Garden of Serenity (28 page)

“It’s a pleasure to be with you, Gabriella.” Kylie had been Gabriella’s partner since she’d first arrived at the Garden of Serenity four, no, almost five years ago now. She’d never taken a lover, male or female, before Gabriella.

Even by society standards, theirs was an unusual relationship. It was beneficial that neither of them was the jealous type. She rationalized Gabriella’s affinity for young girls came from the intensity of the experiments. Gabriella brushed off her relationships with male breeders as a necessary evil to keep up appearances. But Kylie didn’t fool herself into believing any of that was how women built healthy relationships.

“Brenimyn should’ve received the invitation to our special meeting just before the dinner hour.” Gabriella said. “The Governmental Body has also been informed of the meeting. They won’t receive the agenda until just before the gavel drops. There’re some sympathizers to this new movement sitting on the board. I just haven’t been able to identify them yet.”

Kylie watched Gabriella’s long nail drag seductively up her thigh. The robe separated another inch, exposing the thinning triangle of red curls at the apex of her thighs. The woman didn’t do subtle.

“Brenimyn will have no idea what we have in store for him.” Gabriella smiled maliciously before taking a long pull of her drink. “It’s delicious, isn’t it, Kylie?” Gabriella stroked herself and Kylie had no idea if she referred to the scheduled meeting, the liquor—or her body. Really, it didn’t matter. All of it was destructive.

“Delicious.” Stepping closer, Kylie knelt in front of Gabriella, knowing it was what the woman both desired and expected.

“Kylie, my sweet.” Gabriella dug her nails into Kylie’s scalp, the air hissing through her teeth as Kylie dropped her head. Tonight, there would be no nubile girls satisfying Gabriella’s sexual hunger—only Kylie.

Chapter Twenty

“I’ll be back in plenty of time for the meeting.”

Jahara stood in her kitchen, tangled in Brenimyn’s arms, neither of them wanting to begin this day.

“I’m not worried about the meeting.” Jahara laid her cheek on the smooth flesh of Brenimyn’s chest, inhaling the warm aroma of the man she loved. “I just want to spend the day in your arms.”
And tell you we’re having a baby.
She couldn’t share the news with Bren, not when he had so much work to do. They would celebrate when everything was done.
 

Just before Camille and Nathaniel had arrived, Bren showed her the official document from the Governmental Body inviting him to speak in front of the general assembly. It had been hand delivered by couriers waiting outside her residence for his return.

“I hate to leave you, but there’s still so much work to do before the meeting this afternoon.” Though he’d be the only male breeder permitted at the meeting, many would be working to perfect the initial proposal requesting only minor changes in the bylaws at the Garden. “We’re breaking the changes into smaller goals we hope the government can swallow.”

“Bresilee doesn’t do anything out of the kindness of her heart. Why is she choosing now to allow a man to enter the hallowed halls of the government?”

He bent and kissed her nose. “Mine is not to question. Simply to act.”

“After what happened with Kylie, I just don’t trust the woman. She’s chosen you for a reason.” Her stomach boiled with the wings of a hundred nervous butterflies. She mulled over the possible outcomes of today’s meeting and not one of them boded well for either of them.

“Hey, something else going on here?” He cupped her cheek, turning her face up to him.

Yes.
“No, I’m just tired.” After the debacle on the horses, she learned how to allow him access only to her surface thoughts. She kept barriers up, protecting her most private thoughts. Brenimyn didn’t need to worry about the safety of his child as well as himself. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She heard the whir of the vehicle pull up to their residence and pressed the button, retracting the dented door. “You need to go.”

Brenimyn pulled her in for a deep kiss that weakened her knees.
I love you with all my heart, Jahara.
His arms held her tight. He didn’t need to proclaim his love telepathically. She already felt it in his touch. Jahara’s fingers brushed her lips then her chest, her sign to him that she felt the same.

Brenimyn hurried down the walk, the heavy pack of books bouncing with his long strides.

Closing the door, Jahara leaned against it, inhaling the scent he’d left in his wake. She wanted to crawl back in bed, pull the covers over her head and not let this day continue. But that was impossible. She felt inexplicably pushed forward. She wondered if she was truly destined to fulfill a prophecy, or had Brenimyn’s love just made her believe in a false vision.

