Loving a Stranger

  Reeve, on the other hand, seemed to want to keep her close. He stroked her hair and shoulders and held her securely, telling her without words that he was there for her, that he would keep her safe.

  At last, Nallah began to feel calmer. She swiped at her eyes and looked up at the stranger who was no longer a stranger, holding her in his arms.

  “I’m sorry my…Reeve,” she whispered. “I should have known you would be different from Harryx. You always were when you were in his body. It’s just…you treat me as no other man has ever treated me. As I have never seen any other man treat a woman.”

  “I just want to treat you with love and respect, baby.” He leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. “I just want to be here for you and help you heal.”

  “Do…” Nallah looked at him, almost afraid to hope. “Do you think you can heal me? Of…of these?” She motioned to her cheeks hesitantly.

  Reeve looked at her seriously.

  “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But we can try. And I want you to know, I won’t feel any differently about you even if we can’t. Do you want to come to the med center with me?”

  “Yes.” Nallah nodded and bit her lip. “But…can I put on my veil first? I cannot help feeling that I am one of the Disgraced and I don’t want anyone to see my shame.”

  “You can do whatever makes you feel comfortable,” Reeve said gently. “Just let me know when you’re ready. My friend, Olivia, is waiting to have a look at you.”

  Nallah’s eyes widened. “You have female doctors here?”

  “Women can pretty much hold any position they want aboard the Mother Ship,” Reeve told her. “But as it happens, Olivia is a nurse. A good one—I think you’ll like her.”

  “All right.” Nallah nodded. “I’ll go with you to see her. And Reeve…” She looked up at him shyly. “Thank you for not…for not being like Harryx. Or any other man on Hascion Five, for that matter.”

  He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he kissed her gently on one scarred cheek and looked into her eyes. For a long moment Nallah found herself lost in that midnight gaze. Her breathing began to grow short and she felt her heart hammering. Why was she feeling like this? It reminded her of the way she’d felt at the Temple of the God-King after the Ritual. At first she had been so nervous and anxious and unhappy but by the end, Reeve had made her feel completely different.

  He made me aroused, she thought, biting her lip. He made me want him.

  Was she wanting him now? He looked so different from the men of her home world with his bronze skin and dark hair and eyes. But his face was handsome, despite the scar over the bridge of his nose or maybe because of it. Handsome and serious and full of love for her.

  Now isn’t the time, Nallah told herself, still feeling breathless. But she wondered if the time would come soon—the time to think about what she and Reeve might be to each other now that she knew him in his own body.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  “Well, I am afraid these scars are very bad. Yes they are, yes they are.” Yipper, the Tolleg surgeon whom Olivia said looked like a cross between a monkey and a hound dog shook his head gravely until his long ears flopped from side to side. ,

  “Oh dear. I was afraid of that.” Olivia looked worried. After doing a physical exam on Nallah, she had taken a look at the scars and declared that they needed a surgical consult. The little Tolleg had been brought in to examine Nallah, who was watching him with wide eyes, having never seen anyone like him before.

  “Is there anything you can do?” Reeve asked quietly. “Nallah is beautiful to me no matter what but these scars…they bother her. A lot.”

  Nallah’s eyes flicked up to his and down again but in their golden depths Reeve had seen a lot of emotion. He sent a fierce, silent prayer to the Goddess that the Tolleg surgeon could help them.

  Please don’t let that bastard Harryx have the last word—don’t let his last act scar Nallah for life. She deserves so much more than that! Even though she’ll always be beautiful to me, she deserves to feel beautiful for herself too.

  He heard no answer but then he had to switch his attention to Yipper, who was talking again.

  “I could, of course, replace the skin of her cheeks with vat-grown skin and do a graft. Yes I could, yes I could,” the little Tolleg said thoughtfully. “But she might lose some sensitivity and feeling if I do that.”

  “Vat-grown skin?” Nallah sounded faintly horrified.

  “Yes indeed, yes indeed.” Yipper nodded vigorously, making his ears flop again. “It would look nice and smooth but it might not feel nice.”

