Found (50 page)

“
Okay. Kat?”

“
Yes?”

“
Thank you.”
Lauren wished she could
give her a hug.
“Thanks so much for helping me.”

“
That’s all right,”
Kat said
cheerfully.
“You can pay me back in cupcakes. Talk to you
later!”

And with that, the connection was broken as
suddenly at it had been established.

“God, I don’t have much time,” Lauren
muttered, hurrying to change. She had told Kat earlier that she’d
made certain arrangements in case Xairn ever did come home and
buying just the right outfit was one of them. She hadn’t been sure
when she was shopping for it that she’d ever have the chance to
wear it. Now she couldn’t wait to put it on.

She stripped and then grabbed the red
see-through outfit from the top drawer of her small dresser. She
pulled it on quickly and then went into the bathroom to look at
herself in the mirror.

When she was looking for just the right
‘welcome home’ outfit, Lauren had considered many different styles.
She’d tried on a lot of black leather and white lace but neither
seemed to fit the bill. Finally she’d found the gauzy red top and
pants combo at an upscale costume shop in downtown Sarasota. It was
meant to be a harem costume straight out of the
Arabian
Nights
and it suited her perfectly.

The blouse had long sleeves and a low cut,
scooping neckline which stopped just above her nipples. A red
bikini-type top was supposed to go under the silky material but
Lauren didn’t even consider wearing it. She had one chance to get
Xairn back—she wasn’t about to play hard to get. Her bare breasts
could be seen through the translucent red material, clearly
displaying one of the changes she’d made in preparation for his
homecoming. She hoped he would be pleased by what she’d done but at
the very least she knew he would be surprised.

The bottom of the outfit was a pair of loose,
blousy pants made of the same silky see-through crimson material
and gathered into cuffs at the ankles. They had come with a tiny
red thong to wear underneath but Lauren had left it in the drawer
along with the bikini top that was supposed to go under the blouse.
She was going to be completely bare beneath the naughty outfit.
Completely bare and completely irresistible—she hoped.

Instead of a button and zipper, the pants had
a long slit down the center of the crotch and a silk cord tie at
the waist. When tied in a bow, the cord kept the pants closed but
the unfastened slit in the crotch offered easy access to a seeking
hand.

And God, Lauren certainly hoped that Xairn’s
hands would be seeking! Seeking, touching, feeling and exploring
every part of her body. Already she was feeling hot and bothered,
her nipples hard and her pussy throbbing with need. The fruit that
Kat had given her to eat was really working on her! Not to mention
the fact that she loved Xairn and couldn’t wait to see him
again.

Suddenly, she had a spasm of anxiety.
If
he won’t make love to me I’m really going to be in trouble!
Then again, if he left her for good, never to return, she was going
to have a lot worse problems to deal with than just a terminal case
of horniness.

Taking a deep breath, Lauren went to the bowl
on the kitchen counter and took out the last, triangular fruit. Kat
had given her several of them, telling her that they were usually
reserved for brides called by the Twin Kindred. She’s also warned
about eating too many of them—something she herself had apparently
done on at least one very memorable occasion. Still, Lauren had
wanted to be prepared so she’d eaten all but one. Now she looked at
the last fruit, clutched in the palm of her hand.

“Oh, what the hell,” she murmured and took a
big bite.

The juicy, sweet fruit had barely hit her
tongue before the doorbell rang. Little One started barking
immediately but Lauren shushed her. “Stay,” she told the puppy in a
shaking voice. Could it really be Xairn already? There was only one
way to find out.

Clutching the fruit in one hand, her heart
beating so hard she was sure it was shaking her entire body, Lauren
went to the door.

Xairn sucked in a sharp breath when he saw
her. Her long black hair flowed loose over her shoulders and she
was wearing silky, sheer clothing which clearly showed her bare
flesh beneath.

“Xairn?” she whispered, her amber eyes wide
and hopeful. “I’m so glad you’re here. I…I’ve missed you so
much.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that
he had missed her too but just then Little One jumped off the couch
and came running up to him. Barking joyfully, she jumped into his
arms and licked his face.

