Awakened by the Giant

by Evangeline Anderson

  “So you’ll see him?” Liv lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

  “No, I’m fine.” Maddy nodded decisively. “I can handle it. You can send him in.”

  “I’ll have to get him down here first,” Liv said. “The poor guy was dead on his feet—I sent him to his guest suite to sleep a little. But he’ll come rushing back the minute you call, I’m sure.”

  “Okay, then.” Feeling a sudden flutter of nerves in her stomach, Maddy perched on the edge of the bed. “I’ll just…just wait here then.”

  “You do that.” Liv gave her a warm smile. “I have a feeling this is all going to work out—you’ll see.”

  Then she left and Maddy didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt the flutter of nerves again and realized that she wasn’t just nervous—she was hungry. Well, she still had plenty of cupcakes left, so that was all right.

  But it wasn’t the cupcakes that caught her eye when she looked at the little table to the right of her bed. It was the golden, peachy-pink cube fruits that seemed to call her name.

  As though it sensed her looking at it, the little plant’s silvery-green leaves rustled and the sweet scent of the fruit intensified.

  God, those really do look amazing, Maddy thought. But should she eat a fruit from Calden’s home world? Would it be safe? Well, Kat had certainly seemed to think so. She’d picked one of the fruits and taken it home to try, Maddy reasoned with herself. And besides, it smelled so good.

  She put out a hand, only meaning to caress the little plant’s leaves and was surprised when one of the cube fruits fell directly into her palm.

  “Oh!” Maddy looked at it in surprise. It was soft and warm, as though the little plant was growing in warm sunlight instead of the temperature-controlled environment of the Mother Ship. Intrigued, she brought it to her nose to smell and was overwhelmed by the sweet-tart aroma, something like a cross between ripe peaches and fresh mangos with a little hint of strawberry thrown in.

  Before she knew what she was doing, Maddy had taken a bite, right out of one strangely rounded corner of the fruit. Flavor exploded across her tongue—even better than the luscious chocolate cupcake Lauren had made her. The fruit tasted like it smelled—a mixture of peaches, mangos, and strawberries—with just a hint of something salty mixed in. Maddy frowned. Was that…buttered popcorn? That was crazy, right? But that was what it tasted like and the little bit of buttery-salty flavor seemed to enhance the sweet juiciness of the fruit.

  It was so good that Maddy ate it down to the seeds and stem—which she wrapped neatly in a napkin—and then reached for another…and then another. She was about to grab her fourth when the door opened and Kat came bursting into her room.

  “Oh, Kat!” Maddy was surprised but pleased to see her new friend. The fact that she was also a plus-sized redhead made her feel especially comfortable with the other girl.

  But Kat wasn’t looking nearly as relaxed as she had the first time Maddy had met her. Her hair was mussed as though someone had been running their hands through it and her clothes were disheveled.

  “Did you come to see how the dress fits me?” Tucking the napkin with the seeds and stems of the cube fruit behind the planter, she rose to display the green dress Kat had made her. “Because it’s wonderful—thank you so much!”

  “I didn’t come to see the gown, although it really does look great on you.” Kat gave her a distracted smile. “I just came to say, whatever you do, doll—don’t eat that fruit!”

  “What? Oh, no—why?” Maddy exclaimed, looking at the little plant, which still had plenty of the peachy cube fruit left on its branches. “Is it some kind of poison?”

  “Not poison—just incredibly concentrated,” Kat said grimly. “I’ve never had bonding fruit that strong—not even when I boiled it down to make concentrate.” She shook her head. “It made me so horny I thought I was going to die.”

  “It what?” Maddy shook her head, confused. “But…how can that be? Fruit can’t make you, uh, horny.”

  “Bonding fruit can!” Kat exclaimed. “That’s its whole purpose—well, other than making you stretchy enough to accommodate a Kindred who’s hung like a Clydesdale.”

