Dani was startled by a knock on the door of the guest suite where she was staying. For a moment her heart flew up into her throat and she hoped it might be Kyron.
Hurrying to the door, she rushed to throw it open…only to see Olivia, one of her new friends aboard the Mother Ship standing there with a smile on her face. She and her sister, Sophia, had greeted them when Dani and Lavi and Jontu had first disembarked from Merrick’s space hopper.
Lavi and Jontu had gone to live together in a couple’s suite on the other side of the ship, leaving Dani feeling completely alone. But one or the other of the Kindred brides who had met them in the docking bay had come by every day, sometimes just to talk and sometimes to take her on tours of the ship. It was a huge place—bigger than forty palaces put together, Dani thought—but she was slowly getting used to it, despite having to wear the strange, opaque clothing which was considered proper here.
If only Ky had been with her, she felt she could’ve been happy here. But the big Kindred was conspicuous by his absence and every day that went by without seeing him made Dani miss him more. So when she opened the door and didn’t see him standing there, her heart sank.
“Oh…hello, Liv my friend.” Dani tried to smile but it was clear Liv could see right through her.
“I’m sorry, hon. You thought I was Kyron, didn’t you?”
“I…I hoped you might be.” Dani sighed. “Forgive me if I seemed rude. I just…miss him so much.”
“Of course you do.” Liv put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “You know, I think Sylvan’s almost finished analyzing his blood and running tests. You should be seeing him again any time.”
“I hope you’re right,” Dani whispered, rubbing her eyes to rid herself of the traitorous tears that gathered there. “I like it here aboard the Mother Ship—there is so much to see and do and no one treats me as less because I am female. But without Ky…”
“It’s going to be all right.” Liv hugged her again. “Tell you what—why don’t you come out and get your mind off it?”
“Another tour of the ship?” Dani shook her head. “Thank you, Liv, but I’m really not up for more sightseeing.”
“Sightseeing is over,” Liv said briskly, linking her arm through Dani’s firmly. “I came by today to put you to work.”
“Work?” Dani frowned. “What kind of work?”
“Tell me this—how are you with kids?”
“Kids? Children, you mean? I love them.” Dani smiled…then sighed again. “I had hoped that someday in the future Ky and I could have some…”
“You will,” Liv said firmly. “But right now, you’re going to help me take a turn at our local nursery school. It’s where my own little guy goes as well as Sophie’s twins. Every once in a while they need some help and it’s my turn to volunteer.” She pulled Dani out of her suite and shut the door behind them. “Come on—you’ll love it. There’s nothing like finger-painting for an hour or two to cheer you up.”
“Finger…painting?” Dani asked, bemused. Her translation bacteria might help her understand the language aboard the Mother Ship but it didn’t explain some of the more esoteric and confusing terms.
“You’ll see. Come on.”
Liv pulled her down the long, curving corridor and around to a lift which took them to another floor. When they stepped out, they were greeted by a wall covered in a colorful display of children’s drawings. An archway in the wall led into what looked like the most amazing playground Dani had ever seen.
There was a young woman sitting at a desk beside the archway. She smiled when she saw Liv.
“Well, hello. Are you here to get Daniel or to help out?”
“Help out, although you know I love to see my little guy.” Liv smiled back. “This is Dani—she’s new here but I can vouch for her. She’s going to be joined to Commander Kyron of the Touch Kindred.”
“Oh, a Touch Kindred?” The girl’s eyebrows raised. “Wow, I certainly hope you guys end up living by me and my mate. I’ve heard the effects of Touch Kindred love, ahem, spreads throughout their area they’re staying in.”
“Really?” Dani was surprised. This was the first she’d heard of any such thing.
“Come on now, Jackie,” Liv said, laughing. “You’re going to make her feel self-conscious about bonding with her man.”
“Oops, I’m sorry! I just want you to know you’ll be welcome wherever you and your Kindred wind up on the Mother Ship.” The girl named Jackie smiled broadly. “Go ahead in, you two. I believe Sophie is in the middle of art class right now.”
“Just in time for finger-painting. Come on, Dani.” Liv dragged her through the archway and into the play area.
Dani looked around with wide eyes, wishing she’d had such an area to play in as a child. There was a corner filled with colorful books where several children were reading on soft cushions Liv called “bean bag chairs,” climbing equipment with spongy padding underneath in case of falls, a pit filled with colorful spheres that several children were floundering in like fish, and so many ingenious looking toys that Dani wanted to sit down and play with a few of them herself.
“Oh, there’s Sophie,” Liv said and led her to an area where low tables and tiny chairs had been set up. About a dozen children were sitting around the tables squeezing and molding brightly colored putty. Sophie, Liv’s sister, was walking around helping the little artists with their clay.
