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  She pulled away before he could touch her. “It’s all right.” But her voice and actions said it wasn’t. Said that it would never be all right. And why did that tear at his heart so?

  “Hey, what’s happening over here? That was some kiss.” Apparently the ceremony was over because Kat, one of Olivia’s best friends from Earth, was suddenly beside them. Her full curves were draped in a sapphire blue gown and her deep red hair was piled becomingly atop her head. She was followed by two warriors that Sylvan knew well, though he hadn’t seen them in several cycles.

  “Deep, Lock,” he greeted the Twin Kindred, relieved to find that his fangs had finally returned to their normal size. “It’s good to see you, brothers.”

  “We had to witness our brother’s bonding.” Stabs Deep, the dark twin of the two, nodded formally. He had black hair and eyes and a brooding look on his strong features.

  “We had to see what kind of female would agree to take Baird as a mate.” The gleam of good humor in the warm brown eyes of Locks Tight, the light twin of the pair, let Sylvan know he was joking. Though he resembled his twin closely in the face, he had dark blond hair and stood about an inch shorter than Deep. Both of them towered over Kat and Sophie however—like all Kindred males they were muscular and well over six and a half feet in height.

  “Baird’s bride is a worthy female,” Sylvan said, trying to sound normal, though he was still disturbed over what had happened during the Luck Kiss. “Her name is Olivia. Would you care to meet her before she and Baird cut the bonding confection—er wedding cake?”

  “Lead the way, Brother.” Deep made an expansive gesture with one hand. “But before we go…” He turned to Kat. “Forgive me but what did you say your name was my lady?”

  “Katrina. But I usually go by Kat.” She smiled in an open, friendly manner. “And you two are…?”

  “Stabs Deep and Locks Tight,” Sylvan supplied the introduction politely. “They are second brothers to Baird and myself. Our father married their mother.”

  Lock frowned. “So you said your name was Cat? Like the Earth animal you humans keep as a pet?”

  “Not quite. It’s spelled K-A-T, not…oh never mind. It doesn’t matter.” Kat shrugged.

  “About cats…” Deep leaned closer and gave Kat a speculative look. “Isn’t that the lovely little animal that makes soft sounds of pleasure when you stroke it?”

  For some reason Kat’s cheeks grew pink and she seemed embarrassed, though it was a simple enough question in Sylvan’s estimation. Maybe it was the intent way both Deep and Lock were looking at her that made her blush.

  “I…I suppose. Yes, they d-do,” she stammered. “It’s called purring.”

  “I see.” Deep smiled at her. “I’ve often wanted to stroke a cat just to hear those sounds. I’m certain the vids we have of it on Twin Moons don’t do it justice.”

  “I—” Kat began but before she could say more Lock grabbed hold of his twin’s arm and began towing him away.

  “Forgive him, my lady,” he said, winking at Kat. “Extreme beauty makes him extremely stupid. Come on,” he said when Deep started to protest. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Just come on.” Lock looked at Sylvan. “I believe you were about to introduce us to the bride?”

  “Oh, of course. This way.” Sylvan cast one last look over at Sophia, but she had already turned away and was talking quietly with Kat.

  He wished desperately that he could apologize one more time, that he could explain to her what had happened. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t explain it to himself. Why had he reacted so strangely to a simple Luck Kiss? And why could he still taste the single, salty drop of blood he’d drawn from her lower lip on his tongue?

  With an unhappy sigh, he decided to let the matter rest and turned toward the place where Baird and Olivia were receiving the well wishes of their guests and kin. He still had no idea why the kiss had gone so strangely, but of one thing he was certain—if Sophia hadn’t hated him before, she certainly did now.

  Chapter Three

  “What was that all about with the Twin Kindred?” Sophia asked as they made their way to the refreshment pavilion which had been set up on the far side of the sacred grove. They’d spent the last hour watching the cake cutting ceremony and then Liv had thrown her bouquet. Kat had been reaching for it but it was Lock, Sylvan’s light haired step brother—or second brother, whichever—who had caught it. He had handed it to Kat with a courtly bow which made Deep, his twin scowl. Kat had blushingly accepted the lovely bunch of lavender roses and then she and Sophie had beat a hasty retreat.

  “I could ask you the same thing. What was going on during that Luck Kiss? At first you looked like you were going to die of fright and then you got really into it—right before you jerked away, anyway. What happened?” Kat asked, squeezing her arm.

  “I…I don’t exactly know. I was scared to death at first,” Sophia admitted. “I didn’t even know I was supposed to kiss him until we got into the bride’s tent and started helping Liv get ready.”

  “I can’t believe she did that to you.” Kat frowned. “She knows what a shrinking violet you are. Well, sorry hon but you are,” she added when Sophie made a face at her. “I mean it’s not like I’m burning up the sheets either, but if you look up ‘shy’ in a dictionary you’d find your picture there.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Sophie protested. “Okay, well maybe I am. But it wasn’t all Liv’s fault—Jillian talked her into adding it. Apparently the Luck Kiss is some kind of Twin Moons Kindred thing. She had it in her ceremony and she thought it was so romantic she wanted Liv to have it too.”

  “It looked more awkward than romantic, I’m afraid.”

  “Did it really?” Sophie felt sick. “Oh please tell me I didn’t ruin the ceremony! I wanted so much to do things right for Liv—it would kill me to think I hurt her special day.”

  “No, no—it was fine.” Kat rubbed her arm soothingly. “Here, have some punch.” They had reached the pavilion at last and she handed Sophie a tall fluted glass filled with some kind of dark blue liquid.

  “What’s this?” Sophie eyed it uncertainly. It looked like dishwashing soap but the fumes coming off it were definitely alcoholic.

  Kat shrugged. “Dunno. Some delicacy from Rageron. Liv wanted me to get something called ‘fireflower juice’ but the supplier I talked to said they were all out. This is the next best thing apparently—and with twice the alcohol content. Bottoms up!” With a grin she downed half the contents of her glass. “Wow, that really packs a punch,” she gasped, her eyes watering.

  Sophie sniffed the thick blue liquid, which smelled strangely of almonds and some kind of spice, and took a careful sip. The flavor exploded across her tongue and burned her wounded lip like fire. “Ow!” She nearly dropped her glass. “That stings! Like drinking freaking Tabasco sauce.”

  “I’m sorry—I should have warned you it was hot.” Kat gave her a worried look. “Hey, are you all right?”

  “I’m okay—it just burned my lip where Sylvan bit me.” Sophie licked the lip in question, sucking it to get the last traces of the alien alcohol off.

  “Wait a minute, he what? He bit you? Is that why you jerked away so fast at the end of the kiss?”

  Sophie shrugged uneasily. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to—he said it was an accident.”

  “Accident or not, he should have apologized.” Kat was still angry on her behalf.

  “He did. Seriously, Kat, it’s all right. But I was afraid something like that was going to happen. I mean, what with his fangs and all. Even though Jillian said they wouldn’t get sharp enough to hurt anyone unless…”

  “Unless what?” Kat frowned.

  “Never mind.” Sophie twirled her glass by the stem, watching the thick blue liquid slosh gently from side to side. “It’s nothing. It just proves that Jillian isn’t the expert on all things Kindred she thinks she is.”

  “She always was a kno