Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (35 page)

“I…yes, I guess.” Mei-Li’s heart was
pounding.

“Did he kiss you lower?” He dipped his
chin and placed his lips more fully against her. Then he kissed her again…a long,
slow kiss, as though he was kissing her mouth.

Mei-Li couldn’t help the moan that fell
out of her. It felt like she was on fire between her legs—every nerve ending
throbbing from his tender gesture.

“I…maybe,” she managed.

“And it did nothing for you?” Six lifted
an eyebrow at her.

“No…not…not much,” she whispered, trying
to keep control.

“What if I spread you open—spread your
sweet pussy wide—and kissed your inner folds?” Six murmured. “Would that give
you pleasure, do you think?”

“I…I d-don’t know,” she stuttered. God, he
was driving her
crazy.
She wondered if he knew it.

“Did this other male—this Clem—do that for
you?” he asked, looking at her intently.

“A…a little, I guess.”

“Like this?” He spread her delicately with
his thumbs, revealing her slippery pink interior. She bit her lip, feeling
incredibly exposed. It felt like her clit was throbbing in time with her
heartbeat and she didn’t know if she wanted to close her legs…or spread them
wider.

Then Six kissed her again and everything
else was driven out of her mind. His mouth was so hot, so wet…and he kissed her
so slowly it sent shivering waves of pleasure down her spine.

He didn’t seem content to kiss just the
inside, either. As Mei-Li watched, he placed tender, sucking kisses on her
outer pussy lips and then stooped lower to kiss her entrance before making his
way up to kiss the top of her slit again.

At last he looked up and licked his lips,
which were shiny with her juices.

“Tell me more,” he commanded hoarsely.

“More?” Mei-Li felt like hear heart was
going to beat right out of her chest. “More about what?”

“About what he did to you. How he
pleasured you. Did he suck your clit?” He traced her throbbing button gently
with one fingertip, making her jump and moan. “Did he take your center of
pleasure between his lips and bathe it with his tongue?”

“I…” Mei-Li shook her head. “I’m not
sure.” Honestly, it was hard to be sure of anything right now. Her entire body
felt like it was tingling and she was molten from the waist down.

“Maybe I should show you what I mean?” Six
raised an eyebrow at her.

She bit her lip. “I…I don’t know.”

“Like this.” Ducking his head again, he
pressed his mouth to her heated button and sucked it gently between his lips.

“Oh
God!”
Mei-Li threw back her head
as she felt the tip of his tongue tracing slow circles around the sensitive
bundle of nerves. Looking down at his broad, bare shoulders splitting her
thighs wide, she couldn’t believe what was happening. How had she gotten here,
to this point? How had she wound up spread out and helpless as the huge warrior
opened her pussy with his tongue, tasting her as though it was the most
important thing in the world—as though it was the
only
thing in the
word?

The tip of his tongue made magical
patterns around her swollen bud, making her moan and gasp. She wanted to writhe
away from the exquisite torture, but she was securely fastened to the bed,
unable to get away even if she tried. There was nothing she could do but try to
relax and let him in—relax and let him taste her. For it seemed certain that he
wouldn’t stop until he was finished. And the way he was enjoying her body made
Mei-Li think that might be a long time in the future.

She had told Six she couldn’t come this
way and yet she felt pleasure building in the pit of her stomach—a warm wave of
desire that threatened to spill over and drown her soon. God, what was she
going to do?

Six went on and on, paying slow, tender
attention to her throbbing button until she thought she would die—how much
could one person stand? At last he looked up, his eyes half-lidded and burning
with desire.

“So sweet,” he muttered hoarsely. “Gods,
so sweet and hot and wet. Your honey is beyond compare, Mei-Li.”

“Is…is it?” She was breathing hard,
feeling close to the edge. The sensation of his tongue on her clit had been
almost more than she could stand but now she wished he would taste her
again—anything to end this torture and let her finally come.

As if reading her mind, Six dipped his
head again. Starting at the entrance to her channel, he dragged the flat of his
tongue up along her open pussy, as though she was an ice cream cone in danger
of melting on a hot day.

Mei-Li certainly
felt
like she was
melting.

