Sharing a Mate Read online

  Sharing a Mate

  A Kindred Tales Novel

  Evangeline Anderson

  www.evangelineanderson.com

  Sharing a Mate, 1st Edition,

  A Kindred Tales Novel

  Copyright © 2018 by Evangeline Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  Cover Art Design © 2018 by Reese Dante

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination or have been used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to a retailer of your choice or evangelineanderson.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only.

  Any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  Contents

  Sharing a Mate

  Author's Note and WARNING

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  The End?

  Kidnapped for Christmas

  Chapter 1

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  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  About the Author

  Sharing a Mate

  A Kindred Tales Novel

  A Beast Kindred who will not share a female

  A Blood Kindred who feels the same

  A woman forced to turn to both of them for help

  Will Bron and Sorin learn to share Kayla?

  Or will Sharing a Mate tear the three of them apart?

  Dr. Kayla Smith is a strong, independent woman with several prestigious degrees in Xenobiology and Chemistry. She lives and works on the Mother Ship and shares a lab with her two best friends, Dr. Bron—a huge Beast Kindred who is also a decorated microbiologist and Dr. Sorin, a Blood Kindred and award-winning virologist. The three of them work and play together but Kayla is afraid to act on her feelings for either Kindred because she knows that picking one means losing the other.

  Then comes the Great Needing.

  When Xi-46, a virulent aphrodisiac, is introduced into the Kindred Mother Ship through the air vents, Kayla is one of the women affected. Her desperate need can only be slaked with the help of a male and she gets help from both of her friends. Afterwards, they expect her to choose between them...but Kayla can't—she loves them both.

  Now they must go on a desperate mission to find the source of Xi-46 and try to create an antidote. But the further they go, the more Kayla realizes she needs both men in her life...and they need each other as well, though neither one wants to admit it.

  Can Bron and Sorin learn to share a mate?

  Can Kayla convince them that the three of them belong together?

  Or will the horrors they suffer at the house of Mother Pain tear them apart?

  Read Sharing a Mate to find out...

  For Kim. Thanks for being my constant reader and the voice of reason. You are the reason this book came out. Hugs, Bestie! Evangeline

  Author's Note and WARNING

  Dear Reader,

  there is a tiny bit of M/M action in this novel, which isn't usual for my Kindred menage books. My intentions in writing M/M in this the book wasn't to add gratuitous sex but rather to show a true three-way relationship in which all the characters love and respect each other equally. I hope you will enjoy it—there is plenty of M/F/M action too, which I think will make you happy if you like menage romance.

  Also, if you'd like to see the images which inspired this book, by the insanely talented artist, aenaluck, check my “In aspiration for Sharing a Mate” Pinterest Board.

  Hugs and Happy Reading!

  Evangeline

  One

  Doctor Kayla Smith wished she was dead.

  She was a renowned xenobiologist and chemist with several prestigious degrees to her name. She had a bright future, living and working on the Mother Ship, studying alien samples from the other planets the Kindred visited. As a member of an elite, three-person team, she was breaking all kinds of scientific boundaries and making amazing new discoveries every day. In short, she had everything she could want in her personal and professional life.

  And right now, she wanted to die.

  “Oh God, how could I let myself do that? How? How?” she whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest as hot water dripped down her nose. She was sitting in the shower stall in her suite in the Mother Ship, taking what had to be her twentieth shower in two days. She wished she had a bathing pool in her suite but those were only for mated couples and she most definitely was not mated.

  She didn’t want to be mated, either, Kayla told herself. She wanted to stay single and be married to her work. Unlike a lot of single women who came up to the Mother Ship from Earth, she hadn’t come with the intention of finding a husband or earning her “Mrs. degree” as her Auntie Feenie jokingly put it.

  “I’m a respected scientist,” Kayla whispered to herself, pushing one of her long black box braids behind her ear. Her hand was trembling as she did so—she hadn’t eaten in days. Not since…the incident. “Or I was a respected scientist, anyway.”

  But it wasn’t the respect of the wider scientific community she was worried about losing—it was the respect of the other two members of her team. The two Kindred warriors she worked with.

  Bron was a huge, muscular Beast Kindred with shaggy black hair and a black mustache and goatee he wore braided and bound with a silver band—a symbol of the wild tribe he had come from on his home planet of Rageron. He had the molten gold eyes of his kind and a deep, growling voice to match. What Kayla liked most about him was his loud, funny sense of humor and his tendency to say “fuck” a lot or curse in his native dialect when he got upset. He was also one of the finest microbiologists she had ever met.

