Unbondable Read online

  Kara had curves and height to go with them—Raak liked that. He didn’t see how the other Kindred males could want to mate with such tiny, fragile-looking females. He much preferred someone like Kara with a bit of meat on her bones.

  “I said, how are you going to get up there?” she said, breaking his train of thought.

  “Climb, of course—how else?” Raak said reasonably. He measured the miniature mountain with his eyes. “Looks like there are plenty of hand and foot-holds. I should be fine.” He grinned at her. “So, you want to come?”

  “It’s twenty meters up,” she protested. “I can’t climb that far—I’m not a monkey!”

  “Don’t know what that is,” Raak answered. “But you don’t have to do any climbing, just hold on to me.” He motioned to her. “Come on…jump on my back.”

  She eyed him uncertainly.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Oh come on, baby girl,” he urged her. “Live a little. Didn’t you ever look up there when you were little and wish you could see the very top?”

  He could see he had her there. Kara was a curious girl, even if she tried to pretend she was all prim and proper. Raak was certain she had a spirit of adventure in her somewhere and he wanted to unlock it and set her free.

  “Come on,” he urged again.

  “I…there’s no way I could hold on to you,” she protested feebly, as though looking for an excuse. “Your uniform shirt is too slippery.”

  If she thought that would stop him from taking her to the top, she was wrong, Raak thought. Quickly, he unbuttoned and let the heavy, silky fabric fall in a shimmering silvery heap on the ground.

  “Never liked those damn uniform shirts they make us wear aboard the Mother Ship anyway,” he muttered, flexing his arms and enjoying the light breeze swirling around his bare chest. He kicked off his boots too. “Easier to climb barefoot,” he explained when she looked at him questioningly. “Now come on, baby girl—let’s go.”

  Kara looked slightly dazed but she at last agreed to climb on his back and wrap her arms securely around his neck and her legs around his waist. He liked to feel her weight on his back and the warm press of her body against his. Damn if the hot little female wasn’t giving him a hard-on!

  Down, boy, he told himself. It’s going to be fuckin’ hard to scale a mountain if your wood gets in the way.

  “I don’t see how you can climb this way,” Kara said in his ear. “I’m not exactly tiny like so many of the Earth girls that get called to the Mother Ship.”

  “I know—that’s one of the things I like about you,” Raak told her. “Along with those sexy little fangs. Now, hold on.”

  Before she could protest any further, he grabbed for the first outcropping on the side of the artificial volcano and started pulling them up.

  Kara couldn’t believe she was doing this.

  I ought to be at work right now, she thought as she clung like a spider monkey to the big Unbondable’s back and watched as he pulled them steadily higher up the side of Rainbow Mountain. I should be dealing with that new project I just got assigned—not playing hooky like a kid skipping school.

  But there was just something about the big Y’lyn Kindred she couldn’t resist or ignore. He was persuasive for one thing—maybe because he seemed to know things about her she kept hidden, even from herself. She really had always wanted to go to the top of Rainbow Mountain and see inside the crater at the top as a kid. Also, it was nice to feel accepted for who she was instead of being shunned for it.

  And also, Raak is damned sexy and you’re attracted to him—admit it, whispered a little voice in the back of her head.

  Well, yes that was true, Kara reluctantly admitted. Being this close to him, she could smell his warm, spicy, masculine scent much better. Was that his bonding scent? Probably not, she decided, since he had no soul and couldn’t bond to anyone. Goddess, they were getting high up here!

  She spared a look down and wished she hadn’t. Could Raak really get them all the way to the top? He’d better or they were going to splat on the sandy beach that surrounded Rainbow Mountain and make a multicolored mess of themselves.

  “Look at that, Mommy! Look at the man and lady up top!”

  “Wow—look at them climb! I thought you said we couldn’t do that, Mommy. Why come the man and lady can and we can’t?”

  Looking down again, Kara saw two adorable kids pointing up at her and Raak. They weren’t the only ones, either. A few moments ago Rainbow Mountain had seemed almost deserted. Now there was quite a sizeable crowd gathered and all of them were staring and pointing at her and the big Y’lyn Kindred.

