Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series (5 page)

She finished the drink and someone fluffed a
pillow behind her head and drew a light blanket over her naked
body. “Sleep now,” the familiar voice murmured. “I must tend to my
brother. He’s almost healed so maybe next time…”

But he didn’t finish what he was saying.

“
Next time what?”
Kat wanted to
demand. But she felt so warm and comfortable she couldn’t be
bothered to form the words. Instead she slid into darkness and let
herself dream.

“You’re healing well.” Lock eyed the broad
expanse of his twin’s back critically. “Of course, there will be
scars. Extensive scars, I’m afraid.”

Deep, who was sitting at the edge of the
large bed they shared, grunted noncommittally. “All warriors have
scars.”

“Most get them in battle, though.” Gently,
Lock smoothed some of the healing lotion Mother L’rin had given
them over his brother’s wounds. Most of them were nothing but
pinkish-white lines now, criss-crossing the tan expanse of Deep’s
back. The wise woman had been right—he was healing remarkably
quickly. His body, anyway. Lock feared that he would carry the
memory of the beating with him forever. Not that he would admit to
caring about such a thing—or anything for that matter. “Do you want
to help me attend Kat again tonight?” he asked, changing the
subject.

Deep frowned. “She’s not going to be happy
when she finds out we’ve been bathing her while she’s unconscious,
you know.”

“We drape towels over her to preserve her
modesty,” Lock protested. “Besides, we’re only acting on Mother
L’rin’s orders. She said Kat needed to spend plenty of time in the
bathing pool—warm water is healing.”

“Kat won’t see it like that,” Deep predicted
sourly. “She’ll think it’s a violation. And she’ll think the same
thing about completing the soul bond.”

“We
have
to complete the bond.
Nothing else will heal her fractured spirit.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be healed. Maybe
she’d rather be dead than bonded to the two of us,” Deep snapped.
“Did you ever think about that?”

“I know what you’re thinking but Kat isn’t
like that. She isn’t like
her,
” Lock said in a low
voice.

“So you say.” Deep frowned moodily.

“We swore to Sophia and Olivia that we would
do everything in our power to protect and heal Kat,” Lock reminded
his brother.

“We’re doing a wonderful job so far, aren’t
we?” Deep snarled. “We’re the reason she’s sick in the first place.
We should
never
have used her as a focus. Never let
ourselves feel…” He shook his head.

“It’s too late for those regrets now,” Lock
said softly, dabbing more lotion on his brother’s back. He could
feel how tense Deep was—could see it in the way his broad shoulders
bunched with misery. The emotion echoed inside his heart, making
him ache for his twin. “All we can do is try to heal her, to undo
the damage we’ve done.”

“By completing a soul bond with a female who
never wants to take the next step and make the physical bond with
us as well? What good will it do
any
of us to have half a
bond?” Deep demanded.

“It will heal the lady Kat,” Lock said
firmly, trying to ignore his own fears. “That’s all that matters
right now.”

Deep sighed and his broad shoulders slumped.
“Have it your way, Brother. But don’t be surprised if she wants
nothing to do with you—with either one of us—when this is
over.”

Four, large warm hands on her body woke her
up. They weren’t touching her anywhere inappropriate—shoulders,
hips, thighs—but they were there, on her bare skin.
Bare skin…oh
my God—I’m naked!
And so were the large, male bodies bracketing
her own. She could feel their muscular warmth against her back and
breasts, surrounding her, invading her, owning her. The familiar
current of sexual electricity was running through her body—the
feeling she always got when Deep and Lock were touching her bare
skin at the same time. When the three of them were…

Kat’s eyes flew open and she found herself
looking into Lock’s melted chocolate gaze.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, my
lady,” he murmured with a smile. “We’re very glad to have you
back.”

“Lock’s right—you gave us quite a scare,”
Deep’s voice rumbled from behind her. “We didn’t think you would
make it, there for awhile.”

“I almost died,” Kat blurted, the memory
momentarily overcoming her shock at finding herself naked between
them. “I was floating above my own body, looking down. I saw you
talking about me. And then…” She frowned. “I had another dream. It
was terrible but—”

“But it’s over now,” Lock finished for her,
soothingly. “You’re getting better, Kat, but you’re not out of
danger yet.”

