CHAPTER TWO
Seated on one of the cushioned benches along the perimeter of the Garden, Draken folded his arms over his chest and leaned his head back against the glass wall behind him.
Everyone wondered how Director Wyeth had convinced the Council to build such a place. No one would ever guess that it hadn’t been the head of the city, but Draken who had negotiated the construction with his father, Councilman Marcor. They wouldn’t guess, and Draken would never tell them, but just remembering the look on his father’s face made him smile.
Tharon Marcor had been so self-righteous, thinking he was punishing his son with the terms of the agreement. Little did he know that sentencing Draken to a permanent assignment in Hope was more blessing than curse. Just further proof that his family would never understand him.
Holy nebula, he hated dealing with his father, but all that mattered was that after several months and multiple redesigns, the Garden had finally become a reality.
“What are we doing here?” Sitting on the ground in front of the bench, Jaiyu ran her fingers over the tufts of orange and yellow grass, a contented little smile on her lips.
She had her sandals off and her black slacks rolled up to the knee. Every once in a while, she’d close her eyes and tip her face toward the domed ceiling as if straining to feel the warmth of the sun.
“You said you wanted to come to the Garden. Here we are.” It had been nearly an hour since he’d dragged her from his office, and he still didn’t trust himself to speak out loud.
“You’ve been very quiet,” she observed. “You’re thinking about Jason, aren’t you?”
He was thinking about all the ways he could inflict bodily pain to the human, so, technically, yes, he was thinking about Jason. He also thought about all the times he’d purposely pushed her away when she’d needed him. He thought about how scared and alone she must have felt, and how he hadn’t done a damn thing to help her.
“Will you tell me about it?” He wouldn’t demand it from her, because he didn’t have that right. Not anymore. Not after he’d failed her.
“There’s not much to tell.” Although she spoke casually, she pushed herself upright and moved a little closer to the bench. “I’d only been in Hope for a couple of months when Jason asked me out to dinner.” One shoulder lifted in a jerky shrug. “He seemed like a nice guy, so I said yes.” Dropping her head, she stared down at her hands where she twisted them together in her lap. “The date went okay, I guess.”
Draken bit back a growl, the idea of her being with another male too much for him to handle right then. “You guess?”
Shaking her head, Jaiyu shifted closer until he could feel the heat of her body against the side of his leg. “Nothing significant happened at dinner, but there was just something about him that felt off. He was really…intense.” She bent her knees, pulling them up under her chin, and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Anyway, he walked me to my pod, kissed me goodnight—”
Draken couldn’t stop his growl that time. He also had to grip the metal arm of the bench until it bent in his grip to keep himself seated. “Keep going.”
Tilting her head back, she stared up at him, her expression far more trusting than he deserved. After a few seconds of silence, she bobbed her head a couple of times, slowly, as if deciding something to herself.
“He asked me out again, but I turned him down. I thought that would be the end of it, but he kept showing up.” She shifted a little in the grass, moving even closer until her shoulder pressed against the side of his knee. “He waited for me outside of my pod in the mornings. He came to my classroom. He followed me everywhere I went.”
A visible shudder vibrated her body, and Draken instinctively reached down, gently combing his fingers through her hair to comfort her. When she leaned into his touch, it was so easy, so natural, he doubted she even realized she’d done it, but it eased some of the tension he’d been carrying since they’d left his office.
“You said he threatened you.”
“Yeah, he did.” She bit down on her bottom lip and nodded. “At first, it was stupid things, like saying he’d spread rumors that I was sleeping with every guard in the city. Childish, really.”
Draken didn’t like it, but she was right. The threat was immature at best and desperate at worst. “When that didn’t work?”
She was quiet for so long, he instinctively knew she wouldn’t answer. Eventually, she turned, looking up at him again, her brow furrowed, and her eyes narrowed at the corners.
“You said he loved me.”
While not technically a question, Draken answered honestly. “I heard him tell you one day outside of your classroom.”
It had felt like someone had punch right through his chest, and he’d spent the rest of the day in one of the city’s bars, drinking himself stupid.
A humorless laugh bubbled from her lips. “He said that all the time. He loved me. We were meant to be together. He could make me happy.” Her laughter died as quickly as it had come, and when she spoke again, the words were so quiet, he had to strain to hear them. “He’d say other things. Sexual things.”
It took every ounce of self-restraint Draken had to remain seated when what he really wanted was to stalk through the city until he found the fuck, then rip his insides out through his dick. The only thing that kept him from doing just that was knowing Jaiyu needed him more than he needed vengeance.
He honestly didn’t think he wanted to know the answer, but he had to ask, “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” She leaned more heavily against him and lowered her head to rest on this thigh. “He’d grab my arm sometimes to keep me from walking away, but otherwise, he never touched me.”
Draken took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he sunk his fingers through her hair again. At this point, he didn’t know who he was comforting more with the gesture—her or himself.
“Did you tell anyone?” Let him find out that some guard had ignored her pleas for help. If he managed not to kill the asshole, he’d have him shipped off to the Rock before the sun even set.
“I tried to tell Lieutenant Wyeth, but he wasn’t too interested in what I had to say.”
