Chained (Brides of the Kindred) (19 page)

Chapter Fourteen

“Lady Pope’nose, if you would walk this
way…” The master of the spa led Maggie and the rest of the mistresses from the
rondula out of the large banquet hall. The other ladies and their slaves formed
an eager group behind them and Kor found it easy enough to take Maggie’s arm
and hang back a little bit. Soon they were walking at the back of the small
crowd instead of the front which was exactly what he wanted—a little privacy.

“Maggie,” he said softly, speaking in a
low voice for her ears only. “I think we should talk.”

“Talk about what?” She gave him a quick,
nervous glance. “About what just happened in the uh, banquet hall? Because I
really think—”

“No, not about that,” Kor said, although
making her come and hearing her moan so sweetly just for him certainly had some
bearing on what he wanted to say.

“What do you want to talk about, then?”
Maggie still sounded nervous.

“About the future.” He took a deep breath.
“I think we should stay together.”

“What?” She stopped walking and turned to
face him. “What do you mean? We
are
together.”

“No, I mean after the spa.” Kor took her
hand, entwining their fingers. “This uncharted world you’re going to—it doesn’t
sound safe.”

Maggie lifted her chin. “I’m
not
giving up Gaia—it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to do research on an
untouched world. I’ve already postponed it long enough.”

“For which I’m very grateful,” Kor
murmured. He brushed a stray curl away from her face. “Since you postponed it
to rescue me.”

“I didn’t actually mean to do that, you
know.” She was blushing in that adorable way she had. Kor’s heart squeezed like
a fist in his chest—Gods, what was it about this little female? Why was he so
unwilling to be parted from her?

“I know that,” he said softly. And I didn’t
say you should give up your research trip. Just that I should come with you.”

“You want to…to come with me?” Maggie bit
her lip. “Why? I thought you just wanted to go off on your own.”

“Well, I don’t,” Kor said. “Not anymore.”
He sighed. “Look, blondie, I just…I don’t like the idea of you going off to
some wild, dangerous planet with nobody to look after you.”

She frowned. “I’m perfectly able to look
after myself, thank you very much.”

“Of course you are,” Kor said dryly. “As
long as you don’t trip and fall headfirst into a pit or step into an active
volcano by accident.”

Her cheeks got even redder. “All right. I
know I’m somewhat…uncoordinated when it comes to social situations. But when
I’m out in the field, in my element and doing research I can be almost…well,
not exactly graceful but not as clumsy either.”

“I don’t give a damn if you’re clumsy,” Kor
said roughly. “What I care about is keeping you safe.”
Keeping you by me.
But
he didn’t say that out loud—no point scaring her off. “Look,” he said. “What if
there are wild beasts or some other form of intelligent but hostile life? Who’s
going to look out for you—those other two Kindred scientists you told me
about?”

“Ferna and Ratner have their own research
to do,” Maggie said. “We can all look after ourselves.”

“Not you,” he murmured. “Because I’ll be
there for that—there to look after you.”

She took a deep breath. “Look, Kor, is
this because of what just, uh, happened during the…the Pleasuring?”

Kor shifted uncomfortably. It was true he
had felt something growing between them when he had touched her and made her
come. But he couldn’t admit that to Maggie—hell, he could barely admit it to
himself! It was stupid to want to stay with the little female, stupid to give
up his chance to put an entire galaxy between himself and Yonnie Six as fast as
he could. And yet, he couldn’t help himself—he simply
couldn’t
let
Maggie go.

He knew she was engaged but he felt a
possessive range rise inside him the moment he thought of her with any other
man—even her fiancé. Hell,
especially
her fiancé. Even though he had
known her only a day, the dreams had been going on for weeks. And everything in
Kor whispered
mine
when he looked at the curvy little female with her
honey blonde curls and earnest blue eyes behind those thick oculars. She was
his, damn it! And he’d be damned if he’d just go off and leave her now.

“Kor?” Maggie murmured and he realized he
hadn’t answered her question.

“Is this because of the Pleasuring?
Because of the way you came so sweetly for me when I touched you?” he said
directly. “Partly, yes. But I also don’t want you to go into a dangerous
situation alone. If you’re going to a wild, uncharted world I want to be there
to protect you.”

“Oh, Kor…” Her eyes were wide behind her
thick lenses and he could smell the warm, feminine scent of her skin. Gods, he
wanted her! He knew he couldn’t have her—not completely, not yet. But he was
more than halfway to making her his forever if she would only say yes to him
now.

“Maggie,” he murmured. “Let me come with
you. Let me protect you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she
whispered. “You don’t have to come with me.”

“But I want to.” Kor stroked her cheek. “You
saved me, Maggie. You named me and claimed me. Even before I met you, you kept
me sane when you appeared in my dreams. I
will
see you safely home—my
honor demands it.”

