Brides of the Kindred(35)

“Fast work,” Sylvan remarked, clearly surprised. “So what are you doing here if she gave in that easily? You ought to be bonding her right now.”

“No.” Baird shook his head. “I can’t. I mean, I couldn’t go on. I, uh, stopped it before we went too far.”

“What?” Sylvan gave him an incredulous look. “I thought you wanted Olivia more than life itself. You said you’ve been dream-sharing for six months. Why did you stop?”

“Because she wasn’t really ready, damn it.” Baird banged his fist on the bar in front of them, making the other Kindred males sitting along its length stare at him. “It was just my mating scent working on her, making her crazy. But she didn’t really want me—not the way I want her.”

“But she responded to you?” Sylvan took another sip of his drink.

“Her body did but it wasn’t really what she wanted.” Baird ran a hand through his thick black hair. “I don’t want to take her against her will, Sylvan. I need her to be all in. To be as crazy for me as I am for her. You know?”

His half-brother nodded after a moment. “I understand. You don’t want a bond with an unwilling female. If she’s not committed to you heart and soul, the bond between you would be incomplete. Not to mention unhappy.”

“Unhappy’s an understatement,” Baird growled. “She fuckin’ hates me. If anything I’m further from bonding her to me now than I was when I first claimed her.”

“Give it time,” Sylvan patted his arm. “I think I understand the problem—she doesn’t want to be parted from her sister, Sophia. Did you know they were twins?”

Baird looked at him apprehensively. “Are human twins like the Twin Kindred? Do they have to share a mate? Because I have to tell you, Sylvan, I don’t think I can handle more than one like Olivia. And she’s the only one I want, anyway.”

“No, no. Don’t worry about that.” Sylvan shook his head. “But the bond between them is extraordinarily strong. I spent some time talking to Sophia and she told me they had never been parted even for a single day.”

Baird frowned. “That is like the Twin Kindred. Do you suppose they feel actual physical pain while they’re separated?”

Sylvan looked thoughtful. “I don’t think it’s physical so much but certainly the pain is a very real thing. Sophia was very concerned about Olivia. She was, ah, worried that you might hurt her.”

“Hurt her? How?”

“Well…” Sylvan took another drink from his mug before answering. “I told her about your past—how you’d spent the last six months as a prisoner of the Scourge before you made your escape. I just wanted to make her understand that you needed Olivia as much as she did,” he added when Baird gave him a black look. “Anyway, she thought you might, I don’t know, have a bad dream and mistake Olivia for one of the enemy and hurt her.”

“What?” Baird couldn’t believe his ears. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. Olivia doesn’t smell anything like those bastards!” Just the memory of Scourge ship’s sickening sour stench turned his stomach.

“I know.” Sylvan nodded. “I told her that but she didn’t seem to understand. I don’t think humans have a very keen sense of smell. Or else they don’t rely on it much.”

“Well, it’s keen enough to make them react to our mating scents,” Baird pointed out. “So I guess that’s all they need.” He sighed. “If you talk to the sister again, tell her I would never hurt Olivia. I love her, damn it. I just…can’t seem to make her realize that.”

“You will, just give it time. Remember, you just claimed her this morning.” Sylvan patted his arm again and stood.

“I know.” Baird finished his drink and rose as well. “It’s just that we’ve been dream-sharing already for six months—that’s almost three times as long as most Kindred have to connect with their brides. Even you Tranqs with your damn cold hearts claim your brides after a month or two at most.”

Sylvan raised an eyebrow at him. “And your point is?”

“That it ought to be enough, damn it! We’ve been inside each other’s heads for months now. I know her inside and out—what she wants, what she needs, the way she likes to be touched. Why can’t she just admit we have a connection?”

“Maybe because she’s scared to,” Sylvan told him gently. “Scared to lose her sister and everything she loves. You have to give her a reason to give that up, Baird. Be patient with her.”