  Then there was Sorin, an award-winning virologist and the other member of their team. He was a Blood Kindred with sleek, silver-blonde hair and pale blue eyes that Kayla sometimes felt could see directly into her soul. She loved Sorin’s quiet, quick wit and his way of whispering sly comments to her and Bron when they were out in public that cracked them both up. He had been raised on Tranq Prime, the Blood Kindred home world, in what he dryly described as a “repressed family,” though he wouldn’t say much more about his past.

  The two of them—Sorin and Bron—were best friends and had been long before Kayla had come along. But the moment she had walked into the Mother Ship’s science department Christmas party the year before, the three of them had just “clicked.” The t
wo big males had fit her into their life and it wasn’t even a month before the three of them were working on a group project and sharing a private lab, just big enough for three.

  That had been almost a year ago and since then, Kayla had grown closer to both Kindred. They ate meals together, went out to see movies and plays together, and of course, the weekly Wednesday night poker games at Bron’s suite were a must. They took trips to other alien worlds to collect specimens to study. Kayla had even taken the two of them back to Earth with her to give them a taste of Earth culture—and a little of her Auntie Feenie’s soul food.

  “Girl, when are you going to pick one of those fine men and get me some great-grandbabies?” her aunt had demanded, after pulling her aside to talk in the kitchen. Since Kayla’s grandmother had passed on, Auntie Feenie—who was actually Kayla’s great aunt—had stepped in to take her place.

  Kayla had shaken her head and laughed.

  “Never, Auntie Feenie. These two are a matched set—I can’t break them up. Besides, we’re all just good friends and colleagues.”

  “You might say that, Kay-kay,” but I see the way their eyes follow you around the room.” Auntie Feenie had made a two-fingered gesture towards her own eyes and nodded solemnly. “You might just be thinking of them as friends but they’re thinking a whole lot more about you than that. You better believe it.”

  Kayla had felt her cheeks get warm. It was true that she had sometimes sensed her guys, as she thought of them, were watching her in a shall-we-say less than professional way. But she also knew that neither Sorin nor Bron would ever act on any kind of attraction they might have towards her.

  Because if she started sleeping with one of them, the other would be excluded. Their perfect trio would become a duo and a single—unacceptable to any of them—especially Kayla. She respected their friendship too much to be their Yoko. But that didn’t stop her from enjoying her time with her guys.

  “I see the way the three of you are around each other,” one of her friends aboard the Mother Ship had said. “You’re always fooling around and hugging and massaging each other—if those two were Twin Kindred, you’d all be mated by now.”

  But they weren’t Twin Kindred, Kayla thought sadly. And everyone knew that Blood Kindred and most especially Beast Kindred didn’t share mates with anyone. Besides, Bron was as quick to pull Sorin into one of his crushing hugs as he was to hug Kayla and Sorin was just as willing to massage the kinks out of Bron’s thick neck and broad shoulders as he was to work his long-fingered magic on Kayla when she had a crick in her neck.

  So the attraction between them remained unspoken and anything other than friendly physical affection—bear hugs from Bron or neck rubs from Sorin—stayed strictly in the realm of her often erotic dreams.

  Until the incident.

  “Don’t think of it,” Kayla ordered herself, pushing another long, black braid out of her face. She was shivering now, even though the water pouring down on her was still hot. Shivering and sick with shame and regret over what she’d done. But it had seemed like she couldn’t help it. At the time, it had seemed like she would die if she didn’t do it…

  “Don’t think about it,” she said again…but then she went and did it anyway. She couldn’t help it.

  * * *

  It had been two days ago and the three of them had been working in the lab as usual, studying a specimen from Gaia, an Earth-like planet many light years away where the Kindred had a science outpost. The specimen had been a new kind of alien microbe that Kayla had never seen before—she had been showing it to Bron and Sorin when a strange, sweet scent started blowing from the ventilation shaft of their lab.

  Kayla remembered thinking it smelled like the cotton candy her Daddy had used to buy her at the State Fair when it came around every year. The scent had made her feel dizzy and she had almost fallen but Sorin had grabbed one hand and Bron had grabbed the other. Between the two of them, they had lifted her to her feet and steadied her.

  And that was when it had started, Kayla thought. Then—right there—when both of them had touched her at the same time. That was when the thirst began.

  “Kayla, are you all right?” Sorin had sounded worried.

