A Lost Kitten (24 page)

She had never considered that perhaps her kindred soul would not feel the same. Jasira closed her eyes and prayed that John would want a family of his own.

John entered the room behind Bogdan. He thanked Mira for sharing this special moment with him. He welcomed each infant to the world. While the others spoke to Mira, Jasira watched how John regarded the two beautiful babies. The boy had fiery-red hair and eyes like his mother. There was the faint hint of flames around his eyes. The girl had chestnut color hair and brown eyes like her father. She had no patterns around her little eyes.

Jasira observed John while he traced a finger along the little girl’s chubby cheek. The baby opened her mouth and turned her head to his finger. John’s yearnings for a family of his own were written on his face. Jasira closed her eyes and released her held breath. She was relieved, but her heart spasm when John quietly slipped out of the room without anyone noticing. The first thing she planned to do when she became solid was give John an infant. She quietly followed him.

John went outside for fresh air. He leaned against the railing and rubbed his eyes. The grief he felt was great. He knew his desire to have children would only grow with time. He stared up at the night sky. The stars were shining bright in the cloudless backdrop.

Many couples who could not have their own children adopted. Would Jasira consider adoption? Would he? He decided to go for a walk. If he was being honest, he had to admit that he wanted his own offspring. He wanted to look into their tiny faces and see a part of him there. He wanted McCall blood flowing in their veins. Would adopting a child be enough for him?

He did not think so. John deeply inhaled the cool air. Some couples considered surrogate mothers. That would only fulfill half his wish. Jasira was his wife. He wanted Jasira to be his offspring’s mother. The thought of some other woman’s blood mixing with his and flowing inside his child’s body was unappealing.

Besides, John did not want to hurt Jasira. He was sure her thoughts were along the same lines as his. He could only imagine how much it pained her not to be able to have children with him. He could not do that to her. There was no other alternative. He would be childless.

John paused at the base of a tree at the back of the house. He leaned his back against the bark. He could see the twins’ beautiful faces clearly in his mind. His desires increased. He slid to the ground, raising his knees and placing his arms on them. His head rested against the tree trunk.

John switched his thoughts to his soulmate. He did not regret meeting Jasira. Her presence filled the void in him no other woman could. What he regretted was being unable to turn back time.

He had meant what he said. If he had been older and aware of the attack on Surreal, he would have left his home and come to Jasira’s aid. Alas, it had happened twenty years ago. John was seven at the time and had only two years of Seacat training under his belt. He would have been of no use to Jasira. They would have died together.

It would have been better than living without her,
thought John. He detected Jasira’s fragrance. His senses reached out and found her heading his way. He stayed where he was. He did not want to return to the house. The children’s hungry cry would fill it in a few hours.

John clenched his jaw. He knew he was being selfish and rude, but he was human. And it was his dream. A dream he had created when he became old enough to dream of a future.

Jasira’s energy force stopped in front of him. Her fingers brushed back several locks from his face.

“I’m not going back there. I’m not staying in that house. I don’t want to hear the babies crying. It hurts to know…” He lowered his face onto his folded arms.

He could not finish. He could not tell Jasira how he felt. He felt Jasira’s arms encircle his shoulders. She pressed her lips to his head. They stayed like that for a while. John felt guilty. He knew Jasira must be suffering also, and there she was, consoling him.

“I’m sorry, Jasira. It’s going to take time for me to adjust. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to locate my soulmate and start a family. I never considered that I would find you too late.” John licked his lips and swallowed. “This is all we’ll ever have.” He lifted his head and looked in her direction. All he saw were the trees opposite him. “You. Me. This. Our relationship won’t grow and blossom. We’ll never have a family. I’ll never get to hold you. To see you.”

John felt Jasira tugging on his legs. He lowered them and Jasira straddled his thighs. “I know you feel the same way. I didn’t want to mention it before. I didn’t want to hurt you. I’m sorry if I’m hurting you now.” He took a deep breath. “I just wish you were alive, Jasira. You have no idea how much I want that. I would give my soul for you.” John reached up to where her face should be, to caress her cheek. His fingers touched air. “I would give all my strength if it meant you would live again.”

Jasira framed John’s face and kissed him. John poured his love into her. He felt his soul instantly respond. It burned bright and powerful. It lunged forward, wanting to merge with its other half. John growled and sat straighter.

He reached for his zipper to free his throbbing manhood. Jasira pulled his pants lower. John felt her shift above him and swiftly encase him in her tight, warm channel. Her hips rose and lowered in a steady rhythm. John moaned as he watched the skin around his erection stretch and retract. The fire in him rose rapidly. Jasira seemed to know what he needed. No fondling. No exploring. Just hardcore loving.

John leaned back on the tree on a loud groan. He enjoyed the feel of Jasira’s bottom slapping against his thighs. If only he could clasp a cheek in each hand and squeeze. His claws extended. John closed his eyes and pictured his soulmate in his head.

Jasira had dark hair and dark eyes like his own. Her hair was long, just what he preferred on a woman. Her features were like fine porcelain. That was what Jasira was to him. A porcelain angel that had stayed behind after the horrible attack on her race, waiting for his arrival. Tears filled John’s eyes at the thought. He had come so close to never experiencing her touch.

“Jasira…I love you.” He opened his eyes. His racing heart skipped a beat. “Jasira?” John closed his eyes tight then reopened them. The image remained. He could not believe what he was seeing.

A translucent, shimmering white form of a woman was on his lap. Her arms extended beside John’s head as she braced herself on the tree. John’s gaze lowered. The woman was straddling him, her hips moved in time with Jasira’s. It could only mean one thing. John examined her face. She had dark eyes and long dark hair. Her nose was fine and small. Her delicious mouth was a full pout. The grief in John’s soul swelled and spilled forth in the form of tears.

