Divided: Brides of the Kindred 10 (7 page)

“The lady Kat is correct,” Truth rumbled.
“I will not embrace another male without at least some kind of impediment
between us.”

“An impediment, huh? Nice nickname—thanks,
Truth,” Becca snapped but her mouth was dry. Was she really going to take off
her shirt and get between the two of them voluntarily? It was the last thing
she wanted to do but there didn’t appear to be any way around it.

Slowly, feeling like she was moving
underwater, Becca stood and began unbuttoning the modest, long sleeved blouse
she’d been wearing. It came off easily—too easily, she thought—leaving her
feeling naked from the waist up with only her cream silk cami on.

She had no bra on under the thin half-slip
and her nipples felt sensitive and exposed under the wispy material. Glancing
down at herself she saw that they were pressing against the silk, making
chocolate brown points against the thin fabric.

Hastily, she covered her breasts with her
arms, feeling even more vulnerable and horribly embarrassed. Truth and Far
might have imagined her naked in their joinings, but neither of them had ever
truly seen her in real life as anything but fully clothed. This was
so
embarrassing!

As though her actions were their cue, both
Truth and Far stood and began unbuttoning their emerald green uniform shirts as
well. Becca shivered with some emotion she couldn’t name when both broad,
muscular chests were revealed.

Truth’s chest was completely smooth but
Far had a small patch of dark blond hair between the flat copper disks of his
nipples. Both of them looked like they had just stepped out of a bad girl’s
fantasy.
Or a good girl who’s trying really hard not to go bad,
Becca
thought, biting her lip. She was about to be sandwiched between them. Could she
really deal with this?

Before she could answer that question, Far
was extending a hand to her.

“Come,
mi’now,”
he murmured in his
deep, soothing voice. “Come to me—to both of us. It seems that you must be the
bridge between us.”

Truth said nothing but he also extended a
hand. In his pale gray eyes, Becca saw lust blazing. Did the dark twin want her
so much that he was even willing to touch another male—to break the conventions
he had been so rigorously trained in from birth? Or did he secretly desire to
have her between himself and his brother? Perhaps it was a desire buried so
deeply not even he knew it.

Her musings were interrupted when Kat gave
her a gentle push.

“Come on, hon, I know it’s scary,” she
murmured in Becca’s ear. “But it’s got to be done. Go on—just go for it.”

Becca opened her mouth to answer but in
that moment Truth touched one of her shoulders and Far touched the other and
she completely lost the power of coherent speech.

There was no joining this time—they
weren’t locked in each other’s minds or transported mentally to bed—which was a
relief. But the surge of lust still flooded her—so strongly in fact that Becca
gasped and would have fallen if both men hadn’t held her upright.

“All right,
mi’now.
It’s all
right,” she heard Far murmuring. And then she was pressed against him, the
tight points of her nipples rubbing against the hard planes of his chest. She
pressed her burning cheek to his warm pec, breathing in the scent of his skin,
trying to still her pounding heart. Why did it feel so good just to touch them?
So good it almost
hurt?

The scent grew stronger and she knew it
wasn’t just Far—the warm, spicy, masculine aroma was coming from the two of
them together and she was surrounded by it. It intensified the lust flowing
through her until it was a river raging out of control.

Her nipples ached, begging to be stroked,
to be sucked. Even worse, her pussy was suddenly pure liquid, so hot and wet
and swollen she felt like she might die from the sudden need.
Mother of God,
she moaned silently, pressing her thighs together. What if they could tell
they were affecting her this way? What if everyone in the room could? It was
worse than embarrassing—it was
humiliating.
But she couldn’t stop it, no
matter what she did.

And all this was just from being pressed
against Far while Truth had one hand on her bare shoulder. What would she do if
they ever went further?

“Come, Brother,” she heard Far say, his
low voice rumbling through her entire body. “Embrace me—embrace
us.
Let
us hold our lady between us as it was meant to be.”

“Maybe in
your
world,” Truth said
stiffly. But despite his tone, Becca felt him move closer, the heat of his big
body stroking along her spine in a way that was both seductive and frightening.
Her need kicked up another notch making her want to scream. The wet heat
between her legs was demanding attention—she actually
ached
inside, as
though she needed to be filled.

“That’s good,” she heard Kat saying. “Now
just put your arms around Becca and your brother, Truth. Come on—Far won’t
bite.”

