King of Slaves (Jenna's Story) (The Slave Series Book 5) (35 page)

Zurry sighed. Kalen was in good hands and he was glad Kioni had insisted they bring Tomas, Kalen’s valet. The older man had been with Kalen since he was a child and had a calming effect on him. There was nothing more Zurry could do for Kalen tonight. 

“It’s okay, I can stay and sleep on your couch,” he told Cindy, who broke into a relieved smile.

“Thank you so much… I promise to buy you breakfast tomorrow.”

Before Zurry could answer his phone vibrated again.

Jenna:
Wanna meet up and talk?

Zurry wrote her a quick reply:
I’m still with Cindy. I’ll stay here for the night.

Jenna:
Why?

Zurry frowned. Wasn’t it obvious? Jenna had seen Cindy get hit by her boyfriend. How could she question
why
he would stay and protect a vulnerable woman and keep her safe? What choice did he have?

Zurry:
Because she asked me to stay with her for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow.

CHAPTER 31

Dinner at Dad’s

Jenna

There is nothing worse than sitting on information that could potentially break someone’s heart. Especially when that someone is your sister.

Jenna was in a dilemma.
Do I tell Alex that Zurry slept with Cindy last night or do I lie and say he came back to the hotel? No, I refuse to lie to my sister, and it’s not like he’s her husband or anything. Besides, she was on a date herself last night, so maybe I’m just making a big deal out of nothing. Alex probably won’t even care that Zurry slept with another woman.

Jenna rubbed her face with both hands, groaning.

There was no way Alex wouldn’t get upset… she was still head over heels in love with Zurry. Yesterday had been a disaster, with Zurry scowling at Alex more often than not, and Alex glancing his way with a pained expression when she thought no one was looking.

It was excruciating to watch their dance of resistance when they were both clearly drawn to each other.

Jenna had spoken to Kio about it this morning, but he had brushed it off, which was damn easy for him to do, as he was back in Spirima and wouldn’t have to sit through another awkward silence between Alex and Zurry at dinner tonight.

When Jenna arrived at her father’s pristine house with Zurry and Kalen, she was happy to see that Alex was already there. What she didn’t like, however, was how Alex was dressed.

While her father welcomed Kalen and Zurry, and arranged drinks for them, Jenna pulled Alex into her old bedroom.

“What’s this?” she said and waved her hand up and down in front of Alex.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“Why are you dressed like a freaking Stepford wife?” Alex’s sleeveless navy-blue dress, white pearl necklace, and silky white pumps made her look like someone from the fifties. And the way Alex had arranged her red hair in a bun on top of her head, and put on pink lipstick, only amplified the style.

“I like it,” Alex said defensively, “it’s called retro chic.”

“You look beautiful, but you don’t look like
you
. Who are you trying to impress with this-old fashioned look?” The minute Jenna said it, she knew the answer. “Oh… you think that because Zurry is a traditionalist, he’ll be into that look?”

“Nooo,” Alex said but it didn’t sound convincing.

“How did it go with Darren yesterday?”

“Fine… but you should have told me Zurry was coming.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that like a thousand times yesterday, and I already told you I’m sorry about it. I just didn’t want to say anything to stop you from going on your date, since you explicitly told me you wanted to move on.”

Alex gave a long pained sigh.

“Did anything happen? Darren seemed nice; did he kiss you?” Jenna smiled, signaling that she would be happy for her sister if the date had ended well with Darren.

“Na-huh… I told him I was tired and a bit shaken from what happened at the bar.”

“Girls.” A loud voice shouted from the living room: their dad’s signature way of calling for them when they were younger. “Giiirls,” he shouted again.

Jenna rolled her eyes. “I hate it when Dad does that. Let’s just go and get some food.”

Both women returned to the three men, who were waiting for them with champagne glasses.

“Jenna, can’t you tell Zurry to let Kalen have a glass of champagne? The man won’t listen to me.”

“Dad, Zurry’s right… Kalen really doesn’t have any tolerance for alcohol. Kioni specifically said it before we left.”

“But a single glass never hurt anyone,” Andy claimed and handed a flute to Kalen.

Zurry snapped it out of Kalen’s hands and shot Andy a displeased glance.

