Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (35 page)

“So you think you can…can suck my nipples and touch me and…” Her cheeks were getting redder and redder as she spoke but she forced herself to go on. “And taste me and bite me and not…not feel a thing?”

“I can keep a professional demeanor and countenance if you can,” Stav said evenly. “Then we can sit on this couch tomorrow and say truthfully that we did everything in your dream.”

“But we will only have been going through the motions, so to speak. Right?” she asked. “Like…you’ll put your hands on my breasts
once
, pinch my nipples
once,
kiss my…kiss me
once.
And so on and so forth.”

He nodded. “The only problem I foresee is the biting.”

“Why is
that
the only problem? I would think…” She cleared her throat. “
Other
things would worry you more.”

“When a Blood Kindred bites a female and injects a large amount of his essence he forms a partial bond with her,” he explained, trying to keep his voice dry and impersonal. “And I have sworn never to bond a female to me in any way.”

“What does a partial bond even do?” she wanted to know.

“I don’t really know. It’s not permanent or long lasting, I don’t think—not for my kind. I think the main thing that would happen is that my body would yearn to form a permanent bond.”

“You mean you might get all feral and scary like you were last night after we, uh…you know?”

He nodded. “But I
can
control myself. I just didn’t know how you felt about having even a temporary tie with me.”

Charlotte took a deep breath. “I suppose I’m okay with it as long as it doesn’t last forever. Don’t get me wrong, Stav, I like you. But…you’re Kindred. And I have my reasons for disliking your people. I wouldn’t want to be tied to any Kindred for life—not even you.”

He nodded gravely. “I respect your honesty. You will not need to be tied to me for long. I believe that after a few days if we do not complete the bond, my essence will fade from your system and you will be free of me once more.”

“All right then.” Charlotte took a deep breath. “We’ll do it. We’ll obey the letter of the law while ignoring its spirit.”

“Agreed.” He nodded.

“So let’s get out of here. And Stav…”

“Yes?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You can take your hand off my breast now.”

“Oh!” He pulled back quickly, as though her soft flesh had stung him. “Forgive me.”

“That’s all right.” She gave him a small, rueful smile. “The fact that we were able to carry on a rational conversation while you were, uh, touching me intimately, proves this can work—don’t you think?”

“Of course it can,” he agreed. But he wondered—would he really be able to give his body while withholding his heart?

It was a moot question. Deep inside he knew his heart was already given. But Charlotte must never know that. No matter what happened, he would never tell her.

* * * * *

Dinner that night was a quiet affair. They had spent the rest of the day wandering around the resort, trying to find out as much as they could while looking innocently lost. They had even dared to go down the third hallway which led to the Circle of Oneness. What they had found there had worried Charlie. The door was deep crimson and surrounded by blinking white lights. The door panel to one side was similarly outlined and it seemed to require a retinal scan as well as a handprint to enter.

She could just imagine what would happen if someone without access tried to get in that door. Probably they would be shocked, stung, burned, and have their eye poked out! Clearly the only way they were going to get access to the Circle of Oneness was by doing their “homework,” a prospect which had her in a cold sweat.

The only other thing they found of interest in their meandering reconnaissance mission was a long, dark corridor on the outer perimeter of the resort’s web of interconnected rooms and areas. It was reached by going through a maze of blue halls very like the pink seashell halls in the Female Cleansing Area. Charlotte was afraid they wouldn’t be able to find their way out again but Stavros seemed to have a compass in his head. He led them back through the maze easily but not before they stood shoulder to shoulder and stared uneasily down the long, dark corridor.

“What
is
this place?” Charlie whispered uncertainly. “It looks more like a tunnel than a hallway. Where does it lead to?”

“I don’t know.” Stavros had frowned. “And I don’t think I want to find out.”

“What’s the deal with the lighting?” Charlie had dared to step close enough to poke her head into the eerie hallway. “It looks like black light in a haunted house or something. Everything’s all spooky and dim.”

“But it’s not just the way it looks—it is the way it
feels.”
Stavros had taken a deep breath, his broad chest expanding and stepped back about a foot. “Do you feel it?”

Charlie took a breath too, inhaling the strange, cold air that seemed to be blowing from the hallway.

“It’s like…breathing fear.” She looked at him. “Fear and sorrow and…and regret.” She frowned—hadn’t
Ssstha
said something about regret or regrets during their first meal together? She couldn’t quite remember. “Do you feel it too or am I crazy?” she asked Stavros.

“Your sanity is in no way impaired,” he rumbled. “I feel it. It makes me want to get away from this place as fast as possible and never come back.”

“I’m with you,” Charlie said. “But what use could the
Hossans
have for this place? This resort is supposed to be all about peace and love and harmony—what are they doing with a place like
that?”

Stavros had shrugged. “Who knows? You yourself pointed out that the Joined One we met is a sadist. Possibly it or they take out their baser urges here, on those they deem worthy of punishment.”

Charlie had shivered. “Ugh! Don’t talk about that thing—it gives me the creeps!”

“I guessed as much after your nightmare.” Stavros looked at her speculatively. “But why? Does it remind you of something?”