“What makes you think he would bite me?”
Truth sounded mystified. Becca would have laughed if the overwhelming lust
wasn’t still coursing through her. Instead, she tried to stifle a moan as she
felt Truth’s broad chest come flush against the bare skin of her back.

“Good. That feels good—doesn’t it?” she
heard Kat murmur.

“Yes,” Far said simply but Becca could
hear the deep emotion in his voice as he spoke. Forcing herself to look up, she
saw that Truth’s darker tan arms were encircling both her and his brother. Or,
more accurately, he was hugging her and clasping Far’s upper arms lightly.

It seemed to be enough. The expression on
Far’s face was the look of a man who had wandered through the wilderness for
years, finally coming home.

He’s longed for this,
Becca realized, forcing herself to think through the haze
of lust that tried to cloud her mind.
Longed for the day when he would have
both a female of his own and a brother to share her with. To share
me
with.

The realization made her ache for Far…and
long to draw Truth even closer to his brother. To both of them. It should have
felt wrong to be between them like this, to feel their bare skin against her
own, but somehow it didn’t. It felt right—so right it scared Becca.

This must be how the Twin Kindred seduce
their mates in the first place,
she
thought, her throat growing tight with fear.
This feeling that it’s all
right to give yourself up to both men at once, this overwhelming pleasure and
need, the desire to just let go and let them do…whatever they want…

Suddenly she couldn’t stand it anymore.
Ducking under Truth’s muscular arm, she slipped out from between them and stood
gasping a little ways away.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” she said brokenly when
Kat looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “I just…I can’t. It’s too…too
intense.”

“Mi’now?”
Far looked at her anxiously.

“Rebecca?” Truth said, also sounding
worried.

Both men started to come to her but Kat
put out a hand to stop them.

“No. The two of you keep it up. Keep
hugging.”

“But—” Truth looked like he wanted to
protest. However, the stern look in Kat’s eyes seemed to stop him. Reluctantly,
he raised the hand he’d let drop from his brother’s arm and placed it stiffly on
Far’s broad, bare shoulder once more.

Far made no move to bring his brother
closer, Becca noticed. Instead, he held perfectly still, avoiding eye contact,
simply standing there in his brother’s reluctant embrace. His own hands were
clasped loosely at Truth’s trim waist, carefully touching very little skin.

It’s like Truth is a wild animal he’s
trying not to frighten off,
Becca thought,
watching them. Now that she was no longer pressed between them, she could
breathe and also think a lot better. The twins stood so stiffly and so still
she thought they looked like a matched set of marionettes, held together by
some outside will not their own. How long would it last, this uneasy embrace?
How long would Truth tolerate it?

“There,” Kat breathed, taking a step toward
the two of them. “That isn’t so bad, is it?”

“It is…not as…” Truth frowned, as though
searching for the right words. “It does not feel as
wrong
as I had
expected.”

“Far?” Kat raised a questioning eyebrow at
the light twin.

“You know how I feel,” he said quietly.
“Truth is my brother. I’m glad to have him close.”

“Then how about getting a little closer?”
Kat coaxed gently. “C’mon, guys—don’t just stand there like a couple of Ken
dolls—really hug it out!”

“What kind of dolls, did you say?” Truth
asked, frowning. But he didn’t try to resist when Far stepped a little closer.

“Never mind,” Kat said. “Just hug your
brother.”

“This concept of hugging is still strange
to me,” Truth admitted in a low voice.

“It simply an expression of affection,”
Far assured him. “Come, Brother, let me hug you.”

Truth was looking increasingly
uncomfortable but he allowed his twin to pull him closer and closer. At last he
was completely enfolded in his brother’s arms, their chests pressing together
and his cheek almost but not quite touching Far’s. His arms were no longer
wrapped around the light twin—instead they hung stiffly by his side. But at
least he didn’t try to push Far away, Becca thought.

Far was still holding his brother lightly,
clearly aware that this was a delicate situation. Becca swore she could see a
tremble in his big frame—the evidence of emotions so long pent up they must be
raging like the roiling waters behind a dam inside him.

“A little closer,” Kat urged. “It feels
good doesn’t it? Feels
right.”

“Of course it does.” Commander Deep turned
around and Becca was glad she’d grabbed her blouse and wrapped it around her
shoulders again. “The touch of your twin is healing—in every way.”

“I…” Suddenly Truth pulled away and took a
step back. “Apologies,” he muttered. “But I…I cannot.”

“What happened?” Becca asked anxiously.
“Did it start to feel wrong somehow?”

