Bridging the Distance Read online

  “They’re minding about as well as usual,” Lock said, looping an arm around her waist and dipping his head to drop an affectionate kiss on her cheek.

  “Only because I threatened to take their bezom blocks away and tan their backsides if they didn’t straighten up,” Deep growled, putting an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you’re back—we missed you, little Kat,” he added in a different, deeper voice clearly meant only for her. Tilting her chin up with his free hand, he laid a scorching-hot kiss on her mouth.

  Lorelei wanted to look away—this was obviously a private moment between Kat and her mates. But she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes from the scene. As Deep kissed his mate long and thoroughly, Lock watched them, a look of patient lust in his brown, half-lidded eyes. He kept his arm around Kat’s waist and stroked her back with one large palm, not as though he was impatient, but as though he wanted to heighten her pleasure by adding his own touch to the equation.

  How can he not be jealous at all? Lorelei wondered. How can he watch his brother kiss the woman they both love and not wish it was him doing the kissing?

  Against her will, she imagined herself and Bound in the same situation. Was Bound the Light Twin in their pair, she wondered? And if so, what would Torn look like? Would he be as dark and intense as Deep was? Could she handle a man like that, especially if it meant taking on his brother at the same time?

  Then she realized what she was thinking.

  Get hold of yourself, Lorelei Daniels! she scolded herself fiercely. And please remember you are here in a professional capacity only!

  “There you are, My Lady.” The deep, already familiar voice made her heart start pounding at once.

  Lorelei turned to see Bound at her elbow, a smile on his face.

  “Oh, Bound!” She reached for him automatically. He was the only one she really knew in a roomful of strangers.

  “My Lady Lorelei.” He slipped his arm around her waist as naturally as though he’d been doing it all his life. Lorelei had to remind herself that she’d only known him for a few hours. “Our shuttle is ready for the trip. Do you wish to sign the contract now?”

  “I have it in the study,” Deep said. He led the way and Kat and Lock followed. Bound went too, pulling Lorelei gently along by the hand. They went into a small room at the back of the large suite which seemed almost too quiet after the noise and laughter of the crowded living area.

  “Here we are—I printed it out because I know you humans have a weakness for paper copies.” Deep handed over a surprisingly short contract—only one page long.

  “Thank you.” Lorelei scanned it quickly. It specified only that she would do her best to try and recover Torn and that she would receive fifty thousand US dollars in return. “Wow,” she said. “Short and sweet—where’s the catch?” She looked at Bound. “Don’t you want some kind of clause in there saying if I fail to help bring your brother back I don’t get the money?”

  “Unnecessary,” he murmured. “I know you will do your best, My Lady. I can ask no more than that.”

  “But…but you barely know me,” Lorelei protested.

  “I know enough,” Bound said quietly. “You offered to help me, even before I told you the fee you would be earning. Your heart is as pure as your face is beautiful.”

  “Oh…” Lorelei put a hand to her heart. Coming from a human man, it would have sounded like a cheesy pickup line. But from Bound it was beautiful and completely sincere. “Thank you,” she whispered at last.

  “Look at that—she’s smitten all right.” Kat laughed.

  “That’s a Light Twin for you,” Deep remarked. “Silver tongued bastards.”

  “Stop it, both of you,” Lock said, frowning. “Bound means every word he says, don’t you, Brother?”

  “With all my heart,” Bound murmured. “Which reminds me, My Lady—there is something which is not in the contract.”

  “Oh? What is it—a hidden clause? Fine print?” Lorelei asked, trying to break the tension of the moment. But her words came out breathless instead of joking so the effect was ruined.

  “My oath,” Bound murmured.

  Suddenly he sank to one knee before her and took both of her hands in both of his. For one alarming moment, Lorelei though he was going to propose. Then he began to speak in a low, warm voice as he held her eyes with his.

  “My Lady Lorelei,” he said, looking at her earnestly. “I swear to you now that on this journey I will guard you with my life. My body shall be your shield, my arms, your shelter, my heart, your home. May my blood be shed in an ocean of crimson before even a drop of your own is spilled, for I will die, if need be, to protect you from harm. This I vow to you in the name of the Goddess, she who is the Mother of All Life.”

  “Oh my,” Lorelei whispered as genuine awe swept over her. He means it, whispered a little voice in her head. He actually means every word of it! The light of sincerity was shining in Bound’s deep blue eyes and she knew that every word he had spoken was true.

  “You okay, doll?” Kat murmured from where she and Lock and Deep were watching quietly. “It’s pretty intense the first time a Kindred warrior gives you his oath.”

  “It’s…beautiful,” Lorelei said softly. She looked down at Bound, who was still kneeling. He was so tall she didn’t have to look far. “May…may I give you an oath in return?” she asked.

  He looked surprised but at last, he nodded.

  “If you wish, My Lady.”

  “I do wish,” Lorelei said firmly. Heart pounding, she looked into the big Kindred’s eyes. “Bound-Tight of the Twin Kindred, I swear to you here and now I will do everything in my power to help bring your brother back and reunite the two of you,” she said softly. “I won’t hold back, I promise. If there’s anything I can do to make things right, I’ll do it. Anything.”

  There was a sudden ripple of power in the room—a strange surge like an electrical charge that flowed through everything at once. It made Lorelei’s skin prickle and raised the short hairs at the back of her neck as it flowed in a cool, tingling rush down her spine.

  She gasped and looked around. “What was that?”

  “Both your oaths were heard and witnessed,” Deep rumbled. “I do believe the Goddess is with us.”

  “She’s going to be with you on this quest,” Lock said softly. “I’m certain of it.”

  Lorelei wanted to tell them she didn’t believe in any God or Goddess, but somehow she just couldn’t. For one thing, she didn’t want to be rude about their religion and for another…what had she felt? Because it had certainly been something. There was no denying that.

  “Well…” Kat clapped her hands together briskly. “If you two are done vowing to each other, maybe we can get you ready to go. I’ve had the Clothing Pattern Replicator make Femalian clothes for both of you and you need to know how to act once you get there too.”

  “My Lady Kat loves doing research into alien cultures for this kind of thing.” Lock looked at her fondly.

  “She’s the best at preparing people for missions on other worlds,” Deep acknowledged, grinning down at his mate.

  “I don’t just do it for the fun of it,” Kat pointed out. “Now that the two of you have me tied down here on the Mother Ship all barefoot and pregnant, I have to live vicariously through others.”

  “Are you pregnant again, little Kat?” Deep raised his eyebrows. “I thought three boys was enough for you.”

  “You know what I mean.” Kat swatted him on his broad shoulder affectionately and motioned for Lorelei and Bound. “Come on, you two. I have everything in the other room.”

  Bemused, Lorelei allowed Bound to take her hand and lead her out of the office. She had her copy of the signed contract, folded in her purse, but somehow it didn’t seem nearly as important as the verbal vows she and Bound had just given each other.

  We tied ourselves together, somehow, she thought. She didn’t know how exactly they were connected but she had a deep, gut feeling that it was a connection that was g