Shift (The Neturu Chronicles) (30 page)

               
“No,” Jackson answers.  “I’ve never gotten close enough to my exes for
that to happen.  I knew the relationships couldn’t go anywhere, and I’ve
never met anyone of our kind that sparked my interest…” Jackson seems like he
is going to say something but hesitates.

               
“As for me,” Damien says, “I thought I was in love when I was thirteen, but you
know…I was thirteen.”

               
Kayla gags. “I kissed Jude when I was thirteen.  Thank God I never thought
I was in love with him.  Ew, gross.”

               
“What made you want to kiss him in the first place?” Jackson asks.  “Did
he have some killer moves?”

               
Kayla laughs. “No.  I fell victim to the fact that I was an awkward
thirteen-year-old girl, and I had, what I thought was a nice guy, giving me
attention.  You know, a girl always thinks her first kiss will be heart
pounding and something to remember.  Mine was weird and he was horrible at
it.  Then Jude tried to feel me up.  I pushed him away and slapped
him really hard across the face.  I left a huge red mark.”

               
“That’s my girl,” Damien cheers.

               
With a sigh, Kayla says, “So I lost out on my first great kiss.”

               
“Forget about Jude. What about your next kiss?  Was it heart pounding? 
Did it take your breath away?” Damien asks as he starts to scramble the eggs.

               
Jackson and Kayla turn and look at each other. “Yes,
”
Kayla says slowly.
“
Actually, it was both of those things.”

               
“Good, use that then,” Damien instructs.  He throws the eggs into the
pan.  “My first kiss was awkward because I was ten.  Everything is
awkward when you’re ten.”

               
“Ten shouldn’t even count.” Kayla laughs.  “When was your first real
kiss?”

               
Damien taps his chin. “Eleven then.”

               
“That’s not much better,” Kayla yells with laughter.  She turns to
Jackson. “What was your first kiss like?”

               
“Hmmm, it was with the cook’s daughter when we lived in Italy.  Gorgeous
girl, didn’t speak much English, and my Italian was still a little rough, but
we were able to communicate in other ways.”

               
Damien chuckles.  “Our little smooth operator.”

               
Hearing about Jackson’s past conquests bothers Kayla more than hearing about
Damien’s.  “You guys can run circles around me about a hundred times, so
we can just stop where we’re at before I want to throw up.”

               
“So who was your
new
first kiss?” Damien asks.

               
“Just a friend,” Kayla replies quietly.  “He’s a really good guy.  I
like him a lot, just not romantically.”

               
As he puts bacon on a plate, Damien says, “That’s good to hear.  I don’t
like competition.”

               
“Nope, no competition,” Kayla murmurs, feeling slightly sad.  She shakes
her head and says, “Breakfast smells awesome.  All I need is some coffee.”

               
Jackson comes up beside her and reaches up to get her a mug.  “Here,” he
says, handing it to her.  “Do you need creamer and sugar?”

               
Kayla nods, not looking at him.  Jackson goes to the refrigerator and gets
out a pitcher.  Kayla watches him out of the corner of her eye, staring at
the way his clothes fit to his body.  When Jackson turns to look at her,
Kayla quickly casts her eyes back to her coffee.  Jackson brings over the
cream pitcher and sugar jar.  “Thanks,” Kayla whispers, taking it from
him.

               
“All right, beautiful, your breakfast is ready,” Damien chimes.

               
“Let me finish making this,” Kayla retorts.  She puts a little creamer and
some sugar in her coffee.  “Do you want some coffee?”

               
Jackson pats his stomach. “Nope, I drank a whole pot by myself already.”

               
“And you aren’t bouncing off the walls?” Kayla inquires with a smile.

               
“Metabolism is different.  You’ve never felt different?  Like you
never got sick, never went to a normal doctor,
never
were exactly like other girls.”

               
“Jackson,” Kayla exclaims.  “Shut up.”

               
Damien walks over to her and grabs a mug.  “Ignore him.  What I think
he’s trying to get across to you is that your cycle has never been normal, if
anything it has been really
abnormal
.”

               
“Why are we talking about this?” Kayla screams in embarrassment.

               
Jackson bends down and kisses the top of her head.  “Don’t get so
uncomfortable.  You have to learn about these things.  I mean, your
mom obviously never had that conversation with you.”

               
“Ugh, I don’t want to have this conversation with you,” Kayla snaps.

               
“I’ll only say one thing,” Jackson says, looking at her.  “Sooner or later
you’re going to have to have this conversation with someone.  Don’t need
you getting pregnant because you don’t know how your body works.”

               
That peaks Kayla’s interest.  “Okay, fine, how does it work?”

               
“The only reason you have anything along the lines of a cycle is because your
body has adapted to the human form.  Getting pregnant is super easy for us
and you have to be really careful because there is no protection other than
your mind,” Jackson tells her.

               
Confused, Kayla mutters, “Huh?”

               
“Remember, for our species you mix your energies, and that is how you get
pregnant.  Both partners have to think about it at the same time their
energies mix, and then poof, you’re pregnant.  You’ll be pregnant for
about six months,” Damien replies.

“It’s that easy?”

               
Nodding his head, Damien says, “Yup, that’s why you have to be so careful,
because if for any reason you and your partner think about it mid coitus, oops,
you’re pregnant.”

               
“Weren’t you worried about that?” Kayla exclaims.  “When you were with
your girlfriend?  I would freak out!”

