“They need baths, too.” Jade took Kindara’s hand and pulled her away from Rathan. Kindara didn’t object and that told him more than anything how exhausted she was. “I’ll show you to the guest suites. They share a bathroom, but there is a walk-in shower and a separate bath area. It’s nice.”
Rathan started to protest, but stopped. How could he tell sweet, innocent Jade that Kindara was to be put in his rooms? What would his female say to that? It was better not to risk it. He’d just wait until the house was quiet for the night, then carry her to where she belonged. “Kindara...”
“Yes?” She looked at him and he stepped closer, bending down to whisper so Jade could not hear.
“She is Josey’s sister and very young. Don’t do or say anything that may upset her. And no feeding from her, either. Please?”
“Provided you keep your bargain.”
“I am a demon of honor, pet. Of course I’ll keep my word.” Until she changed her mind and released him from his vow--as soon as he could convince her to do just that. “Take your bath; I’ll bring food to you. You’ll sleep in a bed this evening, with actual silk sheets and blankets.” His sheets, his bed, his body keeping her warm through the night.
****
Kindara followed the young woman through the ornate cabin that was unlike any home she’d ever been in. The hotel she lived in did double duty as her people’s government building, but this structure was a true showcase of wealth. Not that her people weren’t wealthy--they just chose not to display it so openly. Jade kept up a running conversation with Jierra, though Jierra answered in monosyllables.
Jade led Jierra into the bedroom suite first, obviously sensing that Jierra was closer to exhaustion than Kindara. Jierra thanked her and slipped into attached bath. That left Kindara with her sister-in-law’s younger sister. Jade favored Josey, though the blonde hair was a shade or two lighter, longer, and curled in a mass of crinks. She was a very pretty girl, no older than twenty or twenty-one.
Jade studied Kindara for a moment. “You’re different, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not human. Either of you. But you’re not like my cousin or like Rathan, either.” Jade pulled two pairs of pajamas out of a drawer and handed them to Kindara. “These are my cousin Mickey’s. I don’t think she’ll mind if you and your friend borrow them. So what are you?”
“And just what do you think your cousin and Rathan are?” The one thing that all beings in the Kind agreed on was that humans should not know about them, if at all possible. The human numbers were astronomical compared to those of the other Kind. If they were known about it could prove dangerous. What could this child have learned about their peoples and from whom?
“I’ve given it a lot of thought. Rand is a werewolf, just like my dad is. I don’t know what Rathan is, but sometimes when he gets mad you can almost smell sulfur, and sometimes his eyes turn red.” Jade sank onto a plush white loveseat and stared at Kindara. “But I don’t know what you are.”
There was something about this girl that had Kindara smiling inside. She reminded her of Jierra in a playful mood or when she was excited about something. “And how do you know your cousin and father are werewolves? And how do you know I am different?”
“Because I sense these things. I always have. Some people are just different. I have a friend at Colorado State who claims to be a witch. Not a Wiccan, but an actual witch.”
“Is she?”
“Hmmm. I’ve watched her do a few rituals, I guess you’d call them. She’s different, too.” Jade’s eyes narrowed. “But not like you different.”
“Honey, does your dad or your cousin know what you think?”
“No. I think it would bother them if I told them that I know.”
“I think you should talk to your cousin, soon.” Kindara frowned. With the girl’s sister being Dardaptoan and her cousin Lupoiux, the girl would have to be told eventually.
“I’m right, aren’t I?” The girl practically vibrated with excitement. “You are different.”
“Jade,” Kindara sighed. This was so not her place, but she sensed the girl wouldn’t give up. And the last thing Kindara wanted was her grilling Jierra. Her daughter wouldn’t know how to answer and would be too exhausted and mentally drained to resist the girl’s questions for long. “Some people, some races or species I guess you can call them, are different. They’re more than human. Your friend sounds like she may be one of them. Your cousin is one of them. Rathan, too. But it’s not my place to tell you more. That’s something you need to hear from family.”
