Page 88 of Rescued

It was good advice and Nate clenched his jaw as he felt the Kindred priest place a hand on his head…and then enter his mind for the second time since they’d knelt before him. The feeling was like having someone wander through your mind like it was a library and they were looking for just the right book to check out. He felt the priest pulling out various volumes, searching for the truth.

And then the wandering fingers found an especially sensitive area.

“Hmm,” came a voice in his brain. “I believe I see the problem—there is a wound here which is almost but not quite fully healed.”

“What…what can you do about it?” Nate asked through gritted teeth. Having the Kindred priest in his mind wasn’t nearly as bad as having the AllFather there, back when he’d been captured, but it was still damned uncomfortable! It made him feel incredibly vulnerable and exposed.

“Yes, the AllFather—he is the source of the wound. Without his interference you would not have experienced the breaks in your consciousness,” the priest informed him. “Your experiences with him have given you what the humans call PTSD—Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But what is broken, may be healed with the help of the Goddess,” he added.

Nate realized that the last words had been spoken aloud and that he no longer felt an alien presence in his head. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the priest who towered above them both, since he and Lan’ara were still kneeling in the grass.

“I saw the break in his mind and I also noted that you made a good start in healing him,” the priest said, speaking to Lan’ara.

“I gave him my Healing Nectar,” she admitted in a low voice. “But though it helped some, I am still drained by Nate’s negative emotions.”

“That is because his healing is incomplete,” the priest told her. “But if the two of you wish it, you can complete the healing—at a cost.”

“Of course we wish it!” Lan’ara said quickly.

“But what’s the cost?” Nate demanded. “I don’t want Lan’ara to have to make the nectar for me again—giving it to me last time damn near killed her!”

“No more Healing Nectar is required,” the priest assured him. “The two of you must simply go on with your Claiming period—but you must move slowly. The more good feelings you generate through physical intimacy, the more Lan’ara will be able to build a barrier that can protect her from your negative emotions.” He looked at Lan’ara. “I saw the beginning of such a barrier when I looked into your minds—can you not feel it?”

Lan’ara frowned.

“You know, I do remember thinking that Nate’s negative emotions weren’t quite as draining as they had been before we uh…before we were intimate this last time.”

She blushed as she spoke but the priest was matter-of-fact.

“There is no shame in intimacy with the one the Goddess has set aside just for you,” he told her. “I can sense your thirst for your mate-to-be’s seed. You must drink your fill.”

“Uh…what?” Nate looked back and forth between them uncertainly.

“I’m simply saying that the two of you must worship each other’s bodies,” the priest said. “In this way, Lan’ara can slowly build the barrier that she can raise or lower at will. That way, if you are having painfully negative emotions that might drain her, she can protect herself. That should allow the two of you to stay together and eventually to Bond.”

“How long must we wait?” Lan’ara asked. She cast a shy, sidelong glance at Nate. “I hunger for my human in more than one way, Your Holiness.”

Nate felt a surge of desire.

“I’m hungry for you too, sweetheart,” he growled hoarsely.

But the priest frowned and shook his head.

“Let me caution you to take things slowly. If you Bond too fast, there will be a price.”

“What price?” Nate demanded. “I don’t want to hurt Lan’ara!”

“Actually, it is you who would be hurt—or rather, weakened—nearly to the point of death,” the priest warned them. “It’s a matter of restoring balance. For the entire time the two of you have been together, you have been taking from Lan’ara and she has been giving of herself in order to heal you. The emotional energy balance between the two of you is vastly unequal.” He raised both hands, one held high above his head and the other down low, by his waist to show the inequality.

“I understand that,” Nate said humbly. “But are you saying that if we Bonded now, the balance would be restored—things would be even again?”

“Yes, it would, but in the process, all of the healing and energy you drained from Lan’ara would be sucked out of you and restored to her,” the priest cautioned. “She would feel fine. But you would be drained—maybe for just a few days but possibly for much longer.”

“Drained how? I don’t want to hurt Nate anymore than he wants to hurt me!” Lan’ara exclaimed.

“It wouldn’t affect his physical or mental health—just his energy levels,” the priest explained. “He would feel extremely weak and tired and be unable to move or do things for himself—such helplessness can be difficult for a large, healthy male. As I said before, it’s better for the two of you to take things slowly—restore some of the balance between you through physical pleasure before you attempt Bonding.”

“We understand,” Lan’ara said, bowing her head.

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