Forgotten Read online

“Oh…I better not touch any of this. I don’t remember any of it.”

  “That’s all right,” Rone said. “It will come back to you…in time.” He just hoped Kate would be willing to give him that time to reconnect with her. At least she hadn’t shied away from him at all since they’d come aboard The Finder. Then again, he was making damn sure to give her plenty of space to avoid triggering her panic response. Still, she seemed to be getting more comfortable in his presence. He told himself that was a start.

  The viewscreen crackled and then a Blood Kindred’s face appeared on it.

  “Finder, be advised that the rift is open. Please proceed at your convenience.”

  “Thank you. On our way,” Rone said.

  “The rift?” Kate raised an eyebrow at him.

  “The fold in the space-time continuum. Look—there it is.” He pressed a button and the Blood Kindred disappeared to be replaced by a view of space outside their ship. There, looking like a long, bloody gash in the blackness of space, was the rift—often also known as the “fold.”

  “Oh…” Kate breathed. “Are we going into that?”

  Rone reminded himself that even though she’d folded space with him many, many times, she didn’t remember any of them.

  “It’s all right—it’s completely safe,” he reassured her—then he thought of something. “Uh, with the exception of expectant mothers. They should not fold space.” He looked at Kate. “Is there any chance that you might be…”

  “Pregnant?” she finished for him, bluntly. “No. Even though I didn’t have any idea I had a husband, I haven’t been feeling ready to jump back into the dating scene these last six months. It kind of puts a damper on your first date when you admit you lost three years of your memory and woke up naked in a park in Sarasota.”

  “All right. That’s fine.” Rone kept his tone light and impersonal but inside he felt a stone lift off his heart. He was certain he would have smelled another male on her if she’d been with one and he hadn’t—but it was nice to have it confirmed by Kate herself.

  “What about you?” she threw at him, frowning. “Any other women these past six months?”

  “Kate,” he said quietly, looking her in the eyes. “I would never. From the moment I saw you, there’s never been any other female for me. Besides…” He cleared his throat. “I’ve been too busy desperately searching the universe for any trace of you to think of anything else. Finding you has literally consumed me, body and soul, these past six solar months.”

  “Of course.” She looked chastened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”

  “It’s all right,” Rone muttered, working the controls. “I started it—I asked first.”

  “But I shouldn’t have—”

  “Prepare yourself,” he interrupted. “We’re about to fold space.”

  * * * * *

  Flying into the red gash in space was one of the more frightening things Kate had ever been through. But she gritted her teeth and reminded herself that she had done it before—lots of times. True, she couldn’t remember them but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was still here in one piece, so it must be safe.

  She felt bad about her remarks to Rone—asking if he’d been with another woman when he’d clearly been going crazy trying to find her. But she felt so put on the defensive when she was around him!

  And it wasn’t just Rone—there were other things that bothered her too. It was strange to walk around the ship she apparently called home and see all the little touches she knew must be her own and only remember a few of them. There were probably clothes in the closet she would adore—but she wouldn’t remember picking any of them out.

  Kate sighed to herself. It wasn’t all bad. By the same token, there were probably movies she’d want to watch—books she would want to read—strange foods Rone had introduced her to she would love to eat…

  Chairs you’d want to sit on, whispered a little voice in the back of her head but Kate pushed it away quickly. What was the deal with that weird breeding chair anyway? She couldn’t imagine sitting there, impaled on his no-doubt sizable shaft for hours and hours just rocking and fucking…it was too weird. Yet the mental image of being spread out on the big Kindred’s lap while he held her and slowly thrust up into her wouldn’t quite leave her head. It gave her a shiver that ran up and down her spine, making her feel hot and cold at the same time.

  “All right, we’re through the fold and only a few parsecs from Flame and Frost.”

  Rone’s deep voice pulled her out of her forbidden thoughts and made her jump.

  “Oh, um…okay. How long until we get there, then?”

  “Not too long.” He was doing something with the controls. “We’ll be within hailing distance soon. I’ll send out a signal.”

  “Tell me about us,” Kate said, surprising both herself, and Rone, from the look he shot us.

  “Um…” He cleared his throat. “What exactly do you want to know?”

  “You know…” She made a motion with one hand. “How we are together. What’s the, uh, dynamic of our relationship?”

  “Hmm…” Rone appeared to be thinking about it deeply. At last he looked at her. “We have a lot of fun together. We’re playful…adventurous. I was much more serious before I met you—you taught me to see the lighter side of things.”

  “I did?” Kate raised an eyebrow at him.

  He nodded. “You did.”

  “Well, but…” Though his statement was well worth considering, it wasn’t exactly the information she was looking for.

  “But what, Lalli?” There it was again—that little pet nickname—at least, Kate assumed it was a nickname—slipping out. She reminded herself to find out about it at some point, but not now.

  “Well…you said we’re playful,” Kate said. “So what do we play?”

  “There is one game that’s your favorite,” he started. “It…” Then he shook his head. “No, never mind.”

  “What? Tell me!” Kate demanded. “I want to know!”

  “No, I don’t think you do,” Rone murmured. “Not after seeing your reaction to the breeding chair—I don’t think you want to know at all.”

  “I do,” she insisted. “I get it—we were married and we had…had sex.” Her heart beat faster as she said it but she made herself keep talking anyway. “We’re both adults here—come on and tell me, Rone—how bad could it be?”

  “It wasn’t bad at all.” He sighed. “All right—it was actually a game you came up with. You called it ‘Hide and Suck.’”

  “What?” Kate frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean. Do you mean hide and seek?”

  The big Kindred shook his head. “No. Look, are you sure you want me to tell you this?”

  “Of course I am,” Kate said, although she was beginning to wonder. What kind of perverted games had they played together to while away the time on the ship she now found herself on?

  “Very well.” Rone sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. “It started when you were asking me how sensitive my sense of smell is.”

  “Oh? How sensitive is it?” Kate asked, interested despite herself.

  “About a thousand times more sensitive than the Earth animal you call a bloodhound,” Rone said matter of factly. “And I was telling you that I could pick out any particular scent—and that I was especially attuned to your scent.”

  “You mean like the smell of my perfume or what shampoo I use or something?” Kate asked. But he shook his head.

  “Not that scent. The scent of your sex. Your pussy.” He nodded at the juncture between her thighs and Kate felt her cheeks getting hot.

  “I…I don’t smell,” she protested angrily. “I take regular showers and baths and—”

  “It’s a good smell—my favorite scent in the universe. So warm and sweet and fresh…so you, Kate.” Rone closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

  Kate wondered if he was smelling her now and quickly crossed her legs.

  “Anyway,” Rone co