Forgotten (26 page)

“
Here—let’s use some
soap.” Kate squirted a dollop of dish soap from the bottle that
stood on the edge of the sink and began rubbing it in. Rone used
some on her as well and before they knew it, their hands were a
soapy tangle—a
clean
tangle, Rone saw, smiling a little at the sight. It was good
to have some of the black slime off of him—and even better to touch
his mate again.

“
That’s better—a little
bit, anyway,” Kate said when they finally turned off the water and
dried their hands with some paper towels which hung in a roll over
the sink. “At least I can touch my face without feeling like I’m
spreading it all over.” She pushed some of her red, springy
curls—the few that had escaped the gooey slime of the pool—off her
forehead. “Now maybe I can get a glass and wash this taste out of
my mouth.”

She began searching the cabinets and soon
enough, found a few plain glass cups. Going back to the kitchen
sink, she filled one with cold water and attempted to take a
drink.

The water ran down her chin.

“
What the—?” Kate frowned
and tried again with the same result. Though she tried and tried
from all different angles, she couldn’t get any of the water to go
into her mouth.

“
Kate…” Rone was trying
not to laugh but she really did look ridiculous.

“
It’s not funny!” she
exclaimed. “That stuff from the pool got in my mouth and it
tastes
horrible.”

Rone was instantly contrite. “I’m
sorry—here, let me try. She said we wouldn’t be able to drink
except from each other’s hands, remember?” Taking the glass from
her, he dumped out the water she had drawn and got a fresh glass.
Then he held it out to her. “Here.”

“
Thank you.” Kate took it
from him and prepared to take a big drink…but again the water ran
down her chin. “What’s wrong
this
time?” She exclaimed in irritation. “I took the
glass from your hand, didn’t I?”

“
Maybe I have to be
holding it for you to drink from it?” Rone guessed. “Here—let me
hold it for you.”

He took the glass from her again and placed
it against her lips. Kate tried again to get a mouthful of
water…and yet again, the water ran right down her chin. She was
still clutching her bundle of discarded clothes to her chest but by
now they were soaking wet.

“
What’s going
on?”
Kate looked ready
to cry. “I’m so
thirsty
and who knows when that horrible Shadow Madam is
coming back. She made some kind of mistake and we’re going to die
of thirst in this stupid place!”

“
I don’t think there’s any
mistake,” Rone said, frowning. “This is on purpose—all of it. We
just have to figure it out, that’s all.”

Kate sighed and leaned against the sink.
“Can we figure it out before I become completely dehydrated? God,
why did we come here in the first place?”

“
To get the fear toxins
out of you for one thing,” Rone pointed out. “The pool did that, at
least. Even if it was about to drown you to accomplish the rest of
its mission.”

“
About that…” Kate looked
down at her freshly washed hands. They looked like white gloves on
the ends of her arms, which were still coated in the black slime.
“I never said thank you—for saving my life, I mean. So,
well…thanks.” She looked up at him. “Thanks for jumping into that
awful gook and saving me, Rone. I really would have died if you
hadn’t.”

His heart swelled and he longed to take her
in his arms but he knew he couldn’t do that—not yet.

“
Of course,
Lalli,”
he said gently.
“I’ll always be there for you, to protect you and save you. You
know that.”

“
Actually, I don’t.” She
cleared her throat and looked away. “But…I’m beginning
to.”

“
A beginning is better
than nothing,” Rone said. “And I think I have an idea about your
drinking problem.”

A surprised laugh burst from her lips.

“
My
drinking
problem? It’s not like I’m
dying to hit the bottle—I just want some water.”

“
And I think I know how
you can get some.”

Rone turned the cold tap again. When the
water rushed out, he cupped his hands together and caught as much
as he could in his palms. Then he nodded at Kate. “Go
ahead—drink.”

“
What? From your hands?”
She looked at him uncertainly.

“
Well, Madam Shadow
did
say we wouldn’t be
able to drink unless from our…” Rone cleared his throat. “From our
lover’s hands. Maybe she was being literal.”

“
That
is
pretty literal.” Kate looked
somewhat uncomfortable but Rone thought she might be just thirsty
enough to try it. “All right,” she said at last. “Um…here
goes.”

She leaned over the sink and Rone brought
his hands up to her mouth. It was a little awkward but she managed
to reach the water and take a deep sip.

Rone saw her eyes widen and she looked up at
him excitedly.

“
It works—it really works!
Quick—get some more!”

Rone obliged her, catching more water from
the faucet in his cupped palms. Kate drank thirstily and he filled
his hands for her again and again until she stood back with a
sigh.

“
Ah…that was
so
good. I don’t
remember the last time I was that thirsty. Thank you.”

“
You’re more than welcome,
baby.” Rone smiled at her. God, it felt so good to be close to her
again without her jumping away. Even touching her in such a small
way made him feel better—fed a small part of the
hunger
that was growing
inside him. Of course, in order to truly satiate that ever
burgeoning appetite, much more intimate touching would be required,
but he tried to put that out of his mind. For now, he was just glad
to be here with Kate.

“
Um…” She looked at him
uncertainly. “Are you thirsty too? Would you…would you like a
drink? I mean, my hands aren’t as big as yours but…”

“
I’d love one,” Rone said
softly, looking into her eyes. “If you don’t mind.”

“
Of course not. Um…” She
shuffled the clothing in her arms uncertainly, trying to find a way
to hold it without exposing herself and still get her hands to the
sink so he could drink.

“
Just put it down,” Rone
advised, nodding at the bundle of soaked and stained
clothes.

Kate bit her lip.

“
But I’m
naked.”

