Unbondable: Book 1 of the Kindred Birthright Series (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  “Are you enjoying the xanthos?” Qi asked as Kara chewed and swallowed the thin skin of the ball she had eaten—which was a little like a grape skin, she thought.

  “Oh yes—very much. Thank you,” she said quickly, nodding politely though she wasn’t completely sure if Qi could see her or not.

  “Very good. Try a large one,” their host urged her. “Those are the most mature—the ripest, you might say.”

  “Oh, okay.” Kara picked up a ball the size of a small lime. “If you don’t mind me asking, oh Qi,” she said, addressing the invisible plant being the same way Raak had. “Where do you get these, uh, xanthos? They’re delicious,” she added politely, though honestly they were some of the blandest things she’d ever eaten.

  “Why, I grow them myself upon my own lower branches,” Qi told them just as Kara popped the large ball gamely between her lips and bit down on it. “You could say they are a kind of waste product. But since our species need such very different things to survive, our waste is actually very nutritious for you.”

  “What?” Kara tried to say, but the exclamation came out garbled because her mouth was flooded with a slimy, cold liquid that had the same texture and consistency of a raw egg yolk.

  Did he say waste? she thought wildly as she struggled not to choke on the weird, slimy liquid. Was the invisible plant alien actually feeding them its poop balls?

  Ugh! Even if she hadn’t known that, Kara would have found it very difficult to swallow the raw egg yolk stuff that was coating her tongue. As it was, she felt some of it dribbling from the corners of her mouth and down her chin. She wished desperately for a napkin that she could spit the slimy mess discretely into, but of course, she had nothing like that. All she could do was try to swallow as fast as she could and wipe at her dripping chin with the back of her hand.

  She nearly choked but at last she got the disgusting stuff down, though her stomach rolled afterwards. The remaining balls slid under her fingers but there was no way Kara was eating even one more of them—not after hearing what they actually were.

  To her relief, Qi didn’t urge her to eat any more. The next time it spoke, it addressed them in a polite and formal tone.

  “Well, now that you have consumed comestibles, please tell me in what way I can help you,” it said, its invisible leaves rustling.

  “Would you like to tell Qi about your fangs or should I?” Raak asked her in a low voice.

  “I will.” Kara lifted her chin and addressed the seemingly empty air before her.

  “Oh, Qi, thank you for your offer to help,” she said politely. “My problem is my teeth—my fangs, actually.” She bared her teeth and pointed to her fangs, hoping the invisible being could see what she was talking about.

  “Why are they a problem?” Qi sounded genuinely mystified. “Do not all meat creatures have dentition?”

  “Well yes, they do,” Kara conceded. “But mine are long and sharp and they’re really prominent. I’d like them to be the same size as my other teeth, that’s all. Oh, and not so sharp and obvious-looking.”

  “Their size and prominence should prove no problem to alter,” Qi said with a confident rustle of its leaves. “However, I fear I must warn you, if you repress that which presently flows outward, it will flow inward instead.”

  Kara wasn’t sure what the alien plant person meant by that. Maybe that her fangs would retract into her skull? That didn’t seem like it ought to present a problem, though, she thought. As long as the part of them that people could see got smaller and less obvious she wouldn’t care if the upper part of her fangs were hidden.

  “That’s okay,” she said quickly. “I don’t mind.”

  “Well, if that is your will, then wish it and it shall be so,” Qi told her.

  “Uh…wish it?” Kara frowned uncertainly. If she could have wished away her fangs, she certainly would have done so by now! “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” she said politely. “How can wishing help me?”

  “You are in my Palace of the Unseen and you have eaten of my xanthos,” Qi told her. “These have transferred some of my power over matter to your small meat brain. If you wish your dentition to be smaller or less prominent, you have only to tell them to be smaller and less prominent and it will be so.”

  This sounded crazy to Kara, but she reminded herself that Qi had been able to call a table and chairs into existence out of thin air. So maybe she could also tell her fangs to shrink.