“No,” Truth said shortly and would say no
more.

Far simply stood there, his arms hanging
by his sides, making no move to pursue the other male.

“It’s all right,” he said at last. “Truth
just needs some time.”

“Time is what we
don’t
have.”
Commander Deep sounded impatient. “Truth, how will you merge your shaft with
your brother’s to form a lasting bond with your female if you cannot even bear
to hug him?”

“What?” Becca demanded.

“What?”
Truth repeated, sounding incredulous. “We must
what
in
order to form a bond with a female?”

“To form a bond you and your twin must
merge your shafts into one before you penetrate her—you know
this
. Every
Twin Kindred knows,” Deep snapped.

“Well
I
didn’t know.” Becca
couldn’t stop her voice from shaking. And judging from the look on Truth’s face
he hadn’t known either.

“You are joking,” he said flatly. “To
touch another male in such a way…it’s
depraved.”

“It’s not depraved. It’s not even sexual.”
Lock, who had been standing quietly, jumped in, obviously trying to salvage the
situation. “I mean, it is with your
female
but not with your brother.
It’s simply the only way to bond her to you completely. You must join—become
one.”

“And then you enter her as one,” Deep
clarified. “It’s also the only way to conceive a child.”

“I…I cannot…even
think
of such a
thing!” Truth was shaking his head, looking more and more horrified and
disgusted.

Becca was feeling pretty horrified
herself.

“Wouldn’t that be
way
too big for a
girl to, um, accommodate?” She tried not to look but her eyes were drawn
involuntarily to the twin bulges in both Truth and Far’s tight, black uniform
trousers. They looked
huge
and if putting them together doubled their
size…

“Don’t worry about that,” Kat said
quickly. “There’s this little thing called bonding fruit that helps.”

“There is no help. And no way I will
ever
do this.” Truth lifted his chin. “I should not have let myself go so far.
Should not have allowed myself to be seduced by your talking of bonding and
brotherly affection. It’s sick and wrong—all of it!”

“Brother, please…” Far held out a hand to
his twin desperately but Truth backed away, shaking his head.

“No.
No!”
he growled. “Stay away
from me.”

Turning, he left as quickly as he could
but not before Becca saw the look of horror on his face and the look of anguish
on Far’s.

Chapter
Nine

Kat turned on her mate.

“Now just look what you did! Why did you have
to go and tell him that? And just when we were making progress too!”

Deep shrugged irritably. “How was I
supposed to know he was completely ignorant of his own anatomy? Even a child
knows what I told him.”

“A child raised on Twin Moons does,” Lock
said quietly. “But Truth was raised on Pax among the Rai’ku. They are a savage
race with strict ideas about wrong and right. It is probable that the things we
have asked him to do here would make him an outcast there.”

“What do you know about their culture?” Far
asked, breaking his anguished silence at last. “I couldn’t find out much—only
that the Kindred Council had refused a genetic trade with them. But none of the
documents said why.”

“It’s because of what Truth said—about
being raised in ‘the pack,’” Lock said. “The Rai’ku males have a beast within
them—a beast which rises to the surface and overtakes them until it blots out
all personality, making them mindless creatures capable of acting only on
instinct. When this happens they band together and hunt in a pack.”

“What—like a wolf pack? But what causes
that?” Kat demanded. “Are they like…werewolves or something? They get hairy
during the full moon?”

“As far as anyone can say the rising beast
seems to be tied to some kind of cycle though I do not know if the moons that
orbit Pax have anything to do with it,” Lock said. “The change from man to
beast may also be tied to emotional instability.”

“How did you find this out?” Far asked
hoarsely.

“The Kindred Council sent a warrior to
study them,” Lock said. “I was able to gain access to his records for my
language studies. They have been locked against casual observers due to some of
the graphic content they contain.” He shook his head. “I don’t think you want
to read them, Far. Sufficed to say that when the Rai’ku change they are very
unpredictable and
very
dangerous.”

Becca felt sick. “But…we’re not thinking
that
Truth
is some kind of a…a were beast are we?”

“Of course not!” Kat exclaimed. “We’re
just saying he was
raised
by them.” She looked at Lock. “Right?”

“Right.” He nodded. “But even being raised
by them has been enough to color his perceptions. The Rai’ku are a very
dominant and possessive race and they are also
extremely
competitive
when it comes to mates. They do not
share
their women under any
circumstances. In fact, even seeing another male too near a female who is
spoken for would be enough to cause a fight to the death.”