“Ah!” Her back arched, pressing towards
him, seeking more of the spine tingling pleasure. For a wonder, the
sousa
actually allowed the motion and even helped her, opening her thighs wider to
offer her pussy more completely to the big Kindred’s mouth.

“Gods.” It was a low, hoarse groan dragged
from his throat as he looked up at her. “I love the sounds you make when I
taste you. Tell me, Mei-Li, did you make those sounds for him—for this other
male when he tasted you?”

“I…I don’t know. I don’t think so,” she
gasped. “It was…a long time ago. I can’t…can’t remember.”

“Do you remember if he tasted your honey
right form the source?” Six growled. “Do you remember if he put his tongue deep
inside you—inside your pussy, Mei-Li?”

“I…” She shook her head. “Do you…are you
going to…?”

“I must.” His eyes burned into hers. “Gods
help me, I will go mad if I cannot taste you more deeply. I cannot understand
these sensations. These…”

“Feelings?” Mei-Li finished for him
softly.

“No.” He shook his head at once, denying
it. “I do not understand what is happening but I know it is not that. Never
that.” He looked away. “I simply need to taste you—it must be part of my
Kindred DNA. That’s all.”

“Six…”

“Don’t move,” he ordered, as if she could
have gotten loose from the
sousa
even if she tried. “I need to open you
completely with my tongue, need to taste your juices from their source.”

“God,”
she whispered. “Six, I—”

“I need to put my tongue in your pussy,
Mei-Li,” he growled softly. He stooped to kiss her inner thigh, making her
jump. “I need to do it
now.”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say.

But he was already bending low and
pressing his face between her legs to lick her once more. Mei-Li moaned
breathlessly as he bathed her clit with the flat of his tongue, lapping her
with a desire and intensity that made her back arch and her fingers curl into
helpless fists at her sides.

“Six,” she moaned. “Oh,
Six…”

He slid his big, warm hands up under her
ass and pulled her closer, wrapping his muscular arms around her thighs,
spreading her even wider for his assault.

Mei-Li gasped as she felt his tongue move
lower and find the entrance to her pussy. He wasted no time but thrust straight
in, penetrating her to the core and making her gasp his name again.

“Six,
please!”
She was writhing
helplessly now, grinding against his face shamelessly as he lapped and thrust
deep inside her.

“Do you like it?” He looked up briefly,
his jaw and mouth shiny with her juices. “Do you like the feel of my tongue in
you, Mei-Li?”

“You…you know I do.” Her face—indeed, her
whole naked body felt hot and flushed at the admission but she couldn’t lie.
“It feels so…
God
, Six!”

“Gods, seeing your pleasure…feeling your
honey coat my mouth and tasting your juices…the sensations are so
strong.
They almost overwhelm me.” He shook his head. “I know you said you cannot come
in this way but I need you to try anyway. Need to feel your sweet cunt spasming
around my tongue as you come all over my face.”

“I…” Mei-Li licked her lips. “I’ll try.”

“Good. Come for me, Mei-Li. Come
hard.”
With a final, intense stare, he leaned down and penetrated her again,
thrusting deeply into her pussy with his long, hot tongue.

“Ah, God…please!” Mei-Li arched her back.
She was getting close—so close to the edge. Gone was the conviction that she
couldn’t come this way. Six had proved her wrong there. She was going to
come—going to come so hard she didn’t know how she could stand it. His tongue
inside her felt so good but she just needed something else…something more…

Suddenly she felt the fingers of his metal
left hand slide into her folds. Two fingertips found her clit and settled one
on either side of the sensitive little button. Then, just as Six was thrusting
his tongue even more deeply into her, they began an almost imperceptible but
incredibly intense vibration as they had the night he had first touched her.

It was exactly what she needed. With a low
wail, Mei-Li thrust forward, giving herself completely, riding his face
shamelessly as the wave of pleasure that had been threatening her suddenly
broke, drenching her completely.

