Shadowed: Brides of the Kindred book 8 (15 page)

“I’ll only have a little,” Nina said, more to herself than him. Though she loved fruity drinks, she was a real lightweight when it came to drinking, and she didn’t need to get blackout drunk right now. She took a delicate, ladylike sip.

“Hmm, that’s nice.” She took another, longer sip.
“Really
nice.” She took a third drink—the melon and berries taste was still there, but the hint of cinnamon toast seemed to be getting stronger and more delicious with every swallow.

“What happened to ‘just a little’?” Reddix looked amused.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure you want some too.” Carefully she wiped the bottle with the fabric of her scrub top and held it up to him.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Reddix frowned. “I told you, I’m not afraid of your germs.”

“Oh, well…I mean, with your phobia about touching—”

“It’s
not
a phobia. It’s a fact of life—at least for me.” His silver eyes flashed. “Do you think I
like
not being able to touch anyone? Do you think I
enjoy
never being touched? Seeing a beautiful female in front of me and knowing I can never lay a hand on her, much less do anything else?”

“I…don’t know,” Nina said. “I just met you. Well…except for the dreams.”

“Yes. The dreams.” He laughed harshly. “The
nightmares
, I believe you called them.”

“Well, what else
could
I call them?” Nina demanded, getting upset. “All I could see was this big, scary man without a face. And I could feel pain…so much pain and need and suffering. But I could never tell what was
hurting
you.”

“Yeah, well…” He looked away.

She put down the bottle and placed her hand tentatively on his knee. “What’s hurting you, Reddix? What is it that you need from me?”

“I can’t tell you that.” He moved his leg away from her hand even though his black flight trousers kept her from touching his skin.

“Can’t or won’t?” Nina asked softly.

“Pick one.” His voice was a deep, menacing growl.

“Why won’t you just
tell
me?” Nina stared at him in frustration. She knew she hadn’t known him long—hell, she didn’t really know him now. Except…she felt like she did. Because of the dreams. It was as though they were continuing a conversation that had started weeks ago—
months
ago. She felt she had a right to know what she was asking, a right to have some answers.

But Reddix clearly wasn’t willing to give her anything.

“Forget it.” He jerked his chin at the bottle. “Just give me a drink.
Please
.”

“Sure.” She tilted the bottle for him, and he took several long swallows.

“Thank you,” he said shortly when he was finished.

“You’re welcome.” Nina felt miserable—more upset with herself than she was with Reddix.
He’s your kidnapper, damn it! You shouldn’t give a rat’s ass what he thinks. You shouldn’t care if he’s angry.
But the healer in her couldn’t help sensing the pain under his anger. And despite herself, she wanted to help him…wanted to
heal
him.

If only he would let her.

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, both eating just their own food, and Nina was careful not to drink too much more of the alcoholic fruit juice. Still, she felt mildly buzzed as they finished the bottle, though Reddix drank more than her and didn’t seem to show any effects of the alcohol at all.

Or not the effects she would have been expecting, anyway. Shortly after they finished and she was cleaning up—a very easy matter of putting all the paper dishes and utensils into the recycling chute—she noticed him starting to squirm.

First, he crossed his legs one way, then another. Then he shifted and rattled his cuffs and made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat. Nina had promised herself she would leave him alone and not let herself be affected by him anymore, but still, she couldn’t help noticing. Finally, the third or fourth time he shifted positions, she knelt in front of him.

“What is it?” she asked. “Are your shoulders aching again? You need another massage?”

“No. Nothing like that.” He looked both angry and uncomfortable.

“Well then…” She shook her head. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me.”

“I need to use the fresher, damn it,” he finally blurted.

“The fresher?” Realizations suddenly hit. “Oh, you mean the
bathroom
.” It must have been all the juice he’d had. Actually, she was beginning to feel the effects herself.

“Whatever you call it,” he growled. “You’re going to have to uncuff me—
now.”

“I’m sorry.” Nina took a step back from him, her hand going reflexively to the locking mechanism still hidden in her front scrub pocket. “But I don’t trust you—not enough to let you go.”

