Chapter 29

Konner checked the boys were buckled down doing their assignments. He grinned as he closed Paxton’s door, maybe they’d learned not to make the teacher angry.

He needed to get back to the office, Reeves would be waiting to go over the rest of the contracts. Normally things would be winding down for the winter months, but with the Alliance clans on alert—there were clans joining, adding on, or like with Deacon, just starting out. They had enough jobs that they’d have to try to finish some during the winter.

He remembered when they’d built the homes here at the Sanctuary, Auntie had thought he’d constructed too many. Now that several had tenants, there was hushed talk of which direction to take the complex when the last four were filled.

Konner supposed at some point Terah would be moving into one. He frowned, it was too soon for that, at least until she learned more about living, instead of just barely existing.

Stopping near the pool, he listened, where was that music coming from? Konner heaved a loud sigh, he’d fallen for it a few times, but not this time. The boys would appear to be complying with the rules of homework but would leave their game paused so they could sneak back out to play when he was busy.

Turning on his heel, he went back down the short corridor to the tv room. The door was half-open, so he stopped to glance in and confirm his suspicions before laying into those two again. It was not a game on pause, it was a movie playing.

Pushing the door open further, he looked in to see Terah sitting on the corner of the sofa with her legs pulled up hugging them. Her face glistened with tears.

When he stepped into the room, she rushed and grabbed the remote, and paused it.

“Lucus showed me how to work this.” She held up the remote toward the screen.

“It’s fine.” He went over and crouched down beside her. “Are you all right?”

She swiped at her damp cheek and nodded her head in a jerky motion. “Yes.” She looked at the TV. “That is love.” A soft look filled her eyes.

Konner turned to see a man and woman embracing. Actors in a movie. “They are actors.” He looked back at her. “It’s a movie, not real. It’s for entertainment.”

She looked back to the screen. “But I see it when they kiss, that they love each other.”

He leaned against the arm of the sofa. “They are very good actors, but it’s not real, you understand?” He watched her look at them again, a strange expression on her face.

“I have never been kissed.” She glanced at him quickly, then back to the screen. “Not even when we tried to make a baby.” She sighed softly and turned the TV off.

He stood when she got up from the sofa. She looked down at her hands, her dark eyelashes shadowed her eyes from him. Konner hadn’t meant to ruin her watching it. “You can stay and watch it.”

“No. I have seen enough.” Lifting her chin, she looked up at him. Beneath her eyes still shone from the wet tears.

Konner would regret this a thousand times later, but right now he had to wipe that forlorn pain from her face. Touching her chin with the tip of his finger, he leaned down and kissed her lips softly. Watching her reaction was his undoing as her lashes fluttered and her cerulean eyes locked on his.

Like a fool with no restraint, he cupped the side of her face and kissed her again, longer this time, gently with care until her mouth moved beneath his. He felt her grip his shirt in his hand and stretch up onto her toes to return his kiss.

It was heartbreaking that no one had ever shown affection for her, but he was glad they hadn’t at the same time. When the tenderness inside him began to turn into arousal, he ended the contact and lifted his head.

She didn’t object, just stood there giving him a sexy, clouded look. “Was that acting?” She whispered, still close enough to him that her breath caressed his lips.

“No.” He was barely able to find his voice. “That was real.” Lifting his head, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Reeves standing in the corridor.

Reeves cleared his throat and point to the door leading into the common house. “I was coming to find you.”

Konner stepped back and put some space between himself and Terah, “I’m coming now.”

Reeves gave him a stiff nod and walked quickly back up the hall.

He looked down at Terah and could see she was still processing what had just happened. “I have some work to get done.”

She blinked and looked at him. “You work a lot.”

Smirking, he backed up more. “Yes, there’s always a lot to do.”

She nodded as if she understood, but she doubted she did. “I wanted to swim in your pool.” She gave him a hopeful look.

Stepping to the side, he motioned out the door. “Feel free.” He was glad for it. If she swam in the pool, in the house, he wouldn’t have to worry about her outside alone.

“I am free.” A small smile lightened the lost expression on her face as she walked by him and up the corridor.

Konner followed, wanting to get to the office and get the work done so he could get some semblance of sleep. He had too much to do in the next few weeks to allow himself to get run down. As he turned to go around the pool, he almost lost his footing when Terah stopped and dropped her robe to the floor.

His legs stopped completely as he watched her go down the steps and the water embrace her as she immersed herself. Her skin, even before the water kissed it, shone with a slight iridescent glow. She was absolutely beautiful. He recalled the folklore he’d read of the radiant women of the sea that captured men’s hearts and for the first time in his long life, he believed that could have been true at some point.

She broke the surface and smiled up at him. “I love this pool; the water makes me feel good.”

