Garden of Serenity

by Nina Pierce

  She looked like a bird with her tiny, gold eyes squinting. Over a foot taller, the woman inclined a head perched on a long, thin neck and looked down her nose before speaking. “Dr. Khateri. I’m so pleased you’ve agreed to work at our clinic while you’re here to breed.” She emphasized the last word as if it were a curse. “It truly is an honor. Your reputation is well-known throughout the territory. I am Gabriella Bresilee, Medical Director of the healing facility here at the Garden,” she said as she reached out a hand and caught Jahara’s in a grip as icy as the words she’d just spoken.

  Caught off guard by the condescending reception and the intimate scene she’d just witnessed, Jahara had difficulty making her mouth work. “Please just call me Jahara. I’m glad to be here as well.” That was a lie. She really wanted to be out in the normal world where sex and love were not something one exhibited in public. Jahara shot a look at the young woman staring at them with eyes glazed over in lust or admiration—she couldn’t be sure.

  The older woman didn’t acknowledge Jahara’s visible unease. “Then please call me Gabriella. Won’t you come into my office where we can talk a little more privately?” The warm expression became shadowed with disapproval as she turned back to the receptionist. “Jacinta, please have Camille bring some refreshments to my office. And hold all of my calls.”

  Jacinta pulled her tunic around her middle, her eyes flitting to the computer screen. “Yes, Dr. Bresilee. I’ll have them send something from the dining commons right away.”

  The wall split, exposing a door to an office that closed silently behind them. With it shut, there was no evidence the opening existed. No wonder Jahara thought the woman had materialized out of thin air.

  “Please, make yourself comfortable.” Gabriella waved her long fingers at the couch in the corner of her office. The space was paneled with the same mahogany wood as the foyer, but the two walls of windows made the room exceedingly bright. Jahara hadn’t known architecture existed that made it possible for structures to have windows that couldn’t be seen from the outside. From her vantage point behind the desk, Dr. Bresilee had an unhindered view of everyone entering and exiting the building. It must have been Gabriella’s watchful stare she’d sensed. The thought sat cold and hard in her gut. Her paranoia was justified. Was there no end to the spying that went on here?

  Gabriella settled her bony frame in one of the chairs across from Jahara. The yellow suit she wore covered every inch of her alabaster skin, save for her face, hands and feet. Tucking stray wisps of auburn hair back into the braided bun at the top of her head, Gabriella’s mouth curved in a predatory grimace. “Please forgive Jacinta. She’s young. They’re sending us children these days. She’s been with us for a mere nine months. The poor girl was impregnated at her first mating. She still has so much to learn.”

  A bell rang. With a flick of Gabriella’s wrist, the wall opened. “Refreshments have arrived.”

  Telekinesis and healing, how unusual to be granted two gifts. Jahara schooled her features, hoping her face communicated pleasure at being in this woman’s company, not the trepidation that continued to mount with each passing moment. Perhaps it was simply her uncomfortable feeling with the Garden’s philosophy in general rather than a specific problem with Gabriella. The woman was, after all, an esteemed colleague. Either way, Jahara would keep her thoughts to herself. Apparently, not all women appreciated her candor.

  “Thank you, Camille. Wheel the tray over and let me see how you’re doing,” Gabriella said in a tone that left no question of her authority.

  Bending her naked torso near Gabriella, Camille let the healer run her hands over her body. Starting at her face, Gabriella smoothed the skin on her plump cheeks then down her neck, boldly moving over her petite breasts before splaying her fingers over her belly. Jahara sat rigid as Gabriella rotated her hand under the waistband of the low-slung breeches, mortified for the young woman when the director cupped the girl’s pubic bone. All the while, the woman’s eyes remained locked on Camille’s.

  Jahara couldn’t see the young girl’s face, but her tension arced away from her like lightning.

  “I’m sorry, Camille. You’re not with child yet.” Gabriella slid her hands back up to the young woman’s breasts. “Your menstruation begins next week, yes?” Gabriella massaged the fleshy protrusions of Camille’s chest as if they held the answer to her question.

  Camille nodded her head but moved no other part of her body.

