Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (23 page)

“Wait a minute—pain?” Becca frowned.
“Maybe we’d better skip the tutorials after all.”

“If we can,” Truth said darkly. “We have
no idea what we’re doing here, let alone how to navigate in this bizarre
reality.”

“Enjoy your new existence in the
Mindscape,” the voice said. “Monitoring begins now.”

Then it went quiet and didn’t speak again.

“Now what do we do?” Becca rubbed her
arms, trying to keep warm.

“Now we go looking for Vashtar.” Truth got
off the bed and started off into the gray mist.

“Brother, wait,” Far said urgently. “We have
no idea where he is.”

“We’ll never find him if we don’t look,”
Truth growled. “I’m going, you can follow me or not.”

Far and Becca looked at each other and
sighed.

“All right, wait—we’re coming,” Far said.
He helped Becca off the bed and they joined Truth in the mist.

Becca was between the two brothers as
usual and her first impulse was to cover herself. But the gray mist was so
thick she could scarcely see either Far or Truth so they probably couldn’t see
much of her either. In fact, she realized, after they had been walking
aimlessly for a moment, she couldn’t see either brother at all. She reached out
to one side, where the light twin should be, but her hand felt nothing but
chilly mist. Reaching for Truth left her empty handed as well.

“Far?” she called, her heart suddenly
freezing in her chest. “Truth? Where are you?”

“Here, Becca,” called a deep voice she
recognized as Far’s. But it sounded like it was coming from a long distance
away. After a moment, Truth answered too but he sounded even further away.

“Stop walking—both of you,” Becca
demanded. “Don’t go a step further—let me find you.” She called for Far again
and he answered. Becca followed the sound of his voice which was far off to her
left—much further than he should have been able to get from her in a few steps.
She groped forward like a person in a dark closet until, at last, to her
relief, she found his hand.

“Mi’now?”
He looked concerned. “What’s happening?
How did you get so far away?”

“I don’t know but Truth is twice as far
and he’s not patient. We have to find him before he gets lost for…” Becca
swallowed hard. “For good.”

She and Far retraced her steps, both of
them calling for the dark twin as they went. At first they couldn’t hear his
replies at all, though they both shouted until they were hoarse. Finally, Becca
heard Truth’s answering shout.

“Stay there! We’ll come to you,” she
yelled. Keeping a firm grip on Far’s hand, she waded back through the mist (was
it her imagination or was the damn stuff getting thicker?) until she could hear
the dark twin more clearly. Still it seemed to take hours of calling and
groping through the dense grayness until she finally found a large, male hand
and grabbed it.

At last, Truth came into view.

“Oh, Truth!” Becca hadn’t realized how
worried she’d been until she finally had both her men back. She threw an arm
around the dark twin, not caring that they were both naked, and pressed a kiss
to his cheek. “Here you are! I was so worried!” she whispered in his ear.

“I was too.” Truth shifted uncomfortably
and Becca realized her naked breasts, the nipples made into hard little points
by the ever present cold, were pressed against his bare, muscular chest.

“Sorry,” she said, drawing back but
keeping one hand on his arm. She was still holding onto Far with the other.
Not
taking any more chances!
she told herself.

“Where have the two of you been?” Truth
demanded, sounding shaken. “I couldn’t find either of you.”

“The mist divided us somehow,” Becca
answered, shivering. “And it only took a few steps to do it. What if we’d
gotten lost forever? Wandering around endlessly, never finding each other
again?” The thought made her so upset that she had to blink back tears.

“It’s all right,
mi’now,”
Far said
gently, squeezing her arm. “We’re all together now.”

“And that’s how we’re going to stay. From
now on, we hold hands everywhere we go in this freaky place!”

She halfway expected Truth to object but
their narrow escape must have upset him as much as it had Becca because he
allowed her to take his right hand and the three of them continued into the
mist together.

But they had only walked a few steps when
they found themselves standing in front of the bare bed where they had started.

“What in the Seven Hells?” Truth said
angrily. “How did we end up back here?”

“I don’t know.” Far sighed and sat on the
edge of the mattress. “But I don’t think Vashtar is going to be as simple to
find as we thought.”

“And I don’t think we’re going to find him
by walking, either,” Becca said, sitting beside him. She shivered and rubbed
her hands up and down her arms. “It’s so
cold
in here. I thought we were
supposed to be able to make it warm.”

“Have you tried that?” Far asked.
“Remember the avatar said we could have anything we wanted while in the
Mindscape. Imagine yourself warm and see what happens.”

Becca tried it. Closing her eyes, she
pictured herself standing in front of a roaring fire, the warm blaze heating
her from the top of her head to the bottoms of her feet. After a moment she
opened her eyes.

“N-nothing,” she whispered, her teeth chattering.
If anything, it seemed even
colder
than it had been when they’d been
wandering in the mist. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking with cold.

“Mi’now?”
Far looked really concerned. He put an arm
around her shoulders and Becca leaned into his warmth—but it wasn’t enough. It
felt like an icy wind was blowing right at her, and there was no way to escape
it.

Truth looked worried now as well but
instead of putting his arm around her on the other side, he stood up on the bed
again.

“What are you doing?” Far demanded,
looking up at his brother in exasperation.

“Rebecca is freezing to death and Vashtar
is nowhere to be found. I think we have been tricked—it’s time to get out of
the slime.” Looking up into the gray mist, he roared, “Exit!”

Nothing happened.

“Truth, I don’t think—” Far began quietly.

“Leave!” Truth shouted, ignoring his
brother. “Doorway!
Out!”

“It’s not going to work—not that way,” Far
said impatiently.

“What the hell?” Truth sounded both
bewildered and angry as he finally sank down onto the bare mattress again.
“Then how is it going to work? Are we stuck?”

