She saw confusion mar all of their faces, except for Jen and Jacque. They seemed to get it right away.
“Bastard,” Jen growled. “He’s lucky I wasn’t the one to get my hands on him. I would have pumped him full of adrenaline so he’d stay awake while I cut off his jewels with a dull butter knife.”
Zara chuckled without humor. “Believe me, that was one of my constant fantasies while I was trapped.”
Peri stood up from her seat and walked over to Zara. She sat on the coffee table directly in front of the girl.
“You don’t have to do this.”Wadim’s voice filled her mind.“I never meant to make you feel like I didn’t desire you, beautiful,”he said, his voice more gentle than it had been in days.“I love you. I want you no matter what.”
Zara felt the tears fall down her face. “I’m not doing this for you,”she responded.“This is for me. Maybe it’s vain. Maybe it makes me weak because I can’t come to terms with it. But this is what I want. For so long, what I wanted didn’t matter. I had no power over my choices. Now, I do.”
“I think her mate just got involved.” Jen’s voice filled the surrounding quiet.
“Zara.”He breathed out her name like a prayer.“I don’t know what to say to make you understand.”
“If it makes you feel better, I’m not doing this in hopes that you’ll change your mind. You’ve made a choice based on your convictions. I’ve tried to ask you to see my point of view, but I need to respect your choice. And I need you to respect mine.”Zara felt his anger, pain, and desperation through the bond. She didn’t understand why he was feeling those things. They’d both shut down most of the bond, so she wasn’t getting everything from him.
“I won’t try to stop you,”he said, and it sounded as if he was speaking through gritted teeth.“But I wish youcould see yourselfas I do.”
“I do, and I’m in awe of how you feel about me. This is about how I see myself. If it works, then I will be thankful. If it doesn’t, I will learn to love my body as it is.”
“Tell your man to work on his own issues.” Jen spoke again. “He’s obviously got some crap to deal with. When he’s worked on himself, then he can give you advice on what he thinks you should do.”
Zara wiped her tears away and looked at Jen. “How did you know he was trying to change my mind?”
“Because they always think they know what is best for us. It’s in their genetic makeup to try to convince us we’re perfect just the way we are. Unless we’re trying to force them to build dog houses for dogs we don’t have yet.”
“To be fair, that was a little ridiculous.” Jacque snorted.
“Maybe, but it was also funny as hell.” Jen smiled wickedly.
Zara looked back at Peri. “What do I need to do?”
Peri’s lips turned up a bit. “Just sit there and let me work my magic. IfI’m successful, you’ll be obligated to gush over me and all that is my awesomeness.”
Zara laughed. “I can do that, but you’ll eventually get annoyed with it.”
“You learn quickly.” Peri placed her hands on Zara’s. “Sally and Rachel, a little healer’s magic wouldn’t hurt, considering you two badasses can knit organs and crap back together.”
Sally immediately came overanddroppedto her knees. She placed a hand just below Zara’s collarbone on her left side. Rachel did the same on her right side.
“Going to try this without groping you.” Sally gave a teasing smile.
“Spoilsports,” Jen said. “It would have been awesome to rub it in historyboy’s face that you and Rachel got to second base before him.”
Groans filled the room, but Bethany said, “That would be hilarious.”
“You don’t get a vote, remember?” Jacque growled. “Pregnant, dead brain cells. Enough said.”
“Let’s do this,” Peri commanded.
Zara could feel Wadim in her mind, almost as if he werepacing. She could also hear him growling. She ignored him and focused on her own body. Warmth filled her, starting in her chest and then radiating outward, down her arms, stomach, and thighs, all the way to the tips of her toes and to the top of her head.
It felt as if she sat there for hours with the three females touching her, working their magic. Finally, their hands moved away, and the warmth receded. Zara felt peace. Her body felt whole, strong,and, not knowing how else to describe it, healed.
Everyone gazed at her. She didn’t really know what to do.
“Are you going to look down your own shirt, or would you like me to do it for you?” Jen asked, completely serious.
