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Jenna stepped into the huge, deep tub. This was something she never found in government housing. SaKura brought her wine and the chocolates she asked for. In her opinion, the chocolate Sarris put out every year for Easter was the best. Expensive, but worth it. Hot water filled the tub, along with several bath bombs and bubbles. Heck, she felt like a princess, maybe Tiana.
She submerged herself until only her head was showing. Now was the time, as much as she didn’t want to think about or dwell on what happened. When SaKura walked into the room, fear or a surge of memory didn’t overtake her. There was no telling what Cleo had done to her. She remembered her father and what a bastard he was, and she remembered all the things she cherished growing up like her mother and her sister. The pain of her mother’s death lived in her heart. It would bring her down if she let it. She could smile at thoughts of her mother now. There was a time she thought nothing but tears would accompany her memories. So, all of that was still there. The voices and the visions were there. The rest felt like she had gone through years of therapy and the therapist finally smiled and told her how proud she was of her.
It wasn’t until Cleo came along that she realized she needed therapy. She’d been so busy fighting to stay alive that she didn’t understand she was limiting herself. No, it was more than that. She was punishing herself for another’s actions. There wasn’t a way she could have escaped until she did. Escaping wasn’t easy, no matter who you were or what the situation was. There was a pride she felt in herself that she hadn’t felt before. She survived, and now she gave herself the green light to live her life however she wanted to.
She sighed. It was time to address the elephant in the room, or should she say, monster? Come on, he was tall, purple, and had horns and spikes. He was a monster, there was no getting over that. Having said that, had she seen his chest? Yes, yes, she had, and the monster was drool-worthy. He had a ten-pack. I know, right? She was getting flushed sitting in the tub. She reached for a washcloth to fan her face with. Those arms, good Lord above, those arms. They were ropes of thick muscle and she remembered him carrying her after the chase and he wasn’t the tiniest bit out of breath.
There was no way she was going to think about his finely chiseled ass. That’s right, she said ass even if it was in the privacy of her brain because she was effing grown up and could curse if she wanted to. The cursing might take some work. Then there were his legs, which she’d drool over if she still wasn’t thinking about his ass. Where did that leave her? She was the mate of a monster with an unnaturally long lifespan.
This flush was something she remembered from her teenage years, but it was more. There was maturity mixed with it. Her memories may not be ambushing her like robbers looking for the next big score. That didn’t mean she didn’t remember the past, simply that she could see what she went through with fresh eyes. It might be all anyone could ask for. She wasn’t sure about that. She probably needed an actual therapist to know if there was more than this freedom she felt not only in her mind but in her sense of self.
Right, where did that leave her? She was the mate to the crown elect of the planet Diza. One day he would be king and she be queen or his consort. She didn’t know what his people thought about that. If… that if was as tall as the Empire State Building. If she chose to stay with him, to mate him. Or… that or was almost as tall as the if. She could refuse and die. They would die. She wasn’t sure how she knew. Was it the voices and the visions? What she was sure of was that if one of them died then they both died. How was the king still alive if that was the case? Mate bond. The word floated through her head. She was going to have to ask SaKura about that.
She sat up, ate more chocolate, and drank wine. Thoughts of her leaving the house and going to the mall invaded her brain. She stood up to Jeffrey, even though it scared her. That was the shock. Jeffery scared her, SaKura didn’t. Who was the real monster here? It wasn’t SaKura. It could be stupid, but she was going to give him and her a chance. Leaving his ass was still on the table, but she’d make that plan D and not A. She turned the music on and leaned back to soak.
SaKura was pacing the room. He didn’t want to press his mate, but it felt like she’d been in the tub forever. Would she come out looking like one of those prunes Bella told him about? He hoped not, more for her sake than his.
How had he not realized that taking a mate differed from having a female to share pleasure or even have a child with? Jenna was already an experience he never wanted to miss or live without. Fortunately for him, they were true mates. That was something rare among his people. Now his brother found his true mate and so had he. Was the problem that they were so isolated they hadn’t realized there were mates spread across the galaxy? They would have never known if not for the sacrifice of the females. He couldn’t find it within himself to be glad they were gone. He also couldn’t regret meeting his mate. They were contradictory feelings, but both sat in his heart. All he could do was pay both homage.
