He supposed that now he would start producing essence—the pale blue liquid which was secreted by the fangs of sexually mature males in order to heal their mates of any small injuries or bond them to the Blood Kindred who bit them.
No, don’t think about it! Don’t think about biting her! Liosh told himself firmly. It’s wrong—you’re here to protect her, not Claim her.
Besides, there was that something fragile about Melinda that he had noticed right from the start. She might not want to be Claimed—by him or by anyone. He needed to keep himself in line and not do anything to upset or frighten her.
“…your clothes?” she said and he realized he had missed what she was talking about in his effort to rein himself and his newly sensitized fangs in.
“Forgive me, my Lady—what?” he asked, frowning.
“Oh, I said, do you mind changing your clothes?” she asked, looking at him anxiously. “I just thought—since Commander Sylvan said you and Vorn should try to blend into the background…”
“Oh, right—of course.” Liosh nodded. “No, I don’t mind. Do you have a place where I can get new clothing that would fit me?” He looked doubtfully around at the puny human males he saw outside the vehicle. The Earth species was definitely on the small size.
Melinda pursed her pretty pink lips.
“Well, I think there’s a big and tall men’s store in University Mall. We could go there, um, if you have any money,” she added, rather apologetically. “I’d offer to pay but I’m kind of strapped for cash right now. I got let go from my job and I’m still looking for another one.”
“Commander Sylvan has given Vorn and myself an unlimited line of credit in the form of this small, flat card.”
Liosh took the small, rectangular piece of plastic from the breast pocket of his uniform shirt and showed it to her.
Melinda’s eyes went wide.
“Wow! A platinum card?”
“Is that good?” Liosh asked.
She nodded, apparently awed. “Very good.”
“Excellent.” He smiled with satisfaction. “Well then, as long as I’m staying with you, please let me pay for all the food and other necessary items. And I can pay for my own clothing as well. Er…should we go and get some right now? Am I too conspicuous?” He looked down at himself again.
Melinda laughed.
“You might as well have ‘Kindred Warrior’ tattooed on your forehead. Which wouldn’t be a problem, except if you’re going to stay in my dorm with me, you’ll need to blend in more. You know, in case Security comes snooping around.”
So there was some kind of security system—or at least guards—somewhere on the sprawling campus. That was good, Liosh thought with some satisfaction. It made him feel a little better about Melinda staying in such a crowded place.
“That’s fine,” he said. “Should we go get the new clothes now?”
“Well…sure. Why not?” She shrugged and smiled shyly at him. “I don’t have any classes today and there’s nothing else to do but watch TV or surf the Internet. Not if I want to stay off my leg, anyway. Oh, but—” She paused, frowning.
“What’s wrong?” Liosh asked, immediately concerned.
“Nothing. It’s only that…” She nibbled her lush lower lip pensively. “Only that the mall is a big area with a lot of shops in it, so there’s a lot of walking involved. So I’m not sure—”
“I can carry you again,” Liosh offered.
“Really?” She looked at him uncertainly. “I mean, it’s a really long way. You might get tired of lugging me around everywhere.”
“I could never get tired of that.” Liosh offered her a smile, which she returned with a rosy blush in her cheeks. “Honestly, my lady, you weigh so little I could carry you all day and never get tired of it,” he told her.
He hoped she would let him. He loved cradling her close to his chest, loved the feel of her small, soft body pressed against his much larger, harder one.
Melinda seemed to like it too, because she nodded after a moment.
“If you’re really sure you don’t mind?”
“My Lady,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “It would be my very great pleasure.”
Her cheeks got even pinker and her big blue eyes sparkled.
“All right then,” she said. “To get to the mall you just have to follow that road up ahead and turn left…”
As he followed her directions, Liosh admitted to himself that he couldn’t wait to hold her again—and that he never wanted to put her down.
Five
“So this is it.” Jodi opened the door with a flourish—at least her apartment was always kept spotlessly neat, unlike her little sister’s dorm room, as she happened to know. She liked to keep a tight rein on her environment—a place for everything and everything in its place. Whereas Melli was more catch-as-catch-can when it came to housekeeping.
The apartment was a little nicer than most student housing—the duplexes up and down the street were mostly occupied by grad students and professors waiting to make tenure—all of whom were serious about their studies. It was, however, on the small side and the big Kindred had to duck his head as he came in.