Brides of the Kindred Volume One Read online

  “Don’t give up hope.” Kat squeezed her arm. “He’s going through a lot right now—he watched his mother die and had to kill his own father. That’s not something you get over right away—even with a crapload of therapy and he still refuses to talk to anyone about it.”

  “I know.” Lauren’s eyes filled with tears. “But I want to be there for him—to help him get over what happened. Only he won’t see me, won’t even talk to me on the viewscreen.”

  “He’s changed,” Kat said. “A lot. He’s reverted back to how he looked before you guys swapped DNA.”

  Lauren shook her head. “I don’t care about that! I just want to be with him. Before he left, he told me he wanted to be with me too. I guess…he changed his mind.”

  “Only because he’s afraid he might hurt you. And I have to be honest—I think he might,” Kat said seriously.

  “What?” Lauren demanded. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve been doing some research on the Scourge and the way they have bonding sex,” Kat. “It sounds like you’re in for a rough ride if Xairn does come back to you.”

  “I don’t care,” Lauren said passionately. “I’ve thought about that and you know what I decided? It’s worth it. No matter how much it hurts, I’ll go through with it if it means I’ll have Xairn back in my life for good.”

  Kat shook her head. “But he thinks the exact opposite—that nothing is worth hurting you, not even a lasting, bonded relationship. So what you need is a way to have bonding sex with him without getting hurt.”

  Lauren bit her lip. “I’m afraid that’s probably not going to happen. I don’t want to be crude but you should see the size of his, uh, equipment. And Scourge have two shafts instead of one so if we did have bonding sex—”

  “I know,” Kat interrupted, nodding knowingly. “Didn’t I tell you I did some research?”

  “And you found a solution?” Lauren asked, raising an eyebrow. She walked over to the convection oven where Olivia’s cupcakes were baking.

  “I found out a lot of things,” Kat said mysteriously. “For instance, did you know the original Scourge women actually liked the way they were treated?”

  “What?” Lauren frowned. “Xairn told me they were tied up and tortured. Who would like that?”

  “There were some abuses of power,” Kat acknowledged, going over to the counter to look at the bowl of pale green frosting Lauren had prepared. “But in a lot of bonded relationships, the female Scourge seemed to genuinely care for their mates and enjoy their sexual relationship. That’s because while the Scourge males were natural Dominants, the Scourge females were natural submissives—it was hardwired into them to enjoy being dominated.”

  “Really?” Lauren looked at her with wide eyes, the tray of chocolate cupcakes she was taking out of the oven forgotten. “They…they really liked it?”

  Kat shrugged. “It was in their genes. They couldn’t help liking it.”

  Lauren looked down at the cupcakes she’d baked especially for her cousin. “Kat, if I tell you something do you promise not to think I’m weird or sick or something?”

  “Word of honor.” Kat raised her right hand solemnly. “Go ahead and spill—I’m not the judgmental type.”

  Lauren smiled as she put down the cupcakes. “I didn’t think so. The thing is that ever since Xairn has come to stay with me here on Earth I’ve been having these, well…these fantasies. About things I never would have been interested in before.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Kat nodded. “Go on.”

  “Well, I felt weird about it and kept thinking it was strange and unnatural. I mean, I was raised to be a feminist and never let any man dominate me. So I kept wondering why I was fantasizing about this kind of…thing.”

  “About being submissive, you mean?” Kat raised one dark red eyebrow.

  Lauren blushed and nodded. “Essentially, yes.” She began removing the cupcakes from their trays, working carefully as she spoke. “As I said, I didn’t know where all this was coming from. But now I realize I’ve only been having these, uh, feelings since Xairn and I had our DNA altered.”

  “That makes sense,” Kat said thoughtfully. “You took some of his DNA and he took some of yours, right?”

  Lauren nodded. “And I never could figure out what I got out of the exchange. I mean, with Xairn it was obvious—it changed his skin and eye coloring dramatically. But with me, nothing changed except my scent. And the change was so subtle nobody by Xairn could even tell.”

  “Maybe you did get something else from the exchange,” Kat said. “If you’ve got Scourge DNA running around inside you, it’s not surprising that you’re having the same kind of urges a Scourge female would when she wanted to have bonding sex with her male.”

  “That’s what I’m beginning to think. Whew…” Lauren let out a shaky laugh. “For awhile there I thought I was going crazy or something. I couldn’t figure out why I wanted…what I wanted,” she ended lamely.

  “Well, now you know.” Kat grinned. “And I say you should go with those impulses—let your new DNA be your guide.”

  “I’d be happy to,” Lauren said with a sigh. “In fact, I’ve already made some, uh, changes in case he comes home. But now I don’t know…” Her throat felt tight but she forced herself to continue. “I don’t know if he ever will.”

  “He’ll come back to you,” Kat said confidently. “I’ll have Deep work on him—they seem to have a special connection. I’ll have him tell Xairn he has to at least come say goodbye to you in person. And the minute he gets here—gotcha! You pounce.”

  “That all sounds great,” Lauren said doubtfully as she began to frost the chocolate cupcakes with the pale green frosting. They were still warm so she put on a lot of icing, letting some of it melt into the cake. “But I’m pretty sure he’ll refuse to, uh, do anything. Especially if he thinks he’s going to hurt me.”

  “But he won’t hurt you.” Kat snapped her fingers. “Can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you the most important part. I brought you a secret weapon.” She patted the large purse she was carrying over one arm.

  “A secret weapon?” Laure looked at the purse doubtfully. “Like some kind of special gun I can hold on him to make him take me?”

  Kat laughed. “Of course not! Let’s just say it’s something to get you ready for his visit—something that will allow you to have bonding sex with him without pain or injury.” She winked. “And I promise you, it works.”

  Lauren had been working as they talked and now she let out a breath and put down the last cupcake. “Really? You’re sure?”

  “I’ve tested it myself extensively.” Kat smiled. “It’s foolproof and delicious. And speaking of delicious…” Reaching out, she snagged one of the chocolate, green-frosted cupcakes off the tray Lauren was holding. “I’m sure Liv won’t miss just one.”

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Lauren said but Kat had already taken a big bite of the cupcake.

  “Mmm-mmm…ugh!” She swallowed with difficulty and looked up at Lauren. “I don’t want to be rude but your mint chocolate cupcakes could use some work.”

  “My mint chocolate cupcakes are delicious—but those aren’t mint chocolate.” Lauren nodded at the half eaten cupcake in Kat’s hand.

  “Not mint chocolate? Then what the hell are they?”

  “It’s a new flavor I call ‘pregnant lady surprise.” Lauren grinned. “They’re devil’s food chocolate cake…with dill pickle icing.”

  “Oh my God!” Kat made a face and then started laughing. “You know what? Liv is absolutely going to love these.”

  “I have some other flavors that I baked this morning I think you’ll love.” Lauren nodded at the door. “Come on, let’s go give her these.”

  As they walked through the doorway back into the main room she couldn’t help casting a sidelong glance at Kat and wondering what her friend meant by a ‘secret weapon’ and if she would ever get a chance to use it.

  * * * * *

  “So