“Are you ready for take off? All strapped in?” Bound looked over at his passenger to make sure she was all right.
“All good here.” Lorelei gave him a tight smile. She looked nervous but determined, which was pretty much how Bound felt himself.
He hoped they would both be more at ease once they had gone through the fold in space and their mission was really underway. The fold would put them a few hours outside the orbit of Femalah—it wouldn’t do to suddenly appear in the middle of the Femalian airspace which might cause suspicion—so they would have a little time to talk. He hoped to get to know Lorelei better in the time it took to get to the planet where his brother was to be sold.
Not that you don’t already feel like you know her, whispered a little voice in his head. Admit it, Bound, she’s amazing. Being with her is like slipping a hand into a glove—it feels so right it’s almost unreal.
But how would it feel once they added Torn to the equation? What kind of shape would his brother be in? What if the V’radors had altered him beyond recognition…beyond redemption?
No, don’t think like that! he told himself sternly. The hand of the Goddess is on this situation. She is the one who led you to Lorelei in the first place and you felt her presence in the room when you gave your oath and took one in return. Trust—you must trust that things will be well.
It was much easier advice to give than to take, unfortunately.
“So, tell me about your brother,” Lorelei said, looking over at him. “What does he look like?”
“Not very much like me, actually. Which is not unusual for Twin Kindred,” Bound said as he piloted the long-range shuttle out of the Docking Bay and up into the vast blackness of space. He was aiming for the red gash in the sky that the Kindred Mother Ship had opened for them—the fold in space that would put them down just outside Femalah.
“Why is it not unusual?” Lorelei wanted to know. “On my planet, twins often look alike—if they’re identical, that is. Fraternal twins look different.”
“Well, as I’m sure you heard, in every Twin Kindred pair there is a Light Twin and a Dark Twin,” Bound explained.
“Right. And you’re the Light Twin in your pair?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Bound nodded. “Oh yes, definitely. But the designations ‘light’ and ‘dark’ don’t just refer to our coloring or our looks. It also refers to our mood—our general outlook in life.”
“That’s fascinating.” She leaned towards him, propping her chin on her elbow, which she rested on the arm rest. “Tell me more.”
“We often look very different and have very different personalities,” Bound said. “Remember I told you that Torn is more likely to punch first and ask questions afterwards?”
“So…he’s more violent than you?” Her eyes widened slightly.
“Maybe more…intense is the right word,” Bound amended. He didn’t want her to be frightened of his twin, when they finally reached him. “Let’s just say he has a very heavy bad side—he hates with a passion and intensity I can’t find inside myself.” He cleared his throat. “But he loves passionately too. I remember when we were growing up on Twin Moons, we had a pet—a turpa—which is a little like your Earth animal called a cheetah but with feathers instead of fur.”
“A cheetah with feathers? Can it fly?” Her large brown eyes were wide with interest.
“Some of the smaller breeds can. Ours was large though—I think a little bigger than your Earth cheetah. Maybe more the size of a tiger?”
“Wow…” She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m just trying to picture a giant feathered cheetah. So what happened?”
“Our turpa was named Kilji and we both loved him very much.” Bound smiled sadly, remembering. “Of course I was the one who walked him and remembered to fill his feed bowl but it was Torn that he slept with every night, guarding the foot of his bed.”
“And…did that make you jealous?” Lorelei asked, sounding curious. “That you did the work but Torn got the benefits?”
“Of course not.” It seemed like a strange question to Bound. “My brother’s pleasure and joy is my pleasure and joy—just as his pain and sorrow are my pain and sorrow. That’s the way it is with Twin Kindred. Is it different for siblings on your planet?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Lorelei admitted. “My older brother and I used to fight like cats and dogs, as my mom would say. It seemed like every time I got a new toy, he tried to take it away.” She shrugged. “We’re still not very close. But go on—tell me what happened with Torn and your pet, uh, turpa.”
“Well, we had Kilji from the time we were little—he was a present from our fathers on our fifth name day,” Bound explained. “But then one day, we were out playing and he chased a ball into the road.”
“Oh no…” Lorelei’s eyes were suddenly bright. “Please don’t tell me…”
Bound nodded sadly.
“Unfortunately, he was struck by a mechanized cart going to market, and killed.” He sighed. “Both of us wept, of course, but Torn was inconsolable. He wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep—he grieved so hard our mother was afraid he would do himself an injury.” He ran a hand over his face, remembering. “Gods, it was awful. And then, one night I woke up to find him climbing out of our bedroom window.”
“He was? Where was he going?” Lorelei was looking at him intently.
“I followed him to find out,” Bound said. “I was afraid for him too. My brother was always…so passionate, so impetuous.”
“So where did he go?”
“To the house of the merchant who had hit Kilji with his cart,” Bound told her. “He had some firesticks in his pack—he wanted to burn the house down.”
