Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Read online

  “But that’s so sad! It must break your heart!” She remembered the limp brantha corpse she’d seen in his lab the first time she’d been in it. Was Snuffy, still sitting on her knee, the clone of that animal? And how many other clones had there been?

  “It is sad and somewhat painful,” Calden admitted heavily. “But there is nothing I can do about it. I try not to get attached to my specimens but…” His eyes met hers and looked quickly away. “I cannot always help it.”

  “I’m sure you can’t.” Maddy stroked Snuffy again, listening to his contented burbling through his trunk-like nose. She sighed, already feeling blue for the little animal’s eventual fate. “So the nutrient bath is good for growing clones as well as healing things, huh? It must have a really unique chemical composition,” she said, trying to change the topic to something less morose.

  For some reason, Calden looked uncomfortable again.

  “It is…unique to the Mentat station. It was developed here specifically so they could grow biological specimens for study and research purposes.”

  “Well, I’m glad you had it to put me into. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have survived the crash of the Kennedy,” Maddy remarked.

  Calden’s mouth went tight for a moment, then he seemed to make a pointed effort to relax his features. He took a deep breath and his expression became neutral.

  Poor thing, Maddy thought. He must still be upset about losing the first batch of branthas. What a shame they have such a short life span. I wonder if it’s because they’re clones? She thought about asking him the specifics but he was already upset and she didn’t want to make his pain worse.

  “I guess my guardian angel must have been watching out for me when you found me,” she said instead.

  He frowned. “Guardian angel? What’s that?”

  “Oh, a religious belief from my home world—from Earth,” Maddy explained. “I just feel like God must have been keeping an eye on me—how else would I be the only one who got rescued?” She frowned. “What about you, Calden—do you have any religious beliefs?”

  He shook his head. “My people, the Kindred, worship the Goddess—the Mother of All Life—but I have never been much of a believer.”

  “You worship a goddess, huh?” Maddy gave him an appraising look. “No wonder you’re so protective of women.”

  “We revere all things female.” He nodded gravely. “Though I have never believed in the goddess, I have always believed in the sanctity of female life.” He cleared his throat. “Especially now that I have begun to know you, Madeline. I always knew intellectually that females were special but now I know it here as well.” He pressed one big fist to his heart.

  “Oh, Calden…” Maddy bit her lip, wishing she could hug him or ask him for a hug, as she had at breakfast. But what if he misunderstood her meaning?

  What is your meaning, anyway? whispered the voice of guilt in her head. Do you really just want a hug because you like what he said or are you looking for an excuse to get close to him again?

  Maddy was very much afraid it was the latter and not the former. It was probably better that she was sitting on the floor of the brantha enclosure with Snuffy firmly planted on her knee so she couldn’t grab the big Kindred.

  “I’m glad you’re learning new things from having me around,” she said instead, smiling up at him. “I’m learning from you too.”

  “Oh?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “How so?”

  Maddy looked at him appraisingly.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy quite like you, Calden. Not just because you’re a different species from me, either—you’re just different. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who was so innately a gentleman before.”

  “A…gentleman? Do you mean a male who is gentle or—”

  “Not quite—although you certainly are,” Maddy said. “You could break me in half with one hand if you weren’t.” She eyed the big hands in question, resting on the top of the brantha enclosure. “But what I mean by ‘gentleman’ is someone with good manners—someone who treats a woman like a lady—like she’s worthy of respect and care. Does that make more sense?”

  He nodded. “I think so. In that case, I am pleased you find me to be a ‘gentleman.’”

  “You most certainly are.” Maddy smiled at him. Although I haven’t exactly been acting like a lady, she mentally added with a touch of guilt. Not after the way I acted in the steam room with him.

  But even now, despite her guilt, she found herself wanting to do it again—wanting to touch him and feel those big, warm hands on her skin. His topaz eyes seemed to burn into hers and his spicy scent filled her senses. For a moment she wanted him so badly she could scarcely breathe. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel so strongly drawn to the big Kindred?

  At last, as though by mutual consent, they looked away.

  “I have also grown some of the creatures from your home world, using several of the frozen embryos you had aboard your ship for DNA,” Calden said, obviously changing the subject. “Would you be kind enough to come tell me about them?”

  “Oh, sure.” Gently, Maddy dislodged the littlest brantha from her knee. He squeaked and burbled in protest, not wanting to go but she shook her head. “Sorry, Snuffy, I have to go but I promise I’ll be back later to give you more skritches and pets.” She looked up at Calden and held out an arm. “Uh—help me up, will you? My hands are still really weak.”

  “They will be for a while, but I’m pleased with the progress you’ve made,” he told her. “I think from now on you’ll just have to sleep in the gloves and we should see improvement every morning.”

  Ignoring the arm she was offering, he leaned over and lifted her by the waist over the side of the brantha enclosure as easily as though she was a child.

  “Oh!” Maddy exclaimed as he set her gently on her feet. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you just picking me up like that!”

  He frowned. “Would you rather I didn’t?”

  She shook her head shyly.

  “No. Actually, I…kind of like it, I think. I’m just not used to it—that’s all. I’ve never been with a guy who was big enough and strong enough to lift me and carry me all around like you do. Not that we’re, uh, together or anything,” she added quickly, not wanting to give him the wrong impression. “I just mean…well, you know what I mean.”

  “I know.” Calden didn’t seem perturbed by her choice of words, which was good. Maddy didn’t want him thinking that she thought they were in some kind of relationship just because he had rescued her from the remains of her ship and healed her. There did seem to be some kind of attraction between them but there was no point in pursuing it—clearly they could never be together because of their size difference and it wasn’t like she ought to want to be with anyone anyway so soon after Pierce’s death so—

  “…called?”

  “Huh?” Maddy looked up, realizing she had missed his question because her brain had been running in guilty circles.

  “I said, could you please tell me what these specimens are called on your home world?” Calden asked, pointing into a new enclosure near the corner of the large room. In it were a number of fluffy yellow chicks, peeping and cheeping and exploring their new world on shaky legs.

  “Oh, you found the chicken embryos!” Maddy exclaimed. “Aren’t they cute?”

  “Are chickens a domestic animal then? What is their purpose?” Calden asked.

  “Well, they lay eggs and they taste great deep fried.Though I don’t know if I could eat one of these little guys—not after seeing them like this, all cute and fluffy.” She frowned. “Hopefully they’ll live a little longer than the branthas so you can study the complete lifecycle.”

  “Hopefully.” Calden nodded neutrally. “So tell me more…”

  * * * * *

  As they talked, Calden couldn’t stop the guilty feeling that was growing in his gut.

  Tell her, whispered a little voice in his head. She needs to know she’s a