Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (16 page)

“We do not have pets—well, other than Two
and his personal sniffers.” Six frowned. “We
do
keep domesticated
creatures but only those who have a use.” He patted the flat, innocent-looking
surface of the
sousa
. “Come, sit. We will look over the contract
together.”

“All right,” Mei-Li muttered. “But I still
don’t like it.”

She settled gingerly back on the bed,
beside the big Kindred instead of across from him this time. Not because she
really wanted to be closer to him, she told herself. She was only sitting close
because he offered some possible protection if the bed went crazy and decided
the bowl of bland mush he had given it wasn’t enough.

“Now, see here,” Six said, tapping a part
of the thin, translucent sheet of plastic. “If you read this clause you’ll see
that as the female I am claiming, you are obligated to accompany me to my home
for the Claiming Period. Also, you are mandated to obey any and all laws while
you are there. The law that everyone who steps foot on the surface of Z4 must
have at least one enhancement is iron clad, as I believe the English idiom
goes.”

“You keep referring to this contract, but
I never signed it!” Mei-Li protested, taking the sheet of plastic from his
hand. It was covered in tiny black dots except for a section in the middle
where perfectly legible printed English words were scrolling very slowly across
its clear surface.

“You
did
though, when you signed up
for the draft of unmated females who may be called as brides.” Six tapped the
very bottom of the piece of plastic and immediately the tiny black dots there
expanded to show the last few clauses of the contract as well as Mei-Li’s own,
looping signature.

“Wait a minute—is the entire contract on
this thing?” She looked closely at the plastic sheet.

Six nodded. “The printing magnifies and
diminishes as needed. As I understand it, the Kindred of the Mother Ship used
to have it printed on thin sheets of mulched and dried plant life—I believe you
call it paper? Anyway, they would have a female sign the paper contract when
the male came to claim her. They have since streamlined the process, getting
the signature when the female first signs up for the draft.”

“Why did they do that? I didn’t know I was
signing all this,” Mei-Li protested, staring at her signature at the bottom. Then
again, she hadn’t exactly taken time to read the fine print when she went down
to the HKR building to put her name on the rolls of women who could be called
as brides. She was just doing her duty—signing up for the draft like every
other girl her age and never dreaming that it would come back to bite her in
the ass.

Six raised an eyebrow at her. “Apparently
you live in an extremely litigious society, correct? I think the process was
changed in order to be certain there would be no ‘loop holes’ as you call them
for a female to back out of a contact once she has been claimed.”

“So I guess I’m stuck getting an
‘enhancement’, at least according to this,” Mei-Li said glumly, tapping the
thin plastic for emphasis. At once, the bottom half of the Claiming Contract
shrank down and another group of tiny black dots expanded to a readable size.
“What’s this?” she muttered, scanning it rapidly. “It says that we must eat
every meal at the same table and sleep every night in the same bed?”

“Those are the rules of the Claiming
Period,” Six said. “They outline exactly what we must do in each stage or week
of the Claiming.”

“What else does it say?” Mei-Li asked
apprehensively. “What’s this—the Holding Week, the Bathing Week…the
Tasting
Week?
What the hell?”

“It simply tells the ways I am allowed to
touch you with my hands and mouth as our time together progresses.” Six spoke
as though it was no big deal.

“It…it does?” Mei-Li was beginning to get
a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach. Like every other Earth girl signed up
for the draft, she had heard rumors of the intensely sexual courtship that went
on between a Kindred warrior and his chosen bride during their Claiming Period.
But she had assumed that wouldn’t be the case here. After all, Six had no
emotions—why would he want to hold her or kiss her or do…any of the other
things she’d heard whispered and hinted about?

Not that she would
mind
doing
sexual things with Six—well, she wouldn’t run screaming from him, anyway. Now
that she was mostly used to his red search-light left eye and his metal hand,
she found the rest of him completely mouthwatering. And there was also the fact
that he smelled
amazing.
His big, muscular body and deep voice and the
gentle way he touched her would be enough to make her or any girl melt. But
what was the point if he didn’t
feel
anything?