“I swear I won’t hurt you,” he said through gritted teeth.

Nina put a hand on her hip. “And will you promise to fix the ship and take me straight back to Earth if I let you go?”

Reluctantly, he shook his head. “I can’t promise that, no.”

“Will you at least trigger the emergency beacon if I let you up?”

Reddix frowned. “I don’t want interference. If I can fix the ship myself, things will be much…easier.”

Nina felt cold all over. “Easier for you to take me off to wherever it is you were taking me before we landed,” she snapped. “Easier for you to do…whatever it is you want to do to me.” God, she’d been such a complete
idiot
, letting herself care about him.

“Yes,” he admitted heavily. “Exactly.”

“Then I’m not letting you up.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“You
have
to,” he growled. “That damn Vanerian sweet juice…” He nodded at the big green bottle, which was still standing on the compact kitchen counter.

The bottle gave Nina an idea. It wasn’t something that would have occurred to her if she hadn’t been slightly buzzed and feeling brave because of the alien alcohol in her system, but at the minute, it seemed like the perfect solution.

“Just a minute.” She snapped her fingers. “I can handle this.” Of course, exactly
what
she was going to have to handle, she didn’t allow herself to think about. She went to rummage in some of the various compartments.

“What in the Seven Hells are you looking for?” Reddix sounded thoroughly exasperated as she dug through the ship, checking every storage locker and compartment.

“Gloves.” Nina pulled back from the cabinet she was rummaging in. “Do you know if they have any on a ship like this? Otherwise, I’ll have to touch you with my bare hands, and I know you don’t want that.”

Not that she exactly wanted it either. But again, she wouldn’t let herself think about it.

“Where exactly are you planning to ‘touch’ me?” he demanded but just then, Nina found what she was looking for.

In a small square box with alien writing on it, she found several bottles, tubes, and sprays that looked like medicine. Clearly, it was a first aid kit—something she should have thought about looking for before, when she was cleaning the cut over his eye. Well, she could worry about that later. For now, she hopefully examined the contents of the box. Aside from the medicines, there was also something that looked like a tourniquet made out of snakeskin, some dark blue silky squares that must be the Kindred version of gauze and…

“Bingo,” Nina muttered to herself, pulling out the thin pair of dark purple gloves. They seemed to be made of the same silky material as the “gauze” patches but they would prevent skin-to-skin contact, which was all she needed. The gloves were much too big for her hands but to her surprise, the minute she put them on, they shrunk to fit as though they’d been made for her. Perfect. Now to do what had to be done.

But as she turned back to Reddix, he had a mutinous look on his darkly handsome features.

“What in the Seven Hells do you think you’re doing, sweetheart?”

“Helping you.” Nina got the empty wine bottle and settled between his legs. “I’ve got on some gloves so you don’t have to worry about skin-to-skin contact. See?” She held up one gloved hand to show him.

“Skin-to-skin contact isn’t the
only
thing that bothers me—this is fucking humiliating.” Reddix glared at her. “Just let me up to use the fresher. I swear I’ll come right back and let you cuff me again when I’m finished.”

“No.” Nina shook her head firmly. “We already ruled that out. Look, I’m sorry—I know this is embarrassing, but look at it from my point of view. You practically admitted you still intend to do me harm, and you won’t even agree to set off the beacon so we can get help—if whoever comes looking can even find us this far out. So this is your only option. Other than wetting your pants.”

Reddix glared at her but finally nodded. “Fine. But I’m not happy about this, and I promise you, Nina, you’re going to pay for it sometime in the future.”

Nina felt a shiver run down her spine, but she was determined to stay strong. Lifting her chin, she stared into those blazing silver eyes.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said in a voice that wobbled only a little bit.

Reddix gave a humorless bark of laughter. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.” Then he nodded between his legs. “Well, go on—do it.”

“Right.” Leaning forward, she started to open the front of his tight black trousers…or tried to, anyway, because the damn things wouldn’t come open. There was no zipper, no buttons—the trousers seemed to be seamless.