Jade studied her. “Just how old are you? You talk like a parent yet you don’t look any older than thirty.”
“I am a parent.” Kindara nodded in Jierra’s direction. “That’s my little girl. And I’m over four hundred years old. Now, I really need a shower and sleep.”
“Why are you with Rand and Rathan?”
The questions with this girl never ended and Kindara felt a rush of humorous sympathy for the girl’s parents. Her father, rather; hadn’t Josey told her that the girls’ mother had abandoned them several years ago? That was one thing Kindara didn’t understand—no Dardaptoan would abandoned their child. It just wasn’t done. “That’s something else you’ll have to ask your cousin. I promised I wouldn’t discuss it.”
“Darn it, now I’ll never get any answers.”
“Have you tried just asking them?”
“No. I’ve always tried to work up to it, or work around it.” Jade hopped to her feet just as Jierra returned, clean and wrapped in a towel. Kindara handed her daughter a pair of the strange human pajamas. “I’ll do that now. While you’re in the shower. I’ll just ask them flat-out if their werewolves.”
“You do that.”
****
Rathan waited until the females were out of his sight before turning to the wolf. “We need to alter our plan.”
“I still want them dead.” Rand’s rage was a quiet fire in his words. “They took my sisters and cousins. Do you know how terrified they probably were?”
“Probably as terrified as Kindara’s daughter was, is. Or as Kindara was when she realized who you were. We were wrong to take them.”
“I’m not giving her back. She’s staying here.”
“For how long? You want her angry and terrified of you for centuries? That’s how long she’ll live, how long you’ll live. You want to keep her prisoner that long?”
Rand’s eyes blazed. “That’s our business, not yours.”
“It became my business the instant I decided to claim her mother as consort. That makes Jierra near as my child without blood. And I can only say I hope the Dardaptoans treated Mickey and Josey and the others better than we’ve treated our captives.”
“So you are saying we should just give them back? And what...let Mickey and the others stay there? Give up their entire lives to be with these bastards?”
“I say we simply let them have a choice. If we follow our original plan and kill the Dardaptoans, who do you think that will hurt the most? Your sisters and cousins. The bond between Dardaptoan Rajnis are incredible; they are just as strong as Lupoiux bonds. To break one would be horribly painful. Almost excruciating. Do you want to do that to your sisters?”
“Do what to his sisters?” A feminine voice had them both jerking to face the stairs. “Where are his sisters? Where’s mine? And what’s a Dardaptoan and why were you planning to kill some?”
Rathan looked between Rand and his cousin. They hadn’t sensed her presence, but Rathan had long accepted that this particular Taniss female had the ability to mask her presence in a way most humans didn’t.
“It’s nothing, Jadie. Just go on up to bed.” Rand settled on the leather couch and tried to look casual.
“No. I don’t think I will. Something is going on, something besides our sisters being kidnapped. Who are those women and why did you bring them here?” Jade had the stubborn look that Rathan recognized. Most of the Taniss females s
hared that look and were near on impossible to budge from their goals.
When Rand remained silent, Jade stalked to him and stood arms crossed over him. “Look I know you’re a werewolf and so is my dad. I figured that out back when I was like ten, so that doesn’t surprise me. And Rathan is obviously not human, although I can’t figure out what he is. Is he a Dardaptoan?”
Rathan hadn’t been surprised by someone like this in a long time. “You’ll have to tell her. If not she’ll just try to find the answers on her own.” And if a member of the Kind found out about her curiosity, they would eliminate her to protect their peoples. “And that will be dangerous.”
“What is a Dardaptoan?”
Rand sighed. “First, you need to understand that what I tell you can’t be repeated.”
“Big surprise.” Jade rolled her eyes before settling on the couch across from her cousin. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“I am a werewolf, a Lupoiux. We’ve existed since before humans,” Rand said.
“How did you end up being a wolf?”
