Unbound

  “Yes?” He looked up from his half-eaten stew.

  “I…do you remember how I told you about the Hive and…and the bad dreams I had of what…what was done to me there?”

  “Uh…yes I guess so,” he muttered. “What of it?”

  “Well, I…I mean…” Her cheeks got extremely pink all of a sudden and her scent began to heat up as well.

  Bereth frowned. Why would nightmares make her hot?

  “Yes?” he asked, beginning to get irritated. “What is it, Brynnalla?”

  “I…you…” She shook her head and looked away. “Nothing. It was nothing.”

  For a moment he seemed to see a glimpse of her, completely bare for him, sitting astride him and pressing the head of his shaft to the heated slit between her legs.

  But no…He shook himself mentally. Brynnalla was much too prim to ever do such a thing. He pushed the strange mental image aside impatiently and, almost before he rejected it, it was gone.

  Bereth frowned. Every once in a while he got a flash like this one—of the past she talked about—often so brief he wondered if he was imagining it. A glimpse of the short, stone hallway her room in the palace had been on, for instance. Or a picture of her in a low-cut ball gown that showed her pale flesh to perfection.

  But the moment he tried to grab for any of these pictures, they immediately faded away, making him feel more empty than before.

  I should tell her it’s over, he thought, watching as Brynn got up to clear the stew plates. Living like this isn’t fair to her—to either of us.

  But somehow, as he got up to help her with the dishes, he couldn’t say the words that would set them both free of each other and their past. Something stopped him, though he didn’t understand what.

  One more night, he told himself. I’ll give it one more night before I tell her.

  * * * * *

  “Well…good night.” Brynn stood in the doorway of her sleeping chamber and looked wistfully at the big Kindred. Varin was dressed in the manner of the other Kindred aboard the Mother Ship—with black leather flight pants, tall black boots, and a dark green uniform shirt which brought out his bronze eyes vividly. The shirt covered his broad chest, hiding the place where her name was written over his heart.

  Brynn wished she could see it—wished she could hear him say he wore it with pride just one more time. But he seemed hardly to give it a thought—it was like a mark from another life—a scar he didn’t remember getting but now had to live with.

  “Sleep well, Brynnalla.” Bereth nodded at her genially enough. But there was no affection in his voice. No longing as she’d heard in his deep tones so many times before. It felt like forever since he’d called her “Princess” or “little one.” She couldn’t help wondering if he would ever call her those sweet nicknames again. She would even welcome him calling her “Mistress” if only it meant that he remembered some small part of the life they’d shared before his memory was wiped.

  But he only nodded again and closed the door to his own sleep chamber with finality, leaving Brynn to do the same.

  She sighed and walked over to her bed and sat down on the corner of the soft mattress across from the 3-D viewer. Goddess above, what was she going to do?

  She’d said many brave words about getting Varin—no, Bereth, she reminded herself—to fall in love with her all over again. She’d tried reminding him of the past by telling him the things they had done, the topics they had talked about…had tried describing the palace and the Arena where he had fought…had even cooked a meal as close to Galen cuisine as she could get, thinking that maybe she could jar his memory through taste and smell… but nothing seemed to be working.

  Well, you haven’t tried everything yet, whispered a little voice in her head. You haven’t tried what Olivia said worked on Baird.

  Brynn bit her lip and looked down at her hands, then up at the uncertain girl in the 3-D viewer. Wide, frightened-looking gray eyes stared back at her. For so long she’d been avoiding the idea of taking anything inside her—ever since her deflowering she had feared it. And yet…the awful dreams she had every night made her long for it too. Maybe it was time to take her courage in both hands and give in to the longing.

  If Varin could remember her, she thought, she would have given in to it long ago. The empty aching inside her was growing too great to ignore. Something would have to be done about it.

