32. Jasmine

32

JASMINE

J asmine was still smiling when she left the room. The expression on Ell-rom's face had been priceless, and the erection that had sprung up between his legs was the best sign of health.

Her prince was really getting better by the hour rather than by the day.

She was glad that Julian had told him about her being a Dormant and that it hadn't come from her. She'd dreaded telling Ell-rom that she needed him to induce her.

Why?

Jasmine wasn't sure.

He would love to be able to repay her for all she had done for him, but perhaps that was the problem. She didn't want him to do it out of gratitude. She wanted him to do it because he accepted her as his one and only, his fated mate.

She was already quite sure that a bond was forming between them and that they were meant to be together, but she had proven not to be the best judge of character, and she was going to take it slow and not jump to premature conclusions.

"Julian." She waved at the doctor, who was about to duck into Morelle's room. "Wait up."

"How can I help you?" he asked.

"Ell-rom wonders if you know whether his other sister plans to visit today. Well, I want to know that too because my friends want to see him."

"I don't know," Julian said. "But I can find out. I'll text Kian and ask. The Clan Mother is probably spending a lot of time with her daughter and new grandson. That's why she didn't come yesterday."

"The same thing occurred to me, but Ell-rom was disappointed that she didn't come. I know that she is a goddess and all that, but she could have sent a message to him that she couldn't come instead of just letting him wait and worry."

Julian smiled sheepishly. "You are right, but neither of us is going to point it out to the Clan Mother. She doesn't have to explain herself to anyone."

"Of course." Jasmine smiled. "I would never dare. By the way, Ell-rom is ready for the pool. Should we grab some towels and go?"

"There are plenty of towels by the pool, so you don't need to take any from here, and I don't want you going alone. Wait for me. I'll show you both what Ell-rom needs to do, and then I can leave you there to practice."

"I don't even know where the pool is. We will wait for you."

"It will only take me a few minutes to check on Morelle, and then to put on my bathing suit."

She nodded, imagining what the hunky doctor would look like in almost nothing at all. He was a gorgeous male specimen and a physician, which made him even sexier, and yet she hadn't felt attracted to him even before Ell-rom consumed every cell in her brain.

Perhaps the bond Julian had with Ella worked not just to ensure that he felt no desire for other females but for other females not to find him desirable either. It was a nifty trick to keep marriages intact. Hopefully, she would one day have it with Ell-rom.

When she opened the door to his room, she found him sitting on one of the chairs with the robe she'd gotten wrapped around him.

"It was a little cold to sit here in just the swimming pants." He regarded her with his intense blue eyes. "Do you also have a robe to cover your bathing suit?"

"I don't, but I will walk over there in my clothes and remove them when we are about to enter the pool. Julian is coming with us to show us what to do."

Ell-rom frowned. "I don't want other males to see you nearly naked."

Jasmine grinned. Finally, he was showing some jealousy. "There will be no males there other than Julian, and he's happily mated, which makes it impossible for him to be attracted to any females other than his mate."

"He can't? Why?"

Jasmine sat down in the other chair. "It's the result of the bond that forms between mated immortals. Once they find their truelove mates and form that connection, they become physically incapable of being attracted to anyone else. It's a wonderful way to ensure fidelity."

"Is that true for all immortals?"

Jasmine nodded. "As far as I know, yes, and it's also true for the gods. That's where they got it from. But from what I heard, finding a truelove mate is supposed to be very rare, so in days past, the gods and many immortals mated for political reasons and economic convenience, and those couples were not known for their fidelity. It's only true for truelove mates."

"How do the immortals and gods know if their partners are their trueloves?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I'm almost as ignorant about this world as you are, but if I had to guess, it's the inability to feel desire for anyone other than their fated mates."

"That makes sense."

He looked at her with a question in his expressive eyes, but she wasn't ready to answer it yet. She believed that they were fated for each other, but he needed to believe it too, and without being influenced by her.

The knock on the door saved her from having to evade an answer, and when the door opened and Julian walked in, she was relieved to see him wearing a medical coat over his bathing suit.

She wasn't attracted to him, but she had eyes, and she appreciated beauty in all its forms, including a perfect male form like Julian's. Ell-rom would not have reacted well to that.

"Everyone ready?" Julian asked.

"We are." Jasmine looked at Ell-rom.

Holding on to the walker, he pushed to his feet, which were clad in the flip-flops she'd gotten him for just this purpose.

Julian followed her gaze and shook his head. "Those won't do for someone who is still unsteady on his feet. You will need to take them off." He walked over to the bed and lifted a pair of sneakers. "These are better for now." He crouched at Ell-rom's feet and helped him put them on.