Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (49 page)

“No.”
He looked into her eyes.
“As you say, it is impossible
to form an unwilling bond. I wanted this—I wanted
you,
Lasai. I was just
too afraid to reach out my hand to you. My fear of losing you paralyzed me and
kept me from taking you.”

“Don’t be afraid anymore.”
Mei-Li kissed him and nuzzled close, pressing her cheek
to his.
“Just let yourself be happy, Six. Let yourself relax and know that I
love you.”

“I love you too,
Lasai.
”
He looked at her seriously.
“I think for the first
time I really understand what that word means—and what the emotion behind it
feels like. You’re right—it’s not just falling to your doom. It’s warmth and
comfort and joy as well. You bring me all those things. I will love you
always.”

“Oh, Six…”
She surged forward to kiss him again and then realized
that he was still half-hard inside her. “Oh!” she gasped aloud at the sudden
spark of pleasure the move gave her.

“Mmm…” Six groaned. During their intense
exchange, he’d gotten a bit softer but now she felt him growing within her
again.
“Gods, Lasai, your pussy is so tight and wet,”
he sent through
their new link.

Mei-Li gave him a naughty smile. “Well
that’s your fault—the wet part anyway. I swear I could
feel
you coming
inside me. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“Neither have I,” he growled softly. “But
I wouldn’t mind feeling it again…”

Mei-Li lifted her hips and let herself
down again, moaning as she felt the head of his cock brush the end of her
channel.

“Go ahead then,” she whispered
breathlessly. “Take me. But this time, I want you on top. I want to feel
completely surrounded by you.”

“With pleasure,
Lasai…”
With a
sudden move, Six flipped them over, caging her body with his own much larger
frame. “Wrap your legs around me,” he ordered in a low, hoarse voice. “And hold
me tightly. I want to be inside you all night.”

“That’s exactly where I want you to be,”
Mei-Li whispered back. And then she was kissing him and feeling the long, slow
thrust of his shaft inside her once more.

“I never want this to end…”

“It won’t. I’ll never leave you.”

Mei-Li didn’t know which of them said what
and she didn’t care. Their thoughts were so entwined by the new bond they felt
like one.

And that was perfect.

Chapter
Thirty-six

After their lovemaking, Mei-Li watched Six
fondly as he slept beside her. Who would have ever guessed those steel gray
eyes that had frightened her so terribly could look at her with so much love?
Who could have predicted that the dark figure she had feared in her dreams
would turn out to be the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with?

I predicted it child. I put you together,
whispered a soft, strong voice in her head and somehow
Mei-Li knew it was neither her own internal monologue or Six’s mental voice.
Someone or something was talking to her—talking in a voice only she could hear
and understand.

Mei-Li knew she ought to be frightened but
somehow she wasn’t at all. The voice felt powerful somehow but not harmful. It
was…benevolent and definitely feminine.

Who are you?
she thought, looking around the darkened room.

The Mother of all Life.

“Who?” Mei-Li was beginning to wonder if
she was going crazy—or maybe just having a really vivid dream.

Listen carefully—Six will remember more.

“What? What are you talking about?” She
sat up, leaning over his prone body protectively. “He doesn’t need any more bad
memories! The ones he already has nearly drove him crazy!”

Six stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake.
The strange, powerful voice continued speaking.

Not all memories are bad and some are
important. Love him and give him the strength to let the memories come
forward—it is vital that they do.

“I don’t understand,” Mei-Li said in a
low, intense voice. “Who are you and why are you telling me this? Am I going
crazy?”

Your sanity is fully intact. I am telling
you what is necessary to save your world and others. There is much suffering on
Zeaga 4, caused by the soulless greed of the Collective. The old warrior Malak
told you so. He also spoke of a prophesy.

“He did,” Mei-Li admitted. “But I don’t
really understand it.”

It will be made clear to you soon. The
Collective and their warriors are coming to your planet next. You know this,
child.

