Chapter Eighteen
Liv was sore. Deliciously sore. She was tender in places she hadn’t even known existed and sensitive all over, as though her entire body had become one big erogenous zone. God, who knew that Baird had a kinky side? Her new husband had been an animal the night before—in a good way, of course.
She looked at him fondly. Baird was breathing deeply, his big body completely relaxed on the other side of their large bed. It was no wonder he was worn out after everything he’d put them both through the night before!
Liv had to admit, the whole “you’ve been a bad girl and now you have to be punished” scenario had never done much for her in the past. The one time her old fiancé, Mitch, had tried it she’d burst out laughing, which completely ruined the mood. Poor Mitch, he just hadn’t had the physical presence or the emotional intensity to pull off anything even remotely resembling domination play.
But Baird…he had it. God, did he have it. Liv shivered as she remembered the hot, dangerous gleam in his golden eyes. The hungry, possessive way he’d taken her. Just thinking about it made her feel weak in the knees. She’d heard all the old jokes about how sex got boring and stale after marriage but somehow she didn’t think that was going to be a problem. Not as long as Baird kept surprising her with his kinky side. Yum .
Leaning over, she gave him a quick kiss on his rough cheek. Kindred didn’t seem to get as hairy as human men—thank God, since Liv had seen some guys at the beach who looked like walking fur coats— ugh . But the big warriors did still need to shave their faces occasionally. Not that they used a razor to do it—they had a domesticated animal that actually nibbled their beards away in a matter of seconds. It looked a little too much like the face-hugger from the Alien movies for Liv’s taste, but it never seemed to hurt Baird and he claimed it was completely painless. She hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve to use it on her legs yet but maybe someday in the near future…
Her stomach growled, reminding her that she’d barely eaten anything the day before. And who knew how many calories she’d burned during their marathon sex session? What she needed was a big, splurgy breakfast—the kind she and Sophie and Kat used to make every Saturday morning. Liv smiled. Think I’ll surprise Baird with some blueberry pancakes. It had taken her awhile to learn how to make them on the wave—the Kindred version of a stove—without burning them to a crisp, but Liv thought she had the hang of it now.
Careful not to wake Baird, she slid out of bed and put on a red silk robe which was all that was left of a really nice lingerie set she’d gotten at her wedding shower. Sadly, Baird had ripped the matching red lace teddy right off her, ruining it completely—although Liv had to admit she hadn’t minded a bit at the time.
Walking a little gingerly, she made her way to the back door of the suite. Before she started the pancakes, she wanted to make sure the morning klava had been delivered. It was a Kindred drink that tasted, to Liv anyway, like spicy herbal tea with a hint of lavender thrown in. It was immensely popular, so much so that the Kindred had built a special greenhouse aboard their ship to grow the flowers it was made from. Every morning the new buds were picked and simmered to perfection and the resulting brew was delivered door to door to those that signed up to receive it.
But though it tasted like herbal tea, Liv had learned to take the Kindred breakfast drink in small quantities. In caffeine content it was more like the concentrated Cuban coffee served in Tampa where she’d grown up than the Sleepy Time she and Sophie liked to sip before bed. Drinking more than a very small amount of klava left her wired the entire day.
Pressing the door switch, she leaned out to look for the steaming metal cylinder of klava. She saw it at once, but there was something else against outside the suite that caught her eye—or rather some one.
Kat was slumped against the wall, still wearing the dress she’d worn to the wedding. The silky, sapphire blue material was creased and rumpled and a lot worse for the wear.
Liv couldn’t help noticing that Kat was looking a lot worse for the wear herself. Her cheek was pressed against the curving silver wall and her long auburn hair was in tangles around her shoulders. Her delicate features were pinched, even in sleep, as though she was having a bad or disturbing dream.
“Kat?” Liv stared at her in concern. What was her friend still doing here? Why wasn’t she back on Earth where she belonged?
“Liv?” Kat’s eyes fluttered open and she blinked uncertainly. “Oh thank God! Are you finally finished with your tantric alien sex?”
“Uh, for now.” Liv bent to pick up the cylinder of klava and then offered her friend a hand up. “Come on, come inside. Why didn’t you knock earlier?”
“They told me I couldn’t. They said a Beast Kindred can’t be interrupted under any circumstances when he’s doing the bonding nasty with his bride.” Kat took her hand.
“Who in the world is they?” Liv asked, giving her a pull.
Kat winced as she got to her feet. “Deep and Lock—Baird and Sylvan’s step brothers. Er—second brothers, I mean.”
Liv remembered seeing the way the Twin Kindred had been eyeing her friend at the wedding and smiled. “Uh-huh. And what exactly were you doing discussing bonding sex with those two?”