  She was about to do just that when Raak put a hand on her arm and murmured.

  “Wait a minute, baby girl.”

  “Wait for what?” Kara asked. “I’m finally going to shrink my fangs.”

  “I know that’s what you want but I have a bad feeling about this.” He squeezed her hand for emphasis and Kara could almost imagine him looking at her seriously with those silver-ringed eyes of his. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  “It’s all I’ve ever wanted—ever since these stupid fangs grew in the first place,” Kara told him. “Now please, Raak—let me do it.”

  “All right.” She could almost see him shrugging. “It’s your body, baby girl and I’ll support whatever you want to do. I just want you to be safe—that’s all.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Kara assured him a touch impatiently. She was afraid if she didn’t get this done soon, the power of the xanthos would wear off and she would be forced to eat another one of the slimy poop balls—which she did not want to do.

  Closing her eyes—though it made absolutely no difference in her vision—she concentrated as hard as she could on the sharp, curving, double set of fangs she had where a human would have their canine teeth.

  Smaller, she told them. Shrink down or retract or whatever you have to do but look like a normal person’s teeth! Oh, and don’t bother me so much anymore—I don’t want to have the urge to bite people all the time. Just leave me alone and be normal!

  At first she didn’t feel anything but then there was an itching sensation in her upper jaw.

  Kara put her fingers up carefully and found that the sharp points of her fangs were blunted. Not only that, they seemed to be getting smaller—shrinking under her fingertips as she felt them.

  “It’s working!” she exclaimed, feeling like she might cry for joy. “They’re getting smaller—I can feel it happening! Oh, I wish I could see it!”

  “Ah yes, I forgot how much you meat creatures depend upon your sense of sight,” Qi said. “Please feel free to exit my palace if you like so that you can observe your new dentition.”

  “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Kara jumped up from the invisible chair, which was suddenly not there anymore the minute she stopped touching it. “Raak?” she said anxiously. “Do you know the way out?”

  “Of course, baby girl. We just walk back the way we came until we come to the end,” he told her, his deep voice sounding slightly amused. “Come on—hold out your hand.”

  Kara reached for him and soon enough found his large, warm hand gripping hers.

  “Thank you again, Qi,” she said formally to the invisible being. “You’ve changed my life—you really have!”

  “You are most welcome, meat female,” Qi told her with a rustle of its branches. “Only remember, that which cannot flow outward, must flow inward. I hope that your new dentition will bring you joy.”

  “It will! I know it will,” Kara told it. “Come on, Raak,” she added, tugging at the big Unbondable’s hand. “I want to go see my new teeth!”

  Twenty-One

  They found their way back to the invisible door, which opened when Raak touched it, and out into the brilliant light of Xephron Five once more.

  Kara blinked, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the brilliance which felt blinding after the soft, ambient lighting of Qi’s palace. At least she wouldn’t have to look around to find a mirror, she thought. They were literally surrounded by reflective beings on every side. As they emerged from the Palace of the Unseen, the Xephronians surrounded them.

>   “Did you enjoy your visit with our Kaji?” one asked.

  “It is said that Qi is all-powerful and completely unseen,” another chimed.

  “Yes, indeed—I enjoyed it very much,” Kara told them, as she pulled the silver uniform shirt back over her head. “Um, could I look at your leaves for a moment?” she asked the closest plant person.

  “Of course, meat creature.” The Xephronian held still and allowed Kara to peer at her reflection in its broad, mirror-like leaves.

  At first all she could see was that she had dark blue lips—and a blue tongue and blue all down her chin as well.

  What in the world? she thought, wiping at the blue stains. Then she remembered the raw egg yolk liquid inside the last squishy ball she’d eaten. It must have been blue—though of course she couldn’t tell that when everything was invisible.

