Claimed

  “Maybe for him.” She looked down as though mesmerized by the sight of her own small hands being engulfed in his much larger ones. “But not for Liv. He’s going to trick her into having bonding sex with him —whatever that is—and then she’ll spend the rest of her life hating him once she finds out how he did it.” She looked up at Sylvan. “You don’t know her like I do—she hates being lied to. Her last boyfriend cheated on her and then lied about it and she dumped him and never looked back. If she knew what Baird was doing to her…”

  “It’s not as though it’s a conscious choice on his part,” Sylvan tried to explain. “It’s the way our bodies react chemically to our chosen mates. We can’t turn it off, even if we try. Sometimes it comes even when it’s not wanted. We have a saying for it—‘The blood knows what the mind does not wish to see.’” Lifting a hand, he cupped her cheek and brushed away the single tear that had escaped her wide green eyes with his thumb. “It cannot be helped.”

  Sophia leaned closer and for a moment he was mesmerized by the lovely depths of her eyes. Then she seemed to realize she was getting too close to the enemy and sat up and away from him abruptly. “It doesn’t matter how you justify it—Liv will hate him for it.” She stood abruptly and gestured at the pink shopping bag. “Go ahead and bring those to her. But please tell her…” Her voice broke but she kept her chin high. “Tell her I miss her and I haven’t given up on her yet.”

  Then she turned on her heel and left, leaving Sylvan to watch her curvy figure disappear out the double doors of the HKR building with a feeling of uncertainty and regret. What if she was right? He would have to warn Baird that something had to be said to his bride. If Sophia was correct, he could be jeopardizing his bonding with Olivia without even knowing it.

  “They’re drugging her, Kat. That’s what it amounts to. She’s breathing poison gas every minute she’s with him and there’s no way she can keep holding out when she doesn’t even know what he’s doing to her.”

  Sophia was sitting at the small round kitchen table with a wad of tissues in each hand, having finally given in to the tears. She hated how easily she cried—even in the best of times a sad commercial was enough to tip her over the edge. And lately, with Olivia gone and possibly never coming back she was just one big emotional mess.

  “Are you sure about this?” Kat asked doubtfully. She was standing behind Sophie, rubbing her shoulders soothingly.

  “Positive. The big blond warrior—Sylvan—told me so. He didn’t even have the decency to sugar coat it—he just came right out and said that Liv was going to give in eventually because Baird is making some kind of pheromone specifically tailored to drive her crazy for him.”

  Kat frowned and sat down beside her at the table. “We have to warn her somehow.”

  “He said it wouldn’t make any difference.” Sophie dabbed at her eyes. “He said even if she knew she wouldn’t be able to fight it—the mating scent—that’s what he called it.”

  “Still—she deserves to know. We need to write her a letter.”

  “And say what? We can’t be too obvious about it—apparently Kindred Security reads through all the correspondence between the brides and their loved ones.”

  Kat shook her head. “Worse and worse. It’s too bad you two don’t have some kind of freaky twin language like they do in the movies so you could tell her in code.” She looked at Sophie hopefully. “You don’t, do you?”

  “No, I wish. I suppose I could try to tell her in a round-about way although I have no idea how.” Sophia sighed. “If only I could talk to her directly and warn her. Five minutes is all I’d need—five seconds might do the trick.”

  “We talked about that—you know direct communication of any kind is not allowed during the claiming period,” Kat reminded her. “I’m sure the Kindred know that the bride seeing tearful holo-vids of her loved ones while the warrior who chose her tries to seduce her would be detrimental to their cause.”

  “Well, I’ll just have to do the best I can.” Sophia straightened up. “I’ll write her a letter. I’ll just have to word it obliquely and hope the Kindred Security Team doesn’t get my references.”

  “I can’t believe this Sylvan guy came right out and told you all this.” Kat shook her head.

  “He acted like it wasn’t a big deal. Said we ought to realize they had more than one way of attracting a mate.” Sophie blew her nose.

