Submitting to the Shadow

Evangeline Anderson

www.evangelineanderson.com

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Submitting to the Shadow, 1st Edition,

A Kindred Tales Novel

Copyright © 2020 by Evangeline Anderson

All rights reserved.

Cover Art Design © 2020 by Reese Dante

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination or have been used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to a retailer of your choice or evangelineanderson.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only.

Any person depicted on the cover is a model.

Contents

Submitting to the Shadow

Author’s Note

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Chapter 59

Chapter 60

Chapter 61

Chapter 62

Chapter 63

Chapter 64

The End?

Stolen

Prologue

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Also by Evangeline Anderson

About the Author

Submitting to the Shadow

A Kindred Tales Novel

A human girl, desperate for a job

A warrior who demands her complete submission

Can Sammi give herself over to Roark?

And can Roark save her from a deadly fate?

Read Submitting to the Shadow to find out…

Samantha Grey is in deep trouble—someone is stalking her and he’s getting closer every day. Desperate to escape, she goes to the one place she knows she can’t be followed—the Kindred Mother Ship. But she needs a job to stay aboard and the only one available in her field is…strange to say the least. When Sammi interviews with her new boss, she can tell that Commander Roark is an Alpha male who will be a challenge to work with. But she has no idea that he will demand her complete submission…or that she will give it willingly.

Commander Roark knows that he wants Sammi the moment he sees her. She’s an Elite—her lush curves call to his deepest desires. But a bad experience with a human woman in the past has made him wary of love. He and Sammi grow closer and closer but when she reveals an unthinkable truth, he sends her away, vowing to never love again.

Heartbroken, Sammi flees back to Earth…and straight into danger. Can Roark rescue her from a deadly fate before time runs out? You’ll have to read Submitting to the Shadow to find out…

Author’s Note

When I started this book, I thought it was just going to be a kinky little short story. But then the characters grew and demanded more and more and it became a whole book—go figure. I know this isn’t as long as some of my books, but once again, we are dealing with homeschooling at my house.

When we first began in August, I thought I’d never get used to it again, after having the whole summer off to write as much as I wanted. However, we seem to have found a system that works now. I let my son—who is almost a teenager—sleep in an extra hour while I get up 2 hours earlier. That way I have some time to write in the morning while I’m still fresh and he gets more sleep, which he apparently needs at this age.

I’m telling you this not because I think my readers are interested in my life—you’ll notice you don’t see me much on social media posting my breakfast or whatever book I’m reading because I dislike that kind of thing for the most part. I’m just saying that if you’re a mom and you’re homeschooling, this new method is working well for us.

If you need time to yourself to work and be productive, think about letting the kids sleep in. (If they will—I know this won’t work for really young kids. Sorry.) But if it works for you, let me know on Facebook. It’s good to have some time to myself before I have to dive into 7th grade math and science, (which I have completely forgotten, so basically I’m taking 7th grade all over again myself, right along with my kid. Fun.)

Anyway, that’s all for now except that I hope you enjoy Submitting to the Shadow. It’s kind of kinky but I think my readers can handle that. ; )

Hugs and Happy Reading to you all!

Evangeline Sept 2020

PS—I forgot to say that Submitting to the Shadow was partially inspired by one of my favorite movies, Secretary, which came out in the early 2000s. It’s much better than the 50 Shades movies, IMHO. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Just don’t watch it until after the kids are in bed. ; )

One

“Are you pregnant?”

“Excuse me?” Samantha Grey leaned across the desk, thinking she must have misunderstood the question.

“Are you pregnant or are you planning to become pregnant in the next solar year?”

This was shaping up to be the strangest job interview Sammi had ever had.

“That’s a pretty personal question, don’t you think?” she asked, frowning.

“Spare me your human opinions and answer my query, please.”

Commander Roark was cold—ice cold, Sammi thought, looking at the large Kindred sitting across from her.

He was also on the cutting edge of fertility technology and she really needed this job.

“No,” she said unwillingly. “I’m not, uh, pregnant.”

“That’s not good enough,” Commander Roark said flatly.

“What? But you said—”

“If you take this job, I will need you to take precautions in order not to become pregnant,” he interrupted.

“But that’s sexist!” Sammi protested. “You can’t just order someone not to get pregnant!”

“This is my project and I can order anything I like.” His pale eyes—silvery-white and ringed in black, unlike any eyes Sammi had ever seen before—flashed as he spoke. “But I am not trying to be ‘sexist’—I simply need your full concentration and I need you to be fully available to me at any and all times that I need you. Which leads to my next question—are you mated or planning to become mated or joined in the next year?”

“What—so now you want me to promise not to get married while I’m working for you either?” Sammi couldn’t believe his nerve.

“It would be better if you didn’t.” Commander Roark was obviously unruffled by her indignation. “As I said, I need your complete attention. So if you’re ‘dating’ anyone, as you humans put it, you’ll need to put any joining plans on hold.” He leaned forward, arching one jet black eyebrow at her. “Are you dating anyone, Ms. Grey?”

An image flashed through her mind. A note scrawled in a messy, unfamiliar hand, left on her kitchen counter. Hey, Beautiful, what time should I pick you up for our date tonight?

She remembered the cold feeling of dread that crawled down her spine at the sight of that note, laying there where he must have known she would find it. Remembered thinking, Oh my God, he’s been in my house—in my house!

“Ms. Grey?” Commander Roark’s voice cut through the creepy memory.

“Oh, uh—no,” Sammi said quickly. “No, I’m not planning on getting married. In fact, I’m not even seeing anyone—I’m single right now.”

The minute the words left her mouth, she wanted to smack herself on the head. Why had she put it like that? Like she was looking for a date instead of a job!

But her answer seemed to please Commander Roark. He nodded and almost smiled—an expression that centered more in his pale eyes than his thin but sensual mouth.

“That’s good—very good. I would prefer it if you remained ‘single’ as you put it, at least until this project is done.”

“What project are we talking about?” Sammi asked, frowning. She’d heard rumors of course—word got around the fertility community—but she wanted to have them confirmed by Commander Roark himself.

But he only shook his head.

“All you need to know is that it’s going to revolutionize infertility treatments in the Kindred/human community. You’ll find out more if I decide to take you on.”

Sammi frowned. “And that’s more likely to happen if I promise to stay single?”

“Candidly, yes.” His voice was cool.

“But…you can’t dictate my personal life!” Sammi protested.

“I can and I will, while you’re working for me.” Those pale eyes flashed again. “I told you, Ms. Grey, I will need your full attention. There will be early mornings and late nights. The workload will be vast because there will be only the two of us.”

“Why, though?” Sammi asked. “If I understand correctly, this is a very important project to the Kindred which means the funding should be, if not unlimited, then at least extremely generous. So why not hire more than just one assistant?”

“Because one person is all I can trust!” Roark exclaimed.

He stood up abruptly and started pacing as he ran a hand through his thick, black hair in a gesture of weary frustration.

“I’d rather not even trust one, to be perfectly honest, Ms. Grey, but I need help. The project has grown beyond my ability as a single researcher to do it justice.”

He leaned across the desk, staring at her intently.

“I need an assistant—one who’s willing to be available to me and only me at any time of the day or night. One who can keep her mouth shut and keep focused with laser-like intensity on our ultimate goal—making certain any human female who wants to give birth to a Kindred child is able to have one.”

“That is a very admirable goal,” Sammi admitted. She was a little taken aback by his fiery intensity. He’d seemed like a statue carved of ice through most of the interview and then he just erupted, like some kind of sexy, intense volcano…

No, wait—why had she thought of him that way? He was going to be her boss—if he offered her this position, which didn’t seem likely now. She needed to keep a professional attitude.

“I’m glad you applaud my goal,” Roark said dryly, sinking back down into his chair and steepling his long fingers beneath his chin. “So then, would you be willing to sign a contract stipulating that you will remain single and take steps not to get pregnant during your first year of working with me?”

Sammi looked at him blankly.

“So…you’re offering me the job?”

“Of all my applicants, you have the best qualifications.” He was back to being icy cold again. “A Doctorate in Embryology from Stanford and you’re working on a second one in Developmental Biology, correct?”

Sammi nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m at USF now—I moved back to Florida to be near my family.”

“Very good.” He nodded. “So if you’re willing to sign the contract I mentioned, I’m willing to offer you the job.”

Sammi knew perfectly well this wouldn’t have flown down on Earth. You couldn’t dictate to someone if they could get married or get pregnant just because you offered them a job! But apparently the same rules didn’t seem to apply here aboard the Kindred Mother Ship.

The strange thing was, that the Kindred were said to be feminists. Women had more control of their own bodies and choices here—not less. It was a consequence of the fact that the Kindred race was 95% male, which meant they valued females highly. In fact, they even worshipped a female deity—the Mother of All Life.

Given all this, she was extremely surprised to find herself in this position. Maybe Commander Roark hadn’t gotten the memo about the Kindred treating women with respect, she thought dryly.

She wanted to get up and throw his sexist job offer in his face, and in any other situation, she would have done so. But the fact was, she needed this job—and not just for career advancement. She needed to get off of Earth and stay off for a while.

She’d been staying with her best friend, Meg, and Meg’s Beast Kindred husband, Berik, for the past week but her visitor’s pass was up today. It was either take the job with Commander Roark or go back down to Tampa where she didn’t feel safe anymore.

With a shiver, she remembered the pictures that had been popping up on her cellphone in the days before she’d come to visit Meg aboard the Mother Ship. Pictures of herself all around town—sitting in her car in the USF parking lot, shopping at Publix, buying a loaf of Cuban bread from a local bakery, La Segunda. And then, the picture that had finally driven her into calling Meg in tears—a picture of Sammi in the shower.

That picture of herself, wet and naked and vulnerable, along with the note left on her kitchen counter, had sent her running scared. When she’d called her best friend, nearly hyperventilating with fear, Meg had been as upset as Sammi was.

“Oh honey, he followed you all the way from California?” she’d asked as Sammi sobbed on the other end of the line.

“I g-guess so. Meggie—what am I going to do?”

“You’re going to come up here—right now,” Meg had said firmly. “I’ll ask Berik to apply for a visitor pass for you so you can stay for a little while and decide what to do next.”

Sammi had agreed without hesitation. After all, whoever her anonymous stalker was, he might be able to follow her all the way across the country from California to Florida, but he couldn’t follow her to the Mother Ship where access was strictly limited.

It was while she was staying with Meg and Berik that she found out about the job as an assistant to Commander Roark. Faced with the reality that she was about to be deported back down to Earth, she had jumped to apply.

And now it had been offered to her—it should have been the answer to her fears, hopes, and prayers. It would have been, too, if the eccentric Kindred scientist hadn’t offered it to her under such strange circumstances.

Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers and Sammi didn’t want to go back to Earth right now.

So I guess I’m taking this job, she thought, staring at those strange, pale eyes. But I’m going to do the best I can to take it under my own terms.

“All right,” she said, nodding at Roark, who had been waiting with more-than-human patience while she thought about his offer. “I’ll accept your offer and I’ll even sign a contract stating that I won’t start dating anyone or get pregnant…but for one year only.” She held up one finger to illustrate her point. “After that, I’m free to resume my social life. And let me warn you, Commander Roark—I come from a big Irish Catholic family on my mother’s side, which means I’m going to want to get married and have a lot of kids. I’ve always wanted that and since I’m thirty-eight this year, time is running out for me to have them.”

“That’s your business,” Commander Roark said shortly. “I only need your commitment to exclusivity for a single solar year. By that time my prototype should be ready to mass produce and distribute to females who wish to be impregnated with Kindred fetuses.”

“I’d like to ask ‘what prototype,’ but I’m sensing you won’t be willing to talk about your work until I sign the contract,” Sammi said dryly.

“You’re correct about that. And, Ms. Grey—it’s going to be our work.” He gave her that intense look again—the one that made her stomach feel fluttery, though she tried to ignore it—and stood to offer his hand.

Sammi stood as well and held out her own hand. Normally she would have said something along the lines of how she couldn’t wait to start working for him or how she was sure they were going to get along great, but she wasn’t sure of either of those things. So she simply said,

“Thank you, Commander Roark. I, uh, I’m sure we’ll have an excellent working relationship.”

“As long as you live up to your end of the contract, we certainly will,” he said gravely. “And I think we should dispense with formalities, as we’re going to be working so closely together. You may call me simply, Roark. May I call you Samantha?” he asked as he clasped her hand in his much larger one.

“I…uh…” Suddenly all Sammi’s poise left her. The reason for that was the strange feeling that came over her the moment he touched her.

A wave of tingling warmth swept up her arm and then covered her whole body. She felt for a moment as though she’d been standing on the beach and a huge, warm wave had drenched her.

“I…I…that will be fine,” she managed at last, trying to regain her composure.

“Very good.” He released her hand. “I’ll have the contracts drawn up and you can sign them tomorrow before we begin work.”

“Oh, will…I mean, you want me to start tomorrow?” Sammi stammered. She wanted to ask Roark if he’d felt the same strange sensation when they had touched, but it was clear from his composure that he hadn’t.

The strange warmth had faded from most of her body when he let her hand go, but it remained as an uncomfortable hot tingling sensation in her breasts and between her thighs. What in the world was going on—had she imagined it?

Roark raised an eyebrow at her.

“Do you have other plans?”

“No, no!” Sammi assured him quickly. “I was just…surprised, that’s all. The hiring process tends to take a bit longer down on Earth.”

“Well, you’re not on Earth now, Samantha,” he said firmly. “And we need to get to work immediately—we have a lot to get done if we’re going to be finished in a year, so you can immediately begin procreating.”

“Immediately begin—oh.” Sammi understood that he was referring to her remark that she wanted a big family. “Of course.” She nodded. “I’m sure we can manage.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Roark was already turning back to his desktop monitor, clearly absorbed in his research. “Seven sharp. Don’t be late.”

“No, I…I won’t be.” Sammi still felt rattled by the strange feelings that lingered after their handshake. “Goodbye…Roark,” she said, feeling odd about calling her new boss by his name with no titles in front of it.

“Goodbye.” He wasn’t even looking at her anymore—his eyes were focused on the monitor in front of him. “You can show yourself out.”

“Okay—thank you.” Sammi nodded and left his office, still feeling rather dazed. It was undoubtedly the strangest interview she’d ever had.

She had no idea the job she’d just taken would be even stranger.

Two

Roark focused fiercely on his monitor, though he saw nothing on it. He was fighting to hold on to his composure—fighting not to come around the desk and take his new assistant by the shoulders and…

And what? Drag her in for a kiss? Embrace her? Hold her full, curvy body to his and crush her against him so he could breathe in her sweet, hypnotically feminine fragrance?

He’d felt the Strike when he first touched her—the tingling warmth that engulfed his whole body when their skin made contact. It was a sign, some would say. A sign they ought to be together. And he’d been able to tell by her reaction—her wide eyes and quickened pulse—that she had felt it too.

What’s wrong with you? Get hold of yourself! he commanded himself sternly. Forget about the Strike—you must have imagined it. And even if you didn’t, it doesn’t matter.

At last Samantha Grey left, taking her sweet scent with her and he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Why in the Seven Hells had he hired her?

Roark got up and began to pace. She was going to be a complete distraction—he just knew it. He should have cut the interview short the moment he saw her luscious, full curves and long, reddish-gold hair…her pale, creamy skin with the Goddess kisses—what humans called freckles—sprinkled across her nose and cheeks…her big, green eyes that held so much intelligence and curiosity and fire…

Those eyes had snapped in anger when he’d demanded that she not get pregnant—not even date or try to find a mate—while she worked for him. But Roark had known the moment he laid eyes on her that he couldn’t stand the thought of her with another male.

Not even if he could never have her himself.

Her defiant words echoed in his mind, “…I’m going to want to get married and have a lot of kids. I’ve always wanted that.”

That was something Roark could never give her—never give any female.

Not that it mattered, he told himself firmly. His work—that was the important thing—that was all that mattered. He was so close to a breakthrough and now, with Samantha Grey to help, surely his research would finally bear fruit.

And in the meantime, he would have to ignore the immediate, intense attraction he’d felt the moment he first laid eyes on her. She wasn’t for him, Roark told himself.

But then, for the next solar year, she wasn’t for anyone else, either.

Taking comfort in that thought, he forced the memory of the tingling warmth her touch had caused him out of his mind and focused on his monitor.

Work first, everything else last. That was his motto and he intended to live by it, no matter how distractingly lovely his new assistant was.

Three

“So, how did it go?” Meg asked anxiously as Sammi walked into the lovely suite her best friend shared with her Beast Kindred husband. “Did you get the job?”

“I got it.” Sammi tried to smile but she was still feeling strange after her encounter with Roark. She’d gotten distracted, thinking about him, and had taken a wrong turn on her way back to Meg and Berik’s suite. As a result, she’d ended up on the wrong end of the ship and had to come all the way back again—no small journey since the Mother Ship was huge.

“You got it?” Meg grabbed her by the arms and danced around excitedly. “You got it, Sammie—you got it! Hey…” She paused her happy dance and frowned. “Why aren’t you more excited? This means you can stay up here on the Mother Ship with me! Meggie and Sammie together again, right?”

“And it also means they’ll assign me a suite of my own so I can stop crashing in your spare room,” Sammi pointed out, trying to smile.

“Sammi, honey, you know we don’t mind! Berik and I love having you here!” Meg protested.

“And I love being here,” Sammi said, though in truth, it was a little awkward staying with her friend at times. Mainly because Meg and Berik hadn’t been married that long and they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They were always kissing and canoodling and forgetting Sammie was in the same room when things got really hot and heavy.

Also, though the walls were well insulated, Meg was a screamer during sex—something Sammi remembered well from their undergrad days when they had shared an apartment. She did her best to ignore the sounds coming from her best friend’s bedroom, but she’d begun to wish she had invested in a pair of noise-cancelling earphones before coming up to the Mother Ship.

So, though she loved Meg to death and would always be grateful to her friend for offering her shelter when things got scary, she wasn’t sorry to be moving to her own place.

“Maybe you can get a suite in our same corridor,” Meg suggested brightly. “And Berik can go back down to Earth for your stuff—he won’t mind.”

“If he really doesn’t mind, that would be wonderful. I’ll have my Aunt Vicky pack it all up,” Sammi said. “I just…don’t feel safe down there right now.”

“Of course you don’t!” Meg said indignantly. “Down there all by yourself with some crazy stalker chasing you! I can’t believe the police weren’t more help!”

Sammi shrugged uneasily.

“They said he covered his tracks too well and without an identity, how could the court issue any kind of restraining order?”

“Still, somebody should have helped you,” Meg grumbled.

“They did. You did,” Sammi reminded her. “You brought me up here and let me stay with you and even got me a job.”

“No, you got the job. Which reminds me all over again—why aren’t you happier? I thought this was supposed to be a feather in your cap, working with the super-respected researcher and scientist, Commander Roark.”

“It will be. And I am happy—don’t get me wrong. It’s just…” Sammi bit her lip, not wanting to complain.

But Meg wasn’t having it.

“Just what? Come on, Sammi—spill. You know you always do.”

“Well, it’s just that Commander Roark is kind of…kind of strange,” Sammi admitted. “I mean, I shouldn’t say anything about him at all—he did give me the job,” she rushed on. “But he’s just…”

“He’s just weird, right?” Meg said so nonchalantly that Sammi stared at her.

“Well, yes. But how do you know about him?”

“I don’t,” Meg said. “But I do know that he’s a Shadow Twin.”

“A what?” Sammi shook her head. “Is that a special kind of Kindred or something?” Come to think of it, she had wondered what kind of Kindred Roark was. He didn’t have fangs like a Blood Kindred or golden eyes like a Beast Kindred or a twin like a Twin Kindred—at least none she’d seen hanging around.

“A shadow twin,” Meg repeated. “It’s what happens sometimes when a woman who’s mated to Twin Kindred gets pregnant. It’s a one in a million kind of thing but every once in a while instead of two babies, she’s carrying three.”

“So she has triplets instead of twins, right? What’s so strange about that?” Sammi asked.

“Nope—they’re not triplets. Two of them are regular Twin Kindred,” Meg explained. “But the third—the Shadow Twin—is kind of a loner. They don’t have a twin to bond with or help them along so it’s kind of rough for them. Also, they have really dramatic coloring.”

“Well, I noticed that at least,” Sammi remarked. “Roark has such black hair. And those pale eyes—I’ve never seen anything like them!”

“Well the thing is, they don’t start out that way,” Meg said. “They’re actually born with white hair and black eyes. Then when they hit puberty, it switches. Isn’t that strange?”

“Wow…” Sammi shook her head. “That is weird. So…is that the reason Commander Roark is so, uh, stern and demanding? Because he’s a Shadow Twin?”

“Ooo, stern and demanding? Sounds sexy!” Meg fluttered her eyelashes and put one hand to her cheek. “Oh, Commander Roark…what’s that you say? You want to chain me to the bed and spank me? Oh dear, I suppose if it’s part of my job, then I can’t refuse…”

“Stop it!” Half laughing/half serious, Sammi gave her friend a playful nudge. “It’s nothing like that!”

“Oh? What is it like, then?” Meg raised an eyebrow.

Sammi found herself strangely reluctant to disclose the details of the contract she’d agreed to sign—even to her best friend.

“He just wants my exclusive and undivided attention, that’s’ all,” she said uneasily. “He said there were going to be a lot of early mornings and late evenings—that kind of thing.”

“Well, that’s nothing new for you, though,” Meg objected. “I mean, I remember how hard it always was trying to pry you away from the lab! I could hardly ever get you to go out!”

“Because when I did, I wound up falling down drunk,” Sammi laughed.

Meg giggled.

“You never did have a head for any kind of alcohol. Remember that time back in grad school when you danced on the table and sang The Star Spangled Banner at One-eyed Joe’s?”

“Hey—you were right up there with me!” Sammi reminded her, laughing even harder. “And it was your idea to go on an all-you-can-drink Margarita night!”

“Well, well—and what are you two lovely ladies laughing about?” Berik came through the front door of the suite, smiling widely.

He had the glowing, golden eyes of all Beast Kindred and he was an exceptionally nice guy, Sammi thought. She was so glad her best friend had ended up with Berik—especially considering some of the losers she’d dated in college.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, smiling at him. “Just remembering old times.”

“And celebrating new times!” Meg exclaimed. “Honey, Sammi got the job!”

“She did? Wonderful!” Berik smiled at her with genuine enthusiasm. “Congratulations, friend of my mate.”

“Thank you.” Sammi smiled. “I’m so glad I get to stay up here where it’s safe!”

“And honey, I told her you would go get her things. You will, won’t you?” Meg put in quickly.

“No problem,” Berik said easily. He frowned. “Of course you can’t go back down to your home world when some evil male is trying to hurt you.”

“Thanks for being so kind and understanding,” Sammi said gratefully. “I promise there won’t be much and I’ll have my Aunt Vicky pack it all up and have it waiting for you.”

“But not right away,” Meg said anxiously. “Because tonight, we celebrate!”

“I’d say celebrations are definitely in order,” Berik agreed, putting an arm around Meg’s waist and pulling her in close for a kiss on the cheek.

“All right—but no alcohol,” Sammi said. “I don’t need to be hung-over on my first day at work tomorrow.”

“Ah, come on, Sammi!” Meg protested. “What’s a celebration without champagne?”

“Well…” Sammi sighed. “Maybe just one glass.”

“Just one bottle, you mean!” Meg grinned at her and Sammi smiled back. Her best friend was incorrigible but she couldn’t help loving her.

I really do have a lot to celebrate, she told herself. I can stay here on the Mother Ship and I have a new job anyone in Embryology would be envious of!

Well, anyone who didn’t mind working with the stern and somewhat scary Commander Roark, that was.

I don’t mind, Sammi told herself firmly. In fact, I’m sure I overreacted and imagined that weird tingling warmth I felt when I touched him. I was probably just nervous and on edge and I let my imagination run away with me. We got a bit of a rocky start, but once we start working together, everything is going to be wonderful—I’m sure it is.

She hoped so, anyway. But even as she laughed and celebrated with Meg and Berik, she still had a nagging uncertainty about Roark in the back of her mind…

Four

“Do you make it a habit to come into work hung-over, Samantha?”

Roark’s question caught Sammi off guard. She put a hand to her throat apprehensively, uncertain what to say. She wasn’t hung-over—not exactly, anyway. But the celebratory champagne had flowed a little free the night before. And it seemed like every time Sammi said it was time to go to bed, Meg proposed just one more toast.

As a result, she’d been rubbing her temples and squinting at the too-bright light over her workstation as she went over the paperwork her new boss had given her. Roark must have noticed—not that it was any of his business, she thought indignantly.

“I’m not hung-over,” she said stiffly. “I just have a headache this morning, that’s all.”

“A headache brought on by overindulgence.” There was a slight growl to Roark’s deep voice and his pale silver-white eyes seemed to skewer her in a way that made Sammi squirm uncomfortably.

“I didn’t ‘overindulge.’ I just—” she began but her new boss cut her off.

“Don’t lie to me, Samantha.” His voice was low and stern. “I can smell the alcohol on you.”

She looked at him in surprise.

“What? But I took a shower this morning!”

“And used plenty of some kind of flowery body wash—I can tell,” Roark said, his nose wrinkling. “But I can also smell the remains of the alcohol you over-imbibed last night seeping from your pores. That, added to your obvious headache and the redness of your eyes, lets me know you drank a lot last night—much more than was good for you.”

His irrefutable evidence made her stomach clench with dread but Sammi wasn’t one to give in without a fight.

“This is unbelievable!” She shook her head. “So you’re accusing me of coming to work hung over because of all these ‘clues’ you think you’ve found?”

“I am.” Roark folded his arms over his broad chest and gave her a hard stare. “So I’m asking you again—are you hung over? Before you answer, remember, I can and will punish you for deliberate untruthfulness.”

“What?” She stared at him in anger and surprise. “Did you just say you’d punish me?”

“I will, without hesitation.” He nodded decisively.

“But you can’t—”

“I can. There is a punishment clause in the contract you signed. Or did you neglect to read that part?” He raised one raven-black eyebrow at her challengingly.

“I don’t believe this.”

Sammi stood up from the small workstation he’d given her—located across the room from his large desk.

“Let me see it,” she said, stalking over to his desk and holding out her hand. “Let me see it right now.”

“As you wish.”

Roark reached into a desk drawer and pulled out the document she’d signed only that morning.

“Here you are.” He placed the thick document on the desk in front of her and leaned back in his chair, steepling his long fingers as he watched her.

Sammi snatched up the document and peered at it. She’d been fighting the headache from all that champagne Meg had talked her into drinking when he gave it to her, and she’d barely glanced at it as she signed wherever he pointed. Now she wondered what the hell it was she’d put her name on!

“You’ll find the punishment clause on page fifty-three, right after the non-disclosure agreement,” he said helpfully as Sammi paged through the dense legalese trying to find what he was talking about.

Sure enough, when she turned to page fifty-three, she saw something she definitely shouldn’t have missed when she signed. Punishment Clause—Consequences for Illegal or Unethical Behavior, read the page, in large, bold print.

“This is crazy!” she exclaimed as she read through the clause. “I thought this was just part of the nondisclosure agreement!”

“It is…in a way,” Roark remarked. “It tells the consequences if you get caught divulging confidential information. Or acting in any other unethical manner. Including lying.”

“But…but this says you can…can spank me if you want to!” Sammi exclaimed.

“Yes, it does.” He nodded calmly, as though this was a completely normal requirement of any job.

“But I didn’t agree to that!” Sammi exclaimed.

“I’m afraid you did—when you signed the contract.” He raised an eyebrow again. “So I’ll ask you just once more—are you or are you not hung-over from drinking too much alcohol last night?”

“I was only drinking to celebrate getting this job!” Sammi snapped, glaring at him.

“I see.” Roark rose suddenly and came around the desk to stand beside her—though “to loom over her” might have been a better description. He was so tall, Sammi thought, looking up at him uneasily. Almost seven feet if he was an inch! And so big and muscular too—the crisp white lab jacket he wore bulged in the biceps, as though the fabric could barely contain his muscles.

He smelled good too—which was definitely something she didn’t want to notice. A cool scent, like the sea in winter and under that, a dark, alien spice which made her tingle in sensitive areas when she breathed it in.

“I see,” he said again, looking down at her. “Does this mean you’re admitting your first denial about being hung-over was a lie?”

Sammi felt her mouth going dry as her knees trembled under her professional black pencil skirt.

“I…I don’t…” She licked her lips. “I never said—”

Roark raised a hand to stop her.

“Tread carefully, Samantha. The punishment will be more severe if you compound your first lie with another.”

“What—you’re saying you want to punish me now?” Sammi’s eyes widened and she took a step back, her thighs hitting the edge of his desk and jostling some paperwork there.

“I most certainly do,” Roark said sternly. “I won’t tolerate dishonesty from you—not even in small particulars, Samantha. And I also won’t allow you to come to work and be involved in my research when you’re at less than one hundred percent mental acuity. Coming to work hung over and lying about it are both unacceptable behaviors which deserve a punishment.”

“But I can’t let you—I mean, you can’t do that!” Sammi blurted. “You can’t spank me.”

“According to the contract you signed, I certainly can,” Roark pointed at the thick document she still held in trembling hands. “Or would you like to be let out of it? Do you find the job not to your liking?”

“I hardly know—I’ve only been doing this ‘job’ for half a day! You know, I’m a professional!” Sammi exclaimed—she was losing her fear and disbelief and getting really angry now. “I have advanced degrees in my field! I didn’t work my ass off in grad school to come to your lab and bend over your knee and let you spank me!”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Actually, you will be bent over my desk,” he rumbled with deceptive mildness. “Unless you prefer my knee?”

“No, I don’t prefer your knee! I don’t prefer to be spanked anywhere at all!” Sammi exclaimed.

“Very well.” Roark went to the door of his office and threw it open for her. “Then you may leave. Good day, Samantha.”

Sammi stared in appalled silence at the open door and then up at her boss. She literally had no idea what to say. She’d never even imagined such a scenario when she took this job—it was unthinkable. For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming.

“Go on,” Roark nodded at the open door. “Please leave. I’ll send you a credit slip for the hours you’ve worked today along with your termination notice.”

“But…” Sammi’s mouth was dry as she remembered the pictures on her phone and the note on the counter of her house back in Tampa. It would also look really bad on her résumé to have worked only four hours at a job with the prestigious Commander Roark before being fired. “But I need this job!” she blurted out.

“All right, then.” Roark closed the door and walked back to loom over her. “In that case, you’d better bend over my desk and raise your skirt.”

“I…you can’t…” But it appeared that he could. The question was—was she going to let him?

Lifting her chin, Sammi glared up into those strange, stern eyes. Roark looked back at her, unflinching and it felt to Sammi like he was looking into her very soul. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she could feel her cheeks getting hot. She was determined not to be intimidated but there was something about his stern demeanor that did something to her. As she looked at him, she felt a strange tightening in her lower belly—a heat between her thighs that hadn’t been there before.

Wait…was this strange scenario with her boss actually turning her on?

Don’t be stupid! Sammi told herself angrily. Of course it’s not turning you on! He’s being an overbearing asshole, demanding you let him spank you for some minor infraction! This is crazy—this is wrong! This is ridiculous.

But no matter how she described the predicament she found herself in, she couldn’t think of any way out of it other than to let Roark spank her.

Clenching her hands into fists, she bent stiffly over the desk, bracing herself against its edge.

“Very good,” Roark murmured. “But I believe I told you to pull your skirt up, Samantha. And have the goodness to remove your lab coat as well, please.”

“Can’t believe I’m doing this!” Sammi muttered to herself as she rose and took off her white lab coat in quick, jerky motions. She tossed it over to her workstation, where it hit the chair and slithered to the floor with a rustling sound. Then she grabbed her black pencil skirt and began to yank it up, baring first the backs of her thighs, and then her black lace panties.

All the time her heart was pounding with a mixture of fear, fury, and some other emotion she couldn’t name or define, even to herself. Whatever it was, she had to admit it was making her even hotter between her thighs and her breath was coming in short little pants.

As a last gesture of defiance, before she leaned over the desk again, she looked Roark in the eyes once more and deliberately pulled her lacy black panties down to her thighs. Then she leaned over, gripped the edge of the desk, and looked up at him as she offered him her bare ass.

“All right,” she snapped—well, she tried to snap. What came out, to her chagrin, was more of a breathless whisper. “All right, I’m ready for my punishment.”

“Very good.” He nodded in approval. “The removal of your underthings wasn’t necessary, but it’s a very nice touch. I like a female with a strong spirit.”

Before Sammi could reply, his hard palm connected with her bare bottom with a loud smack!

“Oh!” Sammi couldn’t help crying out as she jumped in surprise. She’d been thinking that the “punishment” was meant to be some kind of superficial show of his authority but when he spanked her it really hurt.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw a large red handprint forming on the pale white curve of her ass and the skin where he had spanked her was tingling and warm.

“That’s one,” Roark said sternly. “For the first lie you told. I’ll give you another for coming to work in an impaired mental state and a third for defiance. Then you may pull down your skirt and get back to work—if you can still sit down.”

Before Sammi could answer, he spanked her again and then a third time. Smack…smack!

Sammi bit her lip and tried not to cry out but little gasps of pain were drawn from her anyway and she found herself jumping with each impact.

As he had promised, Roark straightened up after the third blow and nodded at her.

“Very well, Samantha—you’ve been punished. Now get back to work.”

Numbly, Sammi pulled up her panties and pushed down her skirt. She still felt like she was in a dream—a really bizarre one—-and even now she was wondering if what had just happened had actually happened.

Had she really pushed up her skirt, pulled down her panties, leaned over her boss’s desk and let him spank her?

The stinging pain in her bottom, which was now hot and red from the “punishment” he had given her, answered the question. She didn’t know if she wanted to cry or rage at him but she did neither. Stiffly, she walked back to her desk and tried to sit down.

But though he had only given her three blows, her behind was much too sore for sitting. Sammi bit back a curse as she shifted around in her chair and found she was wholly unable to concentrate on the paperwork she’d been going over before this strange little incident began.

“Are you in pain, Samantha?” Roark’s deep voice was almost gentle.

Sammi’s head jerked up and she realized he was standing over her—she’d been so busy trying to get comfortable on her tingling bottom that she hadn’t even noticed.

“N—” she started to say…and then remembered the penalty for lying. “Yes,” she amended her answer grudgingly.

“Very good.” Roark nodded, clearly having caught her almost-slip. “I have some ointment which is good for pain. I’ll give you some if you like.”

“What—you want to rub it into my ass after spanking me? No thank you!” Sammi snapped.

He nodded.

“As you wish. Though if you’re implying that I would get sexual pleasure from treating your injuries, you’re wrong.”

He went back to his desk, leaving Sammi to squirm uncomfortably—which she did, for the rest of the day. At quitting time—which today was precisely five o’clock—Roark rose from his desk and looked at her.

“Good evening, Samantha. I’ll see you tomorrow at seven sharp,” he said.

He waited until Sammi rose from her workstation and then opened the door for her to usher her out. The implication was clear—he didn’t yet trust her to be in his lab alone. Well, that much was obvious, Sammi thought with irritation. Considering there was a whole other area of the lab which remained locked and which Roark had yet to show her.

As she walked past him, he slipped something into her pocket.

“Hey! What…?” Sammi looked up at him in surprise but he had already locked the lab door behind them and was walking away, down the long silver corridor.

“Seven sharp tomorrow,” he called over his shoulder. “And please come in ready to work.”

Sammi didn’t answer him. Instead, she fumbled in her pocket and came up with a small pot of pale pink ointment. There was a little note stuck to the lid and when she unfolded it she saw a strong, masculine script.

For sensitive areas, the note read. Only that and nothing more.

For a long moment Sammi stood in the corridor, clutching the little pot of ointment in her fist so hard that the lid left an imprint on her palm. She watched Roark’s broad back retreating down the hall, seething inside as she glared at him.

Arrogant prick!

Then she stuffed the pot of ointment back in her pocket, turned on her heel, and walked in the opposite direction.

Five

Shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t have added the Punishment Clause to her contract, Roark thought as he bid his new assistant farewell and turned to walk down the long silver corridor. That was dangerous and you know it!

But he’d had to know how she would react to a direct order, he argued with himself. He’d had to see if she was the one to try out the prototype—the pieces of the fertility and insemination machine he was working on. He needed an assistant who was submissive enough to agree to the trials yet passionate enough to give him a true reading on each of them. By bending over his desk for a spanking and yet being defiant about it at the same time, Samantha had proved she fit both criteria.

Though he would be lying if he claimed that was the only reason he’d spanked her. He would also be lying if he said that he hadn’t derived any pleasure from the experience.

The defiant little tilt of her chin and the flash of her lovely green eyes as she’d yanked down her panties had gone straight to his shaft. Not to mention the sight of her lovely full ass turning from pale creamy white to sunset red after his three well-placed spanks.

He hadn’t made the offer of the ointment because he wanted to touch her again however—though he had to admit he did want that, very badly. He had honestly wanted to alleviate her pain. She had paid for her insubordination with her submission—there was no need for the discomfort to continue.

Samantha, however, was having none of it. She’d been shifting in her chair at her workstation the whole rest of the day but she still refused to ask him for the ointment. Roark had to admit he admired her stubbornness. But he still wanted to alleviate her pain, which was why he’d slipped the ointment into her pocket with the note.

He hoped she would use it.

Remembering the flush on her pale, freckled cheeks and the fire in her eyes, Roark couldn’t help thinking he looked forward to watching her test the parts of his prototype. It was clear she would give him an honest reaction—which was what he craved.

It wasn’t the only thing he craved, of course, but he knew he couldn’t have what he really wanted.

He couldn’t have Samantha herself, no matter how badly he desired her.

Six

Sammi got out of bed and lifted her nightgown to look at herself in the 3-D viewer yet again.

It was her first night in her new suite—they all came furnished, which was good since getting furniture from Earth up to the Mother Ship would have been a pain. She’d had a quiet dinner alone—telling Meg, who had wanted to have another celebration—that she had a headache—and she was determined to get a good night’s sleep and be fresh in the morning.

Only she couldn’t sleep, damn it! And it wasn’t just because the ghostly handprints of her new boss’s large hand still decorated her ass.

It was because she couldn’t stop thinking about the spanking and the way she’d reacted to it. Submitted to it, if she was being truthful.

Why did I let him do that? she asked herself for the hundredth time as she ran her hand lightly over the tingling flesh. Why didn’t I tell him to shove his job and go to the Seven Hells, as the Kindred say?

She really couldn’t answer that question. True, she needed to stay aboard the Mother Ship, but she probably could have found another job to keep her here. Even if she was just working at one of the boutiques or restaurants that lined the large park-like common area, something would probably have been available.

As for the way a four-hour stint of employment would look on her résumé, she could have just not listed the job at all. The Mother Ship was remote and Roark didn’t seem like the kind to engage in idle gossip. No one had to know that she’d worked for him for half a day and then quit because he wanted to spank her.

But somehow none of those things had occurred to her in the moment. And instead of slapping his face and walking out, she’d bared her ass and taken her spanking like a good little girl.

Or was she a bad little girl in this scenario?

Sammi didn’t know—she only knew she was angry with herself for submitting to the spanking. And even more than that, she was confused about the way the whole situation had made her feel.

Every time she remembered pulling down her panties and leaning over the desk as Roark loomed over her, she felt a pulsing ache between her thighs. Again she wondered if she was getting turned on by reliving the experience.

But that couldn’t be—could it?

Sammi had never been into any kind of kink. To be honest, she wasn’t much into regular sex either. Maybe it was because she’d never been with a man who really turned her on. Oh, she’d dated plenty of attractive men, but somehow none of them really got her motor running. And they all seemed to be the same in bed—boring.

They were all so predictable. They always did and said the same things—sometimes it made her wonder if they were all working from the same playbook. None of them ever surprised her.

Certainly none of them had made her feel hot and cold all over or made her feel achy and wet between her thighs for hours. Almost every sexual encounter she’d ever had, had one thing in common—they were all completely forgettable.

But there was no forgetting Roark.

Not that today at work had been sexual in any way, Sammi hastened to tell herself. But still…

Her hand stole back to stroke the sensitive skin of her ass again, tracing lightly over the ghost of a handprint that still lingered there. Roark hadn’t bruised her—it was just that her skin was so fair it showed any kind of mark left on it for hours.

Her eyes were drawn from the 3-D viewer to the dresser in her new bedroom. There was the little pot of pink ointment with the handwritten note attached to its lid.

Sammi stalked across the room and snatched it up. She read the note again.

For sensitive areas, the strong, masculine script advised. Sammi wondered when he had written it—she hadn’t seen him doing it. She also wondered if she ought to use it. It felt almost like capitulation or a form of submission to do so.

Like leaning over the desk and taking your spanking like a good little girl was submission? whispered a dark little voice in her head.

Sammi ignored the voice and unscrewed the lid. She brought the little pot to her nose and sniffed the contents. The pink ointment had a very mild, fresh fragrance. It was almost minty, but so faint she could barely smell it. Remembering what Roark had said about being able to smell both her body wash and the alcohol seeping from her pores, Sammi thought this must be a pretty strong fragrance to him.

Taking the little pot with her, she went back to the 3-D viewer and pulled up her nightgown again. It was a black lace nighty which contrasted with her pale skin, making it look even more creamy and showing up the ghostly handprints in bas-relief.

Experimentally, Sammi touched her fingertips to the ointment and rubbed it into one of the handprints. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but the sensation was cool and tingly at first, and then it became a soothing warmth.

“Oh…” Sammi whispered in surprise. It actually felt good.

She got some more of the pink ointment and rubbed it into the sore places where Roark had spanked her. As she did, the handprints began to fade and her entire ass began to feel warm and soothed.

There was plenty of ointment left in the pot and Sammi dipped her finger into it one more time before realizing she didn’t need it—she was completely healed.

She started to scrape the excess ointment back into the pot…but hesitated.

Still watching herself in the 3-D viewer, she lifted her nightgown—in the front this time—baring her neatly trimmed thatch of reddish-gold curls. Her outer pussy lips were pink and swollen, as though they, too, were crying out for attention—for something to ease her pain.

Not that she was in pain, exactly, Sammi told herself. But still…

Her hand hovered over her pussy uncertainly. Should she?

For sensitive areas. The note flashed in her mind’s eye and before she could stop herself, Sammi had spread her outer pussy lips with trembling fingers and was rubbing the dab of pink ointment into her inner folds.

The effect was immediate. She felt the same tingling coolness that changed to sensuous warmth but somehow the effect was magnified—maybe because this was a much more sensitive area than her ass.

“Ohhhh,” she half-moaned and her knees almost buckled as the tingling warmth enveloped her clit, making her even more sensitive.

Somehow she made it to the bed but now that she had started, she couldn’t seem to stop touching herself. Lying on her back, she spread her thighs wide and continued to stroke her pussy, using swift, light strokes around her tingling clit.

As she pleasured herself, an image began to form in her mind. Sammi saw herself bent over the desk again with Roark looming behind her. He had just finished spanking her and now he was demanding that she spread her thighs wider.