“So…you just want to come with me for the
time I’m on Gaia? And after that we’ll go our separate ways?”

Kor nodded although he had already decided
there was no way he would separate from her. But Maggie didn’t need to know
that now—she would find out after they spent some time together, Kor was
confident of that. After all, look how far he had come in a single day. Give
him six months of living with her, camping out under the alien stars of a new
world, protecting and providing for her and she would see that he was a much
better choice than that ridiculous fiancé of hers. All he needed was a little
more time.

“Well…” Maggie bit her lip in that innocently
erotic way she had. “I don’t know, Kor. I’m not sure what Ferna and Ratner
would say…”

“They don’t have to say anything,” Kor
said firmly. “I’m not there for them—I’m coming for you. To protect you. And
don’t worry about food—I can provide for myself.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. The Kindred
have these little food cubes—you can store around a million of them in next to
no space at all. I just…” Maggie broke off again. “I just think…well, I’m not
sure we should, you know, spend so much time together after we…after what we
just did.”

“We were only doing what we had to in
order to get along here,” Kor murmured although in fact, making her come had
been one of the most pleasurable moments of his life—one he hoped to repeat at
some point in the future.

“It can’t happen again,” she whispered.

“It doesn’t have to,” Kor assured her,
stroking her cheek.
Not right away. Not until you’re ready.
“I just want
to be with you—to protect you. Come on, blondie—what do you say?”

Maggie covered his hand with hers and a
tentative little smile played around her lush lips. “Well, I guess—”

“Mistress Pope’nose?” A sweaty, panting
slave came running back along the corridor. “Oh, Mistress,” he exclaimed, skidding
to a halt in front of Maggie. “The master of the spa is so upset! He’s about to
carve the Pillow Fruit and you’re not there!”

“We’re coming,” Kor growled. Could the
idiot have worse timing? Maggie had been about to say yes to him—he was sure of
it.

“Yes, we’re coming right away.” Maggie
pulled her hand away from Kor’s, quickly resuming her ‘mistress’ persona—which
fit her, in his opinion, about as well as the ridiculous stilt-like heels she’d
been forced to wear.

“Let’s go, Mistress,” he murmured, glaring
at the slave who had already turned to lead the way. “And we can talk about
this more later,” he murmured to Maggie.

She cast him a sidelong glance. “All
right.”

Say yes,
he thought, still looking at her as they walked.
You’re
going to say yes, blondie. And once we spend a little time together you’ll
never say no again—because you’ll be mine. Mine to cherish and protect and
pleasure. Mine forever.

Chapter Fifteen

“This is delicious!” Maggie couldn’t get
over the amazing flavor of the Pillow Fruit. The first thing that had surprised
her was its size—it was actually as large as a king-sized pillow and had about
the same shape—a plump rectangle. The master of the spa had it lying on a large
stone pedestal that looked like something you would see a statue perched on in
a museum and it was set up directly in front of the steps leading down into the
Remembrance Pool.

The second thing that surprised Maggie was
that the Pillow Fruit seemed to have a crust—that is, its outer layer was light
brown and flaky, exactly like a pastry made out of phyllo dough. And its
resemblance to pastry didn’t end there. When the Master of the spa took up a
special triangular silver knife and sliced carefully into the large fruit, it
oozed pale yellow cream and bright pink jelly.

“My lady,” he said courteously, handing
Maggie the first slice and a strange, spork looking instrument to eat it with.

Maggie took the plate and cut into the
slice of Pillow Fruit. She was a little uncertain about it but one whiff of the
delicious flaky crust and the creamy insides overcame her doubts. When she
slipped the first bite into her mouth, she nearly moaned with delight. It tasted
like her mother’s homemade pie crust, a Krispy Kreme raspberry filled donut,
and the creamiest vanilla custard she’d ever eaten in her life. In short, it
was pretty much the best thing Maggie had ever put in her mouth.

“This is amazing,” she gushed to the
Master of the spa. “And you say it’s a
fruit?”

“Indeed it is—it was once indigenous to
Yonnie Five, our sister planet. Unfortunately it is almost extinct now, which
renders it most difficult to find. Would you like another slice?”

As a biologist, Maggie had a twinge of
guilt over eating an endangered species. But the Pillow Fruit simply tasted too
good to refuse. Besides, she wanted to share some with Kor—maybe they could
walk around the far end of the pool and get a little privacy so the other
mistresses didn’t think she was weird for feeding her “slave.”

“Yes, thank you.” She held up her plate
for more and the Master of the spa graciously cut her a rather large slice
which oozed creamy custard and jelly all over her plate.

“Enjoy, Lady Pope’nose. You’ve more than
earned it,” he said gravely and gave her a strange, disjointed little bow.