  “Other than being huge, muscular, and easy on the eyes. Right,” Kat said dryly.

  Sophia sighed. “Well at any rate, this certainly explains why no one ever comes back after the claiming period is over. They’re too busy being seduced through their noses and having hot alien sex to want to go back to boring old Earth.” She looked at Kat sadly. “Do you think they’ll let us see her more than twice a year?”

  “Come on now, Sophie, it might not be that bad.”

  “Might not be that bad? I told you what he’s doing to her and she’s already asked me to send her all her sexiest clothes and underwear.”

  “But she also told you not to worry,” Kat pointed out. “She wanted to reassure you that she’s staying strong.”

  “For now,” Sophie said morosely. “But how can she possibly hold out for a whole month?”

  “Maybe she doesn’t plan on being there a whole month.”

  “But I thought you said the claiming period was thirty days—nonnegotiable.”

  “It is—unless there’s a breach of contract.” Kat frowned speculatively. “I wouldn’t count Liv out just yet, Sophie. Your sister is a pretty tough cookie and I bet she has a plan. In fact, I’ll bet you a pitcher of margaritas that we’ll be seeing her again before her claiming period is up.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Sophie sighed. “I really do.” But she couldn’t stop seeing the sympathy in Sylvan’s blue eyes when he’d told her that she should face the inevitable—that Olivia wasn’t coming back.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I hope you know what you’re doing, a little voice muttered in the back of Liv’s head as she studied herself in the full length mirror in the bathroom. The bag of sexy clothes and lingerie had arrived from Sophie days ago but she’d been too nervous to put her plan into action. However, the first week was almost up and time was running out. Tomorrow night she’d be sharing the bathing pool with one very large and lusty alien—if she didn’t manage to get away by then. So it was now or never.

  She’d taken an extra long soak to try and calm her nerves and now it was time to get on with it. None of the things Sophie had sent were as fancy as the black lace nighty she’d been wearing when Baird first claimed her, but there were some fairly sexy pieces. Liv had a weakness for hot undies and liked the feel of silk and satin against her skin so there was plenty to choose from.

  Tonight she’d chosen a reasonably demure silver-grey satin bra and panties set with a short, matching robe that brought out the color of her eyes and made her skin look extra creamy. However, she’d neglected to tie the robe very tightly—the plan was to let it fall open at a key moment—thus tempting Baird into touching her in a sexual way and breaching the contract.

  Just the thought of those big, masculine hands touching and stroking her was enough to make Liv tremble. She just hoped she didn’t forget herself when he started and go too far. Of course, it would help if she knew exactly what too far was. What exactly was bonding sex and would she even know if they had it? She remembered Kat saying it was one step beyond traditional intercourse but how the hell did you go a step beyond having sex? She’d asked Baird for a copy of their contract but the dense legal language was too convoluted to make heads or tails of. It frustrated Liv to no end that she was able to decipher the most obscure medical lingo in a patient’s chart but that legalese made no sense to her.

  Should have been a lawyer instead of a nurse, she told herself, positioning her breasts in the satin cups so that the top curve of her areolas was visible on either side. She didn’t want to make it too obvious what she was doing but at the
same time, she wanted it to be effective. There was no point in strutting around in revealing underwear if it didn’t accomplish what she wanted it to.

  Of course if the silver grey bra and panties set didn’t do the trick, she had other, naughtier outfits in the bag Sophie had sent up. But Liv hoped it didn’t come to that. It would be easier and better all the way around if Baird would just make a pass at her and get it over with.

  Judging from the looks he’d been giving her for most of the week, it shouldn’t be too hard to get him to do just that. They’d been spending most of their time in the suite although he had taken her out several times for lunch and supper. There were several surprisingly good Earth restaurants and one of them served a very passable spicy tuna roll and a pretty good cucumber roll as well, not far from their end of the ship.

