“Oh…” Brandi looked at him in surprise. The blog he mentioned had gained national fame when it broke the story of local corruption that went all the way up to the state level in Tallahassee. “Oh yeah, actually I have,” she said.
“Great! Look, it sounds like you’ve got a story you need to tell.” Josh leaned closer until Slade growled and then he backed up a step hastily. “I just want to offer to help you tell it,” he said quickly. Reaching in his wallet, he fumbled out a card and gave it to her. “Here are all my contacts. Get in touch with me soon.”
“Thank you.” Brandi took the card numbly as he melted into the crowd. She was distantly aware that the paramedics were loading Mr. Grabbar, who was apparently still alive—though just barely—onto a stretcher and a knot of female bank employees were still talking animatedly and gesturing to the fallen bank manager. Toby the HR guy, looking distinctly uncomfortable, was edging away from them. Gus had re-holstered his gun and he was just standing there, still with a confused look on his face. It appeared that he wasn’t sure who was the bad guy now.
“Come on,” she heard Slade growl in her ear. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“I can’t…I shouldn’t,” Brandi began but the big Kindred swung her into his arms as though she weighed no more than a doll and carried her through the bank.
“Hey, are you gonna just let him go?” one of the male employees asked Gus. “He attacked Mr. Grabbar, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but he’s a Kindred defending his mate,” someone else pointed out. “You know he can’t be prosecuted for that. The World Court ruled on it when they re-instated the Kindred Bride Draft. Anyone harming or attempting to harm the mate of a Kindred warrior does so at their own risk—the Kindred has every right to come after him.”
“That’s right,” Brandi heard someone else say. “Kindred can’t help themselves—they go crazy when they think their mate is threatened.”
“But who knew Brandi was mated to a Kindred?” It was Genine again, sounding confused. “I thought she was single. How did she end up with a mountain of muscle like that?”
Brandi didn’t hear the answer because by then Slade had carried her past the knot of curious bystanders and out into the main part of the bank, where business was still being conducted, albeit rather slowly. Pushing through the frosted double doors, he took her out of the building and away.
Chapter Ten
Slade could feel the Rage that had overcome him still hovering in the back of his mind but he tried to push it back down.
She wasn’t hurt, he reminded himself. I got there in time—he didn’t get to her.
Except he had—even if her bastard of a boss hadn’t gotten to Brandi’s body, he had gotten to her mind and her heart. Even now Slade could feel her confusion and distress. He wanted to comfort her—wanted to hold her close and let her know everything was going to be okay. But they were still out in public and he needed to be alone with her.
He was still carrying her and she was letting him, a slightly dazed look on her face. Finally she looked up at him.
“Where…where are we going?” she asked, her voice hushed and uncertain.
“We need to talk,” Slade told her. “My vehicle is parked not far from here.”
In fact, he was fairly certain he was parked illegally. But Brandi’s emotions of fear and her thoughts that her boss was a threat had gotten so strong as he flew down to Earth that Slade hadn’t bothered with local road laws—he’d been in too much of a hurry to get to her.
As they came up to the place Slade had parked his shuttle, there was a male with a tow truck and a chain, just about to get to work on it.
“Hey man, don’t say a word,” he said without looking up at Slade—he was busy fitting the towing mechanism to the shuttle’s bumper. “You parked in a loading zone and it’s clearly marked so don’t beg me not to take your car—you asked for it.”
“The only one begging is going to be you,” Slade growled, glaring down at him.
At the sound of his voice, the tow truck operator looked up slowly and his eyes widened. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his skinny throat.
“Hey man, I didn’t know—”
“I only parked in the restricted zone because it was an emergency,” Slade explained, still frowning. “My mate was in danger and I had to get to her. So can you please get your vehicle the fuck away from my shuttle?”
“Uh, sorry—yeah. Sure, of course man.”
Nearly tripping over himself in his haste, the truck operator removed the towing mechanism, hopped into his truck, and drove away as fast as possible.
