Brides of the Kindred Volume One Read online

  Liv swallowed hard. “And…you say she’s an expert at this kind of thing? The…seeker/finder thing?”

  Lock answered for his brother. “She is. She’s the one who trained our mentor, F’lir. She’s revered on our planet.”

  “She sounds really great,” Sophie ventured. “But to send Kat away to a strange planet—”

  “We’ll go with her,” Olivia said, squeezing Sophie’s hand. “Of course we will.”

  “Oh, no you won’t.” Baird walked into the room, frowning and Sophie wondered if Sylvan had called him. Liv opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head. “You’re expecting Lilenta. You can’t go.”

  “Baird is right,” Sylvan said quietly. “Your can’t go through folded space while you’re pregnant. The effects on the fetus are…bad. Very bad.” He shook his head.

  “Well then, I’ll go,” Sophia said. “Sylvan and I have only been together three and a half weeks so—”

  “Three and a half weeks in which we’ve been making love every spare minute, Talana,” Sylvan reminded her in a low voice. “How can you be sure you’re not with child as well?”

  “I could take a test,” Sophie said weakly but he shook his head.

  “It wouldn’t be conclusive—not at this stage. But if you wish to take the risk…”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to say that of course she would take the risk but Sophie looked in his eyes and saw the sadness there. Though he hadn’t spoken of it, she knew he yearned for what Baird and Liv had, knew how he wanted a son of his own. And her period was late. It might be a false alarm and she kind of hoped it was—she wasn’t sure if she was ready to be a mom just yet. But if it wasn’t…

  “Sophia,” Baird said softly, looking at her. “Kat risked her life to save you. I don’t think she’d want you to lose a child just to go with her.”

  Sophie bit her lip. “But to send her all by herself, alone and unprotected to an entirely different planet—”

  “She won’t be alone,” Lock said in a low voice.

  “And she won’t be unprotected.” Deep’s black eyes flashed. “Kat may hate me,” he said, speaking to Liv and Sophie both. “But I swear to you now, I will protect her with my life. Lock and I will die before we see her come to harm.”

  “Deep speaks for us both,” Lock said quietly. “The lady Kat will come to no harm while she is in our care. This we both swear, on our honor as Kindred warriors.”

  Sophie looked at the two huge males, one kneeling beside Kat and the other standing protectively over her. And suddenly she knew she could trust them. “Liv,” she said softly, turning to her twin. “They mean it—they really do.”

  Liv sighed. “I know,” she whispered, wiping away a tear. “I…I can tell. Do you think Kat will ever forgive us?”

  “I don’t know.” Sophie squeezed her hand. “But I think we have to let her go.”

  “You’re making a wise decision,” Sylvan sent through their link. “Kat will thank you for it later.”

  “Will she? I don’t know.” Looking down at Kat’s still form, Sophie felt tears rise in her throat and swallowed them down with difficulty. “Oh Sylvan, I just don’t know…”

  THE END

  Read on to find out about Brides of the Kindred 3—Sought

  Kat O’Connor is no pushover. She’s a no nonsense girl with a commonsense approach to life. But there’s nothing common about what’s been happening to her lately…

  First she was forced to have a kinky mind-ménage with two of the hottest and most irritating men in the galaxy—Twin Kindred warriors, Deep and Lock—in order to locate her kidnapped friend. But the mental three-way left her with a little gift—she can’t get their feelings out of her head. Now she’s on her way to their home planet, Twin Moons, to find a cure for the debilitating illness their unorthodox joining caused, when all she really wants to do is go home.

  Locks Tight, the light twin of the two, is already in love with Kat. Her curvy plus-sized body is the epitome of beauty on his home planet and her sharp mind and snarky wit make her doubly attractive. But though he fell for her the moment he saw her, Twin Kindred are unable to mate a woman alone. Lock knows nothing can happen between them without his brother…

  Stabs Deep. The dark twin has a secret agony in his past—a tragedy he feels he and he alone is to blame for. He too, hungers for Kat, but he hides his fear of rejection behind an impenetrable wall of angry sarcasm. For if he lets anyone get too close, the unbearable pain he has already endured once may happen again.

  Now Kat and her twin warriors are on a quest—but they’re all looking for different things. Kat wants to find a way to dissolve the half-formed bond between them so she can be alone in her own head again. Lock wants to convince both her and his brother to complete the bond which will keep them together forever. And Deep is trying to protect his heart and love Kat from afar…though it grows more and more difficult to deny the hunger he feels for her.

  Their travels will take them from the uncharted wilds of Twin Moons to the Deadworld of the Scourge home planet. Will Kat find a cure for having other people’s emotions crowding her mind? Will Lock convince his brother and the woman they both love that they’re all meant to be together forever? And will Deep ever unshield his heart long enough to let Kat in?

  You’ll have to read Sought, the third book in the Brides of the Kindred series, to find out…

  Brides of the Kindred Glossary

  AllFather—the evil head of the Scourge, a race that are the byproduct of a failed genetic trade. The AllFather is one of the Old Ones and has the power to reach into a person’s mind to harvest emotional pain and trauma. He lives for the fulfillment of the Scourge Prophesy.

  Bespeak—to contact someone mentally using a Think-me device. It is considered rude to bespeak someone you don’t know intimately.

  Beast/Rager Kindred—come from Rageron—a jungle planet full of beautiful but deadly flora and fauna. They have dark hair, golden eyes, and hot tempers but their most defining characteristic is the mating fist. The mating fist is an area at the base of the Beast Kindred’s shaft which engages fully only during bonding sex with his chosen mate. When engorged it swells to keep the Beast Kindred and his bride locked together until she is completely bonded to him. This ensures sex that is both extremely long lasting and multiorgasmic for both partners.

  Blood Fever—a condition suffered by unmated females on Tranq Prime, the home world of the Blood Kindred. Blood Fever or Burning Blood, as it is often called, is caused by a parasite living on the icy world that affects only women. The parasite—found in the fleeta or blood beetle—reacts with a compound in the Tranq Prime water supply to cause the fever. Symptoms include chills, the feeling of the blood heating in the veins, and increased coloration of the nipples and inner sex. If the fever is not treated in forty-eight hours, it will result in death.

  Once a Kindred male has had a female’s blood, he forms a natural antidote to Blood Fever which he can pass on by sharing body fluids with her. The most effective way to get the antidote into the female’s system is for a Blood Kindred to bite her, thereby injecting it along with his essence. However, it is also possible to pass along the healing fluid through sex.

  Blood Fever used to be very common on Tranq Prime which is what prompted the cold, proud natives to initiate a genetic exchange with the Kindred in the first place. A recent vaccine has nearly eradicated the disease, however, and the original inhabitants of the ice bound planet have little reason to continue the trade. A faction calling themselves Purists are against any further trade with the Kindred.

  Blood/Tranq Kindred—are blond with pale blue eyes and come from Tranq Prime where ice, snow, and arctic-like temperatures are the norm. To combat the severe weather conditions, the Blood Kindred have higher than normal body heat with double the human amount of red blood cells. They have developed specific biting rituals to share their supercharged blood and take the blood of their mates during their own version of bonding sex. They have a set