“Why not?” Kat asked indignantly. “You’re gorgeous—I mean, you’re a little worse for the wear right now, doll.” She nodded at Chloe’s slimy robe-dress and matted hair. “But I love that hair color—I’ve always wanted to go pink or blue or something like that but I always chickened out. And you’re the perfect shape for an Elite.”
“An Elite…” Suddenly Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “That…that’s what Tark always called me,” she whispered, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
“But he’s a Beast Kindred, isn’t he?” Sophia frowned. “I thought that was a Twin Kindred thing.”
“His father is the Ambassador to Twin Moons,” Sylvan explained gravely.
“Yes, he was raised there.” Chloe nodded.
“Oh, poor guy,” Kat said, shaking her head sympathetically. “Being raised in a society where everybody has a twin except you must have been really hard for him.”
Chloe cried some more. It was so nice to be with people who understood her and Tark!
“Yes, it was,” she whispered, swiping at her eyes again. “And his stutter made things worse. “That’s why he was at the Commercians’ station in the first place—he got a prophecy from a priestess that told about a jewel located in a doorway between worlds and he thought it was there. Then he saw me and I begged him to take me away with him and he did.”
Sylvan’s frown deepened. “A dimensional rift? This close to Earth? That is very bad news indeed.” He made a little half bow to Chloe. “Would you excuse me? You have given me several new problems to solve.”
“Oh, of course.” Chloe nodded. “Thank you so much, Commander Sylvan. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving Tark.”
Sylvan nodded. “Again, you are welcome. He should recover swiftly now that he has enough blood in his system for his body to heal.”
As he left, Chloe sank back down in the waiting room chair she’d been occupying earlier. She felt sticky and stinky and gross and thoroughly exhausted but also incredibly relieved. It was a confusing mixture of emotions and she thought for a moment that she’d never felt so tired in her life.
“You poor thing,” Sophia said gently. “You look completely worn out. How about a hot shower, a warm supper, and a soft bed, in that order?”
“Yes, please,” Chloe said gratefully. “And thank you both so much for staying with me while the doctor worked on Tark.”
“Of course, doll—we wouldn’t leave you alone at a time like that.” Kat smiled at her.
“Besides, we’re used to girls popping up on our doorstep, so to speak, who need a little help,” Sophia added. “You’re certainly not the first. Come on.” She rose and tugged at Chloe’s sleeve. “You’re going to feel so much better after you have a shower and some food and a good night’s sleep.”
Chloe rose wearily too but then a thought occurred to her.
“But what about Tark? What if he wakes up and I’m not there?”
“He’s sedated at the moment, to help his body heal,” Olivia said, coming through the door. She looked tired and there were blood stains on the smock she was stripping off but she smiled wearily at Chloe as she spoke. “He won’t be up to having any company at all for at least twenty-four hours.”
“You heard her, hon,” Kat said. “He’s resting and healing and it looks to me like you could use some rest and healing too.”
“Yes.” Chloe nodded, finally feeling at peace. “You’re right. Thank you,” she added to Olivia. “For working so hard to save him.”
“He’s not going anywhere,” Olivia informed her. “In fact, he already looks better. His body was just in shock from blood loss but the wounds weren’t deep—there were just a lot of them. As fast and as well as Kindred heal, I doubt he’ll even have any scars.”
Chloe thought of the one distinctive scar Tark had that bisected one arching eyebrow. It was one of the things she loved about him—the fact that he looked like such a big scary guy on the outside and was actually sweet and loving inside.
I’ll see him again soon, she promised herself. Once I’m all cleaned up and rested. And then I can tell him how I feel about him. Tell him that I love him.
Wait a minute—you love him? asked a shocked little voice in her head. But you haven’t even known him a week. And after what happened in the sex cubby at the Resort…
But that hadn’t been Tark’s fault—it was the damn gella mattress. Inside, the big Kindred was kind and sweet and gentle and he was clearly attracted to her even though she wouldn’t have believed it was possible for someone like him to fall for someone like her, even a week ago. Plus, he had come after her to save her—had almost died for her.