  “Did you have a fainting spell, leelah?” Bron and Sorin both sometimes used the affectionate nickname which meant “small, cherished one” or “little lovely one” in the Kindred language because it sounded a bit like her name.

  “I…I don’t know.” Kayla had looked up, from the sleek blond Blood Kindred to the shaggy, dark Beast Kindred. “I think it’s that sweet smell. It’s making me feel so…so thirsty.”

  “I’ll get you some water,” Sorin said at once but Kayla had known even then it wasn’t water that she needed.

  “No!” She gripped tightly to his hand, not wanting to let go—not wanting to let go of either of them. “No, don’t leave me,” she begged. “I don’t…don’t think it’s water I’m thirsty for.”

  “Then what is it?” Bron rumbled, looking worried. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Kayla? Because I don’t mind telling you, you’re scaring the Seven Hells out of me.”

  “I…I’m just so thirsty,” Kayla had whispered. Even then she knew what she wanted—what she craved—but it was so awful she could barely admit it to herself, let alone to the males she cared for and respected.

  “What is it, you’re thirsty for, Kayla?” Sorin asked. “Whatever it is, it must be a response to this strange, sweet smell.” He frowned. “I wonder if it’s everywhere around the ship or just in our lab?”

  “I…I…don’t know if I can tell you what…what I need.” Kayla bit her lip as her thirst intensified and a burst of pure lust ran through her body, setting her on fire.

  I can’t do this, she was thinking as she gripped both big hands tightly. She tried to study them to take her mind off of the need growing inside her—noticing how Bron’s skin was a darker tan than Sorin’s pale gold but neither was as dark as her own deep mocha tones. She had always liked the contrast between them—and loved the fact that neither of her guys made any kind of deal about it. Kindred were raised without any kind of racism because they were genetic traders by birth. All life—especially all female life—was precious to them, regardless of race, ethnicity, or color. All life—

  Oh God, this isn’t working, Kayla thought as the thirst inside her became a burning need. She was beginning, in a strange way, to feel like you do right before you throw up.

  At first, the idea of being sick in front of everyone—especially people whose good opinion matters to you—seems like the worst, most unimaginable thing in the world. You push back the urge and try to think of something else to take your mind off your rolling stomach. But gradually, as the need to throw up worsens, the biological urges of the body overtake the shame and reluctance of the mind. At last, the impulse overwhelms everything else and, in that second, you no longer care about what anyone thinks of you—you just have to go with your body’s urges because they are beyond your control.

  That was how Kayla felt now. Her body was demanding that she do things she normally would never consider but she couldn’t fight it anymore. Letting go of Sorin’s hand, she sank to the floor and fumbled for the fastening of his black trousers instead.

  “Kayla!” Sorin had taken a quick step back, his pale blue eyes going wide. “What are you doing?”

  Kayla wanted to cry—wanted to stop herself from doing anything else to repulse her friend and colleague. But the thirst was on her—driving her like a harsh master—demanding she do things that were completely against her nature.

  “Don’t push her away, Sorin.” Bron had knelt beside her, putting a muscular arm comfortingly around her shoulders. “What is it, small one?” he murmured gently. “What is it you need?”

  “I need…I need this,” Kayla had somehow managed to get out. She reached over and plucked ineffectually at the fastening of the Beast Kindred’s trousers. “Please, Bron…so thirsty.”

  “For what? For seed?” S
orin sounded like he couldn’t believe it. Kayla wanted to tell him she couldn’t believe it herself, but the thirst was riding her and she couldn’t get the words out. Her body was aching—throbbing with need. Her nipples were tight little points at the end of her breasts and her pussy felt liquid with desire. But the thirst overrode even her sudden, intense desire—or maybe it was causing the desire. Kayla didn’t know—she only knew what she needed and she needed it desperately—needed to drink from her men.

  “Please,” she whispered again, resting her hand over the bulge in Bron’s trousers—the thick ridge of his shaft.

  “You’re serious? This is what you need? What you want?” Bron had looked down at her, his golden eyes narrowed. “Because I don’t want to offend or assault you, leelah. You mean too fucking much to me—to both of us.”

  “Not…assault. I need…please, so thirsty,” Kayla whispered. She felt like a woman who had been out in the Sahara at high noon. Her mouth and throat were parched and her whole body ached with desire—she needed this so damn badly.

  “This can’t be right,” Sorin objected, even as Bron unfastened his trousers and let the largest shaft Kayla had ever seen spring free. “This must be a reaction to that strange smell. Bron, if you do this, she’ll never forgive you.”