  “Leave the breeding apartments today and join me at my home,” she said, dropping her hands. “Of course, only if that would please you?” Gabriella’s teeth flashed at Camille like fangs on a wolf.

  Pulling herself erect, Camille focused her eyes out the window. “I would be pleased to be taken in to learn from the most honorable Healer Bresilee.” She bowed. “Thank you for bestowing that privilege upon me. I will, as always, be available to you.” Backing out of the room, Camille continued to bow until the wall closed her from their view.

  “Poor thing. She truly detests the mating process. But until such time as we’ve figured something else out, it is a necessary evil you all must endure to ensure our continued population growth.” She waved a graceful hand in the air. “I allow some of the younger women a two-week respite from the insatiable sexual appetites of the breeders by offering them refuge in my home. There’s no sense enduring the messiness of copulation if you know it isn’t going to produce offspring. Don’t you agree?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Gabriella poured them both a cup of tea.

  Jahara accepted the cup extended to her, wondering how she would ever endure the cruelties the government had heaped upon her.

  Chapter Five

  Jahara slumped against the seat of the open-air vehicle transporting her back to her residence. Even the beauty of the flowers filling the spaces between the buildings couldn’t erase the images of her first day at the medical facility. Her day had begun so badly and though she hadn’t thought it possible after the incident at Gabriella’s office, it had actually tumbled quickly downhill from there.

  Gabriella had abandoned her shortly into their tour of the facility to perform emergency surgery on a woman who was losing her fetus a mere ten weeks into her pregnancy. Jahara had been turned over to Mikalyn Sabella, an apprentice healer. The woman had nothing but praise for Gabriella Bresilee, who apparently, in this woman’s eyes, could do everything but walk on water.

  Everywhere the apprentice healer had taken her had been filled with women who knew of Jahara. She wanted to believe it had more to do with her Dame being the administrator of the territory than her own healing talents. Whatever the cause, the accolades had been so overwhelming she’d ditched her tour guide and found a quiet spot in a secluded courtyard to simply meditate in peace. But even that respite had been short-lived.

  Gabriella had found Jahara and taken her to the quick care clinic, another section of the hospital where no males were allowed. Jahara spent her day healing women with broken bones and repairing torn skin from accidents that had happened, for the most part, out in the agricultural section of the Garden. Not only were the tasks time-consuming, they required a great deal of her healing energy. Normally, no one was asked to work several hours in a clinic like that alone.

  As her light had poured forth, so had the venerations until the whole clinic seemed to have filled with Garden employees who wanted nothing more than to watch Jahara work. She’d never experienced anything so draining in all her life.

  Now, all Jahara wanted was to return to her temporary home, shower off the feeling of all those people, call Merenith and tumble into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all that would be expected of her. There was still the issue of her breeding guide—and her first copulation.

  None of the day’s chaos had eased the panic that came with that reality.

  Jahara slogged up the walkway to her living abode. Her hand missed the pad several times before she connected and saw the light of the fingerprint sc
anner illuminate her palm. The tumblers clicked, the door slid open and the spicy scent of cooking food assaulted her nose.

  Someone had been in her house—again.

  She peered into the oven, wondering why the Garden even bothered with any type of security measures. No one had mentioned the cooking service, but then again, it seemed there were many secrets the Garden kept to itself. Jahara sighed. At least she didn’t have to fuss with preparing an evening meal before her unwanted guests arrived.

  Pulling her tunic over her head, she headed blindly toward her bedroom and the warmth of a water shower. It was an unlimited commodity here at the Garden.

  “I hope you don’t mind that we cooked the evening meal.”

  Her scream bounced off the walls as she covered her nakedness with the clothing she’d just removed.

  The petite woman standing in the archway to the great room looked alarmed. “My apologies, most honorable Jahara,” she said, her disproportionately large breasts nearly falling out of the deep V of her dress as she bowed. “I did not mean to startle you. I am Ishawny, your breeding guide. I was told you were expecting us.”

  “I was … I mean, I am. I just didn’t think you’d be in my home when I arrived.” Anger, fear and resentment collided in a turmoil of emotions that had the words coming out harder than she intended. She forced her mouth to curve in a trembling semblance of a smile. “It’s just that I’ve had a long day, I’d like to freshen up before dinner.”