  “Is that the Chancellor’s daughter?” Kara heard one of the mothers ask. Due to a trick of the air flow, she could hear her quite clearly, despite the fact that they were getting higher and higher up the mountain.

  “Mmm-hmm, I think so. I saw her flash her fangs a minute ago.” The other mother shuddered. “I don’t know how she ended up with those—I thought only males were supposed to have them.”

  “Must be some kind of genetic mutation,” the other mother said. “It makes me really glad I’ve only had boys since my hubby is a Blood Kindred.”

  “Oh yes—what would you do if your child was born deformed like that?” the other mother asked. “It would be so sad. Of course you would love them no matter what but still…”

  Kara felt her cheeks going hot. Suddenly the crazy climb up the side of Rainbow Mountain didn’t seem quite so fun anymore. She wondered if Raak had heard the women’s conversation too—if so, he hadn’t said anything about it, even though they continued to talk.

  “And what is she doing up there with that guy anyway?” the other mother went on. “Isn’t there some kind of rule that prohibits climbing up the side of the mountain?”

  “If there isn’t there should be. It’s a bad example for the children. Someone ought to complain.”

  “I’ll bespeak my hubby right now and you bespeak yours. We’ll get someone here pretty quickly if we tell them it’s the Chancellor’s daughter pulling this stunt.”

  This was too much for Kara.

  “Stop!” she said in Raak’s ear. “We have to go back—those women down there are going to complain to my father and get me in trouble.”

  “Sounds like the story of your life, huh, baby girl?” Raak grunted, as he continued to climb. “Someone always running to daddy to tell on you?”

  “Well…yes.” Kara thought of all the years she’d had to be perfect in school so the other kids wouldn’t think she got special treatment because of her father’s status. “But that’s beside the point,” she said. “We have to get down before we make a scene.”

  “I have news for you—we already made one. Also, here we are at the top. Let’s look inside the crater like we wanted to.”

  Raak was standing on a ledge just about four feet below the lip of the crater and looking down into the hole. Of course by now he was soaked from the multicolored streams of water which flowed down the side of the mountain and Kara was pretty wet herself. His warm, wet skin was slippery to hold on to but Raak reached behind him and supported her easily with one big hand under her thigh.

  Kara bit back a moan at the sudden contact and bent over his shoulder to examine the inside of the crater, interested despite herself in the water pumping mechanism. Science, tech, and mechanics had been her three favorite courses in school and she had also excelled in piloting, which her Uncle Baird had taught her when she was barely twelve cycles old.

  “Look at that,” Raak murmured. “Looks like they have a flow disbursement mechanism but how do they keep the colors of the water separate?”

  “Maybe repelling nanites in each of the streams?” Kara suggested. “Watch…”

  Leaning down over his shoulder, she scooped some of the yellow water into her hand and then held it under the blue stream. But instead of mixing to form green, the blue water made a little jump and went back to its own stream, avoiding the yellow water in her palm com
pletely.

  “You were right, has to be nanites,” Raak growled.

  “Cool,” Kara breathed, trying again with two different streams with the same result. “Why didn’t I ever notice that when I was a kid?” Maybe because the last time she’d come here she was only 4 or 5.

  For a moment she was completely mesmerized by what she was seeing. Then a familiar voice came floating up from below.

  “Kara? What are you doing up there? Come down—that’s dangerous!”

  Looking down, she saw her twin brother with a horrified look on his face. There was a large knot of people gathered around him pointing and talking too.

  “Uh-oh,” Kara muttered.

  “Guess it’s time to go back down, huh, baby girl?” Raak growled. “Okay, hold on tight.”

  He climbed down the side of the artificial mountain as quickly and competently as he had climbed up it. Much sooner than she could have wished, Kara found herself facing her outraged twin.

  Kaleb was red in the face, his green eyes narrowed to slits. But it wasn’t Kara he was glaring at.