Moaning, Sammi did as he told her and then she felt his big hand between her legs. Long fingers teased open her pussy lips and slipped inside, finding the entrance to her heated depths and sliding in deep to fill her as she moaned and bucked back against him.

Oh God, what am I thinking? I have to stop this, Sammi moaned inwardly. I can’t be fantasizing about my boss—it’s not right!

But the images refused to fade. In fact, if anything, they grew stronger. Roark was bending over her now, speaking in that soft, dangerous voice of his as he fingered her pussy relentlessly.

“Open wider for me, Samantha,” he was saying in her ear, his breath hot against the side of her throat. “Open up like a good girl and let me fuck you with my fingers. Open up your pussy and come for me while I pet your hot little cunt…”

“Oh!” Sammi cried, her hips bucking as an orgasm so strong it made her legs feel weak and trembly rocketed through her. She was glad she was lying on the bed—she would definitely have collapsed if she’d remained standing. Her hips bucked upwards again, as though seeking something—someone else’s touch. The pleasure that rushed through her was sharp and so intense it was almost painful.

“Oh!” she moaned again and Roark’s face—so maddeningly handsome and aloof—rushed to her mind’s eye. He was telling her to hold still, to open herself, to submit to what he wanted to do to her, to take the pleasure he was giving her and beg for more…

Have to stop this! I can’t think of him that way—he’s my boss. My boss! Sammi scolded herself. Yet the visions of those strange pale eyes ringed in black and the deep voice telling her to open herself for the big Kindred persisted, until at last the pleasure ebbed, which seemed to take a very long time.

Afterwards, she lay panting on the bed. Her mouth was dry from moaning and she wanted a drink of water but her legs still felt like rubber—she didn’t dare get up.

What’s wrong with me? Sammi threw an arm over her eyes and tried to push back the tears that threatened. It wasn’t that she was upset, exactly, it was just that the orgasms had been so intense. In fact, she’d never felt anything like it!

Must have been the ointment, she thought, lifting her arm and looking at the little pot still clutched tightly in one hand. That’s the only explanation.

What other reason could she give for the pleasure that had shot through her, almost electrocuting her with its intensity? What other reason could account for her having such a powerful orgasm it actually made her cry?

I know a reason, whispered a traitorous little voice inside her head. I think you actually liked getting spanked, Sammi. I think it got you off like crazy—even thinking about it got you off.

Uneasily, she pushed the thought away. That was ridiculous—crazy. She wasn’t a kinky person—she wasn’t. It was just the ointment—that was all. For “sensitive places” indeed. Sammi snorted. He’d probably given it to her for just this reason—to tempt her into using the ointment on places she shouldn’t.

I ought to confront him, she thought. Let him know I’m on to him. This is sexual harassment, after all. You can’t just tell a woman to pull up her skirt and spank her over your desk right in the middle of the workday!

But that thought brought back the image of herself bent over Roark’s desk, exposed and vulnerable as he loomed over her, speaking in that deep, velvety voice that seemed to make her tingle everywhere…

Suddenly, Sammi became aware that her fingers had begun to move in her pussy again, idly circling her throbbing clit and building the intense pleasure once more. Abruptly, she yanked her hand away.

No, stop…stop it right now! she lectured herself fiercely. He’s your boss—you can’t think of him like this! You’ll just have to put this crazy incident behind you and try to go on like nothing happened. You can’t acknowledge it or let it get to you. You can’t let Roark get to you either—if you do, he wins.

Although what the big Kindred would win and what kind of game they were playing was completely beyond her. Sammi only knew she was incredibly confused…and still pretty horny.

She forced herself to pull down her nighty and get up. She re-capped the pink ointment and hid it in her dresser drawer, to keep herself from using any more of it. Then she went back to bed and climbed beneath the covers.

Rolling over on her side, she closed her eyes and ordered herself not to think of her new boss and not to remember the spanking…or the fantasy that had followed.

She had a new life here, aboard the Mother Ship and she was not going to screw it up, Sammi told herself.

Absolutely not.

Seven

She woke in the middle of the night, feeling tense and horny all over again. Her pussy was throbbing—especially her clit, where she’d rubbed the pink ointment.

Reaching between her legs, she found that she was incredibly wet and her clit was hot and swollen with need. What was wrong with her?

The ointment, she thought again. It was that damn ointment—it’s still affecting me!

She tried to roll over and go back to sleep but the desperate need wouldn’t let her. At last she gave up and spread her thighs, intending to just “rub one out” quickly and then get back to sleep.

But she found her head was full of Roark again, his deep voice telling her to bend over and raise her skirt, the feeling of his hard palm connecting with her bare ass as she submitted to his punishment…

Sammi tried not to think of him—she really did. But when she finally came, it was with Roark’s name on her lips and the memory of those strange, pale eyes staring down into hers as he told her he was going to punish her.

A rush of shame followed the intense pleasure of her orgasm but at least she was able to go back to sleep again. As she drifted off, Sammi told herself it wouldn’t happen again—it was just the lingering effects of the ointment which surely would have dissipated by the time she woke up in the morning…

Only it didn’t.

If anything, the constant horniness she felt was worse when she opened her eyes as her alarm went off.

Sammi groaned as she reached between her legs to find that she was sopping wet again. And her clit was throbbing as though she hadn’t come for days or weeks.

“What’s wrong with me?” she muttered aloud as she threw back the covers and got out of bed. “Why can’t I stop feeling this way?”

She had no answers and the feeling of need only got worse, even when she took a shower and attempted to wash the remains of the ointment off. Her clit was swollen and throbbing—hot to the touch, as though she had some kind of sexual fever.

Stepping out of the shower, she dried off with a towel. She felt the urgent need to masturbate again but stopped herself when she saw what time it was. She was going to be late for work if she didn’t hurry—and who knew what kind of punishment tardiness carried in Commander Roark’s lab?

Going to work feeling so horny was going to be torture, but Sammi was damned if she’d call in sick. She was damn well going to show Roark that she could work through anything—even the effects of the crazy ointment he had given her.

So she got dressed, fixed her hair, and put on some makeup before leaving her new suite and marching down the long metal corridor to the lab. Every step was torture because the motion stimulated her swollen clit but she did her best not to show her intense arousal on her face.

The show must go on and this was one battle she was not going to let Roark win, she swore to herself.

Even if it drove her crazy.

Eight

His new assistant was extremely quiet for most of the morning, Roark thought. Quiet to the point of muteness—but at least she was there.

He had gone too far, spanking her the day before, he thought to himself. It was a surprise that she had showed up at all instead of going straight to Commander Sylvan, the Head of the High Council, and complaining.

Roark wasn’t quite sure what he would do if that happened. Under Kindred law, he had the right to run his lab any way he wanted to, but female abuse carried a severe penalty.

Although, he hadn’t really abused her—three blows to her luscious bottom could hardly constitute a beating. Also, he might make the case that she was under his direction and so subject to the Law of Conduct, which stated that every Warrior was responsible for the behavior of his bride. Or in this case, his direct subordinate…

His musings were broken by a muffled curse from Samantha’s direction. Looking up, Roark saw that she was shifting in her seat, a look of irritation on her face. Clearly, something was bothering her intensely. Roark doubted she would tell him what it was, but there was no harm in asking.

Getting up from his own desk, he came to stand over her…and that was when her scent hit him like a blow to the face.

Gods! He nearly took a step back in surprise. The scent of female arousal—intense arousal—was so strong he felt his cock come to attention at once. Something had gotten to Samantha—something had made her incredibly “horny” as he had heard humans call it—and now she was in deep sexual need.

His body reacted at once, of course. It was simple biology—he was an unmated male and she was an unmated female in need. His shaft throbbed in his trousers, aching for release.

Roark had the urge to take her in his arms and lay her on his desk. Then he would push up her skirt and tear away those fragile lace panties she wore before parting her pussy lips with his tongue. He could just imagine her moaning and thrashing, pulling his hair as she begged him to lick her harder…taste her deeper…

No! With an effort of will, Roark mastered himself and pushed the erotic image out of his mind. Taking a deep breath—which he immediately regretted, since it filled his senses with her hot fragrance—and keeping his face calm and blank, he spoke her name.

“Samantha,” he said. “Would you like to tell me what’s wrong?”

Nine

Sammi glared up at him, not bothering to try and hide her anger. She’d been fighting with the intense horniness caused by that damn ointment all day. In fact, she’d gone to the restroom and gotten herself off three times—and still it wouldn’t stop. She was beginning to feel half crazy and it was all Roark’s fault!

“You know damn well what’s wrong with me,” she snarled. “You know because you’re the one who caused it!”

“What?” Roark’s pale eyes widened in apparent surprise. “I’m sorry, Samantha, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, yes you do!” She rose on shaky legs and poked a finger at his broad chest. “You gave me that ointment! And ever since I used it I can’t stop…well, I’m a mess!” she finished, feeling her cheeks get hot.

“Ointment?” His eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. “What does the pain ointment I gave you have to do with this…this, er, problem you’re having?”

“Your note said that it was for sensitive areas,” Sammi snapped. “So I used it and ever since I…I’m….like this!” She motioned to herself, as though he could see her internal conflict just by looking at her. Even now her pussy was so wet and hot she felt like she was going to go crazy with desire—no, not just desire. This wasn’t just something she wanted—it was sexual need.

A need that was driving her crazy!

“For sensitive areas?” Understanding dawned in his pale eyes. “Wait a moment—you were only supposed to use the ointment to ease the pain in the area where I punished you. Did you put it on other, er, body parts also?”

This time Sammi felt like her whole face was getting hot and red.

“The note said for sensitive areas,” she repeated stubbornly. “So I used it on sensitive areas.”

Roark frowned at her sternly.

“Which areas exactly, Samantha? Did you rub the ointment on the outer lips of your sex?”

“Not exactly…” Sammi shifted from foot to foot. God, how embarrassing! She was beginning to wish she hadn’t said anything at all. Better to live with the intense arousal than to admit it to her boss. What was he going to think of her if this all came out?

“Where, then?” Roark’s voice grew even more stern as he frowned down at her. “Tell me where you put it, Samantha. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

“I…I put it inside, all right?” she snapped, losing her temper again as anger overcame embarrassment.

His eyebrows rose.

“Inside your sex?”

Angrily, she nodded.

“And ever since I’m going crazy!”

“I imagine so,” Roar said dryly. “Considering that it has extract of bonding fruit in it.”

“What kind of fruit?” Sammi demanded. “What is it and what did it do to me? And where did you get it, anyway?”

Roark sighed.

“I made it myself, as part of my infertility research. And bonding fruit is used by the brides of Twin Kindred to allow them to bond with their chosen mates. It is also one of the strongest aphrodisiacs in the known universe.”

“What?” Sammi demanded. “But…then why did you give it to me?”

“I gave it to you to use on the place where I punished you,” Roark said sternly. “Not to rub into your pussy, Samantha.”

“I…well, I…” But she had no words to say—no excuse to give. After all, she couldn’t admit that the spanking he’d given her had made her hot and bothered and she’d needed to masturbate, could she? Not that she liked to be spanked, Sammi told herself quickly. But still…

“When used as a topical ointment, the bonding fruit extract causes a healing warmth,” Roark lectured. “However, if you apply it to sexual areas, you will get a sexual response.”

“All right, I can tell that much,” Sammi snapped. “Now how do I stop it? It’s driving me insane!”

Roark frowned.

“There are only two ways. You either have to have your mate—or an unmated male—lick the area where you applied the ointment until his saliva dissolves the compounds in the ointment…”

“What?” Sammi exclaimed. “But I told you, I don’t have a boyfriend right now! And I can’t just ask some random guy to…to lick me like that!”

Her face was so hot it felt like her hair might catch on fire as she spoke. She’d never been much for that particular sexual act—mainly because she got the distinct feeling that most guys really didn’t like it very much, even if they pretended otherwise.

“Well, there is one other way to remove the compound. Or rather, to break the molecular bonds and stop the reaction,” Roark said. “But I’m afraid it’s rather delicate and dangerous and you’ll need my help.”

“What? Why would I need your help?” Sammi demanded. God, this was just getting worse and worse!

“Because,” her boss said dryly. “You can’t use the molecular wand on yourself—if you get the wrong frequency you could damage a very delicate area.”

“Molecular wand?” Sammi didn’t like the sound of that.

“Don’t worry—it’s perfectly safe as long as it’s handled by someone who knows what they’re doing. Come on.” Roark nodded at the locked door on the far side of the office—the one Sammi had been curious about ever since she’d started work with him. “Let’s go into my inner lab and I’ll do what needs to be done.”

Ten

“What in the world is all this?” Sammi looked around in surprise at the light table spread with various paraphernalia. There were several delicate and complicated-looking machines that appeared to be hooked to soft, adjustable harnesses, as well as many different tools lined up in orderly precision on the glowing surface of the table.

Roark sighed.

“This is my work area, which I did not intend to show you for some time yet. But circumstances have forced me to speed up my timetable.”

The circumstances being that I used the wrong ointment for lube, Sammi thought, blushing all over again. But then her scientific curiosity got the better of her embarrassment.

“You’re not just a scientist, you’re an inventor,” she said, going over to the table and looking down at the harnesses and machines. She looked at him. “And did you say you made the ointment too?”

He nodded.

“I did. It’s all part of my fertility treatment for unmated human females who want to carry a Kindred child.”

“Well, you’ll have to tell me about it later.” Sammi winced and rubbed her thighs together as her clit throbbed. “Where is this ‘molecular wand’ you told me could help me?”

“Here.” Roark picked up a small rectangular box from the far end of the table. He took off the top and pulled out a long, purple wand which was thick at one end and had a long neck at the other. At the end of the neck was a tiny purple bead, a little smaller than a marble.

Roark flipped a switch at the bottom and the little marble began to glow and hum.

“All right,” he said to Sammi. “Let’s go into the next room so you can take off your skirt and I can use the wand on you.”

“Take off my skirt?” Sammi looked at him blankly.

“And your underthings—your panties, I believe you call them.” Roark nodded. He frowned at Sammi. “How do you expect me to help you if I can’t reach you and apply the wand to the place where you rubbed the ointment?”

Eleven

Sammi couldn’t believe she was doing this.

In the next room of Roark’s inner lab—which was apparently much larger than it had at first appeared, was a kind of padded table with stirrups on it—much like something you might find in a Gynecologist’s office. And somehow Roark had persuaded her to take off her skirt and panties and climb onto the table and put her feet in the stirrups.

Now he was attempting to open the stirrups—and her legs—but Sammi was resisting.

Roark gave her that stern frown of his that she was beginning to know so well.

“Now, Samantha—how can I reach you and use the wand on you if you don’t part your legs?”

“This is crazy!” Sammi exclaimed, keeping her legs firmly closed. “Why can’t I just use the wand on myself?”

“Because,” Roark growled, a hint of impatience in his deep voice. “The wand isn’t a toy—it’s a precisely calibrated instrument which must be tuned to the exact frequency of the bonding fruit’s molecules in order to break the bonds between them and stop the aphrodisiac effect. If used incorrectly it can result in anything from a case of what would feel like mild sunburn to severe and permanent nerve damage.” He glared at Sammi. “Now do you understand why you can’t use it yourself?”

Sammi bit her lip. She certainly didn’t want either a mild sunburn or permanent nerve damage, especially on her pussy.

“That sounds dangerous,” she protested. “Are you sure there’s no other way?”

“The molecular wand is perfectly safe when it’s being used by someone who knows how to handle it,” Roark assured her. “And the only other way to break the molecular bonds and stop the effect the ointment is having on you, is for me to spread your thighs and lick your pussy.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is that what you want? Because I will do it, Samantha. Your scent is intoxicating and I can only imagine how good you taste.”

His frank words flooded Sammi with so many conflicting emotions she couldn’t speak. She had a sudden mental image of her stern boss between her legs, lapping her open pussy while she tried not to moan and gasp. The thought made her so hot she had to press her thighs together tightly to try and ease the surge of desire she felt.

“Well, Samantha?” Roark raised his eyebrows at her. “The wand or my tongue. Which will it be?”

“I…the…the wand,” she finally managed to get out.

“Very good.” He nodded. “Then spread your legs and let’s get to work.”

At last Sammi allowed him to part her knees. She couldn’t believe she was doing this—couldn’t believe this was only her second day at her new job and she was up in stirrups with her skirt and panties in a crumpled heap on the floor baring her pussy for her boss.

Of course, she had started on the first day by bending over his desk and letting him spank her, so maybe this wasn’t quite so surprising as it might be but still…

“I’m going to need your help, Samantha.”

Roark was sitting on a rolling stool between her open thighs and looking intently at her bare pussy. This made Sammi extremely glad she’d shaved her little mound of red-gold curls down to a tiny patch just at the apex of her sex recently. At least the area he was looking at was neat—although she was also extremely wet, she saw with growing embarrassment. So wet that her pussy lips were slippery and shiny with her juices and so were her inner thighs.

“I said, I’m going to need your help,” he repeated, drawing her out of her shame spiral.

“My help? What do you mean?” Sammi asked.

“I’m going to need you to show me everywhere you rubbed the ointment,” Roark told her. “So I can apply the wand accurately.”

“Oh, uh…” Sammi’s face felt hot. “I pretty much just rubbed it everywhere.”

He looked up at her, frowning.

“Everywhere? As in, the outside of your pussy lips as well as the inside of your sex?”

“No, I don’t think I rubbed it on the, uh, outside,” Sammi said.

“Just inside, then?” he asked, looking up at her.

Remembering how she’d spread her pussy lips and rubbed the pink ointment directly on her clit, Sammi blushed and nodded.

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Show me where, then,” Roark ordered. “Spread your pussy open and show me where to apply the wand.”

Oh my God! Sammi couldn’t believe how embarrassing this was! But along with the embarrassment, wasn’t there also something else? A naughty little pleasure at obeying her stern boss’s orders? A hot spark of desire caused by her submission?

No, she thought as she spread her pussy with trembling fingers, opening herself and baring her slippery pink inner folds for his inspection. No, I shouldn’t be getting off on this!

“Gods…” Roark was frowning at what he saw. “I think I can tell where you used most of the ointment, Samantha,” he said dryly, glancing up at her. “Your Goddess pearl is inflamed with need.”

“My Goddess pearl? You mean my, uh, clit?” Sammi asked, feeling even more embarrassed.

He nodded.

“Yes, I had heard that was what you humans call it. Hold still now, this is a very delicate operation.”

He brought the glowing purple marble at the tip of the wand closer to her open pussy but Sammi twitched her hips to the side.

“That thing looks like it might be hot,” she objected, nodding at the wand. “Are you sure it’s not going to burn me?”

Roark shook his head.

“I have it calibrated exactly. As long as you hold still, you shouldn’t feel anything but a faint warmth and vibration.”

“But—” Sammi began.

He looked up at her sternly, his pale eyes flashing.

“Would you rather I bathe your pussy with my tongue, Samantha? I will be happy to do so if you fear the wand so much.”

“No, no!” Sammi said quickly, feeling her cheeks get even hotter, if that was possible. “Go ahead—I’ll hold still.”

“Very good.” Roark brought the glowing purple marble right up to her pussy and began to stroke it gently over her inner folds.

“Ahhh!” Sammi gasped before she could stop herself. The “faint vibration” was both warm and extremely stimulating to her throbbing, swollen clit. She couldn’t help herself—her hips bucked up as he caressed her with the wand.

“Hold still!” Roark barked, frowning at her. “I told you, this is a delicate operation!”

“I can’t help it!” Sammi snapped back at him. “That thing feels like you’re using a vibrator on me and I’m already really sensitive as it is!”

“I see.” His frown relaxed and he nodded thoughtfully. “You find the wand stimulating? Pleasurable?”

Reluctantly, Sammi nodded.

“It feels too good. I can’t help jerking around when you’re, uh, stroking me like that,” she admitted.

“All right—then we’ll have to hold you in place.”

Roark put down the wand and reached around to pull some kind of straps out of the table.

“Hey—what are you doing?” Sammi demanded as he strapped first one thigh and then the other firmly down to the padded exam table.

“Holding you still the only way I can,” Roark said. He was still busy working, strapping her knees and lower legs down as well. Soon Sammi found herself completely immobile and spread wide on the table with her open pussy on full display.

“This is crazy!” she protested.

“No, this is for your safety,” Roark countered. “I told you what could happen if the wand isn’t used carefully. Now just try to relax and let me finish this, Samantha.”

“But…but I…” she began but he was already picking up the molecular wand again and moving the glowing purple marble to her aching pussy.

This time Roark held her open himself. Spreading her swollen pussy lips with the thumb and finger of his left hand, he stroked the warm, vibrating marble over Sammi’s wet folds, paying special attention to her clit.

“Oh!” Sammi gasped. She would have jerked and bucked if she hadn’t been so firmly strapped down. As it was, she found she was helpless to do anything to get away from the intense sexual stimulation. Her thighs were spread open and her legs were firmly fastened to the table. All she could do was watch as Roark rubbed the glowing marble over the pink pearl of her clit, sending unbearable warm waves of pleasure through her entire body.

But just as it was getting to be too much, the treatment abruptly stopped and Roark withdrew the glowing purple marble.

“Is…is it over?” Sammi wasn’t sure if she was glad or not. The pleasure had been so intense she could barely stand it, but now she felt like she’d been left hanging. A “case of the blue balls” was what a guy would call it but what it amounted to was unfulfilled sexual desire.

But Roark was shaking his head.

“I’m afraid we’re not done yet. You’re tensing up too much, Samantha. You need to relax.”

“What?” Sammi looked down between her legs. “What do you mean?”

“May I show you?” Roark asked. When she nodded, he spread her pussy again with his left hand and then pointed at her clit. “Do you see how tight your Goddess pearl is? You’re so tense and the hood is erect.”

“The what now?” Sammi asked, feeling dazed.

“The clitoral hood. Here.” Very gently, he traced the top part of her throbbing clit with just the tip of his finger.

“Ohhhh!” Sammi moaned and her hips would have bucked if she hadn’t been strapped down, she was sure.

“Gently now,” Roark murmured. “I’m going to stroke you again, Samantha, and I want you to try to relax.”

“But…but it feels too good to relax,” Sammi protested. “You’re driving me crazy!”

“Nevertheless, you must try to relax.” Roark gave her a strict frown. “I’m going to stroke all around your Goddess pearl until you learn to loosen up and let the pleasure flow through you. Once you’re finally relaxed we can continue the treatment.”

“I…I’ll try to relax,” Sammi whispered submissively. “But I don’t know if I can.”

“You can,” Roark assured her. “You just have to put your mind to it. Relax now, Samantha…”

As he spoke, the tip of his finger continued to slide around and around the sensitive little button in a way that was both sensuous and almost hypnotic.

“Relax for me, Samantha,” he murmured as he touched her. “Let the tension flow away and just open yourself as I stroke your Goddess pearl…”

Sammi found herself obeying him. She tried to do as he said and let the pleasure flow through her as she took deep breaths and let herself be open to her boss’s long fingers.

“Good girl,” Roark murmured as she felt her tingling clit relax under his gentle caress. “That’s a very good girl, Samantha to open yourself and let me stroke your soft little pussy…”

And then his finger left her open folds to be replaced by the glowing purple marble once more.

Oh…Oh my God! Sammi moaned to herself as the “treatment” continued and the vibration resumed once more. Can’t stand this much longer. It feels too good…it’s too much…

She thought she had never felt so vulnerable…or so hot…in her life.

“Stop—stop!” she begged at last, her heart pounding and her whole body quivering.

Roark switched the wand off once more.

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t I’m going to…going to come,” Sammi admitted, her voice shaking with shame and need. “I swear to God, Roark—I’m right on the edge. Please!”

Her boss shook his head and flipped the switch, lighting up the marble at the end of the wand again.

“I’m afraid I can’t stop again—the molecular bonds have to be vibrated at the right frequency for some time in order to break.”

“But I’m going to come!” Sammi protested, squirming ineffectually against the straps around her thighs. Damn it, she was so incredibly vulnerable here! And somehow the vulnerability—the helplessness she felt—was making her even hotter. Which had to be wrong, didn’t it? But if so, why did it feel so right—so pleasurable?

“It’s all right if you orgasm,” Roark assured her. “It won’t affect the outcome.”

“But—” Sammi gasped desperately. “But it’s so embarrassing.”

“It’s a natural reaction to stimulation,” Roark told her as he began to stroke the glowing marble over her tender clit again. His voice became softer and he looked up at her, his pale eyes half-lidded. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, Samantha. It’s all right—just let yourself go. Let yourself come while I take care of you,” he murmured.

Sammi wasn’t sure if it was his deep, soft voice giving her permission to let go or the buzzing, humming wand he was stroking her pussy with over and over but suddenly she was coming—coming so hard she saw stars.

“Oh!” she gasped, her back arching though her pelvis and thighs remained anchored to the padded exam chair. “Oh, Roark, please! Please!”

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she didn’t know if she was begging him to stop or to never stop—she only knew the pleasure coursing through her was incredible—overwhelming. And as long as he stroked her open pussy with the glowing purple wand she couldn’t stop coming…

“All right…all right now. I think we’ve neutralized the compound around your Goddess pearl,” Roark said at last, pulling the marble away from her throbbing clit.

“You…you did?” Sammi panted, looking at him with dazed eyes. “Are…are we done, then?” She didn’t know if she wanted the answer to be yes or no.

Roark frowned. “That depends—is your Goddess pearl the only place you put the ointment?”

Sammi thought of her embarrassing fantasies of the night before—how she had imagined the big Kindred putting his long fingers deep inside her and fucking her with them. Her own fingers hadn’t been nearly long enough to simulate his but she’d tried anyway.

And her fingers had been coated in the pink ointment.

Reluctantly, she shook her head.

“No, I…I put it, uh, inside too,” she admitted, her cheeks getting hot again. “Um, pretty deep, actually.”

“It’s a good thing you admitted it,” Roark told her, frowning. “It’s important we neutralize all of the bonding fruit molecules or you could have serious problems down the road.”

“What problems? Ohhh!” Sammi moaned again because the glowing purple marble had slipped down and was entering the entrance to her pussy.

“Just hold still, Samantha.” Roark’s deep voice was back to being strict again. “Hold still and let me explore you thoroughly and make certain we get it all taken care of.”

Sammi had no choice but to do as he said. Still moaning, she watched as the long purple wand fucked her carefully and thoroughly, sliding in and out of her pussy channel and hitting her g-spot with each deep thrust. More pleasure rushed through her and she came again, even harder this time, until at last she felt she was going to pass out with the pleasure.

“Can’t stand…” she gasped, writhing ineffectually against her bonds. “Can’t stand much more. Please, Roark—please!”

“All right.” At last he withdrew the wand and turned it off. “I think we got all of it. How do you feel?”

“Worn out,” Sammi panted. Her breath was tearing raggedly in her throat as she tried to recover from the intense orgasm. “You didn’t…didn’t tell me you were going to, uh, make me come like that!”

Roark shrugged.

“It was simply a side effect of breaking the molecular bonds.”

“If we’re all done then can you unstrap me?” Sammi asked, hating how weak she sounded. “I…I feel so vulnerable all tied down like this.”

“Forgive me.” Roark put down the wand and began unstrapping her thighs. “But it was necessary to hold you still.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Do you feel better now? Has the desire dissipated?”

“I think so.” Sammi got off the table and stood on wobbly legs. “I…oh!” Her legs gave way and she would have fallen if Roark hadn’t caught her.

“All right now, you’re all right,” he murmured, swinging her up and cradling her in his arms.

“I don’t know if I am,” Sammi whispered. “Why do I feel so weak? Is it because you made me come so hard?”

“Possibly.” He sat her gently back on the table with her legs hanging over the side. Kneeling in front of her, he picked up her panties and began putting them back on her. “A strong orgasm can make you feel weak sometimes.”

“God, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation!” Sammi put one trembling hand to her head. “And I can’t believe what we just did. I mean, you’re my boss! And why do you have all this equipment and this, uh, exam table back here, anyway?”

Roark frowned as he helped her pull her panties up and then started putting on her skirt.

“It’s all part of building and testing my prototype. I’ll tell you everything once we’re settled—though I had hoped to put off revealing my research until later on in your employment.”

“If you were waiting until we got to know each other better, I think that ship has sailed,” Sammi said dryly.

One corner of his stern but sensuous mouth quirked up briefly.

“You could be right about that. Very well, come with me and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Twelve

Gods! Roark squeezed his hands into fists at his sides as he watched his new assistant’s full ass sway while she walked from the fitting room of his lab back to the work room.

Making her come…stroking her pussy while she moaned and begged and writhed, had been the most intensely erotic experience of his life. He hadn’t allowed himself to be intimate with any female since Amanda and that had been so long ago it almost didn’t hurt anymore.

Almost.

He pushed the thought of his past lover out of his mind. Samantha was nothing like her and this situation was completely different. She was his assistant, that was all. And now that they had “gotten to know each other better” as she put it, he could get her more deeply involved in the testing part of his research.

Which was exactly why he couldn’t let himself become aroused by her reactions, he reminded himself. No matter how enticing she was when she moaned his name and came for him, he needed to remain an impartial observer and not allow himself to become emotionally involved.

Because once they started the fitting and testing of the parts of his prototype, there was going to be a lot more moaning and begging and coming—if there wasn’t, then something was seriously wrong with his designs.

The research had to come first and any feelings he was tempted to have for the luscious little female must be suppressed.

Roark only hoped he was strong enough to suppress them.

Thirteen

“As you know, my research into infertility centers on a very specific demographic—that of unmated human females who wish to become pregnant with a Kindred baby.”

“Yes, that is extremely specific.” Sammi nodded and crossed her thighs, smoothing her skirt down over her knees modestly. She couldn’t believe they were sitting here in his workroom, speaking as though nothing had happened between them.

Though maybe to Roark, nothing had happened. He was speaking in a dry, lecturing tone and though she was pretty sure he had been aroused while he was making her come, he hadn’t acted on it. Though he had offered to lick her pussy…

Just the thought made her cheeks get hot.

Pay attention, Sammi! she lectured herself. And try to forget the past hour—the only way you’re going to be able to have any kind of working relationship with Roark is if you both just pretend it never happened.

Which was true enough, so she forced herself to focus on his words.

“Why only unmated human females who want a Kindred baby?” she asked. “I would have thought you’d be more interested in infertile couples.”

Roark waved a hand dismissively.

“There are already plenty of infertility treatments for Kindred/human couples. When I first started getting interested in infertility, I had a patient come to me whose mate had just died.”

“How sad,” Sammi said softly.

He nodded.

“Yes, it was tragic. But he, like all Kindred males, had frozen a sample of his seed in our genetic bank, here aboard the Mother Ship. The patient wanted me to implant some of that seed in her womb and help her to have the child they had wanted so much when he was alive. So I did the procedure…but it failed. I also tried combining one of her eggs with his seed—but that also failed.”

“It did—what happened? I mean, what went wrong?” Sammi asked, frowning.

“I asked myself that very question,” Roark said thoughtfully. “It seemed that no matter what I tried, the patient was unable to conceive, even though she was a perfectly healthy female in the prime of her life. At last, I hit on the solution—at least, I hope it will be the solution,” he added.

“What is it?” Sammi was really interested now. She leaned forward, literally on the edge of her seat.

“I realized that the component that was lacking during the attempts at artificial insemination and invitro fertilization was desire—pleasure,” Roark emphasized.

He had been leaning back against the light table with his arms crossed as he spoke but now he stood up and began pacing as he lectured.

“You see, when a human female becomes pregnant with a Kindred’s seed, they are almost always in the process of bonding sex.”

“Bonding sex being the step beyond regular sex that can only happen with a Kindred, right?” Sammi asked. She hadn’t been aboard the Mother Ship long but the Kindred sexual cycle was fascinating to her.

“Exactly.” He nodded. “And a female can almost never get pregnant by a male unless they are having bonding sex. Even after they are initially bonded, he will bond her to him over and over again and that’s when she’s most likely to become pregnant.”

“But an unmated female—a single woman alone—can’t have bonding sex when she’s getting artificially inseminated,” Sammi pointed out.

“Which is the exact problem!” Roark turned to her, his eyes blazing. “Once I realized that, I began working on a solution. A way to simulate bonding sex and the intense pleasure and vulnerability that accompanies it during the insemination process.”

“Is that what all this, uh, stuff is for?” Sammi nodded at the lighted work table with its many small machines and harnesses.

“That’s exactly what it’s for.” Roark nodded eagerly. “I have developed a process that should hopefully ensure that a female is ready to receive a Kindred’s seed and a way to simulate bonding sex in order to be certain her body doesn’t reject it.”

“But…how?” Sammi asked blankly. “I mean, isn’t bonding sex different with different kinds of Kindred?”

“It is.” He nodded. “And I’m working on variations for each type. For instance I have this to simulate Blood Kindred bonding sex.”

He picked up what looked like a small leather patch with two sharp needles sticking out of it and a small, clear bladder below filled with blue liquid.

“The female wears this device attached either to her neck or her inner thigh during insemination,” he explained. “It’s filled with a chemical compound that simulates Blood Kindred essence. It mimics the bite the Kindred male would give her to bond her to him as he shoots his seed into her channel.”

“Wow,” Sammi murmured. She stood up and came to look more closely at the paraphernalia on the light table. “Uh…what’s this one?” she asked, pointing at an extremely large purple dildo which had what looked like a deflated balloon at its base.

“This is to simulate bonding sex with a Beast Kindred,” Roark explained. “It releases a compounding which mimics Beast Kindred pre-come, which allows a female to stretch to receive a Beast Kindred’s shaft. Then at the moment of bonding…look…” He picked up a small remote, pointed it at the huge dildo and pressed a button.

Immediately, the deflated balloon-looking part around the base of the dildo began to fill with air. It grew to alarming proportions, making Sammi’s eyes widen as she watched it get bigger and bigger. Holy crap, was this what Meg went through every time she and her Beast Kindred hubby had sex? How in the world could her best friend walk straight the next morning?

“That’s…impressive,” she managed to get out, in a slightly strangled voice. “But, uh, I don’t know many women who could accommodate such a large, um, object—let alone the balloon thing at the base.”

“The mating fist,” Roark corrected her. “And no, of course a female can’t accept such a large phallus into her channel unless she’s sufficiently aroused first. Which is where my preparation process comes in.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sammi frowned up at him and had a sudden idea. “Does it have anything to do with that ointment you gave me?”

“As a matter of fact, it does.” He nodded. “You see, in order to simulate bonding sex, the female’s arousal must be intense. There is no impregnation without pleasure.”

“Not among the Kindred, maybe,” Sammi muttered. “Though I’ve known plenty of girls down on Earth who got pregnant without a bit of pleasure.”

“Yes, that is a very strange aspect of human sexuality,” Roark remarked. “It amazes me that you’re able to conceive so easily and with no pleasure on the female’s part whatsoever.” He shook his head. “It must be the reason I’ve heard human males described as inadequate lovers so often.”

“Well, none of the human guys I’ve been with has ever been that great,” Sammi said frankly, and then blushed. “Not that I’ve, uh, dated that many people,” she added quickly, wondering why she had brought it up in the first place.

Roark looked at her intently.

“So you also have felt that your sexual experiences with human males have been lacking?”

“Well, yes…” Sammi cleared her throat. “Though I don’t see how my, uh, experiences are of any interest here.”

“My dear Samantha, they are of intense interest,” Roark said eagerly. “If previous sexual experiences have left you unaroused and unfulfilled, that makes you the perfect test subject for my arousal process and eventually for the prototype of my insemination machine.”

“What?” Sammi looked at him blankly. “You want me to test out all this… this stuff?” She eyed the huge purple dildo, with the inflatable mating fist in dismay. “But that’s crazy! I’m a scientist—not a cam girl!”

“Don’t you see—this research will benefit countless people,” Roark said. “Single females who feel no need of a mate but wish to have a baby to love and cherish. Females who bond with other females and wish to raise a child together. Widows who have lost their mates and want desperately to have a baby to remember them by.”

“Well…that is a worthy cause,” Sammi conceded. “But…I just don’t know if I can see myself, uh, trying all this stuff out.”

He turned the full force of those pale eyes on her.

“What if I told you this is part of your job requirements, Samantha?”

“What? Are you saying there’s a clause in the contract I signed that says I have to let you put something like that inside me?” she demanded, still looking at the Beast Kindred dildo.

Roark raised an eyebrow.

“There is a part which specifies that you will do whatever is necessary to advance our research.”

“Well, yes, but…I mean, there are limits, right?” Sammi protested.

To her surprise, Roark nodded.

“There are limits,” he agreed. “I will not actually be injecting you with fertile seed. You will not actually get pregnant, Samantha—you will only simulate the impregnation process.”

“I…but I…” She wasn’t sure what to say…what to do.

Oh, she knew what she ought to do—she ought to slap his face and walk out.

But if she was going to do that, she would have done it back when he ordered her to bend over the desk and raise her skirt for a spanking. She hadn’t walked out when he’d spanked her and somehow Sammi didn’t think she was going to walk out now.

Don’t be crazy, Sammi! whispered a little voice in her head. Don’t tell me you’re actually going to go along with this! That you’re actually going to let him run experiments—sexual experiments—on you!

But it seemed that was exactly what she was going to do. She was going to submit to Roark sexually and let him do what he wanted with her.

Feeling weak in the knees as a sudden rush of desire filled her, Sammi looked up at her boss.

“All right—what do I have to do?”

Fourteen

“This is, as I said, a process,” Roark explained as he showed her more of the equipment on the light table. “You will be fucked—deeply fucked—by a variety of phalluses in order to simulate bonding sex with the different kinds of Kindred. But we cannot start with that step. Desire must be built slowly over a period of days.”

“How?” Sammi couldn’t believe they were talking about this—that she had agreed to her boss’s unreasonable demands. But she had and now testing his prototypes and spreading her thighs for a number of huge dildos was apparently part of her job description.

She was certainly going to have to be creative when she put this on her résumé!

But no matter how unbelievable it was, here she was, actually doing it. And hearing Roark discuss in that cool, deep voice of his exactly what he would be doing to her was making her feel weak in the knees.

“It is my belief that no part of a female’s anatomy should be ignored during pleasuring,” Roark remarked. “Every part of her body must be attended to in order to achieve maximum arousal and fulfill the ultimate goal of impregnation.”

“Meaning what?” Sammi asked, feeling bewildered.

“Meaning that, to start with, I’ll need you to wear this under your shirt for the next several days.”

Roark picked up a soft leather harness which looked a little like a bra made of black leather straps. It was adjustable, Sammi saw, and each cup had a hole in the center.

“Is that some kind of bra?” she asked, frowning.

“It’s a breast stimulator,” Roark told her briskly. “Please take off your blouse and underthings so I can make certain it fits correctly.”

It occurred to Sammi that she ought to protest getting naked from the waist up for her boss. But since she’d already been naked from the waist down less than an hour ago, it seemed like a moot point.

She unbuttoned her white silk work blouse without complaint but she couldn’t help blushing when she took off her bra. She was really too big up top to be without support and she’d never felt comfortable going braless. Feeling self-conscious, she crossed her arms over her bare breasts.

“Don’t cover yourself, Samantha,” Roark commanded. “I have to be able to see you in order to fit you with the harness.”

Blushing, Sammi allowed him to help her into the leather harness which fit very much like a bra, though it was much more comfortable. This became evident as Roark cupped each breast in turn and made certain her nipples were poking out of the holes in the center of the cups.

“What kind of material is this?” she asked, trying to take her mind off the way her boss was handling her body so intimately.

“Kroathian leather,” he said distractedly, as he made certain each breast was correctly situated in its cup. “It’s simultaneously one of the softest and the strongest materials in the universe. It has almost no surface resistance—which means it won’t ever cause any kind of chafing or irritation. It also has float dots embedded in it, which will keep both your breasts in the correct position for stimulation.”

“Float dots?”

“They help nullify the pull of gravity on your breasts,” Roark explained. “See for yourself.”

Looking down at herself, Sammi noticed that her heavy breasts were looking positively perky. Instead of being pulled down by gravity, they were riding high so that both her nipples pointed straight ahead like headlights on a car.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “These are great! And this harness is much more comfortable than a bra.”

“That’s because it isn’t a bra,” Roark told her, frowning. “It’s a stimulation device, as I said. Here—watch.”

He pressed a tiny button on the top of the right shoulder strap and suddenly the straps of soft black leather began to vibrate very lightly. They got warmer, too, Sammi noticed. After a moment, it felt like a pair of large, capable hands was slowly caressing and massaging her full globes, which was actually kind of nice.

“This feels pretty good,” she told Roark. “Um, is that all it does, though?”

“By no means.” He shook his head. “There are several functions, but this is the lowest setting without the nipple caps.”

“Nipple caps?” Sammi raised her eyebrows.

“Of course. They help with stimulation. Though first, of course, we’ll need to rub some ointment into your nipples—for extra sensitivity,”

“The same ointment I used last night?” Sammi demanded. “But that stuff was driving me crazy!”

“Which is the idea, as I’m sure you’ve guessed,” Roark said dryly. “Remember, there is no impregnation without pleasure. But I think you’ll find the effect of the bonding fruit ointment is much more subtle when applied to the breasts.”

“But—” Sammi started to object, but he had already pulled a pot of the pink ointment out of the pocket of his lab coat and was unscrewing the top. “But how will I get it off again?” she protested.

“I will help you, just as I did when you got the ointment in your pussy,” Roark promised. “Now then, Samantha,” he continued, looking at her directly. “Would you like to put this on yourself…or should I apply it for you?”

“I…you…” Sammi’s tongue felt suddenly clumsy with desire. “You…do you think maybe you’d better do it?” she heard herself asking. “For…for accuracy?”

“If you wish.” Roark’s pale eyes were half-lidded as he looked down at her. “It would be my pleasure to massage the ointment into your ripe nipples, Samantha.”

“All…all right, then,” Sammi said breathlessly. Daringly, she thrust out her breasts, giving him better access. “Go…go ahead, then. Do it.”

“With pleasure,” he murmured. He smeared the pink ointment on the tips of her nipples with his fingertips and began to trace the round pink circles of her areolas with maddening slowness.

“Ohhh!” Sammi couldn’t help moaning as he circled her nipples, taking his time to get to her tingling tips. “Why…why are you taking so…so long?” she whispered, trying not to look down to where his large hands were cupping and teasing her.

“Pleasure cannot be rushed, Samantha,” he murmured. Holding her eyes with his, he at last reached her nipples and gave each one a gentle tug that sent sparks of pure desire through her whole body.

Sammi gave a soft little cry as the ointment began to work on her. It was warm and tingling and the feeling of Roark’s long, strong fingers massaging it into her tender peaks was almost enough to make her come all over again.

“Oh,” she moaned. “Oh, Roark…”

“I want you to wear this—just as it is—under your blouse for the rest of today and all of tonight,” Roark told her sternly, as he continued to pinch and tug and massage her nipples in a way that sent sparks of pleasure straight down to her pussy. “Tomorrow we’ll add the nipple caps but for tonight, I want to know the effects of just the ointment on your bare nipples while they’re rubbing against your blouse.”

