Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 (3 page)

“It’s probably just stress.”

“Probably,” Tess agreed. “Look, don’t you
think you should be going? The hour of free time you gave your tour group to
wander around the parklands is almost up.”

“Oh, you’re right!” Di glanced at her
watch. “It’s almost time to get them to the Sacred Grove.” She looked anxiously
at Tess. “Will you be okay here? Think you can manage?”

“I’ll…be fine.” Tess wished she could
swallow the uneasy lump that had risen in her throat but she tried to smile
like noting was wrong. “You just…go on.”

“I’ll visit you on my next tour,” Di
promised. “Just lay low for a while and take it easy. After a few weeks maybe
we can figure something else out.” She nodded at the old fashioned bookshelf.
“Maybe you can catch up on your reading.”

“I guess I will.” Tess nodded and tried to
smile. She hugged her friend tightly. “Thanks, Di. I can see you went to a lot
of trouble to find this spot for me. I…I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime, honey.” Di gave her a squeeze.
“Okay, I’m going to scoot now. You just make yourself at home.”

“I will.” Tess smiled and hugged her
again. “Good bye.”

“Good bye and good luck. See you on
tomorrow’s tour.” Di gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. Then, after peeking
through the crack in the door to make sure the coast was clear, she left.

Tess looked around the kitchen and then
sank down into one of the too-large chairs with a sigh. The thought of
Goldilocks came back again.

“Who’s
been sitting in my chair…eating my food…sleeping in my bed?”

“Me,” murmured Tess.
“I
will be. I guess I’m Goldilocks.” She sighed. “I just hope like
hell the three bears don’t find me out…”

Chapter
Four

“Are you certain about this? We’ve had false hopes
before.” Sylvan leaned anxiously over the bed where the still form of Head
Council Member Terex was resting. It was weeks now since the male had been
injured in the fight against the demons who had briefly taken over the Unmated
Males sections and though he had stirred once or twice, he had yet to regain
full consciousness. Just recently Sylvan had put his sister-in-law, Olivia, in
charge of watching Terex and she had reported that he had opened his eyes briefly
and said a word.

“I’m pretty sure he’s coming out of it,” Liv said
confidently. “I told you, he looked right at me and spoke not fifteen minutes
ago.”

“What did he say again? Sophia didn’t catch that
part when she relayed your message.” Sylvan checked Councilor Terex’s reflexes
and noted that they were fine, though his skin seemed a little hot.

“That’s the weird thing.” Olivia frowned. “He
opened his eyes, looked at me and said, ‘Soon.’ Then he dropped off again and I
couldn’t get anything else out of him. But he’s been restless ever since—like
someone having a bad dream who’s trying to wake up.”

“I hope you’re right.” Sylvan shook his head. “The
Council is in serious unbalance without him. We need his deciding vote to make
any headway with some of the issues we’ve been dealing with lately.”

“Such as?” Liv cocked an eyebrow at him.

Sylvan frowned. “It is Council business, Olivia.
You know I cannot—”

“Come on, now, Sylvan. You know I won’t tell anyone
but Baird. And you already tell him everything anyway.”

“Well…” Sylvan frowned and ran a hand through his
short blond hair. “There has been some question about the draft—the way we call
our brides.”

“Yes, I know all about the draft—I was one of the
ones who got drafted, remember?” Liv said dryly. “But what’s the problem? It
seems to be working.”

“Too well,” Sylvan said. “Now that the Scourge
threat is taken care of, some of the governments of Earth are saying that the
draft has served its purpose and the Kindred should move on and call brides
from some other planet.”

“What?” Liv demanded indignantly. “Of all the
ungrateful… Who’s saying that?”

“Someone from your own country, I’m afraid, as well
as some others. But the unrest started in America.” Sylvan shrugged
apologetically. “It seems that a very high ranking politician has a daughter
who has been called as a bride and he doesn’t want to let her go. Apparently he
had already made other plans for her future and he doesn’t want her moving to
the Mother Ship and joining with one of our kind.”

“Well tough titty!” Liv exclaimed.

Sylvan shook his head.

“I’m sorry but…tough
what?”

“Tough
titty.
It means
too bad.
If she joined
the draft then she has to go when she’s called. You think I got a choice? Hell,
I was dragged away from my house wearing nothing but my nighty. I was scared to
death the first time I met Baird!”

“Yes, I remember,” Sylvan said dryly. “And I
further
remember that my people saved
the Earth from certain annihilation by the Scourge. Unfortunately, it seems
that some of your elected officials have a much shorter memory.” He sighed. “It
is almost exactly like what happened on Tranq Prime. Once the Kindred were not
needed anymore, we were not wanted either, though we did nothing but good.”

