Bridging the Distance: A Kindred Tales Novel (Brides of the Kindred) Read online

  “I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to—if I crossed a line, just tell me,” she said quickly. “I know I’m an AI shrink so I’m qualified to handle machines, not people, but I still find motivations and emotions fascinating, especially when they go against established norms.”

  Bound laughed. “Which is your convoluted, academic way of saying you’re sorry you asked me a question about Twin Kindred sex.”

  “Well…” Lorelei blushed. “I guess so, yeah,” she said in a low voice.

  “I don’t mind talking to you about it,” Bound told her. “I think maybe in some ways we Kindred are more open about sexual things than some of the more repressed societies on Earth.”

  “Maybe…” she allowed cautiously. “But…you really never get jealous of your brother, even if you see him kissing or, uh, touching a girl without you?”

  “First of all, that would be intensely painful for him—touching a female sexually without me,” Bound explained. “If he is touching or kissing a female, chances are I’ll be doing the same.”

  “Oh, that’s right! Kat did say something like that to me.” Lorelei nodded. “So tell me…how does it work, exactly? I mean with two of you and one of her…” She trailed off, her cheeks going pink again.

  “When we take a female, we make her pleasure the focus of our complete attention,” Bound told her. “One of us might be kissing her breasts or sucking her nipples while the other is between her legs, tasting her and giving her pleasure with his tongue.” He sighed longingly. “Stroking and teasing a female’s breasts while I watch my twin between her thighs, spreading her pussy with his tongue until she moans and arches back against me…there is no greater pleasure.”

  “Oh…” Her cheeks turned even pinker. “So you and Torn have…have done that before?”

  “We haven’t had bonding sex with a female,” Bound admitted. “We haven’t found a female it felt right to bond with.” He looked down at the controls. “Now maybe we never will.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Lorelei said quickly. “We’re going to get your twin back—you’ll see.”

  “From your lips to the Goddess’s ears,” Bound said. “I must believe that Torn will be restored to me and we will find the right female to form a soul-bond with.”

  “A soul-bond?” Lorelei frowned. “What’s that?”

  “When a Kindred warrior—or in this case, two Kindred warriors, have bonding sex with a female, they form a mental and emotional bond with her,” Bound explained. “It allows the three of them to send and receive thoughts telepathically as well as to pick up on each others’ emotions.” He sighed, longing welling up inside him like water. “It’s a beautiful, deep connection which lasts a lifetime.”

  “It sounds…extremely intimate,” Lorelei murmured. “And the only way to achieve it is through…” She cleared her throat, her cheeks turning pink again. “Through bonding sex? What exactly is that?”

  “You don’t know?” Bound looked at her, somewhat surprised. “But you knew about dream-sharing when you thought I had come to claim you. And you seemed knowledgeable about other aspects of Kindred culture.”

  “Only because I’ve been interested in your people since I was a teenager and I really dug for information,” Lorelei said, sounding a bit defensive. “I only know what’s been published in magazines and websites and blogs. There’s this one called “Diary of a Kindred Bride” which is hilarious.” She sighed. “But the blogger is married to a Beast Kindred, not Twin Kindred. So…” She shrugged. “I don’t know everything I’d like to. You guys play a lot of your cards pretty close to the vest, you know.”

  “I don’t mind telling you,” Bound said, seeing that she thought she’d offended him. “I’m just surprised you don’t know.”

  “Well, I mean, it’s probably pretty obvious, right? You probably just, uh…” She cleared her throat. “One of you goes in the front and one in the, uh, back. Right?”

  “That’s one way we can make love to a female,” Bound said thoughtfully. “But it’s not how bonding sex is achieved.”

  “Is it one in the mouth and one in the—”

  “No,” he interrupted her before she could go on. “In order to bond with a female, both Torn and I would have to have our shafts to the hilt inside her pussy.”

  “All the way to the hilt? Wow, uh…I assume you take turns then, right?” Lorelei’s face was getting redder and redder.

  “No.” Bound shook his head. “It must be at the same time or the bond cannot form.”