“All…all right,” Sammi agreed. She thought she would have agreed to anything while the big Kindred was touching her like that—anything at all. “So…you even want me to sleep in it?” she managed to ask.

Roark gave her a stern look.

“You are not to remove it for any reason. The Kroathian leather is waterproof, so you should have no problem bathing in it and I designed it to be comfortable enough to sleep in as well.”

“It is, uh, very comfortable,” Sammi half-moaned as he continued to massage her and tug her tight peaks. She was beginning to wonder if she could come this way—her nipples had always been sensitive but she’d never had a man pay such unrelenting attention to any part of her body before. In fact, she was sure the ointment was probably thoroughly rubbed in by now but Roark showed no signs of stopping the nipple massage.

For her part, Sammi didn’t say anything to stop him, either. Every tug of his long fingers on her tender peaks seemed to send sparks of pleasure straight to her pussy. She squeezed her thighs together tightly, trying to control the sexual need that filled her.

“When you come in to work tomorrow, we’ll measure your arousal and remove the ointment,” Roark told her, his voice a soft growl. “And then I’ll attach the nipple caps.”

“All…all right,” Sammi somehow managed to agree. “That sounds fine.”

“Good.” At last he released her nipples. “You can put your blouse back on now, Samantha. And then we’ll get back to work.”

Fifteen

Roark watched his assistant as she shifted in her chair. She was working on some paperwork he’d assigned her, but it was clear she was having a hard time keeping focused on the task at hand. Probably because of the way the bonding fruit lotion was stimulating her nipples, he thought, his shaft throbbing in his trousers.

He hadn’t anticipated how stimulating actually testing his designs and prototypes out on a willing subject would be. He’d only thought about collecting data and making certain his test subject was fully and thoroughly aroused by his program of gradual, building sexual stimulation before the moment of insemination.

But of course, that was before he had met and hired Samantha, he had to admit to himself. Her full, lush figure, big green eyes, and long strawberry blonde hair added something to the equation.

She adds sex, he thought, looking at her possessively. Sexual desire…as well as sexual submission.

He had to admit, he’d expected to have to do much more to convince her to go along with his arousal program and to try the various prototypes. But she’d put up only token resistance before agreeing to put on the breast harness and it had been her suggestion that he rub the ointment into her nipples instead of doing it herself.

Roark wondered if she would still be so compliant when he had her strapped into the insemination machine—which he still hadn’t showed her. Would she allow him to strap her into the harness and spread her legs willingly for whichever phallus he chose to use on her? Or would she argue and try to get out of the contract she had signed?

He simply didn’t know. But looking at the black straps of the breast harness and the tight pink points of her nipples, clearly visible through her white silk blouse, Roark was eager to find out.

Sixteen

Sammi had forgotten she had promised to have dinner with Meg and Berik that evening. When Meg called to remind her, she was faced with a dilemma—should she cancel with her friend? Or should she go to the dinner wearing the breast harness Roark had put on her?

It didn’t occur to her to take the harness off. He had commanded her to leave it on and to be honest, Sammi wasn’t exactly sure how to take it off anyway. It seemed to fasten in the back like a bra but there were no hooks and eyes and no obvious way to remove it.

Besides, her boss had told her to keep it on. And for some reason, Sammi found herself wanting to obey him.

It’s not that I’m submissive or kinky or anything—I just have to make sure he gets accurate data, that’s all, she told herself uneasily.

In the end, she decided to go to dinner with Meg but to wear a sweater that was thick enough to cover the harness and the fact that her nipples were constantly erect because of the stimulation both from the harness itself and the bonding fruit ointment.

Her choice turned out to be a mistake. Though she wore the softest sweater she owned, the fabric still rubbed tantalizingly against her stimulated peaks, making it rather difficult to concentrate on the dinner conversation. Especially when she remembered the way Roark had tugged and pinched her sensitive points when he was rubbing the ointment on in the first place…

Luckily, the dinner turned out to be with Meg only. Berik had been sent on a mission in a different galaxy and was going to be gone all week. So at least there was only one person to notice that Sammi was acting strangely.

“…so you can imagine how much I miss him!” Meg said and sighed deeply as she picked at the teriyaki salmon on her plate. It was usually one of her favorites, but she’d barely eaten two bites. Clearly missing her husband was messing with her appetite.

“I’m sure you do.” Sammi made a sympathetic face and tried surreptitiously to pluck the sweater she was wearing away from her breasts. She was filling it out much more fully than she usually did because of the float dots in the harness which were keeping her breasts in perfect, perky position without a bit of sagging.

“He’ll be back in a week but we haven’t been bonded that long,” Meg continued mournfully. “So a week feels like a year. I swear, Sammi, I don’t know what I’m going to do!”

“You could catch up on your reading,” Sammi suggested distractedly. “Or, um, I don’t know…take up knitting or crocheting or something like that?”

“Maybe…” Meg sighed forlornly. “You’re lucky you’re single, Sammi. No man to worry about—nobody tying you up in knots, you know?”

“No, nobody tying me up,” Sammi echoed, and a little voice in her head echoed, So strapping you down to the table while he used that molecular wand thing on you didn’t count?

The memory of being strapped down and vulnerable while Roark probed her pussy with the purple wand sent a sudden rush of heat to the spot between her legs. Sammi pressed her thighs together and shifted in her chair.

“…okay?”

“Huh?” Looking up, she saw that Meg was looking at her with concern.

“I said are you okay? You’re not mad are you, that Berik can’t get the rest of your stuff from Earth right away?”

“Oh no, of course not!” Sammi exclaimed. Meg’s husband had gone, as promised, to pick up her things from her house. But her Aunt Vicky had only managed to pack half of it up in time. She had promised to get the rest done by the end of the week but now that Berik was going to be gone for a while, it was clear Sammi would have to wait until later to get the rest of her boxes.

“I promise he’ll get it the minute he gets back,” Meg said. She blushed. “Well, maybe not the exact minute. I’ll have to spend some time, uh, welcoming him home if you know what I mean.” She grinned at Sammi and winked.

“I think I get it,” Sammi said dryly. “And please don’t worry about it. The suites here come already furnished, so it’s not like I’m sleeping on the floor because I’m waiting for my mattress. Berik brought most of my clothes on the first trip—that’s really all I need to get by for now.”

“He must not have brought your summer clothes, though.” Meg frowned. “Or why else are you wearing a sweater?”

“Oh, uh…I was cold, that’s all,” Sammi said lamely. She shifted in her seat again and once more tried to pull the clingy sweater away from her breasts.

“Well, okay.” Meg shrugged. Lucikly, she was still too preoccupied with missing her husband to examine Sammi’s answer too closely. “I promise Berik will get the rest when he comes home, though.”

“Thanks—I appreciate it,” Sammi said, trying to smile. She was beginning to feel the need for some “alone time” to take care of the growing desire that was plaguing her. She didn’t want to be rude, but she hoped dinner would be over soon so she could go take care of herself.

Though I’m not going to think about Roark while I do it, she told herself strongly. That wouldn’t be right. I have to start separating my work from my fantasy life.

Though considering that her work was beginning to strongly resemble some kind of strange sexual fantasy, that might not be easy…

“So how is work going?” Meg chose that moment to ask.

“Oh, you know…” Sammi shrugged vaguely.

“No, I don’t—until you tell me!” Meg exclaimed. “Come on, Sammi—spill it! I’ve been going on and on about Barik and how much I miss him all night and you’ve barely said two words about your new job!”

“Well, there’s…not much to tell. You know…” Sammi shrugged uneasily. “It’s just a job, that’s all.”

She didn’t know why she was reluctant to tell her best friend the bizarre things that had been going on at her new job. Maybe because what Roark and she were doing together felt private and she didn’t want to share it—not even with Meg.

Or maybe because you’re embarrassed about being so submissive, whispered a little voice in her head. Letting him spank you and probe you and wearing the harness he put on you and letting him massage your nipples…

“Just a job?” Meg gave her a piercing look. “With a boss like Commander Roark? I don’t think so! Come on, Sammi—what’s he got you doing—some kind of top-secret research?”

Sammi thought of the “research” her boss had informed her was part of her job—thought of how he had promised she would be “deeply fucked” by phalluses of all different kinds and how she was even now wearing the breast harness he had designed…and felt her cheeks getting hot.

Unfortunately, Meg saw her reaction.

“Oh my God, you’re blushing!” she exclaimed, looking at Sammi. “What are the two of you doing, anyway? I’ve heard that Shadow Twins have a hard time getting bonded sometimes but maybe the two of you are finding a way around that?”

“It’s not like that,” Sammi said quickly. “I mean, Roark is an extremely attractive man, er, Kindred, but he’s just my boss, that’s all.”

“Just your boss. Riiiight.” Meg nodded skeptically. “Okay, if you say so, Sammi.”

“I do.” Sammi pushed her plate away and stood up. “Would you excuse me, Meg? I’m not feeling so good.”

“What? You want to go before we even have dessert?” Meg demanded. “But I got the most amazing cupcakes from this little shop down by the park area in the center of the ship! It’s run by a cousin of Liv and Sophie. You remember them, right? The two sisters I introduced you to when you first came aboard?”

“Yes, I remember—they seemed really nice.” Sammi smiled and then winced, putting her fingers to her temples. “I’m really sorry to pass on the cupcakes, but I think I feel one of my headaches coming on and you know if I don’t go lay down in a dark place and try to head it off it’s going to be just awful.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” Meg frowned sympathetically. “Of course I understand. Go on and go lay down now and try to feel better. I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks for understanding.” Sammi said, smiling gratefully.

She felt guilty for lying to her friend but she was getting desperate to relieve the growing sexual itch caused by the breast harness and the bonding fruit ointment. It hadn’t been so bad when Roark had first put it on her—maybe because she’d had two intense orgasms just before he did. But her sexual desire had had plenty of time to build since then and she was sure she was going to explode if she didn’t get to go back to her own suite and masturbate soon.

She hugged Meg goodbye—carefully so as to avoid more friction between the sweater and her sensitive nipples—and beat a hasty retreat to her own place.

Sammi had barely shut the door before she was ripping off the sweater and groping between her legs. Despite her earlier promise to herself, it was Roark’s image that rose to her mind’s eye as she began desperately rubbing her swollen pussy.

She tried to push him out of her head, but it was useless. Those pale, intense eyes, his long fingers stroking her, his deep voice telling her how he would test all his prototypes on her and most of all his dark, spicy, wild scent were all Sammi could think about as she came…and then came again and again and again.

Seventeen

“How many times did you masturbate last night, Samantha?”

Roark’s question, asked in a matter-of-fact tone, caught Sammi completely by surprise.

“I…I’m sorry? What?” she asked blankly.

Roark looked up from his examination of her nipples—which were tight and pink from the stimulation of the harness—not to mention the fact that she’d been touching them last night while she got herself off, Sammi thought, feeling guilty.

Her boss had insisted on examining her first thing, as soon as she walked into the office and Sammi hadn’t even protested. Instead, she had followed him into the back room of the lab, taken off her top, and laid down on the padded exam table with her feet in the stirrups so he could see how the breast harness was affecting her.

“I said, how many times did you masturbate?” Roark repeated, raising an eyebrow inquiringly. “Your nipples appear like they’ve been manipulated quite a bit—were you stroking them while you fingered yourself?”

In fact, that was exactly what Sammi had been doing—not that she wanted to admit it.

“How dare you ask me that?” she demanded, starting to sit up. “That’s personal!”

“Not anymore, I’m afraid,” Roark said dryly. “Don’t forget, I’m trying to measure your desire. If you felt the need to touch yourself, it’s a good sign the breast harness is doing its job. So if you did masturbate, I need to know it—and how many times.”

Sammi bit her lip. When he put it that way, she felt guilty about not giving him the data he was looking for.

“Well,” she muttered and cleared her throat. “I, uh…two or three times. That’s all.”

Roark raised an eyebrow again.

“Which was it? Two or three?”

“Four, all right?” Sammi snapped, her cheeks burning. “But I couldn’t help it! It’s this damn bonding fruit ointment again—it’s making my nipples so sensitive I can’t help but get turned on!”

“Of course.” Roark put a hand on her arm soothingly. “Please don’t ever feel embarrassed about admitting your desire to me, Samantha,” he said softly. “It’s a perfectly natural reaction—the reaction I’m specifically trying to elicit—and besides, there is no shame in relieving your sexual needs.”

“Well, there is shame in most human cultures,” Sammi muttered. “It’s certainly not something we talk about in polite company.”

“This is not ‘polite company’,” Roark reminded her. “This is a laboratory setting and the more honest and accurate you are with me, the better our eventual results. Just think of all the childless women out there—women who want to have a lot of children, like you said you do yourself—who can’t and need our help.”

“You make it sound like a truly noble cause,” Sammi remarked, looking at him in surprise.

“It is,” Roark said earnestly. “Which is why I need your help. I can’t test these prototypes out on myself.”

“I guess not,” Sammi said grudgingly. “Well…what’s next?”

“I’ll attach the nipple caps—though first we’d better get that bonding fruit ointment off your nipples,” Roark said. He reached for the purple molecular wand with the glowing purple marble at its tip but Sammi flinched away from it.

“Wait!” she exclaimed, eyeing it mistrustfully. She could well remember how crazy the damn thing had driven her the day before. It had resulted in several embarrassing orgasms right in front of her boss and she wasn’t up for round two.

Roark frowned at her.

“Do you not want the ointment removed? I’m afraid it will be more than you can bear if I put on a second coat before I fit you with the nipple caps on and you’re unable to touch your nipples.”

“I do want it removed. I just…” Sammi bit her lip. “Isn’t there…another way? I don’t like that molecular wand thing.”

“The only other way is for me to suck your nipples until I get all of the ointment off,” Roark growled softly. He looked at her. “Is that what you want?”

“Well…” Sammi’s heart was suddenly pounding and her breath was coming short. “If…if you don’t mind,” she said at last.

His pale eyes were suddenly half-lidded.

“Do I mind sucking your ripe nipples? Of course not, Samantha. As long as you don’t feel taken advantage of, I’ll be happy to help you by removing the ointment that way.”

“Thank you,” Sammi breathed. Arching her back so that her full breasts, still encircled by the black leather straps of the harness were clearly visible, she looked at him. “Go ahead—I’m ready, Roark.”

“It would be my very great pleasure,” he murmured. “But first I need to take a baseline reading of your desire. I’ll want to be able to compare how the breast harness itself affected you, and then contrast the findings with how the rest of the prototypes affect your level of desire and sexual need.”

“All right,” Sammi whispered, nodding. “But how will you do it?”

“With this.” Roark pulled out another wand-like instrument with a bright red light at the end. “This will measure your natural lubrication and the strength of your inner muscles contracting around it while I remove the ointment.”

“So…you’re going to put that in me at the same time you’re sucking the bonding fruit ointment off my nipples?” Sammi asked, frowning.

“I was planning to. Why—is it a problem?” Roark raised an eyebrow.

“Well, it’s just that…” Sammi cleared her throat. “It seems to me you could almost, uh, gauge the factors you were talking about manually, without the use of a, uh, machine.”

Roark frowned at her.

“Are you implying that I should abandon my instrument and simply do this by hand instead?”

Sammi’s eyes flew to his long, strong fingers—he had what her mom had called “piano player’s hands,”—and felt her cheeks getting hot.

“God, yes!” she whispered and cleared her throat. “Uh, that is, I think it would be more accurate in a way. Because I won’t be, uh, as turned on by an instrument trying to measure my reactions, so you won’t get a true reading if you use it.”

Roark looked thoughtful.

“A very good point, Samantha. Very well, if you really don’t mind then I’ll use my fingers to gauge your responsiveness and wetness level.” He frowned. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to push up your skirt and take off your panties in order for me to reach you.”

“All right,” Sammi agreed at once. A little voice in the back of her head whispered that she shouldn’t be doing this but she decided she didn’t care.

Ignoring the voice, she pulled up her skirt and lifted her hips so Roark could slide the white lace panties she was wearing down her legs. Then she lay back against the raised top of the table, which had been lifted to make it almost like a chair, and spread her legs for the big Shadow Twin.

“I’m ready,” she whispered, looking up at him. “You can…can remove the ointment now, Roark.”

“Very well.” His voice was a low rumble and there was no disguising the desire in his gaze—not that he tried to, Sammi thought. His pale eyes were blazing as he leaned over to take one of her nipples in his mouth and slipped a hand between her thighs at the same time.

Eighteen

Sammi couldn’t help the moan that rose to her lips as Roark sucked her right nipple deep into his mouth and slid two long, strong fingers deep into her wet pussy. She gasped and bucked her hips up at his invasion as she thrust her nipple even deeper into his hot mouth. God, it felt so good! She couldn’t help writhing on the table as his fingers slid deeper and deeper into her.

Roark let her nipple slip from between his lips for a moment as he looked down into her eyes.

“Very good, Samantha,” he murmured. “You’re extremely wet and very responsive. Now, can you squeeze my fingers so I can feel the strength of your inner muscles?”

Obediently, Sammi squeezed hard, arching her back as she gave him what he wanted.

“Hmm…very nice indeed.” His pale eyes were still half-lidded and she knew he must be getting pleasure from this—it couldn’t all be cold, hard data to him—could it?

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I…I’m doing my best.”

“I see that you are. But I wonder if we could increase the response if I did this.”

Sammi gasped as she felt his thumb slip into her inner folds and began to circle her clit almost idly.

“Ohhh!” she moaned, her hips bucking again. “Oh yes—yes please!”

“A very positive response,” Roark growled softly. “Let’s see if we can increase it while I remove the ointment from your other nipple, shall we?”

“Yes!” Sammi moaned as he leaned over to suck her left nipple into his hot mouth and continued to stroke her pussy, both inside and out.

Despite getting herself off four times the night before, Sammi still felt like she needed more—and this was exactly what she needed. Hands balled into fists at her sides, she moaned and writhed, squeezing his fingers as hard as she could while Roark sucked her nipples and continued to fingerfuck her pussy as he strummed her clit with his thumb.

It occurred to Sammi that she had never been with a lover who touched her like this—who knew exactly how to get her off. Some of the men she’d dated couldn’t find her clit with “two hands and a flashlight” as Meg put it and some could find it but tended to rub much too roughly. They seemed to think it was a magic button and if they just pressed it hard enough and often enough it would send her into the stratosphere.

But Roark was different. Rather than mashing down on the “magic button” he was touching her just the way she liked to be touched—a swift, light motion that circled her aching, tender clit without actually pressing it directly. And all the while, his long fingers continued to fuck deeply into her hungry pussy.

It was amazing that he seemed to know instinctively what brought her the greatest pleasure, Sammi thought deliriously. She wondered if it was some kind of Kindred trait to know how to make a woman feel good or if the Shadow Twin was just gifted.

Her orgasm wasn’t long in coming—how could it be when he was pleasuring her so perfectly?

“Roark!” she heard herself gasping. “Oh God, yes…yes!”

He stopped sucking for a moment and looked into her eyes intently, though his fingers never stopped moving.

“That’s right, Samantha,” he murmured hoarsely, still stroking deeply into her pussy. “That’s right, squeeze my fingers as hard as you can. Show me how full of desire you are—how much you need to be penetrated—to be fucked.”

The way he was looking at her and the soft, dirty words in that deep voice of his were too much for Samantha. With a moan, she came again, drenching his fingers in her juices as the pleasure rolled over her in overwhelming waves.

God, can’t believe I’m doing this! she couldn’t help thinking.

But she was, and though she felt guilty, she never wanted it to stop.

Nineteen

All good things must come to an end. At last the delicious spasms of pleasure eased and Roark withdrew his fingers from her pussy.

“Hmmm…” he nodded approvingly at the fact that his digits were coated in her honey. “A most promising result.”

Putting his fingers into his mouth, he sucked them clean, his eyes going half-lidded again as he did.

“You have a most delicious flavor, Samantha,” he murmured when he was finished. “I’ll have to note that in my data. And you came twice—also worth noting.”

“I…I couldn’t help it,” Sammi whispered breathlessly. “It…I was just…I mean you were…”

“I was stimulating you to see what kind of response I could provoke after you had been wearing the breast harness for twenty-four hours,” he interrupted, a bit of his old sternness creeping back into his voice. “And I hope you enjoyed those two orgasms, Samantha—they are the last you’ll be having for quite some time.”

“What?” Sammi frowned at him uncertainly. “What do you mean? Are you, er, going to stop testing your prototypes on me?”

She didn’t know how to feel about that. Part of her still felt guilty for submitting to his “research” so easily but a much larger part was going to be extremely disappointed if he had suddenly decided to stop. But Roark’s next words put her fears to rest.

“Oh no, Samantha,” he assured her. “No, our testing has only just begun. But since a female needs to be extremely aroused to become pregnant with a Kindred baby, I’m afraid I’ll need you to let your arousal and desire build for some time before I put you in the insemination machine.”

“Let it build?” Sammi said blankly. “But if you’re going to keep using that ointment on me, I’m afraid I’ll go crazy if I can’t, er…help myself, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I know exactly what you mean,” Roark said dryly. “But I’m afraid I can’t allow you to have any more orgasms. From now until I strap you into the inseminator, I’m going to have to build your desire as much as possible. We’re going to be using a technique called ‘edging’ to achieve that. Do you know what that is?”

Sammi shook her head.

“Edging? No, what’s that?”

“It’s simply a term for building your sexual need over time until you’re at a ‘fever pitch’ you might say,” Roark told her. He leaned closer, holding her eyes with his. “I want your every thought, your every dream, to be about getting fucked, Samantha,” he growled softly. “And you won’t be allowed to orgasm again until you’re strapped into my insemination machine with a thick phallus buried deep in your hot little cunt. Do I make myself clear?”

Sammi bit her lip as fresh desire rushed through her. She’d always wanted a man who knew how to talk dirty to her, but none of the guys she’d been with previously had any kind of clue how to do it right. The way Roark was looking her directly in the eyes as he told her exactly what he was going to do to her made her pussy throb all over again.

Not that she was going to get any relief, she thought. Not if he really was going to stop her from touching herself somehow.

Although, how could he? It wasn’t like they lived together—how would he know if she gave herself a quick release, here and there, just to take the edge off?

“Please don’t worry that you’ll have difficulty resisting the urge to touch yourself,” Roark said, breaking into her train of thought. “The nipple caps and the Goddess pearl shield will insure that you’re completely unable to reach orgasm, no matter how aroused you may become.”

“The what?” Sammi exclaimed, looking at him guiltily. Had he read her mind?

“Nipple caps are exactly what they sound like,” Roark said. He was already bringing out a little black case. Inside, nestled in white velvet folds, were three small, black devices, Sammi saw. Two of them were conical in shape and the third was somewhat rounder, more of a half-sphere.

“Are those supposed to fit on me somehow?” she asked, frowning. “Are they just to keep me from, uh, touching myself?”

“They will serve that purpose, yes.” Roark nodded. “But they will also serve to keep you stimulated—though never to the point of orgasm. They each have a complicated array of sensors inside that will be able to tell when you’re about to reach the peak—at which point they will cease their stimulation.”

“What? But that sounds like torture!” Sammi exclaimed.

“No, it’s edging—exactly as I told you,” Roark corrected her. “All three of these devices—the nipple caps and the Goddess pearl shield—will send me data to let me know how aroused you are. Though I will, of course, continue to test your lubrication daily here in the lab.”

“Meaning you’re going to be fingering me every day at work?” Sammi asked and then blushed. She couldn’t believe that sentence had come out of her mouth!

But Roark only nodded in a businesslike way.

“Unless you’d prefer I use the instrument I first showed you to gauge your wetness and desire?”

“No.” Sammi bit her lip, embarrassed to admit how much she wanted him to touch her. “No, that…that’s okay. I think it’s better the other way.”

“It’s certainly data I’ll enjoy collecting.” Roark’s voice had dropped to a low growl again. “But as I said, the sensors inside the caps and shield will let me know when you’re at your peak desire—which should coincide with your monthly ovulation. So I’ll need to know about your cycle as well—I’ll have you fill out the paperwork after we finish here.”

“But—” Sammi started to say but Roark only shook his head and went on.

“So let’s reapply a fresh coat of the bonding fruit ointment on both your nipples and your Goddess pearl and then I’ll attach the caps and shield.”

“But I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand it!” Sammi protested. “I mean, having the ointment on my clit was bad enough the first time and that was when I could, uh, relive my needs,” she finished, feeling her cheeks get hot.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to stand it, Samantha.” Roark frowned at her. “You must not be allowed to orgasm until you’re strapped into the insemination machine with a thick phallus stretching your tight little pussy. Now please let me see your breasts again.”

Twenty

Roark pulled out a little pot of the pink bonding fruit ointment and waited until she lay back submissively and arched her back to expose her breasts more fully.

Why am I letting him do this?

Sammi didn’t know—she only knew that she had never felt more turned on than when Roark gave her an order—especially a sexual command—and she obeyed it. Did that make her a sexual submissive? And if so, was that bad?

Again, she didn’t know. She watched, nibbling her lower lip in apprehension, as he painted a generous fingerful of the stuff on first one nipple and then the other. After that, he uncapped a tiny tube and dabbed a bit of its contents around the rim of the first nipple cap.

“Is that some kind of glue?” Sammi asked as he put it on her right nipple. The cap fit perfectly over the tight pink point and then seemed to shrink until it fit around both her nipple and areola almost like a glove.

“It is,” Roark acknowledged. “It’s completely waterproof and heatproof. But please don’t worry—I have the solvent here in my lab. We’ll remove these when the time is right.”

As he spoke, he glued the second nipple cap in place. It also shrank to fit her left nipple and areola.

Roark stood back for a moment to admire his handiwork.

“Very nice,” he commented. “They fit perfectly. Now for the Goddess pearl shield. Please spread your thighs for me again, Samantha. No—wider this time.”

He helped her by opening the stirrups at the bottom of the table much wider so that Sammi was spread out and completely on display. She felt wanton and vulnerable all at once, but she didn’t have time to get embarrassed because before she knew it, Roark was spreading her pussy lips and rubbing a generous amount of the pink ointment into her sensitive clit.

“Oh…oh!” Sammi gasped, her hips bucking as he stroked her so intimately. She expected to get in trouble for moving around so much but Roark only shook his head.

“So responsive,” she heard him murmur. “Gods!”

And then he was gluing the little round black half-sphere of the clit guard around her throbbing button, which meant that Sammi couldn’t give herself an ounce of pleasure—or relief—until he took it off again.

Well, at least it’s not too bad so far, she thought hopefully. Roark had just given her two intense orgasms so maybe her sexual desire was at a low ebb. Maybe she wouldn’t be bothered by the nipple caps and clit guard for some time. Maybe—

“…come with me to dinner tonight.”

“What?” Sammi looked up, jerked out of her inner thoughts by her boss’s words.

“I said, I would like you to come to dinner with me tonight,” Roark said. “There is an excellent restaurant that specializes in Twin Kindred cuisine I’d like to take you to, here aboard the Mother Ship. Shall we say around seven?”

“Oh, uh…” Sammi blinked, not sure what to say. Was he asking her on a date? And if so, should she go on a date with her boss?

The answer was almost certainly no. But then, that was also the answer she would have given if someone had asked her if she ought to let her boss spank her or run incredibly erotic sexual experiments on her, too. So she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Seven?” Roark repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“All right.” Sammi felt her cheeks getting pink. “If you don’t think us going on a date will, um, affect the research in any way.”

“A date?” He frowned. “I think you have misunderstood me, Samantha. I simply want to take you out so that I can test the efficacy of the devices you’re currently wearing.”

“Oh, I…” Sammi was covered in confusion and embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I thought—”

“You thought I would make improper advances on you?” Roark asked, frowning. “Of course I won’t, Samantha. It would be deeply inappropriate for the two of us to become involved emotionally while we are working together. Besides which, I have no time for personal relationships.”

“Right. Well, I don’t either,” Sammi said lamely. She didn’t know why she felt so let down. It wasn’t like she wanted to date her stern, uncompromising boss. But it was hard to reconcile the intense pleasure he’d been giving her with the fact that he really was only doing all of this for science.

“It’s not that I don’t find you to be a beautiful female—I do. You’re stunning, actually,” Roark told her. “But…” He gave her a serious look. “The research must come first. Always.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Sammi nodded quickly. What had she been thinking, imagining Roark wanted to date her? He was clearly one of those people who are married to their work. He had no time for a relationship—other than a working one.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” He nodded shortly. “Now then, go ahead and get dressed. We have a backlog of data to get through today.”

“All right.”

Sammi nodded and accepted his help to get off the table. Clearly she’d gotten the wrong idea about her boss. Though it was hard to see how she could help it, considering the things he’d been doing to her almost from the moment they started working together.

Still, it was all for science. The research was the important part, as Roark had pointed out. She would just have to keep that in mind in the days and weeks to come when things were likely to get rather…intense.

Twenty-One

You’re taking things too far. You shouldn’t have sucked her nipples or fingered her soft little pussy—you know you shouldn’t have.

Roark lectured himself as he watched his assistant walk off down the hall. She was moving a bit stiffly—probably still getting used to the Goddess pearl shield she was wearing. It had seemed a shame to cover that sweet little pink button with the round black hemisphere, but Roark told himself it would be worth it when he saw how she reacted to stimulation that evening at dinner.

That’s another thing you shouldn’t have done—you shouldn’t have asked her to dinner, the little voice went on. You were perfectly capable of testing the efficacy of both the caps and the shield in the lab. There was no need to turn it into a social occasion!

But being out together in a public place would probably enhance her reaction to stimulus, Roark argued with himself. The social setting would provide valuable data he couldn’t get by testing the devices he had attached to her in the privacy of the lab.

Admit it, Roark—you just want to go out with a beautiful woman. A beautiful, intelligent woman who understands your research as well as you do, whispered the voice. You’ve been lonely all these years since Amanda left. And Samantha is just your type—full figured and curvy—a true Elite. Not to mention her long silky hair and big green eyes…

“No!” Roark muttered aloud to himself. “No, I won’t think like that about her—I can’t. No matter how attractive she is, I can’t give her what she wants—what she needs. And besides, the research has to come first!”

Promising himself he would keep that uppermost in his mind, he turned towards his suite, intending to do a bit more work before he got ready for his dinner with Samantha—which was purely for research reasons—that night.

Twenty-Two

“So he wants to take you out to dinner?” Meg’s eyes widened excitedly. “Oh my God, Sammi! He’s into you! You know, I had a feeling when I told you to apply for that job—”

“It’s not like that,” Sammi hurriedly interrupted her. “He only asked me out to talk about the, uh, research.”

“Talk about the research? Riiiiight.” Meg winked at her broadly. “Because the best place to talk about research is definitely a fancy dinner at a romantic restaurant. Where did you say he was taking you again?”

“I don’t know the name of it. He said it specializes in Twin Kindred cuisine and it’s down by the park area in the center of the ship.”

“Oh—I know that place! Berik took me there for our one-week anniversary!” Meg cooed. “It’s amazing. Be sure you order the grieza worms for dessert—they’re delicious.”

“Worms for dessert?” Sammi frowned.

“Trust me,” Meg told her. “But then, you might not even get to dessert. The two of you might leave early to do a little more ‘research’ together, right?” She giggled and winked at Sammi again.

“Honestly, Meg—I told you—it’s not like that!” Sammi protested.

She shifted uncomfortably, wishing she could tell her best friend the truth. But how could she admit that she’d suddenly turned into a sexual submissive and she was allowing her new boss to use her body as a testing ground for his strange sexual devices? How could she tell Meg that even now she was wearing nipple caps and a clit shield which kept her from touching herself while increasing her desire?

The answer was, she couldn’t—she just couldn’t. There had been a time when she and Meg never had secrets from each other. But now Meg was with Berik and Sammi was sure she told her new husband everything. She didn’t want to feel embarrassed to meet the Beast Kindred’s eyes the next time he and Meg had her over for dinner.

Also, she was kind of ashamed of the position she found herself in. She had always considered herself a feminist—someone who took charge of her own pleasure and owned her own sexuality. And here she was, allowing someone else to dictate when she could come and even if she could touch herself! What had happened to the self-assured, confident woman she used to be?

I’m still self-assured and confident, she argued with herself uneasily. I’ve just discovered a new side of myself—that’s all. A side that likes to submit. Maybe that’s why I never had any good sex before—because I was never with a dominant man. One who knew what I needed and how to give it to me like Roark does.

Then she kicked herself mentally. There she went, comparing the big Shadow Twin to her past lovers again.

She had to stop that, Sammi told herself sternly. Roark wasn’t her boyfriend—he was her boss. And the sooner she made herself realize that, the less chance she had of letting herself get emotionally involved—which she had to avoid at all costs if she didn’t want to get her heart broken.

“You can say what you want, Sammi,” Meg said, breaking her train of thought. “But no man asks you out to dinner at an expensive, romantic restaurant just to talk business. You could talk business together at that lab of his! I’m telling you, girlfriend—he’s into you.”

Sammi could tell she wasn’t going to be able to change her friend’s mind.

“All right, fine. Whatever you say.” She shook her head and wrapped the cardigan she was wearing tighter around herself.

Meg frowned.

“Are you cold again? Why are you always wearing sweaters lately, Sammi?”

“Just chilly, that’s all,” Sammi lied uncomfortably. Actually, she’d thrown the cardigan on before going over to her friend’s suite to hide the nipple caps which stuck out prominently under her blouse. Thankfully, the Goddess pearl shield was much easier to conceal and couldn’t be seen at all.

“Well, you know you can adjust the temperature in your suite, right? Or just turn up the fireplace. I love that all the suites have fireplaces—don’t you?”

“They’re really nice,” Sammi agreed, glad to be on more neutral ground. “But I think my favorite feature is the bathing pool.”

“Oh yes—I love our pool! Why Berik and I spend hours in there. One time…” And Meg launched into a rather intimate story that probably would have made Sammi blush if she hadn’t been currently living her very own sexual fantasy at work.

“Well, I’ll have to try that if I ever start dating anybody here,” she told Meg, when her friend finished.

“Or just bring Commander Roark back to your suite tonight after dinner and try it then,” Meg said and giggled.

“Meg! It’s not—”

“Like that. Right. I get it,” Meg finished for her and winked again. “Okay, Sammi. It’s getting late—hadn’t you better go get ready for your not date tonight?”

Sammi glanced at her watch and nodded.

“Yes, I need to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“You’d better!” Meg exclaimed. “I want to know all the dirty details of tonight’s dinner!”

Sammi wondered if there would be any dirty details to tell—not that she would. But hadn’t Roark said something about testing the “efficacy” of the devices he’d put on her?

She had no idea what he’d meant by that, but she had an idea she might find out at dinner that night…

Twenty-Three

“This is a lovely place.” Sammi looked around the tiny bistro with appreciation. The Twin Kindred restaurant was simply called “Two.” It was a small, intimate, candlelit space and Roark had gotten them a booth in the corner, which was shielded from the rest of the patrons. Once they were seated with the wine menu in front of them, it was almost as though they had the whole place to themselves.

The waiter—a blond Twin Kindred with a wide smile—brought them a fizzing blue wine and a delicious selection of dishes from Twin Moons. As they ate, they talked.

“This is really delicious,” Sammi remarked, as she cut into the tender, flaky crust of a bright blue pastry with a savory filling. It reminded her a little of a chicken pot pie but the meat in it was stronger tasting—almost like lamb—and it was also bright pink. Regardless of the strange colors, it was absolutely mouthwatering.

“As I said, Two specializes in Twin Kindred cuisine—specifically from the Dolo’sarian islands—which weren’t far from my own home when I was growing up,” Roark remarked.

This was the most personal information he’d ever revealed in the admittedly short time they had been working together. Sammi leaned forward, intensely interested.

“So you grew up on Twin Moons then—not here aboard the Mother Ship?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Yes, my family is still there. My mother and my two fathers and my twin brothers—Laughs Loudly and Speaks Kindly.”

“That must be so difficult, to be so far from everyone,” Sammi said. “Why did you decide to move away?”

“I could say my research,” Roark mused. “But that wouldn’t be entirely true. I didn’t really get interested in the difficulties of unmated human females becoming impregnated with Kindred fetuses until after I had settled here. No…” He shook his head. “If I’m being honest—which I strive to do—I left because it was easier to be without my family than to be with them all the time.”

“Meaning?” Sammi raised an eyebrow at him.

Roark sighed.

“Meaning that it’s hard to be what you humans call ‘a third wheel.’ As a Shadow Twin, I grew up seeing that every other male in my entire society had a twin—a best friend to turn to and confide in. All of them but me.”

“That must have been so hard,” Sammi murmured.

“It was most difficult when I was a child,” Roark admitted. “Though when I grew older, I realized I was enough for myself. I didn’t need a twin to keep me company. I had my work for that.”

“That still sounds like a lonely life—just living for your work,” Sammi objected.

“Not so much.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under the neat black shirt he wore. It was the first time she’d seen him out of a lab coat and Sammi had to admit to herself the big Kindred was devastatingly handsome in “civilian clothes.” Then she tried to take the thought back—it certainly wasn’t something she ought to notice about her boss.

“But to grow up in a society where everyone had a sibling but you… That’s kind of how I felt, growing up,” Sammi told him.

“Oh?” He frowned. “I thought you came from a big family.”

“I said my mother came from a big family. But she had fertility issues and in the end, she could only have me. I used to go to family reunions and play with all my cousins and wish I had a brother or sister like they all did.” Sammi sighed wistfully, remembering that deep longing and the painful jealousy she’d felt when she saw all of her cousins—not a single one of them an only child like she was.

Roark cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Is that what made you interested in infertility?”

“Well, yes—I guess it was.” Sammi nodded. “What about you?” She leaned across the table. “What made you interested in infertility?”

“Probably the fact that I’m infertile myself,” Roark remarked.

He said it so off-handedly that at fist Sammi thought she must have misunderstood him.

“I’m sorry, you’re what?” she asked, frowning.

“Infertile,” he said again, matter-of-factly. “To be exact, my sperm are nonviable—they have no motility. They cannot ‘swim’ to the egg, which renders me incapable of either bonding with a female or impregnating her.”

“But…But women don’t get pregnant every single time they have bonding sex, right?” Sammi objected.

“No, but it isn’t for lack of trying on the sperm’s part,” Roark said dryly. “I have studied the physiological mechanisms of bonding sex in every kind of Kindred and in every single case the seed of the Kindred warrior floods his female’s womb and the sperm seek for an egg. It’s a vital part of the process. Without it…” He shrugged again. “No bonding can occur.”

“That’s…” Sammi reached for a word but couldn’t find one. “That…”

“That is the reason my fiancé left me,” Roark finished for her, which was certainly not what she’d been expecting to hear.

“She did? What happened?” Sammi couldn’t help asking.

“I was unable to bond her to me or to give her the children she desired,” Roark said coolly. If he was hurt at all by the events in his past which he was revealing to her, he certainly didn’t show it. “So eventually we went our separate ways. It is doubtful whether we should have been together in the first place—I was only guessing when I asked her to go out with me the first time, because of course we hadn’t been Dream Sharing.”

“Dream Sharing? Sammi asked.

“When a Kindred—well, most kinds of Kindred—is meant to be with a woman, the two of them will start having dreams of each other before they meet,” Roark explained. “But Shadow Twins often are not able to share this kind of connection with their future mates. It’s a significant difference between us and all other kinds of Kindred—as is our tendency towards infertility.”

“I’m so sorry.” Sammi shook her head. “That was awful of your fiancée, leaving you for something you couldn’t control. I mean, the two of you could have adopted if she wanted kids so badly.”

“Not at all.” Roark shook his head. “Amanda was right to leave me. It wasn’t just about the lack of children—it was the lack of a bond which presented a problem. A relationship without a bond is no relationship at all. I could never have made her happy so it was better that she left to find a male who could.”

“I don’t understand how you can talk about it so coolly,” Sammi said, leaning towards him and putting a hand on his arm sympathetically. “It must have been a really painful experience.”

“It was a long time ago.” Roark took her hand, squeezed it briefly, and moved it pointedly back to the table. “It showed me that I had to concentrate on my work—since I was never going to be able to have a fulfilling relationship myself, I wanted to make sure others could. Though of course, the relationship I work to bring about is that of a mother and child and not a male and his mate.”

It was obvious to Sammi what he was doing. Roark was spelling out, in no uncertain terms, that he was permanently unavailable—that he had no interest in having any kind of a relationship with her other than the working one they had as boss and assistant.

Her heart gave a little flutter that ended in a thud. Despite telling herself that she had to be professional and couldn’t think romantic thoughts about her boss, she’d been thinking them anyway. His story, though, made it clear that he really didn’t see her as anything other than his assistant.

She knew how important to the Kindred the soul-bond they formed with their mate was. It gave them the ability to hear their mate’s thoughts and even feel her emotions. For a Kindred, a relationship without a bond was, as Roark had put it, no relationship at all.

“Well, I think it’s wonderful that you’ve decided to channel all your energy into helping other people,” she said at last.

Roark shrugged again.

“What else can I do? Besides, I love my work. I’m constantly fascinated by the science of Kindred/human fertility—it’s different with every kind of Kindred. The nuances are enough to keep me busy forever.”

“Well, you’re certainly dedicated to collecting your data,” Sammi said daringly. She lowered her voice. “Is, uh, that why you brought me out tonight? To see how I would react while wearing the, er, devices you attached while we were in public?”

“Exactly.” Roark’s voice sank to a low growl. “And how are you doing tonight, Samantha? Have you gotten used to wearing the caps and the shield?”

“Somewhat.” Sammi shifted in her seat. She’d been so intent on their conversation and the meal, she’d almost been able to ignore the tingling sensation from the bonding fruit ointment she felt in both her nipples and pussy. But now that Roark had drawn her attention to those sensitive areas again, she was very aware of a deep sexual itch she couldn’t scratch.

“I see you’re wearing a top that conceals the nipple caps, anyway,” Roark remarked, eyeing the emerald green button-down silk blouse Sammi had put on. It was dark enough to hide the black caps encasing her soft pink peaks as well as the black breast harness. Also, it brought out her eyes—at least according to Meg.

“Well…yes.” She shrugged her shoulders self-consciously. “I mean, I couldn’t have people seeing them. They look, uh, kind of kinky, even if you and I know they’re just for research purposes.”

“Kinky, hmm?” Roark looked at her with half-lowered lid. “As in sexually deviant? That is what you mean, isn’t it?”

“Um…yes, I guess so.” Sammi cleared her throat. “You know, like bondage and domination. Or some kind of…of sexual submission.” Her mouth went dry as she said it—as she named aloud her own personal, newly discovered kink.

“The kind of submission where one partner makes the other partner wear fetish clothing or implements for the purpose of sexual arousal?” Roark cocked an eyebrow at her and Sammi felt her cheeks getting hot.

“Yes,” she said in a low voice. “Exactly.”

“And possibly these same fetish-type implements give the dominant partner power over his submissive’s body?”

As he spoke, he withdrew a small device from his pocket which looked like a remote control to Sammi. She felt a shiver of apprehension.

“What are you getting at?” she asked, frowning. “And what is that thing you’re holding?”

“This, my dear Samantha, is a device which goes along with the nipple caps and the Goddess pearl shield which I placed on you earlier,” Roark murmured. “It’s meant to raise your levels of desire and sexual need. Observe.”

