Garden of Serenity (6 page)

“This is where they told me to leave you, Dr. Khateri. It has been my honor to transport you this morning.” The pregnant woman smiled over her shoulder. Consulting a clipboard on the seat next to her, she read from the instructions. “You’re to meet Dr. Gabriella Bresilee, the medical director and head of the Garden. Her office is directly through there and on the left.” She pointed to the doors, the only visible opening in the building. How unusual for a building this large to have no windows, especially when they’d taken such care with the landscaping.

Striding up the cement walk from the street, Jahara felt the prickly itch of eyes on her. Nonchalantly, she searched for cameras, but saw none. Evidently, the Garden was putting her on edge and making her just a little paranoid.

She entered a reception area rich with mahogany paneling. Jahara stepped to the large desk dominating the space, manned by a woman whose midnight hair was cut asymmetrically.

“May I help you?” the receptionist asked. Her yellow tunic was splayed wide enough to expose a good portion of her cleavage and prominent belly.

“I’m Jahara Khateri. I’m here to meet with Dr. Bresilee.”

“Of course, forgive me. We’ve been expecting you.” The woman bumped her knee as she rushed to stand. She bowed before reaching her hands and wrapping them around the one Jahara extended. “It’s an honor to meet you, Dr. Khateri. I’ve heard only wonderful things about your healing gifts. We’ve all been awaiting your arrival. I would be honored if you delivered my offspring.” She rubbed a hand over her stomach, her lashes fluttering flirtatiously.

“Jacinta.” The harsh voice came from a lanky woman who seemed to have materialized from the wall behind the desk. “Dr. Khateri hasn’t even had a chance to get oriented to the Garden and you’re asking her to perform duties?” Walking up behind the receptionist, the woman possessively ran her hand up the woman’s rounded belly. She leaned into her neck and Jacinta melted in her arms.

“It’s weeks still before you deliver, love.” The woman kissed Jacinta’s neck. “Patience.” The young woman all but purred as the tall women ran her hand back down Jacinta’s stomach before stepping around the desk to stand in front of Jahara.

She looked like a bird with her tiny, gold eyes squinting. Over a foot taller, the woman inclined a head perched on a long, thin neck and looked down her nose before speaking. “Dr. Khateri. I’m so pleased you’ve agreed to work at our clinic while you’re here to breed.” She emphasized the last word as if it were a curse. “It truly is an honor. Your reputation is well-known throughout the territory. I am Gabriella Bresilee, Medical Director of the healing facility here at the Garden,” she said as she reached out a hand and caught Jahara’s in a grip as icy as the words she’d just spoken.

Caught off guard by the condescending reception and the intimate scene she’d just witnessed, Jahara had difficulty making her mouth work. “Please just call me Jahara. I’m glad to be here as well.”
That was a lie
. She really wanted to be out in the normal world where sex and love were not something one exhibited in public. Jahara shot a look at the young woman staring at them with eyes glazed over in lust or admiration—she couldn’t be sure.

The older woman didn’t acknowledge Jahara’s visible unease. “Then please call me Gabriella. Won’t you come into my office where we can talk a little more privately?” The warm expression became shadowed with disapproval as she turned back to the receptionist. “Jacinta, please have Camille bring some refreshments to my office. And hold all of my calls.”

Jacinta pulled her tunic around her middle, her eyes flitting to the computer screen. “Yes, Dr. Bresilee. I’ll have them send something from the dining commons right away.”

The wall split, exposing a door to an office that closed silently behind them. With it shut, there was no evidence the opening existed. No wonder Jahara thought the woman had materialized out of thin air.

“Please, make yourself comfortable.” Gabriella waved her long fingers at the couch in the corner of her office. The space was paneled with the same mahogany wood as the foyer, but the two walls of windows made the room exceedingly bright. Jahara hadn’t known architecture existed that made it possible for structures to have windows that couldn’t be seen from the outside. From her vantage point behind the desk, Dr. Bresilee had an unhindered view of everyone entering and exiting the building. It must have been Gabriella’s watchful stare she’d sensed. The thought sat cold and hard in her gut. Her paranoia was justified. Was there no end to the spying that went on here?