The specter slowed in her movements. She touched his tears.

“I see you.” John softly chuckled. “I can see you, Jasira.”

Jasira’s face expressed alarm. She looked at her hands.

“You’re beautiful.” John’s gaze touched every inch of his wife. She was covered in a long gown that she had raised above her knees. The bodice was cut low, enhancing firm young breasts. “You’re exactly how I dreamt you would look.” John met her gaze. He reached up to her cheek. Sadly, his fingers went through her. “I still can’t touch you.” He smiled. “But I can see you.” He stared into her eyes. “I love you so much. Show me you feel the same way for me.”

Jasira reached for his shoulder and squeezed once. Her hips began to move over John more forcibly.

John dug his claws into the ground. “Yes.” He leaned back on the tree, tilted his hips, and offered himself up to his beloved. “Take me, Jasira. Mark me yours.”

Jasira grabbed John’s jacket and brought him to her. She wrapped her arms around his head. John pressed his face in her breasts and inhaled her scent. He cried in happiness, for he felt and saw his lovely wife as she gave herself to him. The lustful expressions on Jasira’s face gave John’s soul wings. The infants were forgotten. The future was forgotten. All that existed was his shimmering Jasira.

Jasira opened her bodice, revealing her breasts. John wiped away his tears and rubbed his face on her exposed, translucent flesh, scenting her his. He hungered to taste her, to caress her. Still, he thanked his God for the small miracle of seeing her. His lips covered hers. John growled, for he wanted more.

His hips rose off the ground in time with Jasira’s landings. It aroused John to see Jasira hold on to him to keep from falling off. “Can you feel me inside you?” Jasira nodded as she squeezed his shoulder once. John’s passions soared. He thrust harder, wanting his wife to feel every inch of his arousal.

“Jasira…” She met John’s gaze. “Your dress…can you lift it? I want to see all of you.”

Jasira stopped her attack on his body. She stood and took a few steps back. John watched her lift her dress over her head. It glistened into a pool of dense cloud on the floor.

“This can’t be happening.” John’s sights raked over Jasira’s slim figure, again and again. “It’s a dream. This is all a dream.”

Jasira moved in his direction. John quickly scooted to the side, away from the tree trunk. He concentrated, phased his pants off, and left them to the side. He lay back on the dirt floor. He held his breath as his phantom lover positioned herself above him. John watched his stiff manhood slip into her body. As she began to move, John stared at Jasira’s womanhood, at how it devoured him, repeatedly. His lust exploded. His eyes shone brighter than the stars.

John took in Jasira’s nakedness. The movements of her hips and breasts. The sway of her hair as it fell over her pale shoulders. The ecstasy on her face as she lowered her body onto his. John’s senses were alive and filled with Jasira’s perfume, touch, taste, and beauty. He stored it all away in his memory.

Jasira opened John’s jacket, his shirt, placing a small hand on each of his pectorals. Her thumbs caressed his nipples while her hips increased their speed. John lost himself in the experience. His attention never left his wife. Nothing existed but her. His gaze traveled along her slender legs. His fingers raked the dirt floor. He longed to dig his claws deep into that tender flesh. The fire in him burned hotter at the thought.

Jasira landed harder on John’s hips. John’s sights zoomed in on where their bodies connected. Jasira was hot. Tight. And hungry for him. The scent of Jasira’s arousal, the feel of her bare breasts, and the impressions of her touch combined with her erotic expressions sent John blazing out of control.

He bolted into a sitting position, snatching hold of Jasira’s mouth and roaring. He braced himself on his arms and legs, bucking hard and fast. He watched Jasira’s face as he pushed into her aggressively. Their gazes locked. Jasira’s hips pushed back, demanding more. With a loud vicious growl, John complied. He roared as his core erupted in a terrifying array of lightning bolts.

A cool breeze touched John’s exposed flesh. He awoke amidst the trees behind Bogdan’s house. He shivered and immediately pulled the ends of his jacket together. Unable to see his wife, John used his senses to locate her. He found her a few feet away. He wondered why she chose to rest there instead of beside him. He prayed she was not angry with him for expressing his feelings about children.

After putting his pants and boots back on, John knelt beside Jasira. His head tilted to one side while he buttoned his shirt and jacket. He scanned harder. Jasira’s energy level had changed again. At that moment, she was the strongest since he had met her. Was that the reason he was able to see her caress, the reason he was able to see her? Was this a normal occurrence amongst the ghosts of Surreal? Maybe he should ask Bogdan. Then again, it was not important. He had gotten his wish. He saw his beloved wife. Now he could envision Jasira each time he claimed her.

“Jasira,” he called to her. “Jasira, baby, wake up.”

John checked his wristguard. His brows lifted. He searched the area around him. There was no one nearby. The life forms he detected were on the opposite side of the house or inside. He touched his right ear. His translator was gone. John hurried back to the tree and quickly scanned the ground around the base. He found the small device amongst the tall grass and twigs.

“Thank God.” John snatched the translator from the ground, dusted it off, hooked it around his ear and activated it. He went back to Jasira. “Baby, wake up. It’s ten o’clock in the morning. Everyone’s awake but us.” He sensed Jasira moving. “Baby, it’s time to get up.”

Jasira’s life force was sluggish in its movements. John grew concerned. That was unlike her. Jasira was normally an early riser.

“Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

Jasira stayed on the ground.

“Jasira?”

John forced his senses to detect anything unusual about her. Alas, he was not a Mage. He could only detect an object’s location and its strength.

“Jasira, if you don’t get up I’m going for help.”

Jasira’s life force stopped moving. John’s concern skyrocketed. He bolted from his spot and raced to the house. He spotted Sirius heading to the barn with Asher.

“Sirius! Asher!” The men turned around. They smiled.