Brandi laughed delightedly.
“Wow, do you have that effect on everyone? I’d love to have you around the next time I’m late on a payment.”
“You can have me around any time,” Slade told her as he opened the passenger door of the shuttle and deposited her gently on the seat. “We are bonded, after all,” he added, and went to get into the driver’s side.
“Is that how you knew I was…was having problems? Because we’re bonded?” Brandi asked, giving him a sidelong look as he started the shuttle, which now had wheels like an Earth vehicle, and pulled smoothly out into traffic.
“Yes,” Slade said, keeping his eyes on the road. Human traffic patterns were somewhat unpredictable because humans themselves were more than a little illogical. “I felt that something was wrong with you and I had to come to you.”
“You had to?” A quick glance at Brandi’s face showed wide uncertain eyes. “You couldn’t just…ignore it?”
“That would be like asking me to ignore it if my own hand was on fire,” Slade said, frowning. “Like it or not, you’re my mate, sweetheart—or that’s how my body sees you. My protective instincts are aroused when you’re in danger. I can’t fucking help it.”
“So…would you rather not have come to me?” she asked in a small voice. “Did I drag you away from something important?”
“More important than stopping that bastard from raping you? Hell no!” Slade growled. The Rage tried to rise in him again. “That son-of-a-bitch—I wish I’d killed him.”
“Yeah, I could tell you wanted to,” she said dryly, but her voice trembled just a little. “Thank you for saving me, by the way—I don’t think I said that yet. He, uh…he’d never tried anything that blatant before. He was mostly content with just trying to cop a feel when I was making copies.” Her face twisted. “And I just put up with it.”
“Because you felt you needed the job,” Slade said softly. “I know—I heard you thinking about it on my way here.”
“Through our, uh, bond-thingy?” she asked.
“That ‘bond-thingy’ is considered sacred by my people,” Slade pointed out in a growl. He felt like she was taking the situation too lightly. “And it’s a life-long commitment.”
“Life-long?” Brandi’s big brown eyes widened. “But…but I don’t even know you,” she sputtered.
“Not exactly true—I’d say we got to know each other’s bodies extremely well the other day.” Slade spoke the incendiary words in a mild voice. He wasn’t coming on to her or harassing her—she’d had enough of that to last forever, he was sure—he was just stating the facts. “Which is why I think it’s time for us to get to know each other in other ways,” he went on when she opened her mouth to protest. “Would you have Mid Meal with me?”
“Have what?” Brandi was looking at him like she didn’t know how to feel about him.
Well, fine—the feeling was mutual. Part of him still thought he ought to be angry with her for getting the two of them into this impossible situation but another, bigger part just wanted to hold her close and protect her. And after seeing her bastard of a boss trying to rape her, his protective, possessive instincts towards her had grown exponentially.
“Mid Meal—the meal you eat in the middle of the day,” he explained patiently. “Don’t humans eat it? Or do you just eat First Meal and Last Meal and fast in between them?”
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“Oh, no—we eat it. We just call it lunch.”
“All right. Will you have ‘lunch’ with me?” Slade asked her.
Brandi giggled and when he looked at her questioningly she shook her head.
“Sorry, the way you said that—it sounded so formal. Yes, I’d love to have lunch with you but I’m afraid I left my purse back at the bank, so I have no way to pay.”
“Pay?” Slade frowned. “Of course you’re not going to pay! You’re my mate—I’ll pay for any and all expenses anywhere we go.”
“Hey, now…” Brandi frowned at him. “You sound like some kind of a caveman! Don’t your people believe in going Dutch?”
“I don’t know what ‘going Dutch’ is but if it means that the female pays, then no—we don’t,” Slade said shortly. He frowned. “But since I didn’t think to bring any Earth money with me, I’m afraid we’ll have to have ‘lunch’ up on the Mother Ship.”
“What? No!” Brandi exclaimed at once. “No, I’m not going back up there! I got into enough trouble last time. And besides, I have to be on time to pick up my daughter from after-care.”