He pressed one of the buttons on the remote and Sammi had to bite back a gasp.

Immediately, the two black nipple caps enclosing her nipples and areolas began to suck and tug at her tender peaks. They got warmer too, feeling like two wet mouths surrounding her nipples and licking and nursing her stiff points mercilessly.

“You feel it?” Roark demanded, looking at her intently.

“I…I do!” Sammi gasped. “How…how did you get them to do that?”

“Pleasure by nerve induction.” He gave her a rare, one-sided smile, the left corner of his thin but sensuous lips curving up. “It’s the same concept used by the pain collars Mistresses put on their bodyslaves on Yonnie Six. Only of course, I wanted to induce pleasure, not pain. Pleasure is a great deal more difficult than pain, by the way. It’s a much more subtle feeling. Though of course, the two sensations are closer together than one might think.”

“I…I see,” Sammi moaned softly. “When…when are you going to make it stop?”

“Not for some time,” Roark growled softly. “Why, are you tired of being pleasured already, Samantha? We haven’t even tested out the Goddess pearl shield yet.”

Sammi’s eyes widened when she realized the implication of his words.

“Oh, no!” she begged, reached to put a hand on his arm again, this time beseechingly. “Please, Roark—we’re in public!”

“We’re in a very secluded spot,” he pointed out. “I asked the server to seat us here for just this reason.”

Then he pointed the remote at her again and pressed another button.

Immediately, the same teasing sensation of a mouth sucking and licking her, that she was already feeing in her nipples, began in Sammi’s clit.

The pleasure was overwhelming. She bit her knuckles to keep from crying out but she couldn’t stop herself from writhing in her seat—it was as though someone had pressed a high-powered vibrator to the sensitive bundle of nerves at the center of her pussy—she literally could not hold still!

And yet no matter how the pleasure built, it never came to a climax. No matter how intense it got, Sammi found she could never quite come. Every time she started getting close, the pleasure would end momentarily and then begin again with a whole different rhythm. The effect was to put her continually on the edge of an orgasm but to never quite push her over the edge and let her find relief.

This must be why they call it “edging” Sammi thought, writhing around in her seat as though she had literal ants in her pants. Because it’s going to drive me over the edge of insanity if it doesn’t stop or I don’t get some relief soon!

“Roark, please!” she managed to gasp. “Please, I can’t stand it! I’ll go crazy—please make it stop!”

He frowned.

“I will not make it stop. I will, however, turn down the settings on both the nipple caps and the Goddess pearl shield.”

He pressed some buttons on the remote and the intense sucking at her nipples eased until it just felt like someone lapping her peaks gently. The vibrating pleasure teasing her clit also decreased until it, too, felt like a gentle, playful tongue or a single fingertip circling her aching button.

“Ohhhh…” Sammi moaned. She was able to stop full-on writhing but she was still shifting from side to side, as though trying desperately to get comfortable.

“Is that better?” Roark asked, raising his eyebrows.

“A little,” Sammi admitted. “But it’s still making me horny out of my mind! How long are you going to keep them on?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Hmm…at this setting? Only for about twenty minutes every hour,” Roark said thoughtfully.

“What?” Sammi squeaked. “You’re going to use them on me that often? Every hour?”

“From now until the time you ovulate and you’re ready to be strapped into the insemination machine,” Roark told her sternly. “Remember, you must be at peak desire in order to test it.”

“But…but you’re not really going to be getting me pregnant,” Sammi protested breathlessly.

“No, but I will be observing your responses,” Roark said. “And you need to be at a fever-pitch of desire before I put you in the machine.”

“I’m there!” Sammi exclaimed. “Put me in now, why don’t you?”

“Because according to the paperwork you filled out, you’re not ovulating yet.” Roark leaned back in his chair and smiled again. “Think how extremely ready you’ll be to get fucked by the time you finally are, Samantha. By the time I finally strap you into the machine, you’ll be begging for a phallus to fill you.”

Sammi thought about begging for one now—but she sensed it wouldn’t do any good. She was just going to have to learn to live with the fact that she’d given complete control of her sexual pleasure and responses over to a man who wanted to use her as an experiment.

God, how could I do that? What’s wrong with me? she moaned internally. But she had to admit, as distressing as the situation was, it was also undeniably hot.

She had never been so completely out of control of her own body before and the intent look in Roark’s pale eyes as he watched her writhe in helpless pleasure did something to the growing submissive part of her that nearly made her melt into a puddle of lust right there at the table.

Just then the waiter returned with desert—grieza worms—which he assured Sammi tasted like delicious dark chocolate. Sammi managed to sit up straight and not broadcast the fact that she was being sexually tortured beneath her clothes. She tried the worms which looked awful but tasted wonderful, remembering that Meg had recommended them.

The worms really were delicious, but it was hard to concentrate on eating them while the nipple caps and clit shield did their work on her. Somehow Sammi made it through the end of the meal and the ride back home to the corridor where her new suite was located.

Ever the gentleman, Roark walked her back to her door, the black remote tucked safely in his pocket.

“Well,” he murmured, “Thank you for a lovely evening, Samantha.”

“Oh, yes. And thank you, too,” Sammi murmured. Then they just stood there. It seemed like Roark was about to go but hadn’t quite made up his mind to leave her yet.

Sammi was feeling completely desperate. She wanted to invite the big Kindred in, but she sensed he wouldn’t accept her offer. For him, the date was over but Sammi didn’t want it to end. She knew it wasn’t really a date but it had sure as hell felt like one. They had shared secrets about themselves and talked about their past as well as what they hoped for in the future. And Roark had been teasing her with the damn nipple caps and clit shield for what felt like forever.

The least he could do is kiss me good night! whispered a disgruntled little voice in her head.

A goodnight kiss? As Sammi looked up into his pale eyes, an idea occurred to her. She blurted it out before she could stop herself.

“You know, Roark, there’s an area of research that you’re completely neglecting. A vital area.”

“What?” He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’re so interested in sexual desire in females—getting them to the peak of desire so they can be impregnated by Kindred sperm,” Sammi said. “You’ve invented these ingenious devices that stimulate sexual need in the most sensitive areas of a woman’s body—but you’ve neglected one very important erogenous zone.”

“I have?” He raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. “Please, enlighten me.”

“The mouth…the lips.” Sammi touched her own lips lightly with her fingertips. “A woman needs to be kissed to feel desired—and to feel desire, in turn. You’ve neglected that need.”

His frown deepened.

“You’re right, Samantha—I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose I could invent some kind of device to simulate—”

“Or you could just kiss me,” Sammi cut him off.

His eyes widened as he looked down at her.

“Kiss you?”

“Yes, kiss me,” Sammi repeated. “We’re already in the middle of this experiment and you don’t have time to develop a, uh, ‘kissing device’ right now,” she pointed out. “So you’ll have to do the best you can with what you have. You’ll have to do things manually, like you did today in the lab. Or in this case, orally.”

Roark’s pale eyes darkened and he pulled her suddenly into his arms.

“I suppose you’re right,” he murmured, bending down so that she could feel his warm breath against her lips. “I’ll have to do the best I can with what I have.”

And then he kissed her.

Twenty-Four

Shouldn’t have kissed her, Roark lectured himself as he walked back to his own suite. Shouldn’t have done it. You’re getting emotionally involved and things are going to get messy if you’re not careful! You’re getting in too deep, Roark.

But gods, her lips had been so soft and sweet! And she’d melted against him so willingly, giving herself to him completely as she opened her mouth to suck eagerly on his tongue.

Roark reminded himself again that he couldn’t give her what she wanted—what she needed. He couldn’t give her children and he couldn’t bond with her. He had failed with Amanda which surely meant he would fail with Samantha too, if he was foolish enough to try.

But though he knew it was wrong, he couldn’t bring himself to regret the kiss…or stop himself from wanting to kiss her again.

Deep in his heart, which had turned to ice back when his old fiancée left, a flame was beginning to grow. And try as he might, Roark couldn’t quite bring himself to extinguish it…

Twenty-Five

The next week was a kind of exquisite torture for Sammi.

Every hour on the hour for at least twenty minutes at a time, she felt the nipple caps and clit shield come to life and tease her with pleasure. Sometimes the pleasure was so intense she wanted to scream. Sometimes, as when she was drifting off to sleep at night, the pleasure was gentle and almost soothing—a soft tongue lapping tenderly at her nipples and pussy like a lazy lover who just wanted to taste her without waking her.

She had intensely erotic dreams during this time—-all of them starring Roark—who would strap her to the padded table and touch and taste her everywhere but who would never let her come. She always woke up unfulfilled and longing for more—longing for Roark.

But unlike most people, Sammi’s waking life was as intensely erotic as her dreaming one.

Every morning when she came in to work, Roark greeted her with a long, sensual kiss. He then took her in the back room and ordered her to strip so that he could take off the nipple caps and clit shield in order to remove the bonding fruit ointment. Then he would test her levels of sexual desire and lubrication—which meant stroking deep in her pussy with his long fingers—before reapplying a new layer of ointment and replacing the caps and shield.

He sucked and lapped her nipples thoroughly every time he did this, though he still used the molecular wand on her pussy. But through it all, to Sammi’s intense frustration, he would never let her come.

The third morning he had her naked and spread out on the table and was about to use the wand to remove the ointment from her clit, she closed her legs and refused to let him in.

“No,” she said, glaring up at her boss-slash-Dom with a belligerent frown. “I don’t like that thing—it feels weird.”

Roark frowned at her sternly.

“Samantha, you know the only other way to remove the bonding fruit ointment is for me to lick you. Is that what you want?”

As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Samantha wanted. Though she’d never been comfortable with this act before, she was ready to try it again. Part of that was the fact that the constant “edging” Roark was subjecting her to was driving her crazy. And part of it was something Meg had told her about Kindred.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of Kindred they are, they all need to eat pussy,” she’d explained, while telling Sammi yet another naughty story about herself and Berik. “It’s some kind of biological thing. And I swear if you get them between your legs, you’ve got them—you know? They just can’t resist you after that. Why—do you know that Berik ended up proposing to me right after the first time he tasted my pussy?”

“No, did he?” Sammi had felt an uncomfortable sort of fascination. Her best friend had always been an over-sharer. It was part of her personality—she always told too much.

“Oh, yes!” Meg giggled. “We were at the pool at my old apartment and we had it all to ourselves—nobody else was there that day. Anyway, Berik had been rubbing suntan lotion all over my body—and I do mean all over…” She had grinned and nodded down at her breasts. “When suddenly, I jumped and told him something had bitten me. Can you guess where?”

“I think I can,” Sammi had said dryly.

“Exactly—right between my legs.” Meg widened her eyes. “So I got him to ‘check it out’ for me—though of course, first he had to take off my bikini bottoms. And then I asked him to ‘kiss it better.’” She giggled again. “He made me come five times right there by the pool and afterwards he told me he had to Claim me and join with me because he was addicted to my pussy and he needed to taste it every day for the rest of his life. Can you imagine?”

As it happened, Sammi could imagine such a scenario—between herself and her boss.

Was she trying to trap Roark into some kind of relationship by demanding that he lick the bonding fruit ointment off her clit rather than using the molecular wand? Sammi couldn’t say for sure—she only knew she wanted to be closer to him—not just physically but emotionally. If this act would bring Roark to her, then she wanted to try it.

Plus, he was driving her crazy with lust—which made her a lot less self-conscious about letting the big Kindred go down on her.

“Do you want me to lick your pussy to remove the ointment, Samantha?” Roark asked again.

“You’ve already been sucking on my nipples for the last thirty minutes to remove the bonding fruit ointment.” Sammi said flippantly, her heart pounding against her ribs. “You might as well lick my pussy too, while you’re at it.”

She knew it was dangerous to use that tone when speaking to her boss—he might decide she needed another spanking. But she liked being naughty sometimes—it gave her a sexual thrill to know she was pushing the limits.

Roark’s eyes flashed and he frowned at her sternly.

“Careful, Samantha. And if you think I’ll let you come just because I’m tasting you, you’re sadly mistaken.”

Well, they would see about that, Sammi thought to herself. She was so close to the edge right now it felt like the least little thing might send her over. And Roark’s warm, wet tongue bathing her aching clit was not the least little thing.

“Do it,” she whispered, looking up at him. “Please, Roark—I…I need you to.”

He growled, low in his throat and she saw unmistakable desire in his pale eyes. He might pretend this was all an experiment, but she knew damn well it turned him on to control her sexual pleasure as much as it turned her on to let him control it.

“Very well,” he told her. “Then spread your legs wide for me, Samantha, and let me in.” He frowned. “But first I’m going to have to make certain you can’t move while I do this—I can’t have you riding my tongue to orgasm.”

Sammi was already in the stirrups but she felt an extra rush of desire as he strapped her in, just as he had the first time he removed the bonding fruit ointment from her pussy.

Once he was certain she was completely restrained and couldn’t move from the waist down, Roark got down to business. Sitting on the rolling stool so that his mouth was at the level her sex, he carefully removed the Goddess pearl shield with the help of a device that looked like a tiny laser beam. It didn’t hurt at all—it just emitted a warm amber beam of light which seemed to melt the adhesive he’d used to hold the shield in place.

When the shield came off, Roark laid it carefully on the little rolling tray beside him and turned his full attention to Sammi’s pussy.

“Hmm…” he murmured, spreading her outer lips wide to examine her swollen clit. “I can see that your Goddess pearl is engorged.” He stroked along the side of Sammi’s clit lightly with one fingertip, making her gasp and moan. “And extremely sensitive.”

“Please, Roark,” Sammi whispered, not liking to beg but unable to help herself. “Please, if you could just let me come just once. Just one little orgasm…”

“I’m afraid not.” He frowned at her. “As I’ve told you before, you need to be at peak desire before I strap you into the inseminator three days from now.”

“When will you let me see the machine? The inseminator, I mean?” Sammi asked, trying not to moan again as he stroked the other side of her clit as well, still testing her sensitivity.

“Not until I’m ready to use it on you,” Roark told her, frowning. “And now be still and stop asking questions. I must concentrate on removing the ointment from your Goddess pearl.”

Leaning forward, he spread her pussy even wider and dragged the flat of his tongue gently over her inner folds.

“Ohhh!” Sammi gasped, her hands going involuntarily to his thick black hair. “Oh, Roark, yes—please!”

He looked up briefly.

“Don’t tense up, Samantha. You need to relax and let me lick your sweet little cunt until all the ointment is gone.”

“Yes, Sir,” Sammi whispered, not even knowing what she was saying. “I…I’ll try.”

“Good girl,” Roark growled softly, sending a shiver of pure desire down her spine. He held her gaze with his own, his pale eyes blazing. “Such a good girl to spread your legs and let me lick your soft little pussy, Samantha.”

His dirty words turned her on as much as the slow, languorous licks which started at the entrance to her sex and ended at the top of her slit, bathing her inner folds and throbbing clit along the way with each slow lap.

He didn’t try to stop Sammi from carding her hands through his hair, either. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it because he stopped several times to turn his head and press a soft kiss to the center of her palms as she caressed him.

“Oh…Oh, Roark,” she whispered brokenly as he licked her. She was close…so damn close—and yet somehow, the big Kindred managed to keep her from coming. He just kept lapping gently—too gently to bring her to orgasm though he certainly gave her an extremely thorough tongue bath.

As he lapped her, Roark tested her wetness by thrusting two long fingers deep in her trembling pussy. He stroked gently in and out while he tasted her inner folds, cleaning away the bonding fruit ointment and licking her juices.

“Oh Roark, yes…oh, yes!” Sammi moaned. She wanted to buck her hips up to meet his tongue and ride it, as he had suggested she might if he hadn’t strapped her down, but of course she couldn’t. But even though she couldn’t move as she wanted to, the fact that she was restrained only heightened her desire.

The sensation of being tasted as well as being fucked with his long fingers was almost too much for her and she nearly came more than once, but again, Roark somehow knew when she was right on the edge and stopped just before she reached it.

By the time he was done with her, Sammi was trembling from head to toe and distressed little cries were leaving her lips. She was begging and moaning, praying that Roark would let her come, shameless in her need.

But none of it did her a bit of good. Once Roark was satisfied that all the bonding fruit ointment was removed, he put on a fresh coat, dabbing it lightly with his fingers so as not to push her over the edge, and then replaced the damn Goddess shield and told her she was finished.

“Get dressed, Samantha,” he ordered, his eyes gleaming. “It’s time to get to work for the day now that we’ve collected our morning data.”

Sammi couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Rather than suddenly becoming addicted to the taste of her pussy, as Berik had become addicted to Meg’s, her boss just wanted her to get straight back to work, even after the incredibly erotic encounter they had just shared.

“How can you expect me to work under these conditions?” she complained, frowning at him. “I can barely think straight, I’m so sexually on edge!”

“On edge is precisely where I want you to be, Samantha.” Roark shot her a level glance. “Don’t despair, though. In three more days you should be ovulating and we can finish out experiment.”

“Three more days?” Sammi exclaimed as she pulled her panties up over her aching pussy. “But that’s Saturday—I was going to go back down to Earth and get the rest of my stuff that day.”

“Back to Earth?” Roark frowned at her. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Well, I don’t either,” Sammi admitted. “But I have to go.”

Though she had never told her boss about the man who had been stalking her, she still felt nervous about going down to get her things herself. But Berik’s mission had been extended so there was no way he could go for the rest of Sammi’s possessions and she really needed them.

She told herself everything would be all right—there were just a few boxes left and she would go in the daytime and only spend about an hour loading up the boxes and then leave for good. But it still made her nervous to think of being in the house alone without knowing if he was watching her or not.

Maybe I should put it off again…

But no—she couldn’t wait forever to get her things. She had already extended the lease on the small single-story bungalow she was renting in South Tampa once and she couldn’t afford to extend it again just to store boxes. That was ridiculous.

She’d thought about asking her favorite aunt to bring the boxes to her own house, but she still had kids at home and lived in a constant clutter as it was—she didn’t need a bunch of Sammi’s stuff clogging up her house. She—

“I’ll come with you.”

“What?” Sammi looked up. Roark’s words surprised her so much she froze in the middle of fastening her skirt.

“I said, I’ll come with you,” he told her. “We can get your things from Earth and bring them back up to the Mother Ship in the morning, and then perform the experiment that evening.”

“Oh…” Sammi’s heart fluttered, though she knew he was probably only offering to help in order to keep the experiment on schedule. “If…if you really don’t mind,” she said. “I mean, there’s going to be a lot of heavy lifting, I’m afraid. Some of the things I’m getting are boxes of books—the old-fashioned kind, made of paper, you know.”

Roark nodded.

“All the more reason for me to come. I don’t want you overexerting yourself and getting too tired to fully engage when I strap you into the inseminator.”

“All right.” Sammi nodded. “Have you ever been to Earth before?” she asked curiously.

“Once,” Roark said shortly. “To meet Amanda’s family—my ex-fiancée.” He cleared his throat. “It was not a warm welcome.”

“Why not?” Sammi asked, surprised into being curious.

“There was some…prejudice against my kind,” Roark explained stiffly. “Amanda’s father and brother weren’t very happy with the idea of her joining with an ‘alien.’”

“What jerks!” Sammi exclaimed.

Roark shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under his crisp white lab coat.

“It didn’t matter in the long run, since we didn’t remain together.”

Sammi started to tell him that her own family wasn’t like that—that her aunts and uncles and cousins would welcome him into the family with open arms…But then she remembered yet again that Roark wasn’t looking to form a relationship with her.

She was just an experiment to him and that was how he wanted things to stay.

The thought gave her a heavy heart as she finished dressing and went back to the main office part of the lab to try and concentrate on the files of data she was trying to consolidate. But she reminded herself for the thousandth time that Roark was only her boss—not really her lover.

No matter what erotic things they did together, it was all for science and nothing more.

Twenty-Six

Gods…Roark licked his lips again, remembering Samantha’s sweet, salty flavor and the soft, helpless way she’d moaned and carded her fingers through his hair as he licked her…

How he had longed to make her come! And then to stand up and press not his tongue or his fingers, but his cock deep into her tight little pussy channel. He would take her—own her…bond her!

It was this last thought that kept him from doing something extremely foolish. Beause he couldn’t bond her to him—couldn’t give her the children she wanted. It was hopeless—impossible.

And so Roark held himself back. No matter how badly he wanted Samantha for his own, he knew he could never have her.

Twenty-Seven

The boxes were almost all loaded in his shuttle when Roark saw the folded piece of paper on the kitchen counter. They had been working together all morning, getting the last of Samantha’s things packed for her permanent move to the Mother Ship and now they were almost done.

He had picked her up at the door to her suite that morning and greeted her with a slow, passionate kiss. When he’d let her go, Sammi had whispered breathlessly,

“I thought you only did that on workdays?”

Roark had replied something about how he had to keep her sexually amorous in order to get her ready for the experiment that night.

The truth was, though, he had simply wanted to kiss her. The same way he wanted to help her move—to act like what the humans called a “normal boyfriend” and lift the boxes that were too heavy for her and just generally be near her all day.

They flew down to Earth and got to work. To Roark, it almost felt as though they were a couple—part of a team—two halves of a whole. It was what he had always longed for, in his deepest heart, though he tried not to admit it. Against his will, he had found himself wondering if Samantha might consider having a relationship without being bonded. And was it really so important to her to have children? Hadn’t she said something about adopting if you couldn’t have children of your own?

The thoughts were foolish but Roark couldn’t seem to push them out of his head. He was thinking them when he saw the paper on the counter.

Curious as to its contents, he opened it and saw a note printed in slashing, masculine handwriting.

Hey, Beautiful, where have you been lately? I’ve looked for you everywhere, but I can’t find you. I really miss you—I’m hoping you come home soon so we can go on that date I’ve been promising you.

The note wasn’t signed, but Roark could guess that it must have been left there by an old lover—or maybe a new one, who was eager to have Samantha to himself.

Though he knew he had no right to be possessive, he couldn’t help the surge of jealousy that rushed through him. Crumpling the note in his fist, he went to find Samantha, who was putting the last of a series of delicate knick knacks in a large cardboard box.

She was dressed in the blue denim trousers humans called “jeans” and a mint green t-shirt that day, which brought out her green eyes. The points of her nipples were clear underneath it. Roark had removed the nipple caps that morning before they left for Earth, deciding that the feeling of the soft t-shirt material rubbing against her sensitive peaks would be stimulating enough. He had kept the clit shield on though because he liked stimulating her when she least expected it. Her long strawberry blonde hair was put up in a messy bun at the back of her neck and there was a smudge of dust on her forehead.

The picture she painted was one of endearing domesticity, which only made Roark angrier because it represented everything he had ever wanted…and could never have.

She was holding a little china doll in one hand when he stalked up to her.

“Do you care to explain this?” he barked, uncrumpling the paper and thrusting it out to her. “I found it on the counter of your food prep area.”

Samantha’s green eyes widened as she read the note. The china doll dropped from her hand and the head of it shattered against the hardwood floor.

“Oh my God,” she whispered unsteadily. “You say you found it on the kitchen counter?”

“Yes, I did.” Roark glared at her. “You told me you were ‘single’ when I offered you the job as my assistant. Did you lie to me, Samantha?”

“No…no!” She shook her head wildly. “This is just…” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “Look, never mind about this. It’s over now, okay?”

“How long has it been ‘over’ though?” Roark demanded. “Was this person—this male—still in contact with you after I hired you?”

“No, okay?” Samantha snapped. She ran a hand though her hair distractedly and half of it came down from the loose bun it was in, making her look messy and stressed. “He couldn’t find me once I left for the Mother Ship and I hope to never have to deal with him again!’

Turning on her heel, she left the room, the soles of her little white sneakers crunching on the shattered fragments of the delicate china doll’s head.

Twenty-Eight

Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God…

Sammi paced around the room which had once been her bedroom, feeling sick to her stomach. So he had broken in again—her anonymous stalker had been in her house sometime after she had left for the Mother Ship. And he had left her another one of his little “love notes.”

As always, the thought of a stranger who meant her harm standing in the place where she lived—or where she used to live anyway—made her feel cold and frightened.

She—

All at once the door slammed open and Roark stalked in. His pale eyes were fierce and he somehow seemed even bigger and more muscular than usual.

“Samantha, I don’t care who this other male is,” he announced, glaring down at her. “He cannot have you—you’re mine.”

“What?” Sammi’s heart started pounding for a different reason. Was Roark finally going to Claim her? Was he going to demand that she join with him, the way Berik had told Meg they had to be together because he was addicted to her and needed to taste her every day?

“I said, you’re mine,” Roark repeated. “I need you for…for my experiment. For my research.”

“Oh…” Sammi’s heart plummeted. “For your research. Right.”

“Speaking of which, let’s see how ready you are for your ride in the inseminator.”

Roark crossed the room in two long strides and ripped up her shirt.

“Hey!” Sammi gasped as he examined her nipples which were tight and pink from rubbing against her t-shirt all day. “I don’t think—”

“Mine,” Roark breathed again and then he was kissing her—kissing her deeply and possessively as he gently cupped the curve of one breast through the black straps of the breast harness. Despite his fiery kiss, the way he touched her was tender—almost reverent—and it melted something deep inside Sammi.

She found she was pressing against him and kissing him back, opening her mouth to welcome him in.

“Oh, Roark…” she breathed softly when he broke the kiss and dropped to his knees before her. “Please…”

“Have to test your sensitivity,” he murmured and then he was sucking her aching peaks, taking her nipples deeply into his hot mouth as Sammi moaned and carded her fingers through his thick, black hair.

Then his hands were on the button of her jeans and suddenly both jeans and panties were down around her ankles.

“Oh!” Sammi gasped as he pushed her backwards until she fell back on the mattress, which had been stripped and was now bare on the bed frame. She’d made arrangements to leave most of her furniture here, since her suite on the Mother Ship was furnished much more nicely than she could afford on her own. Now she was glad the bed had been one of the things she’d agreed to leave, since she was lying on it half naked with the big Kindred between her legs.

“Take these ridiculous things off,” Roark growled, tugging her jeans and panties out of the way.

Sammi moaned as he spread her thighs with his broad shoulders and her pussy lips with his long fingers. The little black half-sphere of the clit shield was still in place but it was clear how hot she was from the way her pussy was wet and swollen with need.

“Roark, please!” she moaned. “What are you doing?”

“Checking your wetness,” he growled. “Seeing if you’re ready to be fucked.” He slid two long fingers deep into her hungry depths and Sammi gasped and writhed against him, her clit throbbing under the little black shield.

“Please!” she gasped. “Oh, please Roark!”

Without warning, he pulled the black remote out of his pocket. Pointing it at her, he pressed a button.

All that morning the clit shield had been teasing her gently—the slow, patient lapping that kept her stimulated but didn’t actually make her crazy or bring her to orgasm. Now its intensity jumped from a one to a ten in an instant.

“Oh!” Sammi’s hips bucked involuntarily and she cried out from the sudden stimulation. “Oh, Roark, what are you doing?” she gasped.

Roark made no answer except to remove his fingers and replace them with his tongue. He wrapped his arms around her thighs and buried his face between her legs, his warm, wet tongue penetrating her to the core as he fucked into her as deeply as he could.

Sammi moaned and writhed against his hot mouth. She kept feeling like she was going to come at any instant but the damn clit shield kept changing patterns, vibrating her intensely for a moment and then gently lapping and then nothing at all for a few seconds just as she was right on the edge. It kept her from reaching orgasm while pushing her so hard she thought she would die if she couldn’t come. And all the while, Roark kept tongue-fucking her, lapping at her honey greedily as he pressed deep into her quivering pussy.

At last he drew back, his mouth and chin wet with her juices and his eyes still blazing.

“Roark…Roark I can’t stand this anymore!” Sammi begged brokenly. She hardly knew what she was saying—she only knew she needed to come so badly she felt like she was going to go crazy if she didn’t reach orgasm soon. “Oh please…please fuck me!”

He gave a short, sharp nod, as though to himself.

“Yes,” he said. “You’re ready.”

He stood up abruptly, staring down at her. His chest was heaving as though he’d just run a marathon and the bulge in his trousers was evident—clearly he was as turned on as she was, Sammi thought distractedly.

“Roark—” she began.

“Get up and get dressed,” he ordered, frowning at her. “I’ll bring the rest of your things to the shuttle. We’re going straight back up to the Mother Ship to strap you into the inseminator. It’s time—you’re ready to be fucked.”

Twenty-Nine

Sammi didn’t know what she had expected the prototype of the machine he’d been telling her about for so long to look like. But it certainly was nothing like what appeared when Roark finally unlocked the door to the very last room in his lab—all the way in the back—and showed it to her.

The inseminator was an intimidating device—made of thick black metal that curved down from the ceiling. It was centered over a lighted table, like his worktable, only this one was completely bare.

Black leather straps with metal rings and hooks hung from the curving metal bars and there was a kind of arm at one end—an arm attached to a piston, Sammi saw.

“You’ll be strapped in here,” Roark told her, drawing her into the room and pointing to the harness. “The machine will hold you in place as you kneel on your hands and knees on the table.”

“What’s this?” Sammi asked, pointing at the arm with the piston. Her voice was breathless in her own ears, as though she’d forgotten how to talk.

Maybe it was because they had spent the ride back to Earth in silence—though Roark’s actions spoke louder than words. He kept using the remote to change the settings on the clit shield, ensuring that she was writhing in her seat the whole way back. He had also demanded that she keep her shirt pulled up so he could see her bare nipples right up until they docked and more than once he’d reached over and cupped her breast, tugging on one of her ripe peaks until Sammi moaned in desperate need.

“That is the insemination arm—the part where the phallus fits,” Roark told her, answering her question.

Reaching under the table, he pulled out a long black case. Inside it was a display of phalluses. Most of them looked like a human male’s cock—only much thicker and longer. But a few were clearly alien—the Beast Kindred phallus for one—but there was another with a sharp barb at the base of it as well. Not to mention the double phallus which represented two Twin Kindred merging together to bond their chosen mate to them.

Sammi shuttered when she saw them all. As desperately horny as she was, she still wasn’t sure about taking something deep in her pussy that put any human male porn star’s cock to shame.

“Which one?” Roark asked her and she realized he was giving her a choice. “Which one do you want to be fucked with, Samantha?”

Sammi bit her lip. She let her gaze drift over the bewildering display again and then looked up at him.

“Do you have one like yours? Like a Shadow Twin’s cock?” she asked softly.

“Here.” Roark chose one of those that looked more human. To her relief, it wasn’t the one with the barb at the base. “This one is only a little smaller than my own shaft,” he told Sammi.

“Only a little smaller?” she eyed it uncertainly. It was huge—much bigger than anything she’d ever had inside her before.

“Don’t worry that you won’t be able to accommodate it,” Roark told her, correctly interpreting the apprehension in her eyes. “I’ll be loading the reservoir with a compound based on a Beast Kindred’s precum—it will allow you to stretch to receive the shaft with no problem.”

“The reservoir?” Sammi repeated, bewildered.

“Of course—the place where the seed is stored. Look.”

Taking the phallus out of the case, he flipped it over and showed Sammi that the base opened to reveal that it was empty inside.

“Wow—that’s a pretty big space.” She looked inside it. “Will that whole thing be filled? I know when a human male orgasms, he only produces about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of semen. This looks like it can hold a lot more than that.”

“It is considerably more,” Roark told her briskly. “Kindred males produce much more seed than humans do.”

His voice held contempt for the puny human males who couldn’t produce enough semen to fill their women properly.

“I see,” Sammi murmured. “Can I, uh, touch it?” She held out a hand and Roark obligingly handed her the phallus.

“Oh! It’s surprisingly heavy. And warm,” Sammi marveled. Indeed, the phallus was warm and solid to the touch. It was also realistically veined and the “skin” of it felt soft even though the structure under it was firm and hard.

Just like a real erect cock, Sammi thought wonderingly. And in just a minute, it’s going to be inside me.

She didn’t know how to feel about that. She was so desperate to come by now she would have agreed to be fucked by almost anything. But what she wanted most in the world was for Roark to fuck her himself. She wanted the big Kindred to forget about the strange machine with its curving metal arms and dangling leather harness and lighted table—wanted him to just pull out his own cock and take her then and there.

But of course that wasn’t going to happen. Roark had been building her up to this moment for days. Strapping her into the inseminating machine and fucking her with the phallus she had picked was the culmination of his research—he wouldn’t give it up, even if she begged him to forget about the machine and fuck her himself.

“See here,” he remarked, taking the phallus back from her and pointing to the broad head. “There are several devices located in this area—one is a camera which will allow me to visualize the exact moment you are inseminated. The other is a kind of suction device—at the moment of insemination, it will latch on to the end of your channel and inject the seed directly into your womb.”

“It sounds…intense,” Sammi breathed, looking up at him. “I think I’m ready, though. I just have one question—will you finally let me come?”

Roark’s eyes went half-lidded and he nodded.

“Yes, Samantha. At the moment of insemination, you’ll come—I’ll see to that, I promise. The contractions of your inner muscles will draw the seed even deeper into your womb.”

Sammi felt weak with relief. She’d been in need for so long now she’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have an orgasm. She wanted so badly to come that her knees went wobbly with the thought of it.

“I’m ready,” she said, looking at Roark. “Do it—strap me in.”

“With pleasure,” he growled softly. “Strip for me, Samantha. You must be completely naked and open for me. I need to watch every moment as you are fucked and inseminated.”

Sammi no longer made any protest when he told her to strip. Without a word, she shucked off her clothing and kicked it to the corner of the lab before turning to face him. She was wearing only the breast harness now, which kept her breasts erect while her nipples were bare.

“Good. Very good.” Roark nodded in approval. “Now let’s get you up on the table,” he remarked.

Lifting her as though she weighed next to nothing, he placed her, naked, on her hands and knees on the lighted table. The surface of the table was hard and cold and Sammi shivered, her nipples going tight with fear and anticipation as her breasts hung down enticingly like ripe fruit.

“Very good. Now, here…”

Quickly, he strapped her into the machine. There were hooks which matched with the small, sleek rings at the back of the breast harness at the top. At the bottom, was another kind of harness which fit around Sammi’s waist and thighs. A spreader bar between her legs kept them wide apart and a kind of platform under her lower belly tilted her hips up and out. There was only one piece missing now.

Looking over her shoulder, Sammi felt a shiver of apprehension as she contemplated the long black insemination arm which was pointed directly at her pussy. It was too short to reach her at the moment but that would change the moment the long, thick phallus she had chosen was fastened onto its end.

“Good.” Roark stood back to survey his work and nodded in satisfaction at the sight of Sammi strapped naked into his machine, on her hands and knees on the table.

“Roark, when—” Sammi began but he cut her off.

“As soon as I fill the reservoir with the opening compounds and fake seed,” he told her. “Just a moment—I’ll be right back.”

And before Sammi could protest, he had taken the thick black cock she had chosen to be fucked with back to another room of his lab, shutting the door behind him.

Sammi wriggled in the black harness, feeling like a fly in a spider’s web. Between her legs, her clit throbbed uselessly. The Goddess pearl shield between her thighs continued to tease her off and on, making her crazy with need. God, she needed to come so badly, needed to be fucked…

What was taking Roark so damn long?

Thirty

In the lab, Roark filled the top part of the phallus’s reservoir with the opening compound which would allow Sammi’s soft little pussy to stretch to accommodate its thickness. There was a warming mechanism inside which would keep the fluid at body temperature—which ran hotter for Kindred than for humans. It ought to feel extremely pleasurable to her when it coated the inside of her pussy.

Now that the precum was in, it was time to put in the actual “semen.” Not that the seed he was putting into the phallus actually had sperm in it. It was just a lubricating compound which could be substituted for semen in a pinch. Roark started to pour some into the phallus…and stopped.

He thought of Samantha, harnessed in the inseminator at last—her full curves strapped in place, her thighs spread wide by the spreader bar, her pink, wet pussy open and waiting to be filled…fucked…Claimed.

Mine, whispered a possessive little voice in his head. Once again he had the urge to forget the machine he had so painstakingly built and take her himself. To go up behind her and fuck her long and deep with his own cock.

The idea had him hard and throbbing, aching to sink deep into her wet, willing depths.

But no…Roark shook his head. He couldn’t do that—couldn’t ruin years of work and research just because he was horny. Still, he had to have her in some way—had to Claim her—to mark her as his own…

Abruptly, he pulled out his own shaft and began to stroke it from root to tip, imagining that it was Samantha’s soft little hand doing the stroking. He was on edge himself, from teasing her for so long and it didn’t take long for his balls to tighten as he felt his orgasm nearing.

When it came, he held the tip of his cock to the mouth of the open reservoir and shot directly into the waiting phallus. He might not be able to Claim Samantha and fuck her in the traditional way, but she was his, damn it! And he was going to mark her so that no other male would come near her.

Thirty-One

Finally! was Sammi’s thought when Roark at last came back into the room, holding the long black phallus carefully in one hand. A shining bead of some clear fluid dotted the slit at its head and she felt a shiver go through her. Clearly he had been filling the thing up with cum—or the fake stuff that passed for cum here, anyway.

And now he was ready to fuck her with it.

Roark came over to where she was strapped into his machine and attached the thick phallus to the end of the inseminator arm. As he did, Sammi could feel the broad head of it brushing between her open pussy lips and nudging at the entrance to her channel.

“Oh!” she gasped and shifted a little. She turned her head to look at him and he met her eyes, his own half-lidded with lust.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice low and gruff. “Ready to be fucked, Samantha? Ready to be impregnated?”

His words made her slightly uneasy but then she reminded herself he wasn’t really going to make her pregnant. And he was finally going to let her come.

“I…I’m ready,” she whispered, hearing the quiver of fearful anticipation in her own voice. “But go easy on me, Roark—I’ve never had anything half as big as this thing inside me before.”

“We’ll go slowly at first,” he promised her. “But once we get started and your pussy is used to being filled, you’ll have to be prepared for a deep, thorough fucking. It’s the only way to inseminate you properly.”

Sammi bit her lip.

“All…all right,” she whispered, nodding. “Go ahead—I can take it. I think.”

“You can,” Roark assured her. He held her eyes with his own, looking at her intently. “You’re going to be a good girl for me now, Samantha. You’re going to open your pussy and let the phallus fuck you long and hard and deep so I can shoot my seed deep in your hungry little womb.”

His words sent an erotic rush of desire through her entire body and Sammi felt her nipples get tighter and her pussy get wetter as he spoke.

“Do you understand?” he asked her sternly. “Do you, Samantha?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, nodding. “I…I understand. I’ll open my pussy and let you fuck me as long and as hard as you need to.”

“Very good. Then tilt your hips a little so I can put the head inside you.”

Sammi tilted her hips obediently and moaned softly as she felt the thick head of the black phallus nudge into her open pussy. She could feel warm liquid leaking from its tip, coating the inside of her entrance as it slid slowly into her. Then it stopped, with just the broad head piercing her pussy.

“Very good,” Roark murmured. “Initial penetration achieved with no difficulty. The subject’s entrance is stretched quite wide but there doesn’t seem to be any discomfort—probably because of the Beast Kindred compound present in the precum.” He nodded and came around to face Sammi. “The controls are here,” he told her, pulling another remote out of his pocket. “Once we achieve full penetration and you’re comfortable enough to proceed, the insemination arm will fuck you automatically. It will adjust to what your body needs until you reach orgasm, at which time you will be filled with my seed.”

Sammi wondered why he kept referring to the compound he would be filling her with as “my seed” but she assumed it was just because he had invented the stuff.

“All right,” she whispered, nodding. “When do we…”

“Begin?” Roark finished for her. “Now, Samantha. Get ready to be filled…and fucked.”

As he spoke, he pressed a button on the remote and the thick phallus she had chosen pressed deeper into Sammi’s pussy. God, it was huge! She gasped as she felt her inner walls stretching to accommodate its thickness. But as Roark had promised, there was no pain or injury. Just the deep pleasure of being filled fuller than she ever had in her life before.

“Oh!” she gasped as she felt it bottom out inside her, the broad head kissing the mouth of her womb. “Oh, Roark! In me—in me so deep!”

“I told you, my darling, it has to be deep to fuck you properly.” His voice was almost tender and even in her heightened state of arousal Sammi didn’t miss the endearment he had called her.

“Yes, I know,” she whispered. She wiggled a little—as much as the harness and the spreader rod would let her, trying to get adjusted to the thickness inside her. “I…I think I’m used to it now,” she told Roark. “I think I’m ready to be…to be fucked.”

“Very good, Samantha. Slowly at first,” he murmured and pressed another button.

The thick phallus slid smoothly and slowly almost all the way out of Sammi’s pussy and then thrust back in again. When she didn’t show any signs of discomfort, the phallus stroked in and out of her again—harder this time. And then again and again and again.

“Oh!’ Sammi gasped and tilted her hips, trying to be open enough to take it all inside her, trying to submit properly to the fucking she was getting.

As she did, Roark circled the table where she was harnessed, watching with apparent approval as the thick phallus penetrated her tightly stretched pussy over and over, deeper and harder with each thrust.

“Very good,” he murmured, coming back to stand in front of Sammi. “You’re doing quite well, my darling—opening up and letting yourself be fucked.”

“Yes, Sir,” Sammi gasped. Her head was hanging down but Roark lifted it and placed a hot kiss on her mouth.

“Kiss me,” he whispered, looking into her eyes. “Kiss me while you’re getting fucked, my darling. Kiss me while your soft little pussy takes all of that long thick shaft…all of my cum.”

Sammi kissed him back eagerly and as the thick phallus pistoned inside her, Roark explored her mouth and tugged restlessly at her nipples, sending sparks of pleasure through her entire body.

But at last Sammi couldn’t kiss anymore for moaning. The clit shield was still teasing her mercilessly, pressing her higher and harder but never letting her come. And at the same time, the deep, steady pumping inside her was driving her right up to the edge.

“Roark,” she begged breathlessly. “Please, please let me come—please!”

His eyes blazed.

“You’re ready now, are you Samantha? Ready to let your hot little pussy be filled with my cum?”

“Yes!” She nodded eagerly. “Yes, please, Roark—fill me up with your seed and make me come!”

“As you wish,” he growled. He pulled out the other remote—the one to the clit shield—and pressed a button on it at the same time he pressed the button on the remote that controlled the inseminator arm.

Sammi felt the thick phallus draw all the way out of her pussy and then thrust in again hard and hold steady, pressing its broad head against the mouth of her womb. At the same time, the clit shield at last settled on a steady rhythm that seemed designed specifically to make her come. It pushed her right up to the edge of orgasm…and over it at last.

A fierce cry of pleasure broke from Sammi’s lips. She had never come so hard in her life! Just as she had never needed to come so badly in her life.

She could feel her inner walls clenching hard around the thick invader, which was shoved to the hilt inside her. Her pussy was squeezing it—almost begging it to unload inside her.

The phallus, in turn, seemed to sense her inner contractions. Sammi felt it press even harder into her and then something hot and wet was bathing the mouth of her womb. No, not just bathing it, Sammi realized. The thick phallus was injecting Roark’s cum directly into her womb, filling her to overflowing with his heated seed until she could hold no more and the sticky wetness ran down the insides of her inner thighs.