“Your dad took me camping when I was eight. We were attacked and bitten. A month later your dad turned into a wolf. I first turned when I was sixteen.”
“So the werewolf legends are true.”
“Yes.” Rand told her more, explaining about Dardaptoans and the other Kinds before answering all the girl’s other questions.
“So who are those women? And where are Josey and the others?”
“Those women are Dardaptoan.” Rathan figured it would be better for him to explain the events leading up to Kindara and her daughter’s presence than Rand. Rand’s anger was still palpable when he mentioned Dardaptoans. “Your sister and cousins were taken by the Dardaptoans.”
“Why?”
“Your grandfather has been hunting Dardaptoans for decades and has...hurt...many of them.” Rathan remembered the scars marring his female’s body, thought of the tattoo on her daughter’s skin, and his own anger rose. “Josey and the others were taken to...lure...him out.”
“And it hasn’t worked? They’ve not hurt them, have they?”
“Not that we think. Dardaptoans have something a little different than a human courtship. They find the one they are destined for and keep them. They can also convert humans, just like Lupoiux can. I don’t know how, though, so no questions about that. But Kindara said--she’s the blonde woman upstairs--that your sister and cousins were all converted. And all were mated.”
“Wow. So they’re ok? Why did you bring those two women here?”
“We...took...them...” How did he tell this child they’d kidnapped and terrorized them?
“So you did the same thing the Dardaptoans did.” Jade frowned at them. “So now what, are more Dardaptoans going to come and take me, or Becca, or Cass? And then you go take more of them?”
“We’re not exactly sure what’s going to happen now. Rand and I need to discuss some things. We didn’t know Emily was mated to the Dardaptoan king, or...”
“Remember, Rathan, two kidnappings do not make it right! You and Rand need to fix this somehow. Bring our girls home and send those two back! And if they have a problem with Grandfather I say give them the old creep. We certainly don’t need him.”
****
Kindara sat by Jierra’s bedside watching her sleep like she’d done when Jierra was sick as a child. Her daughter was young now, but a child no longer. She’d cried herself to sleep, and nothing Kindara could do settled her. Damn that wolf. If he wasn’t her daughter’s Rajni, Kindara wouldn’t rest until he was dead. But she’d never do that to her daughter.
Her daughter already loved him; it was the nature of the Rajni bond. Jierra already loved the babes growing within her, too. She’d just need time to adjust to the changes the wolf had forced upon her.
Kindara stood, brushed a hand over her daughter’s hair, then crawled into the second bed. She was just as exhausted, felt horribly weak, and even though she was in the home of the enemy, all she wanted was to sleep. She’d deal with everything else in the morning.
****
Rathan stared down at his female as she lay curled on the guest bed. Exhaustion was clear in the dark circles beneath her eyes, but now she was clean and dressed in flannel pajamas. She looked so deceptively young and sweet. He swept her into his arms as carefully as he could. He wanted her in his bed, though he doubted he’d wake her long enough to feed from her. She slept so deeply.
His suite of rooms was on the top floor and he carried her there, depositing her in the center of his bed. He stripped off his clothing, then slid in beside her. She snuggled into him, resting her head on his chest like they’d slept together a thousand times before, instead of a handful.
He closed his eyes and gently slipped into her dreams.
Chapter Nine
Kindara stared up at the red and black canopy over her head. It hadn’t been there when she’d slipped into sleep. The demon hadn’t been wrapped around her, either. He lay quietly, staring at her.
“This wasn’t part of our deal.”
“Our deal was you’d feed me until you went home.”
“No, it was that I’d feed you until you took me to my daughter. You’ve done that. And I’ve held up my end of the bargain.” Kindara pushed the blankets aside and sat up. “Now I want to contact my brother and have him come get us.”
“He’s already been contacted. He and your king.”
“And?” Kindara evaded the hands sneaking around her waist. “Stop that.”