“What is after-care? Care after what?” Slade wanted to know.
“After Pre-K—her school.” Brandi sighed. “I have her in a nice private one—it’s pretty expensive but the public schools near my house are just…” She stopped abruptly. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m going on about this to you.” A little self-deprecating laugh escaped her. “There’s nothing more boring than hearing about other people’s kids—at least, that’s what my cousin, Crystal is always telling me.”
“I don’t find your worry for your daughter boring,” Slade said honestly. “If you’ve been blessed by the Goddess with young ones, they have to be protected and provided for. And Emmie-bear…is that her name?”
“Just Emmie,” Brandi spoke carefully, as though she wasn’t sure she wanted to discuss her daughter with him too much. “Short for Emmaline.”
“Emmie, then. She seems like a very intelligent child,” Slade said.
A reluctant smile broke over Brandi’s face, turning her from pretty to absolutely gorgeous in Slade’s estimation.
“You’re just saying that because she took to you so fast.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen her go to anyone right off the bat like that before! She’s usually so shy—I don’t know what got into her.”
“We have a saying on my home planet,” Slade remarked. “If you want to know a male’s character, observe his interactions with young ones and animals.”
“That’s exactly what my Grandma Ida used to say!” Brandi explained. “She always said ‘if a man is good with kids and critters, you can trust him.’” She laughed. “That was just her way of talking but she was almost always right.”
“It sounds like we might not think so differently after all,” Slade murmured. “Listen, if you don’t want to go to the Mother Ship, this shuttle is equipped with emergency stores. We can park somewhere and eat here if you want to.”
He nodded at the back of the shuttle which had a living area complete with food cubes, a re-hydrator, and a small table with two seats.
“Um…emergency rations sound…nice,” Brandi said carefully, but he could hear her wondering what alien food might taste like and if it would be like the MRE meals her own country’s military served to soldiers. She’d tasted one of those once and it wasn’t great…
“Don’t worry,” Slade told her. “I’m pretty sure there are some Earth food cubes mixed in with the Kindred meals. I’m sure I can find you something better than that MRI meal you tasted.”
Brandi’s cheeks went red.
“It’s MRE—meals ready to eat. And do you have to keep eavesdropping on my thoughts like that? It’s really embarrassing and I can’t always help everything I think. What if I think something bad about you that makes you upset?”
Slade frowned, seeing the image in her head of himself going into Rage—his eyes glowing red as he hoisted her disgusting boss up by the neck.
“If you’re worried that I’ll hurt you, don’t be,” he said shortly. “Kindred don’t beat or hurt their mates—ever, no matter what the provocation. Females are to be cherished and protected.”
Brandi looked surprised. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do.” Slade shot her a glance. “You can feel the truth of what I say to you through our link if you try.”
She frowned. “I don’t know if I’m quite ready to go feeling around in your head.”
Slade thought but didn’t say that she had seemed perfectly willing to go “feeling around” in his trousers so he didn’t see why looking into his head to see his true intentions was a problem. But Brandi seemed to catch his thought and frowned.
“Hey—I heard that! If you start slut-shaming me I’m leaving this car or whatever it is and walking back to the bank.”
Slade looked at her, surprised.
“I’m sorry—I thought I was thinking that privately. It seems we need to work on building a mental barrier between us.” He shot her a look as he pulled into a darkened parking garage and looked for a spot out of the blistering Florida sun. “And I wasn’t trying to shame you. I was just as hungry for our sexual encounter as you were—more probably. I hadn’t been with a woman in six solar years and my old mistress had me injected with eroto-lust enhancer to force my sexual reactions.”
“Uh…what?” Brandi looked at him wide-eyed. “Your old mistress? Do you mean mistress as in a woman you’re seeing on the side or mistress as in BDSM tie-me-up-and-spank me?”
“Neither,” Slade said, at last finding a parking space in an out-of-the-way corner of the lot. “I mean mistress as in I was her slave and she was my mistress. She owned me—my body anyway. I never let her have my mind or heart.” He frowned.