He took a seat when he heard his mate moving around in the bathroom. She was out. Should he give her time? Leave the room or wait for her here? She held their future in her tiny brown hands. He loved the pale pink of her nail beds and the clear nails that covered them. He knew from seeing his Earth sister that some females used polish to make their nails shine and to capture the attention of the males. Would his mate ever do that to capture his attention? Not that it was necessary. She already had all of his attention.
“You’re here.” Jenna stopped in the bathroom doorway staring at SaKura, who was sitting in a chair waiting for her.
She didn’t want him. He could feel the rejection building up in his heart. His people shied away from a true mate for this reason. There was no pain like being rejected by the other half of your soul.
“You could leave or you could come over here and try a piece of chocolate.” He’d never tried chocolate before. It was brown and lumpy, reminding him of what Kala put out after he ate. It didn’t have a smell though.
“Is it safe to eat?”
“Nope, I’m trying to poison you. I thought I’d kill you and thus kill myself.” Her voice was sour, but there was a teasing glint in her eyes. This was the female he spent countless hours talking to on his way here. The only connection he could form was in her dreams, and he used it to get to know her. She was quick-witted and loved to laugh. Those were the sides of her he’d seen in those dreams. Here on this planet, she’d been shy and acted like someone kicked her when she was down. Now he was seeing the female that captured him, the one her sister spoke of.
“If we die, I will haunt you.” Jenna was clutching her towel, but she threw her head back and laughed. It was refreshing, and he lost himself in the beauty that was his mate. He loved her voluptuous breasts and her thick thighs. Her sweetly curved stomach made him want to worship it. How would it feel when he was thrusting into her and that softness was cradling his hardness? It would be nirvana to have a soft place to land and a female who took his breath away.
“Are you going to sit there staring or come try a piece of chocolate?”
He had been staring, caught in a fantasy about her. SaKura crossed the room, and Jenna took a piece of chocolate and hand-fed him. He picked up a piece, ensuring his claws were sheathed, and fed her. There was an explosion of taste before he bit into something firm. His eyes went to her.
“The chocolate is covering a nut. It’s a cashew. We have many types of nuts on our planet. I don’t think you can eat all of them, but I never heard anyone talk about those you can’t eat.”
He took his time devouring the treat his mate fed him. It was different, but he thought he could come to appreciate and even crave the small, salty treat.
“May I have another one?” Jenna took her time looking over the chocolate until she chose one with peanuts in it. She fed him another. The first time she was weary of his sharp teeth. The way he nipped it out of her fingers had culled some of her worry.
This time when she fed Sakura, his tongue came out to lick her fingers after he took the chocolate. She laughed. The action was unexpected and rather sexy to her. He fed her another piece of chocolate and they both chewed and swallowed in silence.
“I believe I could grow to like this chocolate.” She turned around, holding the box close to her chest.
“Get your own. Do you know what I had to do for this? Bella will probably want my firstborn.” Her voice lost that teasing sound. How had she been so stupid as to talk about children? It was like throwing cold water in his face that the females of his planet were no more.
SaKura stepped behind her, placing his chest against her back, wanting her to rest in his warmth and his strength. “We don’t lash out, not at the innocent. The only ones who will pay with their lives, even if it’s one at a time, are the Tan-ge.”
She nodded but wondered about the women and children of the Tan-ge. Would they pay with their lives? What about the boy children?
“I don’t know about the Diza or what you require for vengeance. Many Humans demand an eye for an eye. I wonder about the children and females.”
“We have not rendered a verdict on them. As my consort to become my queen one day, you will have a say in the proceedings when the time comes.” She relaxed into his warmth.
SaKura lowered his head and nuzzled against her cheek. He was still in awe of the shape of her head, and how it differed from his, and yet she still had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It amazed him that the goddess had fashioned a people that could mate with the Diza and bear their children. To find a frya on a planet that sat in an isolated part of the galaxy. Only the goddess could have done that.