“Hey womb-mate.” Liv gave her sister a one-armed hug. “I thought you were finger-painting today.”
“We took a vote and went with Play-Doh instead,” Sophie said, smiling. “I can’t complain—the kids are having a blast and it’s way less messy. We—”
“Miss Sophie? Miss Sophie?” It was a little boy who looked to be around four, tugging on Sophia’s blouse.
“Oh, hello Tsandor.” Sophie crouched down to get on his level. “What’s that you have there?” she asked, pointing to the blue-green lump of clay in his hand.
“It’s a vranna—I made it for my daddy.” The little boy, who had golden blond hair and big sapphire blue eyes, looked at Sophie hopefully. “Can I save it for him? I thought it might remind him of our home on Tranq Prime.”
“Oh, honey…” Sophie’s kind green eyes looked suddenly bright. “Yes, of course we can save it for him.”
“Oh good!” the little boy exclaimed. “And do you think he’ll be here soon so I can give it to him?” He sounded wistful. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen him. I hope he’ll come see me soon.”
“I’m sure he will.” Sophie gave the little boy a hug. “I know you miss your daddy, Tsandor—he’s just on a very important mission right now but I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
“I hope so,” the little boy hugged her back and then took his clay sculpture and wandered back to the table where the other children were sitting.
“Oh, that poor little boy.” Sophie stood up, swiping at her eyes. “It just breaks my heart…”
“Isn’t he Commander Sazar’s little boy?” Liv asked sympathetically. “I’ve never seen his father but I heard from Baird they were coming aboard.”
Sophie nodded. “Yes, they were on Tranq Prime but Commander Sazar moved them here to the Mother Ship after his wife died—I think he wanted a fresh start.”
“So the little boy’s mother is dead?” Dani’s heart went out to the child—she had not been much older herself when her own mother had been killed. “Where is his father?”
Sophie shrugged. “Off on another diplomatic mission, I think. He’s responsible for visiting the more sophisticated societies the Kindred find to see if they’d be open to a genetic trade.” She shook her head. “It’s sad to say but I think he distances himself on purpose because Tsandor reminds him too much of his dead wife with that blond hair of his.”
Liv frowned. “But if they’re from Tranq Prime they should all be blond, right?”
Sophie shook her head. “Not in this case. Commander Sazar is a Pitch-Blood Kindred.”
“What?” Liv frowned. “I’ve never heard of that—is it a whole new breed of Kindred?”
“More like a variation on the standard Blood Kindred,” Sophie said. “They have pitch black hair and there are other differences as well.”
“What differences?” Liv sounded interested.
“Well, you know how regular Blood Kindred only bite their mates to, uh, bring them pleasure or to heal them?” Sophie blushed prettily and Dani remembered that her own husband, Commander Sylvan, was a Blood Kindred. “I mean, they look like vampires when their fangs come out but they don’t actually need to drink blood.”
“Right. So how are the Pitch-Blood Kindred different?” Liv wanted to know.
“They do need to drink blood. Not a lot of it and not all the time,” Sophie said. “But they only drink from their mates. And if they don’t get it, they can get really sick.”
“What is Commander Sazar doing now then if his wife is gone?” Liv asked.
Sophie shook her head. “Don’t know. Sylvan says the Pitch-Kindred can go quite a while without blood but it is a biological need. So I’m not sure what he’s doing—I just wish he’d come back and see his little boy more often.”
“Is he living here on the Mother Ship while his father is away?” Dani asked.
Sophie nodded. “We have a constant care facility here for kids who have lost their parents. It’s staffed with wonderful people but it’s not the same to a kid as being home with their mom and dad. Of course little Tsandor misses his mom but now he’s dealing with the loss of his dad too, since Commander Sazar almost never comes around.”
“How sad. To have lost the one you love and know you will never see them again.” Dani felt tears rising to her eyes and tried to wipe them away quickly.
“Aww, hon…” Liv put an arm around her. “Listen, Sophie,” she said to her sister. “Has Sylvan told you if he’s done with the testing he was running on Kyron? Dani is really missing her man and she’s wondering when she might get to see him again.”
“Oh, didn’t you know?” Sophie looked surprised. “Sylvan was done with that days ago. He cleared Kyron to be out in the main Mother Ship and declared him not a threat to anyone.”
“He…he did?” Though it was good news, it made Dani feel more like crying than ever. If he had been cleared of all charges, why had Ky not sought her out?
“Yes,” Sophie told her. “He determined that it was a mixture of the weird water Kyron drank on the Hive world coupled with the Rage state he went into when he was protecting you that caused him to use his Touch sense to kill. But he’s fine now.”
“If he’s fine then why hasn’t he come to me?” Dani burst out, her eyes stinging. “Why am I still alone in my suite every night? Why has he not changed the color of my eyes and claimed me as his own?”
