Chapter Fifteen
Donovan
Tulya tied her robe and followed me out to the living room, eyes widening at the scene in front of her.
I’d woken early and had an idea—it was born less out of selflessness and more out of selfishness.
I wanted as much Tulya as I could get in a small period of time…
and minutes I could grab with her were a bonus since I didn’t think we would ever be a possibility other than a fling.
Spread out in front of Tulya’s eyes was a huge Christmas brunch spread. There was French toast, muffins, sesame seed rolls, eggs with and without cheese, turkey bacon, fruit, Christmas cookies and, of course, a pitcher of orange juice for mimosas.
With the blinds open, the sunshine poured in, illuminating Tulya’s face and warming the room.
“Oh. My. Donovan. This is. I don’t know.” She punctuated each word, strolling around the elongated table, her pointer finger lingering a beat by each item. “You recreated our holiday brunch,” she said, practically out of breath.
“I want you to be happy.” It was all I could admit.
From the side-looks this morning, we both knew this relationship had a shelf life, similar to the food in front of us. I hadn’t intended to mention anything more about our expiration date; it wasn’t worth spoiling this glorious moment.
But while seated on the balcony, sipping on mimosas, empty plates set in front of us and happy families celebrating below us at the pool, Tulya asked, “What about when we finish this task? What’s your plan?”
I didn’t know if she meant when it came to her and me, or what exactly she was getting at. Running a palm over my forehead, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer.
“Your mom seems to have plans for you,” she added, sensing my hesitation, clarifying her question.
I guessed she was more of a “get the elephant out of the middle of the room” woman.
Blowing out a long breath, I said, “She always does.”
The warm breeze ruffled Tulya’s hair, which was sufficiently mussed from our night in the sheets.
I had no idea why she brought this subject up, but my dumbass feelings wouldn’t allow me to bend the truth.
I wanted to keep her for whatever time I could, but also forbid myself from lying to Tulya anymore.
“I’m leaving Rubia,” I blurted out without thinking.
That was the thing with Tulya: she made me reckless.
“What?” She leaned forward and stared at me. “Leaving leaving? How? For a vacation? For work?”
There was no skirting the issue now. I mimicked her expression. “Leaving leaving.”
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word.
“I’m working on a deal. A hotel deal, the kind my dad never wanted to do, but I’ve been eager to do since I took over. I’m going to Hawaii. For good.”
She stood and moved toward the railing, and I gave her the moment.
“Do you have an American lover, like your brother?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
“Come on,” I responded, “don’t do that. We may not be a thing, but I would never do something like that… Two women at once. That’s not me.”
This earned me another eyebrow raise.
Shaking my head, I said, “No, I do not have an American lover, but I’m also not getting involved in an arrangement like my brother and Cinder. I do enough of my mother’s bidding. Romance will not be another assignment.”
She came toward me and put her palm on my cheek.
I did not expect this type of reaction from her.
“So, you’ve decided to forgo your own happiness while everyone else has theirs?
You’re here in Miami, resolving things for your brother, making your mom happy, and getting to know Blake.
And then what? You’ll say adios and go to Hawaii, banishing yourself?
Sounds similar to what you may have accused me of—”
My hand came to her waist. “Yes, I’m sorry, it does. But we know this is how this has to be.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I caught a quick glimpse of the pleading in her eyes before she schooled her expression, let go of me, and turned around.
Standing, I gathered her from behind, pulling her back to my front. “It can’t be with us…my sweet and kind and beautifully stunning Tulya. We could have had some fun at home, but now I’m expected to get serious with someone, make a life, produce bold and brazen Rubians.”
She swiveled around so fast we both almost lost our footing.
“Look, I know we are doomed, never meant to be. But maybe…we could have fun now? Or I don’t know, talk to our mothers?
” She yanked away and buried her forehead in her palms. “Lordy, I cannot believe I’m begging like this, carrying on like a jilted woman.
We had one night.” Her long hair tangled in her face, and she swept it back with a rough hand.
