Forgotten (41 page)

“
I had it well in control
before you started pushing,” Rone snarled. “And I can still control
it—so stay the fuck away from us!”

The Madam’s dark shape shimmered and
Mistress Light appeared.

“
Do not lie to yourself,
Warrior,” she said gently. “You need to feed your
hunger
very soon or your
mate will be in grave danger. You know this.”

“
You—” Rone began but just
then Kate stirred in his arms.

“
Rone?” she whispered and
then cried out weakly when her movements hurt the wounds on her
back.

“
It’s all right, baby,” he
murmured reassuringly. “We’re going now. Going to get you all
treated and healed up, I promise.”

“
Farewell, Warrior,”
Mistress Light said, just as her other half had.

Rone didn’t bother to answer. Someday he
would come back and avenge the pain that had been inflicted on his
mate. Right now, he had to tend to her.

He took Kate inside the ship and shut the
door firmly behind him. They were getting the Seven Hells out of
this damn place and then he was going to heal Kate…and get some
answers from her.

Chapter
Twenty

“
Well? What are they doing
now?” Two demanded from the chip implanted under Y’s ear. He had
been silent for a long time—long enough that it made Y jump to
suddenly hear his Master’s voice in his head again.

“
They are back aboard
their own ship,” Y reported. “But they haven’t set a course as far
as I can tell. They appear to be simply orbiting the moon which
hosts the Flame and Frost complex.”

Two swore nastily. “I cannot manipulate them
or enter their thoughts in the ship as I could while they were
still in the compound. The metal of their hull impedes my new
mental skills.”

Y wondered uneasily what other “skills” his
Master had picked up from their time on the Scourge home world. Two
was growing himself a new body in the vats the ancient alien race
had used to replenish their stock of warriors, but Y had not seen
it yet.

The body, along with a new chip with Master
Two’s personality implanted in it, had been sequestered for days as
it grew in the deep troughs filled with growth hormones and
chemicals. During that time, Two had been mostly silent,
concentrating on implanting himself thoroughly into his new
form.

Y had stayed away from the new body and
worked on the various projects he had been assigned. The Master had
commanded him to especially concentrate on watching the Kindred
tracker and his mate—the same girl they had taken by mistake and
put back on Earth some months before.

As always, his Master’s motivations were a
mystery to Y. Two had learned, through the spies he had planted
everywhere, even on the Kindred Mother Ship, that the Wulven
Kindred and his mate would be assigned to track him once they
healed their wounded relationship. For some reason, this had
enraged Two and he had vowed to hurt them in any way he could. Y
had asked several times why they didn’t just blast the Wulven’s
ship out of the sky but Two appeared to think that was too
easy.

“
I want them to have a
slow death,” he’d told Y. “And I want them to hate each other
before they die—hate each other and themselves.”

Y couldn’t fathom such reasoning but then,
almost none of what the Master said and did made sense to him. More
and more, he dreamed of a life without the constant presence in his
head. Without the chip implanted beneath his ear…

“
Well?”

The booming voice behind him made Y whirl
around. His eyes grew large as he looked up…and up and up. Standing
in the doorway of the ancient Scourge command complex was a
behemoth of a warrior—nine feet tall and massively muscular.

“
M-master?” he somehow
managed to get out.

“
What do you think?” The
massive warrior did a surprisingly graceful turn, letting Y admire
him from all sides. “I thought of simply regrowing my old body but
though I miss my lovely metal teeth, this one has such a
wonderful
intimidation
factor. Don’t you think?” he asked Y.

Y had to agree that his master was right.
The muscular hulk of a male before him was nothing if not
intimidating. “You are… certainly a sight to behold, Master,” he
admitted.

“
As I intended to be.” The
Master preened, his new eyes glowing a contented red in their deep
black sockets. His skin was the pearlescent gray of the Scourge and
he was clothed in black battle armor and thick boots he must have
found somewhere in the storage lockers.

“
You must be quite
relieved to have your own body again,” Y said cautiously. “In fact,
now that your personality and consciousness resides inside this new
and much worthier vessel, you will no doubt want me to remove the
chip you had implanted in me.” He touched the bulge under his ear
and looked up at his Master hopefully.

Master Two laughed—a strange, booming sound
that seemed to echo inside Y’s head since it was coming both from
the behemoth before him and the chip beneath his ear.

“
Oh, I think not, Y. I
rather like being able to keep such a close eye on you. I will
remain watchful and
you
will retain my personality inside
yourself.”

Y felt his heart sink. He hadn’t realized
how desperately he wanted to be alone in his own skull until that
moment.

“
But…” he
began.

“
What is it, Y?” The huge
creature before him peered down to gaze significantly into his
face. “Please don’t tell me you’re tiring of my company. That would
hurt my
feelings.
And you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“
Of course not, Master,” Y
said dully. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to host
you.”

“
Of course it is.” The
huge face broke into a broad grin, showing sharp, yellow teeth. “I
am
delightful
company. Now then…” Master Two clapped his massive palms
together. “Have you readied the ship as I commanded?”

“
Of course, Master,” Y
answered stolidly. “I have one of the best flagships fitted with
all the equipment you ordered.”

“
Excellent. I’m glad that
you’ve been busy while I grew into my new form.” The Master smiled
again. “Now then, let’s be off, shall we? I want to be certain
we’re in position when the Wulven and his female begin to move. We
have to take them at
just
the right time and not before.”

“
Take them and do what
with them?” Y dared to ask.

“
Why, torture them of
course,” Two shot back. “Or let them torture each other, which
is
so
much more
entertaining. Don’t you think, Y?”

