don’t understand what you’re doing to me. What kind of events you might put into action…”

  “Oh, yes I do—I might get you to finally touch me!” Reaching into the bowl of puree one more time, she got a dripping finger full of the sticky-sweet mixture. Then, her hand trembling, she parted her pussy lips and stroked the inside of her sex, coating her inner folds with the strawberry puree. “You made this mess,” she said, popping her finger into her mouth and sucking the rest of the strawberry off. “Come clean it up.”

  “Lauren, don’t do this!” The warning was clear in his voice but he was already kneeling on the floor before her and stripping her jeans and panties the rest of the way off.

  “I’m not doing anything but giving you what we both want,” she told him breathlessly. “What we both need.”

  “What I need is to get away before things go too far.” He seemed frozen on his knees before her, his big hands cupping her hips. It was clear he was fighting the urge to take her, fighting against himself and his natural instincts.

  For just a moment Lauren paused. Should she really be doing this? Should she really be pushing him this far? But she told herself firmly she was through being afraid of his Scourge side. How bad could it be when he looked so human? When he held her so sweetly as he had earlier when he was comforting her? Go with the flow, she reminded herself again. Let it happen. No, make it happen.

  Slowly she parted her thighs, giving him a good look at her hot, inner pussy still coated with the sticky puree. “Come on, baby, clean me up,” she murmured.

  His answer was a low, wordless growl of pure lust and then he was thrusting her thighs apart, spreading her wide to get at her. Lauren moaned and buried her hands in his hair as he parted her swollen pussy lips with one sweep of his tongue, cleaning away the strawberry coating and then licking deeper, as though trying to get past the sweetness to her own hot feminine flavor.

  Xairn’s broad shoulders split her wide but it was clear she still wasn’t open enough for him. Reaching down, he grabbed one of her legs and hooked it over his shoulder, spreading her even farther in his quest to taste her thoroughly, to own her completely.

  Lauren gasped as he pressed against her, lashing her sensitive clit with his tongue one minute and thrusting it into her tight opening the next. The steel kitchen island she was leaning against was cold on her bare ass but she didn’t care—couldn’t care about anything but what he was doing to her.

  She’d never had a man go down on her like this before, with this level of intensity and need. It was as though Xairn was dying of thirst and she was the only source of water for a hundred miles. He lapped and sucked, working her hard, rasping his tongue over her sensitive clit and giving her exactly what she needed. In fact, it was almost frightening the way he tasted her, the single minded ferocity he showed in laving her sensitive folds. But she pushed away her sense of unease and gripped his hair tighter, bucking her hips in time to his rhythm, giving herself completely to his silent demands.

  “Yes! Oh God, yes, Xairn. Yes,” she heard herself chanting. She was close…so damn close. “God, please, more! More.”

  “I’ll give you more.” His voice was a low, menacing growl. Suddenly
she was flipped over and held down, her bare breasts pressed against the hard top of the kitchen island.

  She gasped in surprise and scrabbled at the cold steel, uncertain of what was going on. The bowl of homemade butter cream frosting went spinning off the island to crash on the tile floor.

  “Down,” Xairn growled when she tried to lift her head and look back at him. A large, cruel hand was suddenly pinning the back of her neck, making it impossible to move.

  “Xairn,” she whispered fearfully but he wouldn’t let her go.

  “You don’t understand.” He was on her now, as heavy as a mattress, his big, muscular body covering hers as he pressed her painfully into the unyielding stainless steel. “You think what I want, what I need is your love. Your devotion and caring. But that isn’t enough. Not for a Scourge.”

  “What…what is it you need, then?” Lauren could hear the fear in her own voice and she tried to control it but she couldn’t—not quite. This was all happening so fast, changing from an incredibly charged erotic moment to a scene out of a nightmare at the speed of light.

  “Your submission,” Xairn growled in her ear. “Your complete and unconditional submission. Spread your legs for me—now.”

  When she was slow to comply, he kicked her ankles apart, forcing her thighs open, putting her pussy on display.

  “Xairn, please!” Lauren struggled but it was like struggling against stone—he wouldn’t let her up, wouldn’t let her budge so much as an inch.

  “Beautiful.” He ran one hot, heavy hand down the groove of her spine and then cupped her buttocks. Suddenly he gave her a stinging slap.

  Lauren gasped and bucked against his hand. “Xairn!”

  “So fucking beautiful,” he repeated. “Now spread your legs wider and arch your back. Let me get a good look at that sweet little cunt. Do it now unless want more punishment.”

  Panic had begun to build inside her but now, somehow, it was overtaken by a different emotion. Lauren didn’t know why but that low, purring voice and the hot, possessive way he touched her was doing something strange to her insides. It was as though he owned her—as though he could do anything to her and she was helpless to stop him. A moment ago she’d been fearful. Now…now she didn’t know. She only knew that her nipples had grown hard again and her pussy felt wet and hot and open. He was holding her down, touching her—owning her. And why did that make her feel so strange inside? So hot? Slowly she did as he commanded, arching her back and spreading her legs, opening herself even wider for his inspection.

  “Good, very good.” His voice was a low growl of approval. “Gods, you look hot from behind. I love the way your sweet little cunt opens for me this way.”

  “Xairn,” she whispered as his big hand traveled down to cup her open pussy. “What…what are you doing?”

  “Taking what’s mine.” He was behind her, on top of her again, his breath hot in her ear. Suddenly two thick fingers pierced her folds. Lauren gave a startled cry as he thrust deeply into her, filling her slippery channel. “I’m going to fuck you, Lauren,” he growled, pumping roughly into her, making her moan and writhe helplessly against his invading fingers. “Going to fill you with my cock right here and fuck you long and hard. Isn’t that what you want? What you need?”