“Six,” she cried. “Ah, God—Six…
Six!”
Her
hands, still pinned to her sides, itched to grasp his thick, dark hair. Her
fingers open and shut and her toes curled helplessly as he pressed deeper and
deeper into her, thrusting with his tongue as though he was trying to reach her
very soul. At the same time, his metal fingers stroked with gentle intensity
around her clit, drawing another orgasm from her and then another.

Mei-Li didn’t know how long it lasted—only
that she didn’t know how much more she could take. Six seemed to never tire of
giving her pleasure. She bit back a moan as she watched him on his knees before
her, his broad, bare shoulders splitting her wide as he knelt between her
thighs to worship her pussy with his mouth. He seemed to revel in her scent and
taste, licking and sucking— thrusting to kiss and taste as deeply as he could.
And all the time the vibrating metal fingers teased her until she cried his
name again and again and begged until she was hoarse.

At last, he drew back, panting and looked
up at her. His cheeks and chin and mouth were shiny with her juices and his
eyes were nearly wild with desire. Mei-Li thought for certain that he would
mount her now. She was, after all, in the perfect position—her pelvis tilted up
towards him, her pussy spread and ready and open. She knew she shouldn’t want
him to do that—shouldn’t want him to fuck her—it was going to make everything
complicated. But they were too far gone to stop now. Lying back, she didn’t
even try to struggle with the
sousa’s
bonds that held her to the bed.
She simply waited for him to take her.

“Release,” he said and Mei-Li suddenly
found that she could move again—the restraints the
sousa
had put on her
were gone.

Chapter
Twenty-five

“What?” Mei-Li looked up at him
uncertainly. “What are you doing?”

He ignored her and rose abruptly from his
crouch, trying to put some distance between them. Gods, why had he done it? Why
had he not been able to control himself?

Mei-Li was staring at him. Her nipples
were still tight little points and her sweet, wet pussy looked swollen from his
assault. Six looked away, shame flooding him. And still, despite the
self-loathing he felt, he wanted her. Gods, what was
wrong
with him?

“Six?” Her soft voice was tentative. “Six,
are you all right? You look like you might be hurting.” She reached up,
caressing the throbbing ridge of his cock, making him bite back a groan. “Do
you…do you need some help?”

“No.” Deliberately he stepped away from
her touch, though he craved her soft, cool fingers wrapped around his shaft
like he craved his next breath. “No, don’t. I do not…do not deserve a release.”

Mei-Li shook her head. “Why not?”

“How can you ask me that after what I have
just done to you?” He ran a hand though his hair distractedly.

“Okay, well…you did get a
little
out
of control.” Mei-Li got up and picked up the red garment he had pulled off her.
“But you didn’t hurt me.”

“I took what you were not willing to
give,” Six said in a low voice, choked with shame. “I held you down and did as
I pleased because I couldn’t control myself.”

She bit her lip, a distractingly erotic
gesture that he tried to ignore.

“I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at
first—I’m still not completely sure,” she said softly. “I asked you to stop and
you didn’t—that’s not okay. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you to,
um, continue towards the end. I’ve never…” Her voice dropped and her cheeks got
red. “I’ve never come so hard in my life, Six. And I didn’t even know I
could
come that way. You…I’ve never had anyone so…so intensely focused on my pleasure
before.”

“It was
my
pleasure I was concerned
about—don’t you see?” he said roughly. “All I cared about was taking what I
wanted. Which I did.
Gods.”
He turned away, trying not to look at her. Trying
not to see how lovely she looked with her nakedness framed in the deep red
garment she had thrown over her shoulders. Trying not to taste the last, faint
traces of her sweet honey on his lips or smell her devastatingly feminine scent
which still lingered in the air.

But he couldn’t help himself—his fingers
itched to take her by the shoulders, to pull her to him and kiss her again.
Somehow Six managed to restrain himself.
You’ve taken enough already,
he
reminded himself grimly. But it was hard—incredibly hard not to act on his
impulses.

He ran a hand through his hair.
Gods,
why can’t I stop this? Just being in the same room with her floods me with
sensations.

Not sensations—
emotions
—admit
it,
whispered a voice in his brain.
Just
admit it now, Six.

He didn’t want to but he feared he had no
choice. The evidence was as clear as it was damning—his implant was failing and
he was feeling. Feeling with an intensity that frightened the Seven Hells out
of him.