“I’ll get him a soda instead,” Jenna offered and disappeared into the kitchen where Mindy, her father’s housekeeper, was preparing a nice meal that smelled delicious.

When she returned to the living room, she found that Alex had moved closer to Zurry and so she deliberately chose to squeeze in between them. She would protect her sister as much as she could.

“So, Zurry, did you get the woman back home safely last night?” Andy asked Zurry.

“Yes.”

“That’s good. That guy was a real dickhead.”

“Dad!” Alex shot her father a reproachful glance. “Language.”

He laughed. “My apologies, but I’m sure someone like Zurry can handle a few profanities.”

Zurry laughed too. “He was a real dickhead for sure… but luckily he didn’t come back to her apartment last night.”

“How do you know?” Alex’s grip on her champagne flute tightened.

Zurry was just about to answer when Jenna broke in. “I think the food is ready – why don’t we go to the dining room and see what Mindy has prepared for us?”

“Good idea.” Andy agreed. “I asked for coq au vin and crème brûlée, but you never know with Mindy… she’s a willful woman with her own ideas.”

“But if she’s the servant, isn’t she supposed to do as you ask her to?” Zurry asked as they made their way to the large cedar dining table with chocolate-brown leather chairs.

“Ha, you’re right! In theory she should, but she likes to cook new dishes all the time and I have to say they are very tasty, so I don’t mind too much.”

“Mindy is a great cook,” Jenna pointed out and smiled at the woman in               question, who chose that moment to enter, carrying bread and appetizers.

“What is this?” Andy asked when she served them all a simple but beautifully arranged salad.

“That is a spicy carrot salad,” Mindy said and left the room with a short “Enjoy.”

Andy wrinkled his nose a bit and shoved the lettuce around on his plate. “Mindy is trying to get me to eat more greens, and we had a bit of an argument last week when she tried to convince me to try out a plant-based diet. I’m afraid you’ll have to suffer with me tonight.”

Alex put down her fork. “Dad, the salad is really delicious, and Mindy is right; you need to eat healthy if you want to stay around to meet your grandchildren.”

Four heads turned to stare at Alex, whose face flamed crimson with the sudden attention.

“Don’t look at me… Jenna is the one getting married next month. I’m talking about
her
kids.”

Andy lifted his wine glass. “For a minute there, I thought you had an announcement to make.”

“No.”

“All right, but it’s good to have you all here and once again, Kalen, you just let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll be happy to introduce you to the right people and get your career going.”

Zurry translated and Andy carried on. “And when you get immensely famous, you’ll see that touching women is no problem at all.”

“Dad!” Jenna gave him the stink-eye. “That was an offensive comment.”

“Why?” he asked confused. “Honestly, honey, you are too sensitive sometimes. I’m just saying that the incident from yesterday probably wouldn’t have happened if Kalen had been a famous star… then everyone would have known that touching is just what he does, and that he doesn’t mean any disrespect.”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Jenna objected.

“Well at least, Zurry here got a chance to save a damsel in distress. I bet she was very grateful to you, wasn’t she?”

Zurry nodded. “Yes, Cindy took me out for a nice breakfast, to thank me.”

The sound of Alex’s fork hitting her plate was loud and made Jenna close her eyes and hold her breath. 

“She took you out for breakfast?” The words came slow and forced from Alex.

“Yes,” Zurry said and nodded. “Cindy was happy that I stayed with her last night and wanted to thank me.”

Alex took a large swig of her wine and swallowed hard. 

“So, Dad, I was thinking about the wedding… when exactly are you flying over?” Jenna asked to change the subject, and swore internally that she would tell Zurry what an ass he was, as soon as she got the chance.

The rest of the meal continued with pleasantries and much talk about the upcoming wedding, but Alex was quiet and               withdrawn and only answered in the minimum numbers of word required. 

“Alex,” her father asked. “You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden – are you tired? Was it a late night yesterday with that young man you brought to the concert? What was his name again, Daryl?”

“Darren,” Alex corrected him. “Yes, I’m sorry… it did get rather late last night. Darren and I had a good time.”