  But was this what she should do? Should she ask a male who didn’t remember her to fill her? To make love to her? To bond with her? What if the bonding took place and he still didn’t remember her? Would they be bound together forever as strangers? How much would Varin—no, he wanted to be called Bereth—resent that? Resent her?

  Brynn had no answers—only questions—but she didn’t know what else to do. Resolutely, she lifted her chin. She had to try.

  I tried tonight though, she thought. Tried to tell him about the dreams and the way he’d helped me in the past but I didn’t get anywhere.

  Maybe she hadn’t been sufficiently prepared, though. Maybe what she needed to do was “psych herself up” as she’d heard Olivia said when she was facing a difficult challenge.

  Tomorrow night, she promised herself. I’ll go get some of those revealing clothes the Earth girls wear to tempt their males here. And then I’ll…

  What? Seduce him? Beg him to take her? Brynn wasn’t quite sure. But maybe if she looked alluring enough, she wouldn’t have to ask. Maybe he would just take her on his own.

  She thought of his wide, thick shaft…of how long he was and how hard he got when he was aroused. She thought of that massive length sliding into her, breaching not just her entrance but thrusting deep to fill her completely.

  The thought made her shiver with fear…but also with need. The nightmares were getting bad again. So bad she could barely sleep some nights.

  Please, she thought as she got into her night clothes—a long silky white gown that hung to her mid thighs. Please, no bad dreams tonight. Let me dream instead of how to win back Varin—of how to bring him back to me.

  She settled into the too-big, too-empty bed feeling small and cold and sad. Closing her eyes, she tried to think of how she would seduce the big Kindred, how she would bring him back to her once and for all…

  * * * * *

  “It is time. Is all in readiness?” Sovereign X'izith hissed at his specially designated worker.

  “Indeed, my Sovereign. You can see for yourself.”

  The worker swept four chitinous arms outward, indicating the long, low tunnel that had been dug in the cold, dry, gray dirt of the Earth’s moon. It was protected by an atmosphere bubble which had been camouflaged with more of the gray dirt until it resembled nothing more than a tiny hump in the bottom of the dark crater where his personal ship had settled.

  X'izith clicked his mandibles in satisfaction when he considered how easily he had slipped past the Kindred security and set up a temporary base right under their very noses. The Kindred Mother Ship orbited the Earth’s moon, but stayed mostly on the bright side of the natural satellite. X'izith, his ship in stealth mode, had created a controlled and stable worm hole—just big enough to get past the barricade the Kindred had at the Blind. Then he had landed in one of the permanently shadowed craters at the moon’s south pole—a spot which never saw the light of the Earth’s sun.

  The temperatures in his temporary base were some of the coldest in the little solar system—many hundreds of degrees below the freezing point. But X'izith didn’t mind that. His exoskeleton made him largely impervious to both heat and cold and his workers were the same. They could stand almost any extremity of temperature, so erecting a small atmosphere dome and building the tunnel had posed no difficulty.

  Of course, the flesher female was much more delicate and so he’d had to import some heat-givers—workers that generated heat from their abdomens via the thermo-dynamic workings of their guts. They hung along the walls of the tunnel at intervals, their bloated lower bodies glowing faintly as they ra
diated a feverish heat and humidity into the cold, dry tunnel. The effect was quite homey—for one who had been raised in the Hive.

  Oh yes, X'izith reflected with satisfaction. His little Breeding Queen would be quite comfortable when she finally answered his call.

  It would not be long now, before he saw her. Of that, he felt certain. The Blood Honey continued to work on her and he had seen how the Kindred bodyguard, who had once professed to love her, was now quite indifferent. Without him to interfere and help to quench her cravings, her need would reach a fever pitch.

  She would be driven mad if she wasn’t penetrated soon. And as the distance between them had decreased, his influence over the little flesher female had increased. She was his to command—his to control—and he was tired of waiting. His newly regrown barb itched to stab between her thighs—to sink into her warm, moist heat and implant the royal grubs.

  “You may go,” X'izith told the worker. “Go and take everyone with you—I want time alone with my new Queen.”

