Found (6 page)

He was dimly aware that the priestess
performing the ceremony was saying something that sounded final.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Commander Sylvan lift his
bride’s veil and kiss her passionately. Funny, he hadn’t seemed
like the type for such effusive public displays of affection, but
Rast supposed allowances had to be made considering it was his
wedding day. And also—

But his train of thought was cut off abruptly
when the blonde girl came toward him. Rast thought she was finally
going to say something now that the ceremony seemed to be wrapping
up.

Instead, she threw her arms around his neck
and kissed him.

He was so surprised that at first he couldn’t
do a thing. Then his heart thudded in his chest and his body took
over.

Rast wrapped his arms around her, crushed her
to him, and kissed her back.

She felt warm and soft against him, the
curves of her breasts pressing against his bare chest. And her lips
tasted like cherries—not artificial cherry lip gloss but real ripe
cherries—sweet and succulent and completely irresistible. And her
scent…God, he’d never smelled anything like it in his life. Warm
and sweet and devastatingly feminine, it seemed to go straight to
his cock, which was rock hard against her thigh.

Rast was really tall—every bit as massive as
the Kindred warriors that surrounded them. But the girl in his arms
was tall, too. He liked that—liked that for once in his life he
didn’t have to stoop over to get a good kiss. And the way she was
running her fingers through his hair and scratching his bare
shoulders was driving him fucking
crazy
.

Despite the fact that he always kept a
rigidly tight rein on himself, he was rapidly losing control. He
wanted the girl in his arms. Wanted her with an intensity and
single minded need that he’d never felt before in his life.

She broke the kiss for a moment to look into
his eyes. “I knew it,” she whispered in a low, lovely voice that
made his cock throb with need. “I knew it would be like this from
the moment I saw you.”

Rast didn’t know what she was talking about
but by this time he didn’t care. He only knew that she had him so
aroused he felt like he could fuck a hole through a concrete
wall.

“I want you,” he growled, looking into those
gorgeous, deep blue eyes again.
“Now.”
Then he took her
mouth again, possessively. He didn’t care that she was a complete
stranger. Didn’t care that he didn’t even know her name and they
were surrounded by people. He wanted to lower her to the ground and
have her here and now in the green and purple grass and damn the
consequences.

But just as he was about to put his
lascivious thoughts into action, someone tapped him on the
shoulder. Rast ignored them so whoever it was tapped again, this
time much more insistently.

“Detective Rast?” a vaguely familiar voice
said. “Is that you? What are you doing?”

This is it—he’s here,
Nadiah had
thought excitedly the minute Deep shoved the Kindred with the
truegreen eyes into line beside Baird. He looked exactly as she had
forseen him.

He had a warrior’s build with a muscular
chest and arms and well developed legs that did the
tharp
he
was wearing justice. His thick, golden-brown hair was tousled, as
though he’d been carelessly running his fingers through it and his
eyes were a shade of green so deep it was almost black. Around his
iris was a thinner line of pale green that gave his gaze an
intensity so powerful it was very difficult to meet his eyes.

But meet them she did, and she refused to
drop her gaze even when he frowned at her. She sensed that this was
a male she could never back down from—not if she wanted to win and
keep his respect. So she lifted her chin and stared harder even
though the way he was looking at her made her nipples feel tight
and achy and the vee between her legs hot and wet. Goddess but he
looked so
primal
standing there wearing nothing but the
short
tharp
and boots. The big muscles of his arms and
thighs were bunched tight with tension—tension
she
was
causing, Nadiah could tell.

Maybe he’s the one,
she couldn’t help
thinking.
Maybe he’ll challenge the blood bond and set me
free.
Looking at this male she was certain that if he made a
challenge he would win it. There was a fierce determination about
him that told her he didn’t back down for anyone.

When it was finally time for the luck kiss
her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe. But Nadiah
was determined not to show how nervous she was. It was the female’s
responsibility to go to the male and she didn’t intend to mess up
her part in the ceremony. Taking a deep breath, she swept forward
and wrapped her arms around his muscular neck. A look of surprise
filled his truegreen eyes and then she kissed him hard on the
mouth.