Well, there went that idea. Director Raxcor Wyeth’s useless, younger brother was already serving time at the Rock for his assault on Raxcor’s mate. It sickened Draken to think of how many other females had suffered because of—or at the hands of—the asshole. Breaking rocks in the quarry for sixteen hours a day didn’t begin to constitute suitable punishment in his mind.
“Did you tell anyone else?”
Another shiver rippled through her, and she wrapped an arm around his calf as she rubbed against his leg. It wasn’t sexual, though. It was almost like she suddenly couldn’t get warm enough. Still, it pleased him to know she instinctively sought reassurance from him, even if he didn’t deserve that trust.
“At first, no. I guess I thought that the other guards would feel the same way Lieutenant Wyeth did.” Her shoulder moved, but it looked more like a twitch than an actual shrug this time. “Then, Jason showed up at the door of my classroom drunk one day. He kept beating against it, screaming all these terrible things. It scared the kids half to death.”
Yep, Draken was definitely going to kill him. “Where is he now?”
It was a demand to know where he could find Jason, not a request for more information about what had happened. They both knew it, but when Jaiyu started talking again, he kept quiet and let her purge the incident.
“Guards came and took him away. After I explained everything, one of them thought it would be a good idea if I spoke with Captain Otar.”
Draken nodded his approval. He’d always liked the captain, but he also felt a strange appreciation for this nameless guard. Instead of prodding her along this time, he remained silent and waited, letting her tell the story at her own pace.
“Jason had to go before a judiciary committee, and they sentenced him to four months in lockup.”
“Four months?” Draken demanded, incensed enough to speak aloud.
She nodded, her temple rubbing against his thigh. “The committee insisted there was no indication of violence, and just following me around and telling me he loved me didn’t constitute an immediate threat.” She paused, her shoulders rounding as she sighed. “Honestly, if Captain Otar hadn’t pushed for disorderly conduct charges, I don’t think they would have done anything to Jason.”
“You said they gave him four months in lockup?” At her nod, Draken gritted his teeth together to hold back the growl building in his chest. “When was this?”
“Three months, two weeks, and four days ago.”
Which left him with just over a week to figure out a way to make sure the asshole never came near his female again. In the meantime, he needed to pull his head out of his ass and start taking proper care of her.
“Have you eaten, isha?”
“I’m okay.” She stiffened, and whatever spell she’d been under vanished. Sitting upright, she moved away, putting more distance between them, even as a pink blush stained her cheeks. “I, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“Isha?” he interrupted.
Jaiya blinked up at him as if she’d forgotten he was still sitting there. “Yes?”
Resting his elbows on his knees, he leaned down, stopping just an inch or so from her lips. He knew she needed everyone else to believe she was okay, but she wasn’t. It was evident in the way she spoke, and in the tight set of her shoulders. The fact that she hadn’t tried to argue with him during the entire conversation spoke volumes. The situation with Jason unsettled her, and reliving that nightmare had obviously left her shaken.
“You don’t have to pretend with me,” Draken whispered, sliding his fingers through her hair to brush it back from her face. “You don’t have to hide from me.”
Her gaze flickered to his mouth, so briefly he almost missed it. “I know.”
“Good.” A deep groan rumbled through his chest when her eyes went to his lips again. The female tempted him like nothing and no one else could, but he wasn’t a bastard. He wouldn’t take advantage when she was still so frazzled. “Now, tell me, have you eaten today?”
“This morning.”
“In that case, would you like to join me for dinner?”
Her eyes widened, and she inhaled on a soft gasp. “I…I’d like that.” She shook her head and leaned far enough away from him that he was forced to drop his hand. “Spirit on Level 9 isn’t bad. My treat,” she added, “for approving the field trip.”
The cafeteria offered free meals to everyone in the city, but Hope also boasted several restaurants and cafes on various levels. Earthling cuisine didn’t much appeal to him, but he was more interested in the company than the food.
Draken didn’t sigh, but it was a close thing. He knew she wanted him, and he thought he’d been clear about his interest in her. Yet, he could already feel her pulling away again. If he’d thought it was just about the unsettling conversation they’d just had, he might have let her get away with it, but this wasn’t the first time she’d shut down on him. It was, however, the first time he could do something about it.
“If that’s what you want.” Standing, he held his hand out, waiting patiently until she finally took it and let him help her to her feet.
She nodded as she bent to unroll her pant legs.
“You don’t owe me anything, though, and I have no intentions of letting you pay.”
Straightening, she rested her hands on her hips and tilted her head at him. “Draken…”
Gods, he could listen to her say his name forever. “I’m the one who suggested dinner,” he reminded her. “It’s only fair that I pay.” He dipped his head toward her shoes, then waited for her to slip them on before taking her hand and guiding it to the crook of his elbow. “Don’t argue.” When she just blinked up at him, he couldn’t resist leaning in to place a chaste, gentle kiss on her brow. “Shall we?”
She didn’t remove her hand from his elbow, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Placing his hand over hers, he held it there as he began walking, following the pathway to the Garden’s exit. It still felt impossible that she was there, right beside him, and he almost believed that if he blinked, she’d vanish.
