Well, not quite the same feelings as grandma’s quilt, whispered a little voice in her head. Being wrapped in the special quilt didn’t make your heart pound or your head feel light. Which were definite sensations she was feeling now, wrapped in Calden’s strong arms. But though her stomach felt fluttery, like a million butterflies had just taken off in it, she didn’t want to stop hugging him.
Maybe it was his scent—so warm and spicy and masculine. It wasn’t like any aftershave or cologne she had ever smelled—it was more like someone had taken the natural, warm scent of his skin and magnified it somehow. However it had happened, the fact was the big Kindred smelled freaking amazing—so good Maddy had to fight the urge to turn her head and press her mouth to his throat for a surreptitious kiss.
“Thank you, Calden,” she said instead. “You’re very kind to comfort me this way.”
He drew back a little and looked down at her.
“Of course, Madeline. Any time you need a hug, please let me know. I haven’t had much experience with the matter but I understand that physical contact helps mitigate the feelings of grief after a loss.” He looked down, suddenly shy. “And…I like holding you.”
“I like it too,” Maddy admitted softly. God, should she really be getting so close to the big Kindred when her husband had just died? A sudden surge of guilt made her pull away. Calden took the hint and stood again, though he didn’t move very far away.
“I’m glad you were the one who found me instead of one of those Mentats,” Maddy said, trying to get over the momentary awkwardness from the intimacy they had shared. She shivered. “Ugh—I can only imagine what they would have done with me.”
“The recovery droids found you,” Calden remarked. “But you are welcome. Now let’s see if we can make these gloves work.”
It took some maneuvering and a bit of spilled slime but eventually Maddy’s hands were incased in the nutrient-bath-filled gloves and they were sealed firmly but not painfully around her wrists so that the slime couldn’t escape or leak out.
“Perfect,” Calden said approvingly. “Look at you—all ready to go anywhere.”
Maddy looked down at her hands in the cartoonishly oversized gloves and burst into laughter.
“Anywhere like Disney World, you mean. All I need is a Mickey Mouse outfit to wear and I’d be ready to go outand greet the kids,” she remarked.
“Go out to where?” Calden asked, frowning.
“Disney World. It was an amusement park back on Earth. We lived in Florida—where it was located—and my parents used to take us there when we were kids because Florida residents get a discount.”
She sighed, thinking about meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse when she was a little girl and how excited she’d been to have tea with the Disney princesses in Cinderella’s castle. That was probably all gone now, erased by the heavy hand of the Scourge.
“I perceive that something has made you feel sad.” Calden was watching her with an anxious look on his face. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Would you like another hug?”
In fact another hug sounded good—too good, Maddy thought to herself. Too tempting.
“Just get me a bath.” She looked down at the gloves. “Um, will I be able to wear these in the, uh, enzyme baths?”
“I believe so—they are waterproof inside and out. Though to be on the safe side, you should probably hold them above the surface of the enzyme liquid when we enter.” He looked at a timepiece which hung on the wall of his room. “I believe if we just wait another half of a standard hour the baths will be mostly cleared. Do you mind if I do some work?”
“Oh, of course not.” Maddy gestured with one heavy, oversized glove which sloshed a little when she moved it. “Please, don’t let me stop you from getting your job done. I’ll just wander around and look at all your cool alien stuff, if you don’t mind.”
Calden smiled. “Help yourself. Although I don’t know how interesting the contents of my domicile will be to you.”
“Anything new is interesting,” Maddy assured him. “What was it you said to me? All knowledge is valuable.”
His face grew grave. “That is the motto of the station. I used to believe it whole-heartedly. Now…I wonder if the cost of the knowledge gained must be balanced against its value.”
Maddy wasn’t sure what to say to that. Instead of answering him, she got up from the table and moved around the room, which wasn’t actually that big for someone Calden’s size, though it seemed vast to her—mostly because all the furniture was built on a bigger scale than she was used to.
The room was mostly square with the immense bed in one corner and the simulator where he’d made her gloves and the shirt-dress she was still wearing in another. A third corner held a small kitchen nook with a cabinet, a cold-storage unit, the small, two-person table, and the microwave-looking appliance which Calden had used to make their breakfast. The last corner was set up as a work station with a kind of holographic computer screen hovering over a complicated-looking keyboard. Sitting beside it was a small, stunted plant with drooping, slivery-green leaves.
Maddy didn’t exactly have a green thumb, but she did have an interest in growing things. Her father had kept a full garden for years and had taught her a lot about growing some of his favorite fruits and vegetables—mainly tomatoes and watermelon.
“Oh, Calden, what’s wrong with your plant?” she asked, moving over to get a closer look at it. “Poor little thing looks like it needs some water—look how droopy it is.” She got closer and took a deep sniff, noticing that the plant exuded a faint but sweet fragrance.“Mmm, smells good, though,” she added. “Does it bear flowers or fruit?”
“It’s supposed to but mine doesn’t. It’s…a plant native to my home world,” Calden said, sounding hesitant. “I’ve tried to give it everything it’s supposed to have for nourishment but it simply won’t thrive.”
