Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series (11 page)

“Lock…” she said, not knowing how to
continue.

“My lady,” he murmured. “Forgive me for
offending your modesty. Please know that I acted only out of
affection and the most earnest desire to see to your needs.”

He had needs of his own. Kat could feel
them. She could feel the yearning inside him—the wanting so strong
it brought tears to her eyes. And all of it, all his desire and
need and love and lust, all was centered on
her
. “Oh, Lock…”
Somehow she found herself hugging him, wrapping her arms around his
muscular torso and holding him close.

“My lady… Kat,” he murmured into her hair,
returning the hug carefully.

Kat breathed in his scent without speaking,
knowing it was his mating scent but not caring for once. It was
warm and calming—a mixture of hot coffee on a cold morning and
fresh laundry straight from the dryer. Under it was a hint of
masculine spice that tickled her nose and made her nipples and the
tender vee between her legs throb. But despite her desire, hugging
Lock was wonderfully comforting. His arms were hard and strong
around her and she realized for the first time that she liked
him—liked him a lot.

He liked her too. She could feel the warm
iron bar of his cock against her thigh, but she didn’t pull back.
It seemed right somehow—or at least, not scary. Her irritation and
worry seemed to melt away and for a moment she allowed herself to
just feel good in his arms.

“Kat,” he breathed and she looked up. His
brown eyes were half-lidded and she realized he was going to kiss
her.

I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m probably
only feeling this way because of all the damn fruit I ate.
But
she couldn’t help remembering the gentle way he’d tasted her the
night before, the sweet way he’d made her come with his tongue. The
memory made her hot and cold all over and she shivered in his arms.
She tilted her mouth up to meet his—

“Brother, I—” Deep’s voice at the door made
her jerk away, but not before the dark twin’s coal black eyes had
taken in the way she and Lock were wrapped in each other’s
arms.

“Deep.” Lock raised a hand to his brother.
“The lady Kat and I were just—”

“I see what you were
just
doing.”
Deep’s eyes flashed. “Don’t let me interrupt you.”

“Stop,” Lock pleaded. “You know it isn’t
like that. It
can’t
be. Without you—”

“I’d say you’re doing just fine without me.”
Deep nodded at both of them coldly and left, shutting the door
behind him.

Lock sighed and stepped back, away from Kat.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have been
able
to
do that.”

Kat frowned. “What do you mean?”

“We’re bonded twins.” Lock ran a hand
through his hair. “Touching a female in the way I was touching you
should have been excruciatingly painful for me without my brother
somehow involved.” He sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “It hurt
me to take you in my arms without Deep touching you as well, but I
was
able to do it.”

“It
hurt
you to hold me?” Kat looked
at him, her eyes wide. “Really? How…how does it feel?”

“Like a low-level electrical shock running
through my body. But just the fact that I was able to do it at
all…” He shook his head. “We’ve grown apart lately. Ever
since—”

“Since what?” Kat asked but he only shook
his head.

“Never mind. I owe you an apology.”

“It’s all right,” Kat said softly, sitting
beside him. “I wasn’t exactly trying to get away. I should have,
though—I don’t want to lead you on.”

He gave her a look from the corner of his
eye. “Meaning you still have no interest in us.”

“I think I could if I let myself—I could
have feelings for
you
, anyway,” Kat said honestly. “I mean,
you’re sweet and kind and caring and gorgeous—what more could a
girl want?”

“But?” Lock raised one dark blond eyebrow at
her.

“But…” she said reluctantly. “You come with
an awful lot of baggage. You know what I mean.”

“Yes.” He nodded heavily. “Yes, I do. But my
lady, if you could just give Deep a chance…”

Kat was already shaking her head. “I’m
afraid not, Lock, it would never work. Deep and I—we’re like oil
and water—we don’t mix. We can’t even have a single conversation
without it turning into a shouting match.”

Lock’s broad shoulders slumped. “I know he’s
difficult to get along with. But he truly does care for you.”

“Then why don’t I feel it?” Kat asked. “I
get all these strong emotions from you two but what I mostly feel
from him is lust and annoyance. He wants me but mostly I
irritate
him.”