What?
Jenna narrowed her eyes, trying to decide what her sister was up to.
She said nothing happened… is she trying to get back at Zurry for staying at Cindy’s?”

“He seemed nice enough… what does he do?” Andy asked.

“He’s a dentist.”

“That’s great.” Her father broke into a small laugh. “Well, I suppose we can’t all be princes, ministers, and senators,” he said in reference to Kalen, Zurry, and himself.

“Darren does volunteer work for veterans and children,” Alex said, as if she had something to prove.

Andy nodded interested. “That’s wonderful.”

“Did you sleep with him?”

Alex gaped at Zurry, who had asked the question, while Jenna raised her voice in shock.

“Zurry, that’s just rude. You don’t ask something like that. It’s one thing to be blunt but don’t be gauche.”

Alex finally opened her mouth to answer.

“You don’t have to answer,” Jenna assured her and placed her hand on top of her sister’s in support.

Zurry pushed his chair back and got up. If he had been a dragon, fire would surely have been coming out of his flaring nostrils, but he kept calm enough to excuse himself and leave the room.

To Jenna’s surprise, Alex pushed her jaw out and crossed her arms, giving Jenna her was-that-really-necessary glance.

“What?” Jenna asked with an exasperated sigh.

Kalen, on the other hand, exhibited his complete lack of social skills and broke into a happy squeal at the sight of Mindy carrying in a large roast on a platter.

“I’m going to do as Kalen does,” Andy said with a wry smile. “I’m going to ignore the tension and focus on the meat.”

Alex was about to get up from her chair when Jenna stopped her.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“I’m just going to talk to him.”

“He’s leaving tomorrow, Alex, and you heard him. He just told you straight to your face that he spent the night with another woman… don’t you think it’s wiser to walk away?”

Alex took a deep breath and folded her hands in her lap.

“You think I should leave him alone.”

Jenna nodded. “Yes, Alex, I think you should.”

Alex took a minute before she spoke in a low mutter. “In that case it might be easier if I just leave now… before he returns.”

“Don’t be silly… stay for the food,” Andy said but both his daughters ignored him.

“Will you tell him something came up?” Alex’s eyes were tearing up.

Jenna felt her throat thicken and nodded. “I’ll see you in three weeks, gorgeous, and if you want to bring Darren, just let me know.”

Alex got up and hugged them all goodbye and left the house with a last request for Jenna to call in a few days.

When Zurry came back five minutes later, Jenna told him that Alex had received an emergency call from a good friend, who needed her help. “She told us to tell you goodbye and wish you a safe flight back,” Jenna said with a straight face.

“You are a poor liar, Jenna,” was Zurry’s only reply.

CHAPTER 32

The Happy Couple

Kioni

Time is a funny thing!

For Kioni, the five years his country had been at war had felt like fifty. And the ten days Jenna had been gone, when she went back to Chicago to pack her things, had felt endless too.

But the three weeks that followed Jenna’s return passed by with the blink of an eye. When she was with him, everything was right. He was a happier, funnier, and kinder man.

Their daily discussions about culture, politics, art, history, architecture – or just small insignificant everyday things – challenged him and kept his mind spinning. Just as their passionate lovemaking filled him with a deep happiness and satisfaction.

For the first time in his life, Kioni was truly at peace, and he knew perfectly well that he had Jenna to thank for it. That peace, however, didn’t last long, because the minute her sister Alex arrived, Jenna changed into a protective lioness.

“I can’t believe you’re asking me to interfere. They are adults, Jenna… let them figure it out for themselves,” Kioni complained.

Jenna sat up, covered herself with a blanket, and changed what had been cozy pillow talk, just a minute ago, into yet another discussion about Alex and Zurry.

“She doesn’t deserve to have her heart ripped out again, and I already told him to stay away from her, but he
won’t
listen to me.”

Kioni leaned his head back against the headboard, feeling more than annoyed with the conversation. “Of course he won’t listen to you… this is Zurry, for Masi’s sake. He doesn’t take orders from anyone.”

“But you!” Jenna pointed with a finger at Kioni’s naked chest. “He takes orders from you. And why do you get to mention Masi when you banned the religion?”

