Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (42 page)

“Just once. But you do not just watch—you will relive the experience.” A cruel smiled played around the male’ face’s thin lips. “So what do you say, Charlotte? Will you take punishment by fire whip or will you enter the Temple of Regrets?”

Charlie didn’t even have to think about it.

“I’ll take the whip.”

Stavros watched in agony as the Joined One pulled out a short, stubby black handle from the fold of its black robes and made a slashing motion in the air. At once three long tongues of flame sprouted from the handle and burst into crackling, sizzling life with a smell like burnt ozone.

“Stop it—stop!” he demanded. “Fucking let her go,
now!”
He pushed uselessly against the invisible barrier as the Joined One prepared to whip Charlotte. It was like pushing against a granite wall—one that was invisible and intangible but there just the same.

“You must wait until the Joined One is finished,” Nar’sa said, tranquilly. “Then we may continue with your scanning process and let you into the Circle of Oneness to be with her.”

“You let me in
now!”
Stavros demanded. Without waiting for an answer, he slapped his palm to the silver door panel. A burning jolt went through him, as though he’d pressed his hand to a bolt of lightning. The force of it knocked him backwards and for a moment he was stunned.

When he came to, shaking his head to try and rid himself of the buzzing in his ears, he saw an awful sight. Charlotte was leaning face first against the wall in the other corridor, her white robes raised to show her bare bottom and the Joined One was standing behind her, about to swing the fiery whip.

“Wait! No!” He stumbled to his feet and ran to the barrier. “Don’t whip her!” he begged, trying to get the Joined One’s attention. “Do it to me—whip me instead!”

The huge, misshapen head turned and both faces focused on him for a moment. “Oh, we will, Stavros. But only if our scan shows that you deserve it. First we must attend to Charlotte.”

“At least let me be with her!” he pleaded desperately. If he could just get through the barrier—if he could just
touch
her—he could absorb most of her pain, he was sure of it. But with the barrier between them, he didn’t know if he’d be able to bear any of her burden at all—let alone take all of it as he wanted to.

“I am afraid not, my dear Stavros,” the male face sneered. “You have not yet been scanned.”

“I swear to the Goddess, if you touch her—” he snarled, but the whip was already in motion. There was a sizzling
whoosh
and then a flat
crack
as all three of the long fiery tongues landed on Charlotte’s bare, quivering backside.

She jumped and bit her lip fiercely as though trying to hold back a cry and Stavros felt a whisper of pain go through her. But only a whisper, like a shout heard in another room—the barrier was blocking it somehow. Desperately, he reached out to her with his mind, trying to absorb the pain of the cruel whip but he felt blocked, as though he was trying to reach through a brick wall.

The whip fell again and this time Charlotte couldn’t help trying to shield herself. The tongues of flame wrapped around her hands, burning both palms before she could pull away.

“Let that be a lesson,” the male face of the Joined One snapped. “You must not try to impede the punishment.”

“But at this time we will give you the option to change your mind,” the female face said as Charlotte held her wounded palms to her chest. “Would you rather forego the fire whip and visit the Temple of Regrets instead?”

Stavros was certain she would say yes—even though he couldn’t feel much, he could tell that the whipping was extremely painful. But Charlotte shook her head.

“Just…just finish,” she said hoarsely, turning to face the wall again. “Finish and let me go.”

“Very well, my dear.” The Joined One raised the whip and let it fall again. Again Charlie flinched and gasped. Stavros watched helplessly as the fiery tongues branded her pale skin with bright red marks and curled around her upper thighs like eager lovers hungry for her flesh.

Tears ran down her face now but she made no sound. Her eyes were shut tight and her wounded hands were fisted on the wall in front of her as she half leaned-half braced against it. The look on her face was sheer, stubborn determination. Clearly she wasn’t going to let the Joined One get the better of her, no matter how many times the whip fell.

“Let her go—that’s enough! Let her
go!”
Stavros cried hoarsely. “Goddess damn you—
let her go!”

“Her mate makes a passionate plea, Joined One,” Nar’sa said hesitantly. “Perhaps…the punishment is nearly complete?”

“Very well.” The Joined One was panting with effort. Slowly it turned towards them and let the whip drop to its side. The long spitting, sizzling tongues hissed angrily against the metal floor. “We suppose that will be sufficient to teach our lesson.”

As soon as the whipping stopped, Charlotte slid down the wall to huddle in a heap on the floor. Stavros felt like his heart was going to burst if he couldn’t reach her.

“Let me through—let me through to her!” he demanded.

Instead, the Joined One reached down and grabbed Charlotte by the upper arm. It dragged her roughly upward and thrust her back through the invisible barrier that separated the outer hallway from the corridor leading to the inner circle.

Stav barely caught her and as she came through the barrier, he felt the stinging burn of her wounds as he had been unable to before. He cradled her gently in his arms, trying to hold her without hurting her more.

“You bastards.” He looked at the Joined One with real hatred in his heart. “If you ever—”

“Save your threats,” the creature said. “Tend to your mate.” It shook the whip once and the tongues of flame disappeared, leaving only the black, stubby handle again. Ye’ha’Na’ho shoved the handle back into its robes, bowed briefly, and strolled off down the hallway as though nothing had happened.

“Gods!” Stavros lifted Charlotte into his arms as gently as he could but though he tried not to, his arms connected with some of her burns. She jumped and moaned miserably.

“Well, I am afraid you will be unable to enter the Circle of Oneness today after all,” Ta’no said, eyeing Charlotte with concern. “Perhaps it is best if you take your mate back to your rooms and tend her. We can try again tomorrow.”