“You’re only feeling what he lets himself
feel,” Lock protested. “But under all that, he cares. I
know
he does.”

“Maybe you just want him to,” Kat said
gently. “Because you two come as a package deal and I can’t take
one without the other. Look, I can tell how hard it is for you and
I’m sorry—really I am. But aside from the whole feeling both of
your emotions thing and the, uh, way you perform bonding sex which
is scary to say the least…” she shivered and wrapped her arms
around herself. “Aside from that, the fact is, I just can’t let
myself get involved with two guys when one of them can’t stand me.”
She shook her head. “God, that sounds so weird.”

“No, it sounds like common sense.” Lock
looked down at the green wooden floor between his black boots. “I
can’t blame you for what you feel, my lady. But I can’t help what
I
feel, either.”

“I’m so sorry.” Kat put a hand on his knee
to comfort him. Then she pulled it away quickly. “Oh, I didn’t
think. Did that hurt you just now? Me touching you without Deep
being here?”

“A little.” Lock gave her a sad smile and
put her hand back on his knee. “But it’s worth it.”

“That’s sweet.” He looked so dejected and
his feelings of sadness and loss were so overwhelming, Kat felt
like she was going to cry if they sat that way much longer.
Clearing her throat, she rose and began pacing in front of the bed.
“So when do the effects of this, uh, bonding fruit I ate kick in?
And how long do they last?”

Lock shook his head. “The fruit should be in
full effect in a few hours. As for how long it will last, it could
be days.”

“What?” Kat rounded to face him. “Are you
telling me I’m going to be feeling…uh, amorous for
days?”

“No, no.” He shook his head hastily. “That
will be the first effect to fade. But your scent will remain
enhanced for a long time. As well as your…” He coughed delicately.
“Flexibility.”

“Oh, well…” Kat crossed her arms over her
chest protectively. “I don’t think we need to worry about it then.
As long as I can get through tonight at the party…”

“You’ll be all right,” Lock finished for
her. “And I promise we’ll take you back to Mother L’rin tomorrow.
She wanted to examine you after we healed you, anyway. And maybe
she can help you to shield yourself against some of our
emotions.”

“I certainly hope so,” Kat muttered. “But
about the party, tonight—before we go, I
really
need a shot
of those translation bacteria that Sophie got. I mean, this whole
mess could have been avoided if I could have talked to your mom
instead of just pointing at the fruit I wanted. I don’t want to get
into any more trouble.”

Lock shook his head. “I’m sorry, but those
are only available on the Kindred Mother ship.”

“Really? Damn!” Kat sighed and raked a hand
through her hair. “You know, I don’t get it. Back when you two were
bringing me here in the spaceship I heard Deep talking in another
language and I could understand it. But when I talked to your mom I
didn’t catch a word.”

“You weren’t conscious in the ship,” Lock
protested. “In fact you almost…almost died.” His face had gone pale
and the last word came out in a whisper.

Kat nodded grimly. “I figured it was
something like that. I was floating above my body looking down. And
I saw you doing some kind of weird CPR on me. But the talking…I
don’t see how I could understand the Twin Moons language then and
not now.”

“Maybe you were dream-sharing with us.” Lock
looked thoughtful. “It might explain why your spirit didn’t drift
away entirely and also why you could understand our language.
However tenuously, you were linked to our minds, seeing and hearing
as Deep and I saw and heard.”

“Well I wish I could have a little of that
now,” Kat grumbled. “This is going to be some fun party. I’ll be
high on horny fruit and I won’t have any idea what anyone is saying
to me.” Then she thought of the males who had seen her in only a
sheet that morning. “Come to think of it, maybe that last part
won’t be such a bad thing.”

“There will be a few people there you can
talk to,” Lock told her. “Some of the ambassadors and their mates
have had the translation implants so they’ll understand you. And
they’ll be safe—your scent won’t affect mated males.”

“So I should stick with the couples.” Kat
nodded. “Got it.”

“Only if you should get separated from Deep
and myself,” Lock said. “But I don’t think that will be a problem.
We’ll be shadowing your every move.”

“Oh joy,” Kat said dryly. “I can’t
wait.”

It certainly was going to be a party to
remember.

“What’s the matter, honey? You look like you
just lost your last friend.”