“Oh, God—oh God! Roark!” Sammi cried in a strangled voice. “It’s filling me up! Coming inside me!”

“That’s right, my darling, it is.” There was a fierce kind of pride in his pale eyes. “And you’re taking it beautifully—opening yourself so perfectly and taking my seed deep in your sweet little pussy.”

Sammi hung her head and moaned as stars flashed before her eyes. She was quite certain that if the seed inside the phallus had been real, she would be getting pregnant right now. There was no way she couldn’t be, considering how the false cock inside her was injecting the cum directly into her womb while her pussy squeezed all around it as though begging for more.

“Roark,” she gasped. “Oh God, please…”

The stars were flashing more brightly now and they had been joined by black flowers that were blooming in her vision. Sammi couldn’t ever remember feeling so overwhelmed before. It was like her whole body was going into overload and her brain was shutting down.

“Please,” she moaned. “Too much…too much…”

And then everything faded to darkness and Sammi knew no more.

Thirty-Two

She woke to the feeling of someone licking carefully, tenderly between her legs.

“What…who…?”

Sammi’s eyelids fluttered and she found that she was lying in a dim room on her back on something soft. The gentle licking went on and on, as though someone who loved her was patiently bathing her sensitive pussy with his tongue.

“Roark?” she whispered, feeling in the darkness and running her hand through his hair. “What…what are you doing?” she whispered uncertainly.

The licking stopped for just a moment and he looked up at her, the dim light catching his pale eyes and making them gleam like silver.

“Cleaning you up and calming you down, darling,” he murmured. “You got somewhat overwrought after you came. Are you feeling better now?”

Sammi remembered the blindingly intense orgasm and the feeling that her body was overloading.

“I…I think so,” she whispered. “Is it over?”

“For now,” Roark rumbled. “I will, of course, need to fuck you over and over with all the phalluses in turn to get the best data possible. But no more tonight.”

“No more tonight,” Sammi echoed in relief. “Um, you don’t have to do that,” she added, nodding down to where he was still lapping at her pussy slit. “I’m sure I’m a sticky mess right now.”

“I’m the one who made you a sticky mess,” Roark reminded her. “Besides, what kind of scientist would I be if I didn’t take care of my test subject?”

“I…I don’t know.” Sammi shifted again and moaned as his hot tongue came in contact with her bare clit. “You took off the Goddess pearl shield!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, I did,” Roark growled. He looked up at her again. “I wanted to bring you pleasure with my tongue—not just that damn device. Wanted to give you what you need without any machines in the way. Can you let me do that, Samantha? Can you let me lick your sweet little pussy until you come on my tongue?”

His words sent a fresh rush of desire through her and Sammi realized that no matter how intense the orgasm she’d had in the inseminator had been, it had only taken the slightest edge off her desire. Which wasn’t surprising, considering how long Roark had been building it by edging her over and over again. She wanted with all her heart to give in and let Roark make her come with his tongue, but she couldn’t help worrying about the research.

“Are…are you sure it won’t skew the results?” she asked anxiously. “I mean, I know you said you’ll need to fuck me again and again with all the different phalluses—are you sure it won’t hurt the outcome to let me come again while…while I’m not being fucked?”

“Just for tonight, we’re going to forget about the experiments and the data,” Roark growled softly. “For tonight there’s only you and me, darling, and my wish to make you come. Will you open for me and let me lick you?”

Sammi felt as though her heart was full.

“Y-yes, Roark,” she whispered brokenly. “Yes, please—make me come.”

“Good girl,” he growled and then he pressed his lips to her pussy again and sucked her tender clit into his mouth.

He lapped eagerly at her aching button until Sammi came for him over and over and over again.

Thirty-Three

The next few weeks were like a fever dream for Sammi. It seemed that almost every day Roark needed new data and had to fuck her again with a different phallus. She learned to take the cock of every kind of Kindred into her pussy easily and without complaint—including Roark’s.

Oh, he never fucked her with it, but after the first week of being strapped into the machine every day, he told Sammi he needed a different kind of data.

“I need to see how tightly your pussy clenches when you have a shaft inside you,” he told her as she knelt on her hands and knees on the lighted table, her legs spread wide and her pussy open to receive whatever phallus he put inside her.

“All right.” Sammi nodded at once.

She never told him no—was always willing to do whatever he asked—always willing to submit. Once it would have shamed her, but now she felt that embracing her submissive side brought her closer to her elusive boss. And right now, that was all she wanted.

“Do you have some kind of gauge you need to put inside me and have me squeeze it as hard as I can?” she asked him.

“I do.” Roark looked thoughtful. He was pacing in front of her, as though considering the problem from every angle. “Or I could…” He cleared his throat. “I could simply gauge things ‘manually’ as it were. Meaning that I could put my own shaft inside you and make you come, to feel how hard you squeeze around me.”

Sammi felt her heart leap. All this time, this was exactly what she’d been hoping and wishing for—to feel Roark inside her himself, not just the artificial phalluses.

“All right,” she whispered breathlessly. “I think…that sounds all right.”

Roark looked at her closely.

“So you won’t mind taking my bare cock deep in your pussy, Samantha? I won’t fuck you with it,” he added quickly. “But I will need to make you come in order to feel the force of your orgasm and know how tightly you can squeeze a shaft. It will help me gauge how quickly you can suck my seed into your womb with your inner walls.”

“Yes!” Sammi nodded eagerly. “I mean no, I don’t mind—don’t mind at all. It sounds like…like valuable data that needs to be collected.”

“I thought so too,” Roark said. “But I didn’t want to make the experiment without your approval.”

“I approve,” Sammi assured him. “It’s all right, Roark. You can…can put your cock inside me. And…” She bit her lip. “And if you need to fuck me and come in me—you know, to get better data—that’s all right too. I don’t…don’t mind.”

Roark frowned.

“It would be wrong of me to do that, Samantha. Wrong of me to fuck you, as though we had a sexual relationship instead of a professional one.”

“Oh…of course.” Sammi hung her head dejectedly. Still, at least he was getting a little closer, though he insisted on keeping some distance between them.

“It’s not that I don’t want to fuck you, my darling,” Roark said gently. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “I’d like nothing better than to fuck you and Claim you,” he murmured. “But we can’t—I can’t. You know that.”

“I know,” Sammi murmured, her heart thumping. “And I don’t blame you, Roark. I just want…just want you to be happy. As happy with me as I am with you,” she added daringly.

“Being with you does make me happy,” he assured her. Leaning down, he kissed her gently on the mouth. “Now be a good girl and spread wide for me so I can fill you with my cock.”

Sammi’s heart started pounding again.

“Yes, Sir,” she managed to say and then Roark was lowering the table to the correct height and going around to stand behind her.

She heard the soft click of the magno tabs that held his trousers closed unfastening and then his cock, thick and hot, was sliding against her inner folds. Roark had left the clit shield off that day, so she was able to feel the head of his shaft clearly as he rubbed it against her aching bud.

Sparks of pleasure shot through her and she moaned and wiggled against him, begging for more.

“That’s right, darling. Gods, you’re so hot and wet…” he growled and then the blunt head of his cock was pushing its way into her pussy.

“Oh, Roark—yes!” she hissed, tilting her hips up to accept him deeper into her cunt channel. “Oh God that feels amazing.”

“It feels amazing to me too, darling.” His deep voice was hoarse with desire. “Mmm, still so nice and tight, even after all the fucking we’ve been doing with the other phalluses,” he murmured, as he bottomed out inside her. “No one would ever guess you spent an hour and a half yesterday with a Beast Kindred cock buried in your pussy—mating fist and all.”

“I like your cock better,” Sammi assured him. Provocatively, she squeezed her inner muscles, caressing his thick length and then tilted her hips further back, trying to get even more of him inside her.

“Mmm, and my cock likes you too, my darling,” Roark assured her. “I can feel how nicely you’re squeezing me, but let’s see how much tighter you can get when you come—shall we?”

As he spoke, one long finger slipped between her pussy lips and began circling in a lazy rhythm that made Sammi see stars almost at once.

“Good girl,” Roark murmured in her ear as he continued to stroke her while holding his cock still, deep inside her pussy. “Such a good girl to take my bare cock so deep in your tight little cunt and squeeze me so nicely.”

“I…I’m trying,” Sammi moaned, pressing back against him. “Trying to squeeze you, Roark!”

“You’re doing beautifully,” he assured her. “Let’s just see how much tighter you can get when you’re coming, darling.”

As he spoke, he increased the light, quick pressure around her aching clit until Sammi was moaning and writhing on the thick cock buried in her pussy. All at once, an orgasm exploded over her, making her gasp and clench, her inner muscles caressing the massive invader as though begging it to come inside her.

“Gods, Samantha…” Roark’s deep voice was hoarse as she writhed against him, keening her pleasure. “So hot and wet and tight when you come, my darling. Your sweet pussy is almost enough to make me lose control and fuck you.”

“Fuck me!” Sammi begged him. “Do it Roark—I want you to! Fuck me and come in me—Claim me—please!”

For a moment she was sure he was going to do exactly that. His thick cock drew almost all the way out of her and she was certain he was about to pound back into her.

But then, to her intense disappointment, he pulled completely out of her pussy and she was left empty and missing him.

“Roark!” she cried pleadingly. “Roark, please—why did you stop?”

“I told you—I can’t fuck you.” He came around to stand in front of her, trying to tuck his still-hard cock back into his trousers. “I can’t, Samantha—I’m sorry but it’s better just to forget the idea.”

“All right.” Sammi hung her head. “I…I understand,” she whispered.

But she didn’t—not really. Why wouldn’t he at least try to bond her to him when it was clear he wanted to? Why wouldn’t he take a chance on loving her the way she was desperately in love with him?

Because though she had tried not to, Sammi had fallen in love with her boss. And there was nothing she could do to take the emotion back.

Thirty-Four

Roark knew he was going too far but he seemed helpless to stop himself. It was just that he wanted Samantha so damn much…but he couldn’t Claim her. So he was doing everything in his power to make her his without taking the final step, which he knew would lead to tragedy and heartbreak, just as it had with Amanda.

Including using his own seed in every phallus he fucked her with.

Roark told himself what he was doing was harmless. After all, he knew he was infertile. His sperm were completely immobile and nonviable—incapable of seeking an egg or fertilizing it, even if they found one. So it couldn’t hurt to inject Samantha with his seed during every fucking session.

It was a way of marking her as his own—warning off any other male who might come near her. His scent was all over her and even though Samantha herself couldn’t smell it, since it was mostly pheromones, another Kindred male would be very aware that she was off limits.

That was how Roark justified himself and his actions—he told himself nothing would come of them. In the meantime, he and Samantha kept getting closer and closer. Roark hadn’t asked her to move into his suite—yet—but he was thinking about it. They already spent more time together than apart, eating dinner together most nights and often sleeping in each other’s arms.

Roark loved the feeling of her sweet, curvy body pressed against his, loved cleaning her with his tongue after every fucking session and cradling her in his arms after especially intense sessions.

Samantha seemed willing and eager to submit to any scenario he could think of, though she often needed tenderness and reassurance afterwards. It was as though having put herself in a vulnerable place, she needed to be cuddled and cared for afterwards.

Roark loved this “aftercare” part of their relationship, as Samantha called it. He loved the fact that she was willing to be so open for him and anything he wanted to try. He just wished he could return the favor. But every time he thought of trying to Claim her, his past rose up like a brick wall in front of him, blocking the attempt.

It was an impassible barrier and Roark simply couldn’t get over it. He thought that he and Samantha might simply continue on as they were indefinitely—in a state of constant almost-Claiming that never quite culminated in the real thing.

But that was when everything changed…

Thirty-Five

“Sammi, are you okay? You look positively pale.” Meg looked anxiously at her as she sipped her coffee. The two of them had decided to meet for an early breakfast before Sammi had to be in the lab.

They were sitting in Meg’s food prep area and her friend had made scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast with raspberry jelly, which was usually Sammi’s favorite. But this morning the smell of the eggs was somehow nauseating and the red lumps of jelly on the golden-brown toast reminded her of blood clots. Ugh!

She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, so Sammi had been pushing the eggs around her plate and tearing the bacon into tiny pieces without actually eating any of it. The toast with its disgusting jelly, she couldn’t bear to touch at all, however.

“I mean it, hon—you don’t look so good,” Meg told her. “You haven’t even touched your breakfast and this is usually your favorite.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Sammi said apologetically. “I’m just a little queasy this morning. But it’ll pass—it always does.”

Meg frowned.

“What do you mean, ‘it always does’?”

“Oh, well…” Sammi picked up her mug of mint tea—which she had requested specifically to calm her rolling stomach—and took a sip to buy some time. But when she put the mug down, Meg was still staring at her expectantly.

“Sammi,” she said, “Have you been getting sick a lot in the mornings?”

“Well…yes.” Sammi shrugged uneasily. “But only for the past week or so. It happens after I first wake up—I feel sick to my stomach for a little while. But it usually passes by the time I get to the lab.”

“Sick every morning, huh?” Meg cocked an eyebrow at her. “And that doesn’t make you worried or suspicious?”

“Why should it?” Sammi tried to make her voice light and failed. “I mean, it’s probably just some kind of delayed reaction to moving to a whole different ecosystem—the Mother Ship, you know. It’s a lot different from Earth. Maybe I’m reacting to it.”

“I think a much likelier explanation is that you’re reacting to Commander Roark,” Meg said frankly. “Come on, Sammi—you two are a couple now, right? I mean, he has Claimed you—hasn’t he?”

“No he hasn’t!” Sammi denied hastily. “I mean…I kind of wish he would,” she added in a low voice. “But he…doesn’t seem to think it’s in the cards for us to be together as more than just boss and assistant.”

“Why not?” Meg demanded. “You’re gorgeous! What’s he waiting for?”

Meg smiled a little at her best friend’s indignant endorsement of her.

“Thanks, Meg, but it’s not his fault. It has to do with him being a Shadow Twin. They have a hard time, uh, bonding a female to them.”

Which was as much of Roark’s secret as she was prepared to tell. He had told her about his infertility and inability to bond in private. She wished he would at least try to Claim her despite his difficult past, but she couldn’t force him to. And she also couldn’t spill the beans about the big Shadow Twin’s infertility to Meg—at least not completely.

But her friend was giving her a skeptical expression.

“Well, he might not have Claimed you but he’s certainly done something to you.”

“What?” Sammi put down her mug, her heart pounding. “What makes you say that?” she demanded, frowning.

“Well, I’m not the one saying it—not to start with, anyway,” Meg said. “It was something that Berik said to me the other night, after you had dinner with us.”

“What did he say?” Meg demanded, frowning.

“He said that if Commander Roark hadn’t Claimed you yet, then he certainly would soon. When I asked him why, he told me he could smell Roark’s scent all over you. His scent and his seed. Like he’d been marking you on purpose.” Meg widened her eyes at Sammi. “So what’s going on with your boss, Sammi? Care to share?”

Sammi felt her cheeks getting hot. All this time she had been hiding the truth of what she and Roark were doing from Meg, partly out of embarrassment and partly because, while she loved Meg dearly, she did have a big mouth at times. Now it felt like she had to tell her friend something but she wanted to be careful to limit what she admitted to.

“Well…” She cleared her throat. “Roark and I have been running some…experiments lately. Fertility experiments,” she added, because she knew Meg was about to ask. “But he wasn’t using his own, uh, seed,” she added quickly. “It’s fake seed—just lubricant with compounds in it—that he puts in you.”

“Fake seed?” Meg frowned. “That sounds really fishy to me, hon. Are you sure he’s not using the real stuff on you? Because if you’re getting sick every morning for no reason…”

“That’s crazy!” Sammi protested. “Roark would never—”

She stopped abruptly as an idea flashed across her brain.

Roark had told her that he was using Beast Kindred compounds in the precum in order to help her open up for the huge phalluses he was using on her. Sammi assumed the compounds were extracted from real precum—what if some live sperm had somehow slipped through the extraction process? All it would take was one to do the job, especially since Roark was injecting the compounds directly into her womb. So what if…

“What if I’m pregnant?” she whispered. She tried to take a sip from her mug but her hand shook and mint tea spilled all over her plate and the table. “Oh, my God, what if I really am?”

“But you can’t get pregnant by a Kindred unless you’re bonded to him,” Meg protested. “That is, I don’t think you can,” she added with a frown.

“But what if I somehow am?” Sammi demanded. Now that the idea had taken hold in her mind, she found it impossible to ignore.

A host of other signs and symptoms began occurring to her. Her breasts and nipples had been increasingly tender lately and her peaks had gotten larger and darkened from a pale pink to a much deeper shade. Sammi had assumed it was because of how long and how often she wore the nipple caps, which teased and stimulated her constantly, but what if that wasn’t the reason?

What if her nipples had gotten larger and more tender and turned a darker shade of pink because she was pregnant?

And then there was the fact that certain foods she used to enjoy made her nauseous now. She couldn’t stand the smell of eggs or beef or jarred spaghetti sauce. She’d tried to eat a steak just last night and had nearly gagged on the first bite. What was that all about?

Also, why was she suddenly craving pickles? Not the dill kind—the sweet, bread and butter kind her mom used to make from scratch? Sammi had made herself a big batch just for something to do when she had first moved into the Mother Ship, assuming they would last her all year. But for the past week, she’d been eating a jar a day—sometimes more. Why would she crave something so badly that she usually only ate a few times a month?

Also, she had been wanting sauerkraut lately which she normally hated. She—

“Come on.” Meg was tugging on her arm.

Sammi looked up at her in confusion.

“What? Where are we going?”

“To see Liv—that nice girl I introduced you to when you first came on board,” Meg told her. “She’s a doctor and she can get you a test.”

“What—like a pregnancy test?” Sammi asked. “I don’t know, Meg—maybe I’m just being crazy and there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Then the test will be negative and you’ll have put your mind to rest. Come on,” Meg said firmly. “You have to know, Sammi. Because if you are pregnant, somebody has a lot of explaining to do!”

Well, that was certainly true, Sammi thought faintly. She allowed Meg to lead her away from her uneaten breakfast and march her down the hall to the Med Center where Liv worked. Outwardly she was calm but inside, her stomach was a mass of butterflies.

It seemed that Roark’s insemination machine might be working better than he thought—better than either of them had ever thought possible.

Thirty-Six

“Well, you’re pregnant all right.” Liv handed Sammi two little flowers—both of them pink. “Twin girls—do you have any idea how rare that is when the father is a Kindred? It’s like a million to one shot. Who is the father, anyway—if you don’t mind me asking,” she added.

“I…I don’t know,” Sammi said numbly. Now that her hunch had been confirmed, she didn’t know how to act. She looked up to see Liv staring at her blankly.

“You don’t know?” she repeated, frowning. “Are you dating a human, then?”

“I’m not dating anyone,” Sammi said and burst into tears.

“Oh, Sammi!” Meg exclaimed and put a comforting arm around her shaking shoulders. “It’s okay, honey,” she told Sammi. “Just let it out—let it all out.” She looked up at Liv. “I’m sorry—but could we have a little time alone?”

“Of course.” Liv patted Sammi’s shoulder. “If you need anything at all, I’ll be right outside,” she promised.

“Th-thank you,” Sammi stuttered. But the minute Liv left the room, she really let it out. ”I don’t know wh-what to d-do,” she moaned through her sobs. “I don’t understand what’s happening. How can this be?”

“I’ll tell you what you do.” Meg was scowling. “You march straight to that lab and demand that Commander Roark tell you what exactly was in that ‘fake seed’ he was giving you! Because it obviously wasn’t fake! And how was he giving it to you, anyway?” she added, frowning.

Sammi couldn’t answer. She was too busy trying to get hold of herself and think how to deal with this crazy problem.

A plan—I need a plan, she told herself desperately. Any time she had an issue she had to solve, she always felt better once she had a plan.

Well first of all, Meg was right—she had to talk to Roark. She could tell him her theory about the babies she was carrying being a product of a stray Beast Kindred sperm. It occurred to her that maybe this wasn’t such bad news. They had talked, in a round about way, about couples who couldn’t conceive, adopting children. Would it really be so different if she had babies that weren’t Roark’s biologically?

Maybe this would even make him decide they ought to be together as more than just boss and assistant, Sammi thought hopefully. Maybe they could make a life together and raise the two little girls and have a happy home.

A picture of the four of them bloomed in her mind—two little girls staring adoringly up at their adopted father and Roark laughing and playing with them while Sammi rocked them to sleep and read them bedtime stories. She had always wanted to be a mom—always wanted a big family. And now maybe she had a chance to do it….

“You know…” she said, sniffing and swiping at her eyes with the handful of tissues Meg had given her. “I think you’re right—I need to go see Commander Roark right now.”

“That’s the spirit!” Meg said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. “And I’ll come with you for moral support.”

“No.” Sammi shook her head. “No, this is something I have to do on my own, Meg. Thank you, though,” she added, giving her friend a watery smile. “You’re the best friend a girl could ask for.”

“I know,” Meg said cheerfully. “And soon I’m going to be the best aunt a girl could ask for—two little girls, in fact.” She gently patted Sammi’s tummy. “Go on now—go straighten this out.”

“I will.” Sammi lifted her chin. She was determined to get to the bottom of this…and hopefully come out in a better place on the other side. Visions of a happy family still dancing in her head, she left the Med Center and headed for the lab, taking the two tiny pink flowers with her.

Thirty-Seven

“You’re what?” Roark looked at her blankly.

“You heard me.” Samantha lifted her chin. There was a defiant gleam in her green eyes that said she fully expected him to believe her.

“You can’t be,” Roark said flatly. “There’s no possible way.”

“What do you mean? After all the times you’ve strapped me into that machine and inseminated me?” Samantha demanded.

“The seed I used—” Roark began.

“I know, I know—it was fake seed,” she interrupted him. “But what about the Beast Kindred compound you used to help me open up? If you extracted it from real precum, don’t you think a live sperm might have gotten through? And I was ovulating and twins run in my family so—”

“The compounds are not extracted from real Beast Kindred seed,” Roark snapped, frowning. “They are made in my lab—they’re only based on Beast Kindred emissions. So there is no possible way you could get pregnant from them.”

He was also certain there was no possible way she could get pregnant from his own seed, though he had injected copious amounts into her. He had injected copious amounts into Amanda too—back when he was still trying to bond with her. They had tried everything and nothing had worked—his seed was completely nonviable.

“You must be mistaken,” he told Samantha. “There’s no possible way you cold be pregnant.”

“Oh, no? Then explain these!” She thrust out her hand, shoving two little pink pregnancy flowers at him.

Roark stared at them blankly.

“Pink? As in females? Twin females?” Now he knew the babies couldn’t be his. Even if his sperm had been viable it would have been impossible.

“That’s what the test said.” Samantha’s voice was both shaky and belligerent. “And Liv, the doctor who did it, said the pregnancy tests here aboard the Mother Ship are one hundred percent accurate.”

“Samantha…” Roark strove to keep his voice low and controlled, though he wasn’t feeling very in control at all. “Do you have any idea what the odds of you getting pregnant with twin girls with a Kindred father are?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “Liv said about a million to one? I know it’s rare.”

“It’s so rare as to be nearly nonexistent,” Roark told her icily. “The odds are approximately one in four point seven billion—roughly the same odds a human female has to conceive quintuplets naturally with a human male. It simply doesn’t happen.”

“But…” Samantha shook her head. “But how do you explain this, then?” she nodded at the pink flowers in her palm again.

“I’ll tell you how I explain it,” Roark growled. “I think you were already pregnant when you took the job as my assistant. Probably by the lover who left that note in your old domicile. You pretended not to be because you wanted the job and hoped I wouldn’t notice until it was too late for me to fire you because you already knew too much of my research.”

“What?” Samantha’s eyes grew wide.

“Either that, or you’ve been sneaking off to Earth to meet with him and you got pregnant after you and I started doing experiments together,” Roark went on grimly. This was a much worse scenario but after Amanda had left him for another male—one who could get her pregnant and give her children—he wouldn’t put anything past a human female.

“How can you say that?” Samantha’s eyes were wide and hurt. They almost made Roark feel bad…but then he remembered that she’d been cheating on him. Cheating and trying to pass the babies off as his or as a result of their experiments together.

The thought hardened his heart.

“Well I’m happy to inform you that it’s not too late for us to end our association,” Roark told her, barely keeping his temper in check. “Because as of this moment, you are fired, Ms. Grey. Kindly clean out your desk and leave my lab.”

“What?” Samantha’s eyes were filled with a mixture of fury and tears. “How can you say this to me, Roark? How can you treat me like some…some experiment that went wrong you just want to throw in the trash? You got me pregnant!”

“I did not!” he roared, his fury overcoming his icy demeanor.

Samantha drew back from him, her eyes wide with fear this time.

Roark took a deep breath, forcing himself to be calm.

“There is no possible way I made you pregnant,” he said coldly. “Because I never Claimed you—we are not bonded.”

“But then how is this possible?” She shook her head. “And no, don’t accuse me of cheating on you again. I would never do that. Never.” She swiped at her eyes, which were red with crying. “I did everything you asked me to—I submitted to you completely because I hoped it would make you love me like…like I love you.” She took a deep shaky breath. “What a fool I was.”

Roark glared at her, trying not to let her words pierce his heart.

“Samantha—”

“No.” She put up a hand. “Don’t say anything else. I’m leaving. And don’t worry about me coming around and bothering you for child support—I never want to see you again.”

A sob caught in her throat and she turned quickly, but not quite fast enough for Roark to miss the way her lovely face crumpled into tears.

Keeping her back straight, she marched out of his office and out of his life.

And though Roark told himself it was good riddance, he couldn’t help feeling a stabbing pain in the region of his heart when the door slammed shut behind her.

Thirty-Eight

Blinded by tears, Sammi hardly knew where she was going. She only had one destination in mind—away.

By the time she finally looked up, she saw that she had wandered all the way to the Docking Bay. She started to turn around and leave but then a tall Blood Kindred pilot said to her,

“Excuse me, Miss. Are you looking for a ride down to Earth? I’m about to go in ten minutes.”

“You are?” Sammi swiped at her eyes.

“Yes. Are you wanting to go down and visit your family?” he asked, giving her a look of concern.

“Family…yes.” An idea began to form in Sammi’s mind. “Yes, I need my family around me now.”

She would go to her Aunt Vicky’s house. It was noisy and crowded since Vicky had four kids, but they would put her up somewhere until she could find a new place. She’d be safe there, too—her Uncle Steve had been a linebacker in college and he was almost as big as a Kindred. Nobody would dare to bother her there—not even Roark.

Not that he would want to. He’d made it perfectly clear how he really felt about her.

The thought nearly made her break into fresh tears and she had to take a deep, gulping breath to push them back.

Her distress must have showed on her face because the Blood Kindred pilot looked more concerned than ever.

“Would you like to sit down, Miss?” he asked. “My ship is just over here?” He nodded at a sleek silver shuttle just inside the Docking Bay.

“Yes, thank you,” Sammi managed to say.

“All right then.” He escorted her to the shuttle and stowed her safely in the back seat.

Sammi sank into the plush cushions gratefully and closed her eyes. Everything was too much right now—she just needed to get away and be with her family. Later she could figure out what to do and how she was supposed to raise two babies on her own. But for now, she just wanted to turn her brain off.

Thirty-Nine

The trip down to Earth didn’t take long. Before she knew it, Sammi was standing outside the Human/Kindred Relations building in downtown Tampa, watching the traffic whiz by.

After living in the temperature and humidity-controlled Mother Ship for so long, the muggy Florida heat felt like a punishment. Her blouse was already sticking to her skin and everything felt clammy. Ugh, she needed to get out of here!

Sammi reached for her phone and realized that she had come down to Earth with absolutely nothing on her—her purse with her money and cell phone and wallet—everything was back aboard the Mother Ship. She had been so upset at Roark’s reaction to her pregnancy, she had left without even taking the basic necessities with her.

She didn’t have a ride either. Sammi groaned inwardly. What had she been thinking? Now she would either have to go all the way back to the Mother Ship to get her things, or call her Aunt Vicky and ask her to come give her a lift. Or maybe one of the Kindred warriors would drive her?

She turned hesitantly back towards the plate glass doors of the building. She could see several on-duty warriors standing around, waiting to greet people. Surely one of them might be willing to drive her? She really didn’t want to have to go back up to the Mother Ship and risk running into Roark again…

“Professor Grey?”

The voice was vaguely familiar and when Sammi turned around, she saw a vaguely familiar face to go with it. But the name escaped her.

“Oh, um…” She stalled for time. The young man who was standing there was so nondescript it was almost impossible to place him. He had brownish hair and brownish eyes and he was around 5’9 and seemed to be average weight—not scrawny and not fat. Who in the world was he?

“It’s me—Bernard Chelising? From your Biology class at USF?” he asked, smiling hopefully.

“Oh, uh…right—of course!” Sammi smiled at him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it has. What happened to you? They said you were taking a leave of absence.” He gave her a concerned look.

“Oh, well…” Sammi cleared her throat. She had left the class in the middle of the semester but she’d gotten a replacement professor to teach in her place and the USF management had been very understanding.

“I mean, the new professor is okay but he’s not nearly as good as you,” Bernard continued.

“I just had some, uh, personal issues,” Sammi explained, feeling guilty for leaving a student behind. “And I got a job offer with the Kindred—up in the Mother Ship,” she added. Which only made her think of Roark and want to cry again. Grimly, she held the tears back.

“Really? What a coincidence!” Bernard exclaimed. “I’m working for the Kindred now, too!”

“You are?” Sammi frowned uncertainly.

“Oh, yeah—they’re great guys.” He lifted a hand and waved at one of the warriors inside the HKR building and the warrior smiled and waved back. “Always so friendly,” Bernard remarked, smiling.

“Yes. Most of the time,” Sammi said in a low voice. Roark had never been friendly or approachable at all, but somehow she had still managed to stupidly fall in love with him…

“Of course, it’s not like a real career or anything,” Bernard said, derailing her train of thought. “I just take people back and forth from the HKR building to wherever they want to go. Kind of like a Kindred Uber driver.”

“You do?” Sammi asked hopefully. “Um, does it cost anything?”

“No charge—the Kindred are a class act. They just want us humans to be happy.” Bernard grinned. “Why? You need to go someplace?”

“Actually, I do but it’s kind of far away—up in North Tampa?” Sammi asked, raising an eyebrow.

Bernard made a shooing gesture.

“North Tampa’s not a problem. I drive people all the way out to Pinellas sometimes.”

“Oh, well in that case, could you take me?” Sammi asked. “I mean, if you’re not waiting on anyone else?”

“Well, I was supposed to have another passenger but she’s apparently going to be another hour or two. Getting some stuff from the Mother Ship or something.” He shrugged. “So sure, I’ve got time to take you. Hop in.”

He walked to a plain black sedan parked at the curb just a little way away and opened the back door for her.

“Thank you.” Sammi nodded gratefully and got in.

“Watch your hands and feet!” Bernard said and carefully closed the door. “All right,” he said as he got settled in the driver’s seat and put on his seatbelt. “Where to?”

Sammi gave him the address of her Aunt Vicky’s house and then settled back and closed her eyes. She hoped Bernard wasn’t going to want to make small talk and to her relief, he seemed to see that she didn’t feel like making conversation. Instead, he turned on some soft music and turned his head briefly.

“This okay?”

“It’s nice.” Sammi leaned her head back against the cushions. “Really nice.”

“Glad you like it. Just relax. Traffic sucks this time of day so it might take a little while.”

“Okay.” Sammi nodded, keeping her eyes closed. She felt completely worn out from the awful morning she’d had. From finding out she was pregnant, to confronting Roark and having him brush her off completely, she was both emotionally and physically exhausted.

Roark was horrible and she was in a bad situation but she couldn’t dwell on it just now, Sammi told herself. Right now, she just needed to be calm. Later she could tie herself in knots again but for now she just needed to take it easy.

The rocking of the car and the soothing music worked together to help her relax. Before she knew it, Sammi had slipped into a doze.

She didn’t even notice when the car turned South instead of North and started heading out of town.

Forty

“Where’s Sammi?” the human female outside his door demanded.

Roark frowned at her. He knew her vaguely—wasn’t she Samantha’s best friend? He had met her once or twice in the corridor when she came to meet her for “girl time” as Samantha had called it. Was her name Meg? He thought so, anyway.

“Excuse me?” he frowned at the woman who had blonde hair and a scowl on her face.

“I said, where’s Sammi?” she repeated impatiently. “Look, I know it’s none of my business, but she came to talk to you over an hour ago and now I can’t find her anywhere. I know your lab is top secret but is she in there with you?”

“No, she most certainly is not,” Roark growled. “If you must know, she is no longer in my employ. I’m afraid I had to let her go this morning. Good day.”

He started to shut the door to the lab but found he couldn’t because Samantha’s friend had stuck her foot in the doorway to block it.

“Wait a minute—you fired her?” she demanded, her eyes snapping with anger. “She came to you and told you she was pregnant and you fired her?”

“None of that is any of your business,” Roark snapped.

“The Hell it’s not!” Meg raged. “Sammi is my best friend and you’re the abusive asshole who got her pregnant and then fired her!”

“I did not get her pregnant,” Roark snarled. “Though I believe I know who did.”

“Oh yeah?” Meg put a hand on her hip and glared at him belligerently. “This ought to be good. Just who do you suspect?”

“I don’t know his name,” Roark said, glaring right back. “But I believe it was her human lover back on Earth. I found one of his love notes on her counter when I went down to help her move the rest of her things.”

“Love notes? You found a note on her counter?” Her eyes widened.

“Yes, I did,” Roark said stiffly. “And it was obviously from a male because in it he called her “Beautiful” and asked what time he could come by to take her out on a date.”

“You idiot!” Samantha’s best friend looked like she wanted to punch him. “That note wasn’t from a lover—it was from Sammi’s stalker! The one who chased her across the country all the way from California to Florida!”

“What?” Roark was confused. “She never told me anything about a stalker.”

“That’s because she just wanted to forget about him. She moved up here to the Mother Ship to get away from him because she didn’t feel safe,” Meg snapped. “It’s the whole reason she was desperate enough to take a job with you. The guy was sending her pictures he’d taken when she was in the house alone—in the shower! She was in real danger down on Earth!”

Roark took a step back.

“I didn’t know that—didn’t know any of it.”

Could it be that the only reason Samantha had agreed to keep working with him was to keep her place aboard the Mother Ship? Was that the only reason she had put up with the increasingly extreme experiments he had subjected her to?

“Of course you didn’t—you’re a self-absorbed asshole,” Meg told him.

“That still doesn’t make me responsible for the fetuses she’s carrying,” Roark tried to defend himself.

Or did it? If Samantha hadn’t been cheating on him with some human down on Earth, then how had she turned up pregnant? Roark still didn’t believe that the twins she was apparently carrying could be his. The odds were just so completely against it. But long odds didn’t necessarily make an event impossible, just extremely improbable. What if—

“I think you’d better ask Liv—the doctor who performed Sammi’s pregnancy test before you go saying you’re not the one responsible,” Samantha’s friend snapped, cutting into his reverie. “I asked her to run a DNA scan before we left and I’m pretty sure it ought to be ready by now.”

“A DNA scan?” Roark raised his eyebrows.

“Exactly,” she spat. “Because I didn’t buy that shit about you giving Sammi ‘fake seed’ or whatever it was you stuck in my friend.” She leaned forward and poked a finger in his chest, hard enough to hurt. “You’d better go find out right now and then take responsibility for your actions, you asshole!”

Then she turned and stalked away, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

“Where are you going?” Roark demanded, wondering if she was going to the Med Center herself to get the results of the DNA test.

Meg turned to face him.

“To find Sammi! So I can tell her never to have anything to do with you again!”

Then she turned on her heel again and stalked down the long silver corridor, leaving Roark feeling shaken and uncertain.

He’d been so sure the twin babies Samantha was carrying couldn’t possibly be his…

But what if he was wrong?

Forty-One

“They’re definitely yours, all right,” Liv said matter-of-factly. “Here, look.” She passed Roark the medical tablet she’d been studying to show him the results of the DNA test. “No other male on the entire ship or anywhere else matches the DNA signature of the twins Samantha is carrying,” she told him. “But when I pull up your files—look…” She touched the screen. “Perfect match.”

“I…” Roark shook his head. “But I don’t understand how this could have happened. We’re not even bonded.”

“Are you sure?” Liv raised an eyebrow at him. “I know bonding can be difficult sometimes with Shadow Twins or Hybrids but she is pregnant and those babies most definitely are yours.”

“But twin girls,” Roark protested. “The odds are—”

“Astronomical. I know,” Liv said, frowning. “But just because something is improbable doesn’t make it impossible.”

Her words so clearly echoed his own earlier thoughts that it gave Roark a sudden chill. Slowly, the implications of what the human doctor was telling him began to sink in. Somehow, against all odds, his sperm had worked. It had worked and now Samantha was pregnant—with his children!

But if she was pregnant, why weren’t they bonded?

Maybe because you were too much of a coward to try and bond her the right way, a little voice whispered in his head. You let the inseminator do the work for you—the work you were too afraid to do yourself!

Something else became clear to him too—he had treated Samantha—the mother of his children—horribly. He had accused her of sleeping with another male behind his back and lying to him. Then he had fired her and sent her away, pregnant and alone. Gods, what must she think of him?

Roark knew what he thought of himself. When Samantha’s friend had called him an “asshole” she had been right. In fact, she had been too kind.

“I am an asshole,” he muttered, staring down at the incontrovertible proof on the medical tablet. “A complete asshole.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t take the news well when Samantha came to see you?” Liv asked tactfully.

“Didn’t take it well? I called her a liar and accused her of cheating!” Roark closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Gods, I have to find her and apologize to her. What an idiot I’ve been!”

Suddenly the door to the private room in the Med Center where he was consulting with the human doctor banged open and Samantha’s friend, Meg, charged in.

“Oh, Liv—thank goodness—there you are!” she exclaimed. “I’ve searched and searched but I can’t find Sammi anywhere aboard the Mother Ship. Did she come back here to see you?”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Liv frowned.

“Oh.” Meg’s face fell. “I thought she might have come back to ask about the DNA test.” Her eyes flicked over Roark. “Like he did,” she added, looking at him like he was something she’d scraped off the bottom of her shoe at the park where the humans walked the loud, barking animals they called ‘dogs.’

As it happened, Roark felt like something scraped off the bottom of a shoe, so he didn’t reply.

“The Mother Ship is a big place, hon,” Liv said to the extremely upset Meg. “I’m sure she’s here somewhere.”

“Unless she left because she was so upset!” Meg exclaimed. “After he fired her and sent her away!”

Roark felt shame filling him like hot bile.

“I am…deeply sorry that I hurt her,” he said, his voice coming out low and hoarse. “I would also like to find her—to apologize for my actions.”

“I doubt she left the Mother Ship,” Liv said. “But just in case, let me check with my hubby, Baird. He’s the head of the Kindred Fleet so he’ll be able to find out for us.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, and Roark knew she was reaching for the mental link she had with her mate. The link he had despaired of ever having with a female himself. But might such a link be possible with Samantha? After all, if she could get pregnant with his seed, might he not also be able to bond her to him?

If she ever wants to bond with you, after the way you acted! sneered the little voice in his head. It’s much more likely she’ll never want to see you again!

“Oh dear.” Liv’s voice shook him out of his reverie and he looked up to see her frowning.

“What is it? Where is she?” Meg asked anxiously.

“Baird says that one of his pilots took a human woman matching Samantha’s description down to Earth a couple of hours ago,” Liv said. “He said she seemed extremely upset, though she didn’t say about what.”

“I know what she was upset about!” Meg glared at Roark, who was feeling worse by the minute. “She probably went back to stay with her family—she’s really close with her Aunt Vicky. Do you have a think-me, Liv? I’ll call Sammi and make sure she’s okay.”

“Sure. Here you go.” Liv rooted around in her desk until she found a thin circlet of golden wire and handed it to Meg. The Kindred Mother Ship had made recent changes so that communicators much like human cell phones were usable, but the think-me was still the fastest way to communicate, since you could push your thoughts directly into another person’s mind.

Meg put the golden circlet on and closed her eyes, concentrating hard. After a moment she murmured,

“Sammi? Don’t freak out, it’s just me, Meg. Are you okay?”

She paused for a moment and Roark knew she must be getting a mental answer from Samantha.

“All right, hon—sorry to disturb your nap,” she finally said. “You take care and be safe down there with your aunt. I promise I’ll come visit you later in the week. Love you.”

Then she took the think-me off her head, a look of relief on her face.

“She’s okay. She’s in an Uber headed for her aunt’s house. She was all worn out—I couldn’t get her at first because she was sleeping.”

“See? I told you she was all right.” Liv smiled at Meg reassuringly.

Meg nodded.

“I don’t love the idea of her being back on Earth because of that damn stalker. But as long as she stays with her aunt and uncle, she should be fine.”

“Stalker?” Liv raised her eyebrows in alarm.

“Yeah. Some creep who followed her all the way from California to Florida,” Meg told her. “He wouldn’t leave Sammi alone and she was actually in fear for her life. That’s the whole reason she came up here in the first place.”

“Poor girl!” Liv shook her head. “Men can be so horrible! Well, human men, anyway,” she added.

“I don’t know—I think some Kindred guys can be bastards too.” Meg shot Roark a glare.

Roark looked back at her.

“I deserve everything you’ve said about me and more,” he said quietly. “I was completely wrong about Samantha. I judged her harshly because I have been…hurt by a human woman in the past. But now, I would very much like to make amends.” He held out his hand. “May I have the think-me?”

“No!” Meg thrust the thin golden circlet behind her back. “I told you, Sammi’s taking a nap right now. Besides, you don’t deserve to talk to her—or to be with her for that matter. Not after the way you acted!”

“Now, Meg…” Liv put a soothing hand on the other woman’s knee. “I think it has to be Samantha’s decision whether she’ll take Commander Roark back or not. She is carrying his babies, after all. It sounds like this is all some big misunderstanding—why don’t you let them clear it up?”

“Not right now,” Meg insisted stubbornly. “You told me yourself how tired being pregnant makes you. Sammi needs her sleep.”

“Well, being pregnant does make you horribly tired,” Liv admitted, frowning. “Especially in the first quadmester.”

“Fine.” Roark nodded, though he wanted desperately to speak to Samantha and let her know how sorry he was. “I’ll leave her alone—for now. I should go down and speak to her in person, anyway. Communicating through a think-me isn’t as meaningful as speaking face to face.”

He pictured himself on his knees before Samantha, begging her forgiveness—asking her to come back to him so that they could raise their little girls together…

“Don’t you go bothering her right now!” Meg snapped. “Maybe if you’re still sorry I’ll give you the address of her aunt’s house in a couple of days. But she needs at least that long to process what you did to her.”

“A couple of days?” Roark protested. “But—”

“She’s emotional right now,” Meg snapped. “She needs some time to deal with everything you’ve put her through! I don’t want her agreeing to go back to an abusive asshole because she feels desperate.”

