Falling for Kindred Claus Read online

  “Well…no,” Asher admitted. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

  “Earth DNA is remarkably flexible,” Sylvan remarked. “I have been studying it from the moment the Mother Ship came here to defend the planet from the Scourge. Earth females, in particular, seem to be able to bond to almost any branch of the Kindred biological tree, including the Havok and even Hybrids, who are usually unable to form a bond with any female.”

  “I…did not know that,” Asher said slowly. Then he lifted his chin. “But even if I did find out I could bond Lisa to me, I would not do it.”

  “Why not?” Sylvan asked, frowning in his turn. “It seems to me that finding one’s fated mate and then refusing to bond with her is dangerously close to turning away a gift from the Goddess herself—one that may never be offered again. Do you not care for Lisa?”

  “Of course I care for her!” Asher exclaimed. “And it is because I care for her that I cannot even try to bond her to me. Look at the life I lead, Commander Sylvan! Look at the dangers I risk every day. I cannot, in good conscience, bring the woman I love into such a hazardous lifestyle!”

  “So you admit that you love her,” Sylvan said quietly.

  “Yes, I love her!” Asher felt a surge of anguish which was not easily pushed aside. “She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a female—in a mate. But I cannot put her in danger.”

  “You could do as Commander Drugair has done and only take safe diplomatic missions from now on,” Sylvan pointed out.

  “The mission to Helios Beta was supposed to be safe!” Asher exclaimed. “And look what happened—Lisa almost died!” He ran a hand through his hair distractedly. “I almost lost her forever.”

  “But you have lost her forever if you let her go like this,” Sylvan said quietly. “Asher,” he continued, leaning across the table. “I know a little of your history—the way you lost both your parents so suddenly at a young age. Do you think maybe you’re allowing that early trauma to influence your decision now? Do you think maybe you’re pushing Lisa away so you won’t have to fear the pain of an even greater loss if something should, Goddess forbid, happen after you were bonded?”

  “No, I do not think that,” Asher said coldly. “I think I’m doing what’s best for her—removing her from a dangerous situation before she can get hurt. I think—”

  But just then a loud cracking sound interrupted him.

  Looking down, he saw that the gray splotched egg on the Sacred Blue pillow had popped open and a little face with brilliant dark eyes was staring at him from the remains of the shell.

  Forty-Four

  “It says here that you may feed your new chewchie a little soft fruit for a treat but other than that, they require no sustenance other than your emotions,” Sylvan said, reading from the elaborate golden scroll of instructions which had been tucked into a pocket in the Sacred Blue pillow. He frowned and looked up from the scroll. “Can that be right?”

  “I assume so, since the high priest of the Chorkay wrote the instructions himself,” Asher murmured. He was staring at the little chewchie who had licked itself clean and fluffed out its smoky gray fur and was now sitting on the pillow, staring back at him. The little creature didn’t seem particularly hungry but for some reason, as he stared at it, Asher kept thinking of the pink specked egg—the one Lisa had taken with her.

  He frowned and shook his head. The image kept appearing in his mind over and over again, like a line of a song he couldn’t forget. Why was that?

  “Well, do you have any fruit?” Sylvan asked and got up to look around the small food prep area. He came back with a bunch of the little purplish red, juicy globules Earth people called “grapes” and handed them to Asher. “Here—try these.”

  Asher picked off one of the grapes and held it out to the small creature. The chewchie took it from his fingers, examined it for a moment, then popped the whole thing into its mouth at once.

  “Wait—you’ll choke yourself!” Asher protested. The grape had been a large one and the chewchie was tiny. It was as though he himself had tried to eat an entire cantaloupe or honeydew melon in one bite.

  He got a distinct feeling of disdain—as though he didn’t know what he was talking about and ought to mind his own business. Which was very odd. Could the feeling be coming from the chewchie? Because Asher certainly would never think such a thing about himself—would he? But the idea that the chewchie could be sending him feelings seemed far-fetched and preposterous.

  This momentary confusion was followed by a feeling of intense pleasure and delight, exactly when the chewchie bit into the large grape it had shoved in its mouth. Asher was suddenly flooded with the feeling that he was eating the most delicious thing in the universe—a total surprise since, while he had enjoyed the grapes, which he had bought to try when he was studying up on Earth culture—he hadn’t thought they were the best food ever.

  What’s going on? Where are these feelings coming from? he wondered, still staring at the chewing chewchie.

  “It says here that your chewchie will be very tired after hatching,” Sylvan reported—he was still scanning the scroll of instructions. “Please allow it to sleep as long as it wants and give it some time before you expect it to send and receive messages.”

  Asher frowned. “Do they think I would send it out in a strange ship with a message tied to its neck the moment after it hatched?” Of course, it was possible that was exactly what might happen on Helios Beta where chewchies were so prevalent, but he was certainly not going to do any such thing to the creature entrusted to his care.

  An image of the pink speckled egg formed in his mind again, only this time the shell was broken and a furry pink chewchie was sitting beside it. A feeling of longing filled him at this image—an emotion so deep and lonesome it made him catch his breath and his eyes burned as though he was about to weep.

  “Commander Asher, are you all right?” Sylvan looked up at him, clearly concerned.

  “I…I’m fine.” Asher swallowed hard, trying to push the strange emotion away. Was it coming from the chewchie? Or was it simply his own feeling of loss for Lisa?

  Don’t be foolish, he told himself firmly. She’s better off without you—get over it!

  “I’m perfectly fine,” he said again, looking away from the little creature.

  “Well…” Sylvan sighed and stood up from the table. “I have been away from my own family for too long, Sophia will be wanting me to come back for our annual reading of “T’was the Night Before Christmas” to our twins and the ritual of setting out milk and cookies for Santa.”

  “Wait—you observe the Earth holiday too?” Asher asked, frowning.

  Sylvan shrugged. “I would say that nearly all the mated Kindred on the Mother Ship do in one way or another. It pleases our mates—they love observing ‘Christmas traditions.’”

  Asher remembered that Dru had told him much the same thing.

  “So…you say you leave out eatables and drink for Satan Claus on this night?” he asked.

  “That’s Santa Claus,” Sylvan corrected him. “And yes, the idea is that the children leave sweet treats for Santa since he is going to bring them presents.”

  “Or maybe as a bribe—so that they do not receive dirty lumps of carbon instead,” Asher suggested.

  Sylvan frowned. “I think you ought to study more about the holiday—you clearly haven’t quite grasped it yet.”

  Asher sighed. “I have no need to grasp it as I have no Earth bride to please.”

  “That,” Sylvan said, frowning, “Is perhaps your own fault. I won’t presume to tell you your business but if I were you, I would reconsider pushing away the fated mate the Goddess has put in your path.”

  And with that, he left, leaving Asher alone with the chewchie, which had eaten three more grapes and then promptly curled up on the pillow where its egg had been and gone to sleep.

  Forty-Five

  The Christmas movie marathon lasted all day and into the night. Lisa ate anothe