Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Read online

  Well, not quite the same feelings as grandma’s quilt, whispered a little voice in her head. Being wrapped in the special quilt didn’t make your heart pound or your head feel light. Which were definite sensations she was feeling now, wrapped in Calden’s strong arms. But though her stomach felt fluttery, like a million butterflies had just taken off in it, she didn’t want to stop hugging him.

  Maybe it was his scent—so warm and spicy and masculine. It wasn’t like any aftershave or cologne she had ever smelled—it was more like someone had taken the natural, warm scent of his skin and magnified it somehow. However it had happened, the fact was the big Kindred smelled freaking amazing—so good Maddy had to fight the urge to turn her head and press her mouth to his throat for a surreptitious kiss.

  “Thank you, Calden,” she said instead. “You’re very kind to comfort me this way.”

  He drew back a little and looked down at her.

  “Of course, Madeline. Any time you need a hug, please let me know. I haven’t had much experience with the matter but I understand that physical contact helps mitigate the feelings of grief after a loss.” He looked down, suddenly shy. “And…I like holding you.”

  “I like it too,” Maddy admitted softly. God, should she really be getting so close to the big Kindred when her husband had just died? A sudden surge of guilt made her pull away. Calden took the hint and stood again, though he didn’t move very far away.

  “I’m glad you were the one who found me instead of one of those Mentats,” Maddy said, trying to get over the momentary awkwardness from the intimacy they had shared. She shivered. “Ugh—I can only imagine what they would have done with me.”

  “The recovery droids found you,” Calden remarked. “But you are welcome. Now let’s see if we can make these gloves work.”

  It took some maneuvering and a bit of spilled slime but eventually Maddy’s hands were incased in the nutrient-bath-filled gloves and they were sealed firmly but not painfully around her wrists so that the slime couldn’t escape or leak out.

  “Perfect,” Calden said approvingly. “Look at you—all ready to go anywhere.”

  Maddy looked down at her hands in the cartoonishly oversized gloves and burst into laughter.

  “Anywhere like Disney World, you mean. All I need is a Mickey Mouse outfit to wear and I’d be ready to go outand greet the kids,” she remarked.

  “Go out to where?” Calden asked, frowning.

  “Disney World. It was an amusement park back on Earth. We lived in Florida—where it was located—and my parents used to take us there when we were kids because Florida residents get a discount.”

  She sighed, thinking about meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse when she was a little girl and how excited she’d been to have tea with the Disney princesses in Cinderella’s castle. That was probably all gone now, erased by the heavy hand of the Scourge.

  “I perceive that something has made you feel sad.” Calden was watching her with an anxious look on his face. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Would you like another hug?”

  In fact another hug sounded good—too good, Maddy thought to herself. Too tempting.

  “Just get me a bath.” She looked down at the gloves. “Um, will I be able to wear these in the, uh, enzyme baths?”

  “I believe so—they are waterproof inside and out. Though to be on the safe side, you should probably hold them above the surface of the enzyme liquid when we enter.” He looked at a timepiece which hung on the wall of his room. “I believe if we just wait another half of a standard hour the baths will be mostly cleared. Do you mind if I do some work?”

  “Oh, of course not.” Maddy gestured with one heavy, oversized glove which sloshed a little when she moved it. “Please, don’t let me stop you from getting your job done. I’ll just wander around and look at all your cool alien stuff, if you don’t mind.”

  Calden smiled. “Help yourself. Although I don’t know how interesting the contents of my domicile will be to you.”

  “Anything new is interesting,” Maddy assured him. “What was it you said to me? All knowledge is valuable.”

  His face grew grave. “That is the motto of the station. I used to believe it whole-heartedly. Now…I wonder if the cost of the knowledge gained must be balanced against its value.”

  Maddy wasn’t sure what to say to that. Instead of answering him, she got up from the table and moved around the room, which wasn’t actually that big for someone Calden’s size, though it seemed vast to her—mostly because all the furniture was built on a bigger scale than she was used to.

  The room was mostly square with the immense bed in one corner and the simulator where he’d made her gloves and the shirt-dress she was still wearing in another. A third corner held a small kitchen nook with a cabinet, a cold-storage unit, the small, two-person table, and the microwave-looking appliance which Calden had used to make their breakfast. The last corner was set up as a work station with a kind of holographic computer screen hovering over a complicated-looking keyboard. Sitting beside it was a small, stunted plant with drooping, slivery-green leaves.

  Maddy didn’t exactly have a green thumb, but she did have an interest in growing things. Her father had kept a full garden for years and had taught her a lot about growing some of his favorite fruits and vegetables—mainly tomatoes and watermelon.

  “Oh, Calden, what’s wrong with your plant?” she asked, moving over to get a closer look at it. “Poor little thing looks like it needs some water—look how droopy it is.” She got closer and took a deep sniff, noticing that the plant exuded a faint but sweet fragrance.“Mmm, smells good, though,” she added. “Does it bear flowers or fruit?”

  “It’s supposed to but mine doesn’t. It’s…a plant native to my home world,” Calden said, sounding hesitant. “I’ve tried to give it everything it’s supposed to have for nourishment but it simply won’t thrive.”

  “Aww—poor little thing.” Since she couldn’t touch the silvery-green leaves with her hands, Maddy nuzzled her cheek against them instead.

  To her surprise, the little plant quivered, almost as though it was alive and reacting to her touch. The leaves rustled and the sweet fragrance seemed to intensify.

  “Oh!” She looked up at Calden. “Did you see that? It almost seemed to respond to me! Is that normal?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve certainly never observed it doing that before but this is the first plant of its kind I’ve ever seen. I only took the seed out of convention when I left the Kindred Mother Ship because it was required. And I only planted it because of nostalgia—it reminds me there are others of my kind out in the universe somewhere, living their lives as I live mine.”

  “Well…” Maddy took a long look at the little plant. “I was going to say it needs some water but it seems like it’s perked up now.”

  Indeed, the drooping branches had straightened and some of the leaves, which she could have sworn were brown and curling, were now the same silvery-green as the rest of the plant. The smell was definitely stronger too. She pressed her face into the cool, ticklish leaves and inhaled again.

  So good! The scent was indescribable—sweet and tangy and somehow seductive at the same time. It made Maddy feel almost dizzy and gave her a strange tingling at the tips of her breasts and the spot between her legs.

  But for some reason, seeing her so close to the plant seemed to worry Calden.

  “I think the enzyme baths should be clear by now,” he said, standing with a frown. “Come, Madeline—let’s go.”

  “Well…all right.” She left the little plant reluctantly, (it really was looking about a hundred percent better than when she’d first seen it,) and followed him through the sliding metal door panel and out into the vast, curving hallway. But she promised herself she’d check on the plant again—it seemed to like her.

  Which was a crazy thing to think about a plant, but why not? Clearly it was an alien life form—maybe it was a plant with the instincts of an animal or