Roark thought about protesting that he had never abused Samantha…but was that really true? He remembered how it had been, the many times he had strapped her into the insemination machine, the many different phalluses he had thrust inside her. At the time he believed she was submitting to such treatment because she was as sexually aroused by what they were doing as Roark was.

But was that really true?

He just didn’t know anymore. Possibly Samantha had only been putting up with his experiments because she thought she had no choice. Without a job, she would have had to leave the Mother Ship and from what Meg had said about the human male stalking her, she hadn’t felt safe doing that.

Then he had forced her to go—by firing her and breaking her heart at the same time, Roark thought remorsefully. So maybe he was abusive after all. Maybe Samantha had hated and resented him this entire time. But…hadn’t she said she loved him, there at the last?

A tiny tendril of hope curled up from the barren, rocky soil of his heart. If she had loved him once, she might be persuaded to love him again, if only he could prove he was worthy of her.

But how could he do that if he couldn’t talk to her and apologize?

“I have to go.” Meg’s voice cut through Roark’s frantic thoughts. He looked up as she stood and headed for the door.

“Please,” he said. “I really am sorry. I love Samantha and I treated her horribly—I see that now. Won’t you give me the address of her female relation so that I can go and apologize? I give you my oath as a warrior that I won’t pressure her to take me back. I simply want to let her know how sorry I am for how I acted.”

Meg’s face, which had been set in stone, seemed to melt, just a little.

“Maybe I’ll tell you the address tonight,” she said at last. “But give her time to get settled at her aunt’s place, okay? And promise you won’t contact her until then.”

“All right, I swear it. And thank you.” Roark nodded.

“Bye, Liv,” Meg nodded at the human doctor. “Thanks for your help with this mess.”

“Anytime.” Liv smiled at her and then turned her attention to Roark as the door shut behind Meg. “Well, it seems we’ve all had an eventful morning.”

“Eventful?” Roark barked an unhappy laugh. “If you consider finding out I am the father to twins after believing myself to be infertile and also after I accused the woman I love of cheating on me and driving her away ‘eventful’ then yes, I would say so.”

“Look, the road to love isn’t always a straight path,” Liv said quietly. “When my husband, Baird, first Claimed me, I did everything in my power to get away from him.”

Roark frowned.

“You didn’t wish to be Claimed?”

“I didn’t want to leave my life on Earth,” Liv told him. “I hurt Baird—hurt him badly. And then, after I had rejected him in every way possible, he sacrificed himself to the AllFather to pay for my mistakes and set me free. Do you think I felt like I deserved that?”

“I suppose not.” Roark shook his head. Though it was years in the past now, the war with the old enemy of the Kindred, the Scourge, was still a time no one could forget.

“I didn’t,” Liv said quietly. “But when, by the Grace of the Goddess, Baird came back to me, he forgave me and loved me like nothing ever happened.” She smiled. “And now we’ve been together for years and we have a son.”

“That’s wonderful.” Roark’s throat was dry. “I just wonder if Samantha and I could have that same outcome. I was…” He shook his head. “I was horrible to her.”

“Ask forgiveness,” Liv suggested. “It’s all you can do. And pray to the Goddess to heal your relationship.”

Roark didn’t like to tell her that he wasn’t much of a believer. He knew that most Kindred were devout in their worship of the Mother of all Life, but as a scientist, he had no time for religious nonsense. But it was clear Liv believed and he didn’t want to denigrate her religion. So he only nodded and said,

“Thank you. I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

“Good.” Liv squeezed his arm reassuringly and stood, indicating their time together was over. “Now, I have a lot of patients to get to so I’m going to have to let you go. But I’ll be saying a prayer for you and Samantha. If there’s anything else I can do, please let me know.”

“I will. Thank you again.” Roark shook her hand, as was the human custom, and left the Med Center.

As he walked down the long, winding metal corridors to his lab, he wished he could speak to Samantha at once and beg her forgiveness. But he had promised he would leave her alone—at least for now—and a Kindred warrior didn’t break his word. He would just have to wait until Meg was willing to give him the address of Samantha’s female relative so he could go and apologize to her in person.

Oh Samantha, he thought longingly. What a fool I’ve been! I only hope you’ll forgive me and come back to me…

Forty-Two

What a fool I’ve been, Sammi was thinking as she looked frantically around the small basement apartment. I should never have just gotten in a car with a guy just because I knew him a little bit. How in the Hell am I ever going to get out of here?

It looked like a basement apartment, anyway—though she had never heard of anyone being able to have a basement in Florida. But the place she found herself in now was built like a basement with walls of thick cinderblock and no windows or doors in sight. Well, except for the door at the top of the stairs which she had already tried and it was locked.

That wasn’t the only thing that was locked—Sammi’s hands were also cuffed. They were in front of her, at least, but still, it was damn scary to wake up and find yourself handcuffed in a strange apartment with no idea how you had gotten there.

The last memory she had was of Meg’s think-me call waking her from a sound sleep. She’d been disoriented at first and then reassured her friend that she was fine and on her way to her Aunt Vicky’s house.

If only she had kept Meg on the think-me a little longer! It was only after they “hung up” that Sammi had woken up properly and realized the car she was in was nowhere near North Tampa. In fact, they didn’t appear to be anywhere in Tampa at all.

Looking out the window, all she saw were trees and a dense green growth of ivy-covered underbrush. The car was out in the wild country somewhere, far from any city.

“What the hell?” she had muttered, blinking and looking around. “Hey, where are we?” she asked, raising her voice as she looked to the front seat where Bernard was still driving.

“Awake so soon?” He had met her gaze in the rearview mirror and Sammi saw that his formerly warm brown eyes were now cold and calculating. “Can’t have that, can we? The boss-man won’t like it”

“Wha—?” she started to ask but then he had turned and sprayed something in her face. Something with a choking, sickly-sweet smell that made her head swim.

“Who…who are you?” Sammi had choked out, as the world started graying out around her. “And where…where are you taking me?”

“I’m nobody. And I’m taking you to meet someone who’s been waiting for you a long time,” Bernard said.

And then everything had gone black.

When she had woken up, she was here—lying on the floor in the basement apartment with no doors or windows—with her hands cuffed in front of her.

Sami struggled up off the floor and paced around the small apartment, which was divided up into several rooms. One was a bathroom, which she gratefully used, though with some difficulty because of her cuffed hands.

After washing her hands with a lot of clinking from the handcuffs, she found a sort of living room area with a battered couch and a TV in front of it. There was also a room set up like a breakfast nook with a small table already set for two with nice china and crystal champagne flutes. Each place setting had a fork and a spoon but no knives.

The last room she found was the worst. It was a bedroom with a queen-sized bed made up with a white lace coverlet. The room itself seemed normal enough. What freaked Sammi out was the fact that someone had sprinkled red rose petals all over the white lace.

Like they’re getting ready for a romantic night, she thought, feeling sick to her stomach. Oh my God, what’s going on here?

Just then she heard a creaking sound—a door opening, she realized. And then more creaking as someone descended the steps.

Sammi wanted to hide—maybe under the bed—but she was frozen in place, unable to move as the heavy steps got closer and closer.

“Well, hello, Beautiful,” a voice said behind her. “I see you’re finally ready for our date.”

Forty-Three

Roark couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He went back to his lab and tried to work, but he missed Samantha’s presence. Her soft voice, her sweet scent…he missed everything about her.

And then he began to worry.

What if she wasn’t safe, down there on Earth? Meg had said she had a stalker who had been in her house, taking pictures of her in the shower. The thought of such a personal invasion of her space made Rage rise inside him. But it also sent a cold shiver of fear down his spine—fear for Samantha.

What if he had somehow gotten to her? Roark knew that Meg said she was safely on her way to her female relative’s house, but what if something had happened along the way? What if something was happening right now and he didn’t know because Meg had made him promise not to contact Samantha until that night?

The feeling of wrongness and the worry about Samantha grew and grew until he was unable to think of anything else. He paced around his lab, running his fingers though his hair, thinking of all the awful things that might have happened—or might be happening at that very moment.

He began to be certain that she was in danger somewhere. The certainty grew until he could no longer contain it. At last he left the lab and found the door to the suite where Meg lived. He knew it because he had picked Samantha up from her friend’s domicile once.

Roark knocked on the door and it was opened by Meg’s Beast Kindred mate. From the grim look on his face when he saw Roark, it was obvious that Meg had already told her mate all about him.

“What do you want?” he asked stiffly, giving Roark a glare.

Normally Roark would have answered such aggression with aggression of his own. But in this case, he was well aware that any enmity directed at him was well deserved. So he only said,

“I would like to speak to your mate, please. It will only take a moment.”

At first he didn’t think the Beast Kindred would allow it. But finally he said,

“Wait here,” and left Roark standing out in the corridor.

It was the height of rudeness not to invite someone into your suite when they knocked, but Roark didn’t complain. He only waited quietly until Meg came to the door, with her mate right behind her.

“Why are you here?” she demanded when she saw Roark. “I told you to wait until tonight and it’s only been a few hours!”

“I know that I promised to wait until tonight to contact Samantha and I am trying to keep my word, which is why I have not called her by think-me,” Roark said, striving to keep his voice level. “But I can’t help myself—I have a feeling she’s in terrible danger. Please—give me the address now so I can go down to Earth and verify that she’s all right.”

It was difficult to beg anyone for anything but he was willing to wound his pride for Samantha’s sake. So he stood like a beggar in the doorway, hoping that Samantha’s best friend would have some kindness and help him out.

Meg didn’t seem inclined to kindness, however.

“Right,” she sneered. “You’re just trying to go see her early. Well, I’m not telling you anything until tonight!”

She started to close the door in his face but to Roark’s surprise, her Beast Kindred mate stopped her.

“Wait, Meg,” he rumbled. “If the male says he has an overwhelming feeling about his female, you should listen to him.”

“Sammi is not his female!” Meg snapped. “He threw her away like a piece of trash!”

“His actions may have been fucking awful, but you did say he fathered a child on her, right?” The Beast Kindred raised an eyebrow at his mate.

“Two children—twins,” Meg snapped. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, if he was able to get her pregnant, he must have some kind of bond with her—even just a partial bond,” the Beast Kindred pointed out. “Which means the Goddess intends for them to be together. And if that is what she wishes, you shouldn’t be keeping them apart.”

“Well…” Meg looked undecided but apparently her mate’s words held weight with her. “All right,” she said at last. “Hang on, I’ll go write down the address.”

Roark still didn’t believe in the Goddess, but he felt a rush of gratitude towards the other warrior.

“Thank you, Brother,” he said, nodding at the Beast Kindred.

The Beast Kindred scowled back at him.

“Don’t make me regret this kindness. Samantha is like a sister to me. I will protect her if I find out you’ve hurt her in any way—physically or emotionally.”

“I only want to make up for the wrong I’ve done,” Roark said honestly. “I see now that we belong together and that I was a fool to send her away.” He ran a hand through his hair. “And I really do have a feeling she is in danger. I must go check on her.”

“I understand.” The Beast Kindred gave a nod of grudging respect. “I hope your feeling is wrong and that your female is well and safe.”

“I hope so too,” Roark said.

Just then, Meg returned with a slip of paper that had an Earth address printed on it.

“Here. This is her Aunt Vicky’s house,” she said, handing it reluctantly to Roark. “But you’d better treat her right this time!”

“I swear I will.” Roark took the slip of paper from her. “Thank you so much.”

He wanted to say something about how he hoped they would be on better footing in the future. Since Meg was Samantha’s best friend, it was reasonable to assume that they might socialize with the other couple if she came back to him.

But at the moment, both of them thought he was scum—which Roark couldn’t really debate until he was able to bring Samantha back and show that he could treat her well. And besides, the feeling that she was in danger was growing by the minute—he literally couldn’t stay here on the Mother Ship one moment longer. He had to go down to Earth and make sure she was all right.

“Thank you,” he said to Meg and her mate, and hurried away.

Forty-Four

The man standing behind her, when Sammi turned around, was tall and imposing. He wasn’t as big as a Kindred, but he wasn’t far off, either, standing at least 6’6 by Sammi’s panicked estimation. Small black eyes, a hooked beak of a nose, and thin, red, cruel lips defined his broad face. He had long, shaggy black hair and meaty hands as big as catchers’ mitts.

She saw the hands up close when he reached out to brush a strand of hair away from her face.

Sammi ducked instinctively away, not wanting him to touch her. The man’s cruel red lips twisted into a frown.

“Now, Beautiful, is that any way to treat your lover?” he demanded in a deep, harsh voice.

“You are not my lover! I don’t even know you!” Sammi lifted her chin and tried to sound strong, but her voice came out shaky and weak. She had to fight with herself not to burst into tears and beg him to let her go home.

“Oh, but I know you, Beautiful. I’ve been watching you such a long time now.” He smiled, revealing crooked yellow teeth that crossed over each other in the front. “I’ve seen you at school…at your house…in the shower…”

His words confirmed her worst fears. This was the man who had followed her across the country. This was the man who had invaded her home.

“You’re him,” she whispered, backing away. “The stalker.”

“Stalker? Well, that’s kind of a nasty word, isn’t it?” He frowned and made a tsking sound with his tongue. “I prefer to think of myself as a ‘watcher.’ And of course soon, I’ll be your lover, Beautiful.”

“No.” Sammi shook her head vigorously and took another step back. “No, we’re never going to be lovers. I don’t know you and I don’t want to know you!”

“You might feel that way now, but I bet I can change your mind, Beautiful.” He stepped closer to her and Sammi edged backwards. She felt something against the backs of her legs and realized with a sick feeling in her stomach that she had backed right into the bed.

Her stalker realized it too. Reaching forward, he grabbed Sammi’s shoulders and pushed her, hard.

With a frightened scream, she fell backwards onto the white lace coverlet, sprinkled with rose petals. The cloying scent of roses filled her nose and she nearly choked.

Then the stalker was on top of her. He raised his hand and Sammi saw something sharp and silver glitter between his massive fingers.

He was holding a pair of scissors and they were pointed right at her throat.

Forty-Five

“No, I’m sorry but Sammi isn’t here. And who did you say you were again?” The woman with short hair, the same strawberry blonde shade as Samantha’s, stood in her doorway frowning in confusion.

“I’m her employer, Commander Roark of the Kindred Mother Ship,” Roark said. “Or, er, I was until this morning.” He cleared his throat. “We’ve had a…misunderstanding. A very serious one. I just want to clear it up. So if you’re keeping Samantha from me because she’s upset—”

“No, I told you, she’s not here.” The woman who must be Samantha’s Aunt Vicky frowned. “In fact, last I heard, she was on the Mother Ship. Why would she come back down here?”

“Because, as I told you, we had a misunderstanding.” Roark resisted the urge to ask again if Samantha was there. He sensed that Aunt Vicky was telling the truth which would only make further inquiry awkward. But if Samantha wasn’t here, where was she?”

“Mommy? Mommy!” two young voices called out.

Looking down, Roark saw twin girls about the age of seven or eight crowding around the woman’s legs. They had identical long blonde hair and large blue eyes.

“Oh—you have twins,” he said in surprise.

“Do I ever—two sets of them! Twins run in our family.” She sighed in exasperation and ruffled both girls hair, using a hand for each. “You two run along now. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“But—” they began in unison.

“I said run along,” their mother directed firmly. “I’m talking to this nice man right now. I’ll be there in a minute.”

The little girls gave Roark one more big-eyed stare and then grabbed hands and raced off together back into the confines of their home.

“Sorry about that.” Aunt Vicky sighed and shook her head. “They’re a mess, those two. My other two, too,” she added and laughed. “Now what were you saying about Sammi again?”

“Only that I need to find her,” Roark said earnestly. “If she didn’t come to your house, where else would she have gone? Do you have any idea?”

“Sorry, no.” A look of concern spread over Aunt Vicky’s face. “Do you think she’s okay? I don’t know if you know this, but she had some man stalking her for a while there. The police didn’t seem able to do anything about it…”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Roark said grimly. “Especially since she’s not here and I don’t know where she could have gone.”

“Oh dear…” Aunt Vicky put a hand to her throat and a worried look came into her eyes. “Have you tried calling her?”

“No, I haven’t. I wanted to speak to her in person,” Roark answered. “I don’t even have a communications device on me.”

“Well, I do. Hang on.” She left for a minute and then came back with one of the small devices humans called ‘cell phones.’ She pressed the screen a couple of times and then put the phone to her ear. After a moment, she said, “Hello? Sammi?” She listened for a moment, her frown growing and then said, “Well what are you doing answering Sammi’s phone, Meg? She left it up there? Okay. No, he’s here right now.” She looked up at Roark. “Okay.” She held out the phone to him. “Meg wants to talk to you.”

Roark took the phone and pressed it gingerly against his ear. He didn’t think much of Earth technology—it was so clumsy and unsophisticated.

“Hello?” he said, frowning.

“Commander Roark?” It was Meg’s voice speaking to him. “Sammi’s phone and her purse and everything else is still up here on the Mother Ship,” she told him. “I got worried after you left and tried to call her on the think-me but I didn’t get any answer. So I tried her cell phone and it just rang and rang. I went to her suite and found that she’d left it here along with everything else. She must have been so upset she came down to Earth with nothing on her.”

Roark felt his throat constrict. He could just imagine Samantha wanting so badly to get away from him that she came straight down to Earth with none of her personal belongings—nothing to help her at all.

My fault, he thought, feeling guilty. This is all my fault! And meanwhile, the feeling that she was in danger was still growing.

“Where could she be?” he asked Meg, frowning.

“I don’t know.” Meg’s voice sounded like she might start crying in a moment. “But I tried her on the think-me too and she didn’t answer this time. Does that mean she…she’s dead?” Her voice cracked on the last word and Roark felt sick. But he tried to stay strong.

“No, not necessarily,” he said firmly. “She might be in a building that’s blocking the reception. Some kinds of metal and stone do that.” Which was true, he reminded himself. Besides, wouldn’t he somehow know if Samantha had been killed? Wouldn’t he feel it, the same way he felt that she was in danger?

Roark didn’t know for sure but he thought that he would.

“Okay, okay…” Meg took a deep breath. “I want to come down there but Berik won’t let me. So you have to find her! What if he’s got her? What if that awful stalker…” But her sentence ended in a choked sob.

“I’m going to find her,” Roark promised and handed the phone back to Aunt Vicky. “Do you know of anywhere else she might have gone?” he asked her.

Samantha’s aunt shook her head reluctantly.

“I’m afraid not. Oh, do you think she’s okay?”

“I don’t know,” Roark said grimly. “But I’m going to find out.”

“How, though?” Aunt Vicky’s eyes were wide with alarm. “How can you find her?”

“To start with, I’m going to retrace her steps,” Roark said firmly. “All the way back to the HKR building. Someone there must have seen her—must have seen where she went.”

He hoped. Because if not, Roark had no idea how he was going to find her.

Forty-Six

“Please don’t hurt me! Don’t hurt me!” Sammi’s voice came out in a choked whisper as her stalker brought the scissors down.

But instead of stabbing her, he only took a lock of her hair in his free hand and snipped it off.

“There, now.” He smiled down at her, his face only inches from hers. He was heavy as a mattress on top of her, and just as immovable.

“What…what are you doing?” Her breath came out in a relieved sob, her cuffed hands clutched to her chest as though to ward him off.

“Just taking a little souvenir. Something to remember you by after our date is over.”

He smiled down at her, his crooked yellow teeth so close she could see a shred of something green—spinach maybe—caught between them. His breath was sour—like old coffee.

“Please get off me,” Sammi whispered. “I can’t…can’t breathe.”

She thought about telling him she was pregnant and that he was squashing her belly, but she was afraid that might set him off.

“I’ll get off. For now.” He grinned at her, making no move to get off, though he had said he would. “But only so you can get ready for our date tonight. I brought you something to wear—something almost as gorgeous as you, Beautiful.”

“My name is Samantha,” Sammi said, her voice shaking. It was absolutely horrifying to have him so close—to have him actually laying on top of her like this. She could feel his whole, heavy body against hers and the sensation made her want to gag.

She fought the urge to buck wildly under him—anything to try and get him off. She was afraid if she made him angry he might use the scissors again—in a more lethal way this time.

“You really are—beautiful, you know. It was worth all the time and trouble I had to take to get to know you.” He stared down at her, his small black eyes empty of any pity or compassion.

“But you don’t know me,” Sammi whispered tightly. “Just because you kidnapped me doesn’t mean you and I are friends.”

It might be foolish to talk this way and risk making him angry but she couldn’t help herself—she wanted desperately to distance herself from this man in any way she could. Since he had her pinned to the bed, this was literally the only way open to her.

“Oh, we’re going to be much more than friends, Beautiful…”

Her abductor stroked the side of Sammi’s face. His big hand was hot and clammy and again she felt the urge to puke.

“Much more than friends,” he murmured. “After our date tonight.”

Forty-Seven

“Yes, Commander, I remember seeing her,” one of the guards on duty at the HKR building nodded when Roark pulled up a picture of Samantha on the monitor of his communications device. “She was here a while ago—at the start of my shift. I remember thinking she looked upset—like she’d been crying.”

The guard’s words felt like a nail in his heart but Roark struggled to keep his voice even.

“Did you see where she went? Did she leave with anyone?”

“Actually, yes she did.” The guard—a Light Twin of a Twin Kindred pair—frowned thoughtfully.

“She left with that little human male whose always hanging around here.” The other guard—the Dark Twin of the pair—came up to join the conversation.

“That’s right. What’s his name? I forget.” The Light Twin frowned. “He’s been in here a couple of times, asking about your female, though, Commander,” he added, speaking to Roark.

“Yes, he’s been hanging around for weeks,” the Dark Twin growled. “I didn’t know what to think of him but he never made any trouble so…” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling.

“He’s been here for weeks asking about Samantha and nobody thought to call up to the Mother Ship and tell someone about it?” Roark demanded, glaring at them.

The Light Twin shrugged sheepishly.

“He’s always been extremely friendly. He even waved to me as he and your female were leaving.”

“So she got into his vehicle?” Roark’s heart sank. “Where did they go? What’s his fucking name?” he growled, his frustration spilling over.

“Even if we could remember his name, there’s no guarantee he gave us the right one,” the Dark Twin said, frowning. “But we might at least have his license plate number.”

“His what?” Roark frowned.

“The number on the back of his vehicle. Humans use it for vehicle identification,” the Dark Twin explained. “Come on—we’ll look at the surveillance footage from the front of the building and see what we can find.”

“And this number—it will lead me to the male who took Samantha?” Roark asked.

“Certainly. We are cross referenced with the human system,” the Dark Twin said. “Once we find the plate number, we can easily find the address of his domicile as well.” He must have seen the worried look on Roark’s face because he clapped a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Brother—we’ll find your female.”

“I hope you’re right.” There was a tightness in Roark’s chest that wouldn’t go away.

He only hoped he could find Samantha before it was too late.

Forty-Eight

“Put it on. All of it.” Her captor nodded at a pile of clothing he had dumped on the rose-petal strewn bed. He loomed over Sammi as she sat there on the edge of the mattress, her hands still cuffed in front of her.

Sammi looked at what he had brought. There was a red sheath dress made out of some kind of stretchy, shiny material, a pair of black fishnet pantyhose, and a pair of high black stiletto heels.

None of the clothing was in style at the moment—either on the Mother Ship or on Earth. It looked like something from a bygone era. Sammi wondered if her captor was fixated on something or someone in the past who had dressed like this.

Whatever the reason, maybe she could work it to her advantage.

“I can’t,” she said, looking up at him. “I mean, I can’t put all this on with my hands cuffed.” She held up her cuffed hands as evidence. “How would I get my arms through the sleeves?”

“Well…” Her captor frowned. His face was dark with heavy black stubble and Sammy thought the expression made him look like an angry bear.

“Please,” she said quietly. “There’s no way I can fight you—you’re way too big and strong. So what harm could there be in uncuffing me?”

Her subtle appeal to his vanity seemed to work because he smirked and nodded.

“You’ve got a point, Beautiful. All right, I’ll uncuff you but no funny business, understand?”

“Of course not.” Sammi swallowed. “I’ll just…just get ready for our date. That’s all.”

She hated to do it, but it seemed to her that her best chance of getting out of this alive might be to play to his fantasy. If she kept on denying it, it would only make him angry and mistrustful of her.

It seemed she had said the right thing because her captor nodded approvingly.

“I’m glad you’re starting to see things my way, Beautiful.”

He fished a set of handcuff keys out of one pocket of his ragged jeans and leaned down to unlock her. Sammi couldn’t help thinking that the dirty jeans and stained T-shirt he was wearing were in definite contrast to the fancy dress-up clothes he’d commanded her to wear.

After unlocking the handcuffs, he held them up.

“These will go back on if you’re not nice to me, Beautiful. Understand?”

Thinking of what “being nice” to him might entail made Sammi’s stomach do a slow forward roll but she only nodded.

“Yes, of course… Er…what should I call you?” she added, wondering if she would get his full name.

He frowned. “You don’t need my name. For now, you can just call me Sonny.”

“Sunny as in sunshine?” Sammi asked, frowning.

“No—as in son. You know—Sonny-boy.” He smiled at her, showing those crooked teeth again. “That’s what you can call me, Beautiful.”

“You can…can call me Sammi, if you want,” Sammi offered in a dry voice. She was still hoping to get him to see her as a human being—not just an object to play with. Maybe if he used her name it would help.

But her captor only shook his head.

“Nah, you’re Beautiful,” he said firmly. “Just like all the others.”

“All…all the others?” Sammi could barely get the words out. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know—all my other dates.” He winked at her. “But don’t worry, Beautiful—you’re the most important and special of all. I’ve never spent so much time trying to get to know a date as I spent on you.” He frowned. “Money too. Traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast and setting up a whole new hideout for dates isn’t cheap, you know.”

He said it as though it was Sammi’s fault that stalking and kidnapping her had turned out to be an expensive proposition.

“I’m, er, sorry,” she said, feeling both ridiculous and terrified.

“That’s all right—our date tonight will make it all worth it.” He jerked his head at the pile of clothes on the bed. “Now get dressed so we can start our date.”

“While you watch?” Sammi asked, feeling sick. “Can’t I please have a little privacy?”

He grinned at her.

“You forget, Beautiful, I’ve already seen you naked—many times. Remember those pictures I sent you?”

Sammi remembered the pictures that had popped up on her phone from the anonymous, untraceable number—pictures of herself naked in the shower.

“I remember,” she said, feeling sick all over again. “But, well…don’t you think it’s better if…if you’re surprised by how I look when I’m all dressed up? I mean, like a bride on her wedding day,” she explained, seeing the confused look on his face. “The, uh…the groom isn’t supposed to see her until she’s all ready to go.”

Comparing herself to a bride and her captor to a groom was awful, but she was desperate not to change in front of him—not to let him see her naked. Never mind if he had seen her before—at least then she hadn’t known he was watching. The idea of stripping in front of him made her want to vomit.

At least her words seemed to have done some good. She saw dawning comprehension in his small, black eyes.

“Oh, right—I understand. You want to get all pretty for me.”

“Right,” Sammi said, having an inspiration. “And since I’m going to get dressed up for you, don’t you think you should return the favor…Sonny?” she added, hoping that using his name would help convince him. “After all, when you go out on a…on a date, you want to look your best, right?”

For a moment she thought her words had backfired because his face grew dark with a scowl.

“You saying I’m not looking my best, Beautiful? Don’t you know you’re supposed to love me, no matter how I look? That’s the way good mothers do—they love their sons no matter what!”

For a moment Sammi just stared at him, processing the strangeness of this statement. Was he living out some kind of Oedipal fantasy here—was that why he had asked her to call him “Sonny”? And maybe the reason for the outdated clothes, too, she thought. They might have been in fashion back when he was a boy—maybe he had seen his mother wearing something like them…

“Well?” he demanded and she knew she had taken too long to answer.

“I’m just saying that you need to look nice and neat if you’re going to take me on a date, Sonny-boy,” she said, taking a chance. “A good mother will tell her son to take a shower and put on some nice clothes before he takes her…takes her out on a date.”

The words almost stuck in her throat but somehow she forced them out. What kind of a sick bastard was her captor, anyway? And would her new gambit work?

For a moment, the situation was in doubt. But then her captor’s scowl melted to be replaced by a look of grudging approval.

“You’re right, Beautiful. If you’re going to look gorgeous for our date, I should too—right?”

“Exactly.” Sammi put a hand on her hip and looked at him sternly, though her heart was beating in her throat. “So you just…go get cleaned up and dressed up for me. And…and I’ll do the same for you. So we’ll both look perfect for our…for our date.”

God, how was she saying all this? But the words seemed to work.

“Okay, Beautiful.” Her captor nodded his shaggy head.

“And do something with your hair,” Sammi directed, feeling bolder. “And shave too—I like my men clean-shaven,” she added. Basically she just wanted to buy as much time for herself as possible. If he took a shower and shaved and did something with his hair, that would take considerable time—she hoped.

To her relief, he nodded dutifully.

“Okay, Beautiful—I’ll do it.” He pointed a thick finger at her. “But you have to get ready, too.”

“Of course.” Sammi picked up the dress he’d brought her and stroked the shiny red material. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Her captor nodded, as though satisfied by her words.

“That’s good. And put on the perfume too—I got it just for you.” He pointed to the nightstand beside the bed which held a single lamp and a purple cut-glass bottle of perfume.

“All right.” Sammi nodded again, thinking he was definitely playing out some kind of fantasy here. The sense of smell was strongly linked to memory—clearly her captor wanted him to smell like someone in his past. His mother, maybe? The thought made her want to puke.

“I’m going now,” he told her. “But I’ll see you soon. Be ready for our date. Oh—and I hope you’re hungry—I have something really special planned for dinner.”

“Yummy,” Sammi said faintly, rubbing her stomach with one hand. “I can’t wait.”

“You’ll see—I’m making your favorite!” He grinned at her and then, mercifully, left the bedroom.

Sammi heard his heavy tread on the stairs and then the creaking of the door. She was hoping desperately that he might forget to lock the door in his excitement over their “date” but unfortunately, she heard the snick of a bolt turning next.

She was trapped down here with only a limited time to think of some way to save her own life.

What was she going to do?

Forty-Nine

“Who’re you and whaddya want?” The human male who had driven Samantha away from the HKR building blinked owlishly up at Roark. He seemed to be either inebriated or drugged in some way.

There was a strange, bitter odor hanging around him, leading Roark to think that maybe he had been smoking a drug that humans used to relax or sometimes to ease chronic pain. The drug didn’t do anything for Kindred but it made humans stupid and slow—at least as far as he could tell.

“What I want is to know where you took my female?” Roark shoved his way into the small, dingy apartment. He looked around wildly. “Where is she? Where’s Samantha?”

“You mean Professor Grey?” The man frowned stupidly. “She’s not here. Why would I bring her here?”

“So you admit you took her?” Roark rounded on him and grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt. Dragging the male up so their noses were almost touching he growled, “Where the fuck is my female?”

“I dunno, man!” Some of Roark’s fury seemed to have penetrated the male’s drugged haze because his blood-shot eyes went wide and frightened.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Roark demanded, shaking him until his teeth clicked together like dice rattling in a cup. “You took her!”

“I know, I know—but I only took her where he said to,” the male babbled, his face turning white. “And then I deleted the instructions, just like he said!”

“Just like who said?” Roark roared, shaking him again. “Who told you to take her? Who has my Samantha?”

“Don’t know his name!” the male protested. “I just met him outside of class one day. He said he wanted someone to give Professor Grey a ride to his place sometime soon. He offered me a hundred bucks to do it so I figured…” he shrugged. “What the hell, ya know?”

“So he offered you a hundred Earth dollars to kidnap a female—the female I love—and you accepted?” Roark felt sick. Had Samantha really been sold for so little?

“It wasn’t kidnapping exactly…” The male looked uncomfortable. “I mean, I never woulda forced her into the car—she came with me on her own, ya know?”

“Because you tricked her, no doubt,” Roark growled. “You probably told her you’d drive her to her female relative’s house—to her Aunt Vicky.”

The guilty look on the human male’s face told him he was right.

“Aww, c’mon, man,” he protested. “He told me they were old friends and he just wanted their reunion to be a surprise. What else could I do?”

“You could have refused to kidnap her and deliver her to the male who had been stalking her for months!” Roark growled. “You must have known he was lying!”

“I mean, I dunno…” The male shrugged again, his bloodshot eyes shifting from side to side. “All I know is he offered me a hundred bucks and the bitch was failing me in Biology, ya know? So I figured maybe she deserved it. She gave me a twenty on my last exam. A fucking twenty. You know what that does to your grade? I mean, I had to get high for a week to even start feeling better about it!”

“You…”

Roark couldn’t even find the words. So Samantha had been sold to her stalker for a paltry sum because of resentment this male harbored towards her for a grade of all things!

“Listen to me,” he said, glaring directly into the human male’s bloodshot eyes. “You are going to tell me exactly where you took her right now or I will reach down your throat and rip out your lungs!”

The male went white and his entire body began to shake.

“But I can’t!” he mumbled in a husky whisper. “I told you, man—I deleted the instructions—just like he told me. He sent them to me on my phone and I got rid of them just as soon as I dropped her off. Almost couldn’t find my way home again!”

Roark gritted his teeth in pure frustration.

“But you drove there,” he reminded the idiotic human male. “Surely you can find the way again!”

“I dunno, man…” The male shook his head. “I mean, it was way out in the boonies, ya know? He had this kind of an old shack—it was in the middle of the woods, down this long, winding dirt road…” He shook his head. “I don’t think I could find it again even if I wasn’t completely baked.”

“Baked?” Roark demanded, shaking him again.

“You know—stoned, man! I mean, I’m really scared of you—you’re a big, scary dude and all—but I can’t help it, I got no sense of direction when I’m high.” He shrugged again, as though it was no big deal that he’d delivered Samantha to her stalker and now he couldn’t find the way back to where he’d left her.

Roark dropped him abruptly in disgust and the human male collapsed in a heap on the floor, moaning. Roark shook his head. What in the Seven Hells was he going to do? How was he supposed to find Samantha now?

She could be anywhere in a hundred-mile radius from here, he thought in despair. I can’t call her on a think-me because she’s somewhere that’s blocking the reception. And even if I could, I doubt she’d be able to tell me where she is. She was asleep when Meg called her the first time, which means she probably has no idea where she was taken.

So how was he ever going to find her?

Suddenly a warm feminine presence filled the small, dingy apartment and a delicious, fresh scent swept away the skunky, bitter odor of the drug the human male had been smoking.

“You must allow your bond to guide you, Warrior,” a commanding feminine voice said.

The male who had kidnapped Samantha looked up, his eyes wide with awe.

“Whoa,” he muttered. “Did you hear that? It’s like God, but if God was a lady, ya know?”

“Shut up,” Roark growled, though he was hardly less shocked than the human. All his life he had assumed the Goddess was nothing but a religious construct that other warriors used to make their lives seem meaningful in some way. He had pitied them their ignorance, labeling their religion as blind superstition. But now…well, he didn’t know what to think. He might have thought he was imagining it if the human male had not so obviously heard the Goddess’s voice too.

“Goddess?” he asked tentatively, just to be sure.

“Yes, Warrior?” She sounded faintly amused. “You did not believe in me until now, so I will give you a moment to gather your wits,” she went on. “But do not take too much time—your female is in grave danger and you must go to her side and protect her.”

“Yes, yes!” Roark exclaimed. “That’s exactly what I want, Goddess! But I don’t know how to find her!”

“I told you, Warrior, you must use your bond. You created a partial bond with her when you gave her your seed.” She sounded stern as she said it, clearly she disapproved of the way Roark had given his seed surreptitiously. “I will strengthen it temporarily so that you may use it as a kind of homing device to find her.”

“I thank you, Goddess,” Roark said numbly, still feeling stunned.

“Go now!” she ordered him. “Soon it will be too late.”

Roark shook off the shocked paralysis that had gripped him and ran for the door. There would be time later to think about how his disbelief had been proved wrong and his entire worldview had changed in an instant. Right now he had to concentrate on getting to Samantha in time to save her.

He just prayed he would get to her in time.

Fifty

Sammi had looked everywhere, but she couldn’t find anything that could be used as a weapon. The basement apartment was bare.

It’s probably because he knows better than to leave anything lying around that can be used against him, whispered a dire little voice in her head.

Sammi remembered what he had said about his “other dates” and shivered. He had also talked about the expense of setting up a “hideout for dates” which led her to believe that her captor—Sonny-boy—had done this before—possibly many times. Clearly he was a pro at abducting women.

The question was, what did he do to them after he abducted them?

Sammi didn’t want to think about that. Possibly he planned to rape her and then let her go. But if that was the case, then why would he snip off a lock of her hair to keep?

That was a trophy, Sammi, whispered the dire little voice in her head. So he can re-live his time with you over and over after you’re dead and buried in the woods under a rotten log somewhere. You have to get out of here!

Yes, but how?

After searching the small apartment desperately one last time for any kind of weapon or any means of escape and trying the door—very quietly—once more, Sammi admitted to herself that she was stuck—at least for now.

She had no choice but to put on the clothes he had left her and get ready for the “date.” Otherwise Sonny-boy might get angry and she had the idea that in order to stay alive, she needed to keep her captor in a good mood for as long as possible.

The dress was skin-tight, clinging to her curves in a provocative way she hated at once and the fishnet pantyhose were hard to get on. The shoes were sky-high—she wobbled on their skinny stiletto heels thinking she’d be lucky if she didn’t break an ankle trying to walk in them.

Once she had on the clothing, she picked up the purple cut-glass bottle of perfume. Passion it said in gold, scripted letters on the front of the bottle. Sammi sniffed it experimentally.

“Ewww!” she gasped and jerked her head back instinctively. It had a thick, powdery aroma that she associated with an older generation. It smelled like something her older aunts or grandmother might wear.

It wasn’t really a bad smell—just heavy and cloying. Sammi had been very sensitive to smells lately—just another symptom of her pregnancy that she’d overlooked because she believed Roark was actually using “fake” seed on her.

What had he used? She wondered as she put down the perfume bottle without spraying any of it on herself. Whose sperm had made the twins she was carrying? Roark had seemed so certain that he couldn’t have made her pregnant despite their recent activities. Or maybe his anger and denial had been an act and he just wanted to get rid of her once she was inconveniently knocked up?

But if there was one thing she knew about Roark—or thought she knew—it was that he was not given to dramatics. He was blunt and to the point and despised any kind of hyperbole. So if he had been acting when he denied being the one to make her pregnant, it would have been very out of character for him.

But what do you really know about his character, anyway? whispered the little voice in her head. You haven’t even known him three months yet, Sammi. Maybe he’s just a jerk who gets off on impregnating women and then abandoning them.

Which was very unlike a Kindred. They were supposed to be extremely loyal and monogamous to a fault. It was one reason the women she knew who were mated to Kindred loved being with them.

“I never ever have to worry about my Berik cheating on me,” Meg had told her, rather smugly. “Because of our bond—we can feel each other’s emotions so I know he’s even more in love with me now than he was when we first got married.”

At the time, Sammi had wished she could have a bond like that with a man. Then she had stupidly fallen in love with Roark and decided she didn’t need the bond to be happy. She would have taken him even though he couldn’t form the deep soul-connection that the Kindred seemed to think was so important for a happy marriage.

“But instead of even trying to bond with me, he kicked me out,” she whispered to herself and felt hot tears stinging her eyes. “And accused me of cheating on him! How could he think that? I would never…ever…”

She put her head in her hands and sobbed, unable to finish the sentence aloud.

Oh, Roark—I would never have cheated on you. I loved you! Why couldn’t you just return that love instead of throwing it back in my face? Why did you—

The creak of the door at the top of the stairs opening made her jump and brought her back to herself. Sammi suddenly remembered she had much more than a broken heart to worry about. Hastily, she wiped at her tears, blotting her eyes on the sleeves of the silky, too-tight red dress.

“Oh, Beautiful,” she heard her captor calling. “Come on out now—it’s time for the dinner part of our date and I made your favorite!”

“O—okay, Sonny-boy,” Sammi somehow managed to call back. Looking around, she realized that she didn’t want him to catch her in the bedroom again. It was definitely the one place she wanted to stay out of, if possible.

Heart pounding and palms clammy, she stood on shaking legs and wobbled out to greet him to play along with his weird scenario.

There was nothing else she could do.

Fifty-One

As he drove, Roark opened himself as much as possible to the partial bond the Goddess had strengthened for him and enabled him to use as a tracking device. He realized now that it was this bond which had allowed him to feel the danger Samantha was in—and probably also what had allowed his seed to take hold in her belly.

He only wished it was strong enough for him to communicate with her. Periodically he tried sending her thoughts, as he knew other mated and bonded couples did, but so far he didn’t sense that any of them were getting through. Maybe once he got closer to her location, it might be possible to speak to her through the temporarily strengthened bond, but for now he had to be content with just feeling her emotions, which were guiding him towards her.

The primary emotion he felt was fear. Clearly Samantha was in desperate trouble—in terror for her life—and it was her fear that led him forward. Whenever he deviated from his course, the fear began to lessen and Roark would guide the shuttle towards it again.

He was flying instead of driving, which he knew the human authorities didn’t like, but it was so much faster than taking their slow, winding ground roads. He needed to get to Samantha as quickly as possible. Even now something awful might be happening to her…But no—he couldn’t think that way. He had to just concentrate on getting to her, Roark told himself sternly. He had to find her before it was too late.

“Hang on, darling!” he thought fiercely, sending the mental words in the direction of the fear he was feeling coming from Samantha. “Just hang on—I’m coming for you as fast as I can, I swear it!”

Fifty-Two

When she came out of the bedroom, the TV was on and an old sitcom from decades ago was playing on its faded screen. The canned laughter made Sammi’s gut clench for some reason.

Sonny-boy was waiting for her, dressed in a slightly nicer version of his earlier outfit. At least this time his dingy white t-shirt and faded black jeans were clean, Sammi thought as she took his offered arm.

“Let me escort you to dinner, Beautiful,” he said, grinning down at her. “We’re having your favorite, tonight.”

He took her into the small room set up as a dining area and sat her down.

Her “favorite” dinner appeared to consist of cold, limp spaghetti noodles, Samantha thought, staring down at the plate in front of her. But then Sonny-boy sat down across from her at the small, cheap dinette set and produced a jar of spaghetti sauce.

“It wouldn’t be spaghetti without the sauce, right, Beautiful?” he asked, grinning as he popped the top off the jar and began to pour the cold red sauce all over his pile of noodles.

The smell made Sammi want to gag. Canned or jarred spaghetti sauce was one of the things that had recently begun smelling very wrong to her. She supposed it was a pregnancy thing but as her captor dumped the second half of the jar over her own limp pile of noodles, she had to fight not to puke.

“Wow,” she murmured, swallowing hard and trying not to breathe in the scent of the sauce. “That’s, uh, perfect.”

“Not quite yet!” Sonny-boy exclaimed, grinning at her. Though he had changed his clothes and shaved and brushed his hair, he hadn’t, apparently, brushed his teeth. Sammi could still see the little speck of green between the two crooked ones at the front.

“Oh, there’s more?” Sammi asked faintly.

“Of course! I told you, we’re having your favorite—spaghetti with clam sauce!”

