Accidental Acquisition by Evangeline Anderson
36
“Well, you’re certainly in a good mood, lately,” Suzanne remarked, when the two of them were making pastry dough for a savory tart Jillian was trying out for Pat-ar’s brunch menu. “You’ve been happier than I’ve ever seen you, ever since the VIP dinner for the Nebrian ambassador went off so well.”
“Yes, well, it sort of put Pat-ar on the map, didn’t it?” Jillian said, keeping her eyes down on her pastry dough. “We’ve got a waitlist a mile long now and people are booking special reservations for our Nebrian tasting menu weeks in advance.”
“The jumja soup is a big hit,” Suzanne admitted. “But I wonder if your good mood might be because of something else, besides our sudden success. Say maybe a certain B’varren Kindred? Hmmm?” She raised her eyebrows at Jillian and there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
Jillian eyed her friend in astonishment.
“How did you know? We’ve been so careful to stay professional in the kitchen!”
“Yes, well, you’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are.” Suzanne laughed. “I see the two of you going into the pantry together when it’s not busy. You’re almost as bad as Lor and Lydia!”
Jillian bit her lip. Actually, the trips to the pantry had started out innocently enough—they were necessary for whenever the venom rash popped back up—which it had a habit of doing in the oddest times and places. Sometimes she just needed Kalis to lick her collarbone to ease the sunburn-like pain and erase the pervasive redness. Other times the venom affected her in more…intimate areas.
But no matter where the venom rash popped up, Kalis was always ready, willing, and eager to help her with it. In fact, he had admitted to Jillian that he craved the taste of her—he wanted to go down on her even when she wasn’t having a venom flare up.
From trysts in the pantry, they had progressed to spending almost every evening together. After they closed down the kitchen for the night, Kalis would come with her to her suite to give her a thorough check-up, just to make sure the rash didn’t come back overnight. And of course, those check-ups invariably led to the big Kindred on his knees before her, lapping her pussy as she moaned and tugged his hair.
Jillian had never been with a man who loved to eat pussy half as much as Kalis did. She was pretty sure she’d had more oral sex in the past month than she’d had previously in her entire life.
She’d returned the favor, too. It only seemed fair, since Kalis was so willing to go down on her, that she should reciprocate. The first time she tried it, though, the big Kindred had been shocked.
“No, no, Mistress,” he had protested, the first time she unfastened his trousers and leaned down to kiss the head of his extremely large cock. “It’s not for you to put your mouth on me—that’s beneath you.”
“Don’t be silly,” Jillian had said, frowning. “You, er, taste me all the time. Why shouldn’t I taste you?”
Kalis shook his head.
“I’ve never had a Mistress who wanted to do such a thing to me before. And besides, Kindred need to taste their females—I love the taste of your pussy, love to lap the sweet honey from your well.” His voice had dropped to a low growl. “Why don’t you let me taste you now, little Mistress?”
But his resistance had only made Jillian more determined. She’d never much cared for giving blow jobs before, but she liked the idea of taking Kalis in her mouth. His shaft was so big and thick—porn star big, she thought—and his warm, spicy scent was strong and arousing. And besides, by that time he’d gone down on her over a dozen times and she was beginning to feel really selfish.
“You just lie there and let me take care of you,” she’d told the big Kindred. “And don’t worry that it’s ‘beneath me’—that’s ridiculous. I told you—I’m only your boss in the kitchen. Outside it, we’re equals. Okay?”
Kalis had seemed doubtful about this, but he hadn’t put up any more resistance as she proceeded to lick and suck and stroke him to orgasm.
“Oh, Gods—Mistress! Jillian!” he’d groaned when he finally spurted for her, his big hands fisting at his sides. “Gods, your sweet mouth on me feels so good!”
Jillian had felt a warm sense of sexual satisfaction at finally returning the oral favor. And she had found, to her surprise, that she really enjoyed sucking the big Kindred’s shaft—though it wasn’t easy to get much of it in her mouth, due to his size.
Part of her enjoyment had to do with the fact that Kalis never grabbed her head and forced her down until she gagged—which had been a trick her ex, Brad, was fond of doing, just as he was about to come. Jillian had hated that!