At the sound of English being spoken, Kat
looked up eagerly. The party, which was being held at a huge
structure that was reminded her of an opera house, with frescoed
ceilings and elaborate carvings, had been horrible so far.

It wasn’t so much that she didn’t know the
language—although that was a big part of it. But she also felt like
a prisoner, being flanked at all times by Deep and Lock. She was on
an alien planet for the first time—she wanted to go explore. There
were amazing works of 3-D art all over the walls and vast rooms
full of strange and exotic things to look at. Not to mention all
kinds of new foods to try—though Kat was being careful about that.
But instead of wandering through the crowd checking things out, she
was stuck staying where it was “safe.” At least according to her
two captors.

Kat couldn’t see that it was so very unsafe
at the huge, bustling party. It was true that just about every male
in the place seemed to be eyeing her hungrily, but none of them had
made any off-color gestures or remarks. Kat assumed it was just the
scent she was supposedly giving off. And come to think of it, she
wasn’t even sure about
that.
She didn’t
feel
any
different and she’d sniffed herself several times without smelling
a thing. Could it be that Deep and Lock were making up the whole
bonding fruit thing—or at least exaggerating it—in order to keep
her close to them?

Entirely possible,
she thought,
eyeing Deep, who was scanning the crowd warily for possible
threats. But at least now she had someone to talk to. The woman who
had spoken to her looked to be about five years older than Kat and
she was voluptuous in the extreme, her full curves draped in a
peacock colored toga-type dress which seemed to be the traditional
Twin Moons style.

Speaks English
and
she’s plus sized!
Kat smiled at her, feeling like she’d just
won the jackpot. “Hi,” she said, nodding gratefully. “I’m Kat. Kat
O’Connor.”

“Piper.” The woman held out an elegant hand
dripping with diamonds and Kat took it. “Oh, who am I kidding? Come
here!” Piper pulled her into a warm embrace and held her for a
moment before letting go. “Sorry.” She grinned unrepentantly at
Kat. “It’s just that I’ve been out here on Twin Moons with my
husbands for so
long
. I’m so glad to see another face from
Earth I could cry.”

“That’s okay.” Kat grinned back. On Earth
she would have been put off by such effusiveness but not here,
under these circumstances. “I know how you feel,” she said. “I
haven’t even been here that long and I’m already homesick.”

“Of course you are! I mean, it’s wonderful
here. But sometimes you just want to go to McDonalds and get a Big
Mac and some fries. And knowing the closest Mickey D’s is seven
light years away can make a gal feel mighty lonesome.” Piper sighed
and patted her honey-blonde hair which was piled on her head in an
elaborate up-do. “Where are you from, anyway?”

“Tampa,” Kat said, smiling. “You?”

“Houston, honey. Born and raised.” Piper
smiled wistfully. “You know, it’s a big, dirty, ugly city and
around here it’s all quaint little fishing towns and unspoiled
beauty—couldn’t be more different. I’ll be the first to admit it’s
gorgeous and all, but sometimes I miss the traffic and the smog.
Isn’t that strange?”

“Not at all,” Kat said earnestly. “I haven’t
been here for long but before that I was stuck on the Kindred
Mother ship. I miss downtown Tampa and the Tampa picture show—it’s
this old theater that’s been running for the last hundred and fifty
years. The acoustics are horrible and the seats are so hard they
hurt your behind, but my girlfriends and I used to go there and
watch all the indie movies that none of the multiplexes would
play.” She sighed. “They have this old fashioned popcorn machine
and they use real butter—not that nasty fake stuff.”

“Oh, don’t get me started on Earth food.”
Piper’s lime green eyes lit up. “What I miss the most is good
barbeque. You couldn’t get decent pulled pork on Twin Moons to save
your life! I don’t even think they have an animal that’s anything
like a pig. Everything is so lean and healthy and good for you.”
She shivered.

“Which is probably why everyone’s in such
good shape and all the women look like supermodels,” Kat said,
looking around. Every Twin Moons woman she had seen was tall and
thin with perfect cheekbones. They glided around the room, taking
nibbles from the mountains of fruit which were piled on low
pillars, and looking perfect in the warm lighting.