“Yes…” Mei-Li whispered reluctantly. In
her pleasure at bonding with Six, she had somehow managed to forget that Two
and his battalion of tube-grown, cyborg warriors were on the way to try and
conquer Earth. Maybe in the back of her head she’d been hoping that the
measures Six had taken to slow them down would somehow stop them completely.

They are coming—and they have been brought
here by an intruder. There is a dark one in your midst who would betray my
children. He must be stopped. Cast out and imprisoned before he can inhabit
another form.

“But who is it? And how can we stop him?”
Mei-Li demanded in a fierce whisper. “And who am I supposed to talk to who’ll
believe me when I tell them I got my information from a disembodied voice
called the ‘Mother of All Life’?”

Sylvan will believe and there is one he
already suspects. You must tell him to watch before the next meeting of the
High Council. Tell him to be prepared to trap the dark one. If he does not,
your troubles will be multiplied.

“And that will stop the threat?” Mei-Li
asked. “If they find this…this intruder—this dark one and trap him somehow?”

Alas, it is only the beginning,
whispered the voice.
I fear this evil must be
eradicated at its source. But in order to do that, a sacrifice must be made.”

“What kind of sacrifice?” Mei-Li hovered
protectively once more over Six’s sleeping form. “You can’t mean Six! He’s
already been through so much!”

Your warrior is safe, my child—never fear.
Only his memories are required. Another will come. One who can end the evil at
its source. Remember, this is only the beginning…

“The beginning of what?” Mei-Li demanded.
But suddenly the voice was silent and the presence she’d felt was gone.

“Mei-Li?
Lasai,
are you well?” Six
sounded sleepy.

“Fine. Just…fine.” Troubled by the strange
conversation and the fact that she’d basically been hearing voices, she made an
excuse. “I was just thinking of Two and his army. When do you think they’ll be
here?”

Six sighed. “I do not know. I jammed the
mechanism that folds space and destroyed several vital parts. It may take them
weeks to repair it…or just days. We cannot know until they arrive. But in the
meantime, Commander Sylvan has the Mother Ship on high alert. We will not be
taken unawares.”

“All right…” Mei-Li wondered if she ought
to go talk to Commander Sylvan now and tell him about her strange conversation
with the voice in the dark. But it sounded crazy, even in her head and already
it was beginning to seem unreal—like something she might have dreamed.

“Sleep,” Six urged. “We will stay together
as you said. And no matter what happens, I will protect you with my life. You
know that,
Lasai.”

“I know…” Sighing, she let him pull her
down and wrap her in his arms with his broad chest to her back. Six kissed her
cheek and pulled her closer.

“Gods you’re so soft and sweet and warm.
Can’t believe you’re really mine.”

“All yours,” Mei-Li promised him, smiling.
“Forever.”

“Forever.” Six kissed her again and she
felt something hot and hard pressing against the back of her thigh.

“Six!” she protested, half laughing.
“Again?”

“Yes, again,” he growled softly in her
ear. “I’ll take you as many times as you’ll let me,
Lasai.
I cannot get
enough of your sweet, wet pussy wrapped around my shaft.” As he spoke, his
large, warm hand slipped between her legs and cupped her mound. “I want to
thrust deep inside you and fill you with my seed.”

Mei-Li gave another laugh that was more
than half moan.

“For someone who never did this before,
you certainly became an expert in a hurry.”

“I have a good teacher.” He raised her
left leg and she felt the broad tip of his cock slip over her slippery inner
folds. “Do you think it would be possible to make love like this? I like the
idea of taking you on your side, from behind.”

“Mmm,” Mei-Li moaned softly. “Yes, I
definitely
think so. I…I like that idea too.”

“Gods, love you so much,
Lasai,”
Six
growled softly into her ear as he slid home inside her. “Love the feel of
you…the taste of you…and I love knowing you are completely
mine.”

