The heart wants what the heart wants, she thought sadly to herself. Only in this case, it can’t have what it wants. Which was Chain, of course.
“Yes, I guess this is goodbye,” he echoed and Vicky thought he didn’t sound any happier about it than she felt.
Still, they walked to the front door together and he opened it and then they just stood there, staring out into the deepening twilight together. The soft gray light reminded Vicky of the morning light on Priima Belle where she had woken up not so long ago. It all seemed like a dream now—their trip to the other planet, the crazy food lecture she’d given, and everything that had happened afterwards…
All just a dream, Vicky thought sadly. One that would never be repeated.
Chain started to go and she heard herself blurt,
“What? You’re leaving without even hugging me goodbye?”
He turned to her at once and gathered her into his arms.
Vicky gave a little surprised gasp as he pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. His arms were around her tight and he inhaled deeply, as though he was trying to fix the scent of her hair in his memory forever
For a moment she was frozen—then she hugged him back, pressing every inch of herself against his hard, muscular body. God, he felt so good against her! And his spicy, masculine scent seemed to fill her senses, making her feel she was drowning in him.
They clung together for what seemed an eternity, neither wanting to let the other go. At last Chain whispered in her ear,
“Goodbye, beautiful Victoria. You will live in my heart forever.”
Then he tore himself away from her and hurried out the door, not looking back once.
Vicky watched him go and felt as though a cat with very sharp claws was using her heart a scratching post. God, why did it hurt so badly to watch him leave when they’d been together such a short time? And why did she have the urge to run after him and beg him to stay?
But no—she couldn’t do that. It would only drag out an already painful process. She had to let the big Kindred go.
Sadly, she watched the sky as his sleek, silver ship took off and flew quietly away. Then she went back to the living room, sat down and cried.
Chain was gone and she would probably never see him again. And at that moment, it didn’t seem to matter that he was younger than her or that they hadn’t known each other very long—it felt like a piece of Vicky’s soul was being ripped away.
A piece she would never get back.
Chapter Thirty-four
“Oh, Commander Chainor—what are you doing back here so quickly?” Kat asked, looking at the M-Switch Kindred in surprise as he left the Docking Bay.
“Completing my mission. I have the second half of the T’lix-Kruthe,” he said shortly and opened his palm to show a shiny golden object. “I’m bringing it to Commander Sylvan now.”
“I’ll come with you,” Kat said. She’d been on her way to go see Sophie and Liv, who were at Sophie’s suite, so she fell into step beside the big Kindred and they continued down the long silver corridor together.
Chainor seemed inclined to be quiet, which was rather unlike him, Kat thought. While she didn’t know the M-Switch Kindred well, her few interactions with him had shown him to be extremely gregarious. He wore his title of thief and “Snatcher” like a badge of honor and came across as a lovable rogue—a male who was always willing to charm the ladies and laugh at the fact that his people were mostly outcasts in the larger Kindred society.
“You certainly completed your mission in record time,” she remarked, hoping to make some small talk and find out what was going on with him. “Where’s Vicky at? Is she waiting in the ship for you?”
“She’s back on Earth,” Chainor said shortly. “Where she belongs.”
“What?” Kat frowned at his frosty tone. From the way those two had been acting around each other and the look in Vicky’s eyes when she talked about the big Kindred, Kat had been certain she and Chainor were a match made by the Goddess herself. In fact, she’d fully expected the two of them to come back bonded. So what was going on?
“Why do you say she belongs back on Earth?” she asked Chainor, trying to feel him out.
“Because that is her home, of course.” He continued to stare straight ahead as he spoke but she thought she saw a little wince of pain on his handsome face.
“And…had you considered making it your home too?” Kat asked carefully. “I mean, I thought maybe the two of you had a future together. I know you had just met each other when we got to know Vicky, but the two of you had amazing chemistry. I, uh…” She cleared her throat. “I kind of thought the two of you might be bonded when you came back.”
“There was a point when I thought that, too,” Chainor said, nodding stiffly. “But it was not to be.”
“But…why not?” Kat asked bluntly, tired of beating around the bush.
Chainor stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor and turned on her, his blue eyes flashing.
“Because she didn’t want me,” he growled and Kat saw pure, abject misery on his face for just a moment.
Then the big Kindred took a deep breath and wiped his face clean of emotion.
“It’s because I’m an M-Switch,” he said