  “What?” Maddy was shocked. Why hadn’t Calden told her what the fruit would do to her? Then again, the plant really hadn’t had fruit until recently and it had only become ripe since they had gotten to the Mother Ship. Still, he should have given her some idea…

  Then she remembered him hinting that he might have a way for them to get bonded and saying something like “I don’t want to tell you yet—I don’t want you to get upset if the idea doesn’t bear fruit…”

  Bear fruit—that’s exactly what he said! He must have meant the fruit on the plant, Maddy suddenly realized. But God, she wished he’d told her instead of being so mysterious about it!

  “What would happen to me if…if I ate that fruit?” she asked Kat, still not sure if she ought to admit to eating it.

  “Probably exactly what happened to me. Why do you think I look like this?” Kat motioned to her disheveled clothes and messed up hair. “I just came from a marathon sex session with my guys! We had to hire an emergency babysitter and everything to watch the boys—I absolutely couldn’t wait!”

  “Your…guys? Plural?” Maddy asked faintly.

  “Oh, I forgot you don’t know much about our kind of Kindred yet. I’m married to Twin Kindred—twin brothers who mate with the same woman—and I’m damn lucky I am,” Kat said. “I don’t know if one guy alone could have satisfied me—well, unless he was truly enormous in the schlong department."

  Maddy thought of how big Calden’s equipment was and found herself blushing.

  “Oh, um…all right,” she said weakly.

  “Anyway, I thought about calling you by Think-me but I didn’t want to freak you out by speaking directly into your head,” Kat went on. “My suite isn’t far from here so I thought I’d run over and warn you. I know you said you hadn’t eaten one yet so I hope I got to you in time.” She looked at Maddy anxiously. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Oh yes,” Maddy said quickly, though she couldn’t exactly say why she was lying. Maybe because it was embarrassing to admit she’d eaten not one, not two, but three of the dangerous fruit. Still…she didn’t feel any different. Maybe the fruit didn’t affect everyone the same. Maybe she would be just fine.

  I probably will, Maddy thought. I’ve never had any food allergies before. Maybe Kat is just sensitive to that kind of fruit.

  “Okay, well…whew.” Kat mimed wiping sweat off her forehead. “I’m glad I caught you before you ate one. That could have been a big problem for you, especially since you’re on the outs with your guy at the moment.” She frowned. “Did you two ever make up?”

  “No, but I agreed to talk to him at least,” Maddy said cautiously. “In fact, Liv is getting him right now.”

  “Oh—then I’d better leave you alone!” Kat exclaimed. “Anyway, I need to get back to my own guys…I think I feel round two coming on. Man, that stuff is strong!” She eyed the little plant with its laden branches and shook her head ruefully.

  The plant rustled and for a moment, Maddy almost got the idea that it was laughing. Which was crazy, right? It wasn’t like a plant could laugh or think or tempt someone with its fruit…right?

  Right, she told herself firmly. And anyway, the fruit didn’t have any affect on me.

  “You better go get your, uh, situation taken care of,” she told Kat. “Thank you for warning me—and thanks again for the amazing dress.”

  “You’re welcome, doll—you look great in it.” Kat gave her a somewhat forced smile. “Okay, I really have to go now. Just keep away from that fruit and stick to Lauren’s cupcakes—they’re way safer!” Then she hurried out of the room, almost as quickly as she’d come into it, leaving Maddy to look at the door in bemused silence.

  Twenty

  Maddy didn’t have long to sit by herself. Only a few moments after Kat had made her r
ather hasty exit there was a soft knock on the door.

  “Come in,” she said and felt her heart flutter when it opened and Calden came in.

  He stood in the doorway for a moment, filling it with his huge, muscular frame as though he wasn’t certain if she really wanted him inside the room with her.

  Maddy saw, to her surprise, that he had taken his long hair out of its many braids. It was pulled back from his high forehead and banded at the back of his neck where it fell in a silky, dark waterfall to the small of his back.

  He was dressed differently too—in what seemed to be the uniform of the Kindred aboard the Mother Ship. He was wearing tight black leather pants and a silky, dark crimson long-sleeved shirt made out of some heavy, satiny material that looked amazing with his skin color and topaz eyes. High leather boots completed the outfit.

