His rough words made Kat’s stomach clench. “I sure as hell hope not for your sake,” she said evenly. “You try it and I’ll knee both of you so hard you’ll be wearing your balls for bowties.”
“Bravely spoken, little Kat.” Deep had the nerve to sound amused. “But that isn’t what this is about at all. We just need to heal you.”
“And how…how exactly do you expect to do that?” Kat asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
“We have to use pleasure to bind your spirit back to your body.” Lock’s voice was soothing.
“How much pleasure? What…what exactly are you going to do?” Kat whispered.
“Just touch you.” Lock cupped her cheek and looked earnestly into her eyes. “My lady…Kat…please believe me when I say we would never try to take advantage of you. What we’re doing here is necessary, I swear it.”
Kat opened her mouth to respond but suddenly she remembered something Sophie had told her. After her crash in the mountains with Sylvan, she’d woken up to find him licking her breast. She’d been sure he was up to no good, but it had turned out that he was actually healing her. Could it be that Lock and Deep really were on the level—that they were only doing what they had to in order to make her whole again? It seemed crazy but then, a lot of things associated with the Kindred did, she reminded herself.
Blowing out a breath, she nodded reluctantly. “All right. But no sex. Especially not bonding sex—whatever that entails with you guys.”
“Don’t worry.” Deep’s voice sounded bitter. “Lock and I would never want to tie an unwilling bride to us. The results could be…tragic.”
Kat twisted to look at him again. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind,” Lock said quickly. “Deep just means that we would never physically bond you to us against your will. So…shall we begin?”
“I guess if we have to.” Kat could feel her heart thumping against her ribs. God, how did she keep getting into this kind of situation and how could she avoid it in the future?
“We do,” Deep said grimly. “But I don’t see how we’re going to give you enough pleasure to heal your spirit when you’re so unhappy about it.”
“Do you really find our hands on you so distasteful?” Lock’s eyes were wistful.
“No.” Kat closed her eyes briefly. “No, you…you know I don’t.”
“Then try to relax,” he urged. “Please, my lady. Here…” Kat had been lying on her side facing Lock, with Deep behind her. Now Lock turned her gently but firmly until she was lying on her back with both of them leaning over her.
“This is worse,” Kat, objected, trying to cover her bare breasts and sex with her hands. “I feel so…so exposed.”
“Are you ashamed to let us look at you?” Deep’s voice was surprisingly gentle. “You shouldn’t be, little Kat. I have never seen such beauty in my life.”
“But I’m…” So many words hovered on her lips—fat, chubby, chunky—insults from a lifetime of being plus sized in a world where skinny women were the ideal. Living as a size eighteen in a society that preferred a size eight hadn’t been easy. “Not thin,” she finished at last.
“We know.” Lock’s voice held only admiration. “You’re an elite. The most beautiful one I’ve ever seen.”
That’s right—they like big girls here. It was still a novel concept to Kat, who was used to being defensive about her ample curves. “All right,” she said at last. “But only because the lights in here are pretty dim. I don’t want you to think I’ll be parading around in my birthday suit just because you two are into plus-sized women.”
“Of course,” Lock assured her. “We would never want you to do anything that made you uncomfortable.”
Slowly, her heart beating so hard she could almost hear it drumming in her ears, she let her hands drift to her sides. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to relax.
* * * * *
Deep couldn’t stop looking at her. Kat’s long, silky auburn hair glistened in the soft light of the glows and her full, creamy breasts rose and fell with each breath she took. They were tipped with deep pink nipples that were tight and erect, just begging to be sucked. And how he longed to do just that—to taste her. The last time they had been together it had been Lock that she allowed to suck her sweet, ripe peaks. Deep had cupped them in his hands but he still hadn’t had the pleasure of teasing her nipples with his mouth.