“The king was made an offer. He could bring two of Rand’s relatives here by noon today, and we’d discuss a truce. Or a trade.” His eyes flashed once before he sprung at her. He knocked her flat against her pillow. His lips covered hers and his fingers sank into her hair. His other hand dropped to the front of her shirt, and began flicking open buttons. He pulled back to stare at her. “But I’ve decided not to trade you back.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I’ve decided to keep you.” He grinned, his eyes telling her exactly what he wanted from her.
“What about your vow? Won’t you die if you break it?”
“Absolutely not. Just be a bit painful for a few years. But you...I’ve decided you’re worth the pain.” He pushed the pajama top off her shoulders. His hand dropped to cover her breast. “Now, feed me. I’m starved for you. And I think you want me, too.”
His tongue flicked against her skin and she released an involuntary shiver. “Let me up, demon.”
“Not yet.” He nipped at her neck and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders to bring him closer. “Yes, you do like that, don’t you?” His teeth brushed her pulse again and Kindara gasped. He laughed as he started to push her pajama bottoms down her hips. “What would you do if I bit you here?”
He did just that, and white-hot pleasure shot through her. He didn’t take her blood, demons had no need for that, but his teeth and tongue on her skin had her skating close to the edge quicker than she’d ever thought possible. She whimpered and parted her knees, letting him settle against her. “Please...”
“Please, what? Do it again? You have to do something for me, pet...”
“What?”
“I want you to do the same to me.”
She nodded, anything for him to continue. He kissed her, hard, then dropped his head back down to her neck. He ran his tongue over her skin, once, twice. Then he guided her mouth to his neck and tilted his head back to allow her access. Kindara knew what he wanted.
His blood called out to her, his pulse frantic against her lips. Gods, she was hungry, starved for what he could offer. His hand slipped between her thighs, touching damp feminine skin, slid deep to tease her. Kindara bit down, hard, and the rush of a blood unlike any other she’d ever tasted filled her mouth.
She vaguely heard his triumphant laugh as he spread her legs wide enough to make room for himself. He filled her, taking from her while she fed from him.
****
Rathan had n
ever felt anything like it, though he had fed Dardaptoan women in the past. Her lips pulled at his flesh, milking him for what she needed. Her eyes were closed, a look of intense pleasure on her pretty face. He stroked her until both his body and hers had calmed. She still didn’t release his neck, though he sensed she wasn’t feeding as voraciously now. Not that it mattered, as a demon he had an unlimited blood supply and could give her whatever she wanted. Now she suckled him like a child would a piece of candy. Finally, she pulled back, seemed to become aware of where she was and what had just happened. Her eyes clouded, and she shot a fist toward his face.
He grabbed it and placed a kiss upon her knuckles. “Did you get enough?”
“Did you? I told you I wasn’t going to feed you again!”
“But I fed you this time, too.” Made her take his blood, his slightly addictive blood. Every other host she found would pale compared to him. “Didn’t you enjoy it?”
“I wasn’t ever going to feed from a living host again!”
The pain in her words had his attention sharpening. “Why?”
“Because I made a vow!”
“Tell me.” He pulled her against his chest, then pulled the blankets up to cover them both. “Tell me why you fight what is natural to your people.”
“Because I got him killed!”
“How? I thought Taniss killed him.” Rathan kept his tone as gentle as possible. “Tell me, Kindara.”
“I was hungry and we went out hunting. Iavius, his brother and sister, and me. I was so hungry, from the babe. We were feeding and didn’t realize it was a trap. It was my fault, if I hadn’t wanted to go out that night, Iavius and his sister would still be alive. My baby would still be alive. I made a promise I’d never take blood from any living being ever again. And I haven’t. Until now.”
“You aren’t responsible for what Taniss did, pet. He is. Had it not been you and your family he caught, it would have been others.” Rathan silently reaffirmed his vow to kill the old man, only now he decided to make it as painful as he possibly could. He’d extract revenge for his female. “Feeding or not feeding from a living host will not atone for a crime you aren’t guilty of. And I freely offer whatever you need.”
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