  God, he looked good enough to eat! But Maddy tried to stifle the thought and push it away from her. She and the big Kindred needed to have a serious discussion to decide if they even belonged in each other’s lives anymore. She didn’t need to be thinking naughty thoughts about him while she was trying to make serious life choices.

  “Madeline?” he said uncertainly. “Olivia said that you would see me.”

  “Yes, I…I’ll see you.” Maddy tried to quiet the butterflies in her stomach as she sat up straighter on the side of the bed and lifted her chin. “I think you and I need to talk.”

  “Of course.” Calden shut the door behind him and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed to sit by her. Snuffy ran over to him, trumpeting excitedly and Calden stroked the little brantha gently to calm him down. “I know you’re upset with me,” he began but Maddy didn’t let him finish.

  “Of course I’m upset with you! Why didn’t you tell me I was a clone?” she exclaimed.

  “I thought about it many times,” he admitted. “At first I didn’t want to add to your emotional distress and later I told myself I wanted to make certain your future aboard the Mentat station was secured before I revealed the whole truth to you.” He shook his head. “I should have moved your original body, though—there is no excuse for that.”

  “No, there isn’t!” Maddy said severely. “Looking down at myself, lying in that drawer was one of the worst moments of my life. It brought back…well, everything.”

  “Everything? What do you mean? Did your lost memories suddenly resurface?” Calden sounded both interested and concerned.

  Maddy nodded. “Yes. I remembered…remembered how I died, Calden.” She had to blink back tears at the thought. “And I remembered that Pierce was…was cheating on me. I found out just minutes before one of the huge terraformers crushed me.”

  “Oh Madeline…” He reached for her, putting a hand on her arm over the sleeve of her green dress and squeezed gently before pulling away. “I am so sorry.”

  “I am too. But now I know why I could never feel as bad about his death as I wanted to.” She sighed and dashed the tears from her eyes. “I don’t mean he deserved to die, but he was a cheating bastard and I refuse to waste one more minute feeling sorry that he’s gone.”

  “I’m glad that your returned memories at least brought you some emotional closure about your past mate,” Calden said neutrally. “But I am sorry that I didn’t tell you the truth about yourself. Can you ever forgive me, Madeline? I should have let you know that I had awakened you to second life.”

  “I’m trying…” Maddy bit her lip and looked down. “Did you really only clone me once? Not over and over again?”

  “Only once—I swear it.” His deep voice was hoarse with sincerity. “Please believe me, Madeline, I would never toy with you in that way. It would be…despicable. Unthinkable.” He shook his head.

  “So…you only cloned me once and you, uh, started having feelings for me?” Maddy asked.

  “It might be more accurate to say I started having feelings period,” Calden said quietly. “Emotions were supposed to be forbidden aboard the Mentat station, you know. I tried so hard to suppress mine but it was getting more and more difficult…” He sighed and scratched Snuffy’s head. “I remember the first time the littlest brantha died in my arms, I locked myself into my fresher where no one could see me and wept.”

  “You did?” Maddy felt her heart give a little throb in her chest. One of the things that had bothered her the most about Calden was the fact that he’d known about the self-termination units implanted in his animal specimens and it hadn’t seemed to bother him that they were eventually going to die. Now she saw that wasn’t true at all.

  He nodded. “I knew it was wrong—well, thought it was wrong—but I couldn’t help myself. I think that was the beginning of the end for me—the end of my emotional detachment. There was already a crack in the walls I had built around my heart and when you came…” He shook his head. “Well, you demolished them entirely, Madeline.”

  “Oh, Calden…” Maddy couldn’t help herself. She reached for his big hand, wanting to touch him again—hungry for his warmth.

  But the moment her bare skin met his, an electric tingle seemed to run through her entire body.

  “Oh!” Maddy jumped back, feeling like her entire body was throbbing with the after-effect of the strange shock. “What was that?”

  “What was what?” Calden looked mystified.