Last night they’d settled on the bed in meditation. They traveled together to the meadow where they’d first made love. Lying in each other’s arms, they’d talked over her theories about Bresilee, or more accurately—she’d talked and he’d listened.

Like any good scientist, she would now have to test her hypothesis then prove it. Where she’d go from there was anyone’s guess. She had no doubt that the information she’d uncovered about Director of the Garden was going to play a role in the new world order they were ordained to accomplish together. But she just couldn’t figure out how. Too many question and so few answers.

Her nervous stomach did another slow roll at the thought of her responsibilities. She barely made it to the bathroom before losing her entire breakfast in the toilet.

* * * *

The well-check was running like a finely tuned instrument. She and Collin were quite a team. Though Jahara did more thorough physicals on the men than Bresilee had done, she seemed to get them through them more efficiently.

The routine of the morning did nothing to keep her mind from meandering to Brenimyn and wondering how things were going for him at the lake. The anxiety that had been a mere flicker of nerves in her belly this morning had become a tumultuous hailstorm of cold nausea rapidly migrating to fill her throat.

“My name’s Jahara—” She stepped around the curtain, immediately assaulted by a squeal and a bone-crushing hug that left her arms trapped at her sides.

“I know it hasn’t been long, but it seems like forever since we saw each other.” Attika’s red hair was the first thing that cued Jahara into the identity of her assailant. “Jahara, I owe you an apology.” Stepping back, Attika’s color rose from her neck until Jahara didn’t know where the skin stopped and the hair began.

“Attika?”

“This is Zenick, my mate.” She pecked the bearded cheek of the man sitting on the end of the table. “I know this is the well-check and I should probably have gone to the clinic, but we came to the place you were working. We just didn’t trust anyone else. Zenick doesn’t need a well-check because he just had one, but there’s—”

“Attika.” Zenick laid his bear paw of a hand on her arm. “Breathe.”

Attika inhaled and moved back a half-step.

Jahara bit her lip, trying not to let her amusement show. Evidently, the breeder had figured out how to control the woman’s verbal diarrhea.

“What Attika’s trying to tell you, is that we seem to have a … uh … a little problem.” The deep timbre of his voice couldn’t disguise his embarrassment. “It started a few days ago but has gotten continually worse.” It was Zenick’s turn to blush. “Until this morning, when I thought I’d go mad from the discomfort of it.” The man looked at his lap. “Between the itch and the burn—”

“For both of us,” Attika said. “We both … well … it seems we’re sharing the same symptoms.”

Zenick craned his neck to the end of the hall. Jahara pulled the curtain closed. She was tired of that damn red door. Despite her weeks working here, the men still feared being sent there.

“Zenick, weren’t you my first patient?”

His head bobbed bashfully.

“Then you know you have nothing to fear coming here. No one is being sent to another healer for treatment. Not as long as I run the well-check.” Jahara’s gaze swept from one to the other. “Now what’s this symptom you share?”

Zenick stood, dropping his jade breeches to the floor. Attika hiked up her skirt, spreading her massive thighs. The foul odor filled the small space. Jahara didn’t react, though she knew immediately what they had and the probable cause.

“I know it smells awful. I’m sorry.” Attika said as she let the skirt fall back into place. “We’ve both washed, but nothing helps. We’re at our wits-end. I didn’t know anyone else who could help.”

“Attika, remove your skirt and lie down on the gurney. Zenick, I can treat you standing.” She looked down at his penis, the sensitive skin red and raw from the infection and his scratching. “I will need to touch you, Zenick, if I’m to heal.”

He nodded, the freckles of his face blending into one seamless color. “Anything to be rid of this awful discomfort.”

She knelt before him. “You’re right, you share the same infection. How many times do you copulate?” Jahara’s hands moved over Zenick’s genitals. The angry blisters diminished, leaving healthy skin.

“Four, maybe five times …” Zenick turned toward Attika for confirmation.

“A week?” That didn’t make any sense. Jahara looked up at Zenick.

“No, each day,” Attika replied.

She stifled a laugh. That explained it. “Zenick, I’m done. Does it feel better?”