Gabriella settled her bony frame in one of the chairs across from Jahara. The yellow suit she wore covered every inch of her alabaster skin, save for her face, hands and feet. Tucking stray wisps of auburn hair back into the braided bun at the top of her head, Gabriella’s mouth curved in a predatory grimace. “Please forgive Jacinta. She’s young. They’re sending us children these days. She’s been with us for a mere nine months. The poor girl was impregnated at her first mating. She still has so much to learn.”

A bell rang. With a flick of Gabriella’s wrist, the wall opened. “Refreshments have arrived.”

Telekinesis and healing, how unusual to be granted two gifts. Jahara schooled her features, hoping her face communicated pleasure at being in this woman’s company, not the trepidation that continued to mount with each passing moment. Perhaps it was simply her uncomfortable feeling with the Garden’s philosophy in general rather than a specific problem with Gabriella. The woman was, after all, an esteemed colleague. Either way, Jahara would keep her thoughts to herself. Apparently, not all women appreciated her candor.

“Thank you, Camille. Wheel the tray over and let me see how you’re doing,” Gabriella said in a tone that left no question of her authority.

Bending her naked torso near Gabriella, Camille let the healer run her hands over her body. Starting at her face, Gabriella smoothed the skin on her plump cheeks then down her neck, boldly moving over her petite breasts before splaying her fingers over her belly. Jahara sat rigid as Gabriella rotated her hand under the waistband of the low-slung breeches, mortified for the young woman when the director cupped the girl’s pubic bone. All the while, the woman’s eyes remained locked on Camille’s.

Jahara couldn’t see the young girl’s face, but her tension arced away from her like lightning.

“I’m sorry, Camille. You’re not with child yet.” Gabriella slid her hands back up to the young woman’s breasts. “Your menstruation begins next week, yes?” Gabriella massaged the fleshy protrusions of Camille’s chest as if they held the answer to her question.

Camille nodded her head but moved no other part of her body.

“Leave the breeding apartments today and join me at my home,” she said, dropping her hands. “Of course, only if that would please you?” Gabriella’s teeth flashed at Camille like fangs on a wolf.

Pulling herself erect, Camille focused her eyes out the window. “I would be pleased to be taken in to learn from the most honorable Healer Bresilee.” She bowed. “Thank you for bestowing that privilege upon me. I will, as always, be available to you.” Backing out of the room, Camille continued to bow until the wall closed her from their view.

“Poor thing. She truly detests the mating process. But until such time as we’ve figured something else out, it is a necessary evil you all must endure to ensure our continued population growth.” She waved a graceful hand in the air. “I allow some of the younger women a two-week respite from the insatiable sexual appetites of the breeders by offering them refuge in my home. There’s no sense enduring the messiness of copulation if you know it isn’t going to produce offspring. Don’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.”

Gabriella poured them both a cup of tea.

Jahara accepted the cup extended to her, wondering how she would ever endure the cruelties the government had heaped upon her.

Chapter Five

Jahara slumped against the seat of the open-air vehicle transporting her back to her residence. Even the beauty of the flowers filling the spaces between the buildings couldn’t erase the images of her first day at the medical facility. Her day had begun so badly and though she hadn’t thought it possible after the incident at Gabriella’s office, it had actually tumbled quickly downhill from there.

Gabriella had abandoned her shortly into their tour of the facility to perform emergency surgery on a woman who was losing her fetus a mere ten weeks into her pregnancy. Jahara had been turned over to Mikalyn Sabella, an apprentice healer. The woman had nothing but praise for Gabriella Bresilee, who apparently, in this woman’s eyes, could do everything but walk on water.

Everywhere the apprentice healer had taken her had been filled with women who knew of Jahara. She wanted to believe it had more to do with her Dame being the administrator of the territory than her own healing talents. Whatever the cause, the accolades had been so overwhelming she’d ditched her tour guide and found a quiet spot in a secluded courtyard to simply meditate in peace. But even that respite had been short-lived.

Gabriella had found Jahara and taken her to the quick care clinic, another section of the hospital where no males were allowed. Jahara spent her day healing women with broken bones and repairing torn skin from accidents that had happened, for the most part, out in the agricultural section of the Garden. Not only were the tasks time-consuming, they required a great deal of her healing energy. Normally, no one was asked to work several hours in a clinic like that alone.