  “You mean you didn’t feel it? When I touched you it was like I’d put my finger in a light socket!” Though not exactly in a bad way, she had to acknowledge. In fact, it had been almost…pleasurable. Which sounded really strange—how could getting shocked feel good? But she had to admit, she could still feel the tingling effects in her nipples and pussy.

  He shook his head. “I didn’t feel anything but your skin on mine.”

  Maddy frowned and held out her hand.

  “Here—try it again.”

  Obligingly, the big Kindred took her hand in his.

  “Oh…” Maddy whispered. This time the sensation wasn’t so much a shock as a warm current of lust that ran through her entire body, bathing her like hot, sensuous water that drenched her to the core.

  Drenched is right… She could feel how hot and wet her pussy was suddenly getting. The sensation made her shift uncomfortably on the side of the bed. God, what was happening to her?

  “Madeline? Are you well?” Calden was looking at her intently, his eyes fixed on her face. “You seem…restless.”

  Maddy tried to laugh. “I think I’ve just been cooped up in this room, brooding for too long.”

  “Wondering if you could forgive me or not?” he asked in a low voice. “Because if you can’t, then I think it’s best that I go.”

  “Go? Go where?” Maddy felt a sudden stab of fear. “What are you talking about?”

  “I would go back through the wormhole and try to find my own people again.” He shrugged. “I doubt I could reach them—they’re probably light years away from where they started. But if you don’t want me in your life, there is no reason for me to stay here, Madeline.”

  “No—Calden, please don’t go!” Somehow Maddy found that she was off the bed and into his arms and he was holding her on his lap as he had back at the Mentat station. The tingling got stronger but she didn’t care—just the thought of a life without him was too much to stand. It made her feel desperate to have his strong arms around her, to feel his muscular body pressed to her much smaller one.

  “Oh, nieka,” he rumbled, gathering her close to his chest. “Gods, I’ve missed you. I was so afraid I’d driven you away forever.”

  “No, just for a little while,” Maddy said breathlessly. “Back when I thought…thought you didn’t really care about me.”

  “But I do.” Calden looked at her earnestly. “Madeline, I love you—love you with my whole heart. I want to be with you always.”

  “I…I want that too,” Maddy confessed and felt the electrical tingle of pleasure run through her again, making her feel overheated and sensitive all over. “God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” she exclaimed, look
ing at Calden. “I feel so…so hot all of a sudden.”

  He frowned and pulled back to study her.

  “Your cheeks are flushed and your pupils are dilated. Did the physicians give you some kind of medication you’ve never had before? Or did you eat or drink something new?”

  “No, of course not. I—” Maddy stopped abruptly as her eyes fell on the silvery-green leaves of the little plant by her bedside. “Oh my God, Calden,” she whispered uneasily.

  “What? What is it?” He was looking extremely anxious now. “I nearly lost you once, Madeline—I won’t risk it again. Please tell me what it is—maybe we should call a doctor!”

  “I don’t think I need a doctor,” Maddy protested. “But I did eat something I’ve never had before.” She pointed to the plant.

  Calden’s topaz eyes widened.

  “You ate bonding fruit?”

  “Well…yes.” Maddy frowned. “Wasn’t that what you intended when you gave Liv the plant to give to me?”

  He shook his head. “I swear the fruit wasn’t quite ripe when I asked her to bring it in. I just wanted you to be reminded of me—of us. I never meant for you to eat the fruit before we were ready.” He frowned. “How many of them did you eat, Madeline?”

  Maddy bit her lip and looked down at her hands.

  “Three,” she said in a small voice.

  “Three?” Calden exclaimed.

  “There’s no point in getting mad about it,” Maddy said defensively. “You should have told me what the effects could be!”

  He sighed and nodded. “I’m not angry, just worried. And you’re right—it’s another thing I shouldn’t have kept from you. But I didn’t want you to be disappointed if the plant never came into fruit.”

  “I didn’t think it was affecting me at all,” Maddy confessed. “But the minute I touched your hand, I…” She shook her head. “Calden, I’m beginning to feel really overheated and, uh, needy here. Can…can you help me?”