  “Yes but please…I…I…” She didn’t know what to say. How to explain the conflicting emotions that were filling her. On one hand she was both frightened and outraged—how dare he do this to her? Treat her this way? But another part of her, a newly awakened part, was deeply and undeniably turned on at the feeling of being helpless beneath his big body. “Xairn,” she panted, writhing against his thick fingers. “Please, I don’t know what to say.”

  “You’re not required to speak.” She heard a low purring sound and knew that his zipper was coming down. Then something hot and hard and menacingly huge was brushing over her inner folds. Lauren cried out when she felt the blunt tip of his cock slide over her sensitive clit.

  “Wait!” she gasped but Xairn had already found her entrance and was beginning to press inside her.

  “I’ve waited long enough to fuck your hot little cunt,” he growled, pressing deeper. “Not gonna wait any longer. Hold still.”

  Lauren writhed under him, moaning breathlessly as she felt the broad head of his cock breach her channel, stretching her to the limit. God, he was really going to do it, was really going to hold her down and fuck her, whether she wanted him to or not! Her body was responding to his rough treatment but she couldn’t help feeling shocked and appalled that he wouldn’t stop or even pause when she asked him to. What was wrong with him? Where was the sweet, caring man she’d come to love and who was this animal that had taken his place? This beast rutting on top of her wasn’t the real Xairn—it couldn’t be!

  “Yes, it is.” Suddenly he stopped, with his shaft only halfway inside her. “This animal—this beast is me, Lauren. The real me.” The cruel hand released her and suddenly he pulled out, leaving her feeling empty inside.

  “What?” Lauren turned to face him but he was already tucking himself away and fastening his jeans. When he looked up from his task, his face was a mask of misery.

  “I tried to tell you. Tried to warn you.” He pressed a hand to his eyes briefly and spoke in a low, choked voice. “I am Scourge, Lauren. It doesn’t matter how human I look, I’ll never be anything else. And I’ll never be able to love you without hurting you.”

  “Xairn honey, wait,” she protested but he was already gone, rushing out of the shop before she could say another word.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The AllFather let out a hissing curse and pounded his clenched fist on the arm of his throne. So close! Xairn had been so close to taking the little human female. He’d been scanning the emotional vibrations coming from the area that she called home—the place he was certain Xairn had taken her—and he had felt it clearly. The build-up of rage and lust, the desire to possess which was the hallmark of a Scourge male coming into his own. If only Xairn had followed though his mind would be open now, able to receive the AllFather’s messages. The images he wanted to send.

  “But he cannot ssstop himself forever.” The AllFather spoke aloud. Standing, he swept back the hood of his shadowy cloak to reveal his burning eyes and the grinning skull of his face. “He mussst take her sssoon. And when he doesss, I ssshall be ready.”

  He already had the trap prepared—the bait he planned to use would bring Xairn running back to him without delay. As soon as he took the little human fully, his mind would be vulnerable to attack and the AllFather would not hesitate to press his advantage.

  In the mean time, he might as well cast a little more doubt and satiate his hunger at the same time.

  “Alpha,” he called to the huge guard at his right. “Prepare the beam. It isss time to harvessst another.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Xairn wandered the streets for hours, hating himself. Gods, what was wrong with him? Why couldn’t he love Lauren normally, treat her gently the way she deserved? Why was it that he turned into a monster the moment his sexual urges overtook him?

  Because you’re Scourge. And you’re never going to be anything else, anything better. You’re never going to be the male she deserves, whispered the voice of self-hatred in his head. It was true and he knew it.

  I should leave, he thought for the hundredth time. Leave her while I still can. Tonight was too close, I almost lost control.

  Only the human DNA grafted to his own had saved him—it had allowed him to stop before it was too late. That and Lauren’s thoughts. Xairn knew they had no mental link, knew he shouldn’t have been able to hear what she was thinking. But it had happened again, just as it had the first time they were intimate. Her thoughts came to him clearly, almost as though she was speaking them aloud. And what she had been thinking nearly broke his heart.

  She couldn’t believe that I would take her that way. That I would hurt her. She saw me as an animal—as a beast. But even as I was about to force
myself inside her she still wanted to believe that I was good, that I wouldn’t do such a thing.

  Xairn stopped for a moment, leaning his head against the side of a brick building. What was happening to him? Why was he able to hear Lauren’s thoughts? And why had he been able to command the stupid male who had been her assistant with his words? Only one other being that he knew of could do such things—the AllFather.

  No, I am not like him! I refuse to become like him! But if the way he had treated Lauren was any indication, it was already too late—he was becoming like his father. More like him every day. His Scourge impulses were growing stronger—the human DNA he’d gotten from Lauren was holding him back but just barely. And its influence over him couldn’t last forever. Which was all the more reason to get away from Lauren before it was too late.

  Xairn shook his head. What had happened today had been too close—he’d almost gone too far. It was time to admit that this was a mistake, that his attempt to love her and have a relationship with her was futile. It was time to ask for the O-ring back, get into the little Kindred ship and leave, never to return.

  Just the thought of that, of never seeing her again, made him feel like a cruel fist was squeezing his heart. But if there was no other way to stop himself from hurting her—from forcing her—then it was what he had to do.

  “I have to talk to her,” he whispered and his voice sounded low and broken in his own ears. “Tell her I love her but I can’t…can’t stay. Gods…” There was nothing he would rather do less and therefore he needed to get it over with before he lost his nerve.

  Sighing, Xairn lifted his head and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. Then he dropped his hands and looked around. Where was he? He had been walking for hours and the streets had grown dark. There were occasional lamps high above to light the way but he was still on unfamiliar territory. Or was he?