  “But how is that possible?” Lorelei burst out. Her big brown eyes flicked down to his crotch and then away again quickly, as though she was afraid to be caught staring. “How could you both…fit?” she demanded.

  Bound smiled. “Not without help. We grow a certain kind of fruit called bonding fruit that helps a female open to accommodate us.”

  “Oh!” Lorelei snapped her fingers. “So that’s what Kat meant when she offered to set me up with some bonding fruit! Uh…” She cast a sidelong glance at Bound. “That was before I explained to her that you and I have a strictly business relationship.”

  “Of course,” Bound murmured. Not that he didn’t want more from the curvy little Elite. But how could he possibly ask for more when the fate of his brother was still undetermined? He literally could not bond with a female without Torn. It would be unfair to ask anyone—even a female as beautiful and understanding and perfect as Lorelei—to make a commitment to him without knowing what state the Dark Twin would be in when they got to him.

  They had flown through the fold long ago and now the proximity alert began beeping from the console.

  “Femalah in thirty parsecs,” proclaimed a mechanical-sounding voice.

  Lorelei’s eyes widened.

  “Wow, we’re here so soon?”

  “We are indeed.” Bound put the long-range shuttle into a wide orbit around the artificial moon and turned to Lorelei. “I’ve already secured us invitations to the sale—it’s an extremely exclusive affair in the downtown area where all the gentlewomen’s clubs are located. In fact, it’s being held at the Fren and Chulk club where only the wealthiest gentlewomen are members.”

  “Guess we’d better get dressed then, huh?” Lorelei sounded apprehensive. “So we can get on down to the Fren and Chulk. Wow, just rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?” She laughed nervously and repeated, “Fren and Chulk.”

  “You’re right, we should get dressed.” Engaging the autopilot, Bound unfastened his restraints and nodded at her. “Come on, let’s go.” He was fighting hard to control a mixture of nerves and excitement himself. After so long he was finally going to see his brother again! His other half was going to be restored to him! At least he hoped he was.

  Please Goddess, let it be so, he prayed as he and Lorelei went to get into the clothing Kat had prepared for them. Let me see him again soon and rescue him. And let him not be too changed for us to change him back. Please!

  Chapter Six

  The Femalian clothes that Kat had made for them were more than a little outlandish, Lorelei thought as she struggled into her outfit. The bottom part of it was skin-tight breeches with long vertical stripes of gray and black from hips to ankles and high heeled black boots with golden laces and tassels at the knees.

  That part wasn’t too bad, it was the top of the outfit which bothered her. On top, she had short, tight, deep red jacket. The sleeves of it came down over the tops of her hands but the back of it hit just around her bra-strap—or where her bra-strap would have been if she’d been wearing a bra. The jacket had a built-in belt with a shiny gold buckle just under her breasts. Its rounded collar fanned out, framing her breasts while leaving them bare—which wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d had a bra or a reasonably thick shirt on under the jacket. Unfortunately she didn’t.

  This was the part Lorelei really didn’t care for—under the jacket she was wearing only a thin, black mesh shirt, kind of like a long tank-top, which came down
and tucked into the tight breeches. Her full breasts and nipples could clearly be seen through the black mesh. Framed by the bright red jacket, they were like two bull’s-eyes—you literally couldn’t not look at them. The result was that Lorelei felt incredibly exposed and vulnerable.

  Kat had assured her there were much worse things she could be wearing.

  “Just be glad you’re not going to Yonnie Six, doll,” she’d told Lorelei. “The girls over there are not afraid to show some skin. At least you’re mostly covered.”

  Lorelei didn’t feel covered at all but what could she do? She and Bound had a part to play and the outlandish outfit was part of it. At least the short, tight jacket acted as a kind of bustier, which held her breasts up and kept them in place—she was way too big up top to go without a bra unless she had some kind of support.