“
Of course, Master,” Y
answered dutifully. He must do as the Master willed, always. But
inside he wondered if he would ever be free…

* * * * *

Kate woke to the feeling of something cool
and wet being applied to the torn flesh of her back. Though whoever
was doing it was clearly trying to be careful, it still stung like
fire to have the ragged wounds touched.

“
Ah!” she gasped weakly,
trying to twist away from the cold wetness. The sudden movement
brought tears to her eyes and she gave a low moan of
pain.

“
Hold still,
Lalli,”
a deep, familiar
voice commanded. “I’m almost done washing your back. Then I can
heal you.”

“
You can what?” Kate
twisted her head around to look at Rone, even though it hurt to do
so. She was lying on her side on their bed in the ship and he was
kneeling beside her, pressing a damp rag to her back. Well at least
they were out of the horrible Flame and Frost resort but she still
felt uneasy and her back ached and throbbed. “What are you going to
do to me?” she asked again.

“
Heal you,” he said
patiently. “But I need to finish cleaning the wounds first. I swear
I’m almost done.”

“
How…how exactly are you
going to heal me?” Kate demanded.

“
With my tongue, of
course,” he said as though it was the most reasonable idea in the
world.

Kate thought she remembered saying something
like this before—that he could heal her by licking her—but she
didn’t know how she felt about it.

“
I don’t know,” she said
hesitantly. “Wouldn’t it be better to use some antibiotic ointment
and some bandages? Maybe some strips of gauze?”

Rone went perfectly still for a moment and a
look of sorrow passed over his strong features.

“
Are you really that
unwilling to let me taste you? Even in order to heal your
wounds?”

“
It’s not that…” Kate
shifted uncomfortably and then winced at the bolt of pain the
movement shot through her torn back.

“
What is it, then?” Rone
demanded. “What reason can you give for submitting yourself to such
a brutal and vicious beating rather than letting me pleasure you
with my tongue?”

“
It’s a long story,” Kate
snapped. “And anyway, I thought we were talking about you healing
my
back.”

“
Which I would not need to
do if you had been able to trust me enough to let me taste you when
the Madam of Shadows demanded it,” he pointed out.

“
That’s it. I’m leaving.”
Kate tried to get off the bed but she was weak from blood loss and
the sudden movements made her back feel like someone had poured
liquid fire over her wounds. “Ah!” she gasped and sank back to her
hands and knees, trembling with pain.

“
Come here.” Rone pulled
her to him with rough tenderness, being careful not to touch her
anywhere she’d been caned. “Relax,” he ordered her when Kate
struggled weakly in his grip. “I’m going to heal you now and I
don’t want to hear any more about it.”

“
But it’s unsanitary,”
Kate protested. “I mean bacteria and germs and—”

“
My body produces
antibacterial chemicals and healing agents specifically tailored to
you because you’re my mate,” he explained, speaking into her ear
since he was holding her from behind. “I can heal you more quickly
and cleanly than any outside source or medicine.”

“
But…but it’s
gross.
For you, I mean,”
she said desperately. “I don’t want you to have to lick all over my
bloody back—that’s disgusting.”

“
Kate…” He sighed deeply.
“How many times do I have to tell you that every part of you is
beautiful to me?”

“
But my scars…” she
whispered. That was the crux of the matter—the real reason she
didn’t want him licking her back. They were so
ugly.
So twisted and deformed. How
could Rone want to touch her there? Let alone put his mouth… she
shivered, unable to finish the thought.

“
Your scars are part of
you,
Lalli,”
he
murmured in her ear. “Which makes them beautiful to me
too.”

“
How can you
say
that?” Kate
whispered.

“
I say it because it’s
true,” he said simply. Then Kate felt something warm and wet and
incredibly soothing dragging lightly over one wounded shoulder
blade.

“
Ahh…” she gasped, jumping
a little.

He stopped at once. “Did I hurt you?”

“
No…” Kate took a moment
to take stock of herself. “Actually, it feels…it feels better, I
think.”

“
It should. The part I
licked is already beginning to heal.”

“
It is?” Kate tried to
turn her head but of course, she couldn’t see her own shoulder
blade and the motion just made her groan with pain.

“
Hold still.” Rone’s deep
voice was stern. “Let me heal you before you go twisting all
around.”

There didn’t seem to be much choice. Kate
held rigidly still as he continued licking her, tracing each long,
vicious wound on her back with his tongue.

The big Kindred’s gentle caress seemed to
send a warm tingling healing through her entire body. Soon, Kate
found that the stinging, burning pain was turning to pleasure—a
pleasure that wasn’t only confined to her back. For some reason her
nipples felt tight and achy and the tender V between her thighs was
throbbing as Rone continued to bathe her back with long, tender
licks of his tongue. The pleasurable sensations grew until she
didn’t think she could stand any more.

“
Um…” She shifted
restlessly. “Do you…don’t you want a break to get a drink of water
or something? To wash the taste out of your mouth?”

“
Why would I ever want to
wash away your taste?” he growled softly. “I
crave
it, Kate. Crave it like I
crave air to breathe.”

Somehow she knew they were no longer talking
about the taste he got while healing her back.

“
Why?” she whispered. “And
how can I possibly believe that after what happened back when…” She
trailed off but Rone had picked up on her unspoken
thought.

“
Is that what this is
about?” he growled softly. “Something some other male said or did
in the past?”

Kate squirmed. “Yes,” she said shortly.

“
What happened?” Rone was
still behind her so Kate couldn’t see him without turning her head
but she could almost feel his piercing blue eyes boring into her.
“You never would tell me before but now I
need
to know,” he said. “Need to
understand how you could pick a vicious beating over any pleasure I
might be able to give you with my mouth.”