“I don’t know what to say,” she said in a
low voice, interrupting his grim thoughts.

“I do.” Six took a deep breath. “I have
violated our Claiming contract by tasting you before our tasting week
officially began. Therefore, you are freed and our Claiming Period is now
over.”

“What?” She looked at him, her dark eyes
going wide. “But…but where—?”

“I will take you back up to the medical
barge. There I can get my implant replaced and take you home.”

“But I never said I wanted
that,”
she
exclaimed. “I never said I wanted to go home—not like this, anyway.”

“It does not matter what you want—the
facts are irrefutable,” Six said stolidly. “My emotion damper is failing and I
have become a danger to you, as well as a criminal among my own kind.”

“Why, because you’re having emotions?
Because you’re
feeling?”
she cried. “What’s so wrong with that, Six?
What’s so wrong with letting yourself
care
and
want
and
need
other than the fact that a pack of sentient machines says it’s wrong?”

For a moment he was at a loss for words.
Then he shook his head.

“The Collective knows best. They made the
law against emotions for a reason.”

“What do a bunch of computers know about
emotions? About feeling or caring or love?” Mei-Li demanded. “What have they
ever
known?”

“They knew enough to stop Z4 from going to
war again—to stop all the organics here from killing each other.”

“That war happened hundreds of years ago!”
she shouted. Her cheeks were flushed now, her dark eyes snapping with anger.
“Why don’t you just admit the real reason you’re sending me home?”

Six rounded on her. “And what reason is
that?”

“You’re sending me home because you care
about me. Because you’re starting to have feelings—not just feelings in
general—although I think that scares you too. But feelings for
me
. The
same way…” She lifted her chin and her face got very red. “The same way I’m
having feelings for you,” she finished in a low voice.

The words hung in the air between them and
Six had the sense that she had risked herself greatly in saying them. He didn’t
know how to reply—his heart pounded powerfully beneath his ribs and his chest
felt tight. Mei-Li cared for him? She had feelings for him?

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
This was what he had longed to hear her say and yet now that she had said it,
he couldn’t allow himself to return her emotions. He couldn’t go to her, even
though he felt the longing for her welling up inside him. He wanted desperately
to take her in his arms—to crush her to him and kiss her and tell her that he
wanted her too, that he
felt
for her so deeply it hurt. But if he did
that he would have to go all the way—he would have to get his implant removed
or he would never be able to bond with her properly.

If you do that, there
is no going back,
whispered that little
interior voice.
You will be lost, completely lost and out of control emotionally.
Your place in the Collective’s rubric will be filled by another, your existence
will be forever altered.
Six took a deep breath. These things were not
optimal but he thought he could deal with them. He would have to abandon Z4, of
course and that would not be easy—he had lived here half his life. Being able
to be with Mei-Li, however, having the right to hold her in his arms every
night, to kiss her and be close to her, would be worth even such a stressful
and extreme life change.

But then the voice whispered something
worse.
If you get the implant removed the memories will all come back. Every
last one. And without the implant, you will have nothing to block the pain,
nothing to numb the emotions that accompany them.

Mere…Pere…Kaylee…I
failed them. It was my fault…

But
what
was his fault? Six knew something terrible had happened to them—the few brief
flashes he got from time to time of the buried memories let him know that. But
he didn’t know exactly
what
it was that had happened and he didn’t have
to feel the pain of it—the overwhelming agony he knew accompanied their
memories. Once the implant was removed he would feel three times the amount of
emotion and horror and pain—an inevitable result of having suppressed both
memory and emotion for so long. It would be unremitting agony.

Please, Jax—kill me!
I’m dying anyway…

No!

Six shook his head to drive away the ghost
that whispered uneasily in his ear. It was more than he could bear. Mei-Li was
reaching out to him, a look of hope on her lovely face. Six shook his head,
taking a step back from her.

“I…cannot.”

“Six, please—” Her eyes were pleading. It
took everything he had to turn away from them. But somehow he did.

“Ready your things. I will take you back up
to the medical barge now, tonight. There is no reason why you cannot be on your
own planet by this time tomorrow.”