  “But my Sovereign…the danger…if the Kindred comes after her.”

  “He will not. He has no interest in her—I tell you, I have seen it and I know it is so,” X'izith hissed. “Now, go!”

  Bowing and grooming compulsively, the worker skittered away. Soon the passage and the honeymoon breeding chamber were clear of all save X'izith and the heat-givers.

  It was time.

  X'izith closed his eyes and reached with his mind, reaching across the space that separated them, invading her mind, filling her dreams as he would soon fill the channel between her thighs.

  “Come to me, my Queen,” he hissed as he flexed the long, sharp barb between his legs. “Come and be filled with my barb…my royal grubs. You know you must be filled…you feel the fire inside you burning, threatening to consume you with need. You feel the urgent desire to be filled…you cannot resist any longer. Come to me now…I order you!”

  * * * * *

  Brynn woke in a cold sweat, a scream on her lips and a fire between her thighs. Now, she had to go now! She ached inside—she hurt with the need to be filled.

  In a kind of trance she got out of bed. Without bothering to change clothes, she slipped out of the guest suite she shared with Varin and walked quietly and quickly down the mostly empty hallway. There were a few questioning glances in her direction but if anyone aboard the huge ship wondered why she was wandering the corridors at night dressed only in her night clothes, they didn’t ask. Brynn was allowed to pass unmolested until she reached the docking bay.

  There one of the huge Kindred guards stopped her.

  “I’m sorry, my lady,” he said respectfully. “But this area is off limits to civilians unless you have your Kindred mate with you or a special dispensation from the High Council.”

  Deep down, in a layer of her mind that was still half-submerged in sleep, Brynn felt a surge of relief. She wouldn’t be allowed to go—wouldn’t be able to reach the high, hissing voice that called her. But then she heard the Sovereign buzzing in her ear.

  “Tell him you left something in your ship and you only need a moment to get it.”

  Brynn opened her mouth, uncertain of what she was going to say and heard herself speak.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just that my mate only claimed me today and we were, you know, in such a hurry to get to his suite that I forgot and left all my clothes in his ship.” She gave a soft, embarrassed laugh. “I can hardly go around in this all the time, can I?” She lifted her arms to show off the short, white sleeping garment she wore. It was somewhat revealing, showing the outlines of her breasts and sex beneath the thin fabric.

  The guard frowned. “I’m surprised he wanted you going out in it at all. Why didn’t he come to get your clothing himself?”

  “He got called to a meeting,” Brynn improvised hastily. “And besides, I have a surprise gift for him that’s in with my clothes. I didn’t want him to see it before I gave it to him.” She pouted prettily. “Please let me get it. Don’t make me spoil the surprise.”

  “Well…” The guard looked indecisive. “Can you find the right ship and get into it? Forgive me, but many Earth females seem to think our vehicles look much alike.”

  “It’s the second from the last ship at the end of the fourteenth row,” Brynn’s mouth replied glibly. “And my mate gave me access so I could get in. Please? I need to hurry—he’ll be back from his meeting soon!”

  “Well…” The guard nodded at last. “All right.”

  “Thank you!” Giving him a grateful smile, Brynn scampered past him, heading down the long rows of Kindred craft. But of course, she had no interest in any of them. As soon as she saw the guard look away and start patrolling another area, she veered towards the place where she knew the craft Varin had stolen was parked.

  The shiny silver skin reacted to her handprint, just as Varin had programmed it to. The doorway slid open and she was able to duck inside.

  Some well-meaning technician had given the ship a thorough going-over and diagnostic as well as filling the fuel tanks to the brim. Of course, she wouldn’t need much fuel to get where she was going. The Sovereign was close—she could feel it in her bones and in the place between her thighs that ached for him so badly she nearly screamed.

  Deep inside, the little half-asleep part of her was stirring uneasily.

  What are you doing, Brynn? it asked. Where do you think you’re going?