Charlie had looked at him uncertainly. Should she tell him? She had sworn to herself early in this mission to keep her childhood and Missy and everything that had happened to her sister a secret. It was better that way—easier than digging up the old pain. But maybe it couldn’t hurt to explain just a little…

“I…saw a scary movie. At a slumber party I went to when I was eight,” she said reluctantly.

Stavros had frowned. “A…slumber party?”

“A bunch of kids—usually girls—get together at one house and watch movies and eat pizza and popcorn and talk about boys and paint each other’s toenails…” She shrugged. “Things like that.”

Stavros looked mystified. “I am trying to understand. I can see why you would gather together to eat and watch entertainment vids. But…why did you paint each other’s toes? What colors did you paint them? Is this an Earth female custom?”

“Sort of and any color you want.” Charlie waved a hand dismissively. “Look, it’s a girl thing, you wouldn’t understand even if you were human so don’t worry about it. The point is, we watched this horror flick called
The Beast from Hell.
It was about a mutated monster with two heads. It scared me so bad I had to call my mom to come pick me up.” She shook her head. “It was four o’clock in the morning and boy, she was
not
happy with me. Anyway, my sister Missy had to sleep with me for months afterwards because I was sure that two headed thing was in my closet, just waiting to jump out and get me the minute I went to bed.”

“You kept calling for Missy last night,” Stavros murmured. “I wondered who she was. Does she still live on Earth?”

“No.” Charlie bit her lip, looking away. “She’s gone. She…she died.”

“I am sorry.” Stav’s deep voice was infinitely gentle but Charlie didn’t want to hear it. She turned away, not wanting to remember her sister’s sad fate—let alone share it with a member of the race who had caused her death.

“Charlotte?” the big Kindred murmured, putting a hand on her arm.

Charlie had flinched away. “Don’t. I don’t want to talk about it. Not with you.”

“All right. Sorry.” He had taken a deep breath. “Come on—let’s get away from this place. I don’t like the air coming from the dark corridor.”

Charlie had agreed and they had left, Stavros leading them unerringly through the maze of blue hallways and back to the main corridor once more.

Now, as they sat at dinner beside
Ssstha
and
Hsssthnk
she mulled the episode over in her mind. What
was
down that long dark spooky hallway? And what were the
Hossans
doing there?

“We were promoted to the Circle of Oneness today,”
Ssstha
said, breaking her concentration. “It was most gratifying.”

“That’s amazing, congratulations!” Charlie smiled at her friend. “So how was it? What did you have to do? What classes did you take?”

Hsssthnk
gave a hissing laugh. “That is a
lot
of questions.” He turned to Stavros. “Your female is most eager to be promoted as well, I take it?”

“We both are,” Stav replied smoothly. “But I too would know what is involved with setting foot in the Circle of Oneness.”

“Well, first you must be triple scanned in order to even get through the doorway,”
Ssstha
began.

“Oh? It’s that hard to get in?” Charlie replied innocently. Stavros caught her eye and she nodded slightly at him. As they had thought, getting through the door to the last circle was going to be impossible unless they did their “homework.”

“It certainly is! And I heard the Joined One who scanned us in say that anyone unauthorized to go in would be seized and punished on the spot!”

“That seems kind of harsh,” Charlie remarked, frowning.

“It does,”
Hsssthnk
acknowledged. But such measures are necessary because in the center of the Circle of Oneness is the Heart of Love. It is the most holy relic in the entire resort.”

“What
is
the Heart of Love, anyway?” Charlie put her chin in her hand and frowned. “I mean did you actually get to
see
it?”

“Oh no, certainly not!”
Ssstha
sounded shocked. “It is at the center of the circle. Only the Joined Ones are allowed to go in to tend it.”

“They tend it, you say?” Stavros said. “So…it is a kind of plant?”

Hsssthnk
shrugged. “As to that—who can say? Some say it is one thing, some say another. All we know is that its holy glow enshrines the entire Circle of Oneness in peace and harmony and love.”

“You feel different the moment you are near it.”
Ssstha
smiled dreamily. “It is…such a peaceful sensation. For the first time in your life you feel
whole.”

“Sounds…amazing.” Charlie tried to smile but inside she was wondering how anyone could swallow such a load of bull. “So are the two of you going back for more classes tonight?”

“No, tonight we are to meditate together on our coming oneness,”
Hsssthnk
said. “And tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow we will complete it.”
Ssstha
smiled beatifically. “It will be lovely. I cannot wait.”

“And I cannot wait to begin our
meditation,
my love.”
Hsssthnk
gave her a half lidded smile and let his long, forked tongue run out to brush her cheek suggestively. “Last meal is over and I hunger for…other things besides food. Shall we go?”

“Indeed we should.” Her eyes never leaving her mate’s face,
Ssstha
rose and they left the table without another word to anyone but each other.

“Well,
those
two are just all snout-to-tail,” Charlie remarked tartly.

“They are
what?”
Stav asked blankly.

“You know—like two dogs that can’t leave each other alone.” She sighed and looked around at all the other couples rising from their tables. “Never mind. I guess that’s our cue to go too, huh?”

He nodded. “I suppose so.” Rising, he held out a hand to help her up. “Come, let’s go to our rooms.”

“Homework time,” Charlie muttered nervously and followed him out of the dining area.

Chapter Twenty-four

Their rooms were still freezing and Charlotte started shivering the moment they walked through the door with its shifting patterns of green.