Chapter Two

“This is my place.” They walked through the door of her condo. “It’s one of the smaller units, but it’s only me… And my cat. I found him last week. Fie, where are you, baby?”

Jabari closed the door behind her and walked into the intimate space. Everything around him was soft and thick. He took a deep breath inhaling Brandi’s scent that covered everything she owned. The beast inside of him stopped clawing at the walls of his control and settled down. He wanted to flee because he hadn’t known peace for so many centuries that he was sure this was a trick.

Brandi was small compared to him. Her head would tuck nicely against his chest. She had beautiful brown skin that he wanted to caress and a mouth that he wanted to kiss. Her hair was done in braids that remind him of the defenders in the caste system on Rios IV. He had to shake his head a created like him would never be granted a defender for a mate, and she was his mate. Her brown eyes were circled with a green line that intrigued him.

Recently, he had learned that human females were more complicated and intriguing than he first thought, but he never expected her.

“You have a nice place.” His voice was so soft that she had to turn to look at him. The look in his eyes made her want to cough to clear her throat. She dropped her gaze instead.

“Thanks. You can set the bags over by that door.” She pointed across the room.

He turned to take in her cream-colored walls. The disparity between stark white and her walls was apparent to him. They made her condo feel warmer. Her furniture was done in shades of bronze with gold and red. The space caught the soft light; the room radiated peace and warmth. He moved and stopped when he heard a small cry of distress.

“I believe your cat is under the couch.”

She walked over and bent down allowing both hands to settle on the cushions before she knelt.

“Is there a problem?”

“Nah, I’m fine.” As fine as I’ll ever be according to the doctors, but he didn’t need to know that.

A sweet smile touched her face, under the couch was her black-and-white kitten. She put out her hand, and he hesitantly walked to her. She pulled him to her and turned to sit with her back against the couch.

“I found him a week ago. He was hanging around the door to the building. People were coming and going ignoring him. The minute he saw me; he clutched onto the leg of my pants. He’s young, but his mom was nowhere to be found. The vet said he was seven weeks so that makes him about eight weeks now.”

She was running her fingers over his head as he shivered in her hand.

Jabari put the bags down and knelt beside them.

“He’s small.”

“I know. I can’t get him to eat, but that’s to be expected.”

“Why?”

“The vet said he’s dying. I should have put him down, but one look into his blue eyes, and I’d do anything for him.”

“What’s his name?”

“Fie, short for defiant. People were trying to get him to go away, but he hung around until he found me.”

She brought him close to her chest before looking up at Jabari. “Thank you for the ride home.”

It was time to get rid of him, so she could lie down.

“You’re welcome.” He reached down and took her arm helping her to stand.

“What are we eating?”

She looked at him her eye's narrowing. Did she say she would cook for him? She could have taken an Uber home.

“I was planning on going to bed.”

“What about your cat?”

“He doesn’t eat. I’ll put more cat food out for him but what I put out earlier is probably still there.”

“Will you be okay if I leave?”

She raised a brow, cocked a hip and placed a hand on it.

“I’ll be back.” He moved toward the door, and soon it was shutting behind him.

“Men.” Her smile turned into a grimace. The pain attacking her body took over now that she didn’t need to keep up the appearance of being well. “Fie, you and I are a pair made in heaven. We’re both dying, and the only ones that care are the two of us.”

Her shoulders sagged, and her foot dragged a little as she walked into the bedroom. She placed Fie on the bed before she sat. On her nightstand were the pain meds the doctor prescribed. Today she had refused to take any so that her head would be clear. It worked, but her body wanted the pain to end. Reaching over she picked up the two she laid out earlier and tossed them back with the warm bottle of water sitting beside them.

“Now I have to decide if I can take a shower or not.” She stood and took off her clothes before making her way to the bathroom. Fie’s bowl was still full.

“I wish you would eat a little for me.” He gave her a soft meow before lying down on the cool tile to wait for her. She stepped into the shower. No sense arguing with her cat. His actions reflected how she felt.

There was a time when washing away the cares of the day worked for her. It relaxed her, now all she could do was hurry, so she didn’t end up on the floor of the shower. Turning the water off, she grabbed a large towel and walked back into the bedroom. She’d eat tomorrow she told herself as she put on a pair of jogging pants and a hoodie. She crawled into bed. It was the sound coming from the outer room that made her stop.

Someone was in her condo. How did she get broken into this far off the ground? She lived here because it was safe. She placed a finger over her lips to cue Fie to be quiet before she tiptoed into the other room. The living room was empty, but the same couldn’t be said about the kitchen.