“The itching’s gone. Will it still hurt to—”

“No, it won’t hurt to urinate
or
have sex.” She was pretty sure which one concerned him more. “I need to wash then I’ll heal you, Attika.”

“Nothing. There’s nothing. It no longer hurts or itches.” The man bent over Attika, kissing her soundly. “Oh, this is so much better.”

Jahara heard the relief in Zenick’s voice over the chemical spray. She returned to the curtain.

“Attika, I know you’re embarrassed, but spread your legs and I’ll heal you as well.” As her hand swept over Attika’s genitals, Jahara tried to make them feel more at ease. The smell was overwhelming and they all knew it.

“What you have is not uncommon. It probably started with Attika. It’s a simple yeast infection. Bacteria naturally in your body multiplied and caused this white discharge. Attika, in turn infected you, Zenick.” She bit painfully on the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to offend them, but Jahara was finding it difficult not to giggle at their situation.

“If you’ve been copulating that much,” and she wasn’t sure how they found the time or energy, “then the vagina never had time to recover. It’s not uncommon in first-time breeders.” That was only an assumption on her part, since they were the first couple she’d treated, but she knew it would make them feel better. “You may want to slow down a little in the copulating department.” The odor dissipated as the infection died under the white light of Jahara’s palm.

“There, you’re both healed.”

She left to wash her hands.

They were talking quietly when she returned the second time. Attika sat on the edge of the bed, Zenick’s arm protectively slung around her waist.

“Thank you,” they said in unison.

“No thanks needed. Just don’t let it get so out of control before you come to see me. There’s no need for you to suffer those symptoms for so long.” They didn’t leave.

Zenick pulled Attika closer. “Tell her.”

Attika smiled shyly, looking at Jahara through her lashes. “Jahara, the first morning we came to the healing facility, you tried to tell me about the breeders.” She looked over at Zenick. “I got angry and argued with you, but I’ve learned much since I got here. Zenick took me to the lake. I listened to Brenimyn …”

She squeezed the woman’s fidgeting fingers. “Attika, None of us knew, did we?”

The young woman shook her head.

“We all had much to learn about men. There’s nothing more you need to say.”

“Thank you.” Attika’s hand engulfed hers as she leaned over and kissed Jahara’s cheek. “Know that there will be many supporting the new world order. You and Brenimyn aren’t alone.”

Attika’s declaration did nothing to ease the knots of apprehension squeezing her heart.

* * * *

Where had the day gone? Jahara rushed into her residence with barely an hour before the meeting would begin. She nearly tripped over Bren’s heavy backpack of books in her rush for the shower.

Bren was singing in the shower. She stopped a moment in the doorway, letting the baritone melody of his song ease the tension in her muscles. She stripped without a sound and slipped into the shower. Jahara snuggled into the strong planes of his back and snaked her hands around his belly.

“I’m glad you made it.”

She smiled.

“Jahara will be home soon, we don’t have much time.”

She stepped back, smacking his stomach as he turned around.

“Oh Jahara, it’s you.” He let the water rinse the soap from his hair.

“You were expecting someone else?”

“You know us breeders. Busy, busy, busy. Always in high demand.” Brenimyn’s wide smile made his dimples deep, and her heart skip in her chest. He bent over, lifting her in his arms, twirling them so the water ran down her back.

“And as much as I’d love to enjoy a shower with you, I’m running late.” He kissed her briefly and was gone. She nearly fell over with the rush of his departure.

“Hey, I just got here.” She peeked around the curtain.

“And I’m glad I got to see you, but there’s still much to do.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “After the meeting we’ll have time.” He swallowed hard, tension furrowing his brow.  “I have to leave ahead of you. I need to do a little more work on the presentation.” He turned on his heel and left.

Jahara let go of the curtain, disappointment drooping her shoulders. There was no way she could be ready to leave with Bren, not when the man was in such a rush.

Not fifteen minutes later she was standing in her closet, staring at her limited wardrobe. She didn’t need him to utter a sound, Jahara felt Bren’s presence the moment his shadow crossed the bedroom threshold. Like the statues of the ancients, Brenimyn stood regally, his appraising stare roaming her nakedness. She felt his gaze kiss her skin soft as a gentle breeze.