by Nina Pierce
“I will not be insulted by the likes of a breeding healer.” Dr. Linsig’s voice cascaded down on them. “Dr. Bresilee will hear about this.” She took two steps back. “There will be consequences for these actions, Dr. Khateri.” She threw her chin in the air, the rolls below vibrating with the movement. Linsig stalked away from the people covered in blood in the small curtained area.
Good riddance. Jahara needed a healer who would believe they could save Lukiam, not interfere with her lifesaving efforts. She was just as happy the ignorant woman had left and taken the naysayers with her.
“He will live. Does everyone here understand that? If you’re afraid of the rules—leave now.” Jahara looked directly into the three sets of startled eyes. “Now there will be no more talk of amputation or the fact he’s a breeder. This man needs our help.” Blood covered Jahara’s white coat and her arms were slick up to the elbows, it would take all their efforts to save him.
Her heart rejoiced when no one moved. “Fine. You’ve made your choice. Let’s get down to work. Add another bag of blood and another of saline.” Even as Linsig had slung her hate, Jahara’s fingers had never stopped searching for the source of the blood. “There you are, you little beast. I found it. The artery in his arm’s torn nearly in two, but I can repair it.” Speaking quietly, Jahara reached both hands deep into the arm muscles. She threw her head back, closing her eyes, summoning the deep healing straight from her core. The energy flowed from her heart, through her arms and fingers, and right into Lukiam.
She let the healing light surround her, focusing it on the torn artery that pumped the breeder’s life energy onto the floor. The rest of the world fell away. There was only the man and his brokenness. Slowly, the artery came back together. Moving her fingers, Jahara repaired another blood vessel then a torn ligament, meticulously working her way through the mutilated arm. Finally, Jahara was getting ahead of the injuries. The blood no longer gushed from Lukiam’s body. Jahara pulled out of her trance and moved on to another sections of the arm.
“How’re you doing with the fluids? Someone clean this mess at my feet and cleanse this arm so I can see. Mikalyn, what else have you found?” No one moved. Jahara looked around at the dazed expressions of people surrounding the stretcher. Their mouths gaped open, their wide eyes were unnaturally white around their irises. “People, we haven’t saved him yet. There’s still much to do.”
Shaking her head, Mikalyn was the first to come out of the odd shock that had frozen her hands. “I … ah … I found a broken bone in his leg; his hip is also broken as well as some ribs. There’s a small tear in his kidney, but I can repair it and his lung has collapsed. All other organs seem intact.”
Jahara looked at the caretaker on the other side of the stretcher. “Very well, help clear the blood so we can see. Mikalyn, repair the lung then the kidney, the broken bones last. You can do all that without my help. I’ll finish repairing the arm then work down the torso.”
Jahara’s hands moved over Lukiam, repairing torn muscles and broken bones. It was late into the night before, spent and weak, Jahara and Mikalyn sealed the last of the torn skin.
Stepping away, Jahara stretched her back and rotated her stiff neck. “It’s done. That’s all we can do for him now. The rest is up to Lukiam.” Running her hand over Lukiam’s face, Jahara moved down the newly healed skin on his chest. The strong muscles of his torso probably kept him from more serious internal injuries. “His breathing is regular. His heart rate is weak but pumping in a steady rhythm. He lost a lot of blood. He isn’t in pain. I blocked the receptors in his brain. He needs rest and fluids.”
She dredged up a smile for Nazaret. The woman had been standing at her partner’s head, stroking his hair, speaking words of love for many hours. She suddenly looked unsteady on her feet. Jahara caught her as she collapsed.
“Mikalyn, help me with Nazaret.” They put her on the nearest stretcher. Nazaret’s lids fluttered. Her breathing came in little shallow gasps. As a team, their hands worked over her body. They were synchronized in their movements.
“I can’t find anything. It must be exhaustion.”
“She’s with child.” Mikalyn’s hands hovered over Nazaret’s belly.
Jahara smiled, moving her hands next to Mikalyn’s “The baby’s life pulse is steady and strong. Give her fluids. She’s probably just dehydrated. It’s a wonder the woman lasted as long as she did.”