  Liv had been surprised when Baird had signed them up for a sushi making class together after having tasted it for the first time. They had spent a very enjoyable afternoon learning just the right way to make the sticky sushi rice and how to roll it without having the filling come out the ends. Considering how big his hands were, Baird had been surprisingly adept at the delicate process and had claimed to enjoy the results immensely.

  “Delicious, Lilenta,” he’d rumbled, starting in on his seventh or eight spicy tuna roll. “Reminds me of a dish we make on Rageron from the larvae of the t’liki bug.”

  “Yummy,” Liv, who was still on her first roll, had murmured. “Bug larvae. Remind me to put that right at the top of my must-try list.”

  “You should try it to be fair. Didn’t I try solidified cow squeezings for you?” Baird had reminded her.

  “Yes, but cheese isn’t bugs,” Liv had objected, fighting not to grin. Despite their differences she couldn’t help liking the big warrior. Which was one thing that made what she was about to do now even harder.

  It has to be done, she reminded herself grimly, taking one last look in the mirror and smoothing her hair. You have to get out of here while you still can—one way or another. It was true, despite fighting it as hard as she could, she was growing entirely too fond of Baird. Ever since their first night when he had warned her that she would soon want him as much as he wanted her, he had adopted a much lighter tone. He’d stopped talking about bonding her to him forever and had apparently decided to concentrate on being charming instead. Liv never would have believed that such an intensely alpha male could be light and playful but she had been seeing an entirely different side of Baird lately.

  Aside from the sushi class, he’d also taken her to an alien petting zoo where she was able to see and touch animals that were native to the three home worlds of the Kindred and they’d been twice to the Kindred version of a movie theater where the seats were wired to make the viewer feel whatever was happening on the screen. He’d also taken her to a musical performance where the musicians played giant drums bigger than themselves and tiny flutes smaller than her pinky finger. The music had been surprisingly beautiful—the melodies sweet and haunting and Liv had been moved.

  But it was the evenings they spent alone together in the suite that made Liv really believe she was in danger of feeling too much. Baird cooked for her—sometimes strange but delicious alien dishes and once Earth food, when she’d taught him how to make cheeseburgers. They ate in the dim, romantic light of some candle-like glow sticks he’d placed on the table and there was always very good wine or the potent fireflower juice to go with the meal. Liv was very careful not to over-imbibe because she needed every ounce of willpower she had to remember why she was holding out. For dessert Baird always made sure there was some kind of chocolate because he’d learned from his dreams how much she loved it.

  Liv had been thinking lately that she might really be in trouble if she didn’t get away from him soon. If all he’d had going for him was his muscular good looks she could have resisted easily enough. But he was thoughtful too and endlessly interested in her—asking her all kinds of questions about her past and friends and family as well as people he’d seen while they were “dream-sharing” as he called it. Liv found herself talking to him like an old friend, actually feeling comfortable with him instead of being constantly on her guard.

  She knew that Baird was actively wooing her, doing everything he could to earn her affection, but even knowing that couldn’t stop her from liking him. She had never been so ardently pursued in her life and she was finding that she actually liked it. Baird had taken her more places and paid her more attention in the past week than Mitch had for their entire relationship. It was intoxicating to always be the center of the big warrior’s attention, to know that he was focused exclusively on her needs and wants.

  But attention and attraction aside, there was another factor that was making Liv desperate to get away. Just as he had predicted, the physical attraction she felt for Baird seemed to be growing exponentially. She only had to be in the same room with him for a minute or two, breathing in his warm, spicy scent, and she was instantly ready to jump his bones. The need was growing every day and Liv didn’t know how much longer she could fight it. This is crazy, she would tell herself as she tried to ignore the electrical spark she felt anytime their hands brushed or she touched him by accident. But she couldn’t deny the flare of sheer lust she felt at each accidental contact and she could see the same heat she felt burning in Baird’s golden eyes.