  She managed to get most of it off her chin and then examined her teeth anxiously. They had a blue sheen too but despite that, she could tell that her fangs were definitely smaller. In fact, they could hardly be called fangs at all anymore. They just looked like regular canine teeth—like any girl might have.

  Nobody would look twice at her now, she was certain—her awful fangs—the bane of her existence for so many years—were finally gone. Or at least shrunk down so small that nobody would even know they were there.

  “It worked,” she breathed, feeling her teeth with her fingertips to be sure. “It really worked!”

  To her joy, the tips of her fangs weren’t even sharp enough to cut flesh anymore. She could press as hard as she wanted without being afraid she’d poke herself and draw blood.

  “Well, baby girl—are you happy?” Raak rumbled from behind her.

  “Happy?” Kara looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears of joy. I’m ecstatic. Oh, Raak—this changes everything!”

  “I’m glad you feel that way.” His voice was carefully neutral and Kara couldn’t help remembering his warning—that he had a bad feeling about her shrinking her fangs.

  Well, they were my fangs to do what I wanted with, she reminded herself defensively. So he gets no say in it. After all, it’s not like we were going to get bonded and be together forever. He’ll never see me again after he drops me off at the Mother Ship, so it doesn’t matter if he misses my fangs or not.

  Kara was certain she certainly wouldn’t miss them! Though she had to admit the thought of never seeing the big Unbondable again made her sad.

  “I feel wonderful,” she told him firmly. “Thank you so much for bringing me here, Raak.”

  “You’re welcome, baby girl,” he growled. “Just hope you still feel happy about losing your fangs in the future.”

  Kara frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? You think something is going to go wrong?”

  “Didn’t say that exactly,” Raak rumbled. “I just hope this works out for you.”

  “It’s already worked out,” Kara told him, smiling broadly. “Look—my smile is perfect now! Well, other than the fact that I have blue teeth at the moment,” she added, laughing.

  Raak’s face relaxed and he laughed with her.

  “Yeah, you got one of the bigger xanthos, I take it. I stuck with the smaller ones myself. Less, uh, juicy if you know what I mean.”

  “Ugh—I do now.” Kara shivered. “I never want to have to eat one of those things again!”

  “I don’t see why you would have to—now that you got what you want,” Raak remarked mildly. “Come on, I still have some trading to do and then we’ll go back to the ship.”

  As Kara followed him back through the crowd of mirrored plant-people, she thought that she had never been so happy in her life.

  She had no idea how drastic the consequences of her actions would be.

  Twenty-Two

  “Well, baby girl—are you ready to go back to the Mother Ship yet or would you like to make one more stop with me?” Raak asked, giving her a sideways glance as they got settled in the cockpit of his cruiser.

  The trading on Xephron Five had been excellent—mainly because by now most of the natives there had begun saving their discarded leaves for him. They had piles of them just waiting and Raak had taken them gladly after distributing the goods he had brought to trade with them.

  In this shipment he had included lots of shiny, multifaceted light beads which the Xephronians loved. They were especially enamored of the way the flashing lights of the beads were reflected in their own shiny leaves. Raak had the satisfaction of knowing that he'd left many happy customers behind when they finally lifted off the “disco ball planet” as Kara called it.

  Now he watched her from the corner of his eye as he asked the question in a casual tone. Though he kept his voice light, his heart was pounding. He had a feeling—a strong feeling—that he needed to keep her near him. Raak didn’t know why and he didn’t question the certainty he felt—he was used to trusting his gut.

  He was prepared to offer several reasons why she ought to stay with him for a while longer so he was relieved when she grinned at him and said,

  “I’ll stick around for a while, if you don’t mind. I’ve never really been anywhere but the Mother Ship and Earth until now. And since I finally have my fangs taken care of, I’m ready for an adventure.”

  “An adventure, huh? I think we can manage that, baby girl,” Raak told her. As for the fangs in question, he couldn’t help looking at her shining smile with regret. Her fangs had been beautiful—they gave her face character. Not to mention dishing out multiple orgasms when she sank them into his neck.

