Handling the Hybrid: A Kindred Tales Novel Read online

  She spoke clearly, directing her words to the big Kindred as much as to the Judge of the Change. She knew Vrox would understand that she was telling him what to do—how to play along. “And now if we’re all ready, I think it’s time to begin,” she said.

  “Very well, my dear. But please do be careful!” Mistress Sinda leaned forward anxiously, clutching the remote to the big Kindred’s pain collar and cuffs in white-knuckled hands.

  “I’ll be fine,” Tandy repeated, and walked serenely to the force field.

  The feeling in the room was perfect, she thought. The soft purple light from outside and the flickering golden radiance shed by the candles combined to make mysterious shadows on the floor. The deep beats of the drum and the high, chilling melody of the flute interwove with the scented smoke of the incense, making an undeniably sexy and alluring atmosphere. There was a tingle in the air, as though something magical was about to happen.

  And it is, Tandy told herself, eyeing Vrox as he stood in the center of the circle, watching her with his mismatched eyes. I’m going to “tame” my new slave.

  She was dressed the part of the perfect Mistress in a flowing red gown which perfectly set off her creamy brown skin. It was low cut—down to her navel—and barely covered her nipples while leaving the inner swells of her breasts completely bare. It was slit high in the middle, of course, and tiny red lace panties went with it, clearly visible between her thighs.

  Rather than wearing the stilt-like heels most Mistresses favored, she had elected to go barefoot and she had also let her long, curly hair flow free down her back rather than restraining it. She felt like a wild thing—a goddess who was ready to work her will on a mortal male and claim him for her own.

  I am powerful, she told herself confidently. I am beautiful…desirable. I will appear to tame the Kindred and Mistress Sinda and even Deelee won’t suspect a thing.

  As she entered the force field and approached Vrox, she began to sing, weaving her voice through the melody of the flute, adding her song to the one playing over the sound system. Tandy had an excellent voice—smoky and smooth as honey at the same time—and she used it to her best advantage now.

  “Kindred,” she sang softly, holding Vrox’s eyes with her own.

  “You are mine and I am thine.

  I draw the circle and make the sign.

  I claim thee now in this sacred hour.

  I call you by name, I claim the power.

  Vrox, you belong to me, and I to you.

  Never have words been spoken more true.

  Under the moon or under the sun,

  We are one…we are one…we are one…”

  It was the same song that the yarron breakers sang as they claimed and tamed a new beast who would be bonded only to them. Tandy held the big Kindred’s eyes as she sang soft but clear, letting every note hang in the air like a siren call, claiming him body and soul as she drew him to her.

  Vrox had been glaring at her to start with—clearly playing the part of the untamed beast to the hilt. But now he stared at her with a kind of wonder and his large hands, which had been curled into fists at his sides, gradually relaxed.

  Though this was supposed to be an act, Tandy could swear she actually felt something in the air between them—some magnetic pull that could neither be ignored or denied. It was magical…unmistakable. Maybe there was something to this ceremony after all.

  She approached the big Kindred, still humming sweetly, and pulled out a small bottle of scented oil of amaranth from her flowing robes. She poured a little on her fingers and reached up to him fearlessly.

  “Oh my Goddess—she’s so close!” she heard Mistress Sinda whisper from behind the force field.

  “He’ll rip her apart—you watch,” Deelee predicted.

  Tandy ignored them both.

  “Kindred,” she murmured, speaking instead of singing this time. “Vrox…you are mine and thus do I claim you.”

  Reaching up on her tiptoes, she dabbed a tiny bit of oil on his forehead, between his thick black brows.

  “I claim your mind and fill it with thoughts of our union,” she murmured, looking fearlessly into those mismatched eyes.

  Dipping into the oil again, she drew a spiraling circle over the left side of his broad, muscular chest.

  “I claim your heart and fill it with love for me,” she told him, still looking up to meet his gaze.

  Dipping into the oil again, she began to circle the flat copper disk of his right nipple, drawing a choked growl from his thick throat. Ignoring the soft sound, Tandy circled the left as well, making it shiny with the oil.

  Goddess, but she loved touching him—loved putting her hands on the big, strong male body. His dark spicy scent was rising around her again, making her nipples hard and her pussy wet and hot and swollen. There was definitely something between them—an almost palpable attraction that seemed to draw her even closer to the big, muscular Kindred.

  Suddenly, she wanted to touch him more.

  Going with her instinct, she put the oil away and circled around him, running her hands over his muscular chest and abdomen in long, sweeping strokes, then his broad shoulders and back, sliding her fingers over his smooth, tan flesh and humming softly as she went.

  She could feel the big Kindred tense at her touch, feel his big body quiver as she caressed him—as she stroked him. His hands clenched into fists again and he trembled with tension as a low, hungry growl rose in his throat.

  The reaction didn’t frighten Tandy but it made her wonder if he wanted to touch her back—to stroke her as she was stroking him. But he knew he mustn’t do it—mustn’t touch her unless she allowed him to.

  Feeling daring, she let her hands rove down under the loincloth to stroke his muscular ass. She let her middle finger skim lightly over his cleft, letting him know wordlessly that this part of him belonged to her too—if she chose to claim it.

  Of course if I did that—if I penetrated him there—I would have to let him penetrate me too, she thought and a shiver of pure lust ran through her. Goddess, what would it feel like to have that long, thick shaft she’d seen between his thighs inside her? How would it be to find herself helpless beneath his muscular bulk, her thighs spread wide as he moved between them, claiming her as she was claiming him now?

  Vrox seemed to be thinking the same kinds of thoughts because he growled softly under his breath, “Gods, little girl, you’re driving me fucking crazy.”

  “Shhh,” Tandy shushed him quietly. “You must not speak until it’s time for you to acknowledge me as your Mistress.” But she felt fairly confident that no one but her had heard his words. Probably all Mistress Sinda and Deelee could hear was his low, rumbling tone.

  She stroked his ass a moment more and then, finally, she came around to face him again. Putting out her tongue, she lapped gently at first one nipple and then the other before she spoke.

  “I claim your body and fill it with lust for me,” she murmured, holding his eyes with her own. “Only for me and no other, Vrox. I am your Mistress and you are my male.”

  This last part had not been part of the yarron breaking ceremony but Tandy had decided to add it herself—she felt like it made a nice touch. Back when she’d been planning the ritual, she hadn’t thought it would be more than that—just an extra flourish to her made-up claiming rite.

  But when she said the words, a rush of desire came over her and a need she had never known before seemed to fill her. From the way the loincloth between Vrox’s thighs tented, he must be feeling it too, she thought hazily. Goddess, what was happening? It was almost like her ceremonial claiming had become a real thing—a magical web that had ensnared them both.

  “You are mine, Vrox,” she whispered, looking up at him. “Mine—I claim you.”

  As if on cue, the big Kindred went to his knees before her and spoke aloud for the first time.

  “I am yours and you are mine…Mistress,” he rumbled. “May we never be parted.”

  “May we never be par