He couldn’t find his voice to answer her. Going over to the wall, he dimmed the area’s lights, leaving her to appear she was swimming in the moonlight.

She gave him a quick look; amazement was on her face. “It’s like magic.”

Konner nodded, it was magical, and it had nothing to do with the light switches. “I’ll see you in the morning.” As he forced his feet to move toward the exit, the entire foyer was filled with her soul-wrenching, skin-tingling, lilting notes of her song.

Reeves stood by the desk when he walked in. “Sorry.” He motioned to the door, then dropped his hands.

Konner shook his head. “It’s fine. It was just a moment of weakness.”

“Is that what you’re calling it?” He smirked. “I want to say we’re only human, but that doesn’t fit, so I’ll lead with we have needs too.” He shrugged, “And Terah is beautiful, if not a little intimidating.” Reeves moved over to the desk and started arranging things with nervous energy.

Konner watched him for a moment, he didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before, but Reeves was way too relaxed with that comment. “You and Nolyn?”

Reeves stopped, his head jerking up to look at him. Dropping the folders, he straightened. “It’s not like we have a lot of choices without leaving the Sanctuary—which neither of us wants to do.”

Konner understood, loneliness was the hardest. “It’s not wrong, but...”

Reeves shook his head. “It’s not without affection. We made a pact, we’re both in our twenties, so still young.” He frowned. “If we hit forty and still have no mate, we’re going to have some kids and co-parent.”

Konner wasn’t sure what that entailed, he’d also thought Nolyn had given up the idea of having children without a mate. He cleared his throat. “And if one of you find a mate?” He thought of Terah, then focused hard not to have his mind go there. Reeves could be her mate and honestly, he didn’t know how he would cope with that if it happened.

Reeves shrugged. “Then we walk away, as you and Olanna did—so I’ve been told, that was before I was here.”

Konner looked at the floor for a moment. “Things were different with that,” he’d spent a year convincing himself of that, “Auburn was away for courses, so we could get construction permits, it never occurred to us—”

“Yeah, well, I hope I’m not Terah’s mate.”

He looked back at him—there was no male that would honestly think that when it came to the water spirit swimming and singing in his pool.

“Not because she’s not beautiful or-or kind but...” Reeves moved his hand up and down Konner. “I’ve never seen you like that, relaxed, intrigued by someone.” His smirk changed to a blank expression. “I was beginning to think you were cold, broken…”

Konner held up his hand, so he’d stop, “I get the point.” He straightened his shoulders. “It doesn’t change the fact that Terah may—”

“Find someone that will give her ten children?” Reeves shook his head. “Fate wouldn’t do that to me.”

Konner smiled. “You just said you were willing to co-parent with Nolyn.”

Reeves picked up a stack of folders. “Yeah, in fourteen years, not in nine months. Or however long it is.” He frowned. “It doesn’t equate. I heard Shaelan say gestation is forty weeks, like one-forms, that’s ten months but why do they say nine months?”

Konner had honestly, never in his life given it any thought at all. The calculation involved in conception had never been at the forefront of his mind. “I know nothing about it.”

Reeves snorted and started walking into Konner’s office, “Might want to look into that, because Terah seems adamant about having children. She has told all the females. And unless we light up like light bulbs or whatever if we ever swim together, that’s all on you, boss.”

Konner stood there staring at his back. He hadn’t even considered the children she wanted being a definite part of her plans. Yes, she’s said it, but he’d assumed she meant later. He scowled at the floor, it explained why she was checking the males off the list.

“Konner?”

He blinked to see Reeves standing in his office looking out at him.

“I’d like to sleep before dawn.”

Shooting him a hard look, he went into the room. “You’re going to have to swim with Terah before I go away.”

Reeves froze, then moved just his eyes to look at him.

Konner tried to shrug it off. “So we know sooner than later.”

“I thought you said—”

“It wasn’t right for me to deny her swimming with her own kind after a lifetime alone.” If he hadn’t been waging an internal war, he would have laughed at Reeves' shell-shocked look. “She swam with the boys earlier, Lucus was in awe of her.”

“In awe how?”

Konner tugged at the folder Reeves had a death grip on. “Her speed, how powerful she is.”

Reeves’s jaw snapped shut. “So basically, she’s going to make me look like a tortoise crawling along the sand.”

Konner grinned. He’d swam with Reeves; he wasn’t slow or lacking in the water. “I guess we’ll find out.”

He knew it was mean and slightly juvenile but knowing that Reeves would now avoid swimming with her as long as possible, took some of the sting out of old wounds Konner thought long healed. Konner opened the file and look at the materials list, without really seeing it. Since when did he play on others’ weaknesses? He needed to go for a long swim when they were done and clear his mind—he couldn’t afford to be distracted from work and the upcoming ops.

Operations that would bring them more clan members, and bring them closer to fulfilling all their hopes and wishes.