Pursued(27)

“Everybody, this is Elise,” Olivia announced. “I had to twist her arm to get her here so don’t go scaring her off.”

“Of course not—we don’t bite.” The red haired woman named Kat laughed easily.

Elise’s stomach rumbled as she eyed the plate of cupcakes and she stepped forward uncertainly. “Um, thanks for having me. I hope you don’t mind me intruding on your private time together.”

“Intruding? Please!” The girl Olivia had introduced as her twin sister laughed. Despite their different hair and eye color, Elise noticed that their faces were identical. “We’ve all been dying to meet you,” she said.

“You have?” Elise frowned.

“Sure, doll.” Kat put an arm around her shoulders and drew her further into the room. “You’re the latest member in our exclusive club—girls who have been kidnapped by the AllFather and lived to tell about it.”

“Really?” Elise looked at them, wide-eyed.

“Yup.” Olivia’s twin, Sophie, nodded solemnly. “He took us all, at one time or another, but we all made it through.” She leaned forward, her green eyes serious. “That’s why we wanted to meet you so much. We wanted to let you know that you can get through it.”

“We wanted to offer you our support,” Lauren said quietly.

“Not to mention a cupcake or two.” Olivia held out the plate. “Come on, take one. If you don’t, I’ll eat them all.”

Elise laughed a little. “Oh, really…”

“You think she’s kidding, but she’s not,” Kat said flatly. “See, being pregnant with a Kindred baby makes you completely ravenous. It takes so much to feed the little guys…” She looked at Lauren. “…or girls, that you can hardly eat enough.”

“She’s right.” Olivia took a cupcake herself and then urged Elise to do the same. “Shove over, Sophie,” she commanded her sister, plopping down on the couch and making room for Elise as well. “Let’s have some serious girl talk here—I think Elise could use it.”

“Of course, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” Sophie said quickly, as she scooted over on the oversized couch to make room for her sister and Elise. “Please don’t think we’re prying.”

“It’s just that we know how traumatic being held by the AllFather can be,” Lauren said softly. “He held me for weeks. I wouldn’t have gotten out alive if it wasn’t for my man, Xairn. He rescued me and brought me back to Earth, but I still wake up some nights dreaming I’m locked up there, naked in that cold metal cell…” She shivered. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do.” Elise looked down at her cupcake. “But…well, that’s not my problem. Not now.”

“What is it, hon?” Kat asked. “You can tell us, if you want.”

Elise had always been an intensely private person but when she looked at the other women sitting on the couch she saw understanding and compassion in all their eyes. They know, she thought, looking at them. They understand what I’ve been through because they’ve been through it too.

That realization seemed to free her somehow and when she opened her mouth, the truth came out. “It’s…it’s Merrick,” she said softly. “I thought there was something between us—some kind of a bond. And apparently there is, but it’s the wrong kind of bond…” Urged gently along by Olivia and the rest of the girls, she gradually told everything that had just happened. “And now I feel like some kind of a…a tumor. A cancer growing inside him,” she finished, feeling the tears begin to flow again despite all she could do to stop them. “I don’t want to hurt him and I know everything between us is fake but it still just feels so real somehow.”

“Of course it does.” Olivia put down her cupcake and put an arm around Elise. “Any time you make a connection with a Kindred male it’s a big deal. They’re not easy to get over.”

“That’s just the thing,” Elise said. “I don’t want to get over him.” She sighed. “But I know I have to. Even if our bond wasn’t all wrong, I do have a fiancé.”

“Who you love very much, right?” Sophie said eagerly.

Elise thought of James and nodded. “Yes, very much,” she said, trying to sound certain. “He’s very sweet and kind. Well, most of the time. And anyway, we’ve been engaged for well over a year and our wedding is coming up soon. I’ve got it all planned—the cake, the flowers, the dress—I can’t just give up on that because I feel this…this thing for Merrick.” She didn’t know how to describe the intense attraction, the need to touch and be touched any other way. Or maybe she was embarrassed to.