Falling for Kindred Claus Read online

  “Anyway,” she went on. “After Asher, uh, cut off Cameron’s head, I couldn’t breathe because his hands were still wrapped around my neck and everything went black. And then…” She swallowed again even though it hurt. “And then I saw this golden light in the darkness. It seemed like a long way off but I could hear…”

  She trailed off, shaking her head.

  “Hear what?” Liv asked gently, squeezing her hand.

  “I could hear my Dad calling me,” Lisa whispered, looking up at her friend. “But, Liv—he’s been dead for years! I could hear him though—faint but very clear, calling my name. So I started to walk towards him—towards the light.”

  “Oh my God!” Liv whispered. “Lisa, that almost sounds like you were, you know…”

  “Dead? Yeah, I think I was for a minute.” Lisa nodded, feeling strangely calm about the whole thing—though she was sure she would probably be upset later. “Anyway, I was halfway down the long dark tunnel thingy—halfway to the light—when this warm, female voice said to me, “Not yet, daughter.” And then I found myself flying backwards down the tunnel again.”

  “The Goddess!” Liv said excitedly. “You were talking to the Goddess—or she was talking to you.”

  Lisa frowned. “You mean the Kindred Goddess? Is she a, uh, real thing?”

  “She’s real all right,” Liv said confidently. “It sounds like she’s the one that sent you back.”

  “Well, someone certainly did.” Lisa shook her head. “The next thing I knew, I was floating above myself and looking down on my own body. Asher was holding me and rocking me and his eyes…” She bit her lip. “His eyes were filled with tears. I could feel his grief—it was so strong it was coming off him in waves and I could feel it all around me.”

  “And then what?” Liv whispered. She had settled down on the side of Lisa’s bed and was gripping her hand tightly. “What happened next?”

  “Somehow I was rushing down, into my own body like I was an iron filing being pulled by a magnet,” Lisa said. When I landed, it was like falling backwards onto a mattress. Just thump—you know?”

  “No, I don’t know and I’m glad I don’t!” Liv exclaimed. “But that’s amazing.”

  “I’m sure I’ll think so too, tomorrow,” Lisa said tiredly. “Right now I just feel exhausted. Though of course I’m glad to be home—er, back in my body, anyway. I don’t know where to call ‘home’ now.”

  “You’re going to call the Mother Ship home,” Liv said firmly. “You and Asher are going to settle down and start making babies like the rest of us, I bet. And if you don’t want to make babies, well, that’s okay too. As long as you’ll hang out with us and join our little group.”

  “I’d like that.” Lisa smiled at her shyly. “If that’s what Asher wants.”

  “Honey, he almost lost you,” Liv said. “At this point, he’s going to want whatever you want. You’d best take advantage of it.”

  “All I want right now is to sleep for about ten hours straight,” Lisa said. “And I’m sure you want to get back to your family too. It’s…” She looked at the chronometer on the wall, “it’s almost three in the morning. And you’ve got young kids so you’re going to be up early.”

  Liv groaned. “You’re right—Daniel wakes at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning. Which means I’ve got to be up in three of four hours.”

  “So let me go,” Lisa said reasonably. “That way we can both get the sleep we need.”

  “All right.” Liv nodded. “As long as you promise to stay in your own body and not go down any more long dark corridors towards the light, I think I can discharge you.”

  “I promise,” Lisa said, nodding. At the moment, all she wanted was to go back with Asher to wherever he was staying and curl up together on the couch or the bed or wherever there was room for both of them to be in the same place at the same time.

  “All right,” Liv told her. “I’ll discharge you. Go and have a Merry Christmas—if you can.”

  “I’ll try,” Lisa said sincerely. She had a feeling that she was going to be dealing with the events of tonight for quite some time. But as long as she and Asher and their chewchies were together, she knew she would be all right.

  Fifty

  Lisa came slowly awake and saw Asher looking down at her with loving concern filling his green eyes.

  “Good morning,” he rumbled. “Or good evening, I suppose. It’s nearly eight o’clock. Did you sleep well?”

  “Sort of—no bad dreams anyway.” She started to get up and winced. “Oh God, I’m so sore.”

  “That’s to be expected—you were fighting for your life last night.” He frowned and Lisa was afraid he was going to start apologizing again.

  “Do you think I could get a hot shower?” she asked, to forestall him.

  She honestly didn’t blame the big Kindred for anything that had happened. She should have known better than to go down to Earth and stay in her apartment like a sitting duck when she knew Cameron was hunting her. She’d just thought she might have a little more time before he found her…

  But no. She pushed the memory away. Right now she just wanted to forget the past and live in the present. And she was very much hoping that the present included a nice hot shower.

  “What about a bath instead?” Asher asked her. “I have a bathing pool here in my suite that’s quite deep. You could soak in it and ease the tension in your entire body at once.”

  That sounded like an amazing idea to Lisa but when she tried again to get up, she found that she was so stiff and sore she could barely move.

  “Let me help you.” Asher lifted her easily out of the bed, where she had fallen asleep on his shoulder the night before, and carried her through a small but luxurious suite until he came to a large, well-appointed bathroom.

  True to his word, there was a huge sunken bathtub, at least six feet across, that looked deep enough to swim in. It was filled with steaming water that was lightly scented.

  “That looks wonderful!” Lisa said, but looked uncertainly at the steep steps leading down into the pool. In her current state, she wasn’t really certain she could manage them on her own.

  Asher was way ahead of her on that, though.

  “I’m going in with you,” he said firmly. “To support you in the water.”

  “I’m a Florida girl,” Lisa protested. “I could swim before I could walk!”

  “Just the same.” Asher frowned. “Do you want me to help you remove your clothes?”

  Lisa bit her lip, feeling a little shy. Even though he had seen her naked before, she still had body issues. Especially considering how big and muscular and physically perfect he was compared to her own over-generous curves.

  “Could we maybe…dim the lights a little bit?” she asked hesitantly. “It’s kind of bright in here.”

  “Of course. Lights dim.” Asher spoke in an authoritative voice and the room was immediately suffused in a soft golden glow that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was much more forgiving than the brilliant, overhead luminescence had been and Lisa felt immediately more comfortable.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Okay, now I don’t mind undressing so much.”

  “I don’t know why you would mind in the first place when you have such a luscious, curvy body,” Asher remarked in a low growl.

  “Oh, well…” Lisa felt her cheeks get hot. “Thank you. I’m, uh, used to being considered too curvy, to be honest.”

  “Too curvy? There is no such thing,” Asher murmured as he helped her off with her clothes—which were the same sweatpants and t-shirt she’d been wearing yesterday during her Christmas movie marathon. Lisa was glad to get out of them.

  “There certainly is on Earth,” she remarked and tried to avert her eyes as he slipped his own clothing off—just a long pair of silky black sleep trousers, she saw, like he had worn their night together on Helios Beta. Still, it was hard not to look at his long, lean frame—the broad muscular shoulders and sculpted chest an