Dark and Light (A Kindred Tales Duet)

Surprisingly—at least to Luci—he didn’t mind cooking himself or taking a hand in the cleanup afterwards. He went to a Kindred grocery, not far from the Human/Kindred Relations building, and made them all a meal that was native to his home world—a delicious spicy stew that everyone loved. And if Luci cooked, he washed the dishes afterwards.

He even took her whole family on a day trip to Disney World on one of her rare days off. Living in Tampa, they were only an hour away and Raze drove them all in his spacious shuttle-car which was whisper-quiet and ate up the miles incredibly quickly. He insisted on paying for everything and Luci let him—though she knew she shouldn’t. But it was just so nice to feel taken care of for once!

After arriving at The Magic Kingdom, Raze helped with the kids, keeping the boys amused while Lucia and Frannie did a special Princess makeover at Cinderella’s Castle. Frannie was over the moon as she got to dress like her favorite Princess from Frozen and the boys loved the It’s a Small World ride.

Through it all—the crush of the crowds and the heat and the lines, Raze kept his cool. He shepherded Lucia’s little family through the large park, making sure everyone was safe and happy and buying the kids pretty much anything they asked for. Lucia was horrified at the amount of money he was spending but when she tried to stop him, Raze said,

“Please, Lucia—let me do this. I don’t have a family or children of my own. Let me pretend, just for a day, that you all belong to me. I know you’re proud and capable, but let me have this one day of providing for you. Please?”

The big Kindred’s words had melted Lucia’s heart and she had at last nodded reluctantly.

“All right, but you’ll spoil them.”

Raze had flashed her a charming grin.

“I want to. So let me—just for today. All right?”

“All right.” She sighed and threw up her hands. “I guess I can’t stop you. But no more ice cream or we’re going to be cleaning up puke.”

Raze had agreed to that and then proceeded to buy Frannie a huge, round, rainbow lollypop as big as her head. The boys got matching Mickey ears to wear and everybody was happy.

It was a wonderful day—one Luci told herself she would never forget. Raze was so kind and generous and patient—a truly good guy. All in all, the big Kindred seemed to be just about perfect—except for one thing.

He never touched Luci and he hadn’t tried to kiss her once.

“He almost seems too good to be true,” Luci confessed to her friend, Rochelle, who worked at Paws and Purrs with her, as they were restocking supplies. “But he won’t lay a hand on me—won’t even come close.”

“Well, are you giving him a chance?” Rochelle was a tall girl with deep ebony skin and direct brown eyes. She wore her hair short and natural and carried herself like a queen. “I mean, it sounds to me like every time you’re with him, so are your kids and your mom. The poor man has to have an opening—it’s not like he can grab you right in front of everybody!”

“It was like that at first,” Luci admitted. “Because my mom didn’t trust him and never wanted to leave the two of us alone. But I think she’s finally warmed up to him now because last night she left right after we got the kids to bed—I think to give us some alone time.”

“And what did you do with that ‘alone time?’” Rochelle demanded.

Luci shrugged.

“We sat on the couch and talked. Just…talked. For hours. It was wonderful.”

“Just talked?” Rochelle looked at her skeptically, one hand on her ample hip. “He finally gets you all to himself and all he does is talk? Girl, maybe he’s gay.”

“I don’t think so,” Luci protested. “The whole time we were talking he was looking at me. You know what I mean? I mean really looking. Those eyes of his—they can be so intense.”

“I’m guessing intense is your word for sexy.” Rochelle laughed. “If I had that man on my couch, I’d jump all over him! Or let him jump all over me.” She gave Luci a lascivious wink and licked her full lips.

“Dios, you’re always horny!” Luci laughed and gave her friend a nudge.

“You should be too, spending time with that big, luscious Kindred!” Rochelle exclaimed. “Girl, you need to get yourself a piece of that.”

“I want to,” Luci admitted—both to her friend and to herself. “But it’s not like I can make the first move—I might ruin everything.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to make it though,” Rochelle pointed out. “Maybe in his culture, it’s the woman who starts things up. You know how Kindred are always so respectful of their ladies. Maybe he thinks it would be rude if he tried something first.”