“ They were the ones talking to me about it, and you can wipe that smirk off your face right now,” Kat snapped in a very un-Kat like display of temper.
“ Sorry .” Liv ushered her into the food prep area and sat the steaming metal cylinder of klava on the counter. “Didn’t mean to make you angry.”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry.” Kat made a face and rubbed her forehead. “It’s just this damn headache I have—it won’t go away. And those two feel so loudly I can hardly hear myself think.”
“They what? Kat, what are you talking about?” Liv was beginning to be really worried about her. “Come on, hon, I think you’d better sit down.”
“No,” Kat gripped her hand, a troubled look on her face. “You’re the one who should sit down, Liv. I’m so sorry. I keep babbling on because I don’t know how to say what I need to say.”
A cold finger of fear traced its way down Liv’s spine. “What do you need to say?”
“Okay, now first let me tell you that they’re all right—at least they were the last time I saw them,” Kat said rapidly. “But Sophie and Sylvan’s shuttle crashed and they’re lost somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.”
“ What?” It felt like a shriek leaving her throat but what came out was more like a strangled whisper.
“You heard me,” Kat said grimly. “They’re lost. But they’re not hurt and they have each other. And the last I saw, Sylvan was doing his damndest to protect Sophie.”
“The last you saw? How did you see them? Did you contact Sophie by Think-me?”
Kat frowned. “You know I’m not allowed to use one of those. My mind isn’t linked to a Kindred’s.” She made a face. “Well, not in the traditional way, anyway. I mean, not…look, never mind how I did it. The point is I was able to see them even though we couldn’t communicate.”
“You…you said he was trying to protect her. Protect her from what?” Liv whispered through numb lips.
Kat looked unhappy. “I don’t know exactly. But whatever it was, Lock and Deep seemed to think that Sylvan could handle it. And the way he looked…” She shivered. “Believe me, anything with half a brain would have left him the hell alone. His eyes were red and his fangs were out—”
“The rage was on him, then.”
They both turned to see Baird standing in the doorway with a frown on his face. He was wearing the smiley face boxers Liv had bought him as a joke, but somehow even the sight of her gigantic husband in bright yellow silk smilies didn’t lighten her mood.
“Baird,” she said. “Sophie and Sylvan are—”
“I know. I heard.” Baird looked at Kat. “Did Deep or Lock try to bespeak Sylvan?”
Kat nodded. “Of course. That was the first thing they tried. But the Scourge—”
“Have put up some kind of a mental block around Earth.”
This voice came from a different doorway—the one leading to the back entrance. Liv turned her head to see two large males crowded together, one with black hair and black eyes and the other with dark blond hair and brown eyes.
“Forgive the intrusion,” Lock said courteously, making an abbreviated bow. “The door was open and we heard voices so we assumed it was safe to come in.”
“Is that right?” Kat’s grip suddenly tightened on Liv’s hand until she yelped in pain.
“Ow, Kat! What the—?”
“You shouldn’t be here.” Kat was glaring at Baird’s second brothers like she wanted to burn a hole right through them with her eyes.
“We have as much right to be here as you.” Deep growled, his black eyes flashing as he glared back at Kat.
Liv looked between them uncertainly. Boy, if looks could kill… What in the world had happened between the three of them to cause this level of hostility? The entire food prep area was suddenly charged with tension, as though someone had set a bomb that was timed to blow at any minute.
“Sylvan is our second brother,” Deep continued. “We have as much interest in his safety as you do in Sophia’s.”
“Not enough to let me talk to Liv last night instead of waiting all this time,” Kat shot back. She looked at Liv. “I wanted to tell you earlier but Lock and Deep said I shouldn’t interrupt you.”
“Yes, you should have!” Liv sank down on the round bench that circled the table in the dining nook. “You absolutely should have, Kat—I don’t care how awkward it would have been.”
“Olivia is right,” Baird rumbled. “Though believe me, it would have been plenty damn awkward,” he added, looking uncomfortable. Remembering the kinky exploits of the night before, Liv felt herself blush in agreement.
“We would have if we thought Sylvan couldn’t protect her,” Lock said with dignity. “But from what Kat and Deep and I saw—”
“How exactly did you see them?” Baird growled, frowning.
It was Lock’s turn to look uncomfortable. “We, er, used Kat as a focus to find Sophia and Sylvan. But only because you weren’t available yourself, Brother.”
“They used you as a what?” Liv looked at her friend in concern. Kat was still glaring at the twins and her fair cheeks were stained a deep, rosy red. “Kat,” she murmured, what exactly did you get up to last night?”
“Not as much as you did, I’m sure.” Kat spoke to Liv while keeping her eyes trained on Deep and Lock. “But a hell of a lot more than I planned on, I can tell you that.”
Liv turned on Deep and Lock. “You bastards—what did you do to my friend?”
