Falling for Kindred Claus Read online

  Steeling herself for whatever effects might come, she downed the drink and waited.

  The next thing she knew, she was flooded with joy—an emotion so pure and soaring she felt like a bird taking wing high over the ocean. It was wonderful—incredible.

  “I’ve never been this happy before,” she told Asher, whose eyes were also shining with the pure emotion. “Not even on my wedding day, back when I thought Cameron was a good guy. I’m just so filled with joy.”

  “I am too,” he murmured. “And sharing it with you makes it all the better.” He held her hands and they looked into each other’s eyes. For a moment, Lisa almost felt like the intense emotion was jumping back and forth between them—an emotion so pure it was almost hard to stand and yet also so wonderful it was impossible not to want it to last forever.

  Yet, as the other emotions had passed, so did the joy. Lisa sighed when the last of the incredible feeling finally faded.

  “Oh,” she said sadly. “It’s gone.”

  “Not completely,” Asher said softly. “Because we shared it together—a bit of it lingers in each of us.”

  Lisa smiled. “I think you’re right, Asher. I’m glad we had that experience together. From now until the end of my life when I think about the moment I was most happy, I’m going to think of you.”

  “I will think the same,” he said softly, looking into her eyes. For a moment, Lisa felt like she couldn’t look away—didn’t want to look away.

  And then the high priest was calling on them to lift the next glass, which was filled with burnt orange liquid that looked like melted crayons.

  “Taste the anger a Potentate feels when our nation is threatened!” he declared and downed the burnt orange shot.

  Feeling apprehensive, Lisa downed her shot as well while everyone at the table did the same. There was a moment of silence—and then a babble of angry voices filled the air.

  “I hate him!” Lisa heard herself saying passionately. “That bastard, Cameron—he hurt me! He ruined my life! Now I live on the run with no home to go back to, afraid he’s going to track me down at any minute. I shouldn’t have to live that way—he’s an asshole!”

  “I hate him too.” Asher’s voice was low and dangerous and his eyes were flaring red. “If I ever meet him, I’ll kill him for hurting you,” he swore. “He’s dead, Lisa—anyone who hurts you is dead.”

  He turned his eyes across the table to Ambassador Ba’deal at this point but even through the all-consuming rage that filled her, Lisa could see that Ba’deal wasn’t staring back at Asher. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the Old and New Potentates and there was such hatred on his twisted, purple face and his three red eyes that she almost felt afraid again.

  My God—he looks like he wants to kill them! she thought. What did they ever do to him?

  Maybe it was just because the Northern and Southern continents had been at odds for so long, she speculated. Or maybe Ba’deal was a misogynist who couldn’t stand the idea of a female ruler—he seemed like the type.

  As she had that thought, she realized the anger was fading. And a good thing too—if it had lasted much longer, some fights might have broken out. As it was, she saw several pairs of chewchies rolling over, screeching and clawing at each other as though they were able to express the anger better than their owners.

  But why would they feel the same thing their owners feel? she wondered as she watched the Chorkays separating their angry pets. How is that possible?

  “Come here, now Listie—come back to me!” the lady beside her was saying as she pulled her chewchie away from another. “You know you mustn’t fight, no matter how angry I get.”

  “Excuse me,” Lisa murmured to her. “I hope I’m not offending you, but can I ask how it is your chewchie knows how you feel? Are you that strongly connected?”

  “Oh, but of course!” the woman exclaimed as her chewchie climbed into her arms and she stroked its disheveled purple fur lovingly. “For a chewchie is an extension of one’s self. They act out and amplify emotions—which enables us, as Chorkays, to keep our calm outer demeanor. And that is only one of the ways in which they help us.”

  “I knew they were more than pets!” Lisa exclaimed but the woman gave her an offended look.

  “Pets? You might as well call your own heart a pet!” she exclaimed. “A chewchie is so much more than that—so much more than an outsider like yourself can understand.”

  “Forgive me,” Lisa said humbly. “I didn’t understand the significance of the chewchies in your culture but I am trying to learn.”

  The noblewoman huffed a little but looked slightly mollified. Lisa hoped, at least. And then it was time for the next cup of emotion. As they all raised their glasses filled with deep red liquid, she hoped they would experience a more positive emotion this time.

  “Feel the Potentate’s lust for her consort when it is time for her to do her duty and try to provide another female with the Sacred Blue skin and eyes,” the high priest declared.

  The liquid in this glass tasted slightly spicy and sweet, Lisa thought—though she hadn’t noticed the others having much flavor. It made her cough a little and she couldn’t help feeling uncertain about drinking it. Was the distilled lust going to turn this formal dinner into an orgy?

  It didn’t take long to take effect. Lisa looked at Asher and felt all the heat and desire that had been building between them for the past twenty-four hours suddenly come to a head.

  “Asher…” Her voice was hoarse with need and suddenly she found she was in his lap, straddling him and grinding against him—helpless to control her rampant need.

  “Gods, sweetheart!” he growled and then he was holding her hips and rubbing up against her, thrusting hard against her pussy and Lisa knew that if his trousers and her dress hadn’t been in the way he would have been inside her, filling her…fucking her…making her his.

  “I want you,” she told him between frantic kisses. “I don’t care if it’s unprofessional or not! I want you inside me, now!”

  “I want you too. Gods—I’ve wanted you from the moment I first laid eyes on you—from the moment I got the first two Signs,” he told her. And then he was kissing her again, so passionately that one of his fangs cut her lip, injecting a healthy dose of essence.

  The moment his essence entered her body, Lisa had an immediate orgasm. Gasping, she stiffened in his lap, freezing in place, though she had been in the act of reaching between them to try and unfasten his trousers and get him inside her.

  “Oh God!” she exclaimed, her back arching as Asher pressed up against her. “Oh God, yes—fuck me! I need you to fuck me now!”

  At that moment the urgent lust at last began to fade and Lisa became aware of two things. One was that while plenty of chewchies were copulating on the tables—and in some instances, even on people’s heads—none of the other diners at the table had left their places or gotten out of their seats like she had. And none of them were mauling each other like she and Asher were either.

  The second thing she realized was that every single eye in the place was on her and that the hall had fallen completely silent as everyone watched her hump the big Kindred.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered under her breath, freezing again. “Oh, no!”

  “It’s all right,” Asher murmured in her ear. “Just, er, get off me and sit back in your own place.”

  Feeling mortified beyond words, Lisa did exactly that—though it took longer than it should have because the elaborate dress she was wearing got tangled around her legs and then Asher had to help her get untangled before she could slide back into her own spot at the table.

  At last, however, she was settled again, her cheeks burning with the realization that the entire ceremonial dinner had halted while she got herself untangled and resettled.

  “And that’s what comes of not having a chewchie to contain and act out your emotions,” the noblewoman beside Lisa sniffed. Lisa would have said something back in reply, but honestly she was too e