Then somehow he forced himself to turn and
walk away.

* * * * *

Mei-Li looked out the window of the
shuttle, watching as they left Z4 behind and headed out into space, where the
medical barges were orbiting the vast silvery-black planet. Beside her, Six
piloted the shuttle in complete silence. He hadn’t spoken a word to her in the
past hour except to tell her to watch her step as she climbed into the shuttle.
To Mei-Li, it seemed he had no intention of saying anything to her ever again
if he could help it.

She stole a sideways glance at him from
the corner of her eye and then wished she hadn’t. His features were like
granite and she didn’t think she’d ever seen him look so imposing—not even back
when he’d still been wearing the ocular scope/scanner over his left eye. The
enhancement in question was on the seat beside him, presumably waiting to be
reattached at the same time that he got his emotion damper replaced.

Stupid. Stupid,
stupid,
stupid!
Mei-Li told herself
angrily.
How could you let yourself care for him? How could you let yourself
fall for a man who is so
completely
unavailable? And then how could you make
such a fool out of yourself by admitting it?

The blank, cold stare he’d given her when
she’d admitted her feelings was burned into her memory. It clearly indicated he
had zero interest and didn’t return her feelings in the slightest.

But if he has no interest,
if he doesn’t care, why did he get so upset when Two nearly killed me? If he
doesn’t want me, why was he so eager to give me pleasure…to make me come?

Stop it!
Mei-Li pushed away the stupid thoughts. Wishful thinking,
that was all they were. Even if Six
had
started to have some kind of
feelings for her, he plainly didn’t want to keep having them. To the
contrary—he was desperate to get rid of them. He
liked
being an
emotionless robot. Liked it so much he couldn’t wait to get back to his numb
and unfeeling state as soon as possible. He—

“Six, respond please. Six?”

Her depressing thoughts were interrupted
by a cold voice. Looking up, she saw the round, pudgy face of One, Six’s boss,
on the flat rectangular viewscreen. As always, she could see his brain through
the clear skullcap he wore. Mei-Li tried unsuccessfully to suppress a shiver.
Ugh!

“Hello, One. I am here.” Six spoke just as
coldly as his superior.

“And where is ‘here’ may I ask?” One
frowned.

“En route to med barge three. I have been
having some…trouble with my enhancements.” Six pointed to his bare left eye
where the ocular scope had been. “I also plan to take Mei-Li home. Our Claiming
Period had ended prematurely in a breach of contract.”

“A breach of contract?” One raised one
nearly hairless eyebrow at him. “May I ask exactly what happened?”

“I am afraid not,” Six said firmly and
much to Mei-Li’s relief. She really didn’t want Mr. Visible Brain knowing her
business, especially when it came to sex. “You need only know that she is
unharmed and I will be returning her to Earth very shortly.”

One nodded. “It is regrettable that your
contract could not be fulfilled in full but it is ultimately not significant.
Recent events have come to pass that make completing the Claiming Period
unnecessary. In fact, I need your full attention here on Z4. Therefore, find
another warrior to take the female back to her planet.”

Six’s long fingers tightened on the
steering yoke.

“Negative, One. I do not wish to entrust
her safety to another male.”

One frowned. “This…protectiveness you have
for the female in question, I believe has gone beyond what might be expected
from your Kindred DNA.”

“And what would make you express such an
opinion?” Six asked flatly.

One cleared his throat. “Two spoke to me
earlier. He appeared to think your attachment to the female was…beyond the
bounds of what is lawful and right.”

“Meaning?” Six demanded.

One gave him a sober look. “He told me he
thought you were committing Feel-crime, Six.”

Mei-Li held her breath, wondering how the
big Kindred would answer such an accusation. To Six’s credit, he remained cool
as a cucumber.

“Two tried to purge Mei-Li. Her safety and
welfare have been entrusted to my care. My reaction to Two’s assault was
natural and right for a Kindred warrior.”

One frowned. “I did not know he tried to
purge her—that is completely inappropriate. She has a dispensation, does she
not?”

“She does but the garment she was wearing
covered it. Two claimed this was reason enough to kill her.”