  “Is there any other option we could try?” Reeve asked. Plainly Nallah didn’t like the idea of artificial skin-grafts and he didn’t blame her.

  “Well…” Yipper frowned and looked at Reeve. “Have you had the healing compound, Commander Reeve?”

  “The what?” Reeve frowned.

  “Oh, the healing compound!” Olivia snapped her fingers. “Of course—why didn’t I think of that?” She turned to Reeve. “It’s a compound developed here aboard the Mother Ship that’s kind of based on a Blood Kindred’s natural ability to heal his mate from small wounds.”

  “Small wounds?” Reeve didn’t want to say it but the scars on Nallah’s face were anything but small. Harryx had been doing as much damage as he could when he drew that damn shrive across her face.

  “We have had some success with healing scars too. Yes we have, yes we have!” Yipper said eagerly. “Would you like to try it?”

  Reeve looked at Nallah who still appeared confused.

  “I…don’t understand,” she said haltingly. She had taken a dose of the translation bacteria when she first came aboard but she had confessed to Reeve that she still found some terms and phrasing of English confusing.

  “What do you not understand, hon?” Olivia was instantly attentive. “Just tell us and we’ll try to explain.”

  “This…compound.” Nallah shook her head. “Does it…do you rub it on my skin or—”

  “Oh, no, no!” Yipper exclaimed. “The compound is not for you—no it isn’t, no it isn’t. It’s for him.” He pointed at Reeve. “He will drink it and then his body will make chemicals that can heal yours. Yes it will, yes it will.”

  “But…how?” Nallah shook her head. “How will Reeve heal me?”

  “By licking,” Olivia said. “The healing compound will allow his body to make chemicals to heal yours which will appear in his saliva and other body fluids. He’ll lick your cheeks and hopefully…” She made a little gesture with her palms up. “Hopefully it will heal your scars.”

  Reeve could tell that Nallah was skeptical about the whole thing—he felt more than a little skeptical himself. After all, he’d never heard of any other kind of Kindred other than Blood Kindred who could heal their mates and that was only because they made essence—a liquid which came from their fangs and was injected into a mate when they bit her during sex.

  But at this point, he was willing to try anything.

  “I’ll take it,” he said to Yipper and then looked at Nallah. “If…you want me to.”

  “Do you want to, oh my…Reeve,” she asked. “Do you mind…trying to heal me?”

  “Of course not.” Reeve took one of her small hands in his and looked earnestly into her eyes. “I want to help you, baby—want to heal you if I can.”

  Nallah’s face went pink and she bit her lip shyly.

  “Then…I would like very much to be healed by you, Reeve.”

  “Excellent! I will get you a dose of the compound. Yes I will, yes I will,” Yipper said excitedly. As he scampered off to his lab, Reeve smiled at Olivia.

  “Thank you for bringing in Yipper to consult with Nallah and me.”

  She smiled. “I just hope the compound works for you.”

  “I hope so too,” Nallah said softly, looking at Reeve. Seeing the trust in her golden eyes, he felt his heart swell.

  Goddess, he prayed. Let the compound work. Let me be
able to heal the woman I love.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Are you ready?” Reeve called to her from the bedroom.

  “Almost.” Nallah peeked just her head around the necessary room door and saw that the big Kindred was sitting up on the bed. He was bare-chested and wearing his black sleep trousers, looking absolutely mouth-watering.

  “Okay, well don’t take too long, baby. I took the healing compound a while ago so it should be in my system now.”

  “Just a minute more,” Nallah promised.

  Feeling a bit self-conscious, she drew back and looked at herself in the 3-D viewer. She also was dressed for the bedroom, wearing a night gown that Olivia had given her which wasn’t much different from the sex garments she’d had back home on Hascion Five.

  Olivia had called it a “babydoll nighty”—a short little dress made of see-through pink fabric which gathered under Nallah’s breasts and fell to her upper thighs. It tied in the center of her chest and a single pull of the string would make it come open, revealing her naked body—well, naked other than a matching pair of pink panties that went with it.