“Oh my God!” Lorelei put a hand to her mouth. “You’re kidding? Did he do it?”
“No, I managed to stop him but he was so upset. He told me that we had to get vengeance for Kilji—that he couldn’t rest or finish grieving until we did.”
“So what did you do?” Lorelei asked.
“We…” Bound winced, a little sorry he had decided to tell her this story. It didn’t exactly show him or his brother in the best light. “We burned the cart instead—the cart that had run over Kilji.”
“You what?” Her brown eyes went wide.
“Yes, I know it sounds bad.” Bound sighed. “But the thing was, I was grieving too. I mostly kept my grief inside but when Torn showed me a way to let it out, I took it.” He shifted in his seat. “No one was harmed, just to let you know, and insurance took care of the cost of the cart. I know it was wrong but we both felt better afterwards and Torn was finally able to have some peace.”
“Wow…” She shook her head, apparently at a loss for words.
Gods…” Bound laughed ruefully. “You know I’ve never told that story to anyone before? Torn and I are the only ones who know what really happened that night.”
“Your brother sounds…very intense,” Lorelei remarked. “How old were the two of you when this happened?”
“I guess around…twelve cycles old?” Bound shrugged. “Give or take. I, uh, hope hearing that story from our past hasn’t put you off helping him. I was just trying to give you an idea of his personality as the Dark Twin of our pair.”
“I signed a contract and swore an oath, remember?” Lorelei said. “Finding out the two of you were juvenile arsonists doesn’t change anything.”
Bound looked to see if she was serious. To his relief, a smile was tugging at the corner of her lush mouth. Gods, he wondered what her lips tasted like—wondered what it would be like to kiss her…to watch his brother kiss her. Firmly, he pushed the thought away.
“I have a holo pic of him with me,” he said. “Would you like to see it?”
“Oh yes, please!” Lorelei leaned forward eagerly. “Show me.”
From his uniform pocket, Bound pulled out a small clear cube and pressed his thumb to it. Immediately a 3-D rendering of his twin’s head and shoulders came into view. He adjusted the size so that Torn’s figure was life-size and set the cube on the console between them. For a moment, it was almost as though his brother was with them.
The three of us—complete, as we should be, Bound thought longingly.
“Amazing,” Lorelei breathed, studying the holo of Torn. “He does look a little like you in the face. But his hair is black and those eyes…”
“Like emeralds, our mother used to say,” Bound remarked. “Emeralds ringed with onyx. My twin has a very intense gaze.”
“I can see that.” A little shiver went through Lorelei. “Are you two exactly the same height?”
Bound shook his head. “He’s about two of your Earth inches taller than me. It’s not unusual for the Dark Twin to be slightly larger than the Light Twin.”
“Two inches taller? But you’re already so tall!” she exclaimed. “I can’t imagine another one of you, only bigger!”
“Well, that’s what you’re going to get, once we reach Femalah.” Bound tried to make his voice light but he couldn’t help wondering if he shouldn’t have told her the story of Kilji. Maybe she would think he and Torn were reckless now. Maybe—
“Bound, do you mind if I ask you a…um, kind of a personal question?”
Lorelei’s soft voice brought him back to himself.
“Yes, My Lady,” he said. “Of course—you can ask me anything.”
“Well, it’s just that…” She cleared her throat and looked uncomfortable. “I was kind of…watching Kat and her two husbands, Deep and Lock and I was wondering…”
“Yes?” He looked at her, frowning a little. What was she trying to say?
“I was wondering how jealousy isn’t a factor in a Twin Kindred relationship. Especially during, uh…” She cleared her throat. “Sexual situations.”
“Hmm…” Bound tried to think how to answer her but his brief hesitation seemed to make Lorelei think she had offended him.
“I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to—if I crossed a line, just tell me,” she said quickly. “I know I’m an AI shrink so I’m qualified to handle machines, not people, but I still find motivations and emotions fascinating, especially when they go against established norms.”
Bound laughed. “Which is your convoluted, academic way of saying you’re sorry you asked me a question about Twin Kindred sex.”
“Well…” Lorelei blushed. “I guess so, yeah,” she said in a low voice.
“I don’t mind talking to you about it,” Bound told her. “I think maybe in some ways we Kindred are more open about sexual things than some of the more repressed societies on Earth.”
“Maybe…” she allowed cautiously. “But…you really never get jealous of your brother, even if you see him kissing or, uh, touching a girl without you?”
“First of all, that would be intensely painful for him—touching a female sexually without me,” Bound explained. “If he is touching or kissing a female, chances are I’ll be doing the same.”
“Oh, that’s right! Kat did say something like that to me.” Lorelei nodded. “So tell me…how does it work, exactly? I mean with two of you and one of her…” She trailed off, her cheeks going pink again.