“Ridiculous.” Olivia was still fuming. “So what is
the Council going to do? They’re not going to stop calling brides, are they?”

“No, of course not. Anyway, I don’t
think
so.” Sylvan sighed. “We really
need Head Councilor Terex’s input to decide what to do. It’s a very tricky
situation and he has always been a master negotiator. If only he was awake—”

“He is.” The deep, sonorous voice startled both
Sylvan and Olivia—who gasped and dropped the syringe she’d been holding.

“Councilor Terex?” Sylvan looked at the male lying
in the bed hopefully. “Was that you? Are you with us at last?”

Terex yawned and ran a tongue over his teeth,
caressing the set of double fangs Blood Kindred had where human canine teeth
grew. He stretched, raising his muscular arms above his head until his spine
crackled. Like all Kindred, he was powerfully built and he was still in the
prime of his life—in his mid forties which was analogous to the mid thirties in
humans. Sylvan was sure Terex’s top physical condition was one reason he had
been able to recover from his wounds and come back from an injury that would
have killed a lesser male.

But he’s not
back yet,
he told himself.
Let’s run some tests and see if he has any deficits.

“Head Councilor Terex?” he said again. “How are you
feeling?”

Like most Blood Kindred, the Councilor had blond
hair and blue eyes. But when his eyelids flickered open at last, Sylvan could
have sworn he saw red instead of the usual ice-blue. He blinked—could it be a
trick of the light? When he looked again, the Councilor’s eyes were blue and he
was looking gravely at Sylvan.

“Councilor Sylvan,” he said formally. “I understand
we’re having some trouble. Help me up and let’s see what we can do.”

“I appreciate you wanting to jump back into action
but you’ve only just woken up,” Sylvan said gently. “Let’s run some tests and
let me alert the rest of the Council. They’re going to be overjoyed to hear
that you’re back.”

“Unnecessary.” Terex motioned at Liv, who had been
standing there staring at him. “You, human girl—help me up.”

Olivia looked at Sylvan uncertainly.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Sir.
You’ve been out for weeks and you’re bound to have some weakness and—”

“Never mind.” Terex suddenly sat straight up in
bed, unassisted. Then, before Sylvan could stop him, he swung his legs over the
side and stood.

“Councilor Terex!” Sylvan put out a hand to catch
him but there was no need. The Head of the Council was already striding across
the room, completely steady on his feet.

“There is work to be done, Sylvan,” he said,
throwing Sylvan a stern glance over his shoulder. “And I must get to it.”

Chapter
Five

Garron paced back and forth in front of
the neat pink house with its white trim. His mind was in a whirl as he tried to
make himself cross the threshold and go in. The urges inside him were growing
stronger and his blood felt like it was burning in his veins and yet he still
couldn’t bring himself to use one of the Pairing Puppets.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried, though.
The same night he’d spoken to Truth and Far, he had come over to the Pairing
House with every intention of making use of one of the puppets. He had gone
inside, selected a girl at random, gone up to the room with her and then…

Then I
couldn’t. Why couldn’t I?

At first he had thought it was the smell
that put him off. Though the Pairing Puppets had real flesh as Truth had said,
they all seemed to give off a faint, mechanical odor that reminded Garron of
machinery and oil. It didn’t seem to bother the other males but his nose was
very sensitive because of his half Rai’ku heritage—even more sensitive than
most Kindred. It was hard to overcome his aversion to that faint, oily metallic
scent even to get the release he needed so badly.

But it was more than just the artificial
smell that bothered him, Garron had to admit. The second time he had tried to
use a Pairing Puppet, he had also failed. And the third and the fourth.

Maybe
because you know slaking your needs with a Pairing Puppet would be
disrespectful to Nella’s memory,
whispered
a little voice in his head.
You say you
still grieve for her—for her terrible fate. Then how can you even consider
going with another female—even an artificial one?

Garron squirmed uncomfortably. The little
voice was right—it was the voice of his guilt and sorrow. The knowledge that he
was being unfaithful to Nella’s memory by even having these desires and urges
in the first place.
Why can’t I turn them
off? Why must I be tormented with need when the one female I wanted—the only
one I ever loved— is gone?

But there was something else too…something
besides the guilt that kept him from doing what had to be done. A dream—a
strange dream he’d been having over and over.

