by Gina Manis
“I love you,” he whispers as his lips claim mine. He kisses me softly, but his kiss is different this time. His lips linger against mine, sucking on my lip more than he ever has before. He puts more pressure into it, and I can see it has changed from the light kisses he has always shared with me—to something more passionate and longing.
I moan into him as my arms come around his neck. He presses and cups my backside, pulling me tighter against him, not like before when he would barely hold me to him. I feel his fingers gripping me, and everything about him seems to change, becoming more manly and physical in his needs rather than mine.
A cyclone is building inside me for more and becomes even more potent as our tongues unite. He lifts us and lays me back on the bed as his lips move down my neck and along my shoulders.
“I want to touch you.” His cool breaths linger in a kiss over my shoulder, and I feel the sensual seduction of it.
“Touch me,” I rasp as I cradle him between my legs. Shock waves shoot through me at feeling the hardness of him between us. I’ve never felt him so intimate before as he rocks into me and rubs against my exposed body. His hands run over my naked back, and I want to touch him, too. I pull at his shirt, and it falls off his shoulders, giving me my desire to feel his warm skin.
“I can’t,” he hisses as he pulls back from me slightly. “The boundaries are still there.”
I know we are pushing them, but I need him, unlike any other time. I want to make love and feel the things I feel with Aaron with Bran, as well.
His body rocks against mine, driving me into a mist of passion that I haven’t felt before with him. I wrap my legs tighter around his middle, and he breathes deeply, letting out a gush of air over my chest, over my breasts and stomach, and even down between our bodies.
I cry out at this new heat as it builds inside me. The air in the room blows around us. It is growing stronger and wild, like a storm rising in the small space.
“Jenna?”
“Don’t stop,” I plead with him to keep moving as I pull his face back to mine, and we kiss. He makes love to me with his tongue as his kiss matches his strokes. I feel him at my core even through his clothing as we are not pushing some boundary that allows us this pleasure. We might not share ourselves, but the friction alone has our desires building.
The explosion hits me suddenly, and I grip on to him as I cry out.
“Jenna!” I hear him call my name as I am ripped from his arms.
◊ ◊ ◊
Jenna
“Bran!” I cry out as I sit up in bed. I can’t breathe and try desperately to bring air into my lungs. He left me! No. He didn’t leave me, some force pulled us apart. It was so strong; it ripped the air from my lungs and left me shaking.
Oh no! What have I done?
◊ ◊ ◊
Arrow
“Jenna?” I sit up behind her in the bed and pull her gently into my arms. “Were you dreaming of Bran?”
Jenna has told me of her dreams of him. How they talk and sometimes kiss, but it is never more than that. She has admitted she has desires for him at times but that it wasn’t allowed. Something about that night when he had taken her from me. That they could never go beyond that limit in her dreams.
I am happy that she has told me about them and doesn’t hide what he means to her. I don’t know the man, but I do know what he has done for Jenna. A big part of why she came back to me was inarguably because of Bran.
She is breathing hard and never has she woken up like this before.
“He… something ripped us apart,” she tells me as she takes in more air. “He has left me.”
“How do you know that?” I ask her as she turns in my arms and begins to cry. “Bran has always been there for you.”
“Not recently!” She wails. “He says I don’t need him anymore, and I didn’t even realize he was slipping away from me.”
“Aw, sweetheart,” I say, not sure what else there is.
“It's because I love you so much,” she cries to me. “You have healed me, Aaron, and I don’t need the dreams anymore. But it is Bran, and he is like my best friend. I do love him, and I don’t want him to disappear. Even if it is just a dream.”
I don’t know how to help her through this. She is losing a big part of herself in losing Bran. I understand he is just a dream and not real. How can I tell her it will be okay that he is fading away?
“How about you tell me what happened?” I ask, laying us back down on the bed.
“I’m… I’m not sure if you will like it,” she mumbles as she wipes at her tears.
“You know you can tell me anything,” I say, kissing the top of her head. “I will not divorce you because of a dream.”
“Don’t make jokes, Aaron,” she says, shoving at me. “He might be only a dream, but he is real to me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Tell me what happened, Love.”
She rests against me for a while before she speaks again. “I thought he was you at first and called out your name. He said it saddened him and that I didn’t need him anymore because I had you. That I have found my peace.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing,” I tell her, and it made me happy to hear also. Things were good between us. They would be even better if we were with child, but we are not yet.
“It's not, but losing him is,” she tells me. “You don’t understand how much I have depended on him. How much I grew to care.”
“I know some, Love. And I can guess the rest,” I assure her. I feel Jenna loves Bran as she loves me. I’m not jealous of that anymore because I know he and I both share in her healing success. Without him, I might not have her with me now.
“I asked him to kiss me. Not like he has always kissed to make me feel better, but how he wanted, as a man. And he did.”
“How did it feel?” I ask her, knowing she needed this.