Shit, she heard that
. “I slipped, it’s just an old expression… and in regards to Zurry: he only takes orders from me in relation to state affairs. I can’t tell him to stay away from Alex. Not even
I
have that sort of influence over him.”

“Why not?”

“Because Zurry is a warrior, he will fight for what he wants, and if he wants Alex, then I’m not going to stop him.”

“Yes, you will… Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘Happy wife – happy life?”

“No.”

She was just about to say something more when Kioni leaned in and kissed her. Jenna’s shoulders lowered and she relaxed, allowing him to continue planting little kisses down her neck. “I have other ways of keeping my woman happy,” he murmured against her warm skin, and cupped her bare breasts.

She reciprocated by letting her hands slide over his chest and arms.

“You’re trying to distract me,” she accused him when he gently pushed her back down on the mattress.

“Uh-huh.” He used his body to immobilize her and whispered in her ear. “You are going to let it go. If anyone had tried to stop me from getting to you, I would have killed them.”

“But…”

Again, Kioni swallowed her words with a deep kiss and used his thighs to push her legs open. They had already made love once, but he was more than happy to take her again. “Tell me that you’ll stay out of their business,” he told her in his most dominant tone of voice.”

She smiled and slid her fingers through his hair, grabbing onto it and tugging harder than usual. “Tell your friend to leave my sister alone.”

“Never.” He growled low and bit her shoulder without breaking the skin.

She tugged harder at his hair. “I won’t be intimidated by your big bad wolf attitude.”

He grinned. It was one of the things he loved most about Jenna… it was impossible to intimidate her… not even two days in a small cell, or being attacked by a crazy person, had made her crack. She was the strongest woman he’d ever met.

“Stubborn woman,” he muttered and kissed her shoulder where he had bit her.

“Stubborn man,” she retorted and caressed his face.

It was all the invitation he needed to push into her and enjoy her reaction when her eyes widened and her mouth formed a breathy “Ohh.”

“So you think I’m a big bad wolf?”

She sucked on his lip and released it with a loud popping sound. “Uh-huh.”

“You know that wolves mate for life, right?”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Do you want me to show you how an alpha breeds his female?”

She laughed. “What is this? A biology lesson?”

“Of the best kind.” He winked.

Placing her arms around his neck, she pulled him in for a long passionate kiss, and all the talk was reduced to moans and groans as they made love. Again.

Kioni would never get enough of the way Jenna’s blond hair, which was now down to her shoulders, tickled his nose, and how her pale soft skin looked so creamy and delicious. When they made love they were able to put aside their differences and focus only on mutual pleasure.

“I would make love to you all day long, if I didn’t have a country to rule.”

Jenna used her body to respond and pushed against his slow deep thrusts.

“Jenna,” Kioni whispered hoarsely and bit her earlobe gently.

“Yes?” she moaned back.

“I want to come inside you.”

The previous week she had accepted sex without condoms, but only if he pulled out.

Her eyes flew open. “Kio… I don’t know.”

Kioni stopped moving for a second and met her glance with intense love. “Jenna, please, let me come inside you.”

“But not before the wedding.”

“The wedding is next week… I want this so bad.”

Her mind was racing… he could see it in her eyes.

In a soft tone, he told her; “Jenna, you know I want a child with you.”

The ghost of sadness that crossed her face made him think of the phone conversation he had overhead, about her fear of dying young like her mother, or being unable to give him an heir. He couldn’t tell Jenna that he knew of her fears, but hopefully he could remove one of them by making her pregnant and showing her that she didn’t have to worry.

Her nod was slight but he saw it and broke into a smile. “Yes?”

“Yes,” she said and set off an avalanche of emotions in him. This was it. The first time they would deliberately try to conceive a child.

“We’ll make a love child.” He kissed her softly and lovingly.

She kissed him back.

“The future king of Spirima,” he said.

“Or queen,” Jenna added.

He wasn’t about to start debating with her about how only males could rule Spirima; that discussion would have to wait. Right now he wanted only one thing, and that was to impregnate the woman he loved.

The mere idea of her belly growing with his child inside her made his heart race and his balls ready to fire.