“Only what was necessary to find your sister,” Deep shot back.
“Using an unmated female as your focus?” Baird shook his head. “I don’t know much about the way seeking/finding works, but I thought it was forbidden to use an unshielded mind in such a way.”
“It was her choice.” Deep scowled.
“And it’s not forbidden—just not exactly encouraged ,” Lock added. “The lady Kat did offer herself. We tried to warn her that the experience might be somewhat…intimate.”
“ Somewhat intimate?” Kat demanded. “It was a hell of a lot more than ‘somewhat intimate.’ Compared to being mentally groped by the two of you, a trip to the gynecologist is like a handshake.”
“You volunteered for it,” Deep exploded. “We tried to warn you.”
“Well you didn’t warn me about the fact that this…this link between us doesn’t seem to be fading.” Kat sounded both scared and furious. “ Or that I’d have your damn emotions running around inside me for who knows how long. Or that I’d have a splitting headache I can’t get rid of.”
Baird crossed his arms over his bare chest and narrowed his eyes at the two Twin Kindred. “You put me in an awkward position, brothers. It is my duty to protect the females under my care. As my bride’s friend, Kat falls squarely into that category.”
“Kat should be ours to protect,” Deep snarled, taking a step forward. “Lock and I have shared a joining with her and you already have a bride.”
Baird took a step forward too, glowering. “If I’m hearing correctly, she wants nothing more to do with you. And it seems you took unfair advantage of her last night.”
The tension in the room was suddenly so thick it was stifling. Liv could almost smell the testosterone filling the air, a thick, hot odor like the musk of male animals in rut. She opened her mouth to say something but Kat beat her to it.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” She held out her hands, stepping between Baird and Deep, who was being held back by Lock. “Look, I’m not happy about what happened last night—not happy at all. ” She glared at Deep. “I will admit, though, that it was necessary up to a point. We had to make sure Sophie and Sylvan were all right. And that’s what we need to concentrate on now—finding them and bringing them home.”
“The lady Kat is correct,” Lock said earnestly. “After she found them, Deep and I were able to pinpoint their exact location.”
“Give me the coordinates,” Baird said at once. “I’ll go get them right now.”
“The structure they’re in is in a heavily wooded area,” Deep growled. “You couldn’t wedge a shuttle in there if you tried.”
“However, there is a clearing about half a mile away by a small human shop. You could land there,” Lock offered. “Only…”
“Only what?” Liv demanded impatiently.
“Well…” Lock looked uncomfortable. “Perhaps you should try bespeaking them again first. And not just…walk in on them.”
“When we last saw Sylvan he was deep in rage ,” Deep added, as though that explained anything.
“He really was?” Baird frowned. “I thought he might be from Kat’s description but I didn’t know he cared for Sophia that way.”
“Apparently he does,” Deep said dryly. “Which is why you should call first.”
“How can we call them? I thought you said there was a mental block,” Liv said.
“There is,” Lock said. “But the last time I tried Sylvan on the Think-me, it felt weaker. As if I could almost get through. Maybe if someone with a stronger connection—”
Liv was already up. “Bebo,” she called. “Bebo, quick, fetch the Think-me.”
“Wait.” Baird put a hand on her arm just as the little zichther, which looked remarkably like a blue teddy bear, came waddling into the room with a thin wire circlet clutched in its jaws.
“Wait? Why should we wait?” Liv was already reaching for the Think-me but Baird got it first.
“Think what Lock is trying to tell us, Olivia,” he said softly. “Sylvan was deep in rage . That’s a state Kindred males don’t go into unless their bride is threatened. I had a helluva time not being blinded by it myself when I went to the Scourge’s Fathership to get you. If the AllFather had refused my offer of krik-ka-re, I probably would have lost it and ripped the whole damn place apart.”
“I still don’t understand.” Liv shook her head. “Sophie and Sylvan aren’t together but he still went into this…this rage state? What does that even mean?”
“It means that Sylvan probably demolished the threat—whatever it was—and he’s bonding Sophia to him this very minute,” Deep drawled. “And it’s not wise to interrupt bonding sex between a Blood-Kindred and his chosen mate—not even telepathically. Although it’s a hell of a lot better to bespeak them than to just barge in.”
“Are you crazy?” Kat glared at them. “You never said anything like that to me. Sophie doesn’t even like Sylvan.”
“Sometimes liking doesn’t have anything to do with it.” Deep gave her a half-lidded look so hot Liv was surprised it didn’t burn her friend’s silky blue dress right off her lush, voluptuous body. “Sometimes the desire between a Kindred and his bride is so intense that it can’t be denied—by either party.”
“Deep is right,” Baird said thoughtfully. “Sometimes the blood knows what the mind does not wish to see.” He sounded like he was quoting some kind of a proverb.