She also found that she liked the taste of Kalis’s precum and cum—the flavor was like salted caramel—which was, admittedly odd, but also delicious. She found herself wondering if she tasted half as good to him as he did to her. If so, no wonder he liked going down on her so much!
At any rate, the two of them had been gratifying each other in this way almost every night since the VIP dinner—though Jillian had thought she was being so careful and professional. And now, here was Suzanne, saying she knew all about her relationship with the big Kindred!
“I’m sorry,” she said stiffly, bringing herself back to the present conversation with her friend. “I didn’t know we were being so obvious, but I’ll be sure to keep my personal relationship out of the kitchen from now on.”
“Don’t be silly!” Suzanne exclaimed, beaming at her. “I’m not mad at you, Jilly—I’m happy for you! Ever since Brad left you high and dry, I’ve been hoping you’d find someone else—someone you can settle down and be happy with!”
“Whoa—whoa!” Jillian held up dough-covered fingers. “Nobody said anything about ‘settling down.’ Kalis and I have just been…keeping each other company, that’s all. We haven’t had any discussions about making it permanent in any way.”
Suzanne gave her a sympathetic look.
“Is that because you’re still afraid to trust anyone after Brad? Because believe me, Jilly, Kindred aren’t like human guys. If Kalis says he loves you, you can trust that he’s telling the truth. And you’re never going to catch him in the sack with some showgirl, either. Kindred are loyal—they don’t cheat—ever.”
“It’s not just that,” Jillian protested. “We’ve only known each other for a month. It takes time to decide these kinds of things.”
“Not for me and Kind and Hard,” Suzanne said, shaking her head. “We Dream-Shared for a while, but not much longer than you and Kalis have known each other. The minute I saw the two of them, I just knew. And I’ve never looked back.” She shrugged. “I hear it’s that way for a lot of Kindred brides—it’s like a preordained thing. The Goddess puts them together with the right warrior and they just click. That’s why the Claiming Period works so well—they’re meant to be together, so a month is plenty of time for them to realize that and act on it.”
“I don’t know if I believe in the Goddess—or any higher power for that matter,” Jillian said, frowning. “Would a merciful Goddess have let me get mixed up with a jerk like Brad?”
“If she wanted to get you up on the Mother Ship and over to the market so you could ‘accidentally’ buy your future mate, sure she would,” Suzanne said promptly. “Look, I firmly believe that everything happens for a greater purpose. Even bad things—things you can’t understand at the time. Someday you’ll look back on those hard times in your life and see why they had to come about.”
“Well, aren’t you Little Miss Philosophical,” Jillian said dryly. “I’m glad you’re so happy with your guys and your babies, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to settle down just yet.”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger,” Suzanne pointed out. “Next month you celebrate your big Five-Oh.”
“Ugh, did you have to remind me?” Jillian sighed and shook her head as she wrapped the now-finished pastry dough to chill. “As if I didn’t feel old enough already!”
“You ought to be feeling pretty damn young—now that you’re getting so much nookie,” Suzanne pointed out. She cocked her head. “Or are you? Have you and Kalis bonded yet?”
“No, and we’re not going to,” Jillian said firmly. “We’re getting along just fine the way we are and that’s how I’d like to keep it. Besides, he’s really on the, uh, large side, if you know what I mean,” she added. “I’m not eager to try and take on something that big—I’d be walking funny for a week afterwards!”
“Oh, all Kindred are big,” Suzanne said dismissively. “All you need is some bonding fruit. That stuff helps you stretch like nobody’s business—it also makes you horny as hell, though, so be careful if you eat some,” she added.
Jillian nodded doubtfully. Living on the Mother Ship, she’d heard all about the magical properties of the little fruit that looked a bit like a triangular peach. But just like the Kindred Goddess, she wasn’t sure how much she believed of what she’d heard.
“Well, this pastry is done and we’re all set for brunch.” Suzanne sighed as she stacked the neatly wrapped parcels of tart dough and put them in the walk-in chiller. “Want to come over and see the babies? They’re actually getting to be fun, now that they’re smiling and cooing instead of screaming and crying from the colic,” she added, smiling tiredly.
