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  “And much more delicious.” Kat brightened. “You know, I think Lauren was baking a batch of pineapple upside down cupcakes with cream cheese frosting earlier.” She waved a yellow chunk of fruit at Lissa enticingly. “Hang around the Mother Ship one more night, and we’ll go get one. What do you say?”

  “Well…” Lissa wavered.

  “That sounds perfect!” Sophia declared, throwing down the piece of celery she’d been toying with. Come on—let’s go get some now.”

  Liv laughed. “Instant cravings—how well I remember those days. Mention the food, and you’ve suddenly got to have it.”

  “Even if it’s a peanut butter and kelp sandwich. As if you could talk about anyone else’s cravings,” Kat scoffed. “Come on, Lissa,” she said, getting off the couch. “Let’s go get something good to eat. You need to build up your strength for the ordeal ahead.”

  “Translation: Kat needs cupcakes,” Sophia laughed, hauling herself out of the couch with her sister’s help.

  Lissa smiled. “Well, I do love to try new foods…” She popped the pineapple into her mouth. “Mmm, and if it’s better than this, I really need to try it.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Liv said. “Kat, lead the way. And somebody bespeak Lauren to know we’re about to descend on her like a pack of hungry hyenas.”

  “Hungry, pregnant hyenas,” Kat corrected, grinning. “Which is about twenty times worse. Come on, Lissa.” She grabbed her friend’s hand. “Let’s go get cupcakes.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “And this is what you’ve been living on the whole time I was out?” Reddix looked at the bowl of grayish-purple mush in his hands uncertainly.

  Nina shrugged. “I had to. The ship doesn’t have enough power to use the rehydrator-thingy so it was eat this or starve. Besides, it’s not so bad. It looks like purple oatmeal, but it tastes like whatever you put on it.”

  He frowned. “And what do you put on it?”

  “Depends. Do you want a savory flavor or a sweet one?” She nodded at an array of much smaller bowls, all filled with different substances, some of which looked like spices and some which looked like flowers or bugs. “They’re all different.”

  “So I see. Uh…I’ll take savory,” he decided.

  “Great! Hand me your bowl, and I’ll fix it up.” She took his bowl and started sprinkling different toppings on it. “Now this one tastes kind of like barbequed potato chips. And this one kind of reminds me of fried catfish…”

  Reddix watched as she fixed his bowl, grateful that she was being so gracious after his angry words during the shave. Shouldn’t have yelled at her like that, he thought, still upset with himself. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and I’m such a prickly, ungrateful bastard. She deserves the truth—all of it.

  But he couldn’t bear to tell her what had really happened the night he’d gotten the scars on his face. Or the deeper, darker truth about why he had kidnapped her in the first place.

  How can I take her to the swamp witch? he thought, glancing at the lthss which had grown longer, encircling half his wrist now. But then again, how could he not? Time was running out. Because despite the fact that he had found a woman he could touch and who seemed to suppress his RTS when she touched him, he still needed a long term cure for it if he was going to do what was expected of him back home.

  If only I could take Nina as my mate—declare her as my female and bond her to me, he thought longingly. Of course, that was impossible on many levels. Other than the fact that he had an inverted Touch Sense and couldn’t bond any female to him at all, his people were also traditionalists. They wouldn’t accept him as ruler if he married outside the Touch Kindred Clans. Any child born of such a union would be considered a half-breed bastard…an interloper.

  Not that Nina would have him if he ever asked her…though the very idea of being able to claim her as his female made blood surge to his shaft and his throat tight with longing. Gods, she was perfect. Gorgeous, kind, and touchable. So incredibly touchable. Reddix’s hands itched to explore her curvy body, to cup her full breasts and generous ass. His mouth watered to taste her sweet pussy while she called his name and begged for more…

  “Oh, and this one is the best. It tastes almost exactly like Mehoo-Jimmy’s frybread…” Nina frowned and looked up at him. “Are you hearing anything I’m saying? You have this faraway look in your eyes.”

  “Forgive me,” Reddix said roughly. He reached out a hand to accept the bowl she was holding out to her. “I’m sure it’s all delicious.”

  “It is—mostly,” she said, smiling. “Although I haven’t had the nerve to try the chu-chu bugs yet,” she added, nodding to the small bowl of tiny, many-legged creatures that had been dried until they were stiff and crispy.

  Reddix made a face. “Ugh. Well, they don’t look very fucking appetizing.”

  “No bugs do—at least to me. I know lots of other cultures eat them but I’m just not brave enough.” Nina finished fixing her own bowl and then dug in with a strange lumpy implement that looked a little like long handled a spoon with multiple rounded bowls all up and down its stem.

  “What’s this thing?” Reddix asked, picking up a similar implement himself.

  “Oh—that’s an edible spoon. It’s really good. You bite off a piece with each scoop of nutra-mush you eat.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Nutra-mush?”

  She smiled and shrugged. “That’s kind of my name for it. According to Healing One, it’s a natural completely balanced meal with everything you need in it. At least, everything the Feeling People need. Though so far I feel fine eating it too.” She scooped up some mush and bit down on the spoon, biting off the bottommost bowl with a crunching sound.

  “Let’s hope it has everything Kindred and Earthlings need as well,” Reddix muttered and followed her example. To his surprise, the flavor was quite good. The mush had a smooth texture offset by the crunchiness of the spoon which had a mild, nutty flavor. The taste of the mush was harder to describe. Reddix had never tasted any of the Earth foods Nina had talked about as she flavored the stuff, but the different toppings reminded him of flavors from his own planet as well. He especially liked the section of mush Nina had said tasted like her grandmother’s fly bread—whatever that was. He quickly ate it all and asked for more.

  “See—I told you its’ good,” Nina said, scooping out some more mush as well as the dry topping which flavored it.

  “And you said it tastes like fly bread?” Reddix asked, taking the bowl back from her. “But I thought a fly was an Earth insect, and you said you don’t eat insects—not that I blame you.” He took a big bite.

  “No, no—fry bread. As in, you fry it. It’s horribly fattening of course but amazingly good.” She sighed and put down her spoon.

  “What is it?” Reddix looked at her in concern.

  “Nothing. I just…I miss Mehoo.”

  He felt a surge of guilt. “Nina—”

  “Never mind.” She blinked rapidly and shook her head, as though trying to dispel her unwanted emotion. “Try some of the sweet kind too. Here…” She pointed at another bowl with little brown crumbles in it. “I swear this one tastes exactly like buttered toast dipped in hot chocolate. It’s amazing.”

  “I don’t know what any of those things are, but I’ll try it.” Reddix reached for the mixture and then winced as a sudden muscle spasm traveled down his arm. “Goddess damn it!” he cursed under his breath as he rolled his shoulder, trying to ease the ache.

  Nina was instantly concerned. “What is it? What happened? Did one of the Feeling People pass by outside the door or something? Did you feel their emotions?”

  “No—nothing like that.” Reddix shook his head. “I’m just still stiff—from being out so long, I guess.”

  “Oh.” Nina relaxed. “Well, of course you are. And not just being unconscious for so long—don’t forget that before that you were pretty much chained up in the kitchen for most of a day and night.”

  “Not that