Wiping her hands on clothing streaked with the efforts of her healing, Jahara moved to the foot of the bed. “We need to wash. Why don’t you go, Mikalyn? I’ll stay with them. I’ll shower after you.”
“I’m fine, Jahara. You go. You did more healing than I. I’ll get you if either of them needs something.”
“You did well, Mikalyn, I couldn’t have saved Lukiam without your help. You know there will be repercussions for our actions.”
“Yes, a man will live.” She squared her shoulders. “And the woman who loves him will still have her life mate in the morning.”
Chapter Thirteen
Mikalyn knew she should be tired, but there was an energy pumping through her she had never experienced. Yesterday, she’d held the life of another in her hands. Even as the blood had pumped from Lukiam, she’d fought with Jahara to save him. They had stolen the mutilated man back from the jaws of death.
Standing in the door of the hospital room, Mikalyn looked in awe at the woman who had performed the miracle. Jahara slept in the padded chair, uncomfortably slumped over Lukiam’s hospital bed. One arm was slung over the man’s legs, her head gingerly propped next to his chest, no doubt monitoring his breathing. No one had questioned his right to be here after Jahara had defied Linsig. And despite attempts to get the amazing woman to rest in the healer’s wing, Jahara hadn’t left her patient all night.
Nazaret lay next to Lukiam in the small hospital bed, her body tenderly curled along her lover’s uninjured side. Both women undoubtedly comforted by the man’s rhythmic snoring. Nazaret had her face buried in Lukiam’s hair, her hand splayed over her belly, protecting the new life just beginning to grow within her. The embryo was only weeks old. The woman hadn’t known she was pregnant until they told her last night.
Mikalyn would never, as long as she lived, forget the ultimate powers of healing she had witnessed the day before. The light poured forth from Jahara, radiating from her heart down her arms, to her hands, buried deep in Lukiam’s arm. Jahara’s upper body glowed with a brilliance pouring into Lukiam until the unconscious man became luminescent with the healing power flowing out of the healer. It had been only minutes they’d been joined in that halo of light, but the vision of it would be seared in her mind forever.
An overwhelming sense of peace had descended over the intimate space while they were joined. Everyone present had felt its power. Awestruck by the intensity of the event, no one had moved, not even to draw breath. It had taken them a moment to pull out of their trance when Jahara started issuing instructions again. The healer seemed oblivious to the power she demonstrated. But the blood stopped as the light faded in intensity, and Jahara had gone straight back to work, repairing the rest of the injuries. She’d saved not only a man—but a family.
Tiptoeing up to Jahara, Mikalyn gently ran her hand along the healer’s shoulders. This woman held great powers. Mikalyn understood that now. “Jahara. Jahara, wake up. It’s time for you to go home. You deserve a rest. Let me stay with them.”
* * * *
Brenimyn woke naked and disoriented, his head pounding with a nauseating headache. He forced his body off the bed where he lay, swinging his feet to floor. The motion shot knives of pain through his brain, sending everything in sight into a wild spin. The bright light and gurgling sound of the river hologram on the wall at the head of the bed was like a thunderous storm hammering in his brain. He swallowed the urge to puke.
Overindulging in Dakaru root had never made him this ill.
He gingerly ran his fingers over his skull, finding a lump on the side of his
head. Damn, even his frickin’ hair hurt.
Memories slowly came into focus. Two women from the security patrol had shown up at Jahara’s residence. They’d spewed out some law he’d never heard of, quoting the number and paragraph straight from the Garden’s constitution. When he’d turned to use the video-communicator to contact Jahara, they’d attacked from behind. The sharp prick of an injection in his neck was the last thing he remembered before his world had gone black. The knot on his skull had undoubtedly been where he’d come in contact with the floor as the drug had taken hold of him.
They’d obviously delivered him to Kylie’s residence. He’d spent enough time here to know where he was. He just didn’t know why.