“Oh, uh…thank you.” Maggie blushed when
she thought about how she and Kor had “earned” the treat. But she pushed the
feelings of guilt firmly to one side. Like Kor had said, they were only doing
what they had to in order to survive in this crazy place. And it was never
going to happen again.

Right,
whispered a little voice in her head.
Never again. But
what about on Gaia? What about after a long day of field work when you’re tired
and in need of a little extra attention and you just happen to have your own
body guard slash gladiator slash sex god who’s so incredibly good at making you
come he doesn’t even have to take your clothes off to do it? What about
then?

Maggie shoved the voice to the back of her
mind. Kor only wanted to come with her to
protect
her. He felt like he
owed her for rescuing him from the real Lady Popenose’s awful dungeon. Maggie,
of course, didn’t think there was any debt to be repaid but she didn’t want to
deny him when his code of honor demanded that he make sure she was safe.

Also, what if he was right? What if Gaia
was
a dangerous place where she needed someone to watch out for her? Then she
was sure she would be glad to have him near—even if it was only for six months.
It was no big deal, really and she should stop trying to make it into one.

Sure,
snickered the little voice.
No big deal. The way you
felt when he touched you, the hot, dirty things he said he wanted to do to you.
When he talked about tying you up and making you submit…doing things Donald
would never dream of…things you secretly want…

Maggie felt her cheeks getting hot and
tried to think of something else. She shoved another, rather large bite of
Pillow Fruit into her mouth and decided to examine the situation rationally.

True, she had done some things with Kor
she wasn’t exactly proud of. But should she
really
feel so guilty for
what she had done? Donald was far away on Earth and he wasn’t always the nicest
person to be around. He was single-mindedly focused on his work—to the point
where he couldn’t take time off without becoming incredibly crabby. And he
never
gave Maggie any compliments or said she was beautiful or brushed the hair out
of her eyes and called her blondie…

“Hey, blondie,” Kor murmured in a low
voice, shaking her out of her thoughts. “You might not want to eat anymore of
that.”

“Huh?” Maggie jumped. She’d been so deep
in her own thoughts—the cycle of guilt and justification—that his deep voice
startled her.

“I
said,
that’s not what you think.”
Kor nodded at the half eaten second slice of Pillow Fruit on her plate.

“Why not?” Maggie whispered back. “What
are you talking about?”

“Come here. I’ll tell you.” He took her elbow
and steered her unobtrusively away from the crowd gathered around the Pillow
Fruit, which now lay half decimated and oozing upon its stone pedestal. “This
way,” Kor said softly and guided her around the side of the large pool.

“All right,” Maggie murmured.

The Remembrance Pool was about the size of
an Olympic sized swimming pool back home, and edged in deep blue and green
marble. The only thing Maggie could see that made it unique was the color of
the water. It started out pale pink at the shallow end by the long stone steps.
A little further on, the water became deeper and its color was a much darker
pinkish red. Further still, in the deep end, it was blood red.

This was the end of the pool they were
walking around now and Maggie shivered as she looked down into the deep red
depths. Jumping in here would be like swimming in an ocean of blood—not something
she was anxious to experience. Especially since the white dress she was wearing
was practically transparent when wet and she wasn't exactly the strongest
swimmer.

“So tell me,” she said to Kor, sporking up
another succulent piece of the Pillow Fruit. “Why shouldn’t I eat this? Or did
you just want some for yourself?” It’s okay—I don’t mind. I was going to offer
you some anyway.” She held out the full spork but he just shook his head.

“No thanks. I don’t care to eat something
that could eat me back.”

“What?” Maggie put down the spork without
taking a bite. “What are you talking about? The Master of the spa said the
Pillow Fruit was a plant that grew on Yonnie Five. A
plant.
As in
organic, all natural,
low carb.
Do you know what it means to find a
fruit that tastes like a Krispy Kreme donut? I could
live
on this
stuff.”

“Sure, it’s a fruit,” he growled. “But did
he tell you the Pillow Fruit plant is also a form of predatory vegetation that
lives on meat—
any
kind of meat it can get?”

Maggie began to feel sick. “What? Explain.”

“Back when they were first exploring
Yonnie Five, one of the explorers made the mistake of trying to actually use
the thing as a Pillow—it looked so comfy and apparently he was sleepy. Or just stupid.”

“What happened?” Maggie asked.

“The thing ate his head—or tried to. It
secretes a strong acid that dissolves the flesh of its prey in no time. Lucky
for him, he only got some bad burns on his face.”

“So it’s like a venus fly trap?”

“A what?”

“A plant indigenous to Earth. It traps
small insects and digests them over a period of time. I never heard of any of
them big enough to digest a human head, though.” Maggie shivered.