  “Who in the Seven Hells do you think you are and how dare you risk my sister’s life?” he demanded, poking a finger at Raak. “She could have been killed if she fell from such a height!”

  “Your sister was never in any danger—I wouldn’t have let her fall.” Raak eyed the other male coolly, his silver-ringed eyes unreadable.

  “You shouldn’t even be with her in the first place—you’re an Unbondable!” Kaleb continued.

  Raak’s eyes flashed but he spoke mildly enough.

  “I wasn’t trying to bond her to me—we were just having a little fun.”

  “A little fun? You—” Kaleb surged forward as though he wanted to punch the big Y’lyn Kindred but Kara stepped hurriedly between them.

  “Stop it, Kaleb! It’s not like Raak forced me to go up the side of the mountain—I wanted to go.”

  “And make a spectacle of yourself? What is Father going to say?” her twin demanded.

  “You let me worry about that,” Kara snapped. “It’s my problem, not yours.”

  Her father and mother were probably not going to be very happy but really, where was the harm? It wasn’t like she and Raak had hurt anyone or damaged any property—they were just having fun.

  Kaleb stepped back, a hurt look in his eyes.

  “Sorry for caring, sister. I was just worried about you.”

  “Well, I’m fine.” Kara felt completely miserable now. She and Kaleb never fought. It felt wrong and it worried her to be at odds with her twin. “I’m sorry,” she said, trying to make her voice softer. “I just…I’ll have to deal with this on my own—okay?”

  “Just come home with me, all right?” There was no demanding in Kaleb’s low tone—more a note of pleading, Kara thought. He’s frightened for me—that’s what made him angry, she realized and felt guilty all over again.

  “Let me say goodbye to Raakshas,” she told her twin. “I owe him that much. Then I’ll come.”

  “I’ll wait.” Kaleb took a few steps back, crossing his arms over his broad chest. He kept a stern eye on Raak, who didn’t seem to even notice, anymore than he noticed or bothered with the crowd that had gathered when they were on the side of the mountain.

  He really doesn’t care what anyone thinks, Kara thought enviously. Wish I could be that way.

  “Looks like I got you in trouble again, huh, baby girl?” he rumbled when she turned to him. “Sorry about that. I guess I should have warned you from the beginning that I’m bad news.”

  “I had fun,” Kara said, lifting her chin. “I don’t…don’t care if I got into trouble.”

  “Sure you do. But that’s okay.” He cupped her cheek, looking down into her eyes. From the corner of her vision she could see Kaleb make a restive move towards them and then pull himself back. Clearly it upset him to see Raak touching her—even minimally. “At least we had a day you’ll never forget,” the big Y’lyn Kindred growled softly.

  “No, I…I won’t.” For some reason Kara’s voice came out sounding breathless and faint. “And I…I’ll never forget you, Raak.”

  “We might see each other around sometime. I’m leaving tonight for Tranq Prime in a cadre of a bunch of other trading ships. But you never can tell when I might show up at the Mother Ship again.”

  From the corner of her eye, Kara saw Kaleb’s mouth twitch into a tight-lipped frown. She knew her twin well enough to realize he was biting his tongue on purpose—probably to keep himself from telling Raak he wasn’t welcome here ever again. Which would almost certainly be true once her father heard about her little “adventure” today.

  “Goodbye,” she said and felt strangely like crying. Which was ridiculous—she barely knew the big Unbondable and it wasn’t like they could have had any kind of relationship. Why should it upset her never to see him again?

  “Bye, baby girl.” Leaning down, Raak brushed a swift, feather-light kiss to her lips.

  At once, Kara’s heart began to pound and she felt her fangs sharpen and start to ache. The urge to grab the big warrior, brush his hair aside, and bury her teeth in his neck was almost insurmountable. But somehow she held herself back. Biting was a sexual act among the Blood Kindred—not something one would ever do in public—especially not in front of her brother.

  “Goodbye,” she said again and watched as Raak gathered up the silky silver uniform shirt and walked off, without bothering to put it on again. His broad, muscular back flexed powerfully as he sauntered off, pushing through the thinning crowd as though he didn’t give a damn what any of them thought.