  She had asked why it was necessary to wear such a revealing outfit to be healed in and Olivia had given her a little smile.

  “Just that sometimes when your man is healing you things can get a little…intense,” she said, and then added quickly, “Of course, you’re under absolutely no obligation to do anything sexual if you don’t want to. Reeve told me what your home world is like and I want you to know, the Mother Ship isn’t like that. Women aren’t forced to have sex—they don’t have it unless they want to.”

  It still seemed like an alien concept to Nallah but apparently it was true. The two times she had tried to offer her sexual submission to Reeve since they had gotten to the Mother Ship, he had raised her gently from her place at his feet and shaken his head.

  “No, baby,” he’d said quietly. “Not until you’re ready.”

  Nallah wondered if she might feel ready tonight. She remembered her wish that she could be taken face to face, just as it had been when she and Reeve pretended to perform the Ritual in the Temple of the God-King. Would letting Reeve heal her lead to such a thing?

  She didn’t know but she felt a little twinge of excitement as she looked at herself in the 3-D viewer and saw how the tight points of her nipples and the soft slit of her pussy were fully visible through the innocent pink fabric of the babydoll nighty. Of course, the ugly purple scars on her cheeks were visible too, since she wasn’t wearing a veil. But she tried not to look at those. Hopefully Reeve would be able to heal them.

  Please, she prayed. Oh please, let him heal me.

  Though she had never had an answer to her prayers before, this time she felt a warm sense of confidence and calm descend on her.

  “It is time,” murmured a voice which might have been in her head…or might not. Nallah wasn’t sure but it didn’t seem to matter. She knew it was time to let Reeve do his best to heal her.

  Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the bedroom.

  * * * * *

  Reeve sucked in a breath when he saw her. Gods, she was beautiful in that little nothing of an outfit! He could see the tight points of her nipples poking hard against the see-through pink fabric and her little pussy mound with its tiny patch of golden curls was clearly visible through the matching panties.

  I’m the luckiest male alive, he couldn’t help thinking. For so many years he had longed for a mate—a female who was just right for him. And now the Goddess had sent him Nallah.

  But he needed to be careful with her. Nallah had been through a lot of trauma both physical and emotional and Reeve knew he would rather die than hurt her. He needed to be gentle and take things slowly and remember that the main goal was healing her face. Even if they didn’t do anything else, just healing her would be enough.

  “Come here, baby,” he murmured, patting the bed. “You look beautiful.”

  “You…you think so?” Nallah put a hand self-consciously to one scarred cheek.

  “Yes,” Reeve said firmly. “Absolutely gorgeous. Now come here and let me heal you, if I can.”

  She came at once, though she still looked a little shy. In fact, she looked so nervous that Reeve took a moment to gather her to him and just hold her in his arms.

  At first Nallah stiffened, but then she melted against him.

  “What’s…why are you doing this…hugging me?” she asked in a soft, breathless voice, looking up at him.

  “I thought you looked like you could use a hug.” Reeve stroked her hair and dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Was I wrong?”

  “No, you were exactly right.” She snuggled closer to him and pressed her face to the side of his neck, inhaling deeply. “Reeve, you smell so good…so spicy and warm. I have never smelled anything like the scent of your skin but I love it.”

  “No one has, baby,” he murmured. “What you’re smelling is my bonding scent—a pheromone my body makes just for you. Because it knows I want you for my mate—it makes the scent to attract you.”

  She looked up at him, her golden eyes wide.

  “Your body made chemicals just for me? Is that part of the healing compound?”

  “Separate from the healing compound,” Reeve assured her. “It’s a Kindred thing—we release a scent tailored to the female we want when we’re trying to get her as a mate.”

  “But what about when you find a new woman you want as a wife…as a mate?” Nallah asked. “Does your body change to make a new scent for her?”