“It’s so peaceful here.” Her voice sounded wistful as she tilted her face toward the sky. “I don’t know how they did it, but I’m so glad they did.”
“What do you mean?”
“The trees, the grass, even the water in the pond.” She waved her hand back and forth in a vague gesture. “It’s all native to Aleucia, and it’s almost like they just dropped this big, glass dome over it.”
Draken chuckled. “It was a little more complicated than that. I can tell you, if you’d like.”
At her nod, he began a longwinded explanation about how the construction teams had built the observatory using much of the natural landscape, including an underground spring that fed the pond. He told her about the stones that made up the pathway they walked on, and how they’d come from caves high in the mountains. He left out nothing, no matter how small the detail, and by the time he’d finished, they’d reached the half-moon doors that led out of the Garden.
“That’s incredible,” Jaiyu breathed. She was so engrossed in his narrative, she jumped when the exit doors slid apart.
They both laughed, and Draken was glad to finally see a bit of color returning to her complexion. It amazed him that she would be so enthralled by his ramblings, but he adored the smile it put on her face.
“Your planet sounds beautiful,” she remarked once they’d reach the lifts. “Do you miss it?”
“Not as much as you might think.” He stroked his thumb over the top of her hand and smirked as he led her into the lift. “Besides, I’ve seen more beauty here than I have in the whole of Aleucia.”
That alluring shade of pink tinted her cheeks again before she turned away from him, hiding her face. “There must be something you miss.”
With the addition of the Garden, there really wasn’t anything he could find outside of Hope that he couldn’t within its walls. Still, she was so earnest in her question, he took the time to really think, trying to come up with anything he had enjoyed from his life in the capital city of Javahara.
“I miss…driving.”
She jerked back, staring up at him with wide, sparkling eyes. “You have cars here?”
Draken chuckled again, pleased by her surprise. “Probably not how you would think of them, but yes. We call them cruisers, and like Earth cars, there are many different models. Subcruisers, luxury cruisers, infinity cruisers, modcruisers, just to name a few. They don’t have wheels or tires.” He thought back to the vehicles he’d seen on Earth and shook his head. “They run on subterranean geomagnetic lines.”
“I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds amazing.” Sighing, she tilted her head to the side, resting her temple against his upper arm. “I’m sorry that you can’t drive your cruiser anymore.”
He wasn’t. If it meant being with Jaiyu, it was a sacrifice he was happy to make.
The lift slowed, then stopped, opening to Level 5—the one inefficiency in the design of the Garden. Because humans were restricted from the upper four levels, the only access to the observatory was from a small set of lifts on Level 5. Which meant, he had to usher Jaiyu down the hallway to the next set of elevators that would take them up to Level 9.
“Where did you live on Earth, isha?”
“My parents were divorced, so I went back and forth between Shanghai and New York a lot when I was young.” Sadness crept into her voice, but she kept her head down, avoiding his gaze. “My dad passed when I was seventeen, so my visits to China stopped after that.”
“You sound as if you miss it.” She still clung to his hand, though, so he guessed she wasn’t upset by his question, just the circumstances of her childhood.
“I do. Maybe more than I miss my father.” She snorted. “That’s terrible of me, isn’t it?”
Draken probably understood that sentiment more than most. “I take it you weren’t close with your father.”
“Not really. He worked all the time, so I rarely saw him, even when I lived with him.” She looked up at him again, her mouth crooking up on one side. “You’re different from the others.”
“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow at her. “How is that?”
“Well, you speak out loud more than other Aleucians for starters.”
He could tell her that he only made that exception for her, but he didn’t. “What else?”
“I don’t know. The things you say and do. They’re very…human, I guess.”
Draken kissed her forehead again, just because he could. Well, that, and he liked the shy smile that stretched her lips when he did it. “I was stationed on Earth when I was nineteen.”
Like with his assignment in Hope, his father had thought he’d been punishing him. In reality, Draken had been instantly enthralled with the planet and its people.
“Oh,” she mused, her face lighting up once more. “Tell me, what did you like most about our little planet?”
“Hmm, well, there were the women.” He laughed when she huffed and swatted at his arm. “Okay, okay.” He sobered but continued to smile. “My favorite thing was the m—”
“Jaiyu!” A petite female with long, auburn ringlets and bright green eyes that dominated her small face rushed toward them. “I’ve been calling you for hours.”
“Oh.” Lifting her free hand, Jaiyu touched her ear and frowned. “I guess I left my communicator in my classroom.” Her attention returned to the female, a frown tugging at her lips. “Celeste, you know Director Marcor.” She lowered her hand to motion between them. “Draken, this is Celeste Kelly, Administrator of Child Services.”
Before Draken could offer any type of greeting, Celeste stepped forward, grabbing Jaiyu by both shoulders. His immediate instinct was to push the female back and pull Jaiyu out of reach, but he resisted. He was territorial, not crazy, or so he kept reminding himself.
“Jaiyu,” Celeste snapped, her eyes wide and panicked. “I just saw Jason coming from your pod. He’s looking for you.”