At first she was afraid he wasn’t going to
respond. He stood absolutely rigid—doing what appeared to be the
galaxy’s best statue impersonation. Then, suddenly he came to
life.

Nadiah gasped in surprise as he bent her over
his arms and plundered her mouth, kissing with a passion that
belied his stoic outer appearance. His arms around her felt like
warm, flexible iron and when his tongue demanded entrance to her
mouth, she parted her lips with no hesitation at all.

Goddess, she was melting…burning…being
utterly consumed in the heat of passion. It was
exactly
as
she had always known her first kiss from a Kindred male would be.
The instant heat between them, the sudden lust, was as rapid and
devastating as a lighting strike. It was amazing…incredible…

And then Olivia ruined it by tapping the big
male on the shoulder and breaking their kiss.

“Detective Rast,” she said, frowning. “Is
that you? What are you doing?”

The male pulled away from Nadiah and as
quickly as the luck kiss had begun, it was over.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Olivia
repeated. “Why are you even
at
my sister’s wedding?”

“I don’t know.” He scowled at Olivia in a
very unfriendly way. “I just came up here to interview Commander
Sylvan and Commander Baird. But before I knew it, I was being
forced into this ridiculous get-up and pushed into the damn
wedding.”

“This ‘ridiculous get-up’ happens to be the
native costume of my planet,” Sylvan said mildly, as he and Sophie
joined the conversation. “Though I don’t know why
you’re
wearing it instead of my good friend, Merrik, who was supposed to
be here to perform the kiss.”

“I don’t know either,” the big male
protested. “Ask that guy.” He pointed at Deep, who was standing
with Lock and Kat at the far end of the sacred grove, talking to
some of the other wedding guests. “
He’s
the one who made me
wear a fur skirt and these damn matching boots. And
he’s
the
one who told me to just stand here until the, uh, the ‘luck kiss’
thing. Which I guess is what we just did?” He turned to Nadiah, one
eyebrow arched in question.

Nadia had a sinking feeling in the pit of her
stomach. “Yes, that was the luck kiss. But…are you saying you’re
not
a Kindred?”

“He’s human,” Sylvan assured her. Then seeing
the disappointed look in her eyes, he put a hand on Nadiah’s
shoulder comfortingly. “Sorry, daughter of my mother’s sister.”

“Oh, this is all
my
fault.” Sophie bit
her lip. “I’m
so
sorry, Detective Rast. I knew you were
coming up here today but then it just completely slipped my mind.
Deep and Lock must have thought you were Sylvan’s old friend who
was supposed to come in time for the ceremony.”

“Don’t worry,
Talana
, there’s no real
harm done.” Sylvan put an arm around his new bride and hugged her
consolingly. “After all, even though he wasn’t meant to be in the
ceremony, Detective Rast certainly did credit to our
traditions.”

“I’ll say.” Olivia laughed. “After a kiss
like that, there’s no way you could have anything but good luck in
your marriage.”

The tall male’s cheeks went dark red with
embarrassment but he held his head high. “About that,” he said to
Nadiah in a low voice. “I’m sorry. I don’t know…I’m not sure what
came over me. If I hurt you—”

“You didn’t,” she said quickly, crossing her
arms over her chest.
A human. He’s just a human—not a Kindred at
all. But how is that possible? I was so sure.
So
sure…

Detective Rast cleared his throat. “All right
then. Good.” He turned away from her to face Sylvan. “I can see
it’s your wedding day and you’re somewhat, ah, preoccupied, but I
still have a few questions I’d like to ask about Lauren. I know you
believe her to be safe but she’s still missing and her mother is
very upset.”

“Of course she is,” Baird rumbled, coming up
to put an arm around Olivia. “But why don’t you let
me
handle the questions, Detective? I’ll be happy to tell you anything
I can—you’ll have full Kindred cooperation.”

“I’ll come with you and tell you everything I
can too,” Olivia offered. “We want to see Lauren get home safely as
much as you do.”