Liv thought of the hungry way Sylvan had kissed her twin during the Luck Kiss and how nervous Sophie had seemed afterwards. Could they possibly… No. No way. It’s just not possible. “I’m not listening to any more of this.” She held out her hand, frowning up at Baird. “Give it to me.”
“ Lilenta ,” he murmured. “How would you have felt if someone had interrupted us the first time?”
“I would have been madder than hell,” Liv said calmly. “But I’m telling you, Baird, nothing is going on. Think-me’s only work when you’re calling from the Mother ship and Sophie left her cell phone at home, so neither one of them has any way to communicate. They’re probably down there, twiddling their thumbs right now, waiting for us to make contact. That’s if they’re okay. Please…” Her throat got tight but she forced the words out. “I have to know they’re all right.”
Baird looked troubled but he handed her the thin silver wire at once. “Very well. But I’m certain they’re well, Lilenta. Sylvan and I have a very deep bond. I would know if he was wounded or had gone to be with the Mother.”
“You think that,” Liv said, settling the Think-me so that the cool silver wire pressed against her temples. “I was really close to my parents, too. I would have sworn that I would just know somehow if anything happened to them. But when we got that knock on the door I had no idea. I…” She shook her head, unable to finish.
“Liv…” Kat squeezed her arm comfortingly. She had been the first to rush over to the house on that terrible day, so Liv knew her friend understood exactly how horrible the memory still was. And how fearful Liv was of losing someone else she loved suddenly.
“It’s okay.” She shook her head. “Let me…just let me concentrate.” Closing her eyes she thought hard, pushing her mental voice out into space. “ Sophie…Sophie, can you hear me?” But there was nothing—nothing except the strange sensation of her words flying out into space…and then bouncing back. Almost as though they were being repelled by some outside force. Liv opened her eyes.
“Anything?” Kat looked at her hopefully.
Liv shook her head. “Nothing. Just this weird…barrier somewhere out there. It’s like trying to shout through a rubber wall or something. I know that doesn’t make sense…”
“It makes perfect sense,” Lock said firmly. “That is exactly what Deep and I encountered when we tried to make contact with Sylvan. But the first few times we tried the wall was more solid—like rock.”
“That’s why we think it’s getting weaker,” Deep added. “Whatever or whoever is generating it—probably the Scourge—can’t keep it up forever.”
“If we can’t bespeak them then we have to go to them,” Liv said. “ Now, Baird! And don’t start that crap again about Sophie and Sylvan being together. I know Sophie and Sylvan is not her type.”
“It might not be so easy,” Lock said. “Since last we talked to lady Kat, the High Council has put a moratorium on travel between the Mother ship and the planet—at least until they ascertain that the threat is gone.”
“Threat, what threat? I thought they crashed,” Liv protested.
“We think they may have been forced down,” Deep said. “The Council has decided to fly some patrols in the space between Earth and the ship. So far they haven’t found anything but just to be sure…”
“It should only be another few hours,” Lock said, obviously intending to be comforting.
“A few hours?” Liv kept her voice low and controlled with an effort. “In a few hours it might be too late! I thought you said they were in danger .”
“That was hours ago,” Deep said. “And if Baird says they’re still alive—well…” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling nonchalantly under his dark green shirt.
“How would Baird know?” Kat demanded. “I mean, no offense,” she said, turning to him. “But Liv is right. You can’t just know that the people you love are okay.”
“Actually, I can,” he said mildly. “Sylvan and I share a blood connection. We’re only half brothers, so we can’t hear each other’s thoughts without a Think-me, or feel each other’s emotions like Deep and Lock here.” He nodded at his second-brothers. “But I do know that if Sylvan was wounded or dying, I would feel it here.” He thumped his chest with one large fist. “The same way I felt our father’s passing.”
“So…” Liv looked up at him. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better? You’d really know if something was wrong?”
“With Sylvan, yes.” He nodded firmly. “And Lilenta, if he cared enough about Sophia to go into rage for her, then he would have died killing whatever was threatening her before he allowed her to come to harm. Actually, he would have died defending her even if he didn’t care—I charged him with her safety, remember? If Sylvan is alive and well, I would stake my honor as a warrior that your sister is as well.”
Liv looked at him for a long moment and Baird met her eyes with his own golden gaze. After a long moment she felt the knot that had formed in the pit of her stomach loosen just a little. “Oh Baird, are you really sure?”
“As sure as I can be.” He drew her to him and held her tight, tucking her head under his chin. His arms around her shoulders felt like warm, flexible steel and Liv let herself melt against him, drawing comfort from his big, solid form.
Breathing in his spicy, comforting scent, she tried not to cry. “I hope you’re right. I really do.”
“So do I, Lilenta,” he rumbled. “So do I.”