Finding the Jewel Read online

  The words startled them both and Chloe looked around in horror to see Monk Taroni frowning at them.

  How could she have completely forgotten that they had an audience? An audience of only one, true, but still, the fact that someone had been watching her act like a sex-starved stripper was almost more than she could bear.

  “I…we…we can’t do these things in public—I mean, where anyone else can see,” Chloe said, fumbling for some explanation—some reason—to keep the monk from making them continue. “It…it’s too embarrassing.”

  “Hmmm.” The monk was still frowning but at last he nodded. “Very well. But if you will not perform here, then I must give you an assignment for tonight.”

  “An assignment?” Chloe slid off the big Kindred’s lap, noticing with relief that their robes—both of which had turned deep, rosy red—reformed and solidified, filling in the missing areas over their crotches the minute she stopped touching Tark.

  “Yes, and the assignment is this—you must continue feeding the Skin Hunger.” The monk frowned at them sternly. “Tonight in your chamber, I want you to give each other pleasure. You…” He pointed at Tark, “stroke and caress your lady’s curves—give her pleasure with both fingers and tongue—make her come to completion many times.”

  Tark’s golden eyes widened and he glanced at Chloe quickly before nodding that he understood.

  “And you,” Monk Taroni continued, pointing at Chloe. “You must also give your man the pleasure of your mouth and hands. If you feel able to, it would be best to spread your thighs for him and finish what the two of you started here this evening. Feeling his shaft and seed inside you will go a long way towards feeding the Skin Hunger. Do you understand?”

  “Um…yes.” Chloe could scarcely look at Tark, she was so embarrassed. The monk was practically ordering them to have sex! It was mortifying.

  “Good.” Monk Taroni pointed at them both this time. “The two of you have accrued a massive Touch Deficit—think of it as a debt you owe to yourselves and your relationship. If you do not start to ‘pay it down’ as it were—and allow yourselves to start touching and loving again—you could do serious and permanent damage to your union. Also, you will never achieve Oneness which all couples crave. Do you understand?””

  “Um, yes. Yes, we do,” Chloe said and Tark nodded gravely.

  “Very well. That’s all I can do for you in this first session.” Taroni sighed as though he had been working on a difficult task which was still far from finished. “Come with me and I’ll lead you to your chamber.”

  Chapter Ten

  Tark’s shaft ached with need as they followed the monk down more twisting corridors to the sleep chamber that was assigned to them. Gods, having Chloe in his arms, getting to taste her sweet lips and feeling the warm, wetness of her pussy pressed against his cock had been almost too much to bear! She was so beautiful, so desirable…and so frustrating.

  How could she be kissing him and doing everything she could to encourage him one minute and then pull away the next? How did she really feel about him? What did she want?

  Tark knew what he wanted. Though he told himself he needed to concentrate on the goal at hand, what he really wanted was to have Chloe for himself.

  Mine, he thought, unable to help himself or stop the possessive wave that rolled over him when he looked at her. She was so lovely with her soft, curvy body and her long pink hair and big blue eyes. He longed to do as the monk had ordered them and pleasure her with his fingers and tongue. He could just imagine himself between her thighs, lapping her sweet, wet pussy as he slid two fingers deep in her tight channel to fill her at the same time.

  Kindred had a biological need to taste their females and though he knew Chloe wasn’t really his, Tark was feeling that need deeply now. Maybe it had something to do with the “Skin Hunger” Monk Toroni had claimed they had—or maybe it was just that she was his ideal female—the one he’d been searching for all his life. But for whatever reason, Tark’s hands itched to caress her skin again. He wanted to take her to the bed and taste her until she cried out her pleasure…then fill her with his cock and the mating fist that throbbed at its base. He wanted to bond with her and make certain she could never leave him.

  Stop it, he told himself roughly. You can’t bond an unwilling female. Also, you still don’t know exactly how she feels about you. She could just be acting a part.

  But it hadn’t felt like acting when she’d pressed herself against him and kissed him. And what about how hot and wet her pussy had been? How could such a reaction be acting? She must surely feel something for him?

  He didn’t know…and he didn’t know how to ask.

  * * * * *

  “Well, this is certainly…nice.” Chloe tried to smile as she looked around the medium-sized cavern which was their bedroom as long as they stayed at the Resort of Resonant Oneness.

  There was a strange sort of bed which was actually a large, rectangular pit sunken a few feet down below ground level. It was filled with pillows and furry blankets and looked like it would be hard to get out of if you had to pee in the middle of the night—which she usually did at least once.

  There was another sunken pit in the floor—but this one was round. It appeared to be a kind of hot tub because steam was rising from its surface and there was a pile of thick towels on one edge.

  Too bad I didn’t bring a swim suit, she thought. A dip in the hot tub would have been nice.

  Their belongings had been brought to the room, including the clothing they had shed and the tablet and stylus Tark had brought with him for communication purposes. They lay in neat piles beside the bed pit.

  “Your evening meal will be served to you here,” Monk Taroni told them. “I have instructed that you not be allowed to eat with the other couples in the main dining area. You need to spend as much time alone—just the two of you—as possible. Without distractions.” He picked up the tablet and waved it in their faces before making it disappear into his voluminous white and black robes.

  “H-hey! W-whu-wait a m-m-m—” Tark’s golden eyes glowed with frustration as he reached for the tablet.

  “I don’t think so.” The monk gave him a disapproving look. “You need to spend time with your mate—not waste it playing with electronic gadgets and neglecting her.”

  “He doesn’t neglect me to ‘play’ with it,” Chloe said quickly, seeing how upset the big Kindred was. “We use it for communication purposes.”

  “Communicate through touch,” Monk Taroni suggested. “No words need to be spoken at all—I want the two of you to spend the entire night wrapped in each other’s arms, feeding the Skin Hunger.” He pointed at Tark, who was still visibly agitated. “You can have this back at the end of your stay. Not before.”

  Then he swept from the room and was gone.

  The big Kindred turned to her, his massive hands clenched into fists at his side.

  “Ch-Chloe,” he began. “I n-n-n-n-n—” He shook his head and gave an inarticulate growl of pure frustration at his inability to communicate.

  “Sing it,” Chloe suggested quickly. “You know now you can sing without stuttering—so sing it. You don’t have to sing a tune—you can just go up and down one or two notes, like monks doing a chant,” she added, singing to demonstrate what she meant.

  “I—I’ll try,” he sang, imitating her, his rich baritone filling the cavern.

  “You have a beautiful voice,” Chloe exclaimed, overcome with admiration again. “I can’t believe no one ever told you to try singing instead of speaking before.”

  “As I said, my father was ashamed of my speech defect,” Tark vocalized. The low, sonorous tones of his voice going up and down and echoing in the cavern really did remind her of a Gregorian Chant.

  “It’s not a defect,” she said firmly. “That makes it sound like there’s something wrong with you and there isn’t, Tark.” She touched his arm, looking earnestly into his eyes. “There’s something different about you but that’s not ne