“
I know but I really can’t
see anything past all that black slime we’re both still covered
in,” Rone lied. Actually, her lovely, curvy shape was quite
apparent but it wouldn’t do to tell her that. “And I won’t be
looking anyway—I’m going to be bent over the sink drinking from
your hands, remember?”

“
Well…” He could see Kate
deliberating. She always had been shy and self-conscious about her
body, he remembered, especially the scars on her back. After they’d
been together a few years and he had showed her over and over how
lovely every part of her was to him, she had finally begun to
loosen up. But now they were back to the beginning and he would
just have to be patient with her about it.

“
It’s okay, baby,” he said
softly. “Look—would it make you feel better if I promised not to
look at you?”

Kate nodded. “I guess, maybe it would.”

“
Okay then—not looking.
Absolutely not looking.” Rone closed his eyes tightly though he
really wanted to see her. At least he was close enough to smell her
sweet scent, under the bitter odor of the black slime. He heard
water rushing into Kate’s small hands and then she said,

“
All right. I’m
ready.”

Rone kept his eyes closed and moved towards
the sound of her voice. He had to duck low to get down to her small
hands and he missed several times, making Kate giggle.

“
No, down here,” she said,
sounding happy for the first time in ages, Rone thought. “Further
down—
way
down.”

“
I’m
trying
to find you,” he said,
laughing himself. At last he managed to press his mouth to her
cupped hands. Her little palms held barely a mouthful for him so
she had to refill them again and again.

Rone drank thirstily but more than the cold
water, he felt refreshed by the feel of his mate’s skin touching
his, even just a little bit. At last he finished and looked up at
her, daring to open his eyes.

“
Thank you, Kate,” he said
softly. “That was perfect.”

“
Oh…” She looked at him
uncertainly, her small hands still held out, dripping with
water.

Taking a chance, Rone leaned over her one
more time and placed a gentle kiss to the center of her right palm.
“Perfect,” he whispered again.

“
You…you’re welcome.” She
pulled her hands back and he noticed that she squeezed the right
one into a tight fist. “Well…” She picked up her pile of wet
clothes and took a step back, holding them to her chest. “Now that
we’ve solved one problem, I guess we need to solve
another.”

“
Which is?” Rone raised an
eyebrow at her.

Kate took a deep breath. “How to get all
this slime off the rest of us.”

* * * * *

Kate couldn’t believe she
was saying this—couldn’t believe she was addressing this problem
when she knew perfectly well the only solution was to let the big
Kindred wash her. But she couldn’t
stand
being dirty—she’d never liked
to feel even the least bit grimy or sweaty and here she was,
covered in black slime. It was
awful
.

“
Kate…” Rone was looking
at her as she clutched her clothing to her chest. “I think we both
know the only way we’re going to get the slime off,” he said
softly. “We’re going to have to take a shower and you’re going to
have to let me scrub you—scrub you
everywhere.
Are you ready for
that?”

“
I don’t know,” Kate
admitted. “I mean, I don’t panic when we touch anymore but to me it
still feels like I just met you a couple of days ago. And I’m not
the kind of girl who just hops in the shower with a guy I just met.
Sorry.”

“
I know how modest you
are,” Rone said gently. “Even after we were Joined, it took you at
least a year to let me see you completely naked.”

“
It did?” Kate felt the
heat rising to her cheeks. “Uh, that sounds about right, I
guess.”

“
You’re always so unsure
of your own beauty,” the big Kindred said softly. “It’s one of the
things that makes you so devastatingly beautiful, Kate.”

“
Um…” She looked down at
her hands—almost the only clean part of her body—uncertain of what
to say.

The big Kindred sighed. “Sorry if I made you
uncomfortable. It’s just—we’ve had this conversation before. You
never believe how gorgeous you are even though I’ve tried to show
you over and over.”

“
Maybe I was comparing
myself to you,” Kate said candidly. “I mean,
look
at you. You’re all big and
rugged and muscular and you have those
amazing
eyes. They’re so blue they
almost glow.”

“
They
do
glow,” Rone said smiling. “It’s a
Wulven trait. We have excellent vision. In fact, all of our senses
are more finely tuned than those of a human. Which only allows me
to see your beauty more clearly.”

“
See—you’re like
superhuman
,” Kate said,
ignoring his compliment because it made her want to blush again.
“Or superKindred or whatever. What made you want to…to be with me
in the first place?”

“
Your beauty…your
persistence…your courage.” Rone shrugged. “I could go on but that’s
what comes to mind first.”

Kate gave a dry little laugh.

“
Ha—well I’m sure you’re
disappointed in the courage part this time around since I’ve done
nothing but run from you from the first minute I saw
you.”

“
Not true,” Rone said
seriously. “You came with me to the Mother Ship even though you
were so full of fear toxins the least brush of my hand sent you
into a panic attack. That takes a vast amount of courage,
Kate.”

“
I don’t feel very brave
around you,” she admitted. “I feel little and weird and I just
don’t understand how we got together in the first place. It’s like
some kind of joke, we’re so mismatched.”

“
It’s no joke to me,
baby,” he said softly. “We may look mismatched on the
outside—mainly because I’m so big and you’re so tiny—but inside
we’re the perfect fit.” He sighed. “I know you don’t see that right
now but I hope you will in time.”

“
Well…” There was an
awkward pause in the conversation and Kate looked down at her hands
again. They looked so white against the goopy black slime that
still clung to her arms and the rest of her body. Suddenly she
realized how horribly uncomfortable she was and it wasn’t just the
intimate talk she’d been having with the big Kindred.

“
Kate,” he
began.