Her outburst made several of the children look up but Sophie and Liv both put their arms around her.
“I don’t know why he hasn’t come to you, honey,” Sophie said gently. “But I’m sure—”
“I know why.”
Dani looked up to see Elise coming towards them.
“Sorry to sneak up on you like this but Merrick said Sylvan told him I could find the two of you here,” she said, smiling at Liv and Sophie. “And I’m glad to see you, too, Dani.”
“Hello, Elise.” Dani blinked back tears and tried to smile at her friend. Elise was the first Kindred bride she had ever met and the petite brunette still held a special place in her heart. “Did…” She cleared her throat. “Did you say you know why Kyron hasn’t come to me? Is it…is it because he doesn’t want me anymore?” She had to force the words out.
“No, of course not!” Elise shook her head firmly. “No, according to Merrick, Ky thinks you don’t want him anymore.”
“What? But why would he think that?” Dani demanded. “What would give him that idea?”
“Maybe the fact that he tried to kill your father?” Elise said, raising one slim eyebrow. “Or the fact that he used his Touch sense to kill. I don’t think you understand how strong a taboo that is or what it meant for him to break it.”
“He had to break it,” Dani whispered. “If he hadn’t, Councilor Tornk would have killed me.”
“You need to tell him that, then!” Sophie exclaimed. “You can’t wait around for him to come to you—you need to go to him, Dani.”
“And if you want him to ‘claim’ you, I think you need to be wearing that naughty little see-through dress you had on when you first got off Merrick and Elise’s ship,” Liv said, grinning. “I thought the eyes of the guards on duty were going to pop out of their heads!”
“That gown was proper Goshan Prime attire,” Dani protested. “On my home planet, it is what all high-born ladies wear.”
“Well on our world it looks like something you’d wear in the bedroom if you wanted to get noticed. Come on,” Sophie said. “Let’s go get you all dolled up. Liv, can you take over art time so Elise and I can give Dani a makeover and get her ready to meet her man?”
“Of course.” Liv smiled. “And don’t worry—I’ll be sure little Tsandor’s vranna sculpture is put in a safe place.”
Sophie’s look darkened. “If his father ever comes to see it. All right, let’s go.”
She started to pull Dani out of the play area but Dani resisted.
“Wait—are you really suggesting I should go to Ky instead of waiting for him to come to me? Because that is not how we do things on Goshan Prime.”
“From what you’ve told me, women aren’t allowed to do much of anything on Goshan Prime,” Elise said quietly. “But you’re on the Mother Ship now, Dani—things are different. Or they can be different if you want them to be.”
Dani thought for a moment. On her home world, females were subservient to males—no woman she knew would dream of initiating sexual contact with a male of her own volition. They were simply supposed to assume the Breeding Position and allow the male to have his way with them.
Why can’t it be the other way though? she reasoned to herself. Why can’t I go after Ky? I didn’t wait for him to come to me the first time did I? If I hadn’t snuck into his cell to see him for myself we never would have met. Why can I not be bold and go to him now?
She could see no reason other than the obvious—fear of rejection. She looked at Elise.
“Are you certain he still wants me? I don’t want to go to him if he’s changed his mind and doesn’t care for me anymore.”
“Honey, Kindred don’t change their minds like that,” Liv assured her. “Once they’ve got you in their sights, you’re the only one they want.”
“Kyron thinks you’re afraid of him and don’t want anything to do with him,” Elise told her. “You need to go and prove him wrong. Believe me, you do.”
“Well…” Dani took a deep breath and then nodded her head. “All right, I’ll go to him. Oh—but there’s one more thing. Before, when Ky and I tried…when I tried to get him to change the color of my eyes, I mean…” She blushed but made herself continue. “It was…difficult, due to our size difference. And Ky said there was some kind of fruit I could find aboard the Mother Ship that would help.”
“Bonding fruit?” Elise raised her eyebrows at Dani. “We can get you some if you want, but you need to know what you’re getting into. Bonding fruit can have some very strong effects—the stories I could tell you…” She shook her head.
“Is it not safe?” Dani asked anxiously. “I don’t want anything that might hurt me but I do wish to, um, ease the way between us if Ky does still want me.”
“Oh, he still wants you all right, honey,” Liv said laughing. “And after you eat some bonding fruit, you’ll be wanting him too—in more than one way.”
“Come on,” Sophie said, taking her by the hand. “We’ll stop by Kat’s place on our way back to your suite. She makes a bonding fruit smoothie that’s fast acting—she likes to keep it in her system since she’s married to Twin Kindred.”
“All right.” Hoping that she knew what she was doing, Dani hugged Liv goodbye and followed Elise and Sophie out of the child care area.
I’m coming to you, Ky, she thought anxiously. I just hope you’ll meet me halfway.