“Aww—poor little thing.” Since she couldn’t touch the silvery-green leaves with her hands, Maddy nuzzled her cheek against them instead.
To her surprise, the little plant quivered, almost as though it was alive and reacting to her touch. The leaves rustled and the sweet fragrance seemed to intensify.
“Oh!” She looked up at Calden. “Did you see that? It almost seemed to respond to me! Is that normal?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve certainly never observed it doing that before but this is the first plant of its kind I’ve ever seen. I only took the seed out of convention when I left the Kindred Mother Ship because it was required. And I only planted it because of nostalgia—it reminds me there are others of my kind out in the universe somewhere, living their lives as I live mine.”
“Well…” Maddy took a long look at the little plant. “I was going to say it needs some water but it seems like it’s perked up now.”
Indeed, the drooping branches had straightened and some of the leaves, which she could have sworn were brown and curling, were now the same silvery-green as the rest of the plant. The smell was definitely stronger too. She pressed her face into the cool, ticklish leaves and inhaled again.
So good! The scent was indescribable—sweet and tangy and somehow seductive at the same time. It made Maddy feel almost dizzy and gave her a strange tingling at the tips of her breasts and the spot between her legs.
But for some reason, seeing her so close to the plant seemed to worry Calden.
“I think the enzyme baths should be clear by now,” he said, standing with a frown. “Come, Madeline—let’s go.”
“Well…all right.” She left the little plant reluctantly, (it really was looking about a hundred percent better than when she’d first seen it,) and followed him through the sliding metal door panel and out into the vast, curving hallway. But she promised herself she’d check on the plant again—it seemed to like her.
Which was a crazy thing to think about a plant, but why not? Clearly it was an alien life form—maybe it was a plant with the instincts of an animal or
something like that. And animals had always liked and trustedMaddy—it was one reason she’d become a vet.
But for now, she concentrated on following Calden and trying to learn more about the layout of the Mentat station. She didn’t want to get lost if she ever ventured out on her own. Not that she probably should, considering how hostile the Mentats were to women, but still—it was good to know.
All knowledge is worth having, she thought as she trotted to keep up with Calden’s long strides. She just hoped the only knowledge she gained in the enzyme baths was how to get clean without dissolving.
* * * * *
Why had the bonding fruit plant reacted like that to Madeline’s touch?
Calden frowned at the memory as he strode down the curving corridor, passing various Mentat labs and facilities on either side as he went. The little plant had been droopy and morose-looking from the moment it had sprouted. Several times he had thought it might be on the edge of death, though he had tried everything from varying the moisture he gave it to adding different minerals and plant foods to its soil as well as giving it a sun-lamp for needed radiation.
But nothing had affected it or helped it in any way until Madeline had touched it, pressing her sweet face between its silver-green leaves, so much like the color of her eyes. Calden had been watching as she did and the immediate effect on the plant had been extremely surprising.
It had straightened up and seemed to shake itself—its brown and withered leaves plumping out and unfurling. It had also started emitting a sweet, temping fragrance that Calden had never noticed before. He would have sworn it was nearly dead but it was almost as though Madeline’s presence—her touch—had brought it back to life. And not just life—health. When they had left his domicile, the bonding fruit plant had been the picture of vitality. Why?
The plant isn’t the only one who reacts to her touch, whispered a little voice in his head. What about how hard your shaft got when you hugged her?
But that had just been a normal, biological response to the closeness of an attractive female, Calden told himself uneasily. It wasn’t as though he had planned it—his body had simply reacted to hers.
But your body shouldn’t react to hers—just as hers shouldn’t react to yours in turn, the little voice pointed out. Yet you know it did. You heard the increase in her heart rhythm, smelled the sweet feminine scent of her desire. The two of you aren’t sexually compatible and yet you’re acting as if you are. What’s wrong with you?
It was a troubling question and his scientist’s mind wanted an answer but they had no time for it now. Before he could even begin to conjecture, they came to the door of the enzyme baths.
“Come,” he said to Madeline, waving a hand over the sensor. The door’s light turned from red to green and the metal panel slid to one side, letting out a puff of fragrant steam.
He would worry about the bonding fruit plant…and the other questions that troubled him…later.
Chapter Eight
The door to the enzyme baths led into a kind of changing room, Maddy saw, as she followed the big Kindred through the doorway. It had plain, deep green walls with no adornment but rows of hooks which were mostly empty, although she did see a single white lab coat hanging limply from one of them.
It was about ten to fifteen degrees warmer in here than it was out in the hallway and puffs of steam floated through the air periodically, presumably from the other room. They smelled good—very clean in a way that reminded her of laundry deRarenent.
“Here we are—this is the antechamber before the steam room,” Calden told her. “We must steam first to let the impurities exit our pores and then get into the enzyme baths to remove them.” Then he began matter-of-factly removing his clothes.
“Oh—do we have to be, uh, naked in here?” Maddy asked, watching as he hung his own lab coat on a hook and pulled off his sleeveless black undershirt, revealing his broad, muscular chest.
