Garden of Serenity

by Nina Pierce

  “Kylie—”

  “You can’t refuse me! Not when I want you so badly.”

  The repercussions of not servicing a female weren’t something Brenimyn could chance at the moment, so he did as Kylie requested. He dropped her on the bed, parting her legs with his knee and plunging into her. She was not wet as she had said. The only lubrication came from the moisture of her mouth on his body.

  “Hold my arms over my head and take me harder. Faster, Brenimyn, I want to feel your essence pour into me.”

  He took her hands from her sides, holding them above her head. This he could control. Though her hips moved beneath him, her head flailing side to side, he felt nothing for her. He drove into her as she requested, but he could separate himself from this. Their bodies didn’t fit. There was no meshing of hearts in this union.

  “No, no. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.” Kylie panted the words, but inside her body did not tremble with the pleasure. Her nipples were not erect nor her skin flush with desire. The woman didn’t want this any more than he wanted it.

  Brenimyn’s hips thrust to match the quickening tempo of her cries, but her body didn’t move to synchronize the rhythm. By the sounds of her moans and the way she moved, anyone watching would believe the woman was enjoying herself. Even as cries of ecstasy bounced off the walls, he’d been in this place too many times not to know she faked the bliss. There was no tightening of her muscles, no slick heat surrounding him. If she could playact, so could he. He moaned as she did. Thrusting faster as if in the throes of orgasm, he finished but never spilled his seed.

  Detesting the touch of her skin against his, Brenimyn fell on the bed next to her. He had no idea how he was going to endure four days of this farce.

  “Go! Leave me now.” Rolling away from him, Kylie curled into a fetal position. Sobs shook her shoulders.

  He might not like Kylie, but it wasn’t in his nature to leave a woman crying, especially if he thought he’d caused the pain. “Kylie, I’m sorry if I hurt you.” Brenimyn squeezed her shoulder. She shook it off.

  “Don’t touch me. Just go back to your precious Jahara.” Kylie cried the words into a pillow.

  He rolled off the bed, pulling on some breeches hanging in her closet. He left her apartment, thoroughly confused by what had just transpired.

  * * * *

  Jahara was practically sleepwalking when she reached the door of her residence. She’d tried to call Brenimyn on the vid-com several times last night. There’d been no answer. She couldn’t feel him in her head, but a few hours of sleep and she’d be clearer-headed and able to tell Bren everything that had happened with Nazaret and Lukiam.

  Stifling a yawn, Jahara detached the parchment from the door without taking time to look at it. Her hand fumbled in the fingerprint mechanism. It took several passes before the door hissed open. The long day yesterday and the night of restless sleep had finally caught up to her.

  The residence was blessedly empty. No doubt Bren was at the lake. He’d petitioned to stand before the Governmental Body and was working and reworking the proposal he wanted to present. He often found the solitude of the jungle his only respite from the demands being put on him by the male breeders.

  They’d been together barely a month, but Jahara knew more about Brenimyn than all she had learned about Merenith in triple that time.

  Stumbling through the dining area, Jahara was secretly pleased she’d have the bed to herself. With Brenimyn near, neither of them seemed able to get much rest. She swayed with the effort of an immense yawn and opened the note. The words swam in her vision. Even her eyes were too weary to focus.

  Most honorable Jahara Khateri, the Governmental Body wishes to inform you … She shook the confusion from her head and turned the paper over in her hand, looking for Brenimyn’s familiar handwriting.

  She focused on the governmental stamp pressed into the bottom of the paper, finally comprehending that this was no love note. Leaning her hip against the arm of the couch, she read each word carefully.

  Most honorable Jahara Khateri,

  The Governmental Body wishes to inform you law S16-R4 has been invoked by a member of the governing body of the Garden of Serenity. Your breeder Brenimyn has been removed from your residence for a period of up to four days to procreate with said member of the government who shall remain anonymous. You may, as always, choose another breeder during his absence.