  Brynn ignored it. The hissing voice in her head, ordering her to come to him, was louder. It drowned out her doubts.

  Programming the take-off sequence was the work of a few minutes and then she put the ship into stealth mode before she even started lift off. The hydrogen-scoop engine was quiet, though not completely silent. But even if the guard heard her lifting off, he wouldn’t see much more than a shimmer in the air before she was gone.

  “Come to me…come and be filled, my Queen,” hissed the voice in her head. Unable to fight the effects of the Blood Honey any longer, Brynn did as it said. Putting her hands to the controls, she initiated lift-off.

  Soon the empty ache inside her would be assuaged and she would finally be filled…soon.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  “Wake, warrior!” The strong, female voice in his ear made Bereth sit bolt upright in bed.

  “What? Who?” He looked around uncertainly. He appeared to be alone in the darkness but he felt an unmistakable presence that let him know it was not so. It seemed to fill the entire sleeping chamber—a warm, strong, feminine presence that was both powerful and undeniable.

  “Warrior,” the voice spoke again. “Your chosen female has gone into grave danger.”

  “My chosen female?” He frowned. “You mean Brynnalla?”

  “She whom I have set aside for you. She whose name you bear over your heart.”

  Bereth’s hand reached for the raised letters on his left pec guiltily.

  “I don’t really know her,” he protested. “Not anymore.”

  “Your memories are buried but they are there. But there is no more time to wait for them to resurface,” the voice told him. “I tell you that Brynn has gone into danger—she is being called to a fate worse than death. A fate only you can save her from.”

  “Who…where…”

  Suddenly he had another flash of memory. A huge insect-like creature gripping Brynn in four of its monstrous pinchers while it aimed a long, sharp barb between her legs…

  “Gods!” Bereth put a hand to his forehead. “She’s going to that thing? Why in the Seven Hells—?”

  “Because the effects of the Blood Honey grow stronger over time rather than weakening. And because she has had no way of slaking the desire it raises in her.” The powerful feminine voice sounded somehow reproving and Bereth felt a wash of guilt come over him.

  I should have been helping her instead of pushing her away. But how could I know?

  “Guilt is of little use,” the voice informed him. “If you are to save her, you must go now.” br />
  “But how will I know where she’s going?” he demanded. “Is it back into the Blind?”

  “The enemy is closer than you think. On the dark side of the Earth’s moon, in a crater that never sees the light of the sun. Go now or risk losing her forever.”

  “I’ll go,” he said, getting out of bed and dressing hastily. “But I still don’t even know her. I don’t remember our past or—”

  “That which was lost shall be restored. But you must save her and heal her first,” the voice informed him. “Go, warrior—before it is too late.”

  And then the voice and the overwhelming female presence that had accompanied it was suddenly gone, leaving the room feeling empty.

  But though the voice was gone, it still left a sense of urgency behind.

  Bereth pulled on his boots and strapped on a blaster and a knife. As he did so, he had another flash of the past—of himself hiding just outside the entrance to a long, dark tunnel carved into the earth. Only in his vision, he had only one good hand—his left had been shot off.

  He put a hand to his head. What the hell was happening to him? Was he finally beginning to regain some of the memories he’d lost?

  Whether he was or not, there was no time to sort through them now. He had to get to Brynn—had to get to her before, as the voice had warned him, it was too late.

  * * * * *

  Flying the little ship in stealth mode to the dark underside of the Earth’s moon was child’s play. Varin had taught her well and anyway, she seemed to be piloting without even thinking about what she was doing. It was almost as though someone else had control of her body and was doing all the work for her. All Brynn had to do was ride along, a passenger inside her own skin, as she watched her hands working without any effort on her part.

  Inside her head, a little voice was shouting, Brynn, what are you doing? Where are you going? Don’t do this!

  Brynn ignored it. The sharp need to be filled was growing, blotting out everything else in her mind.