               
“Yeah, wasn’t my brightest moment of all
time.
” Damien
sighs.  “Though for our culture it’s different.  It’s a good thing
for us to breed and breed with multiple people, or so says the council.”

               
Her jaw drops.  “Excuse me, what did you say?”

               
“If I accidently got a girl pregnant, it wouldn’t be frowned upon.  I
would probably get a slap on the back.  We are a small race, Kayla. 
Think about it that way.  We need to keep our species alive.”

               
Kayla looks at Jackson.  “What about me?  What do they expect of me
because I’m so special?”

               
“To have lots of babies,” Jackson replies softly.  “You don’t have to, but
that is what they will push for.”

               
She puts up her hands. “I’m all for having children, but not if it’s forced on
me.  So me and my husband are just supposed to be a baby machine?”

               
“Do you really want to know the truth?” Damien asks cautiously.

               
“I’m afraid to say yes, but go ahead.”

               
Damien inhales a deep breath. “They would want you to breed with more than one
guy.”

               
There is dead silence as Kayla stares at Damien.  “So they would want me
to have babies with, let’s say, both you and Jackson.  What, be like a
female polygamist?”

               
“Sort of, yes, but trust me, I could never share my spouse.  Maybe that’s
too human of me, but I couldn’t do it, and they can’t force you.”

               
“That’s warped,” Kayla says.

               
Jackson interjects, “Kayla, I’m not in agreement with it, but I understand
it.  Our species will die out if we don’t try.  The council has its
reasons for what it says.  Our species is a bit slutty, but that’s because
we’re trying to keep the population growing.”

               
“So we’re a skank patrol.”

               
“Sort of. I know Damien’s family has pushed for him to have children already.”

               
Damien gives Jackson a dirty look.  “Really, you had to tell her that?”

               
“You don’t have any children, right?” Kayla asks.

               
He shakes his head.  “No, I was supposed to, but I couldn’t.  I did
not
want that girl as the mother of my child.”

               
“This is way too much,” Kayla exclaims, waving her hands.  “Way too
much.  You’re only seventeen!”

               
“Tell that to the council.  I told you they have high expectations of me.”

               
Shaking her head, Kayla stammers, “So…like…your family is pushing you to have
babies with me?”

               
“No, actually, they want me to marry you,” Damien sighs back.  “So that we
can keep it in our family line.”

               
“Now, I am creeped out.”

               
A look of sheer worry passes over Damien’s face. “Do you still want to date
me?  Kayla, I like you for you, not because of your bloodline, shifting
abilities, or the wishes of the council.”

               
“I can’t even think of this right now.  Need coffee, lots of coffee, and maybe
some vodka.”

               
“Ummm, you drink?” Jackson snorts.

               
“No, but it seems like a good time to start.  Wouldn’t you want a drink if
you found out you were supposed to copulate with half of an alien race to
preserve its existence?”

               
Jackson nods. “Probably.  I’ve had girls approach me wanting me to father
their babies.  It’s weird and awkward.  What am I supposed to say to
that?  Yes, let’s go in my room.  No!  I don’t even know these
women.”

               
Kayla shivers. “Ew, that’s wrong.”

               
“For a human, yes, for us, not really.  I couldn’t do it though,” Damien
sighs.  “I can only be with one girl, just one.  There’s no way I
could be a polygamist.”

               
Kayla stares at him for a minute and then taps her chin.  “Wait…if the
guys all looked as hot as you two, maybe I would be up for it, different guy
for every day of the week.”

               
The guys just stare at her a little slack jawed.  “Y-you aren’t serious,”
Jackson stutters.

               
“I don’t know, I could see dating both you and Damien.”

               
“
What
!” Jackson yells.

               
Unable to hold it back anymore, Kayla bursts out laughing and bends over. 
“I am going to die from this.”  She keeps on giggling.  “The look on
your faces, oh, that was priceless.”

               
Damien exhales loudly.  “I was worried there for a minute.  I would
probably kill Jackson.”

               
“If I didn’t kill you first.” Jackson snorts.  “There is no way I would
share her.  She means too much.”

               
Kayla whips her head around to look at him.  Damien does the same
thing.  “What do you mean by that?” Damien asks.

               
Stuttering, Jackson emphasizes, “I mean, she
would
mean too much to
share.  If there was anything going on, which there isn’t.”

               
Damien nods his head, but the look on his face isn’t very convincing.  “As
long as we’re on the same page, I think we’ll be fine.”

               
“True,” Kayla says.  “All right, we need to stop this conversation. 
For the record, I’m never sleeping with anyone but my husband.  I don’t
want to have a kid with someone that isn’t going to be around.”

               
“Good idea,” Jackson agrees. “I’m going to take a shower.”  He turns to
Kayla.  “I know you don’t want to, but try to use a different bathroom
while I’m in there.”

               
Rolling her eyes, Kayla says, “Oh, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to
control myself.  What
ever
will keep me distracted?  Oh look,
bacon!”

               
“Yeah, eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” Damien states.  “Cold eggs
are gross.”

               
“Stay out of trouble,” Jackson says.  As he walks away, he slaps Kayla on
the butt.

               
She jumps in the air.  “Jackson!”

               
He laughs in reply.  Damien growls. “Try and keep your hands to yourself,
cousin, unless you want to lose them.”

               
“My hands were touching her before you were in the picture, and until she tells
me to stop, they will continue to touch her.  I’ll see you in a
bit.”  Jackson turns and walks away.

               
Kayla’s mouth is gaping open, when Damien says, “You could have jumped in there
and told him not to touch you.”