Garron closed his eyes and tried to bring
the cloudy dream images into focus. There was a girl in the dream—a girl he
could never quite see. It seemed she was hiding in the shadows for some reason,
trying to make herself inconspicuous…invisible. In the dream, Garron was
seeking her, trying to coax her out of the darkness. But though he called and
called, all he could see was a flash of dark brown eyes, a hint of pale skin, a
swirl of deep red hair.

Maybe
I can’t make myself use any of the puppets because none of them looks like her.
But that was ridiculous—he didn’t even
know what she looked like. And even if he did, he wanted no one but Nella and
this girl wasn’t her.

The thought made him wonder about what
Becca and her friends had told him of dream sharing. The aligning of one mind
with another…But that couldn’t be happening to him. He was still mourning for
his lost love. Nella was the only female he wanted—anyone else paled in
comparison. He had even taken a vow to be true to her memory. So his mind
couldn’t be aligning with another female’s. He refused to even consider the
possibility. And yet…

Garron shook his head. It was all very
confusing and the entire situation filled him with guilt. But the need inside
him was growing to a fever pitch—his blood was boiling. He couldn’t ignore it
much longer.

This
time,
he told himself, squaring his shoulders.
This time I’ll pick one and take her back to
my room. I need to…I
have
to.

He had to deal with his desires before he
became dangerous…before the
dr’gin
within
him stirred and woke, demanding sacrifice.

* * * * *

“Hi Blondie number five, how are you?”
Tess patted the Pairing Puppet on the shoulder as she moved past her.

Blondie number five didn’t look up or
acknowledge Tess at all—none of the Pairing Puppets ever did. The artificial
girl simply went about the business of making herself a protein pack and
drinking it in long, even, mechanical swallows.

“Yes it
is
a beautiful day,” Tess said sarcastically. “I’m glad to hear you
think so too.”

She’d been at the Pairing House about a
week now and out of sheer boredom, she’d begun naming the different puppets. It
didn’t matter what she said to them—apparently they were programmed to ignore
anyone without a penis—so Tess felt free to call them whatever she wanted.

A new girl came into the kitchen—a plus
sized model with strawberry blonde hair.

“Hey, Pinky,” Tess said affectionately. “I
saw that Beast Kindred you were with last night—looked like a hot date.”

She knew it was silly, but she liked the
plus sized puppets better. They seemed more…relatable somehow, even though they
completely ignored her just like the skinny puppets did.

“I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed
some of your clothes,” Tess went on conversationally. “But I didn’t exactly
bring a lot with me and you and I
are
about the same size.”

She looked down at the outfit she was
wearing, one she’d taken out of Pinky’s “room” which was really just the
bedroom unit where the Pairing Puppet serviced her clients. Pinky actually
“slept” in the recharging room from midnight until seven in the morning. Her
fixed schedule and the selection of surprisingly pretty plus sized clothing was
why Tess had claimed this particular Pairing Puppet’s area for herself.

The outfit she was wearing today was more
of a negligee than a dress, truth be told. It had a stretchy black lace top,
cut low to show some cleavage, and a sexy little black skirt that came down to
her mid thighs. The flowing sleeves covered her upper arms nicely and the black
lace was sexy without being slutty. At least, Tess thought so. She could just
imagine what Pierce would say if he could see her in the outfit. In fact, she
didn’t have to imagine—she could remember a similar situation about a year
before her mother had died…

* * * * *

“What the hell are you wearing? You can’t
wear that out of the house!”

“But…” Tess looked down at herself,
viewing the plain little black dress she was wearing uncertainly. She had found
it online and for a wonder, it actually fit perfectly. It had a high, square
cut neckline and ended modestly at the knees but it hugged her hourglass curves
nicely—the perfect thing, she’d thought, to wear to their anniversary dinner.

It was the first time they’d gone out in
months, since Pierce preferred to stay home. He always said he liked her
cooking more than any restaurant and besides, he didn’t want any horny men
staring at his pretty wife.

But Tess got tired of staying in all the
time—she’d been looking forward to this dinner for months.

Her husband’s eyes narrowed. “Where did
you even get that? How did you afford it?”

Tess found herself suddenly tongue-tied.
How could she admit that she’d saved back a little money from the part time job
he allowed her to work at the nursing home? She was supposed to turn her entire
paycheck over to him each week—it was the man’s job, Pierce said, to handle the
money. She wasn’t supposed to worry her pretty little head about it. He would
give her enough for groceries and household expenses.

But not enough to buy anything nice unless
he approved of it first.

“I…my mom sent me a little cash,” she said
haltingly. A lie, but the truth would have gotten her into trouble.

Pierce frowned. “I didn’t see an envelope
from her in the mail.”