“Well, yes.” He gave her a quizzical look. “Do your people take baths with their clothing on?”
“No…” Maddy bit her lip. She should have expected this when he’d told her the baths were communal, she supposed. But somehow she’d had the image of the pool at her gym back home in her mind and had been picturing herself in a bathing suit. But of course, there was no suit to wear. “Could…could I just keep my dress on?” she asked hopefully.
Calden frowned. “You can in the steam room but once you are in the baths, the enzymes will eat it off of you.”
“Oh.” Maddy felt stupid for asking, though he hadn’t been unkind—just honest. “I just thought…I mean…I know you saw me naked yesterday but I’m still kind of, well…shy. About public nudity, I mean,” she faltered.
“Are you?” He frowned. “Is that a species-specific cultural norm or does it have something to do with being female?”
“Both, probably,” Maddy said honestly. “Though I wouldn’t mind so much if I was thinner. But, well…I’m not.”
Calden shook his head. “Why would you want to be thinner when you are perfect just as you are? If you were thinner, you would be even more delicate and fragile.”
“Delicate and fragile? I’m five ten and a half and plus-sized—I’m hardly a delicate flower!” Maddy exclaimed, laughing. She sobered. “But of course you’re nine feet tall if you’re an inch so I guess I must seem tiny to you.”
“You do. And if plus-sized means curvy, then I much prefer you that way for safety’s sake.” He cleared his throat. “Also…I find your voluptuous measurements most pleasing.”
Maddy felt her cheeks getting hot. “Uh, thanks for the compliment. But I’m still not sure about taking off my clothes and parading through what amounts to a men’s locker room on an alien space station.”
“I told you that most of the Mentats should be gone by now,” Calden said patiently.
“It’s not the Mentats I’m worried about,” Maddy blurted.
“Oh.” He looked surprised as comprehension dawned on his face. “Are you really nervous about me seeing you naked again? But I have told you, Madeline—we would not be compatible because of our size and so I can have no sexual interest in you.”
“You just said that you found my, uh, curves pleasing,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but in a purely aesthetic sense,” Calden said earnestly. “No matter how beautiful I find you to be, we are still too different in size to mate.”
“I never said I wanted us to mate,” Maddy said quickly. “I just felt…you know, shy about you seeing me naked. That’s all.”
She had begun to feel silly about the whole thing. Here she was worried about what the big Kindred might think of her body when he clearly just wanted to get them both clean so he could get back to work at his lab. He might be kind enough to comfort her by cuddling her at night and hugging her during the day, but that didn’t mean he had any sexual interest in her. Indeed—it wouldn’t matter if he did because, as he had pointed out, he was much, much too big for her.
As if to prove his point, Calden took off his boots and trousers and hung them neatly on the hooks. This left him completely bare and she was able to see him naked for the first time. And what a sight it was.
Maddy’s eyes widened as she let them drift over the broad planes of his chest, down his muscular abs and long legs, and then back up to what hung between them.
Good God, he’s hung like a horse!she couldn’t help thinking. That thing is as long as my forearm and hand put together and it’s not even hard. There’s no way it would ever fit inside me.
She had a momentary flash of imagination—the image of Calden kneeling between her thighs and trying to fit that thick, long shaft inside her pussy—and then pushed the thought away. She felt her cheeks getting hot. What was wrong with her, imagining something like that?
“Madeline? Are you well?” Calden was looking down at her with worry on his face. “Is it too warm in here for you? Your cheeks are very flushed.”
“Oh, no—no, I’m fine.” She shi
fted uneasily. “Just…just thinking,” she said lamely.
Thinking of things you shouldn’t be thinking of, whispered a little voice in her head but Maddy tried to ignore it.
“Would you like me to help you remove your clothing?” he asked courteously.
“Oh, yes—yes, I guess so.” Hesitantly, Maddy raised her hands over her head. The fact that the arm-holes in the shirt-dress were so large came in handy now because he had no trouble in pulling the black garment over her head. Soon she was as naked as he was, though considerably less comfortable with her nudity.
Calden didn’t seem to think anything about having no clothes on. He moved and talked as naturally as though he was still fully dressed. Maddy envied the big Kindred his apparent lack of body issues—she herself had to fight to keep from covering herself with her forearms and the too-large gloves. But she told herself not to be ridiculous—Calden wasn’t interested in her that way. And if his glowing topaz eyes lingered a little long on her breasts, it was probably just scientific curiosity, that was all.
“Come,” he said and led her down a short hallway and into the steam room.
Here the smell of laundry deRarenent—the good expensive kind—got stronger and the air was filled with steam.There were rows of benches made of some kind of dark wood Maddy had never seen before. Sitting on one in the front row was an elderly-looking Mentat with stooped shoulders and a dull look to his scaly skin. To Maddy’s relief, he didn’t pay any attention to them when they came in. He just sat there on a folded strip of blue fabric, staring straight ahead and breathing in the steam meditatively.
Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Page 9