“I suppose they want to be sure their
genes are getting passed down and not some other guy’s,” Kat muttered.

“Speaking of that,” Becca said. “Truth
mentioned that he had some half brothers from his father’s second marriage. But
if what Commander Deep said about the Twin Kindred way of…of fathering children
is right…” She felt her cheeks heating up and cleared her throat. “Well, I just
don’t see how it’s possible.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Lock said thoughtfully.
“Although the Rai’ku do possess very dominant genetics. That is one reason the
Council voted not to make a trade with them—they determined that the tendency
to transition into a mindless beast could not be bred out of them, not even
with an infusion of Kindred DNA.”

“So Truth’s other brothers are half
Kindred and half savage beast,” Far said, sounding bitter. “And still he
prefers them to me.”

Becca felt her heart twist at his
expression.

“Far, honey, don’t feel that way,” she
protested. “Whoever those other brothers are, he doesn’t have a bond with
them.”

“He doesn’t have one with me either,” Far
pointed out. “And now he’s never going to.”

“Give him some time,” Lock counseled.
“Think of the society he was raised in. Rai’ku males never come into physical
contact unless they are fighting. Aggression is like a second language to them.
But affection—especially between members of the same sex—is foreign.”

“Yes, remember—he said he had never been
hugged, even by his own father.” Kat shook her head. “That’s just sad. I don’t
understand how anyone could raise a child without hugging them. I mean, I want
to hug my little guys already and they’re not even out yet.” She cupped her
rounded belly protectively.

“Probably Truth’s father was trying to fit
into the Rai’ku’s repressive society and be certain his son would fit in as
well.” Deep sighed.

“He may have also been damaged
emotionally. To lose your brother, your mate, and a son all at once…” Lock
looked sad. “It must have been devastating. Honestly, I don’t even know how he
survived at all—usually the death of one Twin Kindred means the death of his
brother too. Maybe Feels Pain was frightened that if he loved Truth too much or
showed him too much affection he would lose him as well.”

“So instead he raised him to be a
homophobic, touch-phobic, straight-laced, tough son of a bitch,” Deep growled.

“Which means that basically every single
thing we’ve been asking Truth to do goes against every principle that was
hammered into him as a child,” Becca said quietly. “No
wonder
he ran.”

“No wonder,” Far echoed. He closed his
eyes tightly and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand as though trying
to push back a headache. “Gods, this is hopeless.”

“It
can’t
be hopeless,” Kat
objected. “The Goddess doesn’t give out hopeless tasks.”

“Well, then she is going to have to give
me greater wisdom than I now possess,” Far said. He let his hand drop to his
side and shook his head. “I have no idea what to do now…how to get Truth to
come to me.” He looked at Becca. “To us.”

“Don’t look at me—I don’t know either.”
Becca held up both hands in a helpless gesture. “Besides, all this about having
two…uh, pieces of equipment put together as one…that’s news to me, too.
Scary
news.”

“Of course it is. You never learned about
the mating habits of the Twin Kindred because you never considered it a real
possibility,” Far said quietly. “And you still don’t.”

Becca began to feel defensive. “You and
Truth told me to choose between you. How did I know I couldn’t choose? Until I
found out last night, I mean.”

“But you still don’t plan to bond with
us—not completely or permanently, do you?” Far asked. There was no bitterness
in his deep voice, just resignation. “Even if Truth was willing to join with me
so that we could bond you to us this minute you would refuse.”

“I…Far, I don’t…” Becca shook her head,
uncertain what to say.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Your
virtue is important to you. Keeping it—keeping yourself chaste—is your primary
consideration. I understand,
mi’now.
That is as things should be.”

“I…guess so.” Becca bit her lip.
Everything that Far was saying was true—she had always been desperate to hang
on to her virtue. Virtue,
not
virginity—she did have a past, albeit a
very limited one. Still, there were lines she didn’t want to cross. Things that
“good girls” just didn’t do. But how could she fulfill her promise to the
Kindred Goddess to help Far and Truth bond if she wasn’t willing to bend her own
rules? If she wasn’t willing to push back some of those boundaries and open up?

Truth opened up some just now,
a little voice whispered in her head.
Not very much
and he snapped closed again almost right away but it wasn’t easy for him to let
his brother touch him…or to touch back in return. How can you expect to heal
this rift in the bond between Far and Truth if you aren’t willing to open
yourself as well? If you aren’t willing to relax some of the rigid rules and
standards you’ve been clinging to for so long?