To Sammi’s horror, he pulled out a can of clams and popped open the metal lid. He sprinkled a few on his own plate but dumped the lion’s share onto the red-coated spaghetti noodles in front of Sammi.

The fishy smell of canned clams hit her and she had to clap a hand over her mouth and nose.

Oh God, I’m going to be sick—I know I am!

But if she puked all over the plate of cold spaghetti and clams, what was her captor’s likely reaction? Sammi couldn’t imagine he’d be happy about it. After all, this was supposed to be her “favorite” meal. She had to control herself—had to be careful.

“Are you okay, Beautiful?” Sonny-boy demanded. His words were considerate but his tone was definitely not. He was making the angry bear face again, glaring at her across the table with his bushy brows drawn low and his small black eyes squinting suspiciously at her.

“Just fine.” Sammi pulled her hand away from her mouth and nose and tried to smile, though the expression felt like it might break her face. “Just…perfect,” she said and picked up the fork to start pushing the spaghetti and clams around on her plate.

It occurred to her that the fork she was holding might be used as a weapon—if the tines weren’t so short and blunt. It was almost more of a spork than a fork, which meant it wasn’t especially good at picking up the spaghetti.

This didn’t stop Sonny-boy for an instant. He twirled the long, cold strands eagerly around and around and shoved them into his mouth, chomping and slurping enthusiastically. Soon the dingy white t-shirt he was wearing was coated in little flecks of clam and sauce and so was his mouth and chin.

The sight was more than Sammi’s stomach could bear, so she looked away and concentrated on twirling her own spaghetti. Every once in a while she raised a forkful to her lips and pretended to eat it. Luckily, Sonny-boy seemed too preoccupied with his own dinner to notice she wasn’t actually eating a bite of hers.

At last he pushed back from the table and belched loudly. Grinning at her, he patted his belly.

“Now it’s time for the champagne!” he exclaimed, and pulled out another bottle.

The “champagne” turned out to be Welch’s Grape juice, much to Sammi’s relief. She didn’t want to drink anything alcoholic because it might hurt the babies.

That’s right, the babies—my girls, she thought as she watched her captor pour the dark purple juice into the tall champagne flutes. They’re the reason I have to live—have to get out of here. Whatever happens, I have to survive so I can raise my twins!

Feeling renewed determination, she raised her flute when her captor proposed a toast. Here was something else that could be a weapon, she thought, looking at the flute. Except instead of actual crystal or glass as she had first thought, it was just cheap plastic—too flimsy to hurt anyone.

“To our date, Beautiful.” Sonny-boy raised his glass and drained the purple juice in one gulp.

“To our date,” Sammi murmured, though the words tasted like ashes in her mouth. She also took a sip of the juice, though she didn’t drain the glass like her captor had.

“Well…” He slapped the glass back down on the table in apparent satisfaction and licked his lips. “That was delicious! Now it’s time for dancing.”

“Dancing?” Sammi looked up at him uncertainly.

“Sure—you taught me how to dance, don’t you remember?” he demanded, frowning at her. “Right before the prom? But then you got mad and said I shouldn’t take that whore, Sara Daniels to the dance. You told me you were the one I ought to take—remember, Beautiful?”

“I…I did?” Sammi asked.

He glared at her.

“Of course you did! You always had to remind me you were the most beautiful one of all—remember? Remember how you called me your ‘handsome Sonny-boy’ and I always called you ‘Beautiful?’ Remember? Remember?”

He was making the angry bear face again. Sammi felt her stomach knot with fright.

“Of course, I remember, my handsome Sonny-boy,” she said quickly. “How could I forget?”

“Good.” He nodded and gave her a warning glare. “It’s good you remember, Beautiful. I would hate to have to do anything to you to jog your memory, you know?”

Sammi stared at him in horror. She thought she was beginning to recognize the roots of her captor’s fantasy. A controlling mother and a bad childhood must be the cause of his psychosis. It was sad, of course, but nothing could excuse stalking and kidnapping women the way he had done to her. Especially since he seemed to realize he was acting out a fantasy and was demanding that she play along.

“Come on.” Standing, he offered her his arm again and Sammi had no choice but to rise and take it.

Sonny-boy led her out into the living area. The sitcom on the TV had changed to a scene of couples slow dancing with the girls leaning against the boys as they swayed to the music.

“This is perfect!” Sonny-boy exclaimed, grinning. “Come on, Beautiful—let’s dance.”

Before Sammi could object, he yanked her into his arms. Squeezing her tight so that her face was pressed uncomfortably close to his chest, he began humming along with the music coming from the TV and swaying roughly back and forth.

Jerked around like a rag doll, Sammi could do little to control the situation. As before, she found it horrifying in the extreme to be so close to her captor. It wasn’t just the fact that she was scared to death of him either. It had to do with his smell, she thought. It was wrong somehow. Besides the fact that he smelled like stale sweat and spaghetti sauce and canned clams, there was also the fact that his scent was not the right one.

It’s not right because it’s not Roark, whispered a little voice in her head. Admit it, Sammi—even the most expensive cologne in the world would smell wrong to you if it didn’t smell like Roark.

Which was true. She desperately missed Roark’s dark, spicy scent. Sonny-boy’s reek was bad, but it was made worse by the fact that her entire body seemed to reject the idea of being with anyone who wasn’t the big Shadow Twin.

I wish Roark was here now, she thought, tears pricking her eyelids. I know he hates me now but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t stand by and let me get raped and murdered. Oh, Roark—I’m in so much trouble! If only you were here to help me!

To her surprise, she seemed to hear Roark’s voice in her head. It was as clear as when Meg had called her on the think-me, but much more intimate somehow.

“I’m coming, my darling! Just hold on, I’m coming to you as fast as I can!”

Sammi stiffened with shock—not that her captor noticed. He just kept jerking her back and forth like she was a living mannequin he was pretending to dance with.

I must have imagined it, she thought. Because I’m so desperate and I feel so helpless. There’s no way it can be real—no way I really heard his voice.

“Yes, you did—I am coming for you,” Roark’s voice spoke again in her head.

“But how—?” Sammi sent back tentatively. “I don’t understand.”

“We have a partial bond,” Roark explained. “The Goddess has enhanced it for a time to allow me to find you. I’m coming, my darling! I swear I am!”

Now Sammi was sure she was imagining things. She knew Roark didn’t believe in the Kindred Goddess from several off-hand remarks he’d made about the foolishness of religion. And she wasn’t sure about the Goddess herself, though she knew most of the Kindred and their wives believed whole-heartedly in the deity.

I’m going crazy, she told herself. Going stark, raving mad because I’m so scared.

“Hey Beautiful, are you tired of dancing already?” Sonny-boy’s harsh voice boomed in her ear, making Sammi jerk her head up to look at him.

“Tired of dancing?” she asked stupidly.

“Yeah? Are you ready for our date?” He raised his bushy black eyebrows at her significantly.

“I…I thought we were on our date already,” Sammi faltered.

“Yeah, but the most important part of our date. You know, where you take me to the bedroom and teach me how to be a man?” His piggy little eyes were filled with lust as he looked down at her, making Sammi long to squirm away from him.

But she sensed that if she made him mad now, things would move very quickly to their ultimate—and probably deadly—conclusion.

“Oh, that part,” she said, trying not to let the revulsion she felt show in her voice. “Um, that’s important, of course, but I think we should keep dancing for a little while longer. I don’t…” She swallowed hard. “Don’t think you quite have the steps down yet and…and I want you to be your best at the Prom, right?”

“Oh, right. Okay.” He nodded agreeably. “Well then, rub yourself against me some—like you did the first time we danced, okay?”

“Okay, sure.” Feeling sick, Sammi rubbed her breasts against his chest, pretending to get into the music which was still playing on the old TV set.

“Mmm, that’s nice.” Sonny-boy nodded in approval. “That’s the way we danced before.”

Sammi didn’t answer. She just closed her eyes and prayed that she would find a way out of this…though she had no idea how.

Fifty-Three

The male who had kidnapped Sammi from the HKR building had said that her stalker had an old shack way out in the woods at the end of a dirt road. As Roark followed her fear, he also scanned for any sign of a shack and a dirt road. He had to fly low to do it—the light was fading fast and the dense forest canopy blocked much of his view.

Luckily, it wasn’t only sight that guided him.

He could feel Sammi’s fear growing and he had even been able to send some thoughts into her mind and receive some of hers in return. Unfortunately, she had decided that his mental voice was a figment of her imagination—a stress-induced hallucination.

Roark gave up trying to convince her what she heard was real and just concentrated on finding her. Now that they had made contact once, her emotions were even clearer to him—a beacon that drew him onward as he raced to rescue her.

At last he saw a flicker of brownish-gray between the tree tops and felt her terror grow even stronger. He caught a glimmer of an image through her eyes—she was pressed roughly against a male’s chest and he was jerking her back and forth as Earth music played in the background.

Keep him dancing, Sammi was thinking frantically to herself. Just have to keep him dancing…

“Yes, keep him dancing,” Roark sent as he landed the shuttle in front of a run down, two-story cabin that looked like it had been new a hundred years ago. “Keep him busy until I can get to you, darling. I’m on my way!”

Fifty-Four

Hearing Roark’s voice in her head again made Sammi jerk in surprise.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you, Beautiful?” Her captor glared down at her. “You tired of dancing?”

“No, no!” Sammi exclaimed. “No, I love dancing! Let’s keep on dancing, Sonny-boy!”

But it was too late. He had already started dragging her to the bedroom.

“Now it’s time for the most important part of our date,” he told her as he pushed her inside the very room she had feared the most. “The part where you show me how a man treats a woman like Sara Daniels.”

“Sara Daniels?” Sammi asked frantically. “But isn’t that the girl you were going to take to the prom? The one you said—I mean, I said—was a whore?”

She was having trouble keeping his twisted mythology straight but apparently she had gotten this detail right, because Sonny-boy nodded vigorously.

“You showed me how to do it, Beautiful! You taught me how to dance and then you showed me how to treat a whore. You made me a man!”

As he spoke, he shoved her on the bed and got on top of her.

“Hey, stop!” Sammi blurted desperately. He was so heavy she could barely breathe. “You…you can’t treat me like this, Sonny-boy!” she gasped, trying to play into his fantasy and make him stop. “You…you have to treat me with respect!”

“Whores don’t deserve respect.” His tiny black eyes were bright with a mixture of fury and lust. “And that’s all you ever were, Beautiful—a whore.”

“I’m not—” Sammi started but he didn’t let her finish.

He shoved his face close to Sammi’s and glared into her eyes.

“That’s why you taught me how to dance and rubbed yourself against me and took me in the bedroom and taught me how to be a man and how a man treats whores,” he spat at her, his words tumbling over each other in a kind of religious fervor.

“Sonny-boy, please!” Sammi pleaded desperately. But it was too late to stop him— clearly he was working himself up, losing himself in his own sick fantasy.

“You taught me how because you are a whore!” he snarled. “Because—”

He stopped abruptly and pulled back, his nose wrinkling as he inhaled. Bending forward, he pressed his face to Sammi’s neck and sniffed suspiciously. When he pulled back, he was glaring at her.

“You didn’t wear your perfume like I told you to, Beautiful,” he said in an accusing tone. “That’s very important—you have to wear the perfume.”

“Okay…” Sammi’s throat was so tight with terror she could barely get the words out. “Okay, just…just let me up and I’ll put it on.”

To her surprise, he did indeed raise up off her—but only enough for Sammi to reach for the purple perfume bottle on the night table. She squeezed it tightly in one hand, feeling the sharp angles of the glass bottle dig into the meat of her palm.

One chance, she thought desperately. I only have one chance at this!

Turning the bottle, she pretended she was about to spray some on her throat. But at the last minute, she whipped the purple bottle around and sprayed it directly into her captor’s cruel black eyes.

“Arrrgh! You bitch! You whore!” he roared, rearing back as he grabbed at his face.

Sammi took the opportunity to squirm out from under him—mostly, anyway. One of her legs was still pinned under his heavy torso. She started to spray him again, but a blow from his arm knocked the perfume bottle out of her grasp. It fell with a muffled thud to the carpeted floor and she was once more weaponless.

Or was she?

Looking down, she saw the sharp heel of the black stiletto she was still wearing on her free foot. Without thinking, she reached down and plucked it off. Reversing it, she gripped the top of the shoe and rammed it into her captor’s eye.

Or that was what she had planned to do, anyway. At the last minute, he moved again and the sharp heel of the shoe hit him in the throat instead.

Sonny-boy made a muffled gagging sound as the sharp heel hit him right in the larynx. He grabbed at his throat, which was bleeding now, and tried to shout something at Sammi. No sound came out but she could see his thin, spit-flecked lips mouthing the words, Bitch! Whore!

Suddenly two thick hands were around her neck. Sammi gasped and tried to hit him with the shoe again, but he elbowed it out of her hand and started to squeeze.

“No!” she shrieked, but it came out as more of a frightened whimper. “No, stop! Stop!”

“Whore!” Sonny-boy’s voice was back as a hoarse, raspy whisper. “You’ve always been a whore, Beautiful. And now I have to kill you for it—again!”

The hands tightened on her throat and Sammi started to see black spots dancing in front of her vision. She was vaguely aware that there was a pounding sound coming from somewhere—maybe from the door at the top of the stairs? But she couldn’t concentrate on that—couldn’t think of anything except how badly she needed to get some fresh air—how badly she needed to breathe…

Fifty-Five

Roark could feel her fading fast. He was hurting her—the bastard was killing her and Roark couldn’t get to him to stop him—the door was locked!

He kicked the thick wood again and again and again but he might as well have been kicking iron. Unlike the rest of the house, this door was new and it had been made to withstand any assault. Roark felt like he was going to go mad—he was desperate to get to Samantha!

“Goddess!” he cried. “Goddess, help me!”

There was no answer but he suddenly felt a rush of strength infusing him from some outside source. A final fierce kick splintered the wood and broke the lock and Roark went charging down the stairs.

“Samantha!” he shouted. “Samantha, I’m coming!”

Fifty-Six

Someone was calling her name from far, far away—almost too far to hear. Sammi was still fighting for air but the hands around her neck were too big, too strong. His thumbs were digging into her windpipe and black flowers were blooming in her field of vision.

She still caught glimpses of her captor’s face, looming above her like a rancid moon. He was grinning down at her with furious glee and chanting over and over in a hoarse, ragged whisper,

“Whore…whore…whore…” as he squeezed and squeezed…

Suddenly someone new intruded on the scene.

“You son of a bitch, get off my female!” a deep, angry voice roared. It rang in Sammi’s ears, despite her fading senses.

And then someone was dragging Sonny-boy off her.

“Let go, you bastard. Let go!” the same deep voice was shouting.

The big, hot hands came loose from Sammi’s neck at last and she was able to choke in a gasp of air. She was too weak to move but she could see two forms struggling in front of the bed. Both of them were huge but one was bigger and had red eyes.

“You bastard,” the red-eyed one was growling. “I’ll kill you for daring to hurt my female. You’re fucking dead!”

He was choking the other figure, Sammi realized. Choking him the same way Sonny-boy had been choking her.

Wait! As her vision cleared, she realized one of them was Sonny-boy. And the other one…the other one was Roark!

He came for me, she thought and her heart swelled. He does care—he loves me after all!

She tried to tell him to be careful, but no voice came out at all when she tried to talk. There was only a stabbing pain where the big thumbs had dug into her neck that made Sammi gasp in pain and put a hand to her wounded throat.

In front of the bed, the fight went on but now the light was fading again. The hot, hard hands were gone but they had done their damage. Blackness began to eat ragged holes in the reality around her and Sammi thought,

He killed me after all. Roark came but he was too late. Too late…

And then everything went dark.

Fifty-Seven

Roark wanted to choke the bastard to death but through the partial bond he could feel Samantha fading. With a grunt of effort, he pushed the human male against the door frame and reached for his blaster. He should have used it before now, but the sight of his female being attacked had triggered the overpowering Rage inside him—the berserker fury which comes over all Kindred warriors when their female is threatened.

But time was of the essence. Samantha was injured—perhaps badly. He needed to finish this and take her back to the Mother Ship for immediate medical attention.

Yanking the blaster free of his belt, he shot the human male in the guts twice. The male’s small, piggy eyes widened in surprise as he sank to the floor. Looking down, he reached for the place where his internal organs had been…and found only a gaping hole.

“You…killed me,” he gasped, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“If I didn’t, I’ll finish the job in a minute,” Roark promised him grimly. Turning, he ran to the bed and knelt beside Samantha’s limp form. Her face was white and there was a ring of dark red marks blooming around the fragile stem of her neck.

The sight made Roark sick with fear.

“Samantha?” he whispered. “Samantha can you hear me?”

He got no sign from her but he could still feel her inside his head through the partial bond the Goddess had strengthened. But she seemed to be fading fast—her life force was flickering like a candle flame about to go out.

“No!” Roark gathered her into his arms as carefully and quickly as he could. “No, Samantha—stay with me! I love you—I’m sorry I was such a fool. Please, stay!”

He got no response but he thought he felt the candle flame inside her grow just a tiny bit stronger. Cradling her against him, he lifted her off the bed. Stepping over the limp body of her captor, he started to leave—but was stopped when something grabbed hold of his boot.

Looking down, he saw that the human male was somehow still alive, despite the gaping gut wound. His eyes were crazed with fear and pain and he was trying to say something.

“Can’t…leave me…this way,” he wheezed, his eyes rolling up towards to meet Roark’s gaze. “Need…help.”

“You need death and that’s what you’ll get,” Roark growled savagely. “I only pray it takes a long fucking time to find you.”

Then he kicked free of the male’s grasp and carried Samantha up the stairs to freedom.

Fifty-Eight

“Please, can you tell me anything? Is Samantha all right? Will she live?” The words spilled from Roark’s mouth the moment the human doctor, Liv, came into the Med Center waiting room, where he was pacing like a caged animal.

He had been reaching out desperately, trying to see how the woman he loved was doing. But the temporary strengthening of the partial bond between him and Samantha seemed to have faded and now he couldn’t feel her at all.

The look on the human doctor’s face was grim, causing his heart to nearly stop in his chest.

“I’m sorry, Commander,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “But I’m afraid it’s still touch and go at the moment. Her trachea was partially crushed—it’s a miracle she was still alive when you brought her in. I can tell you that Commander Sylvan and Yipper, our Tolleg surgeon, are working as hard as they can to save her and you couldn’t ask for two finer doctors to be operating on your wife. Or, er, your…”

She trailed off helplessly, obviously not sure what relationship Samantha had to him.

No relationship, Roark thought, angry with himself all over again. She has no relationship to me and that’s my fault. She’s not even my employee anymore, since I fired her.

But there was more to consider than Samantha and himself.

“And the babies?” he asked tightly. “The twin girls? Are they…?” He shook his head, unable to ask the question.

“We’re monitoring them—they’re still very small,” Liv told him. “As far as we can tell, they’re okay.”

Well, that at least was a relief, Roark thought. Though of course, he was still more concerned about Samantha than anything else. Samantha who had nearly died because, in trying to run away from him, she had run straight into the arms of her stalker.

“This is my fault,” he said in a low voice, looking down at his hands. “I’m to blame for all of it. If I hadn’t hurt her and sent her away she never would have gone down to Earth and been attacked. Gods, I hate myself.”

“Don’t say that.” Liv squeezed his arm. “We’ve all done stupid things—I told you my own past history with my husband, Baird.”

“Stupid is one thing. Cruel and unethical are something else entirely,” Roark said fiercely. “I haven’t treated Samantha the way a male should treat a female from the first. I used my past pain as an excuse but there is no excuse for the way I acted.” He shook his head. “If she lives, the kindest thing I can do is leave her alone.”

“Do you think that’s what Samantha would want?” Liv asked quietly. “Maybe she just wants you to love her and treat her right. Maybe—”

But just then a nurse put her head in the door and said, “Doctor Liv, we need you in triage!”

“Coming!” Liv gave Roark’s arm another quick squeeze. “Hang in there. I’ll come back and let you know the minute anything changes.”

Then she was gone, leaving Roark to pace back and forth, his arms behind his back, his head bowed and his brow furrowed with self-hate.

What he’d said to Liv before she left still resonated in his mind.

Leave her alone—I should leave her alone. She doesn’t need someone like me in her life. She’ll probably never want to see me again after the way I acted. But we still have the partial bond. Even though it’s not as strong as it was, it’s there, tying us together. What can I do about that?

Suddenly an idea popped into his head—an obscure religious rite that he’d read about, which was hardly ever performed.

“A Blood-Letting Ceremony,” he murmured to himself. “A Severing—that’s what I should do.”

It wouldn’t dissolve the partial bond—nothing could do that. But it would formally free Samantha of him and absolve her of any need to ever speak to him again.

Just thinking about it made Roark’s heart ache. But it seemed like the right thing to do—to set the woman he had wronged so horribly free. He would still help to raise the twins, of course—if she wanted him to. If not, he would simply pay to support them.

And Samantha would never have to see him again.

“Oh please,” he muttered. “Just let her live and I’ll set her free—I swear I will. Though it will be like carving my own heart out with a knife, I’ll let her go and never see her again. Please.”

It was half prayer, half oath and as he spoke it, Roark felt a cold chill rush through his entire body. His vow, now spoken into the universe, could not be rescinded.

Suddenly, all strength left him and he had to stagger over to one of the chairs and drop into it, as his legs lost their ability to hold him up.

Bending low, he hid his face in his hands. Hot tears stung his eyes and a sense of complete hopelessness came over him.

“Samantha,” he muttered, his voice low and choked. “Oh Gods, Samantha—even if you live, I’ve lost you.”

Fifty-Nine

“Don’t try to talk,” a voice said the minute Sammi opened her eyes. “Your throat was badly injured in the attack and you’re still recovering.

Attack? Sammi thought in confusion, and then everything came rushing back.

Sonny-boy, forcing her to wear the awful dress and heels…the strange, disgusting meal of cold spaghetti and clams with grape juice to wash it down…the “dancing” where he had jerked her around like a rag doll and then the way he had forced her down on the bed…

Her mind shied away from the awful memories and she closed her eyes tightly for a moment, wishing she could just go back to sleep—or back to unconsciousness, at least. But someone was stroking her hand and a familiar voice was calling her name.

Sammi opened her eyes reluctantly and saw Meg sitting there beside the bed she was lying in. Her best friend had tears in her eyes, though she tried to smile when she caught Sammi’s gaze.

“Hi there,” she murmured. “How are you feeling? No—don’t answer that,” she added quickly. “You can’t talk right now—doctor’s orders.”

Sammi put a hand to her throat and felt how tender it was. She swallowed tentatively and winced in pain. What had happened to her? The memory of Sonny-boy’s thick thumbs digging into her neck surfaced in her mind in answer to the question.

But just because she couldn’t talk, didn’t mean she didn’t have questions.

My babies? she mouthed at Meg and put a hand on her lower belly, raising her eyebrows. My babies—are they okay?

“Yes.” Meg nodded vigorously and squeezed her hand again tightly. “Yes, hon, the babies are fine. Liv says they’re developing normally and they’re both still okay.”

Thank God! Sammi felt herself sag in relief.

“I knew you’d want to know that.” Meg grinned at her. “You’re going to be okay. And you don’t have to worry about that horrible stalker anymore—Commander Roark killed him.”

Sammi widened her eyes, wanting to know more about Roark. But Meg mistook her questioning look.

“The police were looking for him in seven states—did you know that?” she asked. “His real name was Joseph Renner and he’d killed twenty-six women! The police found a photo album with pictures of all of them—and locks of their hair. They said it was like his trophy case, if you can believe that!”

Sammi could well believe that what her friend was saying was true. The memory of the way Sonny-boy had snipped off a piece of her hair as a “souvenir” was still fresh in her mind. She nodded.

“But here’s the worst part…” Meg’s eyes went even wider. She squeezed Sammi’s hand again fiercely and leaned forward. “The very first one he killed was his own mother. Isn’t that awful?”

Remembering the strange, Oedipal scenario Sonny-boy had forced her to play out with him, Sammi wasn’t a bit surprised. Still, she nodded because it was awful. Clearly she had barely escaped the jaws of death—and only because Roark had come to save her.

“The guy who helped him kidnap you is in police custody too,” Meg said, a note of satisfaction in her voice. “That stoner kid who was apparently in one of your classes. They’re getting him for conspiracy to commit murder, since he was complicit in the kidnapping and he delivered you right to the killer’s hands. And he told them he did it because you gave him a failing grade on a test! Can you believe that?” She shook her head. “I’m so glad you’re up here now. You never have to deal with that bullshit again!”

Sammi appreciated all this information but the person she really wanted to know about was Roark. She knew her best friend could keep talking for hours if she didn’t find some way to stop her and get the conversation back to where she needed it to go.

Taking Meg’s hand in hers, she squeezed it and mouthed his name while raising her eyebrows.

Roark?

Meg frowned and then her face brightened.

“Oh yes—he saved you! You know, Sammi—I’m beginning to think he’s not such a bad guy. Maybe everything that happened between the two of you was a big misunderstanding. At any rate, he certainly got to you in the nick of time!”

Can I talk to him? Sammi mouthed.

“Oh, you want to talk to him? Of course!” Sammi nodded. “He’s been at your bedside night and day for this whole week, you know. I just made him leave to grab a shower and something to eat a little while ago, but he should be back any minute.”

Sammi’s heart gave a little leap. If Roark had been so attentive to her while she was ill, surely he must still have some feelings for her! Surely they could get things straightened out between them and have the kind of relationship she’d been longing for from the moment she’d fallen for him.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door of her room and Liv stuck her head in.

“Excuse me, Meg but Commander Roark is back and he’d like to see Samantha.”

“Oh good—Sammi’s awake.” Meg nodded at Sammi and grinned. “And she wants to see him too.” She turned back to Sammi and squeezed her hand. “Now remember, don’t try to talk! But I’m sure you’ll still be able to communicate just fine.”

Leaning over, she gave Sammi a kiss on the cheek and then, with a promise to see her later, she left the Med Center room and at last, Roark came in.

Sixty

Sammi’s heart jumped in her chest the minute she saw him standing there, so tall and handsome. But there was a haggard look on his sharp features that worried her.

“Samantha,” he said formally and came to sit in the chair beside her bed where Meg had been sitting when she first woke up. Sammi wished he would reach for her hand but instead, he crossed his arms over his broad chest, as though to keep himself from touching her.

“Samantha,” he said again, shaking his head. “I have so much to say to you—so much to apologize for… I hardly know where to start.”

He looked down meditatively, a frown on his dark face. At last he looked up at her and took a deep breath.

“The children you are carrying are mine,” he said, lifting his chin. “The entire time we were doing, er, ‘experiments’ with my machine, I wasn’t using fake seed as I had told you—I was using my own seed on you every time.”

Sammi felt her eyes widen at his confession. She had suspected something like this—of course she had. But to hear him admit it like this, so bluntly… She shook her head, unable to quite take it in.

“It’s true.” Roark nodded, confirming the fact. “I did it because I thought my sperm was completely nonviable and that there was no way I could make you pregnant. But also…” He took a deep breath. “Also because I wanted so desperately to Claim you and I didn’t dare try to bond you to me, the way I should have.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “What a coward I was,” he muttered, clearly talking to himself. “And what a fool.”

Sammi wanted to reach out and touch him—to tell him it was okay. She knew she ought to be mad—hell, she ought to be furious. But she couldn’t find anger in her heart for the tall Shadow Twin. She only wanted to love him…only wanted to know that he loved her in return.

“Anyway…” Roark cleared his throat. “I was so certain my sperm was nonviable, I was sure I couldn’t be the father when you told me you were pregnant. And the fact that the babies you’re carrying are twin girls, well…” He shook his head. “The astronomical odds against a Kindred male fathering twin females convinced me that I couldn’t be to blame for your condition. But I was wrong.”

Damn right, you were wrong, Sammi thought indignantly. She wasn’t angry with him for trying to Claim her by injecting her with his own seed. She probably should have been, but that wasn’t what was bothering her. It was the way he had reacted when she showed him the two precious pink flowers proving her pregnancy.

Her righteous indignation must have showed on her face because Roark winced and nodded, as though agreeing with her.

“You’re right, of course. I have no excuse for the way I treated you,” he said in a low voice. “Though I have thought of a way to make things better. To make amends, in the only way I know how.”

Sammi’s heart started to pound.

Now he’ll ask me to marry him, she thought, looking up at Roark. He’ll say he wants to marry me and help raise the twins and spend the rest of his life making this awful misunderstanding up to me!

She was so certain of what she was about to hear that Roark’s next words flattened her like a steamroller.

“I have a way you can be free of me,” he said, looking down at his hands. “A way you’ll never have to see me again. It’s a ceremony called a Blood-Letting or a Severing. It…it’s the closest thing the Kindred have to divorce.”

What? Sammi looked at him, horrified. Divorce? What was he talking about? Why would he even think of such a thing?

“It cannot sever the partial bond we have between us,” Roark continued, still looking at his hands. “But it will absolve you from any need ever to see me again. I will, of course, be involved in our children’s lives if you want me to. If not, I will simply pay for their care.” He took a deep breath and looked Sammi in the eyes. “You don’t have to worry about being kicked off the Mother Ship—now that you’re carrying Kindred babies, you’re automatically granted permanent citizenship here. So you don’t have to go looking for another job or feel like you’re stuck in a situation where you have to do whatever your employer demands, no matter how unethical or unreasonable…”

Sammi shook her head, wanting to tell him it was all a mistake—that she hadn’t submitted to him because she felt stuck, but because she’d fallen in love with him.

But Roark clearly didn’t understand.

“I’ve already scheduled the Severing,” he told her in a low voice. “Doctor Liv has told me you should be able to leave the Med Center in a week. On the day you’re released, we’ll go to the Sacred Grove and one of the priestesses there will perform it.” He took a deep breath. “Once she does, the bond between us will be formally severed.”

No! No, no, no! But Sammi was so horrified she couldn’t even mouth the words. She just stared at him, feeling like her heart was breaking all over again. Her eyes began to sting with hot tears.

He doesn’t want you, whispered a little voice in her head. This whole Severing thing is just another excuse to never see you again.

Roark rose to go while she was still reeling.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, looking at Sammi with eyes full of anguish. “So sorry for how shamefully I have wronged you, Samantha. I’m doing the only thing I can think of to make things right between us. I hope that some day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Then he turned swiftly and left the room, leaving Sammi to sob silently into her hands.

Sixty-One

“Sammi, honey? Are you okay?” Meg came to sit beside the bed and squeezed Sammi’s hand.

Sammi tried to smile but she could feel the effort fall flat. She hadn’t been able to feel anything but a dull sadness ever since Roark had come a week ago to tell her they would be severing their relationship both formally and permanently.

“Are you still thinking about that jerk, Commander Roark?” Meg demanded, frowning. “I can’t believe he had me fooled into thinking he was a nice guy when he’s actually such a jerk! I can’t believe—”

She was interrupted—to Sammi’s great relief—by a knock on the door. She still couldn’t talk so it was almost impossible to stop her friend from going on and on about the one subject that was so painful Sammi could barely even stand to think about it—let alone discuss it.

She’d been trying all week to put Roark out of her mind but today she couldn’t avoid him. Because today was the day of the Severing. In fact, it was probably Doctor Liv at the door right now, getting ready to release her from the Med Center.

“Come in,” Meg called, since Sammi couldn’t. Sure enough, a blonde head popped through the door and Liv said,

“Excuse me, Samantha—we need to talk to you.”

We? Sammi wondered but her question was soon answered when a little hairy creature that looked like a cross between a baboon and a hound dog walked into her room right behind Liv. He was wearing a miniature lab coat and his long ears flopped when he walked.

“This is Yipper, the Tolleg Surgeon who helped save your life when Commander Roark first brought you in,” Liv said, nodding at the little creature.

He nodded vigorously at Sammi.

“It’s very nice to meet you. Yes it is, yes it is!”

Sammi just nodded back, since she was unable to speak.

“Are you here to release Sammi from the Med Center?” Meg asked hopefully. “And to tell her when she can speak again? We can carry on a conversation just fine because we’re so close, but it’s going to be hard on her if she can’t talk to anyone else,” she added.

“Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about.” Liv had a serious look on her pretty face that struck fear in Sammi’s heart. Instinctively she put a hand to her throat. It was still a little bit tender but no longer sore or painful—she seemed to be healing well, so what was the problem?

“Samantha…Sammi…” Liv came to sit on the side of her bed and took one of Sammi’s hands in hers. “You know that your trachea was partially crushed during the attack you suffered down on Earth, right?”

Sammi nodded and raised her eyebrows. Yes, and…?

“Well, your larynx—your voice box—was also damaged, we fear permanently,” Liv told her. “We’ve been hoping that spending a week of complete bed rest might enable it to heal some but, well…I understand from your friend Meg that you still can’t make any sounds?”

Well, I haven’t really tried since I’ve been under orders not to, Sammi wanted to say. She opened her mouth and tried—really tried—to talk for the first time since she’d woken up in the Med Center.

Nothing came out.

Sammi tried harder. She voiced a shout…that came out as soft choking sound and a rush of air. The effort felt like a knife in her neck and she gasped and put a hand to her throat, her eyes tearing up with pain.

“Don’t try that again,” Liv said anxiously. “You might make things worse.”

Worse than not being able to talk? Sammi thought, tears still stinging her eyes.

Would she have to go through life as a mute now? What if she wanted to move back to Earth and be a professor again? How would she teach if she couldn’t talk? What was she going to do?

“What is she going to do?” Meg asked, voicing her thoughts, much to Sammi’s relief. “She’s not just a scientist, you know—she’s a professor too. How can she teach without her voice?”

“Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about,” Liv said comfortingly, squeezing Sammi’s hand. “You see, though your original voice box was damaged beyond repair, Samantha, there is still hope for you to talk again. Yipper, here, is an expert at replacing damaged body parts.”

“So…you can build her a whole new voice box?” Meg asked, looking at the hairy little surgeon doubtfully.

“Yes I can, yes I can!” He nodded vigorously, his long ears flopping with the motion. “But…there is one problem. Yes there is, yes there is,” he added, looking more subdued.

“What?” Meg demanded as Sammi mouthed the same thing.

“Well…voice boxes are a very unique part of the body, yes they are, yes they are. No two human’s vocal chords are the same,” Yipper explained earnestly. “So while I can build a new voice box for you, Samantha, it will never quite sound exactly as your old one did. Your voice may never sound completely right to you. No it won’t, no it won’t.”

“So, you won’t be able to match her old voice?” Meg asked.

Yipper shook his head sadly.

“I will try, of course. Yes I will, yes I will! But I will not be able to make an exact match. However, any recordings you have of your old voice will be most helpful,” he added, looking at Sammi. “I will listen to them and try to ‘tune’ your new vocal chords to sound like the old ones as much as possible. Yes I will, yes I will.”

“I have recordings of lots of her lectures,” Meg volunteered. “From when I audited the very first class you taught,” she added, looking at Sammi. “Because you asked me to take it and let you know how you were doing?”

Sammi nodded gratefully at her friend. It was amazing that Meg still had those recordings—but they were from years ago. Would her new voice sound like her younger self? Would it sound like her at all? The little Tolleg surgeon was promising earnestly to do his best and it was amazing that he could replace a voice box, but what would she really sound like after the operation was complete?

“We’re not ready to do the operation yet, of course,” Liv said, breaking into her thoughts. “Yipper will need time to build your new larynx. But in the meantime, I’m releasing you from the Med Center. I understand you have a, uh, ceremony to attend in the Sacred Grove this afternoon?”

Yes—the Severing, Sammi thought as she remembered all over again that she and Roark would soon be splitting up forever. The thought made her want to cry and tears stung her eyes. She blinked them away and nodded shortly, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her.

“All right then.” Liv squeezed her hand comfortingly. “I’m going to release you from the Med Center and I’m going to ask you to continue to rest your throat and not try to say anything or make any kind of sounds. We’ll need you to be healed up completely before Yipper can replace your injured larynx with the new one.”

Sammi nodded dully. Why should she try to talk? She had nothing to say and no one to say it to.

Well, that wasn’t quite fair, she reminded herself. Meg was there with her and she knew her best friend would be by her side every minute of the day if Sammi needed her.

But right now, she just wanted to be alone.

I understand, she mouthed to Liv, who nodded.

“Good. Then you can gather your things and go whenever you want to.”

“We’ll be out of here in no time,” Meg promised, looking relieved. Sammi remembered that her friend wasn’t a big fan of hospitals, since she’d had to watch her grandmother die in one when she was in high school. But she had stuck by Sammi anyway, despite her own discomfort. She was a true friend.

She reached for Meg’s hand and squeezed it gratefully.

“I know—you’re going home!” Meg grinned down at her.

Sammi shook her head and mouthed, Ceremony.

“Oh, right.” Meg frowned. “Well, that shouldn’t take long, right? And afterwards I have an amazing girls night planned. We’re going to stay up late watching chick flicks and eating ice cream. I’m sending Berik to bed early so we’re going to have the whole suite to ourselves!”

Sammi tried to smile, but somehow the corners of her mouth just wouldn’t turn up. She knew that her best friend was trying to cheer her up, but she had a feeling that after the formal Severing from Roark, she would just want to lie in bed and cry for the rest of the night—possibly the rest of the month.

“It’s all right, hon.” Meg rose and gave her a hug. “I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but you’re going to get through this and everything will be okay.”

Sammi nodded and sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. But she just didn’t see how her best friend could be right—she was about to get the Kindred version of a divorce.

Nothing was ever going to be all right again.

Sixty-Two

Roark looked at himself in the 3-D viewer. He was wearing his best dress uniform—an emerald green, long-sleeved shirt with shiny gold buttons and the tight black trousers that went with it. His black boots had been shined to a high gloss—not that anyone would see them, as it was considered improper to walk on the holy ground of the Sacred Grove in anything but bare feet.

All in all, he looked like he was going to a Joining Ceremony.

When in fact, I’m going to the exact opposite, he thought ruefully.

His heart was aching and he couldn’t count the number of times he’d had to stop himself from going to Samantha and begging her to let him call it off. Once he had been actually in the Med Center with his hand on the door of her room…and then he had gotten hold of himself and forced himself to go back to his own suite.

I have hurt and demeaned her, he reminded himself grimly. She deserves to be free of me. No matter how much it pains me, how bleak my life will be without her, I must let her go.

It was only sheer determination and the knowledge of his own guilt that kept him going, that allowed him to dress himself like a bridegroom while knowing that after today he was never going to see the female he loved so desperately again.

They were not celebrating the beginning of a life together but the ending—a relationship cut short by his own selfishness and foolishness.

This is my own fault, he reminded himself. Everything that happened to her is my fault and this is the only way to make things right. My honor demands that I set her free.

Your honor demands that you cut out your heart, whispered a little voice in his head.

Yes—that was how it felt, Roark thought, looking at himself once more. There was one more thing he lacked.

Going to his dresser, he picked up a black sheath and drew a gleaming ceremonial dagger from it. The blade was curved and there was a stone so red it was almost black set into its hilt—a blood stone.

This was the blade he would use for the Blood Letting part of the Severing—the part of the ceremony where he confessed his sins against the woman he was freeing and asked for forgiveness from her and from the Goddess.

Not that he could be forgiven for the things he’d done, Roark thought grimly. He sheathed the dagger again and fastened the sheath to his belt. It was time to be getting to the Sacred Grove so he could set Samantha free.

It was the only thing he could do, even if doing it made him want to die.

Sixty-Three

“My children, it saddens me greatly to have to perform this ceremony.” The Elder Priestess who was performing the Severing looked at both of them with sorrow in her green-within-green eyes.

Sammi had never seen a Kindred priestess up close and it occurred to her how strange it was that both the whites and the irises of their eyes were green. Even the woman’s silvery-white hair was streaked with emerald, as though it had been colored by the rays of the artificial green sun which shone down through the green and purple leaves of the trees that filled the Sacred Grove.

But it wasn’t the priestess she wanted to be looking at. Her eyes strayed to Roark, who was standing across from her like a bridegroom about to say “I do.” He looked stern and sad and he was devastatingly handsome in his dress uniform.

Sammi herself was wearing a pretty pale green dress that brought out her eyes. It was no bridal gown, but it was one of the nicer things she owned. She hadn’t wanted to wear it, but Meg had insisted that she dress up and look fabulous—both to honor the Sacred Grove and to show Roark that she was just fine without him. So her hair and makeup were also perfect—Meg had seen to that, as well.

Speaking of her best friend, Meg was currently standing to Sammi’s right and a little behind her.

Like she’s my maid of honor, Sammi thought, struck all over again how like a wedding this was. Though of course, it was the exact opposite. She looked at Roark again.

How can he want so badly to leave me that he’s willing to do a public divorce ceremony in the middle of the Sacred Grove? she thought sadly. Is it all just an excuse to never see me again? To not have to help raise the twins when they come?

But Roark had never seemed to dislike the idea of children. In fact, he was all about trying to help women who wanted babies have them. And he’d come from a large family himself—considering that he had two brothers and two fathers. So Sammi didn’t think her pregnancy and the impending birth of her daughters was the problem.

It must be me, she thought. He just doesn’t want to be with me. I’m defective somehow and he doesn’t want me.

The thought brought her so low that she could scarcely pay attention to the Elder Priestess’s next words.

“From the beginning of our people, this ceremony has been one fraught with pain and regret,” she said, her voice filled with sorrow. “A Severing is a permanent parting of ways—a promise to never see each other again. I ask you now, both of you, do you truly find it necessary to leave each other and never be together again in this life?”

“Yes.” Roark’s voice was low and harsh as he looked at the priestess intently. “We must be apart—I have wronged Samantha too greatly for us to continue through life together.”

“And you, my daughter? What do you say?” The priestess turned her green-within-green eyes on Sammi.

“She says yes also, Priestess,” Meg answered for her. “Sorry,” she added apologetically when the priestess frowned at her questioningly. “Her vocal chords were injured in an attack, so I’m here to speak for her. And also for moral support.” She shot Roark an angry glare and nudged Sammi comfortingly.

“I see.” The priestess frowned and looked at Roark. “Was it you who attacked this female and injured her throat? Is this why you seek a Severing?”

No! Sammi mouthed quickly but Roark said,

“I did not injure her myself, but it was my fault that she was attacked and injured, Elder Priestess.”

“And now she’s lost her voice permanently and the doctor is having to build her a whole new voice box,” Meg put in, giving Roark another angry glare.

Clearly, she was incensed at the way he was treating Sammi, though Sammi could only summon sadness herself. Even when she thought of how the big Shadow Twin was leaving her, she couldn’t find any anger in her heart—just a bone-weary sorrow at the thought of never seeing him again.

“I see,” the Elder Priestess said again, nodding. “Well then, as you are both in agreement that you must be permanently parted, let the Severing begin.” She sighed deeply and turned to Roark. “Are you ready, Warrior, to spill your blood and guilt on the altar of the Goddess? To confess your crimes against the one who was given to you to love and cherish? The one you failed to serve and protect as the Goddess intended you to?”

Roark’s face went pale but he lifted his chin. Sammi thought he looked like a condemned man who had been asked if he had any last words.

