Delivered by the Defender (Kindred Tales)

Still, Valen didn’t appear to be concerned at all, so she made up her mind to be calm. If he wasn’t worried about it, she didn’t need to be either. She took off her fur coat and hung it over one arm, though she left her boots on. She also stuffed her fur hat into one of the capacious pockets, with her gloves.

Nobody else entered the lift and after a moment a pleasant, female voice said, “Lift will soon be departing. Please take a seat and enjoy the view.”

“Guess we’d better have a seat.” Valen went to sit at the end of one long bench in the corner. Leaning back against the clear glass, he put one leg up on the bench and let the other rest on the floor. Then he patted the space between his thighs. “Come here, little one—let’s get comfortable.”

Selena was more than happy to go sit between his long legs and snuggle back against him. It occurred to her, as she did so, that she had never expected to feel so comfortable with a man she’d only known for two days. But there was just something about Valen—he felt solid and dependable. She felt like she could count on him…trust him…

“What are you thinking?” he murmured in her ear, as the lift rose noiselessly into the air and began to soar upward toward the peak of the enormous mountain.

“I was thinking how strange it is to feel so safe and comfortable with someone I just met yesterday,” Selena murmured truthfully. “I never would have guessed it could be possible.”

“I’m comfortable with you, too, little one,” he rumbled, putting his arms around her and giving her a hug. “Surprisingly, so,” he went on, almost seeming to talk to himself. “I never thought I’d be comfortable with a female again after…”

“After what?” Selena asked eagerly, when he trailed off.

But Valen sighed.

“Never mind—it’s in the past. Tell me, you mentioned something about your ex-mate before. Were you mated in the past—back on Earth?”

“Did I say something about Gary?” Selena tried to think what she had said. “Oh right—I did. He wasn’t my husband, though—we were never married,” she told Valen. “He was just another teacher at the high school I work at. We dated for a while but it turned out we had, er, different interests. I mean, he didn’t, uh, like the kinds of things I liked,” she added, feeling awkward. “So we broke up.”

“What kinds of things?” Valen murmured. “You didn’t like the same kinds of food? Or entertainment?”

“Well…let’s just say that Gary’s idea of a good night was a big plate of hot wings in front of whatever sports game was playing,” Selena said dryly. “But no, that wasn’t the problem. Or not the whole problem, anyway.”

“Then what was?” Valen half turned her so that she looked around at him. He peered down into her face with that intense, blue gaze of his. “Why did the two of you ‘break up’ as you call it?”

“Oh, well…” Selena could feel her cheeks getting red, but somehow she couldn’t seem to look away from him. “We…we liked different things in the bedroom, okay?” she got out at last. “He…Gary wasn’t interested in…in trying anything new or different.”

“But you were?” He searched her eyes with his own intently. “Maybe like the things written in that book you were reading on the shuttle—Forbidden Desire?”

“What…what do you know about that?” Selena broke eye contact and shifted around to face front again, her cheeks flaming. Were they going to have this conversation now? Was she going to find out if he had been “playing” with her on purpose…and what he thought of the whole BDSM lifestyle?

“I only know what I’ve read in the book,” Valen murmured, answering her question. “You left it on the shuttle in your hurry to get away from me. I picked it up and I’ve been reading it…even when I ought to be working,” he added, sounding like he was frowning.

Selena stared straight ahead, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

“Well…what do you think of it?” she asked, in a voice that didn’t seem to be her own.

“It makes me…rather confused,” Valen murmured, after a long pause. “My entire life, I’ve hated the thought of hurting a female—especially with my fangs. But your ‘love story’ almost seems to condone it.”

“Only between consenting adults,” Selena pointed out quickly. “And it’s not just about the pain—about intense sensations,” she added. “It’s about submission and domination. About giving yourself completely to a Master you can trust.”

“And do you trust me, little one?” he murmured in her ear.

“What do you think?” Selena asked him. “Look at how we’re sitting…” She waved a hand, indicating the way she was cuddled back against his broad, bare chest. She felt surrounded by his big body—enveloped by him completely. “Would I let myself get so close to you if I didn’t trust you?” she asked.