Page 97 of Wrapped in Their Arms

What kind of animal did this come from?she wondered, fighting the rising bile in her throat.Andwhy is it in the bathroom?

She carried it back into the bedroom.Nowthat her “chores” were done, she had time to look for the key to the shuttle.Shewent to the massive closet and started looking through theTrollox’sclothes, hoping against hope that she might find the shuttle key somewhere in his pockets.

His pants were massive—big enough to fit three of her inside, and the pockets were like tote bags.Butthey held nothing of use—just more wrappers, a broken comb with greasy black hair stuck in it, and a few unidentifiable objects that squished when she touched them.

His dresser drawers were worse.

One was filled with dirty socks the size of pillowcases.Anothercontained folded images of various alien women in bizarre sexual poses.Onehad three breasts and spiral tentacles for legs.Anotherhad glowing nipples and teeth in strange places.

“Ugh,”Noellemuttered.“Sothat’s what gets you off?Gross.”

She slammed the drawer shut, her stomach turning.Butit wasn’t just disgust that made her dizzy.

Her body was acting up again.

Her breasts felt swollen and sensitive, her nipples brushing uncomfortably against the fabric of her dress.Betweenher thighs was a persistent ache—a slick pulse of need that she couldn’t ignore.

Dios, not again,she thought, clenching her jaw.Whenis this going to stop?

The fertility treatmentLupinhad forced on her must still be affecting her system.Herhormones were goingwild.

WillIneed help again?she wondered.WillBurnandBrighteven want to help me like that a second time?Dios,Ihope so.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

No key.Noclues.Andthey were still stuck in this place with no way out.

She glanced down at the bone still in her hand.

“Well,” she muttered.“Mightas well take this to the kitchen likeCookieasked.”

And with that, she turned and walked out of the bedroom, heading for the kitchen and praying the guys had better luck than her in finding the key.

53

NOELLE

Noelle trudged into the kitchen, still holding the massive bone by two fingers like it might bite her.Thedamn thing was almost as long as her forearm and had bits of stringy gray flesh clinging to it, like someone had gnawed it clean and tossed it aside.Thestench coming from it was stomach-turning—ripe and meaty with a sour edge that reminded her of ground hamburger left out on aFloridasidewalk inAugust.

She spotted the barrelCookiehad pointed out earlier, wedged in the corner like an industrial trash can.Ithad a lid propped open and something wet glistened inside—maybe more bones, or maybe something even worse.Shedidn’t want to look too closely.Grimacing, she chucked the bone in and heard it land with a dampthudthat made her skin crawl.

There,she thought, wiping her hands on her pants with a shiver.That’sone less nightmare lying around the bedroom.

She straightened and looked around.Thekitchen was quiet—no sign ofCookienow.Justthe steady hum of machinery and the odd flicker of harsh light from the fixtures overhead.Shecould hear the low hiss of something steaming in a distant pressure pot and the occasional drip from the massive alien faucet above the double-deep sink.

Now that she wasn’t being ordered around, curiosity got the better of her.Thekitchen was huge—clearly designed for feeding someone far bigger than aKindred.Whichmade sense when she remembered how bigThunetheTrolloxwas—and the fact that he had three heads to feed, not just one.Shewondered idly if they all had their own stomachs or if everything he ate with all three heads went to the same place.

Then she remembered the gnawed bone and decided she didn’t want to know.

Putting her momentary curiosity aboutTrolloxdining habits aside, she continued exploring the kitchen.Rowsof oversized counters gleamed dully under frosted glass panels, and the cupboards—mounted absurdly high up—looked big enough to store entire carcasses.Inthe back, beyond the enormous cooling unit and a bubbling vat of… something, she spotted a thick, sealed door.Itwas almost twice as tall as she was, with a simple looking pull latch on one side.

Noelle edged toward it cautiously.

What the hell is in there?she wondered, placing her hand lightly on the latch.Theair around it felt colder—like the kind of chill you get when you open a freezer after it’s been shut for weeks.Therewas no label and no warning sign.Justthe subtle, ominous hum of refrigeration.

Curiosity got the better of her and she started to tug it open.

“Hey now!”a gravelly voice barked behind her.“That’snot for you—not yet, anyway.”