“It was the day you worked late so I got
the mail,” Tess said quickly. “Remember? Last Wednesday?”

“Oh. All right.” He frowned. “Look, from
now on I don’t want you messing with the mailbox. Even if I work late, just
leave it. I’ll get it myself.”

“All right.” Tess felt her throat closing
as another little piece of her world was chipped away.

There was so much Pierce didn’t allow her
to do. He didn’t like her shopping by herself or running errands. He didn’t want
her going back to school even though she had quit in the middle of the nursing
program she’d been in back in North Carolina
to move to Tampa
with him. “Too many horny guys running around a college campus,” he’d said,
even though he had sworn she could finish her RN degree once he got settled in
his new job. He barely let her work part time at the Happy Rest Nursing Home
and he had only approved that place because it was full of old people without
any “horny guys” to worry about. Now she couldn’t even get the mail!

Tess noticed that her husband was still
staring at her with narrowed eyes and realized that she’d better start defusing
the situation quickly.

“I saw it online,” she said, letting him
know she hadn’t been out shopping by herself. “And I thought you would like it.
I…I got it just for you.”

She hated herself for lying again—for
trying to cater to Pierce’s uncertain temper. But if she didn’t she would pay
the price. And really, she just wanted to get out of the house for once and go
somewhere that wasn’t work.

“Just for me, hmm?” His look of suspicion
softened and he smiled at her, the corners of his green eyes crinkling in the
way she had found so attractive when they first met.

“Just for you.” Tess breathed an inward
sigh of relief. Maybe everything would be all right after all. Maybe they could
just go out and enjoy a nice dinner together the way they used to when they
were still dating.

“Well, well…it
is
a sexy little number…” Pierce grabbed her by the waist and
kissed her neck.

Tess stiffened but kept the smile fixed on
her face.

“I’m glad you like it. But we’re going to
miss our reservation if we don’t hurry.”

“Screw the reservation. How can I
concentrate on food when I’ve got such a sexy little wife?” Pierce muttered,
kissing her again. “Come on, Princess, let’s see what’s under that hot little
dress…”

Tess bit her lip. This could go one of two
ways. If she gave Pierce what he wanted they might still make the dinner
reservation if he was quick. If she resisted, there would certainly be a huge fight
and Pierce might “punish” her. He believed it was a husband’s right to have sex
whenever and wherever he wanted it and it was the wife’s duty to provide it.
The same way Tess provided his meals exactly on time every day, cleaned the
house to his specifications, and did his laundry just the way he liked it.
Pierce was king of the castle in every way and he always claimed she was his
princess.

So why did she feel more like his
prisoner?

“Come on, Princess,” he muttered in her
ear.

There was really no choice.

“I’m so glad you like it,” she said,
hoping her smile didn’t look forced. “Come on, let’s go in the bedroom.”

After ten minutes of staring at the
ceiling, he was finally finished. Tess breathed a sigh of relief when he rolled
off, satisfied. She had to be careful not to react no matter what he did. If
she seemed like she was enjoying it—not that she was—but if she even
looked
like she was getting pleasure
from what he was doing, Pierce got really upset. Apparently, even though a wife
was supposed to provide sex on a daily basis, only “sluts” and “whores”
actually enjoyed it. In the early days of their marriage that had been hard for
her to understand but after being “punished” if she moaned involuntarily or
even moved her hips in time with his rhythm, she had learned to put up a wall
between herself and any sexual feelings she might have. It was easier that
way…safer.

“Well, that was nice,” she said carefully,
sitting up and smoothing her dress, which was somewhat wrinkled from the
encounter.

“Yeah, it was.” Pierce gave her a lazy
grin. “Really worked up an appetite, there. How about you go in the kitchen and
make me a sandwich, Princess?”

“A sandwich?” Tess felt her heart sinking.
“But…what about our dinner reservation? If we hurry we can still make it.”

Pierce raised an eyebrow. “You
really
want to go out tonight, huh?”

“Well…” Tess twisted her fingers together.
She hated begging but there was no other way. “We haven’t been out in a long
time,” she pointed out. “And it
is
our
anniversary…”

“Plus I’m sure you want to show off your
body to the guy you bought that dress for,” Pierce said conversationally.

“What?” A red warning flag suddenly went
up for Tess.
Trouble coming!
But she
tried to stay calm and defuse the situation. “I bought it for
you
,” she said, trying to smile. “Just
for you, honey.”

Pierce sat up suddenly, his big body tense
with anger.

“Did you try it on for him right there in
the store?” he demanded. “Did you let him
fuck
you in it? The way
I
fucked you
in it, Princess?”