“It made me… feel good,” she says softly. “Passionate and fevered and… Bran said he wanted to touch me but couldn’t. I had wanted him to.”
“Did you touch him?” I ask her, knowing that Jenna can be a very passionate person. She has surprised me at times with her responses and demands. I can see how maybe she was the same with him in her dreams.
“I held him as we kissed, and… we rocked against one another.”
“And a desire was building between the two of you.” I wasn’t asking, knowing it must be true.
“Yes,” she whispers to me.
“Don’t be afraid to say it,” I tell her again, needing her to know it is okay to tell me. Her needs are important to me, all of them. Even the ones I’m not sure I can give her. “I am fine with your dreams with Bran. I am thankful for what he has done for you.”
“It did build, Aaron,” she confesses, crying on my shoulder. “I felt like I was floating with him, and the wind was so strong around us. I felt this shudder in my body, and suddenly we were ripped apart, and I woke up. I don’t know what happened, but I feel we crossed some line, and now… I’m never going to see him again.”
“Shh, Love.” I hold her close and comfort her the best I know how. Somewhere along the line between dream and reality, Bran has become important to me as well. Because I know he is a comfort to my Jenna.
If what she says is true, I fear for her peace of mind. I kiss her softly, and she responds to me. I know I can’t make it better, but I can show her how much I love her. I can never replace Bran, but I will try to be all that she ever needs.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Jenna
Spring
I look at the soft blue and pink materials in front of me and think they would be perfect for making a baby blanket. I wonder if I should buy them as I am not sure yet if I am with child. My monthly hasn’t come yet, and usually, I am regular in my flow. It is nerve-wracking, not knowing for sure, and I move away before Aaron sees me looking.
I didn’t want to tell him until I was sure. He speaks of ch
ildren often, and we have been trying all winter. To say something too soon and get his hopes up would be wrong, and I don’t want to see him sad if I am not.
Looking over the crowd in the markets, I see him down the way, still speaking with a man about a plow's price. He wants to get to work tilling the soil of a piece of land we have cleared. I look forward to planting our first garden with the seeds I brought with me when I came here.
It has been only one cycle since I left Star Kingdom, and coming into the village today, I found several letters waiting for me from Beth and Thomas. I couldn’t help but tear into them. Beth and Thomas wrote to me in all of them, and Sadie even drew me a picture of a puppy they got for Winter Holiday.
Beth tells me they are expecting another child this summer. Thomas is excited about it. He writes that he hopes I am doing well, and that I wasn’t too hard on Arrow. I knew he was the one who set us up together.
Star Kingdom is now under new rule as the Fire Prince returned after I left with his bride. The old king is gone now, and things are slowly starting to change under the new rule. I can’t help but laugh as I read that women are no longer required to marry two men. What are the odds?
Still, I am happy that I left. Being away from the enormous crowds, I have discovered a new side to people. My focus on individuals is more manageable and with men, especially. My issues have become minor with Charles or Simon and also with Aaron’s father and brothers. At our own Winter Holiday, I even danced with Aaron’s friend Daniel as he showed me the jig. I had so much fun with all of Aaron’s family.
Aaron gave me the bracelet, the one he said was for Katy from Simon and Charles. He confessed it had always been mine but wanted to give it to me on our wedding day. We married, surrounded by his family on Winter’s Eve. It was so beautiful with the mountains full of snow and a memory I can always cherish.
I stop at a booth with some paper supplies so I can write back to Beth and Thomas. I’ll write them some letters and send them off before we leave. We plan to stay in the village for a few days.
I purchase a journal, also wanting to write about some of my life in the mountains. How I came here and why I have stayed. I would also like to draw some pictures of the beautiful land and sunsets we watch every evening. There is nothing like the sky's colors in the backdrop of rolling hills of flowers and trees—the wide-open spaces.
“They will never be as beautiful as you.” His sweet breath lingers on my neck and ear as I feel a wave of euphoria in my blood. I know instantly it is him as he presses slightly against my back. “Have you missed me, as I have you?”
“Yes,” I can barely say, breathless that he is here and so close to me. I can’t believe it is him.
“I tried to find you in my dreams,” he whispers. “We broke the rules, Jenna, and I am sorry, I couldn’t find you again until now.”
I turn around and see his face, and my heart leaps as Bran is here in real life once more. Everything about him draws me in—his whispers, his crystal blue eyes, the warm smile on his lips. He isn’t much taller than me, and I can see every detail of his beautiful face.
“It was my fault, not yours,” I tell him, knowing I had been the one to push things in our last dream. I realize suddenly that they had all been real as he speaks of them to me. It wasn’t just my thoughts, but he had indeed been with me.
He steps closer, and his body presses into mine. I feel a powerful surge of desire in his presence as he leans forward. “I have thought of nothing else but you.”
His lips are so close to mine as I breathe him in and think about what it would feel like to kiss him now. Not in a dream and bound by some force, but free and real. Just a taste.
“I hope you don’t intend to steal my wife away from me again.”
