Page 86 of Rescued

“That’s right, baby girl—come here! Come on!” Davrik reached for her and Sonya took another step and another and another. The wind whipped all around her like an invisible hand, blowing her curls around her face and plastering her gown to her body. Still, she kept moving, keeping her eyes on Davrik’s outstretched hand.

But just as she was only a few feet from the big Kindred, the pain chip in her ankle sent a stabbing bolt of burning pain up her right leg.

Sonya screamed breathlessly as her knee buckled. A searing, stabbing agony that made it impossible to think of taking another step had enveloped her. It felt like someone had set all the bones in her right leg on fire!

Then the bridge under her feet shook and the metal groaned, as though something extremely heavy had been placed on it. Turning her head she saw that Grox was right behind her. He was climbing out the window and one enormous foot was already planted on the bridge which was clearly struggling to hold the weight of the ten-foot tall Trollox.

“Be careful, Sir Grox!” Oozle exclaimed behind him. “Do be careful! We have other flowers you may have, you know!”

“No! We want Songbird Sonya!” the middle head shouted. Meanwhile, the other two heads were still keeping up their whooping siren wail. “She is the female who will bear our heir. We only want her!”

“Well, you can’t have me!” Sonya shouted. Somehow, she found the strength to take another step, despite the horrible burning agony in her leg.

It’s just the chip sending you pain signals—your legs are fine, she lectured herself as the pain hit her again and her knees wobbled alarmingly. You’re going to be fine!

“That’s right, baby girl!” Davrik shouted, reaching for her. “Come on—you’re almost there!”

And that was when the bridge shook again. Sonya gasped and pinwheeled her arms, trying to keep her already shaky balance. Turning her head, she saw that Grox had both feet on the bridge now—but it was clear the thin silver structure hadn’t been meant to hold such immense weight. Nevertheless, the enormous Trollox came towards her, his heavy feet making the bridge bounce and sway with each step. Looking down, Sonya could see the metal beginning to buckle, right in the middle, halfway between the building and Dravik’s ship.

“Oh no!” she gasped. “It’s going to—”

With a shriek of metal tearing like paper, the middle of the bridge suddenly gave way. As the Trollox fell—all three heads howling—towards the street far below, Sonya slipped backwards. She reached for Davrik, who was still standing on the end of the bridge that was connected to the ship. It had remained stable somehow, though the other side was gone, falling into the void along with the howling Trollox.

“Sonya!” he shouted, reaching for her.

Sonya grabbed for the big Kindred’s hand…and missed.

She let out a breathless scream and then she was plummeting downward with the pavement rushing up to meet her.

FORTY-SEVEN

LAN’ARA

“Lan’ara! It’s so good to see you again!” Throwing protocol to the winds, Commander Sylvania enveloped Lan’ara in a big hug.

Lan’ara hugged her back, feeling the other woman’s genuine happiness to have her back aboard the Mother Ship. It felt wonderful to know she’d been missed but the joy of seeing her friends and coworkers again was considerably muted by the sorrow of knowing she would soon be parted from Nate forever.

Speaking of Nate, she could feel a complex mixture of emotions coming from her big human. Uppermost in his mind at the moment, was excitement to see his old friends. Simon and Oliver had come to meet them in the Docking Bay along with Commander Sylvania and now the three men were pounding each other on the back and shouting, which seemed to be the human male way of showing affection.

“You old son of a bitch! Never thought we’d see you again!” Oliver was saying as he hugged Nate.

“We thought you were gone for good,” Simon added, joining the hug.

“You boys oughta know you can’t get rid of me that easily,” Nate answered, grinning at them both.

But under his excitement at being reunited with his friends, Lan’ara could feel his concern for her and his worry about what would happen between them in the future. Even his mildly negative emotions made her feel drained—though not quite as much as before. Still, the fact was that being near him drained her, despite the time they’d spent filling her emotional reservoir when he tasted her.

Lan’ara wanted to hold onto that memory tightly—it had been incredibly hot and intimate. And it was doubtless going to be the last such encounter they would share, since they were headed to the Sacred Grove to get their partial Bond severed.

Shouldn’t have let him taste me, she thought ruefully. It only strengthened the Bond—which means it’s going to be that much more painful when the priest breaks it!

She’d wanted to go even further, though. Her throat was dry and aching and her tongue craved the taste of his seed. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Nate that female Kindred had a biological need to drink the cream of their men.

But if I had done that, I never would have been able to let him go, she thought to herself. Even if being near him killed me.

The call from the Mother Ship had come at just the right time—keeping her from taking Nate’s long, hard shaft in her mouth and sucking his cream right out of him.

Just the thought of that—of leaning over him and taking his shaft in her mouth as he moaned her name and stroked her hair made Lan’ara feel wet and hot all over again. She couldn’t help thinking how cruelly unfair it was that the two of them had turned out to be incompatible. She simply couldn’t withstand Nate’s negative emotions—they were too intense now that the Soul Bond had started to form between them. Lan’ara couldn’t imagine what they would be like if the Bond was complete. They would probably kill her.

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