He was so eager he couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself. “I’m going to come inside you and fill you with my cum,” he whispered and suckled on her perky nipples, imagining how her breasts would become heavier with milk for their child. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so excited in his life. “I’m going to get you pregnant. Do you understand?”

“I think so.”

That was good enough for him. Jenna had a tendency to overthink things, and he wasn’t stupid enough to ask about her concerns.

He kept his pace steady and pumped into her in deep thrusts. Their breathing picked up and with the thrill of what they were about to do, it didn’t take them long to reach a climax.

It was the closest thing to an out-of-body experience Kioni had ever had. His body transmitted sensations, sounds, and emotions to his brain, which individually would have been enough to make any man come. Only with pure will was he able to prolong this magical moment and enjoy the pressure from Jenna’s arms wrapped tightly around him, and the erotic soundtrack of her noises of sexual ecstasy when she moaned into his right ear.

But when at the same time his sweet goddess gave in to her orgasm and screamed out his name, while milking his cock with orgasmic cramps of her vaginal muscles, there was nothing he could do to hold back. Everything inside of him exploded in a mind-blowing orgasm, making him shoot several large spurts of hot semen up into her uterus, knowing that at this moment he could be impregnating his woman. He wanted so badly for it to happen.

He had waited for this moment for years. Longed for it. And now all he could do was wait some more, and pray that a part of him would merge with a part of Jenna, and make them parents.

He stayed inside her to give his semen time to work and when she tried to push him off, he was reluctant. Instead he moved back and lifted her legs up. “Lift your sweet behind in the air.”

She batted his hands away. “Stop it, Kio… I’m not going to lie here flashing my booty like that.”

He gave her no choice when he stood up on the bed in all his naked glory, and with a tight grip on both her ankles lifted her enough that she was only resting on her shoulders.

She wiggled and laughed. “Do you seriously think this is going to help anything?”

“It can’t hurt to let gravity help.” He grinned.

“You are impossible, Kio.”

“I know,” he replied, and spanked her delicious ass while he had the chance.

Jenna

Some days, Jenna felt like a split personality. There was the old Jenna, who was a workaholic with a limited social life and a firm belief that men were connected to pain. And then there was the new Jenna, who loved and laughed and gave the middle finger to all negative voices in her head. 

The
old
Jenna based her decisions on rational considerations. The
new
Jenna was driven by emotion rather than logic, and it seemed that the only thing the two parts of her could fully agree on was that she couldn’t live without Kioni.

But, just because she had made a decision to stay with him, marry him, and share her life with him, didn’t mean that the old Jenna didn’t have things to warn her about – daily.

For the most part, Jenna was good at ignoring the critical voices in her head, but there was one part of the message that scared her more than the others.

Her mother’s death.

She was giving it a lot of thought, and questions kept popping up about it.

Questions that she didn’t have answers to.

With only six days until her wedding, Jenna was beginning to obsess about it, and she took a break from her busy schedule and went for a walk in the park with Alex.

“I thought you had that snob lesson this afternoon,” Alex said.

“My lesson in etiquette can wait. I need to talk to you.”

“Thank God – I was beginning to think I would never get to see you before the wedding.”

“I’m sorry… but with all the lessons in history, language, and politics I barely have time to fit in my dress fittings, and yesterday there was a minor catastrophe with one of the hospitals that we’re building, so I was called for an emergency meeting.”

“But I thought you stopped working.”

Jenna waved her left hand dismissively… “I told them to involve me if they needed me, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Alex pointed to a fully blossoming rhododendron to the right of the gravel trail they were following. “I think that’s my favorite flower…” she said.

Jenna didn’t even give the bush a look. “Alex, how well do you remember Mom?”

Tossing her long red curls back, Alex gave Jenna a puzzled look.

“I’ve told you; I only remember her vaguely… I was six when she died.”

“Do you remember her being bald?”

“No.”

“Neither do I.” Jenna took a few more steps. “Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just wonder why I don’t recall her being sick at all.”

“Maybe you’ve suppressed it.”

“Yes, maybe.” Jenna agreed. “But breast cancer doesn’t kill you overnight, and I only remember Mom as vibrant and strong. It just seems she would have spent time in the hospital, had days in bed, and been frail when she was sick, but I don’t recall any of that.”