  To complete her Femalah disguise, she had a pair of black leather fingerless gloves, a long cane with an ornate silver handle, and—most bizarre of all, at least in Lorelei’s opinion—a kind of top hat made of shiny purple satin. It had a gold hatband which matched the tassels on her boots and the buckle on her jacket and it fit her head perfectly. There were also two gold rings with golden star-shaped charms dangling from them. They didn’t fit very well over the fingerless gloves but Lorelei put them on anyway, jamming them onto her pinky fingers since Kat had neglected to say how she should wear them.

  She looked in the 3-D viewer and thought the exact same thing she had when she’d first tried on the strange get-up.

  “I feel like a cosplayer at a Steampunk convention,” she’d complained to Kat while trying the outfit on in the Mother Ship. “Either that or someone dressed for the Mad Hatter’s tea party.”

  “You know, you do look kind of Steampunk,” Kat had remarked, grinning. “Never mind—just wait until you see what Bound has to wear and you won’t feel so bad.”

  As she finished getting dressed, Lorelei was curious to see what her new friend had meant. What kind of clothing could the big Kindred be wearing that would be more outlandish than hers?

  Stepping out of the shuttle’s small bathroom, she went to find out.

  “My Lady are you out?” she heard Bound’s deep voice almost as soon as she closed the door.

  “Yes, I’m all ready—well, as ready as I’m going to get anyway.” Lorelei couldn’t help the uncertainty in her voice. She was about to go out and basically flash him—was it her imagination or was the black mesh shirt which covered her bare breasts even thinner and more transparent than when she’d tried it on with Kat? Nervously she crossed her arms over her breasts, trying to look casual about it.

  “I could use some help if you don’t mind, My Lady.” Bound’s voice was coming from the living area of the ship which was between the kitchen, or food prep area as the Kindred called it, and the spacious bedroom with a Twin-Kindred sized bed big enough for three.

  “Sure what can I do for…” Lorelei’s voice trailed off when she got to the living area and saw what he was wearing.

  It looked like a long leather kilt, dark brown with bands of pure gold running through it. The kilt started just below his muscular hips and fell to his feet at the back but it was shorter in the front—a lot shorter. Like a tea-length gown, Lorelei thought. But somehow the effect wasn’t in any way feminine. On his feet, Bound wore low brown boots with straps which criss-crossed over his muscular calves and buckled at the knee.

  His broad chest was bare but he wore a strange tight jacket a little like the one Lorelei had on. It had long, skin-tight, stretchy black sleeves which outlined his muscular arms nicely but it had no front at all. A narrow strip of fabric in the back which barely covered his shoulder blades connected the sleeves. Around his neck was a wide golden necklace, a broad band set with precious gems which started at his throat and came all the way down to his collar bones. Lorelei thought it looked like something a Pharaoh might wear in Ancient Egypt. In fact, the whole outfit seemed vaguely Egyptian.

  The clothing seemed designed to put his broad chest and muscular abdomen on display and she found she couldn’t help starting at him. God, he was gorgeous. And he looked so tall and imposing in the strange, alien outfit. So extremely—

  “My Lady, do you think you could help me with my makeup?”

  “What?” The big Kindred’s words pulled her out of her thoughts and Lorelei dragged her eyes from his six-pack abs up to his face. He was standing there frowning and holding out a black eye-liner pencil to her.

  “Forgive me,” he said. “Lady Kat said it was part of my disguise but I’m afraid I’ll poke my eye out.”

  “You’re supposed to wear guyliner?” Lorelei looked at him in disbelief.

  He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling with the gesture.

  “That is what Lady Kat told me. But…” he held out his hands. “I have no idea how to apply it.”

  “All right, let’s see what we can do. Have a seat on the couch—there’s no way I can reach you all the way up there,” Lorelei said, gesturing at the broad sofa which was built to Twin-Kindred dimensions, like the bed.

  Obediently, Bound sat on the couch and looked up at her.

  “My Lady,” he said quietly. “Are you covering yourself because of me?”

  Abruptly, Lorelei realized she still had her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

  “Um, well…this outfit makes me feel kind of…exposed,” she said, feeling the heat of a blush creep into her cheeks.

  “I’m exposed as well,” Bound pointed out. “We are in this together, as you humans say.”

