And then, instead of Brun, she found she was holding Kalis in her arms and the big Kindred was holding her back.
51
“Jillian? Sweetheart?” Kalis looked down at her anxiously. She still looked pale and drawn, but it was clear that his other half had healed her completely. Also, there was a happy look in her lovely eyes that warmed his heart.
“You tamed him,” he murmured, and felt assent from his other form as well as a warm feeling of contentment and love. “You tamed my Ursus.”
“His name is Brun,” Jillian said, smiling up at him. “And he’s wonderful. I don’t know why I was ever afraid of him!”
Kalis felt as though his heart might overflow with joy.
“He told you his name?” he exclaimed, looking down at her. “He really gave you his true name?”
“Well, yes…” She shrugged and he realized she didn’t understand the significance. “Why—shouldn’t he have told me?” she asked anxiously.
“Of course he should have. It’s just that…he didn’t even tell Kara, the mate that I lost, his name,” Kalis explained. “Up until now, I am the only one who has ever known it. Yet, he told you right away!”
“He…he said he loves me.” She ducked her head shyly. “I told him that I love him, too.” She looked up at him from under her lashes. “Is that okay? I mean, it’s not like…like cheating on you, is it?”
Kalis laughed.
“Of course not—we are two sides of the same being. It’s exactly how things are supposed to be.”
“He’s like a giant teddy bear.” Jillian sounded thoughtful. “I was so afraid of him at first but he was so gentle with me while he healed me. And the more he healed me, the more I could feel how he felt for me and that he only wanted to protect and care for me.”
“The Ursus isn’t good with words, but he and his kind are excellent at conveying emotions,” Kalis agreed.
“He really is.” Jillian nodded earnestly. “I just…couldn’t stay afraid of someone who loves me so much and wants so badly just to heal me and keep me safe.”
“I’m so glad!” Kalis swept her into his arms and hugged her tight—though he was careful not to squeeze the part where she had been stabbed, which might still be tender.
Despite his care, though, he was still a bit too exuberant because Jillian gasped in his ear,
“Careful, you’re crushing me!”
“Forgive me.” Kalis set her down at once…and it was then that he saw the still figure in the corner. “Fuck,” he muttered, walking over to see who it was.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Jillian followed him to the far corner of the small room.
Kalis looked up from checking for a pulse and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I’m afraid you’re not the only one who got crushed. This male seems to have been sort of, uh, smashed between the metal wall and the back side of my Ursus.”
“Brad was crushed?” She leaned over to take a look at the dead male’s swollen face and then turned quickly away. “Ugh!”
“I’m sorry,” Kalis said earnestly. “Was he special to you?”
“No,” she said flatly. “He was my ex.”
“This was the male who ruined you financially and forced you to come to the Mother Ship?” Kalis looked at him with renewed interest. Jillian hadn’t wanted to speak much about her previous relationship, but Suzanne had told him enough that he understood what a pitiful excuse for a male her ex-mate had been. Truly, he hadn’t deserved Jillian.
“He’s also the one who lured me down here,” she told him now. “He told Moreno—the guy who, uh, cut me—that I had the money Brad had taken.” She shivered and suddenly pressed her face against Kalis’s chest. “Can we please go home now? I don’t want to think about this ever again.”
“Of course, sweetheart!” Kalis gathered her close to him and held her to his heart. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll never talk about it again, if that’s what you want.”
She nodded, her face pale.
“That’s exactly what I want.”
“Then let’s go.” Kalis picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He wanted to get her back to the Mother Ship anyway, for a thorough check up at the Med Center. He had faith that his Ursus had healed her, but it was still good to get some scans, especially since she’d had internal damage.
Jillian didn’t protest being picked up and held, she only pressed her face to his chest and murmured,
“I want to go home.”
“We’re going,” Kalis promised.
He held her close and swore to himself he would never let her go again.
52
“Had another long night?” Suzanne asked sympathetically, as she looked at Jillian’s face. “I swear you’re getting less sleep than I am lately and I have three fussy babies at my place!”
“I think I’d rather deal with fussy babies than these nightmares I keep having.” Jillian rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. It was her left hand and the fingertips of her three new fingers tingled a bit as she did so. It was just another reminder of the trauma she’d been through and she was damn tired of it.