“When we take a female, we make her pleasure the focus of our complete attention,” Bound told her. “One of us might be kissing her breasts or sucking her nipples while the other is between her legs, tasting her and giving her pleasure with his tongue.” He sighed longingly. “Stroking and teasing a female’s breasts while I watch my twin between her thighs, spreading her pussy with his tongue until she moans and arches back against me…there is no greater pleasure.”
“Oh…” Her cheeks turned even pinker. “So you and Torn have…have done that before?”
“We haven’t had bonding sex with a female,” Bound admitted. “We haven’t found a female it felt right to bond with.” He looked down at the controls. “Now maybe we never will.”
“I’m sure you will,” Lorelei said quickly. “We’re going to get your twin back—you’ll see.”
“From your lips to the Goddess’s ears,” Bound said. “I must believe that Torn will be restored to me and we will find the right female to form a soul-bond with.”
“A soul-bond?” Lorelei frowned. “What’s that?”
“When a Kindred warrior—or in this case, two Kindred warriors, have bonding sex with a female, they form a mental and emotional bond with her,” Bound explained. “It allows the three of them to send and receive thoughts telepathically as well as to pick up on each others’ emotions.” He sighed, longing welling up inside him like water. “It’s a beautiful, deep connection which lasts a lifetime.”
“It sounds…extremely intimate,” Lorelei murmured. “And the only way to achieve it is through…” She cleared her throat, her cheeks turning pink again. “Through bonding sex? What exactly is that?”
“You don’t know?” Bound looked at her, somewhat surprised. “But you knew about dream-sharing when you thought I had come to claim you. And you seemed knowledgeable about other aspects of Kindred culture.”
“Only because I’ve been interested in your people since I was a teenager and I really dug for information,” Lorelei said, sounding a bit defensive. “I only know what’s been published in magazines and websites and blogs. There’s this one called “Diary of a Kindred Bride” which is hilarious.” She sighed. “But the blogger is married to a Beast Kindred, not Twin Kindred. So…” She shrugged. “I don’t know everything I’d like to. You guys play a lot of your cards pretty close to the vest, you know.”
“I don’t mind telling you,” Bound said, seeing that she thought she’d offended him. “I’m just surprised you don’t know.”
“Well, I mean, it’s probably pretty obvious, right? You probably just, uh…” She cleared her throat. “One of you goes in the front and one in the, uh, back. Right?”
“That’s one way we can make love to a female,” Bound said thoughtfully. “But it’s not how bonding sex is achieved.”
“Is it one in the mouth and one in the—”
“No,” he interrupted her before she could go on. “In order to bond with a female, both Torn and I would have to have our shafts to the hilt inside her pussy.”
“All the way to the hilt? Wow, uh…I assume you take turns then, right?” Lorelei’s face was getting redder and redder.
“No.” Bound shook his head. “It must be at the same time or the bond cannot form.”
“But how is that possible?” Lorelei burst out. Her big brown eyes flicked down to his crotch and then away again quickly, as though she was afraid to be caught staring. “How could you both…fit?” she demanded.
Bound smiled. “Not without help. We grow a certain kind of fruit called bonding fruit that helps a female open to accommodate us.”
“Oh!” Lorelei snapped her fingers. “So that’s what Kat meant when she offered to set me up with some bonding fruit! Uh…” She cast a sidelong glance at Bound. “That was before I explained to her that you and I have a strictly business relationship.”
“Of course,” Bound murmured. Not that he didn’t want more from the curvy little Elite. But how could he possibly ask for more when the fate of his brother was still undetermined? He literally could not bond with a female without Torn. It would be unfair to ask anyone—even a female as beautiful and understanding and perfect as Lorelei—to make a commitment to him without knowing what state the Dark Twin would be in when they got to him.
They had flown through the fold long ago and now the proximity alert began beeping from the console.
“Femalah in thirty parsecs,” proclaimed a mechanical-sounding voice.
Lorelei’s eyes widened.
“Wow, we’re here so soon?”
“We are indeed.” Bound put the long-range shuttle into a wide orbit around the artificial moon and turned to Lorelei. “I’ve already secured us invitations to the sale—it’s an extremely exclusive affair in the downtown area where all the gentlewomen’s clubs are located. In fact, it’s being held at the Fren and Chulk club where only the wealthiest gentlewomen are members.”
“Guess we’d better get dressed then, huh?” Lorelei sounded apprehensive. “So we can get on down to the Fren and Chulk. Wow, just rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?” She laughed nervously and repeated, “Fren and Chulk.”
“You’re right, we should get dressed.” Engaging the autopilot, Bound unfastened his restraints and nodded at her. “Come on, let’s go.” He was fighting hard to control a mixture of nerves and excitement himself. After so long he was finally going to see his brother again! His other half was going to be restored to him! At least he hoped he was.
Please Goddess, let it be so, he prayed as he and Lorelei went to get into the clothing Kat had prepared for them. Let me see him again soon and rescue him. And let him not be too changed for us to change him back. Please!