I almost lost him, Chloe thought and felt a cold shiver go down her spine. If that had happened, she knew she couldn’t have stood it. She felt a bone-deep connection to Tark that she couldn’t explain or deny. It just seemed they were meant to be together.
I love him, she thought again and knew it was true. And I’m going to tell him as soon as he wakes up.
“Come on now,” Sophia said to her. “Hot shower and soft bed is this way. We’ll put you up in one of the guest suites.”
“I’m coming.” Chloe gave her a tired smile that included Olivia and Kat too. “Thank you all again,” she said. “I always thought it would be scary to live on the Mother Ship. But, well…you girls seem to be doing all right.”
“We manage,” Kat said dryly, giving her a wry grin. “Maybe you’ll find out for yourself what living on the Mother Ship is like once your man wakes up.”
“Oh, he’s not my man—not really,” Chloe demurred. She lifted her chin. “But he will be once he wakes up. “I’m going to tell him how I really feel.”
“Good for you.” Olivia smiled. “There’s nothing like a near-death experience to make you appreciate your guy. I know that from hard personal experience.”
“Exactly.” Chloe nodded and then yawned. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m just about dead on my feet.”
“You get her to the suite and I’ll order some food,” Kat said to Sophia. “We can all get together later and compare notes.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Olivia nodded and smiled at Chloe. “Sweet dreams, sweetie.”
“I think we know what she’ll be dreaming of,” Kat grinned at her. “If she hasn’t been already—have you and, uh, Tark been dream-sharing?” she asked.
Chloe frowned.
“I don’t know what you mean by that but I did have a dream about a man with golden eyes right before he found me. I didn’t really remember it until later but—”
“Yup, dream sharing for sure,” Kat said, nodding. “Better get her a suite for two, Sophie. You know these two will need plenty of room for bonding sex once her man gets out of the med center.”
“Bonding sex?” Chloe frowned. “What’s that exactly?”
“Well…” Sophia bit her lip. “It’s different for every kind of Kindred. But with a Beast Kindred, as I understand it…” She looked at her sister.
“Hang on,” Olivia said. She had finished stripping off the smock and was wearing pale pink scrubs underneath. “Let me wash up and I’ll explain. I’m married to a Beast Kindred myself,” she told Chloe.
“Hurry,” her sister said. “Poor Chloe is so tired she’s about to fall over.”
“I won’t be a minute,” Olivia promised. “Tell you what, just get her to her suite and then call me on the Think-me and tell me where you are. I can give her a briefing while she eats.”
Sophia nodded. “Good idea. Come on, Chloe.”
As she followed the other girl down the long, metal corridor, Chloe wondered what in the world “bonding sex” was and what it had to do with her and Tark. She had a vague memory of him trying to tell her not to worry about getting pregnant because they weren’t bonded but she still had no idea what he had meant by that.
Well, I suppose I’ll find out soon enough, she thought and yawned. I just hope I can stay awake long enough to hear what Olivia and Sop
hia have to say.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Well, you’re certainly looking better, doll!” Kat smiled at her approvingly as Chloe opened the door to her guest suit.
“I feel a lot better,” she admitted. “A good meal that wasn’t made up of invisible bugs and eyeballs or fukkin cakin plus a good night’s sleep made me feel one hundred percent better!”
“Uh…fucking caken?” Kat frowned. “Wow, must have been some really bad cake.”
“Oh, no!” Chloe blushed. “I wasn’t swearing about it—that’s actually what it was called, fukkin cakin. It was this weird patchwork looking cake that was all different colors and flavors. And I do mean all different flavors—I got some that tasted like dirt. But it was still better than the invisible eyeball sandwiches and bug chips.”
“Wow, I know you said those awful Commercian things were trying to make you lose weight but that seems like an extreme way to do it,” Kat exclaimed.
