Pursued(170)
The girls were all gathered at Sophie’s suite, talking and laughing, and of course, eating. It was as warm and inviting as Liv had promised it would be and Elise already felt perfectly at home, even though she’d only been on the Mother Ship a little over a month.
“Oh, well…” Lauren blushed, her pale brown skin turning a warm rosy color. “Um…”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Olivia put a hand on her knee. “Me and my big mouth. Would you rather keep it private?”
“Too late.” Kat sat forward, grinning eagerly. “Spill it, doll. Did the big gray guy finally admit what was wrong? Or did he put you over his knee and spank you for daring to ask him in the first place?”
Lauren blushed even harder. “Kat!”
“Kat, leave her alone,” Sophie protested. “You know Lauren’s shy.”
“No, it’s okay.” Lauren laughed, even though she was still blushing. “If you must know, everything turned out all right.”
“What turned out all right?” Sophie asked plaintively. “Kat and Elise and I still don’t even know what the problem was in the first place.”
“Was he scared of hurting the baby?” Kat asked, looking pointedly at Lauren’s belly which was just beginning to develop a gentle curve.
“Or afraid he wasn’t going to be a good father?” Sophie said. “Considering how his own dad was, that would be completely understandable.”
Lauren frowned. “Surprisingly, no. He said it was these, uh, dreams he’d been having.”
“Dreams? Seriously? He’s using nightmares as an excuse for no nookie?” Kat looked skeptical.
“I know how it sounds, but Xairn says they seem so real.” Lauren looked down at her hands, a troubled look on her face. “He keeps dreaming of a girl who looks just like me but she’s not me. It’s really been bothering him.”
“Oh my God.” Sophie put a hand to her mouth. “Your clone!”
“Excuse me, what?” Elise had to ask. “Did you say Lauren has a clone running around?”
“Not running around,” Liv corrected. “At least, we hope not,” she added darkly.
“We left her far away from here, in another galaxy,” Lauren explained. “She was safe, though—with someone who was going to take care of her.”
“And I’m sure that’s where she still is,” Olivia said, patting her hand comfortingly. “Don’t worry about it, Lauren—you know the security on the Mother Ship is top notch.”
“Yes, I know.” Lauren made a visible effort to brighten up. “Honestly, I think it’s just another way Xairn’s subconscious is expressing his doubts about fatherhood. You know, ‘I couldn’t even take care of that clone, so how can I take care of this baby?’ That kind of thing.”
“Oh my God!” Kat suddenly burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, Lauren, but this conversation so belongs on a daytime talk show. It’s too weird.”
“Well, that’s life with a Kindred—or a Scourge,” Sophie said, grinning. “Weird, but wonderful.” She turned to Lauren. “I’m sure Liv is right and everything is going to be just fine.”
“I’m sure too.” Lauren smiled. “In fact, things are looking up already.” She glanced at Kat. “And yes, by ‘looking up’ I mean we had some pretty spectacular make-up sex, when I finally got to the bottom of the problem.”
“All right!” Kat leaned over and gave her a gentle high five. “The nookie train is back on track. Score one for the bonding fruit girls.”
“Bonding fruit?” Elise asked, turning her attention from the question of clones and the delicious strawberry vanilla swirl cupcakes which had been Lauren’s contribution to the girl-day brunch. “What’s that?”
Kat and Lauren shared a look and both of them laughed. “It’s a long story, hon,” Kat said. “Let’s just say it makes all things possible. And I do mean all things.”
“It’s a fruit that helps you, um, accommodate your Kindred mate,” Sophie said delicately. “Some of them are kind of you know, large.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “Like you have to tell her? She’s got the biggest guy of all. Sorry, Elise, but you know it’s true—Merrick is huge. I’m really glad my guys aren’t built on that scale.”
“Yes, he is kind of…of big.” Elise cleared her throat and looked down at her hands.
“I’m guessing he’s big where it counts, too—right?” Kat nudged her but Liv shook her head at her friend. Then she smiled at Elise and changed the subject.