The widest pair of shoulders she had ever seen were in her small kitchen.

“Are you ready to eat?”

His voice caressed her touching every part of her. The body she thought was dead of desire perked up at the sound of him.

“Fie, I made you food also, come eat.”

“Jabari what are you doing here?” She felt a shaft of anger that he would break into her apartment. However, he broke in to make her food. It shouldn’t matter; it wouldn’t matter if her days weren’t numbered. Right now, that someone, a male someone, cared enough to think about her health was making her forget that he was dangerous.

“Feeding you, we’re having dinner together. Remember?”

“I thought I asked for a rain check? Besides, I never really agreed to dinner.”

“It’s not raining.”

She stared at him wide-eyed until she walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Her mouth opened to explain what a rain check was then closed it deciding to see what he cooked first.

“You can cook?”

He gave her a horror-filled look. His eyes were deliberately wide as his mouth twisted into a mask of pain making her laugh.

“No, Quinn has been trying to teach us, but she says I’m helpless. I’ve learned the basics, but it doesn’t appeal to me that much.”

“Then what are you doing in my kitchen?”

“Putting the basics to work.”

“What are you cooking?”

“Cream of wheat for you, steak and a potato for me, and a nutritious cat food for Fie.”

“You’re making food for my cat?”

“You want him to eat, right?”

“Well, yeah.” She pinched herself to make sure this wasn’t a dream. She gave a grunt of pain. Next time she’d have to pinch herself softer. He was here the male who filled her nights with hot dreams and her day with a little frisson of fear.

“Why are you here?” His eyes went to the stove. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

“I want to get to know you, Brandi. You run every time I get near.”

That’s the sign of a smart woman. How could she tell him there was no future for them?

He set a bowl in front of her with toast on the side. As far as the presentation went, he got a zero, but that he made her food, and there was butter and sugar set out for her… Well, he got over a hundred percent, and she’d tell him as soon as her eyes stopped trying to leak.

He sat down with his plate and put a small bowl on the table for Fie.

“Your food needs to cool before you can eat it.” Fie jumped on a chair and curled up content to wait.

“Thank you.” She took a bite of her food doing her best to keep her hand from shaking. “I wasn’t expecting this, but I appreciate it.”

“You have to eat.”

His voice caressed her again. She ached to be well enough to take him up on the promise in his voice. Her food went down hard as the need to stop breathing battled with the need to swallow. His eyes caught hers spelling out a future she wouldn’t have been able to believe even if she was well. The desire to fall into his eyes, to take what he was offering almost overwhelmed her.

Her eyes closed reminding her that reality would not change. She’d been to several doctors, and she wasn’t long for this world. She took another bite of her food knowing she needed all the strength she could get.

After several bites she was too tired to eat anymore. Instead, she would watch Jabari eat and enjoy the memory.

He pulled his chair closer. “You have to eat Brandi.” His voice caressed her ear.

She leaned back against him giving herself permission to get lost in the fantasy. Her braids were over his shoulder, and it made her smile. It was like they were whole when they were together. He took the spoon and fed her. It was a time of silence when you spoke with your body not needing to say words. She ate almost all of it before she was full.

“Now to feed Fie.” His voice was soft against her ear. There was a light pressure on her cheek.

Had he kissed her? She couldn’t call foul not after the way she had laid against him sucking up his warmth and comfort. He picked her up and took her to the couch before going into the kitchen and getting Fie and his food. He sat next to her taking up most of the space and making her feel small once again.

Her heart squeezed as she watched him hold Fie tenderly with one hand. He picked up a bite of food with his fingers and offered it to him. Fie sniffed and then licked the food before he decided to take a bite.

He ate something she wanted to sing. The vet said if he ate, it would prolong his life a little. She watched as he took several bites, and then he bit Jabari.

“Fie!” She was shocked. He had never acted aggressively before.

“It’s okay Brandi. Fie understands me; he knows I’m all about biting.”

Her eyes were wide as she watched Fie lick the slow stream of blood coming from Jabari’s finger. He closed his eyes and laid out in Jabari’s hand before he fell asleep.

He laid Fie on her lap and went to clean her kitchen.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Habit.” When he finished, he took her and Fie to the bedroom. “I’ll lock up.”

She nodded too tired to protest. “I want my key back.”

He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled it out. She rubbed her legs together. It was nice to know she could feel the need to pull him on top of her.

“Goodbye, Brandi.”

Her hand lifted and cupped the side of his face. Enjoying the feeling of his warm skin. She traced his cheek before she drew away. “Goodbye, Jabari.”

She watched him walk away knowing her one night of being a princess was over. At least, she got a night.