  “We don’t do that—we don’t discard females and look for new ones.” Reeve felt a low growl building in his chest at the idea. “Such a thing is…blasphemy to us.”

  “Really? So the Kindred stay with one wife all of their lives?” Nallah looked like she could scarcely believe it.

  Reeve nodded. “I know it may seem strange to you after living on that misogynistic hellhole Hascion Five, but when a Kindred male is blessed to find his true mate, he keeps her safe and near him all of his life. He forms a soul-bond with her that allows them to speak with their minds over great distances and sometimes to feel each other’s emotions.”

  His own soul ached as he spoke the words. How he longed for such a deep and intimate connection—he had been longing for it for years. Yet, he didn’t know when or if he would be able to form such a bond with Nallah. He couldn’t forget the way she had stiffened up when he had penetrated her with his fingers—and his cock was much larger than that.

  She had been so abused by that bastard, Harryx, she might never want to have sex again. And without being able to fill her with his shaft and seed, he would never be able to form the soul bond between them.

  Nallah was still looking at him wide-eyed, apparently taking in what he had said.

  “So…you stay with one woman all your life and you can hear each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s emotions?”

  “If we form a soul-bond with her,” Reeve told her.

  “And will you healing me…cause this bond to form between us?” she asked hesitantly.

  Reeve shook his head. “I’m afraid not—that’s not how it’s formed.”

  “Do…” She looked at him shyly. “Do you want to form a soul-bond with me, Reeve?”

  “There’s nothing I want more, baby,” he said fiercely, lifting her chin to look into her eyes.

  “Even if…even if you can’t heal me?” Nallah asked.

  “Yes. Even if I can’t, I still want to be with you,” he murmured, stroking her scarred cheek. “You don’t understand, baby—I’ve been waiting for you all my life. Always wishing that the Goddess would send me the right female—one who would care for me despite what I am and what I do.”

  “You mean…your ability to go into other male’s bodies?” Nallah asked.

  He nodded. “No one likes a ‘snatcher’—that’s what they call us because we can ‘snatch’ other male’s bodies. It causes a lot of distrust.”

  “But if you
hadn’t been able to enter Harryx’s body, we never would have met and you never would have saved me from Hascion Five,” Nallah protested.

  “Yeah…” Reeve sighed. “But I haven’t always used my, uh, abilities for good. I’ve been sort of an outlaw all my life—until Commander Sylvan offered me the job of snatching Harryx’s body in order to stop the Hascions from using their wormhole technology to invade the rest of the universe.”

  “Well I think you are brave,” Nallah said softly. “And kind and sweet and…and everything Harryx was not.” She looked at him shyly. “If you really want to form this…this soul-bond with me, I would like that very much, Reeve. Very much.”

  Reeve couldn’t hide the troubled look on his face.

  “Baby,” he said gently, cupping her cheek. “I do want to form a bond with you, but I don’t want to hurt or frighten you. See, the only way to form a bond is to have my shaft inside you—all the way inside—so I can fill you with my seed. And after the way that bastard Harryx treated you, I don’t think you’re ready for that.”

  “Oh…” Nallah bit her lip and turned pale. “I…I see,” she said softly.

  Reeve cursed himself. Now he had made her feel uncomfortable and upset.

  “Sweetheart,” he said quickly. “I want you to know that I want to stay with you, even without a bond. We don’t have to do that if you don’t feel comfortable. In fact…” He shifted her a little away from his body. “We’re not even thinking about that tonight. Tonight is all about healing you, if I can. All right?”

  “All…all right.” Nallah nodded. “Thank you, Reeve.”

  “Come here,” he murmured, patting his thighs. “Why don’t you straddle me so I can reach you better? I want to try and heal you, baby.”

  He just hoped that he could.

  * * * * *

  “All right.” Feeling nervous, Nallah climbed obediently into the big Kindred’s lap and straddled his thighs. She could feel her pussy lips spreading as she took a wider stance and a quick glance down showed that her inner folds and the tight little button of her clit were now on display under the see-through panties.