Pursued Read online

  “All right!” Kat leaned over and gave her a gentle high five. “The nookie train is back on track. Score one for the bonding fruit girls.”

  “Bonding fruit?” Elise asked, turning her attention from the question of clones and the delicious strawberry vanilla swirl cupcakes which had been Lauren’s contribution to the girl-day brunch. “What’s that?”

  Kat and Lauren shared a look and both of them laughed. “It’s a long story, hon,” Kat said. “Let’s just say it makes all things possible. And I do mean all things.”

  “It’s a fruit that helps you, um, accommodate your Kindred mate,” Sophie said delicately. “Some of them are kind of you know, large.”

  Kat raised an eyebrow. “Like you have to tell her? She’s got the biggest guy of all. Sorry, Elise, but you know it’s true—Merrick is huge. I’m really glad my guys aren’t built on that scale.”

  “Yes, he is kind of…of big.” Elise cleared her throat and looked down at her hands.

  “I’m guessing he’s big where it counts, too—right?” Kat nudged her but Liv shook her head at her friend. Then she smiled at Elise and changed the subject.

  “So how are you and Merrick settling in? Have you had any more problems with that ex-fiancé of yours?”

  “He tried to make trouble,” Elise admitted. “Remember I told you he’d tricked me into signing a prenup saying I had to marry him?”

  “He did what?” Kat exclaimed.

  “Yeah, well it was my fault for just signing instead of looking over it first,” Elise said. “Anyway, when I didn’t show for the wedding, he put in a complaint to the Kindred High Council—he even tried to bring Merrick up on charges of murder.”

  “Oh, no!” Sophie put a hand to her mouth. “When did this happen?”

  “Not too long after we first came up here,” Elise said quietly. “I didn’t really feel like talking about it then, but well, I’m starting to feel better now.” She smiled at Liv who smiled back encouragingly.

  “Well go on.” Kat made a motion with one hand. “What happened?”

  Elise cleared her throat. “Merrick explained that the man he’d murdered had been, uh, trying to attack me at the time, so they cleared him of that charge right away. Apparently a Kindred warrior can’t be held responsible for what they do when the woman they love is in danger.”

  “No, they can’t.” Sophie shook her head firmly. “They go into rage.”

  “It’s kind of a protective fury,” Liv explained. “If a Kindred thinks his female is in danger, there’s no stopping him until he eliminates that danger.”

  “Yeah, and sometimes the elimination process can be kind of…messy.” Sophia winced.

  “Messy. Right.” Elise nodded. “I, uh, know all about that.” Though she hadn’t seen her apartment after Merrick had finished with Charles, James had described it in graphic detail at the inquest. It didn’t change how she felt about the big Kindred a bit, but she had to admit it was a little frightening to be with a man who loved you so much he would do anything to protect you. Anything at all.

  “Well, so they cleared him of the murder charges, but what about the prenup?” Lauren asked. “Did that hold up?”

  Elise shook her head. “They ruled that my connection with Merrick superseded the prenup, especially when I testified that I signed it without knowing exactly what it stated.”

  “So everything worked out in the end.” Olivia looked pleased.

  “Sort of.” Elise bit her lip. “They also asked Merrick and me about the man who had captured us—the one with the silver eyes. Draven.”

  “The leader of the Hoard?” Sophie’s lovely green eyes were shadowed by fear. This new threat to the Kindred wasn’t often discussed—it was too new and frightening for the girls to want to speculate about it much.

  Elise nodded. “Yes, that’s him. Merrick told them everything he knew, and then they let us go. They did throw James one bone, though—Merrick is banned from ever going down to Earth again.”

  “Well, that should be no problem,” Kat said comfortingly. “I mean, you’ve got enough to keep you busy up here, right? I mean, you’ve only really been together a month, I’m surprised you can even get out of bed.”

  “Kat,” Liv hissed.

  “No, it’s okay.” Elise looked up and took a deep breath. “Merrick and I haven’t actually…haven’t actually had sex yet.”

  “What?” Kat, Lauren, and Sophie chimed together. Liv, who already knew, just sat silently.

  “It’s true.” Elise lifted her chin. “Olivia is the only one I’ve talked to about it. Well, besides the therapist you recommended, Liv.” She nodded at Olivia who nodded back, smiling encouragement.

  “When you said that Merrick got to you just in time to stop some kind of…of attack,” Sophie said hesitantly. “Was that…does that have anything to do with it?”

  “That’s a big part of it, yes.” Elise sighed. “But the other part is, Merrick doesn’t want to.”

  “He doesn’t?” Kat raised her eyebrows. “Um, that’s a little unusual for a Kindred, hon.”

  “It’s because he’s afraid he’ll hurt or scare her, I’m sure,” Liv said, jumping to her defense. “Isn’t that right, Elise?”

  Elise nodded. “Exactly. He doesn’t want me to associate him with my past trauma. And I’ve never really had sex that wasn’t, uh traumatic. So he thinks we should rule it out entirely—or at least put it on hold for several years until I’m completely over my past.”

  “I think I know what you’re talking about.” Sophie leaned over and put a hand on her knee. “And I want you to know, something like that happened to me, too. It was awful and it colored the way I saw every other man afterwards. But Sylvan helped me through it.” She squeezed Elise’s knee. “I’m sure Merrick can do the same for you. Kindred are the most patient, kind, gentle lovers in the world, if you give them a chance.”

  “It sounds to me like it’s Merrick who won’t give it a chance,” Lauren said, frowning. “Am I right, Elise?”

  Elise nodded again. “Unfortunately, yes. He says that since he’s a hybrid, there’s no way we can regrow the bond we lost, so there’s no point in taking a risk on him traumatizing me. He’s content for us to be celibate for however long it takes for me to feel ready—but now he won’t believe me when I say I am ready.”

  “That’s right—you’re living together unbonded, aren’t you?” Kat said and all the girls made wordless noises of sympathy.

  “Bonding sex is a big deal for the Kindred,” Olivia said thoughtfully. “I guess if Merrick feels you have no hope of having a bond, there’s no reason to put your emotional health in danger just to have sex.”

  “But I want to,” Elise burst out passionately. “I mean, I didn’t at first, I’ll admit. I’ve been through kind of a lot in the past few months.”

  “Isn’t that the understatement of the year,” Kat murmured and Sophie shushed her.

  “I’ve been through a lot—both bad and good,” Elise amended. “And even though the bond between us was wrong and had to be broken, I think that was the best part of it.” She took a deep breath, trying to hold back tears. “There at the end, I could even feel Merrick’s emotions and…and hear his thoughts, and he could do the same for me. I…I miss it so much—that closeness.” She gave a soft sob. “And even though I know sex would just be…be a pale shadow of that intimacy, I still want it. I want something with him. Something more than just lying there in the dark, side by side every night, afraid to even touch each other for fear things will get…will get out of hand.”

  She was outright sobbing now but there was no condemnation on the faces around her. Instead, to her surprise, Elise found herself suddenly enveloped in a group hug.

  “It’s okay, doll,” Kat murmured. “Just get it out.”

  “We’ve all been there,” Lauren said gently. “Some of us more recently than others—I should know.”

  “I just wish there was some way of convincing him to touch me—to at least try