  Kara couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped her lips. I’ll probably never see him again.

  Then Kaleb’s hand was on her elbow.

  “Come on.” Her twin’s voice was low and tight. “Let’s go home.”

  Five

  “What were you thinking, Kara?” Her father ran a hand through his short blond hair, his eyes filled with concern. He wasn’t shouting at her—there was honest bewilderment in his pale blue eyes, so much like her own.

  “Father, I…” Kara started and then trailed off—she honestly didn’t know how to explain. They were in Sylvan’s study with the door shut, just the two of them and she felt like a little girl all over again, in trouble with her father.

  “You’ve been perfectly behaved all your life and then I get two formal complaints about you in one day.” Sylvan shook his head. “You’re far past the age of adolescent angst and rebellion. Yet the Fr’Enson elders said that you laughed at them and mocked them openly. Then directly afterwards you go and risk your life by climbing up the side of Rainbow Mountain with a very unsuitable male. Why, Kara?”

  “First of all, I didn’t mock anyone,” Kara said, finding her voice at last. “I only laughed because I couldn’t help it—they were all puffed up and poking each other with their…anyway, they looked ridiculous,” she ended lamely and cleared her throat. “But I didn’t mean to insult them.”

  “All right.” Her father nodded thoughtfully. “And the other stunt you pulled?”

  “It wasn’t a ‘stunt’,” Kara protested. “I’ve always wanted to know what the mechanisms inside Rainbow Mountain look like—how they work. You know that—I remember asking you when you took Kaleb and me there when we were little.”

  Sylvan sighed and ran a hand through his hair again.

  “Yes, I remember,” he said reluctantly. “You always did want to know how everything worked. I remember when you took apart the chronometer your mother gave you for your tenth birthday—how upset she was. She thought you were being destructive but I told her it was just your natural curiosity.”

  “Exactly.” Kara felt a surge of hope that her father would understand. “That was all it was—curiosity.”

  “It was more than that, Kara.” Sylvan spoke in a low, gentle voice. “It wasn’t just the fact that you climbed up Rainbow Mountain—it was who you climbed it with.”

  “Raakshas isn’t a ba
d male,” Kara protested. “Just because he’s a Y’lyn Kindred—”

  “He’s an Unbondable.” Her father’s voice went suddenly harsh. “He can’t form a permanent bond with anyone—he’ll only hurt you, Kara.”

  “It was nothing like that,” Kara protested. “Raak is just a friend.”

  Sylvan frowned. “I know males like that and friendship isn’t what they’re after.”

  He thinks Raak wants to change the color of my eyes, Kara thought and felt a mortified blush creep into her cheeks.

  “Father, please.”

  “Sweetheart…” Sylvan sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I know you’ve been having some…problems lately. But you’re a beautiful, special female. You don’t have to stoop to consorting with a male who only wants sexual favors. You’re better than that.”

  “Goddess!” Kara felt ready to burst with embarrassment. Her father never spoke to her about these kinds of things. He had left “the talk” to her mother who had spoken to Kara about the birds and the bees and her changing body years before. But now her father went on relentlessly, as though he was determined to have his say.

  “I should have spoken to you before this,” he said, studying her face, which felt as hot as an oven. “I did speak to your brother about it but I didn’t know…exactly how to broach the subject with you.”

  “What…what subject?” Kara’s mouth was dry and she wished she could sink through the ground and disappear. Anything to end this embarrassment.

  “It’s about your fangs,” her father said heavily. “Sometimes when they start growing in they can give you…urges that are hard to control. And you might feel—”

  “I don’t want to talk about this!” Kara burst out, yanking away from his hand on her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have these stupid fangs in the first place—everything always comes back to my fangs!”

  “Well, sweetheart…you’re unique.” Sylvan raised his hands, palm up. “No one has ever heard of a Blood Kindred female with fangs before. Personally, I believe it’s an effect of the way your mother’s human DNA mixed with my Kindred DNA.”