Nina was beginning to feel panicky, and the buzz she’d had earlier from the Vanerian sweet juice was almost gone, taking her bravado along with it. She could sense Reddix’s growing impatience as she fumbled around, feeling like a complete fool.

“Goddess damn it,” he swore at last, “You’re going to give me a whole other problem if you keep on like that.”

“I’m sorry…” Nina glared at the pants as though she could force them to part with the strength of her irritation. “They just…won’t open.”

“They have magnetic tabs. Just run your finger along the inside edge and you’ll see.”

Nina did as he said, unable to help noticing how rock-hard his abs were as she ran her fingers along the inside of his trousers. His skin was warm against the back of her fingers, and she tried very hard not to come in contact with anything she shouldn’t. She felt kind of like an inept actress in a porno vid—a low budget one that wasn’t very good.
Finally,
she located the tiny, hidden row of magnetic tabs he’d told her about and was able to pull his trousers open.

In the back of her mind she’d been wondering what kind of underwear Kindred wore. Now she could see the answer was…none. At least, in Reddix’s case.

“Oh…my,” she muttered as his shaft was abruptly revealed. Even only half hard it was bigger and thicker than anything she’d ever seen before—and that included Mitch’s equipment, which he had been extremely proud of.

“Well?” Reddix demanded, and she realized she’d just been sitting there, staring at him. “Are you going to do this or not?”

“I…of course. Of course, I am.” Feeling like an idiot, she reached between his legs.
I can do this,
she reminded herself desperately, despite her growing embarrassment.
I can do this—I’ve done it before.
Which was true—she’d helped patients to use a male urinal before when she worked in the nursing home. But all of those men had been old and feeble and mostly out of it. None of them had been huge muscular Kindred warriors glaring at her while she handled their…business.

She forced herself to take his hot, hard length in her gloved hand, noting as she did that she could scarcely wrap her fingers around it. God, he was huge all over! She felt really sorry for whatever girl had to accommodate this—it was simply too big. It seemed to pulse in her hand and she felt like a porn actress all over again.

“Hey—are you gonna jerk me off or help me out?” Reddix growled.

“I…uh…” Nina’s face was so hot she felt like her forehead was about to set her hair on fire. “Help you out, of course. I’m not…fondling you was never my intention.”

“Could have fooled me. Get on with it.”

“Of course.” Nina fit the broad, flared head to the mouth of the wine bottle and looked away as he did his business. It was possibly one of the single most embarrassing moments of her life, though it really shouldn’t have been.
I am a medical professional,
she reminded herself over and over.
I can handle this. It’ll be over in a minute.

Finally, it was.

“Finished,” Reddix said gruffly. “You can take the damn bottle away.”

Nina did. Quickly she rose and carried the bottle to the bathroom where she disposed of the contents in the commode. She stripped off her gloves, washed her hands, and came back out into the main part of the ship feeling relieved. At least
that
was over.

Then she saw Reddix still sitting there with his pants open and realized she’d left him hanging—literally.

“Well?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Forget something, sweetheart?”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Nina dropped to her knees before him. Feeling like a fool, she fumbled the gloves back on and began trying to put everything back in place—only it didn’t want to go.

“Goddess damn it!” Reddix growled as she tried to stuff his long, thick cock back into his trousers. But the more she tried, the harder and larger he got. Nina tried tucking the thick monster inside the black flaps, but it kept springing out again, and the magnetic tabs wouldn’t stay closed around it.

“This is
ridiculous
,” she muttered, beginning to feel panicky. “It’s like trying to stuff a python into a pair of pantyhose. It just won’t
go
.”

“It’s going to go all right, if you don’t stop it.” Reddix’s deep voice sounded slightly strangled. “Look, just stop trying for a minute. Stop…stop touching me. It’s only making things worse.”

“I’m sorry.” Nina sat back on her heels, feeling absurdly like she was going to cry. This had seemed a simple enough exercise when her slightly drunk brain came up with it just ten minutes ago, but now she felt like a fumbling idiot. “I’m really,
really
sorry,” she said again, almost ashamed to look him in the eyes. “I never thought…I mean, I never meant to…”