Bonding With the Beast Read online

  “Yup—I’m bringing everything but the kitchen sink. You’re right—it’s going to be a great party.”

  Kat had asked Isobel to help plan her friend Mei-Li’s baby shower, knowing that Isobel had run a successful party planning business in California before she’d gone back to being a paralegal in Tampa. Isobel was pretty sure her friend was just being nice but she was happy to have a chance to do something she loved again—she missed her little business but she hadn’t been able to take it with her when she left. It was better…safer…to just go back to being a paralegal. She was able to be more anonymous that way, which meant her ex, Mitch, couldn’t find her.

  Mitch…sometimes she could go days without thinking about him and other times he was a dark cloud hanging over her head, a bad penny just waiting to turn up again. Isobel tried to push the thought out of her mind and concentrate on the matter at hand.

  “So when does the Kindred taxi you sent for me get here?” she asked Kat.

  “Should be soon,” Kat told her. “But about that—I, uh, kind of need to warn you about your ‘taxi driver.’”

  “What about him? I assume it’s one of the Kindred, right?”

  The huge alien warriors mostly kept to themselves up in the Mother Ship but seeing them down on Earth was becoming more common. Kat had told Isobel they were trying to be less mysterious and more transparent to the people of the planet they were protecting. The Kindred bride draft had only recently been reinstated after some serious misunderstandings between the two peoples and the big warriors didn’t want their access to marriageable females cut off again.

  “He is Kindred…” Kat still sounded hesitant. “Actually, he’s a Dark Kindred.”

  “What?” Isobel heard the note of panic in her own voice and tried to tone it down. “I mean…why…why would you send me one of those?”

  The Dark Kindred had tried to take over Earth not that long ago. They had decimated whole urban areas before the regular Kindred from the Mother Ship could stop them. There had been a rumor circulating that the Dark Kindred were being controlled by an advanced race of Artificial Intelligence and that was why they had attacked in the first place. But Isobel didn’t care what the reason behind the attack was—she only knew she’d been scared to death for herself and her son and she didn’t really want to meet one of the attackers first hand.

  “His name is Nine,” Kat said and there was a rumble of a male voice in the background correcting her. “Or no—Deep says he goes by Hail now. Like frozen hail? Anyway, he’s a really nice guy and he agreed to come get you because everyone else is busy. He’s a friend of Mei-Li’s husband, Six—he’s a Dark Kindred too, you know.”

  “Okaaaay,” Isobel said doubtfully. “Well, if you’re sending him then I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “He’s more than fine, girlfriend. You should see him—I think you’ll like him, if you like the tall, dark and handsome type.” There was a hint of mischief in Kat’s tone now that Isobel remembered from their USF days.

  “Kat,” she said sternly. “You’d better not be playing matchmaker here. I just got away from a pretty bad relationship about a year ago—and besides, if he’s that handsome and fabulous he’s not going to be interested in me.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kat demanded indignantly. “You’re gorgeous, Izzy! With that caramel colored hair and those big brown doe eyes and—”

  “And the plus-sized behind,” Isobel interjected. “Don’t forget about that because you can bet no man ever will.”

  “No human man, maybe,” Kat said. “But Kindred are different. In fact, a lot of them prefer girls with some extra junk in the trunk.”

  “Twin Kindred might like that,” Isobel objected. “But I don’t know what Dark Kindred like and I’m not too interested to find out either.”

  “Why not? Honey, if what you told me about Mitch is true, you’re well shut of him! There’s no love lost there so why not put yourself on the market again? Put your name back in the draft and see if you get called as a bride.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t do that!” Isobel said quickly. Just the thought of entering her name into the Kindred bride draft made her stomach feel like about a billion butterflies had taken up residence there.

  “Why not?” Kat insisted. “You’re beautiful and sweet and smart. Any guy—any Kindred—would be lucky to have you.”

  “They might not think so when they found out about all my baggage,” Isobel said. She frowned in the mirror again and dabbed on some lipstick.

  “What baggage?” Kat asked. “You’re not just saying that because you’re a single mom, are you?”

  Isobel sighed. “Look, Kat, it’s one thing to be a single mom but when you’re kid is on the Spectrum, well, that makes things more…complicated.”

  “I can’t imagine any guy not loving Brandon when they got to know him,” Kat said promptly. “He’s so smart! And he cracks me up with the big words he uses. He’s only seven but he talks like an adult!”

  “Yeah, well I’d like to think that any man who said they loved me would love him too,” Isobel said. “Unfortunately, I don’t believe that’s true. Even his own father—” She stopped short, unable to say it, unable to talk about her ex and the way he had related—or rather not related—to their son.

  “Izzy?” The cautious tone of Kat’s voice said she knew she had hit a nerve.

  “Never mind.” Isobel took a deep breath. “I just…I should be over it by now. Anyway, let’s just say that I don’t feel like I can trust a strange man around Brandon. I’d rather stay single than risk his safety.”

  “Awww, I understand, hon,” Kat said softly. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

  “Of course you didn’t.” Isobel took a deep breath and tried to smile, even though her friend couldn’t see her. “I’m fine.”

  “You could be finer though—just think about joining the draft,” Kat urged. “Kindred guys are a lot different from human men—they’re more trustworthy. Plus, you can’t tell me you don’t dream of finding some hot guy and getting a little nookie from time to time.”

  A sudden image floated into Isobel’s head—a tall male with incredibly broad shoulders and a strong jaw. He had short dark hair and sensual lips that looked just made for kissing. But his eyes…

  I can never see his eyes. They’re shielded…hidden…

  Isobel shook her head and pushed the thought away. She didn’t even know where the strange image had come from. From some half-remembered dream probably. At any rate, she didn’t have time for it now.

  “Listen,” she told Kat. “I’d better get going. I want to give my babysitter some instructions before my ride gets here.”

  “See you soon,” Kat said. “Can’t wait, doll.”

  “Me either,” said Isobel, really meaning it. She hung up her phone, tucked it into her purse, and smoothed down her fly-away hair as best she could. Then, with a final glance in the mirror, she grabbed her bag and ran lightly down the stairs.

  “Brandon,” she called. “Did you ask if Mrs. Hallstead wanted a glass of water? She is our guest and—”

  She stopped dead at the foot of the stairs, the words dying in her throat.

  There, sitting beside Brandon at the coffee table was a total stranger who just happened to be the most enormous man she had ever seen in her life.

  Chapter Three

  Hail looked up from the drawing he and the young one had been immersed in. Strangely enough, this was the boy from his dream—the one he had seen who wore thick oculars and had an inward looking expression on his face.

  Hail had been surprised—though only mildly so, due to the low setting on his emotion damper—when the door had opened and the familiar face had peered out. The boy had looked at him quizzically but without fear and had let him in without hesitation when he’d explained he was to take Isobel Yates—who was apparently the boy’s mother—up to the Mother Ship.

  “You’re big,” the boy had said. “Enormous…tremendous…gigantic. Also, your f