Lauren laughed. “It looks like I’m not the
only one who missed you. Look at her—she knows her master is
home.”

Xairn frowned, the words of love dying on his
lips. “I am not fit to be anyone’s master. Not even a dog’s. I’ve
changed, Lauren.”

“Yes, I can see that,” she said quietly. “You
look the same way you did when I first fell in love with you.”

“Lauren—”

“It’s true. You know the color of your skin
and eyes doesn’t matter to me.” She crossed her arms over her
breasts. “I…heard about what happened on the ship. To your mother.
I’m very sorry, Xairn.”

“I was unable to save her,” he said stiffly.
“Though I did get to speak to her briefly—very briefly—before she
died.”

“Oh, baby,” Lauren whispered. “I wish so much
I could have been there with you—to help you through it.” Little
One whined softly at her mournful tone and licked Xairn’s face
again.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s
over now.”

“That doesn’t make the pain less,” she said.
“If I could have come with you…but I know that would have played
right into your father’s plans.”

“Actually, it was
me
he was trying to
lure to the Fathership.
Me
he wanted.” Xairn stroked the
puppy gently. “He wanted to absorb my power—I suppose it would have
given him a kind of immortality.”

“Oh my God, I didn’t know that.” Lauren put a
hand to her mouth. “What happened?”

Xairn shrugged. “I absorbed his power
instead. Or rather, I started too. But my mother…” He had to clear
his throat before continuing. “She…she begged me with her dying
breath not to take his essence into myself. She said it would
corrupt my soul. So I let it go instead.” He sighed. “When it did,
my own power went with it. I can no longer read minds or compel
anyone to do my bidding.”

Lauren looked at him hopefully. “So…you let
that part of yourself go?”

“Only the power left,” Xairn said flatly. “My
Scourge instincts and urges remain. And now that the small strand
of human DNA which I got from you has been broken and overwhelmed
by my own genetic material, I am worse than I was before.”

“I never thought you were so bad,” Lauren
said softly.

“That is because you don’t know what is in my
heart,” he said grimly.

“I want to, though. I want to know it all.”
Scooping the wriggling puppy out of his arms, she set Little One
down in the small patch of fenced in grass that served the condo as
a front yard. “Stay,” she told the puppy. Then she motioned to
Xairn. “Come in?”

“I shouldn’t.” He tried to look anywhere but
at her beautiful body. “I…I only came to say goodbye.”

Lauren took a deep breath and he had the
feeling she was fighting back tears. Then she lifted her chin. “You
can’t say goodbye without talking to me one last time and I can’t
keep standing out here like this.” She indicated the sheer red
costume. “If the neighbors see me—”

“All right.” Reluctantly, Xairn went with her
into the condo and shut the door behind them. He could hear Little
One whining fretfully on the other side of the door but he knew the
puppy would be safe in the tiny front yard. “Let’s talk.”

“Fine.” Lauren led the way into the kitchen
and put a strange piece of fruit she’d been holding down on a
plate. Then she turned to face him. “So you came just to say
goodbye? You’re leaving because you don’t…don’t love me anymore?”
Her voice trembled slightly but she kept her head high and looked
him in the eyes as she spoke.

Xairn sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.
“You know that isn’t true. I still love you as much as I ever
did—
more.
That is why I feel compelled to leave.”

“Because you’re afraid you’ll hurt me.”

“Because I
know
I’ll hurt you,” he
corrected. He shifted, his secondary shaft throbbing behind his
tight flight pants. “Even now seeing you as you are makes me long
to throw you down and fuck you.”

“Do it then.” Boldly, she stepped forward,
throwing out her chest. “I’m not afraid of a little pain,
Xairn.”

At her motion, a flash of silver caught his
gaze. “Not afraid of…Gods!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and
studied her full breasts beneath the gauzy red top intently. “What
have you done to yourself?”

“I had my nipples pierced.” She pulled the
top down, baring her breasts completely so that he could see
better. “It’s one of the Scourge marks of possession, isn’t
it?”