  The words warbled in her misty vision, but nothing changed the truth. They’d stolen Brenimyn from her. Four days. Four weeks. Four hours. Who knew how long they’d actually keep the man from her. The parchment slipped from her fingers as she ran through the apartment, calling for Brenimyn, not wanting to believe what she’d just read. As his name echoed through the empty rooms, her heart pounded mercilessly against her ribs, the pain nearly unbearable.

  The Garden had stolen her life, not once, but twice.

  As sure as the sun would set this day, she was completely and hopelessly in love with that cocksure breeder with the dimpled smile. Somewhere between their fated meeting in the breeder’s introduction and the simple meals they prepared together—she’d lost her heart to Bren.

  She’d been too stubborn to accept change and too blind to her own heart to utter the words aloud. And now that the man was gone, she understood the repercussions of her rigid need to believe she could only love another woman. She may never have the opportunity to utter the words Bren had waited so long to hear. Because there was one thing she knew from her time at the Garden—the Governmental Body could do anything they damn well pleased and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.

  Jahara dropped in a dining room chair and cried. Though it didn’t salve the pain, she let the tears fall unfettered. They rolled down her cheeks in a great wash of sadness over everything she’d lost. Happiness. Time. Brenimyn.

  Bren had loved her even as she’d denied him the same. She’d squandered his love, trying to convince herself their relationship was only about the physical pleasure. Together, they’d grown to be so much more than that. It angered her that it had taken this treachery of the government for her to see everything so clearly.

  Jahara jumped to her feet. To hell with wallowing in her own stupidity. She would not allow the Governmental Body of the Garden to separate her from the man she loved. She had no doubt which breeder had come for Bren.

  The name echoed in her head as loudly as a gong—Kylie.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The door opened with an evil hiss.

  Brenimyn strode into the room. Kylie took me. That’s who. Though the words were spoken telepathically, his anger echoed in her head.

  Jahara was on her feet, racing into his arms. Brenimyn picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her entire body held on to him.

  “They drugged me and took me there.” He spoke the words aloud through the emotion clogging his throat. She insisted we mate. I didn’t want to. But the law. I had no choice. I’m sorry, Jahara. I’m so sorry. Please don’t feel betrayed. He buried his head in her neck, his embrace nearly crushing her ribs.

  “You’re home now. Nothing else matters.” She held his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her and see the truth exploding from her heart. Jahara kissed away the angry tears pooling in his eyes. Her lips caressed the lines around his mouth and on his forehead, put there from the pain of his broken heart. “Brenimyn, I love you. Here in the living room. Out at the lake. My heart knows you and loves you.”

  There was no confusion in the curve of his mouth. No misunderstanding in the spark of his eyes.

  Her voice was a husky whisper. “We need to close the door, because I need so much more from you than this.” She looked at her body wrapped tightly around his.

  Carrying her back to the kitchen, Brenimyn released some of his anger as he slammed his fist on the button to retract the door. She heard the lock rattle into place. Still wrapped around him, Jahara didn’t need his arms to hold her close. They felt good nonetheless. The feel of h
is sinewy muscles flexing on her back as he held her was like a jolt of the strong brew she used to drink a long time ago, in a world very far from here. The exhaustion was gone. There was only Brenimyn and his love for her.

  She leaned back to look at him, noticing for the first time the eight welts marching angrily from his collar bones to his navel. Dried blood was caked in some of the deeper cuts.

  “Brenimyn?”

  “For some reason Kylie attacked me. They don’t hurt, but I need to wash, I can still smell her on me.” He shuddered as if the woman’s evil clung to his skin.

  “You’re not letting me out of your sight.” Jahara laughed. “From now on, I’m stuck to you like glue.”

  He held his hands up. She didn’t slide from him. He smiled again. “It looks that way, woman. My blood’s still boiling with the fury of what they did. I need the cool water of the pool.”

  “That sounds wonderful. It’ll be cleansing for both of us.” She wanted to tell him about Nazaret and Lukiam, but it could wait until they had chilled the heat of their anger. The both needed to lose themselves in love to find the strength for the battle that had most surely begun.