“Then you want to stay off Yonnie Five.
The Pillow Plant isn’t the only thing that will eat your head—and all the rest
of you.”

“So how did people start eating the Pillow
Plant?” Maggie wanted to know.

“Apparently in the struggle to get free of
it, the guy who decided to use it as a pillow broke through its outer skin and
got some in his mouth.” Kor made a face. “He decided it was delicious and
they’ve been harvesting them to eat ever since.”

“It’s…skin? You mean the crust?” Maggie
poked at the crispy, flaky shell that covered the custard and jelly insides.

“No crust about it—that’s its
skin,”
Kor said. “And the pink jelly is the Pillow Plant’s congealed blood. Oh, and
I’m pretty sure that yellowish cream is the exploded intestines. They harvest
it and let it ripen for a while for maximum flavor—which means it’s already pretty
decomposed by the time you eat it.”

“What? Ugh!” Suddenly the half eaten slice
of Pillow Plant on her plate didn’t look nearly as appetizing. In fact, looking
down at the runny, oozing mass of bright pink and yellowish white made her feel
vaguely nauseous. “But it’s a
plant,”
she protested weakly. “How can it have intestines and blood?”

“It’s
grown
on a plant,” Kor
corrected. “But the fruit itself is more of an animal. It’s actually a really
interesting creature.”

“Half plant, half animal?” Maggie’s mind
began churning almost as much as her stomach. “That’s fascinating! The
biological implications alone…If I could just study one in the wild…”

“Good luck with that,” Kor growled.
“They’ve been practically wiped out—harvested by rich mistresses looking for a
decadent dessert that won’t make them gain weight.”

“Oh,” Maggie said in a small voice. “And
I’m just as bad as any of them. I was just saying about eating a fruit that
tasted like Krispy Kreme…”

Kor surprised her by laughing. “Don’t
worry about it, blondie—I’m not judging you. Just thought you might want to
avoid eating something that amounts to dead, decomposed carnivore guts.”

“Well, you’re right about that.” No matter
how good it tasted, Maggie wasn’t interested in slurping up any more congealed
blood and exploded intestines. Sighing, she put the plate down on a nearby
pedestal. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until I get back home and get some
real Krispy Kreme. I just—”

“Attention, ladies!” rang out the high,
birdlike voice of the master of the spa. “Now that you have all indulged in our
decadent little dessert, we would like to invite you to take a midnight swim in
the Remembrance Pool.”

“Oh, dear…” Maggie turned to Kor. “What
are we going to do? Are the scratches on my back healed enough to go in, do you
think?” She really didn’t want to get in the strange red water at all but now
that she’d eaten the expensive Pillow Fruit, she didn’t know if she could
refuse.

“Let me see.” Kor turned her around gently
and brushed her hair aside to examine her back. Maggie shivered when she felt
his warm hands on her shoulders…and his even warmer breath against her bare
back. God, why did she react this way every time he touched her? Why did her
heart beat so hard just from having him close?

“Well?” she asked anxiously.

“I don’t think you should go all the way
in,” he murmured. “You could dip your toes in the water but full submersion
with these open cuts is a bad idea.”

“Why?” Maggie asked. “Is the water
contaminated in some way?” Looking at the blood red deep end, she could well
imagine that it was.

Kor frowned. “Not contaminated exactly.
But the water in the Remembrance Pool isn’t really water at all. It’s a
chemical agent that brings buried memories to the surface. At the shallow end,
the memories are light—just pleasant moments or days that may have slipped your
mind. As you get deeper into the pool, the more submerged memories begin to
emerge.”

“And let me guess,” Maggie said. “Having
all those memories causes strong emotions…”

“Which the Sensorians feed on.” Kor
nodded.

“All right,” Maggie decided. “I don’t
think I can refuse completely but maybe I could go wading in the shallow end.”

“That should be all right—just don’t get
the waters of Remembrance in these cuts.” He traced gently around the long,
shallow scratches again, making Maggie shiver. “Getting the chemicals of this
pool into your bloodstream is a bad idea—you don’t want to get stuck in a
memory you can’t find your way out of.”

“I’ll be careful—but what about you? Some
of the other mistresses seem to be having their slaves get in with them.” Maggie
nodded at the shallow end of the large pool where several of the ladies in her
rondula were splashing and playing in the pale pink water with their slaves.
Mistress Gin'gin and her slave, in particular, seemed to be having a good time.
“Should we, uh, go in together?” she asked Kor.

“No,” he said shortly. “I’m not getting
in.”

“What?” Maggie frowned. “But I thought you
said the shallow end just brought up happy memories. Why don’t you—”

“I was raised a slave and trained to be a
killer,” Kor said brusquely. “I don’t have a whole hell of a lot of happy
memories, Maggie. Some things…” A shutter went through his big frame. “Some
things are better left forgotten.”