Chapter 8

8

Since she was already soaking wet, Jenna decided she might as well take a quick shower. She hadn't gotten all the sand off her feet before putting her shoes back on as they hurried to leave the beach, and her lower legs itched from the salt water. She wasn't cleaning up so she could look her best for the males downstairs. Not at all. This was entirely a practical decision.

"And when you wake up tomorrow, you'll have wings and a tail," she muttered to herself. Actually, wings would be nice. Then she'd at least be able to fly with her mates and not be a burden they had to carry around from place to place.

She hated the idea of being a problem someone had to deal with. She'd grown up hearing that, as if it was somehow her fault that her parents were dead. That's why she'd taken that first job offer, though at the time it had been couched as something else. Juveniles weren't supposed to work until they turned seventeen. It was one of the few laws the corporations obeyed for the most part.

That first assignment had been an "opportunity." The Andersons had recently been transferred to the city and had discovered that very few children were a match in age among the other executives living there. That's when they'd approached the care center and made an offer. They wanted a companion for their daughter and agreed to take over the feeding, care, and education of that companion for a set period.

At the time, she'd been thrilled to be selected. She was too young to understand that she wasn't a new addition to the family, and so was Rani, their daughter. They declared themselves sisters and did everything together, despite the fact Jenna was two years her senior.

Three years later, the Andersons announced they'd been transferred to a new station. The family packed up their belongings. Jenna had helped Rani pack, and then the girl she thought of as family had helped her do the same. As far as they knew, Jenna was coming with them. She was part of the family, after all.

Only it turned out she wasn't.

Rani had burst through the door into her room, interrupting Jenna's evening meal. The first words out of her mouth sent Jenna's world crashing down around her.

"You're not coming with us."

They only had a few minutes to say goodbye to each other before someone from the care center arrived to collect her. They'd spent those bitter moments crying, hugging, and making countless promises they'd never be able to keep. To visit. To write. To send vid messages every day.

She never got to talk to the Anderson adults. She had no chance to ask them why they weren't taking her. Hadn't she been good enough? Smart enough? Had she eaten too much food or not helped Rani enough with her schoolwork?

"Enough." Jenna slapped at the water controls with enough force to sting her hand. She wasn't that girl anymore, and this wasn't Earth. What point was there in delving into memories of her time there? Especially those memories.

The answer was obvious. She was afraid the past was about to repeat itself. Torren and Zanyr were gorgeous, well-respected pillars of this community. She was a newcomer with no standing and a job she hadn't even started yet. No wonder Tani had looked at her that way. She was an interloper, waltzing in to take things she had no right to.

"Stop it." She gave herself a mental shake and followed it up with a light slap to the back of her hand. She had to think of something else—something bright and happy so the voices of doubt would shut up and leave her alone. If she didn't, they'd drag her down into a dark place and leave her there to twist herself into knots.

She activated the drying cycle and let the hot air work its magic. It was another luxury she'd never expected to enjoy, something meant for the special few who deserved the best of everything.

Why them? She'd asked that question so often, but she'd never finished the thought. Today, she did. Why them but not me?

No answer came to her, not even the negative voices responding. She spoke aloud this time, the words weighted as they rolled off her tongue. "Why not me?" Then she answered her own question, throwing out all the harsh things she'd told herself over the years. "Because I'm not good enough. I'm not pretty enough. I'm not anything special."

Jenna sucked in a deep breath. "But I don't believe that. I won't." Another breath. "I can't. I deserve to be happy, dammit."

Even as she made her breakthrough statement, she hoped to the stars above that neither male could hear her right now. One day, maybe, she'd tell them about her self-doubts. Right after she figured out how to tell them she was a spy.

Veth ! The moment of truth and introspection ended so quickly she felt a little unsteady, but she hurried out of the bathroom before the dry cycle had finished. She needed to send a message to her Vardarian contact.

"Because I didn't have enough to deal with already today," she muttered.

It took several attempts to craft a message she was happy with. In the end, she stuck to the basics and deleted everything else.

Have met two Vardarian males, Torren Vex and Zanyr Sallesh. Am experiencing sharhal symptoms. Please advise.

She sent it to Shadow via a heavily encoded device she'd been given. She kept it hidden in her bedroom closet, tucked into the pocket of an old sweater she'd brought with her from Earth.

She wouldn't contact the other group until she heard back from Shadow. She had another encoded comm for them . She'd returned to her habi-pod one day after classes and found a parcel by her door. Inside was the comm and instructions on how and when to use it as well as where to hide it the rest of the time. She thought it must have been the other spy in their class—Reni. But that left the question of where she had gotten the comm from.

Jenna had wanted to ask about that, but it wasn't her job to ask questions. All she had to do was go about her life, report any contact from the enemy, and forward whatever false information Shadow provided her.

