Divided Read online

  “What’s this?”

  “Bonding fruit juice,” Kat said. “Distilled and concentrated so it’ll work fast but be careful with it. Don’t take more than a sip or two right before you…you know.”

  “What? No way!” Becca tried to hand it back. “Not after what happened when I ate your wedding cake!”

  “Okay, I can understand your reluctance but bonding fruit can be a wonderful thing if you use it wisely. Especially when you have two guys to…ahem…accommodate at once.”

  “But I’m not going to do that—so I’m not going to need this,” Becca protested, trying to give it back. “Even if Truth and Far were getting along and wanted to bond with each other and me, I don’t think I could…go that far.”

  “Just keep it,” Kat said firmly. She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to take the bottle back. “You never can tell what might happen.”

  “I can tell what’s not going to happen,” Becca said. “And I’m not going to form a permanent bond with Truth and Far.”

  “You say that now, doll but let’s face it—you’re already halfway there.”

  “What do you mean?” Becca asked nervously.

  “The way you and Far were able to pull Truth back from that demon. There’s no way you could have done that if you didn’t at least have the start of a bond between the three of you.”

  “Commander Sylvan said something like that. But Truth denied it.”

  “Of course he did—he’s like the poster boy for conflicted sexual urges right now.” Kat frowned. “Not that you’re far behind yourself, doll.”

  “I know.” Becca looked down at the bottle. “But I still don’t think—”

  “Just keep it,” Kat said. “Even if you don’t use it, I’ll feel better knowing you have it.”

  “Well…” There didn’t seem to be any way to change her friend’s mind. “All right,” Becca said at last. “I’ll return it to you unopened when we get back.”

  “We’ll see,” Kat murmured. She put a hand on Becca’s shoulder. “But I still think you should let go of your guilt and see where this thing with Truth and Far leads you.”

  “Right now it’s leading to a big, fat dead end.”

  “That may change. Just be open to the possibilities, Becca. I know it sounds crazy—it did to me at first too—but getting together with my two guys has been the best thing in my life. I never knew I could love two men at once so completely but when it works, when it really clicks—it’s like nothing else you’ve ever experienced. It’s just…beautiful.”

  Becca thought of the warm, delicious feeling that had washed over her when she opened herself to both Truth and Far at the same time the night before. Mother of God, it had felt so good. It was only afterwards that she had felt guilty. But during their sharing, she had felt only love and warmth and contentment…and more sexual pleasure than she’d ever had in her entire life.

  Was it really so wrong to give in to that feeling? To try and bring Far and Truth together, using herself as a bridge? After all, the two of them needed each other even if Truth wouldn’t acknowledge it.

  Maybe I could bring them together and then let them go once their bond is strong. They could find another girl, one who didn’t have so much guilt and fear…

  Except the thought of her two men with another girl made Becca so upset she couldn’t bear to imagine it.

  “You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden.” Kat raised an eyebrow at her. “Everything okay?”

  “Just thinking,” Becca said quietly. “I’ll consider what you said, Kat. I really will. And thank you for this.” She held up the little bottle of bonding fruit juice. “Even if I don’t intend to use it.”

  “Just keep it close by in case.” Kat gave her a quick hug and pulled back, frowning. “But if you’re going to use it, go all the way with it and don’t hold back. Otherwise you might risk forming a partial bond and believe me, that is no fun.”

  “A partial bond?” Becca shook her head. “I’ve never heard of such a thing—is it even possible?”

  “It is but it only happened to me because Deep and Lock are Seeker/Finders and they were using me as a focus and—” Kat made a shooing motion. “Never mind. Your guys are different so I’m sure it couldn’t happen to you.”

  “Oh, well…okay,” Becca said doubtfully.

  “And now you’d better go. Do you want a brownie to take with you? Lauren just gave me a fresh batch.” Kat patted her rounded belly. “The twins have to have their chocolate fix every day or they kick me half to death.”

  Becca smiled. “I shouldn’t or I won’t fit into those new clothes you just made me.”

  “Come on now, one little brownie won’t hurt—in fact, it’ll probably help. Twin Kindred like their women plus sized.” She eyed Becca’s full hips. “I bet Truth and Far have been lusting after that behind of yours from day one.”

  Becca’s cheeks got hot when she remembered the comments both twins had made about being glad she wasn’t too skinny or bony.

  “They, uh, do seem to like my shape,” she admitted.

  “Of course they do, you’re gorgeous.” Kat smiled. “So now, how about that brownie? Don’t you know it’s bad luck to start a trip without eating chocolate first?”

  Becca burst out laughing. “It is not—you just made that up.”

  “Maybe.” Kat shrugged. “But it sounds right, don’t you think?” She hooked her arm through Becca’s and led her into the food prep area. “I’ll wrap it up and you can take it for the road. After all, I can’t send you off to a rogue planet with nothing but a bottle of bonding fruit juice and a fur bikini. Right?”

  Chapter Twenty

  “This is it. The edge of my solar system. Here—I’ll increase the magnification so you can see it.”

  Far sat up and took notice when his brother spoke. Though Truth was piloting the small shuttle, he hadn’t said a word to either Far or Becca from the moment they had all stepped aboard. As they flew through the rift—the fold in space generated by the power of the Kindred Mother Ship’s artificial green sun—Far had wondered if his twin intended to spend the entire trip mute. Did he really hate them so much he would freeze the both of them out entirely?

  I never should have let him know I spoke to his second mother, Far thought ruefully. If only I had kept my mouth shut we might be several steps closer to bonding now instead of light years away.

  “It’s beautiful,” Becca said, answering the dark twin’s comment about his solar system. At the angle they were approaching, several large gas giant planets as well as two smaller planets were visible. Far wondered which one was Pax. Not that he would ever go there. Truth would probably be obliged to commit some form of ritual suicide if it became known he had a brother who wanted to share a female and bond with him.

  “There—that’s Pax,” Truth said, pointing to the smaller of the two rocky planets. “It’s just on the edge of the habitable zone so it’s fairly cold by your standards. My people—the Rai’ku—live along the equator. The rest of the planet is frozen.”

  “How many light years from Earth did you say it was?” Becca asked, leaning on the back of the pilot’s chair. Far admired the way she was drawing his twin out, keeping him talking.

  “About eighty million, give or take,” Truth said, making an adjustment to the instruments.

  “Eighty million?” Becca gave a long, low whistle. “Wow, amazing. I’ve never been to another solar system before let alone one eighty million light years away. Tell me more—how cold does Pax get?”

  “Not nearly as cold as the place we’re going.” Truth turned the nose of the shuttle so that a large, gray planet loomed on the viewscreen. “That’s Void. I suppose it’s not technically a rogue planet anymore since it found a new orbit around our sun but it’s a new addition to our system. Rai’ku astronomers calculate that Void has only been in its new orbit for about two thousand years, give or take. So—”

  Suddenly the entire ship shook and the lights on the control pan