Brides of the Kindred Volume One Read online

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  Xairn fumed as he stalked down the long hallway the trail of lights led them to. Slk had no right to speak as he did. Broadcasting the thoughts and emotions of others was wrong and offensive. Especially when there was no way they could be true.

  What kind of game is Slk playing? he wondered, taking a sharp right as the lights dictated and finding himself in front of a large green door. How could Lauren find a Scourge compelling or attractive? We are not known for our physical beauty. No, they certainly were not. Xairn was well aware that the grey skin and red-on-black eyes he had inherited from his father looked monstrous next to Lauren’s own smooth, warm brown skin tones and lovely amber eyes. What would people see if they were placed side by side? A beast next to a beauty. That is what they would see.

  And how could Lauren see it any differently?

  Slk must have been lying for his own benefit, Xairn told himself as he pushed open the door to reveal a small but well appointed guest suite. But what does he stand to gain? And why didn’t Lauren contradict him?

  He cast a sidelong glance at her as they entered the room but she was looking elsewhere, her arms crossed protectively over her breasts. Xairn sensed that she was upset about something but he had no idea what. Perhaps she, too, was distressed by the things Slk had said but was too polite to say it aloud.

  That must be it. She doesn’t want to cause me undue emotional pain by contradicting Slk which is why she chooses to remain silent.

  Xairn felt marginally better at this explanation. It was like Lauren’s kind and gentle nature to refrain from hurting his feelings, though it still seemed strange to him. All his life, he’d been raised in an atmosphere specifically designed to cause pain—whether physical or emotional. The AllFather had fed from his pain and he was an expert at causing the maximum amount of damage. To be with someone who wanted to avoid hurting him was a new experience.

  It made Xairn glad that she didn’t desire him as he desired her. If she had, he would have had to worry about hurting her—something he would rather die than do. No, it was far better that he leave her alone and admire her from afar. She was too beautiful, too good and pure for one such as him.

  But if he was only meant to admire her from afar, why did his body still tingle where she had pressed against him? Why could he still smell the scent of her hair and feel the warmth of her in his arms?

  Xairn pushed the enticing but dangerous thoughts away. Looking around the small room, he saw only one sleeping platform but there was also a couch at the foot of it. Good, so he could take the couch and leave Lauren the platform. It wouldn’t do to be too close to her in the night. Especially considering how his body reacted to hers. And in the morning, they would leave this place and he would take her back through the wormhole to her own planet. The AllFather would never again be able to find her—he certainly wouldn’t be looking for a human female with Scourge DNA. And if—

  “I have something to say.”

  Lauren’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Xairn turned to see her glaring at him.

  “What is it? And why do you look so angry?”

  “Why do I look angry? How can you ask me that?” she demanded. “Why do you think I’m angry?”

  “I have no idea,” he said, honestly mystified. “Are you concerned about the effects my DNA might have on you?”

  “No, nothing like that.” She sighed. “You’re really going to make me spell it out?”

  Xairn raised an eyebrow at her. “If you would prefer to speak each individual letter rather than—”

  “That’s not what I meant—stop being so literal.” She sounded exasperated. “Look, what I’m trying to say is, why did you make such a big deal to Slk about us not being ‘carnally involved?’”

  He frowned. “Because we’re not.”

  “Yes, but you acted like the whole idea of being with me was repellant to you.”

  Xairn shook his head. “Not repellant. Impossible.”

  “Why?” she demanded. “Look, Xairn…” She came closer to him and put one slim hand on his arm. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this but we’ve been through hell together and I care about you—a lot. And, well, I thought that maybe you cared for me too. At least a little.”

  Her big, amber eyes were filled with hope—an emotion almost unknown to Xairn. He had been raised without hope or love or tenderness aboard the Fathership. So how could he show them to another? His shaft throbbed at the soft touch of her hand and he moved away.

  “I do care about you, Lauren,” he admitted in a low voice. “That’s the main reason we cannot become sexually involved.”

  She bit her lip. “Are you saying you don’t want me?”

  “No!” Xairn ran a hand over his hair and took a deep breath. “I do want you. Much more than I should. But I don’t want to hurt you. My Scourge nature—”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “So you’re really going to use that as an excuse? Your nature? Your race?”

  He frowned. “It’s no excuse. It is the truth.”

  “Well, I’m not buying it.” Lauren came forward and poked him in the chest with one finger. “I think you’re scared—scared of any kind of relationship, sexual or otherwise.” She sighed. “Look, Xairn, I’m not normally a pushy person—especially about things like this. But, well, I like you. A lot. And if you like me too and we finally got away from your father, well, what’s to stop us from taking things to the next level?”

  “What exactly do you mean by the ‘next level?’” he asked warily.

  Lauren smiled. “You could start by kissing me.”

  “Kissing?”

  “You know—you put your mouth on mine? I gave you a kiss before, don’t you remember?”

  Xairn eyed her lush mouth longingly. He well remembered the soft touch of her lips against his own—it had been just after he promised to keep her safe from his father and take her home. She’d been happy and had pressed her lips to his in a display of spontaneous joy and affection. The gesture had deeply affected him but he understood instinctively that it would be a bad idea to repeat it. It was too intimate…too dangerous.

  “You say that I’m scared?” he said, looking at Lauren. “Well it’s true—I am. Because I don’t want to harm you. To do the things I’ve seen done. The things…” He cleared his throat and looked away. “The things I’ve seen my father do to females.”

  “You’re not your father, Xairn.” Lauren’s voice was gentle as she reached up to cup his cheek. “You’re nothing like him. Or any of those other Scourge for that matter.”

  “You’re wrong!” Xairn pulled away before her touch could start an avalanche of desire that would bury his reason. “I am like them,” he said fiercely. “Their actions—their desires—they are my birthright. I have denied my father and forsworn my race but how can I escape something written in my very blood?”

  Lauren frowned. “And these desires you’re talking about…they’re really that bad?”

  Something close to despair welled up in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to crush her to him, to press his lips to hers until she was burned into his senses forever. And though he could scarcely believe it, that was apparently what Lauren wanted too. But I can’t. I must not give in to this emotion, this desire for her.

  “Fine,” he said heavily. “You wish to know about Scourge sexual practices? I’ll tell you.” Pacing over to the sleeping platform, he sat on the side, his shoulders slumped. “Females are nonexistent among my kind but even before they became extinct, they were incredibly rare. So they were kept caged from childhood until they were ripe for breeding.”

  Lauren swallowed with an audible click. “Caged like…like animals?”

  “Exactly.” He nodded shortly. “By the time a female was ready to be bred, there were usually multiple males vying for her.”

  Lauren frowned. “So what—she had to pick one?”

  Xairn shook his head. “If only it were that simple. But the female in question never had a say in the matt