  Walking through the sliding doors, Brenimyn cuddled her in his arms, stepping slowly down the stone steps of the pool, clothes and all. He covered her mouth with his and she tasted him, hot and familiar, on her tongue. Her toes hit the water first, the chill running up her legs.

  He didn’t stop until the water licked at her hips. The warmth of his tongue and skin contrasted the sensation of the cool liquid surrounding her.

  Moving from her lips, he whispered, “There is no one I want other than you, Jahara. You fill my heart. Your beauty steals the breath from my lungs. Let go and feel my love for you.”

  The words swelled her heart.

  His teeth nipped at the fleshy lobe of her ear, sending shivers of anticipation up her spine. Pulling the binding from her hair, he nibbled at the skin on her neck. She tipped her head back, sweeping the soft tendrils across her back, enjoying the silky tickle on her skin.

  Brenimyn moved his hands under her tunic, taking time to touch and stroke her heated skin, before removing the clothing. He released it to drift aimlessly in the pool. She leaned back to float in the water, her legs still wrapped at his waist and his arousal nestled against her bottom. Brenimyn’s gaze traveled her torso like trembling fingers, leaving goose flesh in its wake. Slowly she fanned her arms, keeping her body hovering just below the surface.

  “You grow more beautiful every day. How is that possible, Jahara, my love?”

  “I worry perhaps you are going blind.” She laughed even as she dropped her legs, her body now completely in the water. Letting the buoyancy carry her back to him, her mouth was level with his belly. Her warm tongue circled his navel, her cool hands sliding up to the angry welts left by another’s rage. Unconsciously the healing energy flowed straight from her heart to her palms. When it came to loving Brenimyn, Jahara didn’t need to think. The torn flesh disappeared. The white light swallowed the red lines, leaving only the velvet feel of healthy skin behind. She heard him gasp and didn’t care if it was the healing or the power of their love enveloping them. His obvious desire empowered her.

  Jahara pulled the string on his breeches. Her eyes locked on his as her fingers worked slowly around his hips, pushing away the pants. Jahara scraped her teeth on his belly while her hands kneaded the strong muscles of his back. Sliding her hands slowly down his thighs, she took the fabric with her.

  He stepped out of the pants and carried her deeper into the pool. A moan of desire rumbled in his throat as their mouths tangled again. He stripped away her pants before lifting her high to sit on the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the cool water. The gossamer fabric of their clothing drifted like wispy clouds in the cerulean blue of the pool and Jahara shimmied with the thrill of being naked with him.

  “This is right, Bren. All of this. It’s right.”

  I love you too, Jahara. Somehow hearing his words in her head made it all the more intimate.

  He loved her with his mouth and hands, making her body quake with an ecstasy so complete, it seemed to burn over every sensitive nerve. Just when she thought she’d melt from the heat of his touches, he lifted her off the edge of the pool, lowering her slowly into the cool water. With one gentle glide, he entered her, sending another shiver of bliss along her spine.

  She stared into his eyes, seeing only the love and commitment he’d promised her over and over. “Brenimyn, I’m not afraid of this anymore. It is right and perfect and … I love you. With all my heart … I love you.”

  “It’s my sexual prowess you love.” The smile reaching up to spark in his eyes, belied his lighthearted response. The man understood the weight of her words.

  She laughed. “Well, there is that.”

  “Then I shall spend my days satisfying your every need.” He pistoned his hips, allowing the cool water to flow over their heated flesh. And there is more, Jahara.

  His voice in her head was gentle and she smiled up at him.

  “I don’t need more, Bren. Just be with me like this. It’s enough. Right here. Right now. It’s all I need.”

  Not for me. Not anymore. Brenimyn kissed her tenderly, his arms holding her close. Today I realized just how much it means to have you in my life. He nibbled along her jaw and teased her earlobe with his teeth, his body still moving deeply within her. We aren’t about visions and new world orders. We’re about two halves finally becoming whole.