For a moment Becca allowed herself to
imagine it—to remember how it had felt in their mental joinings to be naked and
open between the two of them. Truth’s mouth on hers would be hard and
demanding. At the same time, Far would be trailing feather-light kisses down
her skin, seeking her most secret and forbidden spot…kissing and tasting where
no one had ever touched her before…

No, it’s wrong!
She shook herself reluctantly out of the fantasy and felt
the old guilt flooding her. Just because she wasn’t going to become a nun
didn’t mean she should entirely throw all her morals out the window! Being with
a man she wasn’t married to—let alone two of them at once—would break her
family’s hearts. And it would eventually break her heart as well—just like it had
been broken when Kenneth—

Becca pushed the memory away. It was far
in the past and she’d reformed herself since then. Repented. Entered a convent.
Made plans to become a nun. Plans which she had now broken…

But what about your desires, Rebecca?
that treacherous little voice whispered.
What about
your needs? Would it really be so wrong to give in to them? Just once?

Becca didn’t know but she was afraid she
was soon to find out.

* * * * *

Far left the suite of Commanders Deep and
Lock with a heavy heart. It was just as he had feared—the bonding was never
going to happen.

The cruel thing was that they had come so
close.

When he had held Truth in his arms and the
other male had stayed, even when Becca left, Far had almost begun to hope. He
could feel the emptiness in his twin’s soul—could feel it because it mirrored
the aching need within his own. They were two halves—neither one whole. Neither
one complete without the other.

Far had stood there, his arms clasped
lightly—so lightly—around his twin’s waist and had felt a cautious kind of joy.
A hope that maybe they might mend the rift between them. He had felt certain if
he could get Truth to open up—just a little—he could show him what both of them
had been missing their entire lives.

For to a Twin Kindred his brother was more
than sibling—he was a constant friend, a close advisor, the one person he could
always count on to tell the truth, comfort, and understand. A source of
unconditional love and caring. And once they added the right female to that mix—one
they both could love and pleasure together—it became one of the most perfect
symbiotic relationships in the universe.

It was something that Far had longed for
as long as he could remember. Something everyone growing up on Twin Moons
seemed to have but him. Far remembered walking to school by himself every day,
seeing all the other twins talking and laughing. Feeling so lonely because he
had no one to play with after classes were over, no one to study with, to talk
to.

His adopted family was kind and the older
twin brothers that were his adopted siblings had tried to make him feel welcome
but Far had always had the sense of being an outsider. Being only half of what
he could be. Being alone.

Far let himself into the suite. He didn’t
bother with the lights—he simply went to his bedroom and lay down on the
sleeping platform in the dark. He stared up into the blackness, wishing for
Truth, wishing for Becca. But what good did it do to wish? Neither of them
truly wanted this bonding. Neither one of them felt the empty need like Far
did.

It was never going to happen.

* * * * *

Truth walked swiftly down the corridor
that led to his suite. He was situated right beside the Unmated Males area—the
place the Kindred warriors who lived on the Mother Ship stayed until they
called a mate.

There were no females there at all—well,
unless you counted the Pairing Puppets, which Truth didn’t. They were mindless,
pretty automans. Oh, their flesh was soft enough, their bodies curved and their
hair silky and lush. But their brains were robotic and they had no
souls—nothing a male could really bond with. The vacant look on their pretty
faces was enough to tell you that.

Still, they were a good outlet for the
sex-starved males who had yet to start dream sharing with a female on Earth.
They were available night and day to any unmated male and their presence kept
the fierce Kindred warriors mostly peaceful.

Truth had thought of calling a Pairing
Puppet before. Rebecca had kept him waiting for six solar months now—well, kept
him
and
Far waiting, he acknowledged grudgingly—and a male had needs.
But somehow he hadn’t been able to do it. Even mating with a brainless sex
robot felt too much like cheating. And besides, how would he feel if the
situation was reversed and he had to watch Rebecca with another male?

It
was
reversed—just now,
whispered a caustic little voice in his brain.
You
watched her kiss another male and you stood by and did nothing. Nothing!

But that was because it was Far, who was
kissing her. As he had watched them, Truth had kept waiting for the possessive
rage to rise in him, for the urge to kill any other male near his female to
take over his mind as he had often seen happen with Rai’ku males back on Pax.
But it hadn’t come. Because somehow seeing Rebecca kiss Far hadn’t been bad. In
fact watching the female he loved kissing his brother felt almost…good.