“The hell we will,” Stavros snarled. “I’m taking her home now. You and all the rest of the freakish bastards who live here can all go straight to—”

“No…” To his surprise, Charlotte was plucking at his arm and shaking her head.

“What?” Stavros looked down at her, certain she must be delirious with pain. Even though he was taking as much as he could from her, the stinging, burning he felt was obviously just a drop in the bucket.

“No. Don’t want…to leave,” she whispered. “Stay.” Her eyes got wider. “Have to…stay. Earth…”

She’s still thinking of her home planet—of saving it from the Dark Kindred,
Stavros realized.

“All right.” He nodded his head stiffly. “We will stay.”

“I am glad to hear you say that,” Nar’sa said, smiling gently. “I know the punishment seems harsh but the Joined Ones are always just in their ways. They have reasons for what they do.”

Knowing that Charlotte wanted to stay, Stav kept his mouth shut about how he felt about their “reasons” and simply nodded again.

“Do not be discouraged, Stavros,” Ta’no said to him. “You and your mate may yet reach the Circle of Oneness. But for tonight, simply stay in your rooms and help her heal. There should be some
sifra
ointment in your cabinet when you return. If you apply it at once, it should ease her pain and prevent any permanent scarring.”

Stavros opened his mouth to say he needed none of their ointment—he could heal Charlotte himself…then he closed it again. Knowing how she felt about him now, there was no way she would allow him to heal her with his essence. She wouldn’t want him licking her to apply it topically and she
certainly
wouldn’t want to let him bite her and inject it into her bloodstream to heal her from the inside out. It looked like he would be using the
sifra
ointment, whatever it was, after all.

“Thank you,” he said briefly. “We will see you later.”

“At first meal, perhaps,” Nar’sa said. “In the meantime, we will see that something is sent to you for last meal tonight. You are excused from the dining area since your mate is wounded.”

“While you are making accommodations for Charlotte’s wounds, perhaps you might make our rooms a bit warmer,” Stav said acidly. “She nearly froze the first night and last night was bad as well.”

“Of course,” Ta’no said. “I think you are past needing the
Wardels.
I will notify the keepers to let them disperse from your rooms though it may take some time.”

“We should take the alarm off their door as well,” Nar’sa remarked. “Clearly they are past the stage where they need to be kept forcibly together.”

“True.” Ta’no nodded. “It shall be done.”

“Thank you,” Stav said stiffly. “And now, I must go tend to my female.”

He knew that Charlotte wanted to stay despite her wound and the cruel punishments of the Joined One. He knew it and deep down, he agreed with her—they couldn’t leave. Not when they were so close to getting what they had come for. But that didn’t make it any easier to turn down the corridor leading to their rooms instead of heading for the docking bay where their ship was parked.

He was fuming with anger and overcome with worry for her. She might hate him and everything to do with him but he still cared for her—cared desperately. And the fact that he had been unable to protect her from danger and keep her from harm ate at him as he carried her silently to their rooms.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Charlie was having an awful dream—something about sitting on a hot stove.

“Ow!” she gasped, looking down to see the red hot surface under her bare bottom. But when she tried to get up, she couldn’t—she was stuck as though held down by some huge, invisible hand. The stove was scorching her flesh—not just the flesh of her bottom but of her inner thighs and between her legs as well. It hurt so much she couldn’t stand it! She pushed down against the stove, trying to get free and burned her palms too.

“Let me up,” she pleaded with the owner of the hand. “Please let me go—it
burns!”

“I know it burns,
falina,”
a deep voice murmured softly. “Just be still—it will hurt less presently.”

Charlie opened her mouth to say she couldn’t stand it anymore and she couldn’t be still…but just then something cool and soothing was spread over her burning bottom.

She sighed with relief as the red hot stove melted away to be replaced by the cool tingling that continued to spread over the areas of pain and take the burning away. Well, most of the areas, anyway—her hands were still burning and so were her inner thighs and the area between her legs.

“Please,” she whispered to the owner of the voice. “My hands…and inside my thighs…”

The surface she was lying on—because now for some reason she was lying flat on her face—shifted restively.

“Your hands I can help. I do not know about the…other areas.”

“Why not?” Charlie begged as the soothing cream was spread over the palms of her hands. She sighed in relief as the cool tingling eased the pain in her palms and fingers. Her bottom and hands felt better now—much better. But the pain between her thighs seemed almost to increase in contrast. “Please,” she begged. “It
hurts.”

“I know but I do not think it is a place you want me touching you right now. Not after…what happened last night,” the low, rumbling, somehow familiar voice said.

“After what…” Charlie came fully awake at last. Opening her eyes, she found that she was lying face down, draped over Stavros’s lap. Not only that but her robe was raised and the big Kindred was rubbing some kind of ointment all over her bare ass.

“Charlotte? Are you well?” He looked down at her anxiously.

“Get away from me!” She tried to scramble off his lap and had to stop when a bolt of pain shot through her. “Ouch!”

“Stay put—you’re not fully healed yet,” he said, frowning.

“What—stay here half naked so you can keep molesting me?” Charlie demanded. “I don’t think so.”

“I wasn’t ‘molesting’ you, I was trying to heal you. Your pain was awful—I felt it,” he said, frowning. “You fainted from the agony of the whipping you took. The
sifra
ointment Ta’no recommended was in my cabinet and so I decided to use it on you. I was hoping to heal you before you woke up.”

“So I wouldn’t know what you were doing, no doubt” Charlie knew she sounded accusatory but she wasn’t happy about waking up on his lap with him rubbing her bare ass after she’d told him not to touch her again.