Xairn tightened his grip on her shoulders and
swallowed hard. Somehow he couldn’t tear his eyes from the erotic
sight of her full, creamy brown breasts, naked and on display, with
the lovely silver hoops piercing her tight nipples. “Yes,” he said
at last, having difficulty forcing the words out. “It is.”

“I had them done soon after you left. They
don’t hurt anymore. See?” Reaching up, she took his right hand and
brought it down to cup one of her breasts. “Go on,” she murmured
breathlessly. “Touch it. Touch
me.”

Xairn couldn’t help himself. Gently he cupped
the full undercurve of her breast and thumbed the nipple pierced
with the slender silver hoop. Lauren moaned softly and pressed her
breast more fully into his hand. The soft sound went straight to
his cock, making him harder than ever.

“Do you know why we—why the Scourge—pierce
our females’ nipples?” he asked, his voice low and harsh.

She shook her head, her breath coming short
as he continued to stroke her tight little nub. “I thought it was
just something you did. Is there a…a practical application?”

He nodded. “We do it so we can run a fine
gold or sliver chain through the rings. Here and here.” Xairn
cupped her other breast and tugged on both of the silver hoops
gently, making her moan again. “Using the chain, we tether the
female to the bed on her hands and knees. By tightening the chain
and tugging on her nipples, we can force her to come further down.
This raises her ass high in the air and gives the male better
access to her pussy.”

“God.” Lauren whispered. “I…I didn’t
know.”

“Now you do.” He looked up at her face at
last. “You should not have done this just for me.”

“How could I not?” Lauren asked softly.
“After all you’ve done for me.” Slowly she unbuttoned his shirt and
pulled it open to expose the brand that spelled her name. “You were
marked for me,” she murmured. “You let them write my name on your
heart. I thought…I hope it’s still there.”

Xairn knew she was talking about more than
just the brand that marked his skin. “You know it is,” he said
roughly, dropping his hands from her bare breasts. “But it changes
nothing.”

“Nothing at all?” She traced her name on his
chest and her touch was at once cool and inflammatory. Xairn felt
like he was being burned all over again, as though her slender
finger was tipped with fire.

“Stop it,” he said, shaking his head. “I
still have to leave. I only hope…hope that you didn’t take it upon
yourself to incur any of the other marks of possession.”

Lauren raised an eyebrow. “As a matter of
fact, I
did
. Would you like to know which I chose to have
done?”

Xairn let his eyes rove over her body,
drinking in her beauty. “You’re not wearing a collar so you must
have had yourself pierced below or branded with my name. I can’t
tell which.”

“Then maybe you should examine me and find
out.” Her voice was light and teasing but there was a deep,
unspoken need running beneath the soft banter. Xairn heard it and
it made his secondary shaft throb with need. But he repressed his
hunger for her fiercely.

“I cannot,” he said, stepping away. “I…should
not.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Can you really
walk away from me that easily? Can you leave without knowing?
You’ll wonder all your life if you don’t at least look just
once.”

Xairn felt a force rising within him—a desire
that threatened to burn his self control to ashes, to demolish the
cage he’d built around his true nature and let it out like a
ravening beast seeking to devour.
I must not let that
happen!
he told himself sternly. And yet…could it really hurt
just to look? Lauren was right—he would wonder all his life what
other mark she had taken if he didn’t find out.

“Fine,” he heard himself saying. “Go over to
the bed and lay on your back with your calves hanging over the side
and your arms over your head.”

Lauren went to the bed at once and arranged
herself exactly as he had demanded. It gave him a strange thrill to
see how willingly she obeyed but Xairn forced himself not to think
about it.

“Good,” he said. Walking over, he knelt on
the floor in front of her. “Now spread your legs for me.”

“All right.” She was shivering a little—with
fear or excitement, he couldn’t tell which—but again she didn’t
hesitate. Spreading her legs, she opened herself to him, mutely
offering to give him whatever he wanted.

“Good.” Xairn heard the harsh tone of command
in his voice but he couldn’t control it. He placed his hands on her
knees. “Now hold still while I look at you. No matter what I say or
do, you’re not to move. Do you understand?”