“There is one part I don’t understand,
though,” Six said, breaking her train of thought. “It says that during the
first week I may kiss you.”

“Yes, and?” Mei-Li said, her voice coming
out much higher than she would have liked.

“And I do not understand the term.” He
looked at her quizzically.

“What term—kiss?” Mei-Li looked at him in
disbelief. Seeing the confused expression on his face, she shook her head. “Oh
my God—you don’t know what a kiss is, do you?”

He frowned. “I have a vague idea. Is it an
action performed with the mouth? Like this?” He pursed his lips and blew a
stream of air that made a few wisps of her still-damp hair flutter against her
cheek.

Mei-Li had to suppress a laugh. “Not
quite. It’s when you touch your mouth—your lips—to someone else’s skin or
lips.”

“Like this, then?” He surprised her by
leaning towards her and pressing his lips briefly to her cheek. It didn’t feel
like much of anything since he didn’t purse his lips or move his mouth in any
way but Mei-Li’s heart started to pound anyway when she felt his warm breath on
her skin.

“Not…not exactly,” she said, a little
breathlessly. “I…I can show you, if you want. I mean, if…if you really want to
know.”

Six frowned. “I do want to know what is
expected of me but you are not obligated to do any of this now. Our Claiming
Period doesn’t officially begin until we step foot upon the surface of my
planet.”

“I, um…” Mei-Li cleared her throat. “I
don’t mind. Really.”

“In that case, yes. I would…very much like
to know what a kiss is and how to perform it properly.”

“All right.” Why was she doing this? She
didn’t know. Maybe it had to do with the gentle way he had soothed her and held
her against him last night. Maybe it was just because she wanted to. Wait,
what?
Why
did she want to? Again, she didn’t know.

Heart pounding, Mei-Li scooted a little
closer to him. She leaned in, getting up on her knees since he was so tall and
putting one hand on his broad shoulder for balance. But as she got closer to
him, Six kept staring at her. Mei-Li drew back.

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

“Yes—you’re supposed to close your eyes.”

“But if I close my eyes, how can I observe
what you are doing and learn to do it myself?” he objected.

Mei-Li had to bite back a nervous laugh.

“Kissing isn’t about observing,” she told
him. “It’s about
feeling
.”

Six frowned. “But I have no—”

“Yes, yes, I know—you have no emotions,”
Mei-Li said impatiently. Which meant this was probably going to be like kissing
a gorgeous but slightly scary statue but whatever. “I’m talking about feeling
in the
physical
sense,” she told him. “When you kiss someone, you’re
aware of how their lips feel against your own…the warmth of their breath, the
softness of their skin, the way they react…it’s a very sensory experience.”

“Oh…I see.” Six sounded doubtful.

“No, you don’t. Here, I’ll show you,”
Mei-Li said. “But close your eyes this time.”

“Very well.” He closed his eyes—the right
one anyway—and the red light that covered the area where his left eye should be
went dark.

Mei-Li leaned forward again, studying his
stern features for a long moment. God, he really was perfect under all the
hardware on his face. Daring greatly, she cupped his right cheek in her hand,
tracing the high, sculpted cheekbone with the pad of her thumb.

Without him staring at her, she felt much
less inhibited. Leaning closer, she nuzzled just under his jaw, feeling the
slight scratch of his close shaved whiskers against her own smooth cheek. It
had been a long time since she had been this close to a member of the opposite
sex and she’d
never
been this close to such a big
man. Six
dwarfed her with his muscular bulk, even sitting down. Mei-Li felt a little
tingle of nerves—it was like getting close to a lion or some other dangerous
beast and yet, she didn’t want to stop.