  “If it would please you, we could join you in a bath?” Ishawny stepped forward, the caramel ringlets of her hair shimmering in the soft light.

  Why did the woman keep referring to herself in the plural?

  “No, thank you. I’m quite hungry.” Actually, she’d lost her appetite.

  “As you wish.” Her smile couldn’t hide the woman’s disappointment. “We will serve you the evening supper then complete the ritual if that would please you.” Ishawny bowed again. “Before you freshen up, I’d like to introduce my breeding partner for this evening.” She stepped to the side. “My usual breeding partner has taken ill, but a most skilled breeder has agreed to take his place.”

  Jahara felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. Brenimyn stepped around Ishawny looking more regal than the day before. His presence seemed to suck the very air from her lungs.

  “I know you.” Her finger shook at the broad sweep of his bare chest. Even as her gaze swept the length of his athletic body, noting the deep ridges and grooves of his torso, the muscular build of his legs and the full bulge at his hips, Jahara couldn’t seem to get any coherent thoughts to coalesce. “You’re in my living quarters.”

  “Indeed I am.” He bent at the waist and winked at her. Neither Ishawny nor the camera mounted in the corner of the kitchen caught his insolent behavior. “They call me Brenimyn. I am pleased to meet you, Jahara, most cherished of humans, gifted woman and bearer of offspring. I am here to serve you.”

  “But they said—”

  “That we would be late due to paperwork.” Brenimyn straightened and laid his hand on Ishawny’s shoulder. “But we are here now.”

  “I need to bathe before dinner.”

  “Perhaps I could help you while Ishawny readies the meal?” his hand slid down the woman’s arm in a tender gesture that intimated a relationship Jahara didn’t want to contemplate. “She is a wonderful cook.”

  “Thanks, Bren.” Ishawny’s cheek flushed. “But I’m not sure Jahara wishes to be alone with—”

  “Actually, that would be fine,” Jahara said, forcing another smile. “I don’t mind if Brenimyn and I …” Her words were stilted and she forced herself not to glance at the camera. This was about stalling the man in the bathroom long enough to make them believe she’d copulated even as she talked her way out of this situation. “Anyway, you go first, Brenimyn.”

  “That would be fine.” The tall man sent her an impudent grin.

  No, it wasn’t fine. What was she thinking? Jahara didn’t want to be naked in front of this man. When he turned and headed toward her bedroom, she could barely think. Going in there would be much too intimate.

  “No! Stop!”

  He halted and turned slowly. The corner of his mouth curved, his brow lifting over those bottomless blue eyes. “No? Do you wish to copulate here in the comfort of the living space? I’m sure Ishawny wouldn’t mind.”

  The man seemed amused by the situation. Jahara didn’t think any of this was funny, least of all his gaze scorching over the tunic she held to her breasts. “Well, no of course not.” Heat burned her cheeks. “I don’t want to use the bath in my bedroom. There’s another bath down the hall. We should go there.”

  “As you wish, most honored Jahara. I wish only your comfort.” He inclined his head, but there was no submission in the action or his tone.

  Jahara couldn’t think of where else to go to get away from the probing eyes of the Garden. In the privacy of the bathroom, she’d talk him out of this ludicrous idea and send Ishawny and her partner back to their residences without having to copulate.

  He stepped around her and walked down the hall to the spare bathroom. Jahara pulled the tunic over her head. It might have been inside out, but at least it covered her breasts.

  Brenimyn tried to rein in the hope blossoming in his chest as Jahara slammed into the bathroom behind him, her heels thumping along the tile. He hadn’t seen this much fight in a woman in a long time. With a calm he didn’t know she possessed, she shut the door as he turned on the faucets at the sink and tub.