“Yes,” he said firmly, nodding. “Yes, Elder Priestess, I am ready.”

“Very well, then—you may begin.”

Roark drew a long, curving, silver blade from a sheath at his hip and held out his hand over the moss and wild-flower covered altar, which they were standing in front of. Taking a deep breath, he drew the blade across the palm of his hand.

Sammi winced as she saw the crimson blood begin to flow. Roark held his fist over the altar and ruby droplets pattered down on the moss and flowers as he spoke.

“From the moment I first saw Samantha Grey, I wanted her,” he said, speaking to the Elder Priestess and not looking at Sammi. “I coveted her for her beauty, her intelligence, and her ability to understand the work I was doing and help me in it. I wanted her in my life—I even thought I felt a sign that we should be together when I first touched her.”

A sign? When we touched? Suddenly Sammi remembered the strange sensation she’d had the first time she and Roark had shaken hands—way back during her job interview with him, which seemed like it had been a thousand years ago.

Her thoughts were dragged back to the present as Roark continued his confession.

“But I was attracted to Samantha for another reason. I…” He cleared his throat, his face turning a dull red with shame. “I lusted for her. Her full curves make her an Elite, which all males from my home planet of Twin Moons desire. And so I took her into my employment.” He took a deep breath. “Shortly after that, I began to abuse her.”

“Abuse her?” The Elder Priestess raised her eyebrows in apparent surprise.

“Yes,” Roark said harshly. “First, I demanded that she allow me to punish her for any perceived wrongs.”

“Punish her?” Meg interrupted, her eyes wide.

“Spank her,” Roark clarified.

“Spank her? He was spanking you?” Meg demanded, looking at Sammi.

Sammi felt her cheeks go hot with a flush. She nodded reluctantly.

“Oh my God!” Meg shook her head. “I can’t believe you put up with that, Sammi! You’re not the kind to just bend over and—”

“Excuse me, daughter, but you must not interrupt the Listing of Wrongs,” the Elder Priestess said sternly, frowning at Meg.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ll be quiet, I swear.” Meg mimed zipping her lips and stepped back to stand meekly behind Sammi again, much to Sammi’s relief.

“You may continue, Warrior,” the Elder Priestess said formally.

“Thank you.” Roark looked down at his clenched fist at his blood still dripping on the green and purple grass and the pale pink wildflowers. They reminded Sammi of the two little pink pregnancy flowers Liv had given her when she told Sammi she was pregnant.

“My abuse of Samantha did not end with simply spanking her,” Roark went on at last in a low voice. “I also…demanded that she submit to me in sexual ways. I thought at the time that she was submitting because she felt the same lust that I did. But I have recently come to understand that she was only doing what I told her to in order to keep her job and not be evicted from the Mother Ship.”

What? No! Sammi shook her head vigorously but everyone was looking at Roark, who was looking down at the blood-spattered moss and flowers.

Determined to be heard—or at least seen—Sammi reached over and tugged urgently at the flowing sleeve of the Elder Priestess’s long white robe.

The priestess frowned at her.

“You are not allowed to interrupt the Listing of Wrongs either, my daughter. You must wait until the end.”

Frustrated, Sammi nodded, though she was dying to set the matter straight. She tried to catch Roark’s eyes, but he was still staring down at the ground.

“Continue, Warrior,” the Elder Priestess said steadily. Sammi had the idea that Roark could confess to murder and she would still speak in that even, serene voice. She must have seen or heard a lot in her years as a priestess—or else hearing about kinky sex just didn’t bother her.

“I continued to wrong Samantha for as long as she was in my employ,” Roark went on stolidly. “I inseminated her with my own seed, though I lied and told her it was false seed I was using on her.”

“I knew it!” Meg exclaimed, earning herself a glare from the Elder Priestess. “Sorry,” she whispered and subsided again, though she continued to stare daggers at Roark.

“Though I was filling her daily with my seed, when Samantha came to me and told me she was pregnant, I didn’t believe that I could be the father,” Roark went on. “The twins in her belly are both female. I was so sure that my seed was non-functional that I accused her of cheating on me. Then I fired her and sent her away in tears.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple moving convulsively. “She…she was so upset that she went straight down to Earth where a human male was waiting to attack her.”

“Did you know that he was going to attack her, Warrior?” the Elder Priestess asked sternly.

“No.” Roark shook his head. “Not until her friend told me she had a ‘stalker’ as the humans call it. But that is no excuse. I am still the reason Samantha went down to Earth—she was running to get away from me. And in doing so, she ran right into danger—and a male who almost took her life.”

“It appears to me that you are certainly at fault for the things you did to Samantha while the two of you were on the Mother Ship,” the Elder Priestess said thoughtfully. “But I do not think you can rightfully add the attack she suffered after she left the ship to your List of Wrongs.”

“Yes, I can. And I do.” Roark looked up at her, his pale eyes fierce. “The human male who had her kidnapped and attacked her would never have been able to touch her if not for my own callus treatment of the female the Goddess sent me to love and care for. Instead of watching over her, I abused her and lied to her. I sent her to her doom.” He put his bleeding fist to his chest. “Though it is like ripping the beating heart from my body, I do not deserve to have Samantha in my life anymore. My honor demands that I free her.”

Wow, he doesn’t sound like a man who wants a divorce, whispered a little voice in the back of Sammi’s head. In fact, he sounds like this Severing thing is going to hurt him as much as it hurts you, but he’s doing it because he thinks he has to.

“Well, every male must bear the burden of his wrongs,” the Elder Priestess said serenely. “So I ask you, Warrior—are you ready and willing to be Severed from this female?”

Roark swallowed again and a look of pure agony came over his face. He looked like a man faced with a terrible choice—one he would rather die than make. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, “Yes,” in a low, hoarse whisper.

“Very well.” The Elder Priestess nodded and turned to Sammi. “And you, daughter, are you willing and ready to be Severed from this male?”

“Y—” Meg began but Sammi turned around and slapped a hand over her best friend’s mouth, stopping the word. Meg’s eyes widened but she shut up and just looked at Sammi.

Sammi turned back around to watch Roark, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. Somehow, she thought wildly, she had to fix this. It had become clear by everything he had said that Roark didn’t really want to leave her—didn’t really want them to be apart. He was doing this out of shame and a sense of honor that had been twisted by guilt—twisted until it stabbed him as surely as the ceremonial blade he’d used to shed his own blood had sliced his flesh.

But I can’t say any of that, Sammi thought desperately. I can’t even write it or type it! Electronics and technology were forbidden in the Sacred Glade and there was no pen or paper nearby to try and explain herself. Why hadn’t she thought to bring some? Sammi didn’t know—she only knew that she was desperate.

Oh please! she thought, feeling like she might cry. Oh please, if I could just tell him how I feel—that I love him—that I want us to be together! If only I could still speak!

Suddenly a warm, powerful presence filled the Sacred Grove and a sweet- scented wind swept through the bows of the trees, stirring their leaves with a musical rustling.

“Speak, daughter,” a feminine voice which seemed to come from all around them declared. “I heal your body that you might, in turn, heal your love with this Warrior.”

A warmth began in Sammi’s throat—a feeling almost like someone had laid a gentle hand over the hurt place where her larynx had been crushed. It spread throughout her entire body, soothing away aches and pains, even erasing the tension headache which had been building in her temples. It ended with a tingling at the ends of her fingers and toes and Sammi knew she had been healed.

She reached for Roark and grabbed his arm.

“Roark,” she said, her voice coming out as clear as a bell, “Roark, I don’t want to be Severed from you!”

He stared at her, an expression of almost-hope coming into his pale eyes. He looked like a man who has just found out he won the lottery but is afraid to double check the numbers in case he’s wrong.

“You really don’t wish to be Severed?” he asked in a low, hoarse voice. “Even after everything I’ve done to you?”

“First of all, I submitted to the spanking and the…other things, because I wanted to. Not because I was afraid of losing my job.” Sammi felt it was important to get that out right away. “And it’s true that you shouldn’t have used your own, uh, seed on me without telling me, but I forgive you for that—you were Claiming me the only way you thought you could,” she went on.

“But afterwards…” Roark gave her a wretched look. “The way I treated you when you told me you were carrying our children—”

“You were a jerk,” Sammi said honestly. “And you broke my heart—I’ll admit that. But,” she continued, holding up a finger to stop him from talking. “I forgive you for that. As long as you promise to never treat me like that again.”

“Never,” Roark swore hoarsely. “May the Goddess strike me down if I am ever anything but respectful and loving to you again, my darling!”

“I’d watch making oaths like that,” Sammi said seriously. She touched her fingers to her throat. “Because apparently she’s real.”

“I know she is.” Roark nodded. “She led me to you after you were kidnapped.”

“That’s another thing,” Sammi said. “I don’t blame you for my kidnapping. I was the stupid one who got in a car with a guy I barely knew, just because he’d taken one of my classes.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe what a fool I was. I was just so upset I didn’t think.”

“You were upset because of me,” Roark said harshly. “You were kidnapped and attacked because of me.”

“Yes, but then you came and rescued me from the bastard who attacked me,” Sammi pointed out. She shivered. “I won’t deny it was an awful experience and I’ll probably need some therapy to get over it completely. But right now, what I mostly need is for the two of us to be together. If…” She looked up at him, suddenly shy. “If you really want to be, that is.”

“If I want to be?” Roark repeated, his eyes widening. “Samantha, have you not heard anything I’ve said? Of course I want to be with you—I just don’t deserve you!”

“None of us is deserving of grace, and yet grace is what the Goddess offers us,” the Elder Priestess said quietly. “I think, Warrior, that this female was sent for you to love and protect. And I think she will offer you forgiveness along with her heart if you will only offer her yours in return.”

Sammi looked up at him, waiting to see what he would say. But instead of speaking, Roark dropped suddenly to his knees before her.

“Samantha,” he said, reaching for her hand with his un-bloodied one. Sammi gave her hand willingly and looked into his eyes.

“Yes, Roark?” she whispered breathlessly.

“Samantha,” he said again. “I love you with my whole heart and I pledge to spend the rest of my days loving and protecting you and our children. Will you Join with me now, in the presence of these witnesses and of the Goddess herself—the Mother of All Life—and pledge to spend the rest of your days with me?”

Sammi felt like her heart might burst with joy.

“Yes, Roark,” she whispered, her newly healed voice tight with tears. She sank to the soft grass, on her knees, still holding his hand. “Oh, yes I will! With all my heart I’ll Join with you.”

“Thank you. I swear you’ll never regret it.” Roark pulled her to him and Sammi buried her face in his broad chest and breathed in his deep, spicy scent—the scent of safety and love and home.

“Oh my children!” There were tears in the Elder Priestess’s green-within-green eyes and she had to blot them on her long sleeves before she could continue. “I am so happy! This Severing has now turned into a Joining Ceremony.” She looked at Sammi. “Do you wish to call anymore witnesses to partake in your joy?”

Sammi looked up at Meg, who had an uncertain expression on her face.

“I have my best friend right here with me,” she said, smiling at Meg. “As long as she can see that I’m happy, I’m fine with that.”

Reluctantly, Meg began to smile.

“All right, Sammi,” she said, nodding. “I just want what’s best for you.”

“Roark is what’s best for me,” Sammi assured her.

“I vow to do everything in my power to keep your friend safe and happy and to love her for all my days,” Roark added.

Meg’s smile widened.

“Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this Joining Ceremony going!”

Laughing and crying at the same time, Sammi got to her feet and Roark did as well. They turned to face the Elder Priestess, who was still blotting her own tears and the ceremony continued—not as a severing of their lives, but as a joining of their love and their souls forever.

Sixty-Four

“I don’t care if we can form a full soul-bond or not—I love you no matter what,” Sammi told Roark as he paced anxiously in front of the bed. “Besides, do you really think the Goddess would have come down to the Sacred Grove and healed my voice so I could tell you what a big mistake we were making if she didn’t intend to let us form a full-fledged bond like all the other Kindred have with their wives?”

It was their wedding night—well, their Joining night which amounted to the same thing—but Roark, who was usually so sexually dominant, was uncharacteristically nervous about sealing the deal.

Sammi was wearing a brand-new black lace teddy that tied right between her breasts and had tiny black lace panties to match to entice him. The outfit left almost nothing to the imagination—it clearly showed the pink points of her nipples and the panties showed the cleft of her pussy—but still her new husband hadn’t come to bed.

Roark himself was wearing nothing but a pair of long black sleep trousers, made of some heavy, satiny material. They hung around his narrow hips and showed off his broad bare chest and back beautifully. Sammi tried not to drool as she looked at him.

“Everything is going to be okay,” she told him. “You don’t have to worry, Roark.”

“You’re right.” He nodded and looked up at her. “Of course, you’re right, my darling. I need to let go and trust.”

“I know it’s hard after what you went through in the past,” Sammi said softly. “I had some pretty tough breakups too. But we belong together, Roark—the Goddess herself told us so. If that’s not a stamp of approval, I don’t know what is!”

He gave her a reluctant smile.

“A divine stamp of approval.”

“Exactly,” Sammi purred. She got on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder, spreading her legs wide to show the tiny black crotch of the lace panties. “Do you want to mount me now, Sir?” she asked breathlessly, feeling her heart start to drum against her ribs. “Do you want to see if I can take your shaft all the way inside my soft… little… pussy?”

She was hoping the dirty talk might turn Roark on. And from the way his pale eyes went suddenly half-lidded and the lustful growl in his voice, she had been successful.

“Of course I want to mount you,” he growled, coming over to the bed at last. “But not yet. First I want to worship you like the goddess you are, my perfect little Elite.”

“What do you m—oh!” Sammi gasped, for he had grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over as though she weighed no more than a doll. Once Roark had her on her back, he began to kiss her passionately, starting at her newly healed throat and moving down to the place between her breasts.

“Mmm, I love this spot,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I think it might be the softest spot on your whole sweet body, darling.” He nuzzled her there, his scratchy cheeks sending shivers of need through Sammi’s entire body.

“You…you think so?” she whispered breathlessly.

“Mmm-hmm.” He gave her a half-lidded look. “But of course, there are other spots I love as well.”

“Such as?” Sammi asked daringly.

In answer, he untied the little bow of the teddy and spread it open, revealing her bare breasts completely.

Sammi moaned softly when he took one of her stiff pink peaks between his lips and began to bathe her nipple with his tongue.

“Ohhh!” Sparks of pleasure shot through her and Sammi arched her back, offering herself completely, wanting to give him better access to her bare breasts.

Roark responded by releasing the right nipple and turning his attention to the left. Sammi ran her hands through his thick, black hair moaning as she arched up to meet him.

Just as she was wondering if she could come just from letting him suck her nipples, Roark let her nipple slip from between his lips and began to kiss lower.

“Oh, Roark…” Sammi moaned as he nibbled and licked a trail down her trembling belly to the top of the tiny black lace panties.

“Now these are extremely naughty little panties, my darling,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I believe I can see your soft little pussy lips right through them.”

As he spoke, he traced one long finger down the cleft between her outer lips, making Sammi’s hips buck up with need and pleasure as his finger slid over the sensitive bump of her clit.

“Do you like them, Sir?” she whispered breathlessly. “I wore them just for you. I…I was hoping you might want to take them off me.”

“Maybe I will—in a minute,” Roark growled. “But first I want to kiss you with them on. Spread your legs for me, Samantha, and let me kiss your panties.”

Sammi bit her lip and did as he commanded. Submitting to his desires made her feel hot and cold all over and her pussy felt incredibly wet and ready for him to take her. But Sammi knew better than to rush the big Shadow Twin when he was in the mood to pleasure her. He would take her when he was ready and not before and in the meantime, nobody did slow, sexual torture quite like Roark.

“Mmm,” he murmured, leaning down to press his lips to the thin lace panel which was all that separated her bare flesh from his mouth. “Why, darling, I believe you’re getting wet.”

“I…I cant help it,” Sammi whispered as he continued to cover her panties in slow, open-mouthed kisses, nuzzling against her tender little clit again and again until she thought she might scream or start begging for more.

“I don’t want you to help it,” Roark told her. “But I think I ought to be sure. Maybe we ought to take those panties off and spread you open to see if I’m right—do you think?”

“If…if you want to, Sir,” Sammi moaned softly, lifting her hips submissively to allow him to pull her panties down.

“Good girl,” Roark growled as he stripped away the little panties and bared her pussy.

Sammi had shaved again—completely this time—and she thought she had never felt so bare and vulnerable as when Roark split her thighs wide with his broad shoulders and pressed his face close to her pussy.

“Gods, so lovely,” he murmured, his deep voice hoarse with desire. “Now spread yourself wide for me, my darling,” he commanded. “Open yourself up so I can see how wet you’re getting for me.”

Blushing, Sammi did as he asked. With trembling fingers, she spread her outer pussy lips, showing her new husband her slippery inner folds.

Roark gave a growl of approval and lust and looked up at her, his pale eyes blazing.

“Why, Samantha,” he murmured, holding her gaze with his own. “I was right—your soft little pussy is positively dripping with honey. Why is that, do you think?”

“Be…because you were kissing me,” Sammi whispered. “Kissing…kissing my panties, Sir.”

“Mmm, so you’re saying this is my fault?” Roark raised an enquiring eyebrow at her.

Slowly, Sammi nodded.

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered. “I…I can’t help my pussy getting wet when you kiss me and make me feel so…so needy.”

“We’ll talk about what you need in just a minute,” Roark promised her. “But for now, since I caused this problem, I guess I ought to be the one to clean it up.” He gave Sammi a lustful look. “Tell me, Samantha, would you like me to give your soft little pussy a bath with my tongue?”

Sammi’s breath caught in her throat and pure lust surged through her so hard she couldn’t even answer. She could only nod her head and lift her hips, offering herself, begging for the pleasure he was offering her.

“Then I will,” Roark told her. “Now keep your sweet little cunt spread nice and wide for me so I can clean up all your honey, darling.”

Without waiting for a reply, he dipped his head low and began giving her the “bath” he had promised. Starting at the entrance to her pussy he took a long, slow, leisurely lick, dragging his tongue all the way up her spread folds and over her aching clit until he reached the top of her slit.

“Gods…” His eyes blazed again as he swallowed and looked up at her. “You taste so fucking good, Samantha. Can’t help myself—I need more.”

The last word was nothing but a growl and suddenly he wrapped his arms around her thighs to split her even wider. Sammi gasped as he dived down again, lapping more fiercely this time, feasting on her open pussy as he licked and sucked, cleaning her juices away with his tongue and then going back for more.

“Oh…oh, Roark!” she gasped. Her back arched and her hips bucked up as she rode his tongue shamelessly. So good—it felt so good. She could never get enough of the pleasure he offered just as it seemed that Roark could never get enough of tasting her pussy.

Over and over he lapped her hungrily, first circling her aching clit with his tongue and then sucking it into his mouth to lash it fiercely until she cried out with pleasure and rose up to meet him again while she tugged at his hair.

At last Sammi started tilting over the edge. She was close…so close. She could feel her orgasm hovering on the horizon and she knew that when it hit, it would rock her entire soul to the roots.

But just as she was about to tilt over the edge, Roark pulled back, panting.

“Roark!” she cried, unable to help voicing her disappointment. “Why did you stop? I was almost there!”

“I stopped because I don’t want you to come on my tongue—not this time,” he growled softly. His eyes were glowing like pale flames and his mouth and chin were shiny with her juices. “I need you to come on my cock, darling, while I’m buried deep inside you, filling you with my seed.”

“All right—yes.” Sammi nodded eagerly. “Yes, Roark, I want that too. Please…please take me.”

“I will, but first I brought an old friend.”

“A what?” she asked, but he had already rolled over and was reaching into the drawer of the nightstand beside the bed. When he pulled out the tiny black hemisphere she remembered from their “experiments” with the Inseminator, Sammi bit her lip.

“Is this all right?” Roark raised an eyebrow and looked at her to make sure he wasn’t going too far. “Does it…bring back bad memories?”

“Bad memories?” Sammi shook her head, surprised that he would think that. “The times you had me hooked up to that harness and opened up with the spreader bar so the inseminating arm could…could fuck me were some of the hottest in my life.” She blushed as she spoke, but she wanted her new husband to know she had wanted what he did to her as much as he had wanted to do it. She didn’t want Roark to carry any guilt for the way he had dominated her—especially when she had submitted willingly.

“Truly?” he asked, looking at her closely. “You really feel that way?”

“God, yes.” Sammi felt a new surge of lust as she remembered the way he’d put her on her hands and knees and fucked her with so many different phalluses. “It was incredibly erotic. In fact…” She bit her lip. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind you doing it to me again, sometime. Though tonight I don’t want anyone but you inside me.”

“And you’ll have me,” Roark promised, his voice a soft growl. “But first I want to put the Goddess pearl shield on you. I want to be able to tease your sweet little clit while I thrust inside you, darling. While I fuck you.”

Sammi moaned at his dirty words and spread her thighs wide for him.

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, looking up at him submissively. “Do it—do whatever you want with me. I’m yours—yours completely.”

“You’re not quite yet,” Roark said speculatively. His eyes flared. “But you will be, my darling. In a very short time, you will be—I promise you that.”

He knelt between her legs again and had Sammi open her pussy lips so he could fix the clit shield in place. Then he took out the remote and pressed a button.

Sammi felt the familiar soft lapping begin and she moaned and bucked her hips.

“Please, Roark,” she begged, looking up at him. “Please—I can’t wait any longer to have you in me.”

“You don’ have to wait, darling,” he promised. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her deeply and then reached between them to press the broad, flaring crown of his cock between her thighs.

Sammi moaned breathlessly as she felt him pierce her and then the head of his cock was sliding into her pussy. As many phalluses as she’d had in her, she always felt that Roark’s was the thickest and the best. She cried out softly as she felt her inner walls stretch to accommodate him as he opened her to the limit.

At last she felt him bottom out inside her and the head of his cock kissed the mouth of her womb.

“Such a good girl, Samantha,” Roark growled softly, looking down into her eyes. “Such a good girl to spread your pussy for me and take my shaft so deep inside your soft little cunt.”

“Oh God, Roark! You’re in me so deep,” Sammi moaned, tilting her hips to take him even deeper. “It feels so good to finally have you all the way inside me!”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment too, darling,” Roark assured her. “It’s all I’ve wanted from the very first time I hooked you up to the Inseminating machine.” He gave her a lustful look. “Though the Gods know it was incredibly arousing to watch you being filled with all those different phalluses, all I really wanted was to fill you myself.”

“Well, you’re in me now,” Sammi pointed out breathlessly. “You can…can fill me all night if you want to, Roark.”

“Indeed I can.” He gave her a cruel little grin and held up the remote. “And as I do, you’re going to be teased within an inch of your life.”

“For how long, though?” Sammi moaned as the soft lapping sensation increased to a gentle buzzing vibration that teased her tender button without quite letting her reach orgasm. “When will you let me come?”

“When I’m ready,” Roark growled and began to fuck her.

Sammi gasped as he pulled almost all the way out of her channel and then thrust back in again. She could feel the head of his cock giving the mouth of her womb a deep, rough kiss with every thrust and it drove her pleasure higher and higher without ever quite letting her come.

Torture! This was pure sexual torture, she thought as Roark continued to ride her at that same steady pace, pushing her closer and closer to the edge but never quite tipping her over it. She needed to come—needed it badly. But she knew from experience that Roark wouldn’t allow it until he was good and ready.

Helpless to do anything but give herself completely, Sammi wrapped her legs around his lean hips and bucked to meet his rhythm. Soon she was meeting each thrust with one of her own as his thick cock slid in and out of her tightly stretched pussy.

“Roark…Roark…” She was moaning his name steadily, desperate to get to the orgasm that was just…out…of reach. It seemed to go on forever, but at last he took her mouth in a breathless kiss and growled softly in her ear,

“I’m going to fill you now, Samantha. Going to fill you up with my seed and you’re going to come on my cock as I do it.”

“Yes, Sir!” she moaned and then he thrust as deeply into her as he could and pressed the remote at the same time.

A spasm of pure pleasure shook her as the gentle vibration that had been teasing her turned into a buzzing so strong it rocked her to the core.

“Ahhh!” Sammi gasped, her back arching as the orgasm rushed over her like a tidal wave. At the same time, she felt Roark’s shaft swell even thicker inside her and then something hot was bathing the mouth of her womb.

Coming…he’s coming in me. We’re coming together, she thought deliriously. He’s tying us together and we’ll never be apart again.”

“That’s right, my darling.” This time Roark’s deep voice came from inside her head. “That’s right—I’m filling you with my seed and now you’re mine always—as I am yours!”

Sammi knew exactly what hearing his mental voice in her head meant. Her eyes—which had been shut tight in pleasure—flew open and she looked at Roark.

“It worked!” she gasped, half-laughing/half-crying. “It worked, Roark—I told you it would—we’re bonded! Fully bonded!”

“Fully bonded and fully in love,” he responded through their new link as he kissed her passionately on the mouth. “Gods, I love you, Samantha—and I’m never letting you go.”

Sammi felt his love wash over her like a warm wave and she bathed in it and sent her own love back to him.

It had been a long, strange ride with Roark from the odd job interview to her time in his inseminating machine to the terrible encounter with her would-be killer down on Earth. They had nearly lost each other but thankfully the Goddess had intervened and brought the two of them where they belonged—together.

Her life was forever changed for the better. She had a husband she loved to distraction and two baby girls on the way. And Sammi knew none of it would have been possible if she hadn’t put aside her doubts and fears and opened herself to…Submitting to the Shadow.

The End?

Of course not—there are always more Kindred Tales on the way. Read on for a sneak peek at my next book, Brides of the Kindred 25, Stolen.

If you’ve enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a short review. Good reviews are like gold for an author in this crazy-crowded e-book landscape. They let other readers know it’s okay to take a chance on a new author or a new series. Plus they give me the warm fuzzies. : )

Thanks for being such an awesome reader!

Hugs,

Evangeline

Stolen

Brides of the Kindred, Book 25

Turn the page for a sneak peek.

Prologue

The Cruel Father looked down upon his creation…and was severely displeased.

His universe had been corrupted. His Kindred, the Kru’ell Ones, had been tainted by love…by compassion…by tenderness and mercy. All those womanly emotions he so despised and had taught his children to despise as well.

He had created the Kru’ell Ones to rule over females. To take them as concubines to feed their emotional appetites and then discard them, as easily as a man drops a used tissue. But now, what did he see when he looked down upon them?

“They have taken mates,” he growled to himself, glaring with his all-seeing eye upon the gray-green version of Earth which resided in his universe. The new Overlord, Kane, had taught the other Kru’ell Ones to revere females and treat them with respect. He had purged the hate from their hearts and fostered love instead. He had taught them to take females as mates instead of disposable concubines and to form a permanent bond with them.

It was unbearable! And the Cruel Father knew exactly who to blame.

“Mother of All Life,” he growled to himself, thinking of the Goddess who was his counterpart in the parallel universe which ran along side his own. She had done this thing. She had interfered in his territory and had brought her disgusting attributes of love and fidelity, spreading goodness and peace wherever she went like a pestilence.

The Cruel Father raged to himself. How dare she meddle in the affaires of his ‘verse? How dare she bring her sickening love and kindness into his territory?

And how could he repay her deed in kind?

Luckily, the Mother of All Life was not the only one who had a stronghold in the enemy’s territory. Long ago the Cruel Father had waged war across the dimensional divide with the female deity. He had been forced back, but not before he had left a small token—a scion of himself—within her domain.

Of course, the Goddess had instructed the ancient First Kindred to hide the relic—the Eye of Ten’gu they had called it. And so they had buried it deep, hiding it in the far recesses of their universe on a planet so icy and inhospitable they were certain no one would ever find and awaken it.

The Cruel Father reached across the divide, using just a tendril of his power— not enough to sound any alarms—and touched the Eye. For millennia it had lain dormant, his scion sleeping in endless, dreamless slumber.

“Awake,” the Cruel Father called to it. “Awake and claim your birthright. Decimate the Goddess’s ‘verse as she has ruined mine.”

He felt the Eye tremble…perceived that his scion was rising from the sleep which had claimed him when the First Kindred had buried the relic so long ago.

It would take some time for his scion to come fully awake—some time before the Eye opened and understood what he must do. But the Cruel Father could wait. After all, was revenge not sweetest when it took some time in coming?

“You will be sorry, Mother of All Life,” he growled to himself. “I will teach you not to meddle in my domain. You have turned my own Kindred into sniveling female-lovers like your own. We will see how well you like it when your own children are corrupted by my darkness. When the Eye of Ten’gu opens, your ‘verse will know pain and discord as it never has before.”

This he vowed. And then he sat back to watch as the events he had set in motion began, slowly but inexorably, to unfold…

* * *

Far from the Cruel Father’s universe, on First World, Nadiah woke from the dream with a gasp of fright.

“The Cruel Father…the Eye…the Eye must not open! It must not open!” she cried.

“What?” Rast, the Challa of First World, the home planet of the Kindred, sat up in bed beside his mate. In the dim light of their bedchamber, he saw that Nadia’s blue-green eyes were wide with panic.

“The Eye…” She was nearly panting with fright. “The Eye is waking but it must not open!”

Another male might have shaken his mate to bring her out of what appeared to be hysteria but Rast had a better solution than that. He spread his great, feathery wings—the ones that had grown when he had proven that he was truly meant to be the Challa of the Kindred home world—and enfolded his wife in them.

Nadia came to him at once and Rast could feel her trembling against his broad chest as he poured healing warmth into her through the enfolding feathers.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he murmured, stroking her golden hair and holding her close, trying to comfort her. “What’s wrong? You must have had a nightmare.”

“N-not a n-nightmare.” Nadiah’s teeth were still chattering in fright. Rast held her tighter, disturbed. He had never seen his mate so upset before.

“If it wasn’t a nightmare then what was it?” he asked gently.

“A vision.” She sat up and her eyes turned suddenly from blue-green to pure emerald—the color of the Goddess. When she spoke again, her voice was not her own.

“The Father of Cruelty with reach from Afar

To the Eye of his scion asleep in the Dark

Buried so deep ‘neath the mountain Ra’gar

It must not awake or the future is Stark

Do not let its lid rise, do not let it awake

For if it sees daylight, our ‘verse is at Stake!”

Though he and Nadiah had been joined for years now and had three children together and he knew she was the Mouthpiece of the Goddess, it still unnerved Rast when the Mother of all Life spoke through his wife.

“Goddess,” he said, addressing the deity who was speaking through Nadiah. “What must we do?”

“Warn Sylvan of the Mother Ship,” the Goddess said through Nadia. “The Eye of Ten’gu must be unearthed and destroyed before it awakens.”

“The Eye of Ten’gu? What’s that? And how can we destroy it?” Rast asked, but the Goddess had gone. Only Nadiah was left, drooping in his arms, completely worn out from acting as a vessel to the Goddess.

“Oh, Rast,” she whispered, leaning heavily against him. “That was so scary—I don’t know when I’ve been so frightened!”

“Are you all right now?” Rast looked at her anxiously.

“Not scared anymore. Just…tired.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “The Goddess drove out the fear but hosting her is…taxing.”

“Of course it is, my Lyzel,” Rast murmured, stroking her hair tenderly.

“What did the Goddess say through me?” Nadiah asked. “What must we do to keep the Cruel Father at bay?”

“She said we must destroy the Eye of Ten’gu—whatever that is.” Rast frowned.

“The Eye of Ten’gu?” Nadiah sat up straight. “But that’s been hidden for millennia!”

“You know about it?” Rast asked in surprise.

She nodded, her long blonde hair swishing around her slender shoulders.

“Of course—it’s in some of our earliest scrolls and documents. It’s an ancient artifact, as old as the Kindred race itself.”

“Well, what does it do?” Rast asked, frowning.

“I don’t know,” Nadiah admitted. “But I do know that the very the first thing the Kindred males who originally left First World did was to get rid of it. They buried it in the side of a mountain on Yown Beta where no one could ever find it.”

“Well it sounds like someone is on their way to find it now,” Rast said grimly. “The Goddess told me we must warn Sylvan and that someone has to go dig it up and destroy it before…” He hesitated, not wanting to scare his wife again.

“Before what?” Nadiah demanded. “Come on, Rast, tell me!”

Rast could see she wasn’t going to let up until he told.

“She said the Eye of Ten’gu must be destroyed,” he repeated. “Before it awakens.”

Nadia didn’t reply. She just buried her head in Rast’s chest and shivered.

A time of darkness was coming. The question was, would the Kindred be able to stand against it?

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Also by Evangeline Anderson

Below you'll find a list of available and upcoming titles. But depending on when you read this list, new books will have come out by then that are not listed here. Make sure to check my website for the latest releases and better yet, sign up for my newsletter to never miss a new book again.

* * *

Brides of the Kindred series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

CLAIMED (Also Available in Audio)

HUNTED (Also Available in Audio)

SOUGHT (Also Available in Audio)

FOUND (Also Available in Audio)

REVEALED (Also Available in Audio)

PURSUED (Also Available in Audio)

EXILED (Also Available in Audio)

SHADOWED (Also Available in Audio)

CHAINED (Also Available in Audio)

DIVIDED (Also Available in Audio)

DEVOURED (Also Available in Audio)

ENHANCED (Also Available in Audio)

CURSED (Also Available in Audio)

ENSLAVED (Also Available in Audio)

TARGETED (Also Available in Audio)

FORGOTTEN (Also Available in Audio)

SWITCHED (Also Available in Audio)

UNCHARTED (Also Available in Audio)

UNBOUND

SURRENDERED

VANISHED

IMPRISONED

TWISTED

DECEIVED

STOLEN (coming soon)

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME ONE

Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME TWO

Contains Revealed, Pursued and Exiled

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME THREE

Contains Shadowed, Chained and Divided

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FOUR

Contains Devoured, Enhanced and Cursed

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FIVE

Contains Enslaved, Targeted and Forgotten

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SIX

Contains Switched, Uncharted and Unbound

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SEVEN

Contains Surrendered, Vanished, and Imprisoned

All Kindred novels are now available in PRINT.

Also, all Kindred novels are on their way to Audio, join my Audiobook Newsletter to be notified when they come out.

* * *

Kindred Tales

The Kindred Tales are side stories in the Brides of the Kindred series which stand alone outside the main story arc.

These can be read as STAND ALONE novels.

MASTERING THE MISTRESS (Also Available in Audio)

BONDING WITH THE BEAST (Also Available in Audio)

SEEING WITH THE HEART (Also Available in Audio)

FREEING THE PRISONER (Also Available in Audio)

HEALING THE BROKEN (a Kindred Christmas novel) (Also Available in Audio)

TAMING THE GIANT (Also Available in Audio)

BRIDGING THE DISTANCE (Also Available in Audio)

LOVING A STRANGER (Also Available in Audio)

FINDING THE JEWEL (Also Available in Audio)

BONDED BY ACCIDENT (Also Available in Audio)

RELEASING THE DRAGON (Also Available in Audio)

SHARING A MATE (Also Available in Audio)

INSTRUCTING THE NOVICE (Also Available in Audio)

AWAKENED BY THE GIANT (Also Available in Audio)

HITTING THE TARGET (Also Available in Audio)

HANDLING THE HYBRID (Also Available in Audio)

TRAPPED IN TIME (Also Available in Audio)

TIME TO HEAL (Also Available in Audio)

PAIRING WITH THE PROTECTOR (Also Available in Audio)

FALLING FOR KINDRED CLAUS (Also Available in Audio)

GUARDING THE GODDESS

STEALING HER HEART

TAMING TWO WARRIORS

THE KINDRED WARRIOR’S CAPTIVE BRIDE

DARK AND LIGHT

PROTECTING HIS MISTRESS

UNLEASHED BY THE DEFENDER

SUBMITTING TO THE SHADOW

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 1

Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast and Seeing with the Heart

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 2

Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken and Taming the Giant

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 3

Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger and Finding the Jewel

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 4

Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 5

Contains Instructing the Novice, Awakened by the Giant, and Hitting the Target

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 6

Contains Handling the Hybrid, Trapped in Time, and Time to Heal

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 7

Contains Pairing with the Protector, Falling for Kindred Claus, and Guarding the Goddess

* * *

Kindle Birthright series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

The Children of the Kindred series

UNBONDABLE

* * *

Born to Darkness series

(Paranormal / Action-Adventure Romance)

CRIMSON DEBT (Also Available in Audio)

SCARLET HEAT (Also Available in Audio)

RUBY SHADOWS (Also Available in Audio)

CARDINAL SINS (coming soon)

DESSERT (short novella following Scarlet Heat)

(Also Available in Audio)

BORN TO DARKNESS BOX SET

Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows all in one volume

* * *

Alien Mate Index series

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

ABDUCTED (Also Available in Audio)

PROTECTED (Also Available in Audio)

DESCENDED (Also Available in Audio)

SEVERED (Also Available in Audio)

ALIEN MATE INDEX VOLUME ONE

Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended and Severed all in one volume

All Alien Mate novels are now available in PRINT.

* * *

The Cougarville series

(Paranormal / Action-Adventure Romance)

(Older Woman / Younger Man

BUCK NAKED (Also Available in Audio)

COUGAR BAIT (Also Available in Audio)

STONE COLD FOX (Also Available in Audio)

BIG BAD WOLF (coming soon)

* * *

The CyBRG Files with Mina Carter

(Sci-Fi / Action-Adventure Romance)

UNIT 77: BROKEN (Also Available in Audio)

UNIT 78: RESCUED (Also Available in Audio)

* * *

The Institute series

(Daddy-Dom / Age Play Romance)

THE INSTITUTE: DADDY ISSUES

(Also Available in Audio)

THE INSTITUTE: MISHKA’S SPANKING

* * *

The Swann Sister Chronicles

(Contemporary Fairy / Funny / Fantasy Romance)

WISHFUL THINKING (Also Available in Audio)

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (Also available in Audio)

* * *

Nocturne Academy

(Young Adult Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

LOCK AND KEY (Also Available in Audio)

FANG AND CLAW (Also Available in Audio)

STONE AND SECRET (coming coon)

* * *

Detectives Valenti and O’Brian

(1980s M/M Romance)

THE ASSIGNMENT

I’LL BE HOT FOR CHRISTMAS

FIREWORKS

THE ASSIGNMENT: HEART AND SOUL

* * *

Compendiums and Box Sets

ALIEN MATE INDEX VOLUME ONE

Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended and Severed all in one volume

BORN TO DARKNESS BOX SET

Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows all in one volume

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME ONE

Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME TWO

Contains Revealed, Pursued and Exiled

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME THREE

Contains Shadowed, Chained and Divided

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FOUR

Contains Devoured, Enhanced and Cursed

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME FIVE

Contains Enslaved, Targeted and Forgotten

BRIDES OF THE KINDRED VOLUME SIX

Contains Switched, Uncharted and Unbound

HAVE YOURSELF A SEXY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Contains Kidnapped for Christmas, Cougar Christmas and Season’s Spankings

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 1

Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast and Seeing with the Heart

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 2

Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken and Taming the Giant

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 3

Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger and Finding the Jewel

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 4

Contains Bonded by Accident, Releasing the Dragon, and Sharing a Mate

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 5

Contains Instructing the Novice, Awakened by the Giant, and Hitting the Target

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 6

Contains Handling the Hybrid, Trapped in Time, and Time to Heal

KINDRED TALES VOLUME 7

Contains Pairing with the Protector, Falling for Kindred Claus, and Guarding the Goddess

NAUGHTY TALES: THE COLLECTION— Volume One

Contains Putting on a Show, Willing Submission, The Institute: Daddy Issues, The Institute: Mishka's Spanking, Confessions of a Lingerie Model, Sin Eater, Speeding Ticket, Stress Relief and When Mr. Black Comes Home.

ONE HOT HALLOWEEN

Contains Red and the Wolf, Gypsy Moon and Taming the Beast

ONE HOT HALLOWEEN Vol.2

Contains The Covenant, Secret Thirst, and Kristen’s Addiction + BONUS: Madeline’s Mates

* * *

Stand Alone Titles

(Sci-Fi OR Paranormal Action-Adventure Romance)

ANYONE U WANT

BEST KEPT SECRETS (Step-Brother romance)

BLIND DATE WITH A VAMPIRE

BLOOD KISS

BROKEN BOUNDARIES (M/M romance)

CEREMONY OF THREE

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL (Also Available in Audio)

DEFILED

EYES LIKE A WOLF (Foster Brother romance)

FOREVER BROKEN (M/M romance)

GYPSY MOON

HUNGER MOON RISING

MADELINE’S MATES

MARKED

OUTCAST

PLANET X (Also Available in Audio)

PLEASURE PLANET

PLEDGE SLAVE (M/M romance)

PURITY (Also Available in Audio)

RED AND THE WOLF

SECRET THIRST

SEX WITH STRANGERS

SHADOW DREAMS

SLAVE BOY (M/M romance)

STRESS RELIEF

SWEET DREAMS

TAMING THE BEAST

TANDEM UNIT

THE BARGAIN

THE COVENANT

THE LAST BITE (M/M romance)

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

THE LOST BOOKS (M/M romance)

THE PLEASURE PALACE

THE SACRIFICE (Also Available in Audio)

’TIL KINGDOM COME (M/M romance)

* * *

Stand Alone Titles

(Contemporay Romance)

A SPANKING FOR VALENTINE (BDSM)

BOUND AND DETERMINED, anthology with Lena Matthews, includes The Punishment of Nicollett

COUGAR CHRISTMAS (Older Woman / Younger Man)

DANGEROUS CRAVINGS (BDSM)

DIRTY GIRL

FULL EXPOSURE (with Lena Matthews)

KIDNAPPED FOR CHRISTMAS (BDSM)

MASKS, contains The Man in the Leather Mask and Masks (BDSM)

MORE THAN FRIENDS (BDSM)

PICTURE PERFECT (Step-Brother romance) (Also Available in Audio)

STR8TE BOYS (M/M romance)

* * *

Naughty Tales

(Short Reads to Get You Hot and Bothered)

CONFESSIONS OF A LINGERIE MODEL

PUTTING ON A SHOW (Step-Brother romance)

SIN EATER

SPEEDING TICKET

THE SWITCH (An erotic interlude with the characters of DANGEROUS CRAVINGS)

SEASON’S SPANKINGS

WHEN MR. BLACK COMES HOME

WILLING SUBMISSION

NAUGHTY TALES: THE COLLECTION— Volume One

Contains Putting on a Show, Willing Submission, The Institute: Daddy Issues, The Institute: Mishka's Spanking, Confessions of a Lingerie Model, Sin Eater, Speeding Ticket, Stress Relief and When Mr. Black Comes Home.

* * *

YA Novels

THE ACADEMY (Also Available in Audio)

About the Author

Evangeline Anderson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Brides of the Kindred, Alien Mate Index, Cougarville and Born to Darkness series. She is forty-something and lives in Florida with a husband, a son, and two cats. She had been writing erotic fiction for her own gratification for a number of years before it occurred to her to try and get paid for it. To her delight, she found that it was actually possible to get money for having a dirty mind and she has been writing paranormal and sci-fi erotica steadily ever since.

You can find her online at her website www.evangelineanderson.com

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