She took a deep breath, inhaling his
clean, sharp scent which made her feel slightly dizzy somehow. Slowly, she
pressed her lips to the side of his strong throat, kissing the pulse that beat
there very gently.

Six drew in a breath at her tender
ministrations but didn’t move or open his eyes.

“Is this part of it—of kissing?” he asked,
his deep voice slightly hoarse.

“It can be,” Mei-Li murmured. “But keep
your eyes closed—I’m not done yet.” Inside her head a little voice was demanding
to know what exactly she thought she was doing.
Are you crazy, kissing him
like this? Shouldn’t you be trying to keep your distance instead of playing
some weird version of Seven Minutes in Heaven?

But Six smelled so good and his skin was
so warm against her fingertips, she couldn’t seem to stop. Even knowing he had
no feelings for her, couldn’t keep her from wanting more.

Just one little kiss
can’t hurt,
she told herself.
Yes, that sounded right. After all, she’d promised to show him what a kiss
was—not to make out with him. And anyway, it would only take a minute. Feeling
justified in her decision, she kissed his throat once more and moved up to fit
her lips to his.

She kissed his lush lower lip first,
pressing her mouth to it with a butterfly-light touch, then sucking it gently.
Six made a soft sound, deep in his throat but didn’t move as she nibbled
playfully. Mei-Li then switched her attention to his stern upper lip—the one
that got so thin and scary looking when he was fighting. She kissed it tenderly,
then ran the tip of her tongue over it, tasting his mouth for the first time.
To her surprise, he tasted vaguely sweet and a bit like some familiar flavor
she couldn’t quite name. At the same time, his scent intensified, making her
feel almost dizzy with lust.

God was this turning her on? Mei-Li
shifted uncomfortably, realizing that she was getting hot and swollen between
her legs. At the same time, the white lace gown she was wearing, which had
seemed so soft just a moment ago, now felt too scratchy against her suddenly
sensitive nipples.

Kissing Six shouldn’t
be making me hot—he doesn’t even care. He doesn’t have any emotions,
she reminded herself.
So I should try not to feel
anything either. Keep it cool and clinical.
Except it was a little late for
that after licking and nibbling his lips like they were ripe cherries. And
there was no denying she was getting hot and bothered. Really, the wise thing
to do would be to stop now.

Except she didn’t want to. Pressing
closer, she ran her tongue lightly across the seam of his lips, asking for
entry.

Six made that same, deep sound in his
throat again that was like a cross between a groan and a growl. Mei-Li was
still holding onto his broad shoulder for support and she felt it tighten as
his entire body went suddenly stiff with tension.

Rather that scaring her off, his unspoken
and probably unconscious signals drew her in. She had never been in charge
during a physical encounter like this before and she was finding that she liked
it—liked it a lot. Despite the little voice in her head screaming that this was
a bad idea, she did it again, licking delicately at the seam of his lips. This
time he parted them slightly and she felt just the tip of his tongue press
lightly against hers.

Mei-Li allowed her fingers to tangle in
his thick, dark brown hair. She tugged him forward, deepening the kiss and
sucking gently on his tongue. She recognized the taste now—chocolate. For
whatever reason, Six’s mouth tasted very faintly of melted dark chocolate.
Mmm,
delicious!
Not to mention incredibly
hot
.

Then she felt the warmth of his big hands
sliding over her back as he pulled her closer. Mei-Li went willingly. God, he
smelled so
good.
And he tasted good too. Did it have to do with the diet
of Z4? Did the bland
garn
mush somehow give everyone chocolate-tasting
breath? If so, Mei-Li was definitely more on board with it than she had been.

She was pressed against him now, her arms
around his neck as they tasted each other’s mouths. Mei-Li could feel her heart
pounding harder as the long, tender kiss continued. Six’s mouth had felt soft
and open under hers at first but it was rapidly becoming more demanding as he
kissed her back, running his big hands all over her back. She couldn’t remember
the last time she’d had such an intense kiss. She never wanted it to end.