  But it was selfish to feel that way, Raak told himself sternly. Just look at Kara—she was so much happier now. So much less tense. Shrinking the unruly fangs had clearly made her feel confident and relieved—it was wrong of him to wish for their return.

  However, though Raak was able to push down his own sorrow at the loss of her lovely little fangs, he couldn’t quite quench the feeling of unease he felt when he thought of what Qi had said.

  “Whatever is flowing outward will be forced to flow inward.”

  Wasn’t that it? But what had Qi meant by it?

  Should have asked, Raak thought, trying to keep his worry for Kara from showing on his face. Shouldn’t have just let her rush in and shrink them like that.

  But she had been so eager—so happy. How could he deny her the very thing she’d been longing for, for years?

  “…are we going?” Kara asked and Raak realized he’d zoned out, focusing on his worry instead of listening to the lovely little female speak.

  “Where are we going? Well, I’ve always wanted to try trading on Yi’pisselon. It’s only a hop-skip-and a wormhole from Xephron Five,” he told her, picking up the thread of the conversation. “Yi’pisselon’s in a binary star system and the people there are binary too.”

  “Binary?” Kara frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “You’ll see.” He grinned at her. “Anyway, they’re known for producing some of the most exquisite artwork in the galaxy. Only problem is, Yi’pisselon is a closed planet. They don’t trade with outsiders at all.”

  “They don’t?” Kara frowned. “Then how do you expect to get to trade with them?”

  “I can’t…not by myself,” Raak told her. “But if you’re willing to help me, I think I have an idea…”

  “What kind of idea?” she frowned. “Is it even legal?”

  “Not quite,” Raak admitted. “Art from Yi’pisselon is extremely rare and outlawed in most other worlds because they don’t believe in fucking around with a closed planet. But I have some buyers lined up that will pay top-credit for anything I can bring them. If you help me make the deal, I’ll give you half,” he offered.

  Kara nibbled her lower lip and he could see her thinking it over. She was a good girl who wasn’t used to breaking the law, but he could tell the situation appealed to her—not necessarily for the credit, though—more for the adventure.

  “We won’t hurt them, will we? The Yi’pisselons, I mean? There must be
a reason other planets don’t want to bother them.”

  “They don’t want to mess up their culture,” Raak said. “But I have a way to trade with them without bothering them a bit. They won’t even know we’re there—even when we’re right under their noses.”

  “Really?” Kara looked at him wide-eyed and he couldn’t help thinking how beautiful she was, even when she was indecisive. Gods, the little female had really gotten under his skin, somehow, hadn’t she?

  “Really,” he promised her roughly. “I may be a soulless bastard, baby girl, but I don’t go around hurting other people for the hell of it. I can get us in and out of Yi’pisselon without anybody even knowing we’re there.”

  He could see on her face the moment she decided to trust him and for some reason it made his heart squeeze like a fist.

  “Well,” she said at last. “All right—what do I have to do?”

  “I thought you’d never ask, baby girl,” Raak said, grinning at her again. “Let me show you…”

  Twenty-Three

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Kara asked doubtfully, looking at the leather harness Raak had gotten his replicator to cobble together.

  “Sure I’m sure.” He grinned at her. “Why baby girl—you getting hot feet? Wanna turkey out?”

  She frowned. “For a Kindred who’s never been to Earth before, you’re not bad at the idioms. But it’s ‘cold feet’ and ‘chicken’ out. And no, I’m not getting cold feet. I’m just wondering what the natives of Yi’pisselon will do to us if they figure out we’re not one of them.”

  “They’re never gonna figure it out,” Raak said confidently. He strapped on the harness and knelt so that his broad back was facing her. “Come on, baby girl—climb on and I’ll show you.”

  Reluctantly, Kara slipped her legs into the two loops hanging down on either side of his hips and seated herself in the leather saddle-type seat which rested at the small of his back.