“God, Six! I…I love you, too!” Mei-Li
moaned. He began to thrust and she arched her back, opening herself for him, loving
the sweet feeling of being taken completely by the man she loved.

As they bonded again and her pleasure
started to peak, everything else was driven out of her mind.

Including the strange disembodied voice
and the message she was supposed to give to Commander Sylvan.

Chapter
Thirty-seven

An insistent rapping on the door woke Six
up. He sat up, yawning and trying to think what was different. Then he
heard/felt the soft hum of Mei-Li’s sleepy thoughts at the back of his own mind
and remembered.

We are joined now. Bonded.
The thought brought with it intense joy…and a stab of
fear. He looked down at Mei-Li, still curled in a small, sleepy ball on the
bed, her silky black hair spread over the pillow like a fan. She looked so
delicate…so fragile. Six had the instant urge to touch her all over to be
certain she was healthy and well.

“I feel fine but I like the idea of you
touching me all over.”
She opened one eye
and peeped at him just as the knocking sounded again.
“But shouldn’t you go
get the door first?”

“I’ll see who it is.”
Six liked the intimacy of the mind communication. It made
his bond with Mei-Li seem more solid somehow—more
real
. For the first
time in years he had someone to love—someone who loved him back. It was the
most precious gift he could imagine and to think he had almost thrown it all
away by taking the emotion blocker!

What a fool I was,
he thought, pulling on his black flight leathers and
fastening the magno-tabs that held them together.
To even think of leaving
her. No matter what the risk, holding her and spending the rest of our lives
together is worth it. A thousand times worth it.

“I think you’re worth it too.” Mei-Li was
standing beside him, smiling shyly. Wrapped in the dark blue sheet with her
hair a tousled cloud around her head, she looked more beautiful than anything
he could imagine.

“You heard me thinking again?” he asked,
drawing her against his side. “Is that usual within a bond?”

“I don’t really know much about it,” she
confessed. “In fact, I was hoping you would. Aren’t all Kindred couples bonded?
Didn’t your parents have a bond?”

Six frowned. “They must have. But there is
still much of my past I do not remember…”

A shadow passed over Mei-Li’s face and he
felt a wave of unease pass through her.

“What is it?” he asked anxiously, taking
her by the shoulders. “Are you well?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Just…a weird
dream I had last night.”

The knocking at the door sounded
again—this time it was louder and more urgent.

“Uh, I think we’d better answer that,”
Mei-Li said. “Somebody
really
wants to get our attention.”

“All right.” Reluctantly, he released her
and went through to the living area. Mei-Li trailed behind him, the sheet
draped around her body and over one slim shoulder.

“Six? Six are you there? Are you there?” a
high, familiar voice was squeaking as he approached the door.

“Yes, Yipper. I am here. I’m coming.” Six
reached the panel and pressed it, allowing the silver metal door to slide to
one side.

Immediately the little Tolleg scampered
into the room. He looked up at Six, staring briefly but intensely into his
eyes.

“Still there, still there,” Six heard him
mutter to himself. “I must find it! I must, I must…” Yipper ran further into
the living area but when he saw Mei-Li he came to a halt so abruptly he almost
did a somersault.

“Hello, Yipper,” she said smiling. “Good
morning. Or is it afternoon? We’ve been kind of, uh, too preoccupied to pay
attention to what time it is.” She shot Six a mischievous smile which made him
instantly hard. Gods, she was beautiful! It was hard to believe she was really
his.

“It is late—very late. But I hope not too
late. So I hope, so I hope.” For some reason Yipper seemed anxious and
preoccupied. He was wearing the bulky pouch he had brought with him from the medical
barge and now he pulled a short metal tube out of it. It was only about a foot
long and there were two sensor light disks, one on either end. It looked like a
modified version of the emotion sharing contraption he’d put together in order
to allow Six to share his feelings and memories with Mei-Li earlier.

He hopped up on the back of the couch and
shoved it in Six’s face.

