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couldn’t save her but maybe he feels that if he saves enough other women, he’ll get over it.” She shrugged. “Or something like that.”

    “Thanks Ms. Pop Psychology for that interesting analysis,” Kat said dryly. “But I still think the simplest solution is the right one—Detective Rast has ants in his pants for Nadiah, here.”

    Nadiah shook her head. “My translation bacteria must be acting up. Did you just say that Detective Rast has insects in his trousers?”

    Kat wiggled her eyebrows. “Among other things,” she said again.

    Sophie laughed and shook her head. “Kat’s just being silly, Nadiah. Don’t pay any attention.”

    “All joking aside, do you really think he’ll be able to help me?” Nadiah asked her friends. “I mean, without any Kindred blood in his veins?”

    “In my experience when a man is determined enough, he can do anything .” Lauren patted her shoulder and offered her a muffin. “And from what you’ve said, Detective Rast is plenty determined.”

    “Amen to that.” Kat popped a bite-sized muffin into her mouth. “Lauren, these are to die for.”

    Lauren smiled. “Thanks—they’re made with tanka berries from Rageron. I kind of think they taste like a cross between a hazelnut and a cranberry. Zairn loves them.”

    “I just bet he does. You’ve really mastered this recipe.” Kat grinned at her. “I mean, do you just chop the nuts up or do you have to grind them into submission or something?”

    Lauren’s creamy light brown cheeks turned dark pink in an obvious blush. “Stop being so bad, Kat!”

    “Sorry, doll, I just have to get in a few digs wherever I can.” Kat popped another muffin. “You have to understand that before you came along, my love life with the whole ménage thing was the kinkiest thing going. Now you get to wear the kinky crown for awhile.”

    Liv raised an eyebrow. “The kinky crown? Seriously, Kat, that sounds like a bad romance novel.”

    “Or a really cheesy Lifetime movie,” Sophie put in.

    Olivia laughed. “Yeah, something about beauty pageants gone bad, with all the contestants forced to be sex slaves to really stern but extremely hot masters. Awful.”

    “Yeah, but you know you’d watch it if it came on,” Kat pointed out. She looked back at Lauren. “So does this recipe call for any whipping cream?”

    “Kat!” Lauren threw a still hot muffin at her and Kat ducked. Olivia caught it instead and took a bite.

    “Yum! Delicious but it needs dill pickle icing.”

    “Ugh, I wish you’d never started with that,” Sophia made a face and looked at Lauren. “Seriously, she wants to eat it on everything now.”

    Nadiah laughed along with them as the topic of conversation turned to Olivia’s pregnancy and her strange food cravings but inside she was still troubled. Why was the human detective willing to risk his life to save her from a lifetime of bondage? Was she really just another part of the quest that had started for him when his beloved sister, Jessie was murdered? Or could there be another, deeper reason? Did he care for her as Kat seemed to think? And more importantly, did she want him to care for her?

    I’ve always dreamed of bonding with a Kindred warrior, she thought, chewing one of Lauren’s muffins thoughtfully. Living aboard the Mother Ship, seeing new things and new people all the time as the ship moved on to new trades. Would she really be willing to give that up to be bonded to a human? Would she want to live on the little blue and white ball called Earth for the rest of her days?

    Once again she tried to picture her ideal life, the one with a handsome Blood Kindred husband and two or three little boys that looked just like him running around. But somehow, she could only see Rast—his stern features looking like they’d been carved from granite, his truegreen eyes narrowed as he roared at Y’dex to leave her alone. Just remembering how it had felt to be held against his chest, his warm,