At the mention of the missing girl’s name,
Nadiah began to have a strange feeling. It started as a tingling in
her fingertips and spread up her arms to encompass her entire head
and face.
Oh my Goddess…what is it? What’s wrong?
The others
were still talking about Lauren and every time they mentioned her
name, the feeling grew stronger. Then Nadiah remembered something
her grandmamam had told her when she came of age.

‘
You may have an al’lei my child,’
she’d said when she was explaining about the manifestation of
Nadiah’s powers.
‘A waking dream. They’re very rare but not
unheard of among those with the Sight. If an al’lei comes upon you,
don’t try to fight it. Let the power flow through you. Speak the
words that come to you and hold nothing back.’

Lauren couldn’t have held back if she wanted
to. A vision rose before her eyes, blotting out the sacred grove
and everyone in it. Suddenly she saw a narrow, crooked alley
wrapped in violet shadows. A girl was there, a human girl with
smooth, light brown skin and warm amber eyes and she was following
another female who was leading her…leading her…

“Into danger,” Nadiah heard herself speak the
words aloud but somehow the voice that came from her throat was not
her own. It was deeper and filled with authority. It tolled like a
bell in the sacred grove. All conversation stopped and every eye
was on her but she couldn’t stop.

“I see her,” she went on in the strange,
sonorous voice. “Lauren—the missing one. The chosen of the Scourge.
She with the star between her breasts. He has taken her to
O’ah
where the purple darkness never recedes.”

“What…Nadiah, what are you saying?” She heard
Sophie ask in a small, trembling voice. “Why are you talking like
that?”

Nadiah couldn’t answer—the
al’lei
wasn’t over yet. “He has tried to safeguard her but another has
deceived her,” she went on, still seeing Lauren before her eyes.
“She is in danger…so much danger. If he does not return to her soon
it will be too late. Too late…too late…” The vision faded as
suddenly as it had come, leaving her feeling weak and lightheaded.
“Goddess!” she whispered in her own voice. The world went gray and
swam around her and then her knees gave out and she collapsed.

Strong arms caught her and someone held her
protectively. “Are you all right, uh…”

“Nadiah,” Sophie said. “Her name is
Nadiah.”

“Are you all right, Nadiah?” the deep voice
repeated.

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that the
human called Rast was holding her. He was looking down at her
anxiously, a worried expression in his truegreen eyes.

No, not truegreen,
Nadiah reminded
herself with a spasm of regret.
Just green. He looks Kindred but
he isn’t, not really.
And despite the intense heat she’d felt
from him during the luck kiss, only a Kindred warrior would be able
to challenge her blood bond.

“What happened?” she asked weakly. The events
of the past minute were strangely fuzzy in her mind.

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Olivia
said.

“You started speaking in a weird voice and
then you fainted,” Sophie told her. “You were talking about Lauren.
Saying she was in danger.”

“Omigoddess!” Suddenly the vision rushed
back. Nadiah put a hand to her head. “I saw her, Sophie! I
saw
Lauren. She was wearing blue and red and she was
following a female who was leading her into danger.”

“Danger? What kind of danger?” The human was
staring down at her with a disbelieving frown on his face. “Are you
trying to say you’re psychic or some kind of bullshit like
that?”

Nadiah frowned back. “I have the Sight,” she
said stiffly. “Although it’s never manifested quite so strongly
before.”

He arched an eyebrow at her incredulously.
“And you expect us to believe you suddenly
saw
Lauren,
wherever she is?”

“I
did
see her.” Nadiah struggled to
get out of his arms. “Don’t look at me like that. And put me
down.”

“With pleasure.” He sat her on her feet and
crossed his arms over his broad, bare chest. “You should know
something, lady—I worked long enough at the PD to see this kind of
thing a lot. People lose a kid and they get desperate. Desperate
enough to call in some fake who claims to be able to locate their
child through ‘astral projection’ or some shit like that. But you
know what? It
never
pans out. It just gives them false
hope.”

“She’s not trying to give you any ‘false
hope.’” Sophie put herself between Nadiah and the human detective
and glared at him angrily. “She’s just telling you what she saw.
Nadiah has a gift.”