Finding the Jewel Read online

“Really?” Chloe looked down at herself in surprise. “These robes are made of the same stuff your, uh, instruments are made of? But…they seem so different.”

  “Yes, well—that is the miracle that is resonite—it can assume every form of matter. It’s the reason that the original Monk Aaroni founded the Resort of Resonant Oneness here in the first place and then cloned himself in order to staff and run it.”

  “Wait—go back.” Chloe frowned. “You say he cloned himself?” If that was true, no wonder all the monks here looked so much alike!

  “Why yes—didn’t you know?” Taroni asked. “He tried to staff the resort with other people but he found that no one quite understood the Deep Harmonies as he did—they just couldn’t grasp his wisdom. And so he cloned himself many times over—he even made some female versions so that the males would not be lonely—and we have been running the resort for him ever since.”

  “So…y-you’re a c-cl-clone?” Tark asked, frowning.

  “Only one of many.” Taroni waved a hand airily. “Of course, we consider ourselves more as his children than his clones. He raised us, after all, and taught us all we need to know to do our various duties.” He frowned. “Speaking of that, I am neglecting my own duties at the moment. We must get the two of you measured.”

  “Okay, how do you do that?” Chloe asked.

  “Come sit here, my dear.” The monk waved for her to have a seat on a crystal bench—or rather, a resonite bench, Chloe supposed. “Very good, very good,” he said, nodding when she was settled. “Now then, let me just make a few adjustments…”

  He leaned over her shoulder and did something to a number of clear, crystalline buttons and knobs.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, as he was working with the instruments. “My touch is absolutely neutral so I will have no effect on your measurements. Now…” He stood back and nodded, as though satisfied. “Very good. Place your hands on the panel, my dear.”

  He nodded down and Chloe saw that in the place where a regular organ would have had keys, there were a number of lighted panels.

  “What, just—anywhere?” she asked, lifting her hands.

  “Anywhere.” Taroni nodded. “Don’t worry—it doesn’t hurt a bit. The most you’ll feel is a bit of a tingle.”

  “A tingle?” Hesitantly, Chloe placed both her hands on the panels. There was a soft thrumming which she felt more than heard and then the entire organ lit up in a deep, throbbing red.

  “Good—very good.” The monk seemed pleased. “Well, there’s nothing wrong with your passion at least. Now let’s try this…” He had Chloe take her hands away and fiddled with the knobs and buttons once more. When he nodded, she put her hands back on the panel.

  This time there was almost no light at all and the thrumming was extremely faint.

  “What? What’s this? This can’t be right!” With an anxious look on his face, Monk Taroni leaned over her shoulder and adjusted some more. “There, try again.”

  Chloe did, but with the same result. A faint flicker of pinkish light and a barely audible thrum was the only result.

  “Oh dear, oh dear.” Taroni looked extremely concerned. “Very well—let’s try you,” he said to Tark, who had been standing by watching silently.

  Chloe moved and the big Kindred came to sit in her place. The monk adjusted the instrument and then had Tark place his hands on the panel as Chloe had. Once again, the organ lit up red and a deep thrumming could be heard.

  “Very good! Most satisfactory! Your passion levels are also high—you should be very compatible with your mate.” Taroni beamed. “All right now, remove your hands please.”

  Tark did and waited as the monk adjusted the instrument. Then he placed his hands on the panel again at Taroni’s request.

  There was barely a flicker of light this time and no sound at all.

  “Oh, no! But this is terrible.” Monk Taroni looked absolutely distraught. “How can this be? You both have so much passion but you are suffering from the Skin Hunger!”

  “The what?” Chloe asked blankly. “Skin Hunger? What’s that?”

  “A terrible malady which should never, never strike those who are mated,” Taroni exclaimed. “It is the very opposite of Oneness!”

  A terrible malady? The opposite of Oneness? Chloe still had no idea what he was talking about. She hoped very much the treatment for this weird “Skin Hunger” wasn’t to eat anyone’s skin. There were limits to what she was prepared to do here.

  “Here—take your hands off the panel,” Taroni directed Tark when the big Kindred started to move. “No, just stay there—I want to try something. Come here, my dear.” He beckoned to Chloe. “Just come up here behind your mate and put your hands on his bare shoulders.”

  Chloe felt a little shiver of desire go through her and tried to tamp it down. How pathetic was it that just getting to touch the big Kindred’s shoulders excited her? But she couldn’t seem to help herself—she had never felt so drawn to anyone in her life. Though she had known Tark less than a day, part of her felt like they had known each other forever…that they belonged together.

  All right, Chloe—that’s crazy talk and you know it, she lectured herself. Take it easy. Keep it light and friendly and remember that after this is all over the two of you are going your separate ways.

  Gingerly, she stepped up behind Tark and put her hands lightly on his broad, bare shoulders. His skin was as warm and satiny as she remembered and she had a sudden, almost irresistible longing to run her hands all over him. Somehow she controlled herself and held still.

  But this didn’t seem to please the monk at all.

  “No, no,” he exclaimed, his orange eyes flashing. “Closer! Press yourself against your mate! Let him feel your body against his own.”

  Biting her lip, Chloe did as requested. Taking a step forward, she pressed her chest against Tark’s bare back. The big Kindred was tall but the bench he was sitting on was rather low so she found that her breasts were rubbing against his shoulder blades. To her consternation, it seemed that the contact between them melted the fabric of her robe-dress so that her bare skin was touching his. Her nipples grew instantly erect and she wondered if the big Kindred could feel them, pressing against him.

  She started to draw back but the monk shook his head again.

  “Closer!” he insisted. “Closer!”

  Biting her lip, Chloe wrapped her arms around the big Kindred’s neck and pressed her entire front against his back. As before, the robe melted away, leaving nothing between them. It was embarrassing but what could she do? She was pretending to be Tark’s mate—she had to obey the monk’s orders.

  Tark’s long hair, black at the roots and lighter at the tips, brushed against her face and she breathed in his spicy, smoky scent. Chloe felt her nipples get even harder and her pussy was suddenly liquid between her thighs. God, why did he affect her so intensely?

  He rumbled softly and shifted back against her, as though seeking even more contact. Was he affected by their touching too…or only putting on an act? Chloe noticed that both of their robes had gone a deep rosy red again—she wondered absently what it meant.

  “Good.” Monk Taroni nodded. “Very good. Now,” he said to Tark. “Put your hands on the panel.”

  Tark shifted on the bench restlessly and did as he was told. At once the organ turned a deep, burning red and a loud THRUMMM filled the entire room. It resonated with the other crystalline—no, resonite Chloe reminded herself—structures. Soon it sounded like the entire room was humming in perfect harmony. It was beautiful but she could hardly pay attention to it, she was so caught up in pressing herself against the big Beast Kindred and breathing him in. His scent was like a drug and she just couldn’t seem to get enough of it.

  I wonder if I smell half as good to him as he smells to me, she wondered. Is this some kind of cologne or just the scent of his skin? God, it makes me want to lick him all over!

  Visions of rubbing her naked body against his…of dropping to her knees befor