  “Yes, I guess so. And I guess I can’t go all around Femalah trying to hide my cash and prizes—it would look pretty strange.”

  “Cash and prizes?” Bound looked puzzled. “That seems like a strange way to refer to your breasts, My Lady.”

  “Oh, we have lots of silly euphemisms for naughty bits,” Lorelei assured him. Sighing, she let her arms drop. “Boobs, tits, tatas, golden globes, sweater stretchers, snuggle puppies—”

  “Beautiful,” Bound breathed and she saw that his eyes were fixed on her breasts, which were held up by the bustier-like jacket and right at eye-level for him since he was sitting on the low couch and she was standing. “Full… luscious…gorgeous,” he murmured.

  “Um…” Lorelei felt herself blushing again, this time with pleasure. Under any other circumstances, she wouldn’t have wanted a man she’d known less than two days staring at her nearly bare breasts. But Bound’s gaze was openly admiring and having those intense blue eyes, now half-lidded with desire, looking at her gave her a naughty little tingle between her legs.

  At last the big Kindred dragged his gaze upward.

  “Forgive me, my lady,” he breathed. “I have…not been privileged to see an Elite in such an…intimate way before. Your beautiful body takes my breath away.”

  Lorelei wasn’t used to being paid such lavish compliments and she certainly wasn’t used to having her body admired as anything special. In fact, she’d spent most of her life trying to cover it up. To know that a big, handsome Kindred warrior who looked like he could be a male model thought she was beautiful did something to her insides and made her heart pound.

  Still, Bound had said he wasn’t interested in her sexually and he didn’t intend to claim her. Maybe she’d better just try to keep on track and ignore the tension that seemed to have risen between them.

  “Thank you for the lovely compliment,” she said, clearing her throat. “But, uh, maybe we should try to get back to the mission.”

  “Of course. Forgive me.” Bound looked chastened. “For a moment your beauty made me forget everything else.”

  “Even your brother?” Lorelei couldn’t help asking. Bound’s twin was, after all, the whole reason they were there.

  “No, not Torn—I could never forget him,” he murmured. “I was wishing he could see you as I do—that we could enjoy the sight of your…what did you call them—snuggle puppies—together.”

  Lorelei couldn’t help laughing
at this and Bound shook his head and frowned.

  “Forgive me, what did I say that was funny? Didn’t you tell me that was a term which human women call their breasts?”

  “Most of those euphemisms are just silly names,” Lorelei told him. “I mean, you wouldn’t go up to a human woman and say, ‘I want to suck your snuggle puppies.’ Breasts is a better word.”

  “So…it would be all right to say I want to suck your breasts?” Bound inquired in a deep voice, his eyes half-lidded again. “That I wish I could take your tight nipples between my lips and bring you pleasure with my mouth?”

  “You…you could say that, yes.” Lorelei’s breath was suddenly coming short. “I mean if you were…were in a sexual situation. Which we’re not.”

  “Of course not. Forgive me.” He settled back on the couch. “I suppose we should get back to my makeup?”

  “I suppose so. Here, lean up a little and let me get to you.”

  Bound complied and Lorelei stepped between his spread thighs, trying not to notice how this position put her breasts, covered only in the thin mesh top, almost right on the level with his mouth. His soft, hot words about longing to suck her breasts kept ringing in her ears.

  Wonder what it would feel like if he put out his tongue and licked one of my nipples, right through the lace? whispered a naughty little voice in her head. Or maybe just sucked it into his mouth and—

  No! Stop it! she told herself sternly. Concentrate on the guyliner—do what has to be done and stop thinking how sinfully sexy he looks in his alien Pharaoh outfit.

  Setting her mind to the task at hand, she cupped his square jaw in her left palm, noticing the slight scratch of his dark blond whiskers against her fingers. Just touching him made her heart pound but she tried to keep her voice dry and businesslike as she asked,

  “Okay, do we know what we’re going for here? Is it supposed to be subtle or heavy or what?”

  “According to Lady Kat, ‘the thicker, the better,’” Bound rumbled. “I don’t think the Femalians are very subtle people.”