Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Read online

  “Oh, Kat!” Maddy was surprised but pleased to see her new friend. The fact that she was also a plus-sized redhead made her feel especially comfortable with the other girl.

  But Kat wasn’t looking nearly as relaxed as she had the first time Maddy had met her. Her hair was mussed as though someone had been running their hands through it and her clothes were disheveled.

  “Did you come to see how the dress fits me?” Tucking the napkin with the seeds and stems of the cube fruit behind the planter, she rose to display the green dress Kat had made her. “Because it’s wonderful—thank you so much!”

  “I didn’t come to see the gown, although it really does look great on you.” Kat gave her a distracted smile. “I just came to say, whatever you do, doll—don’t eat that fruit!”

  “What? Oh, no—why?” Maddy exclaimed, looking at the little plant, which still had plenty of the peachy cube fruit left on its branches. “Is it some kind of poison?”

  “Not poison—just incredibly concentrated,” Kat said grimly. “I’ve never had bonding fruit that strong—not even when I boiled it down to make concentrate.” She shook her head. “It made me so horny I thought I was going to die.”

  “It what?” Maddy shook her head, confused. “But…how can that be? Fruit can’t make you, uh, horny.”

  “Bonding fruit can!” Kat exclaimed. “That’s its whole purpose—well, other than making you stretchy enough to accommodate a Kindred who’s hung like a Clydesdale.”

  “What?” Maddy was shocked. Why hadn’t Calden told her what the fruit would do to her? Then again, the plant really hadn’t had fruit until recently and it had only become ripe since they had gotten to the Mother Ship. Still, he should have given her some idea…

  Then she remembered him hinting that he might have a way for them to get bonded and saying something like “I don’t want to tell you yet—I don’t want you to get upset if the idea doesn’t bear fruit…”

  Bear fruit—that’s exactly what he said! He must have meant the fruit on the plant, Maddy suddenly realized. But God, she wished he’d told her instead of being so mysterious about it!

  “What would happen to me if…if I ate that fruit?” she asked Kat, still not sure if she ought to admit to eating it.

  “Probably exactly what happened to me. Why do you think I look like this?” Kat motioned to her disheveled clothes and messed up hair. “I just came from a marathon sex session with my guys! We had to hire an emergency babysitter and everything to watch the boys—I absolutely couldn’t wait!”

  “Your…guys? Plural?” Maddy asked faintly.

  “Oh, I forgot you don’t know much about our kind of Kindred yet. I’m married to Twin Kindred—twin brothers who mate with the same woman—and I’m damn lucky I am,” Kat said. “I don’t know if one guy alone could have satisfied me—well, unless he was truly enormous in the schlong department."

  Maddy thought of how big Calden’s equipment was and found herself blushing.

  “Oh, um…all right,” she said weakly.

  “Anyway, I thought about calling you by Think-me but I didn’t want to freak you out by speaking directly into your head,” Kat went on. “My suite isn’t far from here so I thought I’d run over and warn you. I know you said you hadn’t eaten one yet so I hope I got to you in time.” She looked at Maddy anxiously. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Oh yes,” Maddy said quickly, though she couldn’t exactly say why she was lying. Maybe because it was embarrassing to admit she’d eaten not one, not two, but three of the dangerous fruit. Still…she didn’t feel any different. Maybe the fruit didn’t affect everyone the same. Maybe she would be just fine.

  I probably will, Maddy thought. I’ve never had any food allergies before. Maybe Kat is just sensitive to that kind of fruit.

  “Okay, well…whew.” Kat mimed wiping sweat off her forehead. “I’m glad I caught you before you ate one. That could have been a big problem for you, especially since you’re on the outs with your guy at the moment.” She frowned. “Did you two ever make up?”

  “No, but I agreed to talk to him at least,” Maddy said cautiously. “In fact, Liv is getting him right now.”

  “Oh—then I’d better leave you alone!” Kat exclaimed. “Anyway, I need to get back to my own guys…I think I feel round two coming on. Man, that stuff is strong!” She eyed the little plant with its laden branches and shook her head ruefully.

  The plant rustled and for a moment, Maddy almost got the idea that it was laughing. Which was crazy, right? It wasn’t like a plant could laugh or think or tempt someone with its fruit…right?

  Right, she told herself firmly. And anyway, the fruit didn’t have any affect on me.

  “You better go get your, uh, situation taken care of,” she told Kat. “Thank you for warning me—and thanks again for the amazing dress.”

  “You’re welcome, doll—you look great in it.” Kat gave her a somewhat forced smile. “Okay, I really have to go now. Just keep away from that fruit and stick to Lauren’s cupcakes—they’re way safer!” Then she hurried out of the room, almost as quickly as she’d come into it, leaving Maddy to look at the door in bemused silence.

  Chapter Twenty

  Maddy didn’t have long to sit by herself. Only a few moments after Kat had made her rather hasty exit there was a soft knock on the door.

  “Come in,” she said and felt her heart flutter when it opened and Calden came in.

  He stood in the doorway for a moment, filling it with his huge, muscular frame as though he wasn’t certain if she really wanted him inside the room with her.

  Maddy saw, to her surprise, that he had taken his long hair out of its many braids. It was pulled back from his high forehead and banded at the back of his neck where it fell in a silky, dark waterfall to the small of his back.

  He was dressed differently too—in what seemed to be the uniform of the Kindred aboard the Mother Ship. He was wearing tight black leather pants and a silky, dark crimson long-sleeved shirt made out of some heavy, satiny material that looked amazing with his skin color and topaz eyes. High leather boots completed the outfit.

  God, he looked good enough to eat! But Maddy tried to stifle the thought and push it away from her. She and the big Kindred needed to have a serious discussion to decide if they even belonged in each other’s lives anymore. She didn’t need to be thinking naughty thoughts about him while she was trying to make serious life choices.

  “Madeline?” he said uncertainly. “Olivia said that you would see me.”

  “Yes, I…I’ll see you.” Maddy tried to quiet the butterflies in her stomach as she sat up straighter on the side of the bed and lifted her chin. “I think you and I need to talk.”

  “Of course.” Calden shut the door behind him and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed to sit by her. Snuffy ran over to him, trumpeting excitedly and Calden stroked the little brantha gently to calm him down. “I know you’re upset with me,” he began but Maddy didn’t let him finish.

  “Of course I’m upset with you! Why didn’t you tell me I was a clone?” she exclaimed.

  “I thought about it many times,” he admitted. “At first I didn’t want to add to your emotional distress and later I told myself I wanted to make certain your future aboard the Mentat station was secured before I revealed the whole truth to you.” He shook his head. “I should have moved your original body, though—there is no excuse for that.”

  “No, there isn’t!” Maddy said severely. “Looking down at myself, lying in that drawer was one of the worst moments of my life. It brought back…well, everything.”

  “Everything? What do you mean? Did your lost memories suddenly resurface?” Calden sounded both interested and concerned.

  Maddy nodded. “Yes. I remembered…remembered how I died, Calden.” She had to blink back tears at the thought. “And I remembered that Pierce was…was cheating on me. I found out just minutes before one of the huge terraformers crushed me.”

  “Oh Madeline…” He reac