  “Now there may not be cameras in here,” he said. “But the audio amplifiers in the other room are very sensitive.” He settled himself on the edge of the counter, crossing his bare feet at the ankles, trying to look more relaxed than he felt. Her presence hummed over his nerves and made him jittery with the need to touch. He fisted his hands and crossed them over his chest. He bit back a smile at the vision of the loose tunic inside out. She’d wanted to cover her nudity, but he’d already seen the lush curve of her full breasts in the kitchen. Her nipples were now silhouetted in the fabric and moved tantalizingly as she paced the small space. “The water will help drown out our voices, but I suggest you keep that raging storm of yours to a dull rumble.”

  She didn’t slow her pacing. Several times she paused and stared at him, her mouth opening as if to speak, but then closing with an audible snap and she paced some more. Dark tendrils had escaped from her long braid, framing the confusion pinching her brow and pouting those very kissable full lips. She wrung her hands and sputtered under her breath. Her nervousness created a charming picture that warmed his heart. He couldn’t have been happier that this woman who had been prophesied to find him was no timid mouse. His joy bubbled out of him in a rolling laugh that echoed off the tiles.

  She stopped moving and stared at him, planting her fists on her full hips. “What on earth could be so funny? I don’t think any of this is humorous.”

  “You, Jahara. Just you.”

  “What about me?”

  “You’re fluttering around as if you’ve got bugs crawling on your skin and I find your nervousness over your first mating … cute.” Something sparked in the depths of her eyes and he had no doubt it was fear. Concern softened his voice. “You’ve never been with a man, have you?”

  She flinched but recovered quickly, her eyes shuttering any emotion. “I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”

  Hope soared. He’d lost track of her in the confusion after the demonstration. It had been a pipe dream that she hadn’t been with a man yesterday. But this beautiful creature didn’t have to admit the truth. He saw it in the way she worried her trembling fingers and stiffened her spine. He wanted to gather her in his arms and comfort her, let her feel the strength of a man. But she wasn’t ready to accept that from him and Brenimyn willed himself to stay put. He dropped his hands to the edge of the sink, hoping the relaxed posture would ease the tension knitting her brow.

  “Jahara, it is my business. You see, I
’m leader of the male breeding stock and primary breeder responsible for training. When one of the partners for the first mating …” He paused. When she didn’t refute his statement, his pulse jackhammered. He would be her first. “It’s part of my responsibilities to replace the breeder.” Of course Ishawny’s partner wouldn’t be home puking his guts out if Brenimyn hadn’t laced the man’s noon meal with the vile medicine he’d stolen from his friend’s bag of herbs.

  “But you’re Kylie’s mate. Even I know I can’t usurp another woman’s claim on a breeder.”

  The woman was nothing if not thorough in her understanding of the Garden’s hierarchy. “That is true. But my position nullified that rule.” That was a complete lie. Any breeder could have taken his place. Brenimyn had had to do some quick sidestepping to get around Kylie’s vehement protests. But his need to be with this woman had pushed him to act recklessly. He needed to know if the connection he’d felt arc between them yesterday had been real or a figment of his overzealous imagination. He’d put his plan in action the moment he’d found out she’d requested a breeding guide.

  Jahara stared at him, her doe eyes full of confusion and fear. “Why have you come to me?”

  Now that was a loaded question. One he couldn’t answer without scaring her. Jahara definitely wasn’t ready for complete honesty. “I’m responsible for making sure the first copulation is pleasant.”

  She turned from him, her voice barely above a whisper. “Perhaps we don’t need to do this tonight? You see, I’m already committed to another.” Jahara waved her ring finger in the air.

  His heart sank. He wanted to believe the piece of jewelry was nothing more than a ruse. Jahara wouldn’t have been the first woman to wear a commitment band to keep the breeding to a minimum.

  When he didn’t respond she turned back to him. “Brenimyn, I didn’t choose to come here.”

  “Jahara, few choose the Garden.” Least of all the male breeders forced into slavery, he wanted to add, but knew it wasn’t prudent. “You realize you can’t put off the inevitable. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, eventually you will be expected to mate in front of the cameras.” He wanted her to choose him this night. It would be difficult to continue deceiving Kylie. For whatever reason, the woman had been unusually upset by his interaction with Jahara at the demonstration yesterday. It had set off a whole stream of complaints that filtered their way up to Bresilee. And Kylie’s connection to Bresilee was one hornet’s nest he didn’t particularly want to probe.