“Oh no—the Commercians only gave me protein pellets,” Chloe said. “The other stuff I mentioned, we ate at the Resort of Resonant Oneness—the place we went after Tark rescued me. He was hoping to find the jewel in his prophesy there—the one that would cure his stutter. But well…” She felt a sudden lump in her throat. “I think he lost it when he was fighting Globber the Slimerian to save me.”
“Poor guy,” Kat said sympathetically. “But listen, I know how you can cheer him up—Liv just Bespoke me and told me he should be up to having visitors within the hour. I swung by to get you because I thought you might have a hard time finding the med center on your own.”
“Oh, thank you!” Chloe exclaimed. “And thank you for the clothes you sent over too.” She nodded down at herself. Kat had very kindly sent over quite a large collection of things to choose from.
“No problem, doll. I just copied some of my own outfits on the clothing pattern replicator. I figured we were about the same size so…”
“You figured right,” Chloe said, smoothing down the sleek pencil skirt and matching blouse she had picked to wear. The outfit showed her curves to their best advantage while hiding her flaws. “I love them!”
“Well, great! Now listen, I thought we might want to kill a little time before you can see your man by calling some people back on Earth. I mean, I’m sure your family is probably worried sick about you, right?” Kat raised an eyebrow.
Chloe put a hand to her mouth.
“Oh my God—my poor parents and sister! How could I not think of contacting them last night? And my friend Amanda probably thinks she’s going crazy—I disappeared when she and I were having a girl day together.”
“You were understandably overwhelmed last night,” Kat said firmly. “Come on—this way to the viewing room. We can have everyone you care about come down to the HKR building and talk to you on the viewscreen so you can reassure everyone at once. Okay?”
“All right. Thank you.” Chloe followed her down the hallway, wondering how in the world she was going to explain everything that had happened to her to her family and best friend. She had told Kat and Liv and Sophie a good chunk of it the night before and they hadn’t been fazed at all. It seemed they were used to strange things happening.
As Olivia put it, “When you’re with a Kindred guy, you have to get used to the weird and unexpected going down on a fairly regular basis.”
But her parents were definitely not used to weird things happening. Having a daughter who had been abducted and rescued by aliens was probably going to blow their minds.
* * * * *
Tark woke suddenly from a bad dream in which he hadn’t gotten to Chloe in time and the Slimerian had killed her.
“No!” he shouted, sitting straight up in bed. “No, y-you b-buh-bastard!”
“Hey…hey, take it easy, big guy!” a soothing female voice said right beside him.
Tark turned to see a blonde Earth woman with silvery gray eyes looking at him with a worried expression on her face.
“Wh-who are y-yuh-you?” he managed to get out at last.
“My name’s Olivia—I’m your nurse. You’re aboard the Kindred Mothership orbiting the Earth and Chloe is just fine,” she said, answering all his questions at once, for which Tark was grateful. His stutter seemed to be worse again—worse than it had been since he’d first met Chloe.
Chloe…he remembered rescuing her from Globber…but he also remembered the awful things he had done to her in the Advanced Oneness Class. A sudden wave of shame overcame him. Would she hate him forever for what he had done? He wouldn’t blame her a bit if she did.
“Sh-shu-she is w-wuh-well?” he finally managed to get out, looking anxiously at his nurse.
Olivia nodded firmly.
“Very well. In fact, she’s coming to see you in about an hour.”
Tark felt his face go hard.
“N-nuh-no.” He shook his head firmly. He didn’t deserve to see Chloe again—not after the way he had treated her. It would be better for her to just go back to Earth and try to forget him—if she could, that was.
“No?” Olivia looked at him blankly. “What do you mean, no? You don’t feel like you’ll be ready in an hour? Because your doctor says you can get up and take a shower now. You’ll have time to get yourself together.”
“N-n-n…” Tark shook his head, his hands fisting in frustration as he tried to get the words out. At last he took a deep breath and tried to speak on the exhale as Chloe had taught him. “N-not the r-ruh-reason,” he got out at last. “C-can’t s-suh-see her.”
