“Your ex-mate was completely wrong about that, you know,” he told her, frowning. “Your pussy tastes delicious—I could tell just be licking your juices off my fingers.” He shook his head. “Some males just don’t know how to appreciate a good thing.”
“Slade!” She blushed even harder but he felt a kind of pleased embarrassment coming from her this time.
“Just being honest, baby,” he remarked. “Sorry I, uh, heard your thoughts again but I couldn’t let you think something was wrong with you.”
“Well…thanks, I guess.” Still blushing, she pushed aside her half-eaten plate. “I think I’m finished now.”
Slade frowned. “Already full? All you had were those tiny little sushi bites—how could that fill you up?”
“I’m trying the half-diet,” she explained, a touch stiffly, he thought. “It’s this concept where you only eat exactly half of everything you’re served. So far I’ve lost five pounds,” she added proudly.
“You lost them?” Slade exclaimed. “Well go fucking find them again, sweetheart! If you’re not careful you’ll end up as skinny as that relative of yours.”
“Who—Crystal?” She frowned.
Slade nodded. “I saw her when I first came to Earth looking for you. She’s so thin her ribs and hipbones stick out! Please don’t tell me you’re trying to look like her.”
An unreadable expression came over her pretty face.
“You don’t like skinny girls then?”
“Not at all.” Slade shook his head firmly. “I mean, they’re all right for some males—to each their own. But for myself, I want a female with something to hold on to. Who wants to go to bed with a bag of bones?”
“Lots of guys,” Brandi said, although she did take another piece of sushi. “I’m always being compared to Crystal and told I ought to look more like her.”
“Really?” Slade shook his head. “That’s really hard to believe.”
Brandi sighed. “No, that’s our society. We’re always trying to be thinner.”
“You can stop trying right now as far as I’m concerned,” Slade told her. “You’re fucking perfect just the way you are, sweetheart.”’
“Well…thank you.” She blushed prettily again and looked down at her plate. “And thank you for lunch—the food was great. And…getting to know you a little better was nice too.”
“It was nice,” Slade agreed. “You know, when I first came looking for you on Earth I was really angry. I would never have hurt you but I wanted to speak sternly to you about why you did…what you did. I wanted to make you realize the consequences of your actions.”
Brandi bit her lip. “And now?” she asked in a small voice. “Are you still…angry at me?”
Slade sighed. “I can’t be,” he admitted in a low voice. “I…I’m starting to care about you too fucking much.” He put down his utensil and pushed his own plate away. “But I am afraid we’re still going to have to deal with the consequences.”
“Like the bond?” Brandi asked.
“Yes.” He rose and cleared the dishes from the table. Then he lifted it, tucking it into the wall it protruded from and brought down the cushion which adjoined the seats they had been sitting on during the meal. This made a kind of rounded couch area to sit on. Slade sat back down and looked at her. “Among other things.”
“What other things?” she demanded, frowning.
“Like the fact that you might be pregnant right now, sweetheart,” Slade pointed out. “I came in you completely unprotected and Kindred seed is notoriously strong and fertile. What are we going to do if I planted a baby in your belly?”
Brandi glared at him fiercely.
“I’m not getting an abortion, if that’s what you’re asking,” she snapped. “I mean, I don’t judge anyone who’s had one—Crystal has had three. But I won’t do it myself.”
“Have an abortion?” Slade shook his head. “You think I want you to get rid of our baby?”
“I won’t do it,” she repeated. “That’s why I had Emmie, even though I knew having a baby would keep me from going to college like I wanted to.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I was going to give her up for adoption but after feeling her growing inside me for nine months and seeing her sweet little face when she finally came out I just…I couldn’t.”
“I’m not asking you to give the baby up either,” Slade growled.
Brandi crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin.
“I’m just trying to say if I’m pregnant, I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to worry that I’ll expect any kind of child support or anything like that. You don’t even have to acknowledge that you’re the father or come around to see it.”
Slade shook his head, bewildered at her strange ideas.
“Not come around? Not support you and my child?” he finally got out. “What are you talking about? Of course I want to support you and be a father to our baby! Of course I want to be there and help raise him or her—probably him because of my Kindred DNA—but either sex is fine. I’ve always wanted young ones but the Goddess didn’t see fit to bless me and Cinda with them.”