“Aaron!” I jump away from Bran, the spell broken that had me almost kissing him right in the middle of the markets. I look at Aaron feeling guilty. “I…”
“It had crossed my mind,” Bran signs instead of speaking to Aaron, and I remember Bran telling me before he doesn’t talk to just anyone. Bran knows Aaron understands it as he had worked in teaching me before I could speak again, and I told him Aaron was learning, too. “Are you going to hit me again?”
“If you take my wife, I will,” Aaron tells him.
“Aaron, please don’t,” I beg of him. “I’m sorry. It was my fault.”
“Not from where I was standing,” Aaron says, still not taking his eyes off Bran to even look at me. “I have wondered about you for a long time now. Would you like to grab a bite to eat with us?”
I am shocked by the invitation. It comes completely out of the blue after thinking Aaron was going to hit Bran.
“I would.” Bran signs with a smile, and I look to Aaron and see him smile, too. What the hell?
◊ ◊ ◊
Arrow
Jenna is nervous as we all sit down at the café with Bran. I saw him in the market first and watched as he approached her from behind. It was clear she knew who he was instantly as she closed her eyes when he spoke to her. I know my wife well enough to see the look of her desire. I couldn’t take my eyes off them, wanting to know what she would do.
Epilogue
Jenna
Five Cycles Later
Our home has grown in the last few years as Bran and Aaron have added two additional rooms for us. One for us and one for our two children. Soon another will come to grace our family, and I smile as I touch my plump stomach. I rest on the porch now as I have grown so big and my back aches all the time. Getting around has become difficult, and I can’t join the others as I would like.
Instead, I watch Aaron and Bran play with our two daughters, teaching them to sign even at their young ages. Beth is four now and looks just like Aaron with blonde hair and blue eyes. Lucy is only two, and I know she is Bran’s by her dark brown hair. She is also like him and was born deaf. Bran worries about her growing up and being like him, but I don’t.
He has had to leave twice since he came home with us. I see the agony that comes over him before he does. He fights it so, not wanting to leave. It is I who must tell him he has to go, eventually. Usually, when he leaves, he is gone for several moons. When he returns, he is always distant for some time. He is ashamed of being with another when he loves me so much. I am okay with it, knowing he is helping some woman out there who I once was. I miss him so much when he is gone, though. He can’t visit me in our dreams any longer, and so the time apart is hard.
Aaron and I are never apart. He is a loving husband and father to both our children. We have grown so much more in love than I could ever imagine. My soulmate, just as Bran says. He fills every part of my life with his love and passion.
I am sure this child I carry is Aaron’s, and that it is a boy. The baby kicks me, showing me how strong he is. As if on cue, he kicks me again, and I feel a gush between my legs.
“Aaron,” I call to him, and he looks up with the happiest smile. He gives Lucy to Bran and signs he will be back as he gets up and comes to me.
“You need something, Love?” he asks as he jumps up on the porch.
“Well, I could use your help in delivering this baby,” I tell him, and that smile on his face gets even more prominent.
Even before he yells out to Bran, his excitement is evident, “Bran, you ready to be a father again?”
Bran nods and stands, picking up both the girls and bringing them with him.
Aaron turns back to me and picks me up out of the chair, “I can walk, Aaron.”
He holds me close and kisses me as he turns to go into the house. “Don’t you know by now?”
“What?” I can’t help smiling as he does at me.
“That we will always take every journey together.”
The End.
About the Author
Gina Manis
Gina Manis grew up in South Alabama, where country living is a way of life. She has a small farm with lots of animals, and she is proud to
live a simple life with her family.
Growing up, she had problems with reading until a friend had her open up a romance book one day, and the lights came on. She started to write poetry and short stories, and though she liked it, she didn't feel she was good enough to become a writer.
She worked hard in her career as a manager to businesses until she started her own online, where she was successful for eleven years.
As her family grew with a husband and four children, a mother and lots of animals, she gave it up to live a more leisure life and started writing in her free time again.
Now she is looking to publish all the books she has written finally. Romance books have always been a passion of hers, and that is what she writes. She loves fantasy, suspense, mystery, and giving birth to characters that go in them.
Future Works
Gina Manis has published ‘The Elemental Chronicles’ starting with ‘The Water Princess’ as her first published book. It will be complete in July 2020 and is a total of four books. One more standalone book will be written from it called, ‘The Fifth Element’ and will be release Sept 2021 on the series two year anniversary.
‘The Chosen Kings’ is a series based off this one and goes into the future. In 2020 it will begin with ‘The Wind Mage’ and will continue on for the next few years. There will be four standalone stories each with two parts. Gina plans to publish one story from it each year which will be two books each. ‘The Earth Mage will be the next on the list for 2021
In 2021 she will be publishing ‘A Concubine’s Saga’ in a rapid release for that year. This will be a twelve-book series and one published each month. It is one of Gina’s favorite series and she wanted to do something special for it since it is so long.