“It’s too late for ‘sorry.’” She felt like she was going to cry, and she didn’t want him to see her do it.
Worse than that, she felt wrong inside—strange—empty. She told herself it was because he was walking out of her life and never coming back, but the feeling of wrongness grew and grew. Her nipples were getting tight and irritated again, and her pussy felt swollen and hot, as though he hadn’t just made her come multiple times. Nina crossed her legs grimly, determined to wait the weird feelings out. There was no way in hell she was asking him for help again.
Reddix had his hand on the door, about to leave, but then she saw his nose twitch. He inhaled deeply, as though smelling something and turned to look at her.
“Are you all right?”
“Of course I’m not all right,” she snapped, pressing her thighs tightly together. “You’re leaving. And since you’re determined to leave, could you please just go?”
“Fine. But—”
“Go!” She opened the door for him and pointed out into the hallway. Damn it, he had to leave soon. She was feeling weirder by the second. It wasn’t a feeling of her heart beating too hard and fast this time—it was different. A weird emptiness that made her feel faint—a hunger that seemed to devour her from the inside out.
“Goodbye,” Reddix muttered at last. He stepped out the door, and Nina closed it behind him—not a moment too soon. She could feel the emptiness inside consuming her. She opened her robe and looked down at herself, halfway expecting to see a black hole in the middle of her chest. It felt like something was eating her up from within. Like she was…was…
“Falling,” Nina whispered to herself.
She crumpled to the floor in a heap, her head spinning. I think I am having an allergic reaction to the bonding fruit after all, she thought numbly. It shouldn’t be like this, should it? I shouldn’t be feeling this way—it’s too extreme. Too much. Vaguely she knew she needed to get help, needed to call someone to take her to the med center Reddix had talked about. But she couldn’t summon the strength to get off the floor.
Slowly her eyes closed…
* * * * *
Reddix heard her hit the floor from the other side of the sliding metal door.
“Nina?” he said, panic mounting in his chest. “Nina?” He pounded on the metal door panel urgently. Damn it, he should have known the bonding fruit she’d ingested hadn’t run its course, that the small help he’d provided wasn’t enough to get it out of her system.
Turning, he put his shoulder to the door and pressed against it. The door wasn’t set to recognize him and wasn’t meant to open from the outside when it was shut. But though it was shut, it wasn’t locked. Reddix was able to put enough pressure on it to force it open a crack. And once he had a crack he could work his fingers into, he was able to pry the metal panel the rest of the way open.
His worst fears were realized the moment the door finally slid aside. Nina was lying there in a heap, her long dark hair like a shroud across her face. Reddix wasn’t sure if she was breathing or not.
Leaning down, he scooped her off the floor. He was about to carry her straight to the med center when she stirred in his arms and moaned. Thank the Goddess! He carried her into the bedroom instead. Laying her on the bed, he looked around for a Think-me—all of the guest suites on the Mother Ship were equipped with one, and this was no exception. He found it lying on a low table beside the bed and quickly fitted the thin silver wire over his head.
“Saber,” he sent fiercely. “I’m sorry to bother you, Brother, but I need help!”
“What is it?” Saber’s mental voice was unusually abrupt. “I can talk but not for long. I’m in…the middle of something.”
“I understand, I’ll be brief. I went to see Nina, but she’s having a problem. She says she ate some cake at the joining ceremony that had bonding fruit in it. I helped her, uh, take the edge off once, but now she’s worse than ever. In fact, she’s fainted, and she’s barely fucking breathing. Where’s the nearest med center on this end of the ship?
Saber’s response was immediate. “Don’t take her to the med center—they can’t help her there. Several females who ate the cake are having similar problems, including Lissa and Olivia. We’ve already spoken to Sylvan about it, and he says the fruit was dangerously concentrated.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Reddix sent with frustration.
“You know what to do. You know the only way to neutralize bonding fruit—she needs your essence—your seed— inside her. She needs you to make love to her,” Saber sent back.