“You can’t?” Olivia still looked confused and distressed. “But…well, my friends and I had the idea that the two of you were, well, together.”
Tark shook his head again. He wished he could be with Chloe. But he didn’t deserve her. Not after what had happened at the Resort of Resonant Oneness. He wished he could explain better to the kind nurse, who still looked so upset and uncertain. But his stutter, which had actually been easing some while he was with Chloe, had somehow come back full force. He knew it would be nearly impossible to get the words out—it was better to remain silent.
“So…you really don’t want to see her?” Olivia asked again, apparently wanting to be sure.
Tark felt like his heart was an empty shell, ready to crack, but he only shook his head.
“C-cuh-can’t,” he managed. “C-can’t s-suh-see her.”
“You can’t but you wish you could?” she suggested hopefully.
Tark felt like she’d reached into his chest and squeezed his lungs—how did she know? He could barely breathe. But he couldn’t let the nurse know how right she was. She might feel obligated to tell Chloe that he wanted to see her after all and Tark knew he couldn’t put the female he loved through that. After what he had done to her, he owed Chloe a clean break.
Shaking his head, he turned away from the nurse, rolling onto his side in the med center bed and stared at the wall.
Chloe, he thought. I’m so damn sorry! I wish so much things could have been different. I hope someday you can forgive me, even though we’ll never see each other again.
Chapter Twenty-three
“Whew…well, that went better than expected. I’m so glad your mom is okay.” Kat gave Chloe a spontaneous hug and Chloe hugged the other girl back.
“I know—she’s always been a crier but I thought she was going to drown my poor dad!” She sniffed—she was crying a little herself. It had been so good to see her parents and her little sister and Amanda on the big Kindred viewscreen. It was even better to reassure them that she was all right and would be coming down to Earth soon.
But not too soon, she thought as she blotted her eyes. Not before I have bonding sex with Tark and finish what we started at the Resort of Resonant Oneness.
After a long talk with Olivia the night before, she no longer feared the mating fist at the base of the big Kindred’s shaft. Liv had promised her that with enough stimulation and lubrication, her body would open easily to accommodate Tark’s equipment—all of
it. And now that she knew she loved him, that was exactly what Chloe wanted—for the two of them to be together forever. She knew it might seem like a hasty decision to anyone else but Liv and Kat and Sophie had seemed to understand completely.
“When you know, you know,” Sophia had told her. “Especially if you two have been dream-sharing—that’s like the Goddess’s stamp of approval. You should go for it.”
Which was exactly what Chloe intended to do.
“Come on,” she said to Kat. “Can you take me back to the med station now? I really want to see Tark.”
“I’m sure you do, doll.” Kat raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Follow me.”
Chloe followed, eager to see the man she loved and tell him how she really felt.
But when they got back to the med station, there was an unhappy surprise awaiting her.
“I’m sorry, Chloe but, well…he says he doesn’t want to see you.”
“What?” Chloe’s heart seemed to fall down to the floor at her feet with a splat. “What do you mean he won’t see me?”
“Just that.” Olivia shrugged unhappily. “I, uh, can’t get much more out of him. He woke up really upset and he was very concerned about you—wanted to know if you were all right. But when I told him you’d be coming to see him soon, he refused to see you. I tried but, well…” She shook her head. “I can’t change his mind.”
“Oh no…” Chloe felt like she was going to cry all over again. “But…why? What did I do?”
“Whatever it was, I bet it’s a big misunderstanding,” Kat said firmly.
“That’s what I think too,” Olivia admitted. “But he won’t talk about it.”
“If he’s upset and worried about her, you can bet he still loves her,” Kat said. She looked at Chloe. “Go in there anyway and straighten this out, doll. Liv and I will look the other way.”
“Kat, I don’t think—” Olivia began but Kat was already pushing Chloe into the med center while she held her friend back. “Just let her talk to him,” Chloe heard her telling the protesting Liv. “They’ll get it all cleared up in five minutes. You’ll see.”