Six recoiled as both of the sensor disks
lit up green and the machine hummed softly.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he
growled. Though he was grateful to Yipper for allowing him to bring Mei-Li back
from her emotionless state, he still hadn’t made peace completely with the
terrible memories which had been released as a result.

“It’s all right. I’m here to help you bear
them, remember?”

Mei-Li slipped her small, cool hand into
his and Six felt immediately better.

“Yes, I remember,”
he sent back.

But before he could send more, Yipper was
already shoving the modified contraption at Mei-Li as well. When both disks lit
up green and it hummed again, he nodded to himself.

“I knew it! Yes I did, yes I did and the
soul finder confirms it. Two souls bound together as one—you are bonded, aren’t
you?”

“Well, yes,” Mei-Li confessed, blushing.
“But how could you—?”

“And when did the bonding take place? How
long ago did you inseminate her and seal the bond?” Yipper demanded of Six.

“That’s uh, kind of a personal question,
Yipper,” Mei-Li protested, her cheeks turning bright pink.

“But I
must
know. Please, Six, it
is vitally important. Yes it is, yes it is,” the Tolleg insisted.

Six frowned. “As Mei-Li says, it is
difficult to say. It was not a sudden process. She took quite a long time
ah…seducing me. I believe that is the right word, is it not?” he asked, raising
an eyebrow at her.

For some reason, Mei-Li’s cheeks went even
pinker and he felt a wave of embarrassment rolling through her.

“I suppose you could call it that,” she
murmured.

“Why are you feeling shame?”
Six
asked, completely perplexed. “It is true you seduced me but I am glad you did.
If you had not teased me with your erotic black panties and led me step by step
to making love with you we would not be bonded now.”

“Six!” Now she sounded positively
mortified. Which he still didn’t understand. Why should their love or the
physical expression of it embarrass her?

“As long as the bonding took place less
than twelve standard hours ago we should be all right. Yes we should, yes we
should,” Yipper chattered. He looked sharply at Mei-Li. “Where is the serum I
gave you? I know you did not use it on Six but please tell me you did not
dispose of it.”

“It’s in here.” She found the small
handheld bag she’d been carrying the night before lying by the side of the
couch. Opening it, she handed the Tolleg a familiar looking syringe filled with
dark blue liquid.

“Oh good!” Yipper snatched the syringe
from her hand. “Still blue means still good. Yes it does, yes it does,” he
chattered.

“Still good for what? Does someone else
want their emotions removed?” Mei-Li shivered, obviously repulsed by the idea.

“No,” Yipper said shortly. He was up on
the back of the couch, right beside Six. “But other things need removing. Yes
they do, yes they do. And there is not a minute to lose.”

Then, before Six could register what was
happening, the little Tolleg turned and stabbed him in the side of the neck.
Pressing the plunger home, he injected the blue serum into Six’s blood stream,
filling his veins with fire.

* * * * *

“No!” Mei-Li jumped forward as Six fell to
his knees. But it was too late, the syringe was empty and the dark blue liquid
was already coursing through the big Kindred’s body. “Six!” she gasped, pulling
the needle out and throwing it away. “Oh no! Please, Six—please stay with me!”

“Burns.” His voice was low and choked. “My
blood…it
burns.”

Mei-Li turned on Yipper who now appeared
perfectly calm.

“How could you do that? Why did you take
his emotions again?
Why?”

“I didn’t take his emotions, no I didn’t,
no I didn’t.” The little Tolleg looked shocked. “I simply neutralized the
pathogens in his blood. Yes I did, yes I did. Look.”

He pointed at Six who was still on his
knees, a look of agony on his face. In fact, Mei-Li could feel the pain he was
experiencing through their link—a burning sensation that seemed to run through
all his veins.

“What pathogens? What did you do to him?
He’s in pain!” Mei-Li exclaimed.

“Just look at him,” Yipper insisted. “Look
at his eyes. Look, look.”