“I would love to see the babies, but there’s something I need to do at my suite,” Jillian hedged.
Suzanne grinned.
“Don’t you mean someone? It’s okay, go on and have some fun with Kalis. I kind of wish I would have had more fun with my guys before I got knocked up.”
“You’re a great mom—you know you love it.” Jillian smiled at her friend. “But I have to be honest, seeing you up to all hours dealing with triplets makes me really glad I didn’t have kids with Brad, after all.” She made a face. “Well, I wouldn’t have wanted to have a child with that bastard no matter what, but I’m just glad not to be a single mom right now.”
Suzanne frowned.
“Well what about when you get together with Kalis—because I know you will. Are you going to try for kids then?”
Jillian shook her head.
“You know, if you’d asked me a couple of years ago, I would have said yes without a doubt. But now that I’m getting towards fifty, well—I kind of think that ship has sailed. And you know what? I’m all right with that.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m happy just being the cool aunt to your three little guys and still having time to myself to travel and cook and explore.”
Suzanne sighed.
“Now you’re making me jealous! You get to go back to your suite and have a glass of wine and some nookie and I have to go home and change dirty diapers.”
“You’ll be fine,” Jillian told her, laughing. “You’ve got two husbands to help you, remember?”
“Yes, and they’re both really good about changing diapers and rocking and burping the babies but I’m the only one who can breast feed and believe me, my boobs are getting so sore,” Suzanne complained.
Jillian nodded sympathetically as they locked up Pat-ar and left together. But she couldn’t help being glad that she was heading back to her suite for a quiet evening in with her man instead of a night of broken sleep filled with wailing babies and dirty diapers.
Wait, did you just call Kalis ‘your man’? whispered a little voice in the back of her head. With a shock, Jillian realized she had. Was she getting more serious with the big Kindred than she had meant to?
Ruefully, she had to admit that she was. She’d meant to be so careful, guarding her heart and keeping her emotions in check. But somehow, Kalis had gotten in under her radar and she had to admit, they weren’t just “hooking up”—she was emotionally invested, just like she’d promised herself not to be at the beginning.
Maybe it was because Kalis was so easy to talk to and be around. He had a really calming presence about him and his deep, quiet voice was never raised in anger or agitation, which was a departure from guys she’d been with in the past.
He was certainly different from her ex, Brad, Jillian thought, as she and Suzanne stepped onto the tram to head back to their respective suites. Brad had always had to be the life of the party—the center of attention in any room he walked in on. At first, she had found him charming, but it wasn’t long before she started finding his frenetic energy downright exhausting and then pretty damn annoying. And that was before she’d caught him in bed with another woman.
In contrast, Kalis was calm and quiet. He never got frazzled or short-tempered—not even when they got in the weeds during a busy dinner service. He just forged ahead until they all caught up. Or, if it was another station that was behind, he was always willing to pitch in and help out. He never seemed to think any task was beneath him—he was willing to help anyone out, which was a trait that Jillian really valued—both in a line cook, and in a person in general.
Maybe he has to work extra hard on being calm in order to keep the creature inside him from coming out,whispered a little voice in her head. Maybe that’s why he’s always so even-tempered. Because if he loses control of himself, that thing might come out and rip somebody’s head off!
Jillian shivered and pushed the rogue thought away. Honestly, she’d been able to almost forget about the huge green Grizzly bear thing that Kalis called his Ursus. He had pretty much promised never to bring it out again—at least, not around her—and he didn’t seem to need to change every full moon, or anything, like a werewolf out of a story.
Better to just try to forget about that thing, Jillian counseled herself, as she got off the tram at her station and headed for her suite, where she knew Kalis was waiting for her. Forget about it, the same way you can usually forget about poor Lucy and what happened to her.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the frightening creature the big Kindred could turn into, straight to the back of her mind and made a conscious decision not to think about it anymore. It was the same way she dealt with her childhood trauma and it usually worked.
She had no idea that she wasn’t going to be able to avoid Kalis’s beast forever.
