Falling for Kindred Claus Read online

“You must never go back down to Earth,” he said, frowning at her. “It isn’t safe—you must stay on the Mother Ship—I’ll make certain you have a place there.”

  Lisa gave him a wan smile.

  “Thanks. I guess you want to take me back tonight, huh? After the way I freaked out?”

  “Back to the Mother Ship tonight?” he frowned. “Why would I do that? We haven’t attended the coronation yet—or found the Chorkays’ secret method of long-range communication.”

  “But…” She twisted her fingers together, looking at him uncertainly. “But aren’t you afraid I’ll, uh, mess everything up for you? By freaking out again or something like that?”

  “No,” Asher said firmly. “Why would I think such a thing?”

  “Well, because I kind of went crazy for a minute there,” Lisa said, and he could hear the shame in her voice. “Just because I got locked in the bathroom for a little bit with the lights out.”

  “You had good reason to be upset,” Asher told her. “It has been a long and trying night for both of us but especially for you, since you are not used to folding space or visiting alien planets. And after hearing your past experiences, I’m not surprised you had a flashback when you were stuck in the necessary room.”

  “So…” She nibbled her lower lip and glanced up at him from under her lashes. “You’re not afraid it will happen again and ruin your mission?”

  “How could it?” Asher asked reasonably. “Unless the coronation and feast tomorrow somehow involve being in a small, dark place—which I very much doubt. But if it does, we will leave at once.”

  “But…what about your mission?” Lisa asked.

  “Fuck the mission,” Asher said harshly. “I brought you here and you are my responsibility, Lisa. The mission can wait—all I want to do now is tend to you and make certain you’re all right.”

  She looked at him wide-eyed.

  “I’m…I feel much better now,” she said. “I didn’t think it would, but I think maybe…maybe it helped to talk about it.”

  “Painful experiences are lessened when they are shared,” Asher said, nodding. “Thank you for trusting me enough to share your past with me.” Though it had been difficult to hear, he appreciated that she trusted him enough to tell him her past trauma and pain.

  “Thank you for listening,” she said shyly. “I’ve never told anyone about what happened last Christmas. I guess I’ve just been, uh, bottling it up inside.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” Moving slowly, so as not to upset her, Asher cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. Her big blue eyes were still wide and wet, tugging at his heart in a way no female ever had before.

  “I…thank you,” she whispered and leaned forward, towards him.

  For a moment Asher was certain she wanted to kiss him and he was certainly willing to kiss her back. He leaned forward too but then Lisa jerked and made a muffled exclamation of pain.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked with concern as she drew away.

  “I’m sorry—I have to get up,” she apologized. “This moss we’re sitting on felt soft at first but now it’s really irritating.”

  “Irritating?” Asher frowned as she got to her feet, wincing with every movement. “How so?”

  “Oh, it’s just…just bothering the scratches on the backs of my thighs—where I accidentally rubbed the oil,” she admitted. “But it’s not a big deal—I’m fine,” she added hastily.

  Asher frowned.

  “You are not fine if you’re in pain. Let me see, please.”

  “What? No!” She was still wearing the Sacred Blue cloth wrapped around herself, and now she clutched it to her more tightly.

  “Lisa…” He frowned at her. “Didn’t I just finish saying that you’re my responsibility? I need to tend to your wounds before either of us can sleep tonight.”

  “Tend my wounds? How?” she demanded. “Do you have some kind of Kindred salve or ointment that can make the burning go away?”

  “I have something better than that,” Asher said quietly. “My essence—the liquid which comes from my fangs,” he explained, seeing her questioning look. “I can heal you with it—the same way I healed your finger.”

  “Oh, but you put my finger in your mouth and licked it,” she protested. “You don’t want to, uh, lick the backs of my thighs!”

  “Why not?” Asher asked, frowning. “It is the best and fastest way to heal you.”

  “But…but it’s a much more, uh, private spot than my finger,” she protested again, but he thought her resistance was weakening.

  “Lisa,” he murmured, cupping her cheek again. “I know it’s a delicate, sensitive area but I promise to be respectful of your boundaries. I will only lick you where you’re hurt and only to heal you—that’s all.”

  She nibbled her lower lip again, seeming to consider the proposition.

  “Well, I guess that’s okay,” she said at last. “If…if you really don’t mind.”

  There was hardly any way Asher could tell her that licking her sweet, curvy body—especially in a place so near her soft little pussy—would be his greatest pleasure. It would doubtless make her feel uncomfortable and besides, he shouldn’t even be thinking it, he told himself. It was unprofessional and wrong. He would keep his word and only lick her where she was hurt, in order to heal her.

  That, he promised himself firmly.

  “I do not mind in the least,” he said. “Now if you’d care to show me your injuries?”

  “Oh, but I have to put on some panties first!” Lisa objected.

  Asher frowned. “Panties? I don’t know this word.”

  “They’re underthings to cover your, um, intimate parts.” Lisa’s cheeks were pink with a blush. “I mean, I know you’ve, uh, already kind of seen the whole area,” she went on in a rush. “When we were, uh, helping each other get purified. But I don’t know how I feel about you, um, seeing it up close. If you know what I mean.”

  “Very well.” Asher nodded towards their luggage cubes which were stacked on the low tables to his left. “Help yourself. And let me know when you have these ‘panties’ on and you’re ready to let me heal your injuries.”

  “Okay.” She nodded and went to her cube. Asher waited, trying not to anticipate the feel of her soft flesh under his tongue. He would be completely professional, he told himself again. He would only heal her—nothing more.

  Of that, he was certain.

  Thirty-Three

  The problem was, Lisa couldn’t find any panties.

  She’d been certain that Kat had packed her at least one pair, but they were nowhere to be found. Nor could she find the pair she’d been wearing with the Sacred Blue traveling dress.

  She did at least find a nighty to wear—though it was so short it only came to mid-thigh and was made of a silky, practically see-through material that made her feel almost naked when she slipped it on.

  “I, um, couldn’t find any panties,” she admitted to Asher, who had been politely averting his eyes while she dressed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “They would probably only get in the way of me healing you anyway. Come to the bed so I can look you over.”

  “The bed?” Lisa frowned and shook her head. “You mean that hole in the ground? Sorry, but I don’t think I can get in there. It’s way too claustrophobic.”

  “You do not have to go into the sleeping hole if you don’t want to,” Asher said reasonably. “But I thought it might help me to reach you if I was to go down into it while you stayed up here.”

  “Oh…okay.” Lisa could see his point at once. He was so much taller than her that reaching her wasn’t going to be easy. If he was three feet down in the sleeping hole, as he called it, that would make her much more accessible. In fact, he could probably just kneel on the bed while she stayed at the edge of the rectangular hole and let him lick her.

  Just the thought of his hot tongue on such a sensitive area made her