“Six?” Mei-Li took his face in her hands
and stared down into his steel gray eyes anxiously. The right one remained normal
looking but as she watched, something strange happened to the left. The scarlet
ring which had been around the outer rim if the iris slowly began to fade.
After a moment, it was completely gone and the left eye looked the same as the
right with no trace of red at all.

Yipper was also looking and he nodded with
satisfaction at what he saw.

“Good, good,” he said excitedly. “It
worked. And if my calculations are correct, I was in time. Yes I was, yes I
was.”

Six shot out a hand and made a snatch at
the little Tolleg but his fingers closed on empty air as Yipper skipped nimbly
away.

“What did you do to me?” he asked
hoarsely. “I can still feel emotions but my blood is boiling!”

“The pain will fade, yes it will, yes it
will!” Yipper chattered. “And you will thank me later, Six. Especially if your
bonding made Mei-Li pregnant.”

“What?” Mei-Li felt her cheeks heating
again. She hadn’t even considered pregnancy last night when she was trying to
get Six to make love with her. In fact, the thought of birth control hadn’t
crossed her mind once—all she’d been able to think about was how much she
wanted him.

Wow, I really wasn’t very responsible at
all last night,
she thought with a
twinge of shame. But somehow she knew that if she had been, she and Six
wouldn’t be bonded right now. She had needed to have him bare and fully inside
her in order to make the connection possible. Strange but true.

“Explain what you mean, Yipper,” Six
growled, stumbling to his feet. “And further explain why you couldn’t tell me
what was in the syringe before stabbing me in the neck with it and frightening
Mei-Li half to death.”

“Yes, you told me it was emotion blocker
when you gave it to me,” Mei-Li accused him. “I thought when you injected him
with it you were taking away his emotions again!”

“I would never do that, no I wouldn’t, no
I wouldn’t,” Yipper declared. “I knew that wasn’t the right path for Six. I
knew the two of you belonged together—but I also knew that Six was a carrier of
the Scarlet Plague.”

“Gods, he’s right—the Plague.” Six went
suddenly pale. “Why did I not think of that?”

“But I thought that only affected someone
with the carrier’s DNA,” Mei-Li said. “I’m from Earth and Six is from a whole
other galaxy. There’s no way it could hurt me—could it?”

“No, but it could hurt or kill any child
the two of you conceived together. Yes it could, yes it could!” Yipper
exclaimed.

“Oh my God!” Mei-Li’s hand went
involuntarily to her belly. “Oh no, what if I
am
pregnant?”

“Even if you are, you and the baby will be
fine. Yes you will, yes you will,” the little Tolleg explained quickly. “I have
been working on a serum to eradicate the plague in carriers for years, ever
since Six’s family came to the medical barge too late. Yes I have, yes I have.”

“But why didn’t you
tell
me the
serum was to get rid of the plague?” Mei-Li demanded.

“Or tell
me?”
Six asked, glaring.

Yipper’s eyes widened. “And give you
another excuse to leave Mei-Li and all your emotions behind? I could not do
that, Six. No I couldn’t, no I couldn’t. If you had known that the plague
inside you could be transmitted to any child the two of you conceived, you
would have convinced yourself even more strongly to leave and not return.”

“He’s right,” Mei-Li said, turning to Six.
“You were all ready to go as it was. I mean, I
barely
got you to stay.”

“You seduced me with your lacy
undergarments,” Six growled. “But I would never have bonded with you if I had
any idea it could hurt you or our baby. If we made one. Which we certainly might
have,” he added thoughtfully. “Since we took each other over and over in
various positions.”

“Six!” Mei-Li felt her cheeks getting hot.
She was really going to have to have a talk with him about what was an
appropriate topic of conversation in public.

“I would be surprised if the Kindred
Goddess blesses your first union with a child,” Yipper said. “She usually waits
a little while until the bond is settled. But I knew it was possible she might
have, so I had to come make sure you had the injection in your system. Yes I
did, yes I did.”