“You were a slave?” Brandi’s eyes got even wider. “That’s terrible!”
“I have been many things,” Slade admitted. “Fighter, champion, slave, prisoner…” He shrugged. “And now the mate to a female I hardly know…although I would like to get to know her better.” He turned to Brandi. “Would that be okay with you, sweetheart?”
She got a nervous look on her face, maybe in response to the intensity of his gaze.
“Why did you park us someplace so dark?” she asked, looking around at the silent parking garage. “This is…kind of creepy. And really isolated.”
Slade saw in her mind that she feared a repeat of what had almost happened with her boss and sighed. He reminded himself that he was much, much bigger and stronger than her and she had been hurt by males in the past. Of course she was frightened of him.
“Brandi,” he said as gently as he could. “Please do me a favor—use our link to see my true intentions.”
“Um…okay.” Hesitantly, she closed her eyes and Slade felt her mental fingers slipping into the cracks of his mind. He tried to open himself to her tentative touch, to let her know that he wanted nothing but good for her…wanted only to protect and provide for her.
“Oh,” Brandi whispered through their link, at last. “I see now. You just want to keep me safe.” She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’ve had some, uh, bad experiences before with guys.”
“But those were human males,” Slade pointed out. Reaching out, he gently caressed her cheek with just the tips of his fingers. “I would never hurt you, baby,” he told her, sending it through their link for extra emphasis. “Never.”
“Oh, um…thank you,” Brandi whispered. She swallowed nervously and her cheeks got pink. Slade could hear her thinking how good he smelled and wondering again about what kind of cologne he wore.
“I told you before, it’s just my bonding scent,” he told her as he unfastened his seat harness and moved to the back of the ship. “It draws you to me because my body recognizes you as my mate.”
“Bonding scent?” Brandi frowned as she followed him back to the small food-prep area. “Is that why I’m so crazy-attracted to you? I m
ean, besides the fact that you’re so muscular and tall and…and…” She broke off, blushing as Slade turned to face her.
“It’s all right, baby,” he murmured, taking in her flushed cheeks. “I’m crazy-attracted to you too.” He sighed. “Even though I know I shouldn’t be.”
“Why shouldn’t you be?” Brandi wanted to know as he opened the cabinet and started sorting through the food cubes stored there.
“Because it’s breaking a vow I held sacred.” Slade wondered if he ought to explain and then decided he’d have to. “After my mate, Cinda died, I swore to myself I would never be with another female again. Not a real one, anyway,” he amended, seeing her frown of confusion and hearing her wonder why he’d been in the Puppet House. “As I told you before, my old slave mistress had me injected with a lust enhancer in an effort to make me fuck her.” He clenched his jaw. “I wouldn’t give in but I knew the effects of that fucking drug wouldn’t wear off until I sank my shaft into a warm, willing pussy. I thought a visit to the Puppet House would be a good way to cure myself without breaking my vow to my dead mate.”
“Oh…” Brandi coughed, her cheeks getting red. “I’m really, really sorry, Slade. I didn’t mean to make you break your vow.”
He signed and raked a hand through his hair.
“It’s all right, baby. I know you were hungry for touch too. And after seeing a few examples of human males, I don’t blame you for looking for a Kindred to scratch your itch.”
“Only ‘scratching my itch’ led to some long-term consequences, I guess.” Brandi sounded contrite. “Is this bond—this link between us—really for life?”
“I’m afraid so.” Slade stared at the food cubes, trying not to think of the implications. “Here are some Earth ones. How do you feel about spaahg…hatti?” He frowned, trying to get the pronunciation right. Like all Kindred, he had a natural talent for languages but English could be a bit of a tongue-twister at times and he had only learned it a few days ago.
“Spaghetti, you mean?” Brandi smiled. “It’s kind of messy and it usually has lots of garlic in it.” She frowned. “Although I guess that shouldn’t matter.”