Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Read online

  “Let’s put it this way—if I got upset and wanted to talk something out, he would leave the room. If I started crying, he would leave the house.” Maddy sighed. “I told myself when we got married that he was just repressed—from an uptight family—and I would change him in time. But of course I never did.” She shook her head. “My mom tried to warn me. She always said,‘The only time you’ll ever change a man in any way is when he’s a baby and you’re changing his damn diaper.’ And boy, was she right.” She laughed sadly.

  “I do not know what a ‘diaper’ is but I am sorry your mating wasn’t what you hoped for,” Calden murmured. “Maybe if your bond had been stronger…”

  “Bond?” Maddy frowned. “You mean our emotional bond?”

  “No.” Calden shook his head. “I mean your soul bond.” Then, apparently seeing Maddy’s look of confusion he said, “Don’t your people form a telepathic bond with their mates when you join together? A bond that allows you to hear each others’ thoughts and feel each others’ emotions?”

  “Uh, absolutely not,”Maddy said, frowning. “That would have driven me crazy, being inside Pierce’s head all day. And he would have hated being in mine too.” She looked at Calden. “Are you telling me that your people form that kind of a bond?”

  He nodded. “So I’m told, anyway. I have obviously never experienced it myself. But supposedly a Kindred is able to form a bond with any female he joins with permanently. My people say it is the Goddess’s way of putting two people together for life.” He made a skeptical face. “But I do not believe that—I think it is just a product of Kindred biology and our need to tie our mates to us securely.”

  “Wow…” Maddy shook her head. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before. But I guess…with the right person it might be kind of nice.”

  “It’s better than ‘nice’—it ties those who are bonded together for life and allows them a deeper understanding of each other than is possible in any other way.” Calden sounded almost wistful as he spoke of the Kindred bond.

  “You sound like you wish you could have that with someone,” Maddy said softly. “Like you wish you could find the right girl to bond with.”

  He shook his head. “I never thought I would want such a deep attachment to anyone but lately…” He reached over and stroked a strand of hair out of her face. “Lately I’m beginning to understand why my Kindred brothers went in search of new brides to bond with. Why they wanted so desperately to find the right females.”

  “Oh…” Maddy felt her cheeks getting hot at his gentle touch and the way he was looking at her. Their eyes locked and somehow she found she couldn’t look away.

  Surely he couldn’t be thinking of bonding with her, could he? After all, the two of them were completely incompatible due to their size difference. They might enjoy a lot of physical pleasure together but they would never be able to consummate a sexual relationship—which she guessed was part of what it must take to form the bond he was talking about.

  “Um…where did your people go? I mean, are you still in contact with them?” she asked, unsure of what else to say.

  Calden sighed. “I joined the Mentat station five standard years ago and they were going in the opposite direction. They are long gone and the last time I went out to my shuttle and tried to raise them on the long-distance vidscreen, I got no reply.” He shook his head.“I told myself at the time that I did not care but now…now I am not so sure.”

  “You miss them?” Maddy asked softly. He had that wistful tone in his deep voice again.

  “I do. It would be nice to talk to my old friends and find out if they have found any females as they hoped to do. Maybe…get some advice about the matters I have on my mind.”

  “Well if you have a ship, maybe you could go find them,” Maddy suggested. “I mean, if you have an idea what direction they went. I know it’s a long shot though—space is so vast.”

  Calden shook his head. “My work is here. In fact, I’m beginning to think I want the study of your world’s creatures to be my life’s work—I want to devote my whole career to studying them.” He looked at Madeline. “And I hope you’ll help me.”

  “I would love that, Calden,” she murmured.

  The idea of living and working with the big Kindred, of helping him understand the biology of the Earth’s many animals which would otherwise be lost forever, was immensely appealing to her. But she didn’t like the idea of him giving up on his dream and never seeing his people again.

  “Are you sure you couldn’t find them if you looked—the other Kindred, I mean?” she asked.

  He shook his head again. “I could search a thousand years and never find them.” He cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes seriously. “I’m just glad I found you, Madeline.”

  “Thank you.” Her heart was drumming fast against her ribs as she looked up at him. “I’m glad you found me too, Calden.”

  They had slipped down from their sitting position against the headboard and were lying on their sides in the big bed, facing each other. Maddy cuddled closer and the big Kindred welcomed her into his arms eagerly, drawing her to him and pillowing her head on his muscular bicep.

  Maddy sighed contentedly, her knees drawn up against his flat abdomen as Calden stroked her naked side and back with one large, gentle hand.

  Just the way I was stroking Snuffy and the other little branthas earlier, she thought, which made her smile. She felt a drowsy kind of contentment but she was well aware that the big Kindred had given her a mind-blowing orgasm and she hadn’t done anything in return.

  “Calden,” she murmured sleepily, looking up at him. “I want to touch you too—want to make you feel good the way you made me feel good.”

  “Mmm, that sounds very intriguing.” He gave her a lazy smile. “But I think for now, you look all tired out, nieka. It’s been a long day—why don’t we get some rest?”

  “Don’t you want me to touch you? And what…” Maddy yawned. “What does nieka mean?”

  “Little one—tiny one.” Calden stroked her cheek again. “And of course I want you to touch me but for now, I want you to get your rest.”

  Maddy gave a sleepy laugh.

  “You know, ‘little one’ is the last nickname I would have had among my own people. I was always too tall—too big—compared with most Earth guys.”

  “They must have been puny creatures then,” Calden rumbled. He reached down and pulled the silvery sheet up over the two of them and then called, “Lights off,” in an authoritative voice. “Good night, nieka,” he murmured. “Rest well.”

  As long as you’re with me, I will, Maddy thought but was too sleepy to say it out loud. She was sure that in the morning she would realize all over again how inappropriate what they had done together had been but for now she just wanted to relax and enjoy the new closeness she felt to the big Kindred. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so safe and cared for in a man’s arms—she’d certainly never felt this way with Pierce, not even after years of marriage.

  This isn’t right and you know it, Maddy! You shouldn’t be feeling this way, whispered a little voice in her head. You ought to be feeling guilty that you’re the only one who survived the wreck of the Kennedy and grieving for Pierce. You ought to be worried about the future. What’s going to happen to you here? What are you going to do with the rest of your life?

  But Maddy didn’t want to hear any more about what she ought to be doing. The fact was, she felt too warm and safe and happy in Calden’s arms to care. His spicy scent along with the delicious aroma of the blossoms which still pervaded the air seemed to lull her into a feeling of safety and contentment. She pushed the little voice aside, ignoring the warnings it tried to give along with the guilt, and drifted off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.

  * * * * *

  Calden held her for a long time before he also allowed himself to sleep. Gods, she was beautiful, his little Earth female. And the way she had responded to his touch was…well, there wasn’t