27. Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-seven

B ella hugged Jenna against her chest and pregnant belly, crying over having almost lost her sister. "Don't cry, I'm here."

Jenna telling her not to cry didn't work since tears were flowing from her too. Cleo pushed tissues into their hands. "Stop crying or I'm going to join you and I'm an ugly crier."

Jenna dabbed at her eyes, watching Cleo. "I've yet to see you do anything ugly. I might pay money to see you cry."

"You're a mess," Cleo said, cementing their friendship. Jenna laughed while Bella rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Are you hungry?" Bella asked.

"Starving!" Jenna emphasized the word like it came from her soul.

"I heard you channeled fire. I'm not surprised you're hungry. Thad has been stress cooking. I think he views you as one of his." Bella winked at her.

"Of course I do," Thad said. He was standing in the doorway with a hand on his hip. "Mine," he pointed to Cleo. "Mine," he pointed to Bella and Jenna. "I'll consider the others later. Come, eat."

"We'll be there soon. I need a shower and a change of clothes." There was no way she was going to sit at her sister's table with the ashes of dead people on her. She took SaKura's hand, leading him through the living room to the bathroom they used not that long ago.

"It seems like only yesterday that we were in here."

"That's because it was yesterday." SaKura's whispered voice was in her ear. The warmth of his breath made her shudder. Jenna was better, but she was still suffering from being cold, hungry, and tired.

"I might have made channeling fire look easy, but it wasn't." The deliberate lilt she put in her voice for Bella's sake was gone. As far as she was concerned, she sounded old and tired.

"I can feel your tiredness and I know what it cost you to kill."

"I never would do that, that's what I told myself. Now, I don't know what to think of myself. Jeffrey should have gone to jail and been judged like the human he was and, well, Marilyn should have been judged on your planet. I'm no judge, juror, or executioner."

"Do you think your judicial system could have dealt with him?" She thought about how Jeffrey could change. What might have happened to anyone in a jail cell with him? The guards, as well as civilians, would have been at risk. No, she could barely deal with him. No one else should have been called to deal with her problem.

SaKura moved away from her, turning on the shower before stripping off his loincloth. There was a knock at the door. Jenna peeked out to find clothes left for them. Her sister was the best.

She quickly undressed and beat SaKura into the shower. "Last one in…" She laughed, feeling light-hearted. It was amazing how, knowing Jeffrey could no longer hurt her, lightened the load that she was carrying. Sure, there were other problems to deal with, but tomorrow would take care of itself.

"Come here, firefly." Jenna grimaced, hoping that nickname didn't stick. Maybe she should tell him he was forbidden to speak English. Firefly, indeed.

Sakura grabbed the shampoo, lathering it up in his hands before he washed her hair, gently stroking her scalp. He rinsed her hair and then suds it up again. Moving from her shampoo-ladened hair, he washed her body until her brown skin shone from her inner light. He went back to her hair, doing a final rinse, and then lathered it with conditioner. She smiled. He'd been paying attention as she did her hair.

He kissed her while the conditioner sat. Jenna went into his arms. This was where she wanted to be. Not in her sister's bathroom. She snorted at her foolishness. Wherever SaKura was, she would be at his side.

"I'm human. What happened today shouldn't have happened. When it gets out, others will think I'm an alien in hiding."

"Your race can be…" He stopped looking for the right words, deciding to leave the statement hanging.

"Yes, we can be all that and more." Her hands went to his chest, fingers playing with his muscles as she told him she loved him.

"I love you too."

"I wasn't ready to speak the words," Jenna said.

"Your body tells me. It's told me for a while, but I needed to hear you say the words."

"I love you with every breath in my body. We need a bench in our shower."

"Hm, I like that idea." He pressed her against the shower wall, kissing her until she moaned, and her body went slack before tensing up as his mouth went to her breasts. She loved the feeling of his mouth and tongue sucking and then lashing at her nipple.

"One day," she groaned, "we're going to take our time and do it in a bed." A chuckle came from him.

"In the distant future."

She groaned again. The woman who hated and feared sex loved it with her mate. The distant future sounded right to her. She drew her hands over his chest, stopping to play with the tiny indents he sported that acted like nipples. She flicked them with her tongue, watching them rise until she could suck on them. The feeling of him underneath her was enough to make her want to come. She squeezed her thighs closed around his waist and continued to explore his body like this was the first time she touched him. Every time with him was going to be like the first time. Soon, she hoped the desperation would wear off. That feeling that if she wasn't quick enough, she'd lose him, and what they had together.

SaKura sat and placed her pussy over the head of his cock before dropping her, his hands guiding her along. A muted yell came from her, followed by whimpers of need. She needed this closeness.

Jenna rode him, her eyes closed, and her head tilted back. There was nothing like becoming one with her mate. Their future rose in front of them, bright and shiny. Jenna mumbled a quick thank you to all the gods that protected her until it was time for her to meet SaKura. She gave her mom an invisible wave and then she flew. The orgasm came out of left field, but it was the best one yet. She marveled at how wonderful making love to her mate felt before she spiraled somewhere in the heavens. When she looked, SaKura was by her side. This was how life should be.

Jenna stumbled when the scent of the food Thad was cooking reached her nose. If she thought she was starving before, she was whatever more than starving was. "That smells delicious, and I don't care what it is as long as it's in my mouth." She sat on the stool at the island next to her sister.

"You didn't use to be this easy," Thad tossed out, opening the oven. She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

There was a knock on the door, making all their heads turn as one. "Come in," Bella called out to Amelia.

Amelia came in with a rolling suitcase behind her. "I came to apologize. Jenna, I'm happy you lived through your turmoil and I'm sorry I was part of it."

Jenna stared at her, wanting to call Amelia out, but she was alive and SaKura was by her side. She felt sorry for her cousin. Something happened to her in the years they were apart.

"The sperm donor," Jenna said. There was no need for words. She could see what she had missed earlier.

Amelia shivered, but nodded her head.

"Where are you going?" Bella asked. "We still have an unused house next door and it's time for food."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I need time and space to get my head together." She swallowed hard before words vomited over them. "I said some things I didn't mean. Sorry."

She turned and walked away, not knowing where she was going.

"The sperm donor?" Bella asked.

"Later," Jenna said. Bella nodded. The sperm donor messed with more than one life, and it made Jenna and Bella sick.

Bella wished she could resurrect him to kill him again.

"I was thinking…" Jenna's words died off when Thad placed a plate of food in front of her. She quickly said grace from her childhood and began shoveling the food into her mouth. When her belly felt full, she slowed down to savor those last few bites.

"Excellent," she told Thad.

"Not that you would know with how fast you were eating." He placed a slice of cake in front of her. "Savor the food. There's more where it came from."

"Yes, sir." She took her time eating dessert.

"What were you thinking?" Bella asked.

What? Her nose scrunched. Aw, her aborted comment. "That we should buy the land the house sits on and claim the land for Diza."

"I beat you to it." Rakha went to the bureau in the living room with the multitude of small drawers and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He walked to his brother, who was sitting next to Jenna.

"A deed to the land. The king never lives on another's land. Papan taught me well."

The feeling of joy radiating from SaKura made her heart happy.

"We have land." He waved the deed at her.

"Let's put up our domicile." The smile he gave her made her feel floaty with love.

"I love you."

"Not as much as I love you."

She decided they could argue about that tomorrow and kissed him instead.