“In my dream you were taking me to Twin
Moons. Where am I?” she demanded.

“I would think that would be obvious,” Deep
growled in her ear. “You’re in our bed, little Kat. And that’s
where you’re going to stay until you’re all better.”

“What are you talking about?” She struggled
to get up but they held her down, gently but firmly.

“Don’t be upset,” Lock pleaded. “We won’t
hurt you, my lady. You must know that by now.”

“Look, I don’t know what you two think
you’re doing, but I’m not interested in any more joinings.
Especially after the way I felt after our last one. I had a
headache so bad I felt like my skull was going to split in
two.”

“We fully comprehend your pain,” Lock
said.

“Easy for you to say,” Kat muttered. “You
can talk about it all you want but—”

“It’s
not
just talk.” Deep’s voice
was unexpectedly somber. “Lock and I know what we put you through.
And we can’t tell you how much we regret it.”

Kat sighed. “All right—it’s not like it’s
all your fault. After all,
I
was the one who asked for that
last joining in order to find Sophie. I guess you could say I got
what was coming to me.”

“No.” Lock shook his head. “We were dabbling
in an area we didn’t fully understand. We never should have used
you as a focus in the first place.”

“And we have no interest in doing it again
now,” Deep continued. “What we’re trying to do is heal you.”

“Heal me? You’re trying to heal me by
rubbing your…by rubbing against me?” Kat didn’t even try to keep
the skepticism out of her voice. “Yeah, right.”

“Truly, my lady.” Lock’s brown eyes were
earnest. “Mother L’rin—”

“Who?”

“The healer we brought you to our home
planet to see,” Deep supplied. “She’s an expert in the
seeker/finder/focus relationship as well as a master of her
craft.”

“Okay, let me get this straight,” Kat said.
“I was at death’s door so you two brought me home to the wise old
healer lady to be cured. And her ‘prescription’ was for us to all
get naked together in bed?” She twisted around to frown at Deep.
“Can you see why I’m not buying this? I mean come, on guys—give me
a break!”

“It’s true.” Deep glared at her, his coal
black eyes burning. “Your spirit has been fractured by the stress
of acting as our focus. Until we bind it securely back to your
body, you’re in danger of dying.”

“Deep is right,” Lock said softly. “Your
spirit could become untethered again at any time.”

“Well that’s a risk I guess I’ll have to
take,” Kat snapped. “I’ll let you know if I see a bright tunnel and
start hearing the voices of dead relatives telling me to ‘go into
the light.’ Until then, you two can keep your hands and your, uh,
other body parts to yourselves.”

She started to sit up and this time, as if
by mutual consent, they let her. But the moment she was upright,
dizziness swept over her, making the world spin and the room dance.
She had a vague impression of a large, masculine space lit by soft,
glowing lights in the corners. Then she had to put her head in her
hands and shut her eyes to keep from getting sick.

“My lady? Are you all right?” Lock’s voice
was anxious.

“Fine. I’m just…fine,” Kat managed to say
weakly. But she wasn’t fooling anyone—not even herself.

“Little liar,” Deep growled. “Lie back down
and let us take care of you.”

“But I don’t want…I can’t…” Kat shook her
head and wished she hadn’t. It made the dizziness worse.

“Come back between us,” Lock urged. “Please,
Kat, you know we only want what’s best for you.”

Kat struggled to remain upright a little
longer. But when she lifted her head again, the spinning sensation
was even worse. “Oh God, I can’t take this!”

“Satisfied?” Deep asked. “The only way to
make it better is to let us heal you. So stop acting stupid and
let us.”

“I’m
not
stupid,” Kat snapped
angrily, even as she allowed Lock to guide her back down to the
bed. “That’s the main reason I object to letting you two
grope
me as a form of holistic healing.”

“What exactly do you think we’re trying to
do here?” Deep demanded. “You think we want to
fuck
you?”

His rough words made Kat’s stomach clench.
“I sure as hell hope not for your sake,” she said evenly. “You try
it and I’ll knee both of you so hard you’ll be wearing your balls
for bowties.”

