Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88235 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Chain…”
“Way to go, Mom!” Jodi said, grinning down at her from her the height of the Beast Kindred’s arms. “Looks like you picked a good one! Way better than the guy you met on the app.”
“Yeah—you’re never going to meet a human guy as hot as a Kindred so good job,” Melli said. Then she looked up at the young warrior holding her and blushed. “Oh, I mean…I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled down at her gently. “I’m not offended by your comment. In fact, I think it’s flattering that you would find my kind of male more attractive than your own.”
“Well, I mean…you’re all so big and so…so handsome…” Melli bit her lip and for a moment her pale face went pink with a blush.
“Enough of this,” Chain remarked sternly, taking charge. “All three of these females have injuries and my own female will not be content until her daughters are seen to. We need to get them up to the Mother Ship right away.”
Vicky felt her heart flutter when he called her “my female” but then she was worried again the next minute about Melli being moved with such an obvious injury.
However, the young Blood Kindred warrior, whose name was Liosh, rose smoothly from the ground, still holding Melli. He didn’t jostle her a bit as he carried her to the waiting Kindred ship. There he deposited her carefully into the long back seat, though Vicky and Jodi got in first and sat waiting to help hold her steady during the trip up to the Mother Ship.
“I’ll meet you at the Docking Bay,” Chain promised before leaving to get into his own ship.
And then they were lifting off and Vicky was leaving Earth’s orbit for the second time in less than a week. She felt extremely lucky and blessed to be going with her daughters this time—especially since she would be able to get them good care for their injuries. But what would happen after they were all patched up?
As she stroked Melli’s blonde hair and squeezed Jodi’s hand, she couldn’t help remembering that Chain had promised they would “talk later.” Just the thought made her feel like a swarm of butterflies had taken off inside her stomach. But of course, her daughters came first.
Once they’re taken care of, I’ll find Chain and we’ll talk, she promised herself. Just talk, though. There’s no way I’m jumping into a long-term relationship right away. We need to get to know each other first—that’s the sensible thing to do.
And having promised herself she would, in fact, do the sensible thing, Vicky relaxed and waited for the trip to be over.
Chapter Forty-four
“Well hello, doll! Fancy meeting you up here.”
Kat’s voice surprised Vicky. She turned away from the exam room where Melli and Jodi were settled in two comfortable-looking Kindred hospital beds and saw her friend standing there.
“Kat!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” Kat said dryly. “But if you mean what am I doing in the Med Center, I just sat with my friend Lizabeth for the past seven hours while she gave birth. Come see her twins!”
“Oh, I don’t want to bother her!” Vicky protested but Kat shook her head.
“Don’t worry—we won’t go in the room. We’ll just peek in at the doorway—she won’t mind. She likes you. And they’re gorgeous. You have to see them.”
Vicky took one more look at her girls to be sure they were okay. Both of them were dozing comfortably due to the pain meds Commander Sylvan—who was also a doctor—had given them. Melli’s leg had been set—it wasn’t a bad break, just a greenstick fracture, thank goodness—and Jodi’s ankle was elevated on pillows and packed in cooling gel that looked like green Jell-O.
The Kindred warriors who had come with Chain were still there, too. The Blood Kindred, Liosh, was sitting by Melli and holding her hand because she hadn’t wanted to let go of him. There was a look of devotion on his face that was unmistakable.
Vicky couldn’t help remembering how gently he had cradled Melli and how he had promised not to leave her side for as long as she was in the Med Center. A smile twitched the corners of her mouth—it seemed her younger daughter had an admirer and a very devoted one at that.
On the other side of the room, the Beast Kindred, Vorn, had his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles as he sat by Jodi. He was looking at her with a perplexed expression on his face as though he couldn’t quite figure her out.
The two of them had been arguing right up until the moment the pain meds kicked in but when Jodi had started to quiet down, Vorn had drawn up a chair and settled himself beside her, arms crossed over his broad chest.