“Brenimyn, I’ve been waiting for you to wake.” Kylie breezed into the bedroom, a tray of food in her hands. “You slept through the night, which is a shame since I had so many plans for us.” He heard the clink of the tray on the bedside table. The mattress shifted as she crawled behind him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
“Aren’t you glad to see me?” She rubbed her face into his neck, her naked breasts pressed seductively against his back. “I’ve missed you.” Her hand caressed his ass, curving up over his hip and coming to rest in his lap. He had all he could do not to jump at her touch. “We’ve been granted four glorious days to fill as we choose,” she purred the repulsive words into his ear.
Shifting on the bed to face her, he nearly toppled Kylie to the floor. “Most honorable Kylie, cherished of all humans, gifted woman and breeder of offspring, as always it is a pleasure to be here with you, but Jahara is a new breeder and she chose me as her breeding mate.” He held his revulsion and temper in check for the cameras. “If it would please you, might I know why I was brought here?”
“Why, Brenimyn …” She ran her nail down his chest. “I choose you also. I invoked Garden law S16-R4, paragraph 6.” Her mouth curved in her trademark syrupy smile.
He tried to reach her telepathically, but the drugs were still muddling his thoughts. “I’m not familiar with that law.”
“No?” She stood, moving in front of him and parting his legs. She nestling herself between them so her breasts were level with his eyes. “An ovulating government official may choose any breeder to become her mate for four days.” She ran her fingers through his hair, turning his face up to hers. “Four days of copulating bliss, Brenimyn.” She laid her lips on his. “Just think how beautiful our offspring will be. I’ve been increasingly anxious for you to wake so we could be together.” She swiveled her hips, the smooth skin of her pubic bone rubbing against his stomach.
Brenimyn’s mind raced. She didn’t want him. His frustration forced him to his feet and he forced his mouth to curve into a smile he hoped didn’t betray his loathing for this woman. “You’re right. It’s been a long night.” Thanks to the drugs she’d no doubt instructed them to use in order to kidnap him, but he didn’t utter those words. “If I may freshen up from my heavy sleep, I’ll be more comfortable to pleasure you.” He winked at her, setting her away from him, not waiting for her response.
He retreated into the bathroom. This room, like all of Kylie’s residence, was an opulent wonder of mirrors, marble and gold. He hated it here. He hated more what was waiting for him on the other side of the locked door.
Kylie didn’t want him. He wasn’t even sure she really wanted a child. And even if she did, she sure as Hades wasn’t going to have his child.
He turned on the shower, but decided walking off the nausea and agitation was preferable to drowning it. He left the water running, trying to buy himself more time.
There was no doubt in his mind that the government hadn’t bothered to contact Jahara. He hated thinking she’d come home to an empty residence, no doubt thinking he’d abandoned her. That thought lodged hot in his throat.
He had to let her know what had happened. He settled on the black marble edge of the oversized tub and cleared his mind of the gauzy webs of confusion. Over the last few weeks, Jahara had learned how to open herself to his gentle probing without allowing him deeper. He’d enjoyed the ability to connect with her while they were apart, sharing snippets of her day. Brenimyn envisioned the well-check, the clinic and their apartment—taking his time to explore the all the quiet spots where they connected—she didn’t seem to be any of those places.
Thinking it was a small glitch in their connection, he’d actually lost contact with her yesterday. He wondered now if the Governmental Body had somehow fabricated a new law, allowing them to take female breeders hostage as well. That thought scared the crap out of him.
“Knock, knock, Brenimyn. I’m growing increasingly needy out here. I’m desperate to copulate. It must be the hormones.” Kylie’s voice grated like a shrill whistle that gnawed at his headache.
He wondered what motivated her sudden interest in him. With the cameras ever-watchful eyes, he couldn’t hold her off forever, but perhaps he could talk her out of whatever foolish scheme she’d concocted. He shoved his head under the hot spray of water before shutting it off and grabbing a towel. Until he knew exactly what was happening, he’d keep playacting for the benefit of the people watching.
“My apologies most cherished of humans,” he said as he unlocked the door. “It is poor manners to keep a woman in heat waiting.” She barely moved him as she pushed open the door and flung the full weight of her petite frame at him. Her arms wrapped around his waist.