“Bravely spoken, little Kat.” Deep had the
nerve to sound amused. “But that isn’t what this is about at all.
We just need to heal you.”

“And how…how exactly do you expect to do
that?” Kat asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

“We have to use pleasure to bind your spirit
back to your body.” Lock’s voice was soothing.

“How much pleasure? What…what exactly are
you going to do?” Kat whispered.

“Just touch you.” Lock cupped her cheek and
looked earnestly into her eyes. “My lady…Kat…please believe me when
I say we would never try to take advantage of you. What we’re doing
here is necessary, I swear it.”

Kat opened her mouth to respond but suddenly
she remembered something Sophie had told her. After her crash in
the mountains with Sylvan, she’d woken up to find him licking her
breast. She’d been sure he was up to no good, but it had turned out
that he was actually healing her. Could it be that Lock and Deep
really
were
on the level—that they were only doing what they
had to in order to make her whole again? It seemed crazy but then,
a lot of things associated with the Kindred did, she reminded
herself.

Blowing out a breath, she nodded
reluctantly. “All right. But
no
sex. Especially not bonding
sex—whatever that entails with you guys.”

“Don’t worry.” Deep’s voice sounded bitter.
“Lock and I would never want to tie an unwilling bride to us. The
results could be…tragic.”

Kat twisted to look at him again. “What the
hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind,” Lock said quickly. “Deep just
means that we would never
physically
bond you to us against
your will. So…shall we begin?”

“I guess if we have to.” Kat could feel her
heart thumping against her ribs. God, how did she keep getting into
this kind of situation and how could she avoid it in the
future?

“We do,” Deep said grimly. “But I don’t see
how we’re going to give you enough pleasure to heal your spirit
when you’re so unhappy about it.”

“Do you really find our hands on you so
distasteful?” Lock’s eyes were wistful.

“No.” Kat closed her eyes briefly. “No,
you…you know I don’t.”

“Then try to relax,” he urged. “Please, my
lady. Here…” Kat had been lying on her side facing Lock, with Deep
behind her. Now Lock turned her gently but firmly until she was
lying on her back with both of them leaning over her.

“This is worse,” Kat, objected, trying to
cover her bare breasts and sex with her hands. “I feel so…so
exposed.”

“Are you ashamed to let us look at you?”
Deep’s voice was surprisingly gentle. “You shouldn’t be, little
Kat. I have never seen such beauty in my life.”

“But I’m…” So many words hovered on her
lips—
fat, chubby, chunky—
insults from a lifetime of being
plus sized in a world where skinny women were the ideal. Living as
a size eighteen in a society that preferred a size eight hadn’t
been easy. “Not thin,” she finished at last.

“We know.” Lock’s voice held only
admiration. “You’re an elite. The most beautiful one I’ve ever
seen.”

That’s right—they like big girls
here.
It was still a novel concept to Kat, who was used to
being defensive about her ample curves. “All right,” she said at
last. “But only because the lights in here are pretty dim. I don’t
want you to think I’ll be parading around in my birthday suit just
because you two are into plus-sized women.”

“Of course,” Lock assured her. “We would
never want you to do anything that made you uncomfortable.”

Slowly, her heart beating so hard she could
almost hear it drumming in her ears, she let her hands drift to her
sides. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to
relax.

Deep couldn’t stop looking at her. Kat’s
long, silky auburn hair glistened in the soft light of the glows
and her full, creamy breasts rose and fell with each breath she
took. They were tipped with deep pink nipples that were tight and
erect, just begging to be sucked. And how he longed to do just
that—to taste her. The last time they had been together it had been
Lock that she allowed to suck her sweet, ripe peaks. Deep had
cupped them in his hands but he still hadn’t had the pleasure of
teasing her nipples with his mouth.

Looking lower, he saw that her voluptuous
body was curved in all the right places, her hips and thighs
deliciously ample. The small triangle of dark red curls that
guarded her sex made his mouth water. He longed to press his face
against her there and breathe her in, to inhale the warm, secret
scent of her pussy until she spread her legs for him and let him
in. He wanted to taste her—to lap her juices from the source and
feel her small, delicate hands tugging his hair as she cried his
name and begged for more. Just the thought of it made his cock so
hard it ached.