Falling for Kindred Claus: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  “I…I guess so.” Slowly, Lisa began to climb to her feet. He held out a hand to her and after a moment, she took it and let him help her out of the tub.

  “Come on—let’s go upstairs,” Asher suggested.

  “Okay.” Lisa nodded shakily. As the fear and panic subsided, they were replaced with a deep and abiding shame. What must he think of her now after finding her in the dark freaking out?

  He’ll think he brought a crazy woman with him on an important diplomatic mission, that’s what he’ll think, Lisa thought dully, as they made their way up the stairs. He’ll probably want to take me back home right away so I don’t ruin the coronation ceremony tomorrow.

  “I’m sorry,” she blurted, as they finally reached the top of the stairs and were standing in the low-ceilinged, windowless bedroom. “I didn’t mean to freak out but the lights went out and then the door latch broke off in my hand so I couldn’t get out and then you were banging on the door and I know you were only checking on me but it made me think of…I mean it reminded me…”

  She shook her head, unable to go on, unwilling to shame herself further by telling him what had happened that awful last Christmas Eve with Cameron.

  “Reminded you of what?” Asher settled himself on the mossy floor, beside one of the low tables that held their luggage, and leaned back against one of the colorful moss wall-mosaics.

  “Nothing.” Lisa looked away, her cheeks burning with shame. “Just…something bad that happened in the past. That’s all.”

  “I guessed that much. But I’d like you to tell me about it.”

  “I…I don’t want to talk about it.” Lisa heard the tremble in her own voice and looked down at her hands. Gods, this was awful—so shameful, so embarrassing.

  “But I need to hear about it.” Asher’s deep voice was gentle but implacable.

  “Why?” She frowned at him mutinously. “Why should you need to hear about it?”

  “Because you obviously suffered a recurrence of trauma from something in your past,” he said in a low, reasonable voice. “What you humans call PTSD, I believe—Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I need to know about what happened so I can keep you safe from whatever it was that brought it back to you—from whatever triggered you in the first place.”

  When he put it that way, the request seemed perfectly reasonable.

  Lisa hesitated, nibbling her bottom lip.

  “It’s…embarrassing to talk about. And awful.”

  “Even so.” Asher patted the mossy floor right beside him. “Come, sit here and tell me just once. And I swear we’ll never have to talk about it again if you don’t want to.”

  Lisa really didn’t want to—she’d already relived the awful night once tonight and that felt like more than enough. But she could see his point—he needed to know he could be sure of her and that she wouldn’t go freaking out in public and ruin his mission.

  “All right,” she said at last, sitting down beside him on the mossy floor. At least the cool moss felt good on the inflamed scrapes on the backs of her thighs—which she had almost forgotten in the stress of reliving last Christmas Eve. She looked up at Asher, who was waiting quietly and shook her head. “I don’t…I hardly know where to start.”

  “Begin at the beginning,” he said simply. “Tell me everything you can.”

  “It…” Lisa took a deep breath. “It started with a glass of eggnog…”

  * * * * *

  Asher listened quietly while she spoke but inside he was growing angrier and angrier—not with Lisa, of course. With that abusive bastard who had been her mate.

  She told of how he had gotten drunker and drunker and how she saw all the warning signs that meant she would be beaten later. She talked about trying to steal out of the house, only to be caught in the act—of the way her mate had chased her through their domicile until she was trapped in their sleeping chamber, hiding under the bed and hoping that the lock held as he battered against it, trying to break it down.

  “But of course it didn’t hold,” she said in a dull voice, looking down at her hands. “He got in eventually and dragged me out from under the bed. And…” She shook her head.

  “And what?” Asher asked gently.

  “And it was bad.” She looked up briefly and shrugged. “I spent last Christmas in the hospital. Didn’t get out until a day before New Years.”

  No wonder she became so panicked when I broke down the necessary room door, Asher thought. It brought back her fear of being dragged out of hiding and beaten—beaten like an animal by her mate.

  Of course, Lisa didn’t say as much but he could read between the lines, could hear the pain in her flat delivery of the facts as she told what her life had been before she had run.

  No wonder she said she had nowhere in particular to go—she’s just staying out of his way—just trying to keep one step ahead, he thought.

  “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