“Oh Brenimyn, how I’ve missed you.” Taking his hand, she pulled him into the middle of the room. “There’s no other breeder I want to mate with me.” She ran her hands down his back, dropping the towel at his feet and kneading his butt.
“Kylie, you don’t want me.”
Her hand shot up so fast he wasn’t prepared for the impact. The sting of her palm seared his cheek and both the sound and the pain reverberated through his head, but he didn’t react.
“How dare you?” She stalked to the bed. “Of course I want you. Why do you think they brought you here?” Kylie pointed her finger at him, shaking it at his face, an odd look contorting her features. Brenimyn tried once again to reach her, but his turmoil combined with her roller-coaster emotions jumbled everything. “You have no right to refuse a woman. It’s law.” Her bottom lip jutted out, but her pouting face only made this whole charade seem even more foolish.
He stood impassively. “That’s true. But surely there must be someone else who could make your mating special.”
“No,” she yelled. This discussion did not warrant her vehement reaction. “I expect you to do as I request. Walk to me.” Tears misted in her eyes.
He had no idea why she was having such an emotional reaction, but he did as she requested and stood a breath away from her, his voice lowering to a whisper. “Kylie, what’s upsetting you?” He stared down into her eyes. He had no idea how to interpret her thinned lips and suspicious eyes. Brenimyn gave up any pretense for the cameras. Let those watching interpret his words any damn way they wanted. It was time for some hard truths. “We both know that being with me is a torturous experience you barely tolerate during demonstrations. You definitely aren’t obligated in the privacy of your own residence to mate with a breeder you detest.”
“No, don’t say that.” Her hands balled into fists, the tears rolling down her cheeks. “No, it’s not right.” She pummeled his chest and he made no move to stop her. “Damn you, Brenimyn.” Looking at him, she sneered and raked her nails down the flesh of his torso, the sharp claws biting deep.
He hissed in pain, grabbing her hands as she reached up to do it again. “Kylie, what in Hades is going on?”
“Let go of me.” She struggled as if he held her tight. He released her hands and she pounded her fists against the red welts on his chest. “You will do as I say. Stop fighting me.” Hatred sparked in her eyes. “Fine, if you won’t make the moves then I’ll do it. It doesn’t require much of your cooperation.”
She dropped to her knees, her eyes locked on his. She shook her head
and leaned forward. The slick heat of her mouth slid masterfully along his flaccid sex. Even a controlled man couldn’t stop a reaction to this stimulation. He forced his mind to focus on other things, but his traitorous body didn’t cooperate.
Kylie’s fingers worked the hardening length of him as the silk of her tongue explored lower. After months together, she knew all the sensitive spots on his body. There had been a time when he had enjoyed her touch, now it disgusted him. And though he loathed having her mouth and hands on him, he was unable to stop his body’s natural reaction.
“Look at me, Brenimyn,” Kylie said in a sultry whisper. “Tell me how much you enjoy this and how much you want me to continue.”
“Most honored one, what you are doing is wonderful. If it pleases you, I would like you to continue.” Even for the cameras, Brenimyn couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.
She smiled up at him. “Then touch me like you’re enjoying yourself.”
He buried his fingers in her hair and she took him deep into the wet heat of her mouth. Her technique was masterful, deftly squeezing and stroking, her hands and mouth working in tandem to elicit a response he was powerless to control.
“Take me now, Brenimyn. Mate with me.” She pulled her mouth away, but continued to stroke with firm fingers. “Carry me to the bed. I want you now.”
Brenimyn brought her to her feet and swept her into his arms, wishing he could stop this whole farce. Her lashes were damp with unshed tears, her cheeks flushed from desire. He carried her to the bed, searching for the words that would bring some semblance of sanity to this situation.
Kylie looked at him through thick lashes, still damp from her tears. “I have truly missed you, Bren.” She laid a hand over his heart. “We are meant to be. We’ve always been meant for each other.” Stretching up, she brushed her lips feather-light across his. “Do it like the old days when you couldn’t get enough of me. I’m already wet with desire for you. Throw me to the bed and bury yourself deep like I’m all you’ve ever wanted. Like I’m all you need.”