Almost all her contact was via the encrypted comm. In-person meetings were rare and potentially risky, but in this case, she figured it would be necessary. They needed to brainstorm the best way to handle this unexpected twist in a way that benefited the colony and kept up the appearance of compliance with the enemy's directives.

She thought of them as the enemy because she didn't have any other name. The ones who recruited her had claimed to be a group of "concerned individuals." The Vardarians suspected they were part of something called the Shadow Men.

Once the message was sent and her comm hidden in the back of the closet once more, Jenna hurried to get dressed. She'd left her guests too long already.

Apparently, she'd left them on their own long enough for them to get hungry. That much was obvious the moment she opened her bedroom door and was assailed by the scent of cooking, but she wasn't sure just what she smelled. It was like several meals all jumbled together.

One look at her kitchen, and she understood why she hadn't recognized the scent. Judging by the dirty dishes, her mates had enjoyed a number of meals. She burst out laughing at the sight, not of the dishes, but of the almost identical expressions of guilt on both Zanyr's and Torren's faces.

"We wanted to make you something to eat," Torren explained.

"But Torren's first pick was the blandest thing I've ever tasted. So we had to try again."

"And that was good, but it didn't seem like the right meal for you."

"So we tried again."

She stood, bemused, as the two males finished each other's sentences. It made her wonder if their ability to work together seamlessly carried over to other skills. That, in turn, sent her brain down a wormhole of increasingly vivid, arousing images that almost derailed her thought process entirely. Whoa. She reined in her libido and managed to rejoin the conversation without it being too obvious what had happened. At least, she hoped so.

"I see. Which one did you decide on?"

"The soup," both of them answered at the same time.

"Oh! Good choice. Chicken and dumpling soup is my one of my favorites." She looked over the dishes and frowned. "Wait, these are all my favorites. How many did you try?"

"Three, Zanyr said, stepping to one side to block her view of a plate with several brownies on it.

"Four," Torren said.

"Well, four total. Three entrees and one dessert," Zanyr admitted. Then he brightened as he grabbed for the plate of brownies and offered it to her. "But we saved you some."

"Soup and brownies sound perfect. Thank you."

"You sit down. We'll bring it to you," Torren said.

"Right. Bringing it to you now." Zanyr set down the brownies in the middle of the table while she got seated. Torren delivered the soup, and then they made more tamales for themselves and brought them over to join her.

She was hungrier than she'd expected. It hadn't been that long since the meal at the tavern, but she polished off the soup and moved on to the brownies faster than normal. "I don't know why I'm so hungry. Maybe all the fresh air?"

Torren and Zanyr shared a knowing look. "It's probably the same reason we started eating your food without so much as asking permission," Torren said. "Sorry about that."

"The sharhal can affect a variety of things. I mean, other than the obvious." Zanyr grinned at her. "It can mess with your concentration, your need for sleep, and in some cases, accelerate the body's metabolism. I'd say we're experiencing at least some of those already."

"And it will only get worse?" Jenna winced. "Strike that. Bad wording. Not worse, stronger. We're going to be a mess in a day or so. Right?"

"That depends," Torren said.

"On what?" she asked.

The energy in the room changed, intensifying. Every second stretched out longer than it should have as a thrill of anticipation and hope raced through her.

"How long you want us to wait before we claim you," Zanyr said.

She turned her head to look at him and found herself captured in the brilliant amber fire of his eyes. For a moment, she thought she might go up in flames from the heat burning in his gaze, but she managed to focus on what he said.

They were leaving the choice up to her. These two proud males would fight the mating fever to give her time. It was gratifying. Flattering. Intoxicating to have that power over them both.

"I know what happens if we wait too long. I'll suffer, but not as badly as the two of you." She shook her head hard. "I don't want that. For you to suffer, I mean."

Jenna pushed back her chair and rose from the table. Her heart pounded against her ribs and her legs weren't entirely steady, but she managed to hold out a hand to each of them. "Today has been a day full of firsts. I think it's time for another."

"First?" Torren took her hand, but his tone was confused.

Zanyr chuckled and caught her hand in his large, callused one. " Mahaya , are you saying you've never been with two males before?"

She nodded, her mouth too dry for her to form words.

"Blessed winds," Torren breathed. "Truly?"

She nodded again.

"Then it's time to take you upstairs and show you what it means to have two mates. I promise you will enjoy every second," Torren said.

"Witnessed," Zanyr said.

Every word, every action, almost sizzled with desire. Jenna quivered, her body reacting no longer entirely under her control. Lust burned in her veins. Her skin was on fire, and every part of her ached for her males.

"Witnessed," she whispered.

"Good." Torren raised her hand to his mouth, his lips tracing paths of pleasure across her flesh. "Now, blossom. Show us the way to your bedroom."