“I h-hope n-n-not.” Becca’s teeth were
chattering so hard she could barely speak. There was no doubt this time—it was
definitely getting colder. In fact, she could see her breath come out like
steam when she talked.

“Stop wasting your breath and help me warm
our lady,” Far demanded, glaring at his twin.

Truth frowned. “I…cannot. She is not my
lady. Not anymore.”

“Because you’re mad at me, you’ll let
Becca freeze?” Far asked in a low, dangerous voice. “I can’t warm her up by
myself, Truth—look at her!”

Indeed, Becca was so cold now that she
couldn’t even speak. She simply pressed close to Far’s side and kept her body
in a tight knot, trying to conserve body heat. But it was cold…so
cold.
Her
whole body felt numb. She began to wonder if you could get frostbite in a
wholly imaginary realm.

“Look at her,” Far said to his twin again.
“Before we find Vashtar or do anything else, we need to make sure she doesn’t
freeze. Now, come on.”

He lay down on his side, taking Becca with
him. She was dimly aware of his broad, warm chest pressed against her shivering
back and it
did
feel good. But it simply wasn’t enough. She knew that
having Truth on her other side so that her smaller form was bracketed by the
big male bodies would help. But would the dark twin bend his no-contact policy,
even to keep her from freezing?

“P-please, Truth,” she managed to get out
through numb lips. “S-so c-cold. And you won’t…w-won’t even be r-really
t-touching me.”

“She’s right,” Far said from behind her.
“None of our physical bodies are touching, no matter what it feels or looks
like here. We’re actually back in that vast holding facility all in our
separate tanks.”

Truth muttered a low curse. “I suppose
you’re right,” he said at last. “Very well, I will do this, but only because it
isn’t real.”

It felt real enough to Becca.
I’m going
to freeze,
she thought miserably.
I bet my body is going into
hypothermia back in that damn slime tank. And all because we can’t figure out a
way to make any blankets or clothes appear in this stupid mental internet
place.

Just as she was sure she was a gonner,
Truth lay down on the bed facing her, and scooted close.

Immediately, Becca began to feel better.
But she still needed something more.

“Arms,” she gasped. “P-put your arms
around m-me.”

From behind, she felt Far wrap his arms
around her at once. Truth did the same though a little more hesitantly.

The moment she felt their long, muscular
arms overlapping around her, Becca at last began to feel warm. It started as a
tingle in her toes and fingertips that grew and grew. Then a flash of warmth,
like a wave of hot air, rushed through her arms and legs. But though the
tingling heat felt wonderful on her extremities, it didn’t quite reach her core
or her face.

“Rebecca?” Truth murmured, bending his
neck down to look into her eyes. “Are you feeling better?”

Becca looked up, meeting the dark twin’s
gaze. His pale eyes blazed with concern for her—concern and other emotions he wouldn’t
speak aloud. They were emotions he denied he even had but he couldn’t hide them
from her. Not when they were so close.

It’s all right,
she wanted to tell him.
I feel for you
too. I’m scared too. But it’s going to be all right…

“Rebecca?” he asked again.

Driven by some instinct she didn’t quite
understand, Becca answered him, but not with words. Tilting her chin, she
captured his sensual mouth with hers in a long, sweet, close-mouthed kiss.

Truth groaned and started to pull away.
Then he seemed to change his mind. Burying one hand in her hair, he pulled
Becca forward and kissed her back, taking her mouth with a single minded
intensity that made her moan.

The dark twin took her open lips as an
invitation. As his tongue slipped inside her, Becca felt the warmth penetrate
her at last, starting where their mouths were joined and rushing over her face
like tiny, tingling flames.

So good! Mother of God, so good!

She kissed Truth harder, pressing forward
to rub her bare breasts against his broad chest. At her back she felt Far
murmuring encouragement. She could feel his long, hard shaft pressing against
her ass, branding her there. At the same time, Truth’s cock was rubbing hard
against her lower belly.

The realization that both men were
touching her so intimately gave Becca pause. She could feel guilt hovering just
on the horizon and a little voice whispering that good girls didn’t do this and
she would be punished if she didn’t stop.

But it’s not real,
she reminded herself.
We’re not even
touching, no matter how good it feels. It’s all in our heads.

The rationalization was enough to push
back the guilt and let her really enjoy the intimate, three-way embrace. She
writhed between the big, male bodies, pressing her breasts against Truth and
her ass against Far. Hands stroked her everywhere, sliding over her shoulders
and down her sides, cupping her breasts and caressing her thighs. It felt
incredible and even better, she was finally completely warm through and through
for the first time since she’d taken off her protective suit.

Becca wasn’t sure how far it would have
gone if Truth hadn’t finally pulled away from the kiss. With a low groan, he
sat up and put his head in his hands.

“Truth?” Becca sat up too and Far sat up
on the other side of her.

“Brother?” he asked quietly. “Are you
well?”

“Apologies…” Truth’s voice was hoarse.
“I…we shouldn’t have. I don’t know why I…why I…”

“Why you couldn’t resist kissing our lady
as she lay between us?” Far asked softly. “Why you find it so hard to ignore
your natural instincts?”

“I should have been stronger. Should have
resisted.” Truth ran a hand through his short hair and looked away guiltily.

“It’s my fault,” Becca said quickly. “I’m
sorry, Truth. I was just so cold and I had this idea that if I kissed you it
might, um, warm me up.”

“And did it?” He asked, raising an eyebrow
at her.

Becca nodded quickly. “Oh, yes! Being
between the two of you is better than bundling up in the quilt my grandma made
me.” She felt her cheeks get warm as she said it but there was no denying the
truth of the statement. She was toasty warm now even though they were no longer
entwined.