  She cupped his cheek in her palm, his hooded gaze capturing hers. “Yes. All that and more,” she said. The silken water caressed her skin even as he filled her, holding her on the desperate edge of need.

  I want people to know how much we love each other, Jahara. I want to make a baby with you. I want to see your body heavy with my child. His eyes raked her face. For the first time, I give myself completely to you. The rhythm of his thrusts increased, pulling her with him to the brink of bliss. I give my life essence to you freely and without reservation. It is my gift to you.

  The tempo of her heart matched his thrusts.

  Here—in the most unlikely of places, in a government facility where the needs of the human population outweighed the will of the individual, in a Garden where she hadn’t been looking—Jahara had finally found the love she’d sought for so long. This was a man willing to give her everything.

  “I love you. Mind, body and soul, I love you,” she whispered.

  They both moaned with pleasure as their mouths and bodies fused. She hugged him tight, wanting to truly feel one with this man. She cried out his name, digging her nails into the flesh of his shoulders, mooring herself against the raging torrent of their love. The power built deep inside her. She closed her eyes, letting his love wash over her. As the wave of ecstasy rolled through her with thunderous power, he grasped her hips and moved within her with such force, they were powerless to stop the storm of euphoria ravaging their bodies.

  For the first time, she felt the hot surge of his seed. Bren’s cry of total ecstasy was a thrilling sound she would not soon forget. Their muscles convulsed as the bliss controlled them. The crushing orgasms of total surrender left them trembling with exhaustion.

  When the last of their releases shuddered through them, Bren moved on week legs to lean against the pool wall. He cradled her in his arms, his heart thudding heavy against her cheek. If they weren’t still floating in the water, she was sure they both would have collapsed.

  * * * *

  She heard the music far away and swam through the lake to find it. A bird flew overhead, calling her name. It was peaceful where she was and Jahara didn’t want to leave. Something squeezed her shoulder.

  “Jahara, wake up.”

  Brenimyn’s voice cut through the mist of the dream, sounding urgent in her muddled state between sleep and wake. Her head swam as she forced herself awake.

  “What? What’s wrong?” Memories of her day flooded over her, the gossamer veil of
dreams dropping away. “Lukiam? Is it Lukiam? What time is it? Bren, how long did I sleep?” Jahara tried to push out of the bed.

  He laughed. “Slow down, my love.” Putting his hand on her shoulder, he held her in bed. “It’s not Lukiam. Nazaret called. He’s doing well. And so is the baby.” The dimples dug deep around his smile. “It’s Merenith. She’s on the video-communicator. It’s the second time she’s called today. I thought you’d like to talk to her. It’s nearly sunset.”

  “You let me sleep the day away?”

  “Let you sleep? You were the walking dead by the time we made it to the bed. Do you want to take this call?”

  “Of course.” It was odd talking to Brenimyn about Merenith. She pulled on his discarded tunic from the floor, enjoying the scent of him enveloping her.

  So much had happened since she’d talked with Merenith. How many days had passed? Three? Four? A week? She couldn’t be sure.

  She ran down the hall to the office.

  “Hello, Merenith, it’s good to see you.” Merenith’s short crop of blond hair swirled about her face, accenting the graceful curve of her neck.

  “I, however, am a sight.” Jahara’s cheeks flushed and she hoped her embarrassment wasn’t obvious. She pulled her fingers through her hair. It had dried as Brenimyn loved her in their bed. The tangles would require more than her fingers.

  “You’ve done some powerful healing.” Merenith touched the screen. “I see it in your face. Are you all right?”

  Jahara didn’t know what Merenith saw after she’d healed. Somehow this woman who’d known her for such a short time, knew instinctively when Jahara arrived home from the medical facility after a difficult day.

  “A breeder was badly hurt by some machinery. With the help of others, I was able to save a life. And the breeder’s partner was incredibly relieved.” She couldn’t bring herself to mention Nazaret or the baby, or that they’d actually saved a family.