Claimed Read online

  This isn’t me, she told herself. Sex is no big deal to me—I can take it or leave it. Only maybe she felt like that because she’d never been with anyone who made her care about it. Maybe with Baird things would be different. Much different.

  Except she wouldn’t be having sex with Baird, she reminded herself sternly. Not bonding sex, anyway, whatever that entailed. She really needed to get a copy of the contract and find that out. She’d get right on it, she promised herself, as soon as she finished relaxing in the tub…

  “Olivia, are you all right?” The deep voice startled her at first but then she realized it was just him—the dark man from her dreams. He’d been in pain before but he sounded happy now—happy because he’d found the one he was looking for. And Olivia was the one. He’s happy because he loves me whispered a thought in her head. For some reason it made Liv smile dreamily. It was true, he loved her. Out of all the women on Earth—all the women in the universe—his mind had aligned itself with hers and hers alone. He…

  He was standing at the edge of the bathing pool staring down at her naked body through the clear water just as though he had every right!

  Liv’s eyes snapped fully open as the half-dream she’d been having ended abruptly. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded, trying to cover herself from his hungry gaze with her hands.

  He looked amused. “Just checking up on you, Lilenta. You’ve been in here so long I wanted to make sure you hadn’t drowned.”

  “I’m fine, thank you for your concern,” Liv said stiffly. “Now do you mind leaving so I can get out?”

  “Feeling shy?” he rumbled, an amused look in his golden eyes.

  “No,” she lied, keeping her hands firmly in place. “I just…don’t like being naked with someone I’ve known less than twenty-four hours. I’m funny like that. Now do you mind?”

  “I don’t mind a bit.” His eyes were half lidded with desire and his voice was a soft, deep growl. “I’ve been watching you in my dreams for months but the reality is a hundred times better.”

  For a moment Liv was thrown off balance by his mention of their dream-sharing. “I…you’re different from the dreams I had of you too,” she said softly.

  “I was in a dark place then.” His liquid gold eyes were suddenly far away and filled with so much pain they were hard to look at. “Seeing you every night, memorizing your face, learning your body…it was the only relief I had.” He looked at her seriously. “You saved me, Olivia. As much as if you’d put out a hand and pulled me out of the pit yourself.”

  Liv was at a loss for words, as she always was when he talked about the time before they met and the things he’d gone though. Part of her wanted to ask where he’d been and what horrible things had been done to him but she sensed he wasn’t really ready to discuss it yet. Or maybe ever. The remembered agony in his gorgeous, wild eyes was intense—almost too much to bear. But somehow, without even knowing it, she had helped him bear it. She remembered all the mornings she’d woken up after dreaming of him, feeling his despair and wishing with all her heart she could reach him, the dark man in her dreams, and find a way to save him. Was it possible that her sympathy for him had somehow traversed the strange link between them?

  “You’re so damn beautiful,” Baird rumbled, still looking down at her. “Your beauty and strength of will kept me going when I wanted to lay down and die. I couldn’t give up because I knew if I did I’d never see you in person.”

  “I’m here now,” Liv offered, not knowing what else to say. “But, Baird, I can’t promise to stay with you forever.”

  “He shook his head. “Forever is a long time. Right now tonight is enough. Will you come out of the water?” He held out a plush crimson and gold towel as big as a sheet.

  Liv bit her lip and tried to stop the stirring of desire his hungry look started in the pit of her belly. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed her. That what he felt was more than just lust, more than just the carnal desire to take her. But she couldn’t help that—she wasn’t ready for his need. She hadn’t asked to be his savior, his dream girl or the love of his life. And if she ever wanted to get back to Earth and the people she loved, she had to be firm. “This is an invasion of my privacy,” she told Baird sternly. “I’d appreciate it if you would leave so I can get dressed.”

  The corner of his full mouth quirked upward. “This is our claiming period, Olivia. Legally, you don’t have any privacy. But since you’re still shy…” He shook the towel again. “Come on out, I promise not to look.”

  “I’m not coming out until you leave.” She frowned up at him, keeping her hands firmly in place. “I can stay here all night—I don’t mind a bit. I like it in here.”

  “Suit yourself.” Baird let the big, puffy towel drop in a heap by the side of the bathing pool. “I’ll see you in the bedroom, Lilenta.” With a final hot look he sauntered out, closing the door behind him.

  “You’ll see me all right—but not very much of me,” Liv muttered, watching him go. What was it about him that made her feel so strange? She ought to be outraged right now but instead she felt absurdly…flattered. The way he looked at her, as though she was the most beautiful woman in the world might have something to do with it. And all those promises about the sinfully pleasurable things he intended to do to her the minute he was legally allowed to touch her naked body probably didn’t hurt either. If she hadn’t felt so strongly about leaving Earth and her family to come live on the Kindred ship, Liv might almost have been tempted to let him do whatever he wanted. Almost.

  She climbed out of the tub and snatched the towel off the cool tile floor to wind around her dripping body. She was glad she’d brought the big cardboard box Sophia had sent into the bathroom with her. It would have made her nervous to dig through it in the bedroom under Baird’s hungry gaze.

  The box had everything she’d asked for plus a short note from Sophie that put a lump in Liv’s throat.

  Love you, Sis. Stay strong.

  Sophie

  Hot tears pricked at her eyelids and she felt ashamed of the things she’d been thinking earlier. Of the fact that she’d been tempted—more than tempted—to let Baird do all the deliciously carnal things he seemed to want to do to her body. She had to stay strong, just like Sophia had urged her to, had to resist his advances no matter how tempting they were if she ever wanted a normal life with her loved ones on Earth again.

  Reaching into the box, she went straight for what she’d asked for—the contents of her top dresser drawer. It wasn’t a secret weapon or a can of mace. It was just her winter sleepwear—granny panties and a long pale blue flannel nightgown.

  She didn’t have much call to wear them in Tampa but every once in a while there was a pretty hard cold snap—usually in January or February—that sent her running for the decidedly un-sexy outfit. Liv reflected that she was apt to be a little warm in them tonight but that was okay—better a little too warm than so hot she lost control of herself and gave in to Baird completely.

  Of course when she’d asked Kat and Sophie to send her the frumpy night gear she’d had no idea she would find the big Kindred warrior so damn appealing. She’d been mainly thinking of modesty. But now that she knew she’d be lying so close to him, trying to resist the urge to give in, she was twice as glad for the thick flannel gown. And as for the granny panties, well, they were made of good sturdy white cotton and came clear up to her navel. Protection was an understatement—Liv might as well have full body armor on

  There was a full length mirror in one corner of the bathroom that she’d missed on her earlier tour in the dark. Liv went over to it and looked at herself with satisfaction. Yup, she was lookin’ good. Or rather, bad. The blue flannel gown had long sleeves and it came up to her chin and down to her ankles, effectively hiding every detail of her body. Baird probably wouldn’t even want to touch her when she looked like this. Let alone do anything else.

  Feeling secure, if a little stuffy, she let down her hair and left the bathr