She paused for a moment—what could she call Liosh? She couldn’t admit he was her Kindred guard because then she would have to tell why she needed a guard in the first place.
Amanda loved gossip—the more salacious the better and she would spread it everywhere. Melli might as well post a video to the school YouTube channel explaining how the Earth was under the threat of alien invasion and she, Melinda Erickson, was being targeted specifically so she had to have a Kindred warrior to protect her.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Liosh said, unexpectedly. He put an arm around Melli, as though to prove the point, and Melli happily snuggled close. Just being near the big Kindred made her feel instantly better. He smelled so good—that warm fresh scent of his was both comforting and encouraging somehow.
“You’re Melli’s boyfriend?” The disbelief was clear in Amanda’s voice and the set of her sharp brown eyes. “But I mean…what is someone like you doing with someone like Melli-the-belly?”
“If you’re referring to my female’s luscious curves, then please use a less derogatory tone or I’ll be forced to think you’re insulting her.” Liosh’s voice had dropped to a growl and his pale blue eyes were ice cold as he stared at Amanda. “And as for what I am doing with her, I am with Melinda because she is beautiful—both inside and out—agreeable to be with, humorous, intelligent, and kind to others. Which is unfortunately an attribute some females seem to lack.”
“Well…” Amanda’s big brown eyes widened—she didn’t seem to know what to say to this. “You…you must not have known her for long,” she came up with, at last.
Liosh only looked pointedly at Amanda’s perfectly manicured fingers, still splayed possessively on his shoulder.
“Would you mind removing your hand? I am exclusively with Melinda and I do not desire the touch of any other female.”
At last Amanda seemed to take his not-so-subtle hint. Her brown eyes narrowed and she snatched her hand away as though she’d been burned.
“I hope you enjoy your lunch, Melli,” she spat, glaring at her. “You might as well pack on a few more pounds since your new boyfriend seems to be a chubby chaser!”
Then she flounced off, her bouncy auburn hair waving like an angry flag with every step.
Melli watched her go with feelings of mingled triumph and shame. It was nice that Liosh had put the awful Amanda in her place, but it sucked that he’d had to hear all the terrible things the other girl had to say about her. Melli felt fat and ugly and adolescent all over again—she just wanted to crawl into her shell and hide.
“Hey…” Liosh murmured in her ear. “What’s wrong, Melinda? Why do you smell so sad?”
It was the first time he’d called her by her first name without “My Lady” in front of it, which was nice, but she couldn’t let his comment go unanswered.
“How can you smell how I’m feeling?” she asked, giving him a curious little frown. “I mean, is that even a thing?”
He shrugged. “It’s a thing for Kindred—we have much more sensitive noses than humans. I guess you could say we smell pheromones and translate them into emotions.”
“What—so you could go up to anyone in this mall and sniff them and know how they were feeling?” Melli asked, not sure whether to believe him or not.
“Well—I mean if they were feeling an extreme emotion like pain or fear, probably,” Liosh said. “But we usually only ‘smell’ the emotions of someone we’re extremely attuned to.”
“Oh, of course.” Melli looked down at her hands. “And you’re attuned to me because you’re guarding me. That makes sense.”
“Well yes…and no.” Liosh sounded hesitant. “The truth is…” He cleared his throat and Melli looked up at him. He looked like he was trying to decide exactly what to say next.
“Yes?” she asked, to keep him going.
“The truth is, I think I’ve been attuned to you from the very first moment I saw you,” Liosh admitted in a low voice.
“You…have?” Melli looked at him uncertainly. “But why?”
He shrugged.
“It just…happens sometimes with Kindred. When we find a female who…” He cleared his throat again. “Who needs to be protected. It’s like instinct kicks in and we just…become attuned.” He looked slightly uncomfortable, as though he wanted to be saying either more or less, Melli thought, but maybe she was reading too much into his expression.
“Well, I think it’s nice you became attuned to me,” she said, smiling at him shyly.
“I’m certainly glad I didn’t become attuned to someone like that female that just left us,” Liosh said frankly. “I can see now why the women in your culture feel the need to be too thin—it’s because they are tormented and made to believe their curves are not beautiful.”
“Something like that.” Melli looked down at her hands again.
“Hey,” Liosh murmured and put one finger under her chin so she lifted her eyes to his. “You are, you know—beautiful, I mean,” he murmured, his deep voice soft. “I don’t care what skeletal Amanda made you think—you’re gorgeous, Melinda.”
“Oh…” Melli felt her heart stutter in her chest and her cheeks were suddenly hot. “You…you don’t have to say that,” she said. “Just to make me feel better, I mean.”
“I’m not,” Liosh said simply. “I’m saying how I feel. Please don’t let her ruin our buying binge together.”
Melli couldn’t help smiling.
“I think you mean ‘shopping spree’ and I won’t let her ruin it. Especially not since you’re my ‘boyfriend’ now.” She put comic emphasis on the word, wondering how he would take it. A human guy who was commitment shy would have backed down from that hastily and helped her turn it into a joke. But Liosh only frowned thoughtfully.
“I hope it was all right that I said that?” he asked. “I thought it would be the best way to get rid of her.”
“You thought right.” Melli’s smile widened. “I don’t think Amanda Brannigan has
