At last Alli understood—finally she knew what to do.
“Kane,” she said urgently, putting her neck to his mouth. “Kane, Sting me! Hurry—do it now!”
She was afraid he might refuse for some reason, but then she felt his mouth opening as he pressed a weak kiss to the side of her throat.
“Sting me!” she urged again. “Just like you did when you bonded me to you!”
He groaned weakly but at last she felt the sudden stabbing pain, followed by the intense pleasure. With a gasping cry, she pressed herself to his big body.
“Yes, Kane,” she moaned, holding him tightly. “Yes, Sting me again and again—as many time as it takes to make you better.”
The big Kru’ell One did as she said and as the waves of pleasure rushed through her, Alli could feel him growing stronger.
“What are you doing here?” he sent through their link. “Thought I made you forget.”
“You did, you big idiot!” Alli was half-laughing, half-crying through gasps of pleasure. It was an emotional overload but she welcomed it eagerly. “You sent me away to keep me safe from the Overlord, didn’t you?”
“He wanted you.” There was a fierce growl in Kane’s mental voice. “Couldn’t let him have you, baby.”
“Well someone else almost got me, thanks to your little memory-wiping trick!” Alli scolded him. “Do you know I was actually at the altar with Douglas saying my wedding vows before the Goddess helped me remember you?”
“You were?” Kane’s eyes flashed and he drew back to speak aloud. “Tell me you didn’t Join with that weak little bastard! He doesn’t deserve you!”
Alli felt her heart leap in her chest. He was already looking and sounding stronger! He must be feeding off her intense emotions even now. Emotions of joy and love and deep relief that the man she adored was going to be okay.
“Of course, I didn’t,” she said, stroking his cheek. “I left him at the altar. He’ll get over it—as long as I pay him back for the ceremony and the reception.” She made a face. “He’s more worried about losing his money than losing me.”
“He’s a fool then.” Kane wrapped her in his arms. “Because now that I have you back, I never intend to lose you again!”
He started to kiss her but Alli put a hand on his chest.
“Uh, Kane? The guards?” she said, nodding at the two big warriors who were still staring at them, dumbfounded, as though they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“Guards?” He frowned and looked over at them. “Hey, you two,” he growled at them. “Do you mind? Your Overlord needs some privacy.”
Their black and silver eyes wide, they both nodded.
“Yes, Overlord. Of course, Overlord!”
“And lock the door behind you!” Kane called after them as they left the big bedroom hurriedly.
He pulled Alli in for a kiss and gave her a smile.
“I’m going to bond my concubine to me all over again…and I have a feeling it’s going to take a while…”
Epilogue
“So this is a Kru’ell One. We’ve heard much of you in my universe, but I never thought to meet one of your kind in person.” Sylvan reached across his desk to offer Kane a warrior’s clasp. The other male took his arm and gripped it firmly before letting go.
“Pleased to meet you, Brother,” he growled. “I like your ship. We have our headquarters on the Earth itself in my ‘verse.”
“A much-changed Earth, as I understand it.” Sylvan raised his eyebrows.
Kane nodded.
“And it’s going to change even more—for the better, Goddess willing. There are a lot of things we need to do—stop the Calm dosage, elevate the humans to co-equal members of society…”
“Teach the Kru’ell One warriors they can find one special woman and bond with her instead of just going from girl to girl,” Alli put in, raising her eyebrows.
Kane grinned at her.
“Well, that’s already becoming fashionable, now that the new Overlord has already done it.” He pointed a thumb at his own broad chest and laughed.
“It turns out that many of the warriors were wishing for a permanent relationship with the female of their choice, but having Calm in a girl’s system made her emotions too muted to feed them for long,” Alli explained to Sylvan.
“But now that we’re no longer dosing the humans, my warriors will be able to find permanent brides like I have, instead of temporary concubines,” Kane added.
“I’m glad to hear you’re making such sweeping reforms,” Sylvan said, nodding. “But it sounds like you still have a lot of hard work ahead of you.”
“Which is one reason we’re here,” Alli told him. “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to resign my job with the Kindred of the Mother Ship. My place is at Kane’s side now. I’m going to help him through the legal aspects of setting up the new co-equal human/Kindred society on his version of Earth.”