  Even wearing her flannel nighty and granny panties to bed every night didn’t seem to help. She hadn’t had any more erotic dreams about him—thank goodness. But at night Liv lay in the dark beside him getting more and more overheated until she felt like she was going to cook in the over-warm fabric. She longed to strip off the restraining garments and lay naked across the big Kindred bed, feeling the cool sheets on her bare skin. But she knew if she did she would never go home because the cool sheets weren’t the only thing she yearned to feel caressing her flesh. How many times had she imagined having Baird’s hands on her, cupping her bare breasts, sliding down the trembling mound of her belly to stroke her swollen sex…

  Which is exactly what he’s going to be able to do tomorrow if I don’t get out of here, Liv told herself sternly, cutting off the naughty fantasy just before it really got good. Which is why I have got to get out of here tonight!

  Taking a deep breath, she walked out of the bathroom and made her way to the living area of the suite. They hadn’t spent much time in this room but Baird was there now, lounging on the Kindred version of a couch. It was shaped pretty much like a normal sofa, but it was freaking huge and draped in a pale blue fuzzy blanket which she supposed must be the Kindred’s idea of fancy upholstery.

  Baird was sprawled across it, wearing only a pair of long black sleep pants and staring broodingly into the greenish-blue flames flickering in the small round fireplace. Liv had never seen flames that particular color and she would have been mesmerized if his muscular chest wasn’t also on display. She felt the familiar tightening in her lower belly and tingling between her thighs. Damn it, why did he always affect her like this? Why couldn’t she fight it? She had to force herself not to stare at him as she walked casually into the room.

  “Hi,” she said, giving him what she hoped was a flirtatious smile. “Room for two?”

  “Sure, Lilenta.” He sat up and scooted over, leaving her a place to sit. “What happened to your other, uh, gown? Not that I’m complaining.”

  “It was too hot.” Instead of heading for the couch, Liv moved over to stand in front of the fire.

  “Beautiful,” she murmured, leaning down to peer into the small round fireplace. “I’ve never seen flames that color.” She was well aware that the hem of her short robe was riding up, giving him a glimpse of her ass. She just hoped it was having an effect on him.

  “Comes from the fireflower plant—the same one we make the drink from. It’s native to Rageron.” The slightly strangled sound of his voice let Liv know her impromptu show was having the desired effect and she felt a quick stab of triumph.

  “T
hey’re lovely.” Turning from the fireplace, she sauntered over to him, putting a special little sway in her hips and giving him a seductive half smile. As planned, the sash of her robe came loose. By the time she got to the fuzzy blue sofa, it was hanging open, giving him a tantalizing look at her grey satin bra and panties.

  “You’re lovely, Lilenta,” Baird growled softly. The hunger was back in his amber eyes, making her feel hot and cold all over. “That’s a helluva outfit.”

  “This old thing?” Liv was embarrassed at being on display but she tried to remain cool as she settled herself beside him on the couch and felt the pale blue blanket connect with the skin of her thighs. “It’s just something I happened to throw on. I—Oh my God!” She shot up off the couch and somehow landed in Baird’s lap, grabbing his bare shoulders.

  “What? What is it?” He looked at her anxiously. “Bebo bothering you again?”

  “It wasn’t Bebo.” Liv’s heart was pounding as she stared at the innocent looking fuzzy blue blanket she’d just been sitting on. “It…it moved. It touched me—I felt it.”

  “Of course it moved,” Baird said mildly. “It’s alive.”

  “It’s what?” Liv demanded. “What is it? Some kind of plant—a moss blanket you use for covering furniture or something?” She supposed that the blue fuzz did look a little like vegetation.

  “Nope. It’s an animal native to Tranq Prime. The residents there use it to keep warm—they have incredibly harsh winters that last for years.”

  “An animal? Are you serious? We’re sitting on a live animal?” Liv felt her skin crawl.

  “Well, I am, anyway. You appear to be sittin’ on me.” Baird gave her a lazy smile that made her stomach flutter and Liv suddenly realized she was on his lap with her arms around his neck. How had that happened? She could feel the hard planes of his chest pressed against her breasts and he was close enough to kiss. Oh no, don’t even go there, she scolded herself.