Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23 Read online

  With the pleasure, came a deep outpouring of love—it was as though her soul was suddenly joined to his and it was a deeper, more intense feeling than she had ever had in her life.

  “Malik,” she gasped, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh God, I love you—love you so much!” Then she started to cry. “And I don’t want to lose you!”

  “I love you too,” he murmured, but for some reason his voice seemed to be coming from inside her head instead of outside. “I’ll always love you, Nicole—no matter what becomes of me. If even a speck of dust that once made up my body is left, that speck will love you until eternity.”

  “That’s beautiful.” She sniffed and looked up at him. “But how…why…how am I hearing you inside my head?”

  “Because we’re bonded now,” he said aloud. “We’ve formed a soul-bond.” He sighed and shook his head. “And I’m deeply afraid you’re going to regret it once I’m gone.”

  “No, I won’t!” Nikki exclaimed fiercely. “Look at me, Malik.” She cupped his face in her hands and looked intensely into his silver eyes. “I’ll say it again, I love you. And you don’t want to forget people you love. Even if you miss them forever, you don’t want to forget them.”

  She was thinking of her mom, who had died too young of breast cancer when she was only thirty-nine. Nikki was almost the age her mom had been when she died right now, but there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t think of her and miss her. It would be the same with Malik, she thought. She would miss him so desperately her heart would break but it was better than forgetting—a hundred times better.

  “I hope you’re right, sweetheart.” He sighed and drew her closer, resting her cheek against his broad chest and winding his long arms around her. “Gods, I hope you are…”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Malik woke up with a sense of deep regret—it warred inside him with the contentment and well-being he naturally felt as a newly bonded male. When he looked down at Nicole, lying curled against him on the bed, he felt a love so strong for her it seemed to fill him until he couldn’t breathe.

  But it was a doomed love and he knew it—doomed to be snuffed out of existence the moment he used the device the Time Warden had given him to go back in time ten cycles before to save his people and restore his planet.

  And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to be sorry they had done it. Bonding the curvy little female to him had been the sweetest experience of his life—a life that might end today after he did what had to be done.

  It was a sweet memory to carry to his grave.

  He would have liked to stay in bed forever, just holding her there, but Nicole stirred eventually and pressed back against him.

  “Mmm, I love you too,” she murmured through their newly formed link. Clearly she had felt his strong emotions through their bond. “Love to wake up like this, in your arms.”

  “I just wish it could happen more than once,” Malik sent.

  She sighed and opened her eyes. “I guess we have to do what we came to do now, don’t we?” Her voice was sad but resigned and her big dark eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

  “I’m afraid so.” He stroked a long strand of hair out of her eyes and cupped her cheek. “Duty calls, sweetheart.”

  “I wish it didn’t. I wish we could stay here forever like this, wrapped in each other’s arms,” Nicole said wistfully.

  “I do too.” Malik drew her close to his heart, wrapping her in his arms and holding her tight. More than anything, he wanted to never let her go. “I do too.”

  At that moment, a loud sound that sounded like a shout or a groan suddenly came from the other room.

  They jumped apart and looked at each other.

  “What in the world?” Nicole asked.

  “I don’t know but I think we’d better find out,” Malik said grimly. “Come on—let’s see what our hosts are up to.”

  * * * * *

  Nikki pulled back on her green gown and panties and slipped into her ankle boots quickly. The sound repeated itself and it was louder this time. They gave each other a glance—what was going on?

  “Stay behind me,” Malik sent as he opened the bedroom door. “Let’s find out what in the Seven Hells is happening out there.”

  Nikki followed him closely, glad for the new link between them which meant they didn’t have to rely on the privacy bubble anymore. Plus, it was nice to feel so connected to the big Kindred. She had never felt such incredible closeness—such oneness—with anyone. It made her entire sixteen year marriage with Gary seem like a handshake in comparison. She and Malik were inside each other’s souls—for the first time in her life she felt compete—whole in every way.

  And I’m going to lose it—lose that closeness, that oneness—before the day is over, she couldn’t help thinking. For the first time she understood what Malik had been talking about when he spoke of the pain of a broken bond. The thought of losing him—of having him ripped away from her—was completely unbearable. And yet it had to happen—they had to sacrifice their bliss for the good of his planet.

  Nikki didn’t resent what they had to do—she had known that Malik was a man on a mission almost from the moment he had uncovered her true identity and revealed his own true purpose to her. But she couldn’t help wishing that the two of them could have met under different circumstances. That they could have had more time together before they lost each other forever.

  She could feel Malik feeling the same way through their link, wishing in the back of his mind that he didn’t have to give her up, even as he was hyper-focused on protecting her in case the loud grunting and shouting noises coming from the living area were a threat in any way.

  They went through the dining area and the kitchen and rounded the corner cautiously only to find…

  “What in the world?” Nikki looked blankly at the scene in front of them. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand what was happening.

  The male Replicant was sitting on the couch while the female Replicant straddled him. She was bouncing up and down on his lap and moaning while the male Replicant groaned loudly and gave the occasional shout of apparent pleasure.

  “What are they doing?” Malik asked, frowning.

  “Why, imitating you of course.”

  Suddenly the Knower was there, standing right beside Nikki, close enough to touch—if you could touch a hologram, that was. She wasn’t inclined to try.

  “Oh!” She put a hand to her quickly beating heart and edged away from the neutral-handsome, no-gender figure. “What…what do you mean?”

  “Exactly what I said. Come see.” The Knower led them deeper into the living area and pointed at the large, flat screen that Nikki had taken for a TV the night before. But when she turned to face it, she saw that instead of playing the colorful static it had showed earlier it was showing…

  “Hey—that’s us!” Malik growled, sounding outraged.

  Indeed, it was, Nikki saw with disbelief. The large screen was showing a picture of her and Malik the night before in the bathtub. It was the earlier part of their lovemaking, before the bonding sex, because she was moaning and riding Malik eagerly while he thrust up into her.

  Apparently the two Replicants on the couch were trying to imitate what they saw, but there was definitely a problem—the male’s shaft was still completely flaccid and was nowhere near the female Replicant’s vagina. Still, they seemed to be going to town—bouncing and moaning and groaning enthusiastically if completely ineptly.

  Once again, Nikki was bizarrely reminded of the way she and her cousin had played with their Barbie dolls as kids. Of course, they hadn’t known the facts of life and Barbie and Ken weren’t anatomically correct so they had just mashed the two of them together and made kissy noises. That was pretty much what was happening here, except the “dolls” were life-size and able to move on their own. Also, they were making a lot more than kissy noises, she thought dryly as the female moaned loudly.

  “This is unacceptable,” Malik gro