Bridging the Distance_A Kindred Tales Novel Read online

  Tears rose to her eyes and she couldn’t force them back down. She let out a low, broken sob, her shoulders shaking in abject misery.

  My life isn’t supposed to be like this! This isn’t how it was supposed to go at all!

  “Excuse me, My Lady. Are you well?”

  The deep rumbling voice was coming from above her—far above. Wiping her streaming eyes, Lorelei looked up to see the tallest guy she’d ever seen looming over her. It was hard to estimate when she was sitting and he was standing but she thought he had to be at least six foot seven or eight and not a skinny 6’8” either. He was muscular in all the right places with shoulders twice as broad as her own.

  “Um…what?” she asked uncertainly, wondering how a guy who looked like him had ended up at the wrong end of town in her crappy apartment complex.

  “I said, are you well, My Lady?” He had dark blond hair, intensely blue eyes, and the longest eyelashes she’d ever seen on a man. He was wearing tight black leather trousers, high black leather boots, and a long-sleeved, emerald-green shirt made of some heavy satiny material.

  There was no mistaking it, Lorelei realized—he had to be a Kindred.

  “I…I’m fine,” she told him. “Just having kind of a crappy day.” Suddenly she wondered how long the handsome Kindred stranger had been watching her. Had he seen her chasing after her car like an idiot? Had he watched her fall down and then seen her get fired too? Her cheeks began to heat in a blush—she sure hoped not!

  “You don’t look fine.” He pointed at her bloody knees. “You appear to have injured yourself.”

  So maybe he hadn’t seen her trip and fall. That, at least, was a relief.

  “Thanks but I’ll be okay,” Lorelei told him. “It’s just a scratch.”

  He still looked doubtful but appeared to let the matter drop.

  “Forgive me for interrupting your, uh, crappy day,” he said with complete sincerity. “But are you Lorelei Daniels?”

  “Oh my God. Yes…yes, I am.” Lorelei’s heart, which had sunk all the way down to her toes, was suddenly pounding so loudly she was afraid the handsome blond warrior would hear it. Suddenly she knew what this was all about.

  He’s here to claim me—to tell me I’m supposed to be his wife, she thought and a shiver of excitement mixed with fear rushed through her. Oh my God, I can’t believe it! Me—a Kindred bride!

  Like every other unmarried woman in the world, she had signed up for the Kindred Bride draft but she’d never thought her number would come up. It was just a gamble you took—like buying a lottery ticket—only you never expected to win anything.

  Looks like you won yourself a huge, handsome warrior—how’s that for a grand prize? whispered a little voice in her brain.

  It sounded amazing to Lorelei—although also kind of frightening.

  “You’re a Kindred warrior here to claim me, aren’t you?” she asked the big male. She started to get up off the curb and he held out a hand, gallantly assisting her. Just touching his big, warm hand, so much larger than hers, made her tingle.

  “Miss Daniels—” he began but Lorelei couldn’t seem to stop herself. Finally her lousy day was looking up!

  “What kind of Kindred are you?” she asked him, her heart still thudding in her chest. “You don’t have golden eyes so you can’t be a Beast Kindred and I don’t see any fangs like the Blood Kindred have. But maybe they’re hidden? Are…are you going to bite me?”

  She kind of hoped he would—when she’d fantasized about being claimed by a Kindred as a teenager, she’d always hoped she would get a Blood Kindred. They were almost like vampires—very sexy.

  “Are we going to live aboard the Mother Ship together?” she asked. “Have you been dreaming about me? I heard that was a thing that happens with Kindred sometimes—that they dream of the woman they’re going to claim.”

  “I’m sorry, My Lady…Miss Daniels, but I’m not actually here to claim you.” The Kindred cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m, uh, here to ask for your help—in a professional capacity only.”

  “Not here to…Oh. Oh, of course. I’m sorry.”

  For the second or third—or was it the fourth time that morning—Lorelei’s heart fell with a nearly audible thud.

  “Wow… Awkward.” She tried to laugh but it came out as more of a croak. “I’m sorry, I never should have thought that someone like…like you would want to…to…uh…” She trailed off, unable to finish.

  Never should have thought that someone like him would want someone like you, whispered a little voice in her head. Just look at him, Lorelei—he’s gorgeous with that square jaw and those piercing blue eyes. And he’s muscular everywhere—I bet his muscles have muscles. And here you go asking him if he’s been dreaming about you. How stupid can you be?

  Pretty damn stupid, apparently. God, she wanted to sink through the ground in mortification.

  “I’m not here to claim you,” he repeated. “But I am here to hire you. If you’ll agree to my proposal, that is.”

  “Hire me?” Lorelei frowned up at him as the words sank in. Was this a job interview all of a sudden? “Hire me for what?” she asked, frowning suspiciously. “All I’m qualified to do is sell skinny-minny clothes to skinny-minny women who have less body fat than a piece of beef jerky. So I doubt I’m the one you want, whatever you’re looking for.”

  “Really?” He frowned in apparent confusion. “Then…you don’t have an advanced degree in Artificial Intelligence Psychology with a minor in Human/AI interface?”

  “Well…yes. Yes, I do,” she said slowly. “But how do you know that about me? Who are you, anyway?”

  “I am Bound-Tight of the Twin Kindred.” He put a hand over his heart and bowed in a courtly gesture that made Lorelei’s pulse speed up despite telling herself it was ridiculous. “And I’ve been studying you and dozens more like you but you’re the one I want—the only person I believe can help me.”

  “Help you do what?” Lorelei asked blankly. “And if you’re a Twin Kindred, then where’s your twin?”

  “That is what I need your help with, Miss Daniels.” His incredibly deep blue eyes looked earnestly into hers. “You see, my brother, Torn-Deep, has been kidnapped and modified. I need your help to get him back.”

  Chapter Two

  Bound watched anxiously as the lovely Elite female he had chosen to approach weighed his words. Would she help him? Goddess, if she refused him, what would he do? He was convinced she was the only one who perfectly encapsulated exactly what he needed in order to recover Torn.

  “If you have a moment I can tell you more about my offer,” he said hopefully. “It pays very, very well.”

  “Wait…” She frowned up at him, suspicion filling her warm, chocolate brown eyes. “You say you’re a Twin Kindred—are you trying to pay me to, uh, get kinky with you and your brother? Because I am not that kind of girl. One man at a time, thank you very much.”

  Her words pierced him to the core. She was so lovely with her lush, full curves and her long wavy hair that looked brown in shadow and deep auburn in the sunlight. Her big, dark eyes set off her pale skin perfectly. She was exactly the kind of Elite female he and his brother would have been privileged to call.

  Bound reminded himself sternly he wasn’t on Earth to search for a mate. His only objective now was recovering his brother. Then and only then could they think about calling a female to lie between them and bond with both of them.

  If there was enough left of Torn to bond with anyone, that was.

  “I promise you, I have no interest in you sexually, My Lady,” he said earnestly. “But I do urgently need your services. Will you hear what I have to say?”

  The little Elite sighed deeply.

  “Well, since I don’t have to be to work until never o’clock, sure—why not? Come on…” She motioned up the block to the apartment buildings. “Come on in and tell me all about it.”

  “Thank you, My Lady.” Bound felt a surge of relief. She would at least listen. And hope