As her light had poured forth, so had the venerations until the whole clinic seemed to have filled with Garden employees who wanted nothing more than to watch Jahara work. She’d never experienced anything so draining in all her life.

Now, all Jahara wanted was to return to her temporary home, shower off the feeling of all those people, call Merenith and tumble into a deep slumber. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all that would be expected of her. There was still the issue of her breeding guide—and her first copulation.

None of the day’s chaos had eased the panic that came with that reality.

Jahara slogged up the walkway to her living abode. Her hand missed the pad several times before she connected and saw the light of the fingerprint scanner illuminate her palm. The tumblers clicked, the door slid open and the spicy scent of cooking food assaulted her nose.

Someone had been in her house—again.

She peered into the oven, wondering why the Garden even bothered with any type of security measures. No one had mentioned the cooking service, but then again, it seemed there were many secrets the Garden kept to itself. Jahara sighed. At least she didn’t have to fuss with preparing an evening meal before her unwanted guests arrived.

Pulling her tunic over her head, she headed blindly toward her bedroom and the warmth of a water shower. It was an unlimited commodity here at the Garden.

“I hope you don’t mind that we cooked the evening meal.”

Her scream bounced off the walls as she covered her nakedness with the clothing she’d just removed.

The petite woman standing in the archway to the great room looked alarmed. “My apologies, most honorable Jahara,” she said, her disproportionately large breasts nearly falling out of the deep V of her dress as she bowed. “I did not mean to startle you. I am Ishawny, your breeding guide. I was told you were expecting us.”

“I was … I mean, I am. I just didn’t think you’d be in my home when I arrived.” Anger, fear and resentment collided in a turmoil of emotions that had the words coming out harder than she intended. She forced her mouth to curve in a trembling semblance of a smile. “It’s just that I’ve had a long day, I’d like to freshen up before dinner.”

“If it would please you, we could join you in a bath?” Ishawny stepped forward, the caramel ringlets of her hair shimmering in the soft light.

Why did the woman keep referring to herself in the plural?

“No, thank you. I’m quite hungry.” Actually, she’d lost her appetite.

“As you wish.” Her smile couldn’t hide the woman’s disappointment. “We will serve you the evening supper then complete the ritual if that would please you.” Ishawny bowed again. “Before you freshen up, I’d like to introduce my breeding partner for this evening.” She stepped to the side. “My usual breeding partner has taken ill, but a most skilled breeder has agreed to take his place.”

Jahara felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. Brenimyn stepped around Ishawny looking more regal than the day before. His presence seemed to suck the very air from her lungs.

“I know you.” Her finger shook at the broad sweep of his bare chest. Even as her gaze swept the length of his athletic body, noting the deep ridges and grooves of his torso, the muscular build of his legs and the full bulge at his hips, Jahara couldn’t seem to get any coherent thoughts to coalesce. “You’re in my living quarters.”

“Indeed I am.” He bent at the waist and winked at her. Neither Ishawny nor the camera mounted in the corner of the kitchen caught his insolent behavior. “They call me Brenimyn. I am pleased to meet you, Jahara, most cherished of humans, gifted woman and bearer of offspring. I am here to serve you.”

“But they said—”

“That we would be late due to paperwork.” Brenimyn straightened and laid his hand on Ishawny’s shoulder. “But we are here now.”

“I need to bathe before dinner.”

“Perhaps I could help you while Ishawny readies the meal?” his hand slid down the woman’s arm in a tender gesture that intimated a relationship Jahara didn’t want to contemplate. “She is a wonderful cook.”

“Thanks, Bren.” Ishawny’s cheek flushed. “But I’m not sure Jahara wishes to be alone with—”

“Actually, that would be fine,” Jahara said, forcing another smile. “I don’t mind if Brenimyn and I …” Her words were stilted and she forced herself not to glance at the camera. This was about stalling the man in the bathroom long enough to make them
believe
she’d copulated even as she talked her way out of this situation. “Anyway, you go first, Brenimyn.”

“That would be fine.” The tall man sent her an impudent grin.