“My Lady Melinda,” he said formally, “Just give me a moment to get a second shuttle ready for you and then I’ll come get you and help you into it.”
“Oh, thank you.” Melli felt her heart start pounding. “But…I can probably walk?” She made it into a question, a little uncertain if she really ought to put much weight on her newly healed leg or not.
Liosh frowned.
“Better not, my Lady. Commander Sylvan said you’re to take it easy on that newly mended bone for some time. If you don’t mind, I’ll carry you to the new vehicle as soon as I get it ready to go.”
Melli felt herself blushing harder and her heart started pounding double-time in her chest.
“No, I…I don’t mind,” she murmured, looking up at him from under her lashes. “If…if it doesn’t bother you to, um, carry me.”
Liosh’s pale blue eyes went half-lidded and his voice dropped to a soft, deep rumble.
“I don’t mind a bit, my Lady. In fact, it would be my very great pleasure to carry you.”
“O-okay,” Melli stuttered. “I’ll, um, just wait for you here, then.”
“I won’t be a moment,” he promised and left the shuttle to go get another ready.
“Listen to yourself, Melli,” Jodi whispered to her fiercely. “Falling all over him and letting him carry you all over the place!”
“So what?” Melli hissed, frowning at her big sister. “Just because you don’t like your Kindred guard doesn’t mean I have to hate mine!”
Then she remembered that Kindred were supposed to have really acute senses—including a phenomenal sense of hearing.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” she said, sparing a glance for the front seat, where Vorn was staring straight ahead. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he growled, shooting a look over his broad shoulder. “I know exactly how your sister feels about me and I don’t give a fuck.”
“Nice language,” Jodi snapped, though she had been known to drop an “F bomb” of her own, from time to time, as Melli well-knew. “I’m just trying to warn my little sister to be careful and not fall in love with her Kindred guard just because he’s acting like the perfect gentleman right now.” She turned a piercing look at Melli. “You know what I mean, Melli. You’re going to be alone with this guy so be careful. Remember high school.”
The reminder made Melli feel like she’d swallowed a whole bucket of ice cubes. Her hands fisted in her lap and everything from the waist down seemed to clench painfully. She knew her big sister was just trying to look out for her, but why did Jodi have to dump cold water on her heart, just when she was feeling warm and safe and happy around a man for the first time in years?
“Actually, Liosh is a perfect gentleman,” Vorn growled from the front seat. “I’ve served with him for five solar years now and observed him in every situation. He would never harm a female—no Kindred would. So if you’re trying to warn your little sister to be careful of him because you think he’s not trustworthy, don’t bother. Liosh is one of the most steadfast and honorable males I know—he will give your sister the respect and deference that Melinda is due.”
Somewhere deep inside, Melli felt a knot that had begun to tighten, suddenly loosen again. Somehow the Beast Kindred’s words reassured her—maybe because they corroborated the feeling she already had—that Liosh was one of the good guys.
“See?” she said to Jodi, who was still frowning skeptically. “Liosh is okay—I’ll be fine, Jodi.”
“He’s okay according to his friend,” Jodi pointed out. “But you don’t really know either of them, Melli. Neither of us do.”
“Liosh is more than a friend—I consider him a brother, though we come from different branches of the Kindred tree,” Vorn growled. “And please don’t slander him before you get to know him—or me, for that matter. We’re here to protect you and as I said before, no Kindred will ever hurt a female.”
“Why is that?” Melli asked curiously. “I mean, is it just because you worship a Goddess? Is it a religious belief?”
“It’s more than that,” Vorn told her. “Protecting and caring for females—revering all that is feminine—isn’t just a religion—it’s in our fucking DNA.”
Jodi frowned skeptically.
“So you’re genetically programmed to protect women and never abuse them?”
Vorn nodded, but apparently seeing the skepticism in Jodi’s face, he continued to elaborate.
“Look—you see our race. We’re ninety-five percent male,” he pointed out. “Females are a valuable resource—they’re precious beyond measure.” He half turned in the seat and gestured animatedly as he continued to speak. “Think about what’s scarce in your own world. I know in some places, humans don’t have much access to clean drinking water. So if water is in short supply, you don’t go wasting it or polluting it, right?”
“Actually…we humans haven’t exactly done the best we could when it comes to conserving our natural resources,” Melli said, frowning.
“And human males aren’t always very good at treating females like they’re ‘precious’ either,” Jodi said dryly. “Ask just about any woman you run across—all of them have had bad experiences with men in one way or another. Hence the #MeToo movement and my very natural skepticism about men who just want to be ‘nice’ to women all the time.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Though it is interesting to know that you consider us in the same light as a natural resource like fresh water or pig iron.”
“No, damn it—that’s not what I meant!” Vorn ran a hand over his tangled black and gold hair in obvious irritation. “It’s not just that females are vital to the survival of our species—although of course they are. We also believe that there’s a little piece of the Goddess within every woman—a little spark of divinity that deserves to be worshipped and protected.”
“I thought you said your attitude towards women wasn’t religious,” Jodi pointed out, frowning. “You can’t have it both ways, you know. Either women are a commodity, like fresh water or