I approached, smoothing a few stray strands away from her eyes. “Believe me, I want way more than this one night. I’d like to hoard them all, but it’s not in the stars for us.”
Inside my head, I screamed at myself for ever flirting with Tulya, let alone last night.
“Why?” It came out quiet and scared, unlike the brave Tulya I had come to know.
I didn’t know if she meant why not us or why did I care about whoever my mom picked for me. But I asked, “Do you know why it can’t be us?”
Her lips pursed before she responded. “I’m not daft,” she said, still tucked in my grasp. “Our mothers would never allow it. They’re too good of friends or whatever. We’ve said this a million times. They wouldn’t let us get in the middle of them.”
“This is the best part of you, Tulya. You hold such great power, yet you are so innocent. You look beyond all the inner workings of Rubia, ignoring the underground of shit swirling in the air. It’s so thick, you can almost grab it by the handful.”
“I don’t think I’m looking beyond, as you say. They are comrades in everything, those two.”
If I wasn’t thinking about Ezza and Ceci, I’d be hard. Thankfully, they were like a giant bucket of limp dick. I had a full-blown thing for strongheaded, na?ve Tulya. “Not because of some silly reason, sweet Tulya.”
“Please stop with the sweet, it’s too much.”
I didn’t respond to that request, rather moved my hands to her upper arms, gently forcing our bodies to allow our eyes to meet.
“Because we cancel one another out. I’m a knife and you are a salve.
” She looked at me, her brow furrowed as she solved my riddle.
“You take pain away. And when I want or need to, I dole it out, sometimes mercilessly. Our powers are complete opposites.”
“So? It’s not like you’re out there, sending everyone into painful fits. I don’t understand.” She stopped and then started again. “Or maybe you are causing irreparable harm?”
Brushing my lips across her cheek like a starved lover, I wanted to give her only comfort, never pain—always. “No, I’m not making anyone suffer who didn’t earn it,” I said into her ear. “I didn’t ask for this capability.”
Her forehead came to meet my chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say you did. I didn’t either, but I don’t understand.”
I needed a long breath while taking a moment.
Then I spoke. “There is the chance we could make one another powerless. Or our children, if we got that far, would be born without abilities… Our mothers won’t permit either of those scenarios to happen.
That’s why they’re busy looking for matches.
To alter abilities and trying to build stronger ones. ”
She stepped back and stared at me. “My mother is tampering with future potential power? No! The Minister is against that sort of thing…”
“It’s true” was all I answered. She kept walking away from me as I moved toward her, reaching out. I took her arm in my palm and she steadied. I didn’t want to control her; my only thought was protection.
“How do I not know? What is she planning for? A new Rubian way?” Her feet brought her to me and she burrowed in my chest. “I live on her property. She uses my power all the time to her benefit…yet you and I have the tingle when we are near one another. There is some connection. You zig and I zag, but as if it’s meant to be. Why didn’t they tell me about this?”
Tulya rambled into my pectoral, but I heard every one of her concerns, especially the unspoken tether between us. “That’s why I’m going to Hawaii. Now it’s even more crucial.”
“Because of me?” Tulya looked up, her eyes damp.
“I was going either way, but we can’t be. And truthfully, after I untangle my brother from his mess, I don’t want to be a part of any more Rubian nonsense.”
“Maybe I will come to Hawaii?”
I smiled and tipped her chin with my pointer finger so she could look at my eyes. “Your mom wouldn’t ever allow it, and neither would mine.”
Walking away, she said over her shoulder, “Well, I may only be a pawn in my mother’s game, but I have today. I’m going to the pool and enjoying my holiday without my spoiled, manipulative family.”
She disappeared into her room, emerging in a swimsuit and jean shorts, a tote tossed over her shoulder. Long gone was chatter over the buffet or the holiday.
All Tulya said was, “Be back up later,” and left the room.
Since I was nothing more than a fool, I didn’t follow or seek her out later. I figured the mood had been spoiled, and she needed time with the knowledge I’d dumped on her.
I made sure to tell myself this wasn’t about my own self-preservation.