Page 98 of Seducing Jenny
“Then tell them to fuck off and be done with it,” Mal said brusquely. “That’s my advice.”
Jenny sighed. “Family isn’t that easy, Mal.”
“Exactly why I warned him against asking me for advice on the matter,” he muttered.
I sat up, patted both their legs, then stood. I needed room to move and pace. “I am not going back for what they want. I won’t unite with someone else.”
“What if…” Jenny bit her bottom lip in hesitation before speaking the rest of her thoughts. “What if you were already united? You couldn’t unite with anyone else then, right?”
“It’s not unheard of,” I told her. “But it is unusual.”
She stood up in front of me, then met my gaze. “What ifwegot united?”
She looked terribly nervous and uncomfortable, but she tried to hide it. I also knew that wasn’t an answer to my problem.
I smiled down at her, gently brushing the back of my hand along her soft cheek. “You’re being kind, and I appreciate that, but if we are ever uniting, I want it to be because that’s whatwe want. Not to save me from my clan. But thank you.”
She nodded, her brows furrowing in thought. “Okay, so this whole thing is about making babies, right? To carry on the clan?”
“More or less,” Mal answered.
“Do Ladrians have…like, artificial insemination? Freezing sperm? All that?”
We had a similar process, and both Mal and I nodded.
Jenny’s eyes lit up, as if she’d found the perfect solution to my problem. “Then why not freeze your sperm and send it to them?”
I shook my head, grimacing. “That would be like a slap in the face to the clan. Worse than if they never heard from me again.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t understand.”
I tried my best to explain. “More than turning my back on our traditions, I would be telling them that the new ways of doing things are better. The Orne clan is traditional in a lot of ways and sending them frozen sperm would be a grand insult when it is a family unit they are striving for. Hells, they wouldn’t even be able to keep it frozen…and then there’s the act of how to get it out of me, when I can’t even think about anything sexual right now—”
“Surge can extract it with a needle, were it to come to that,” Mal cut in.
I winced at the thought. “Oh, lucky me,” I said sarcastically. “A needle to my most sensitive parts. Great idea.”
Mal shrugged. “Just trying to help.”
“I know. Sorry.” I felt so deflated.
“It’s not just about his sperm,” Mal told Jenny. “There’s an entire culture and a history they are trying to preserve.”
Jenny scoffed. “Yes, a dumbass culture and a stupid history—”
“Hey!” I objected heatedly.
She whirled around to face me. “They treat you like a sperm donor they can order around, and you’re defending them?”
“My family’s culture and our history is not something for you to disparage, Jenny,” I said, my voice rising sharply. “I wouldneverdo that to you.”
“My family would never dream of doing something this selfish!” she shot back, just as upset.
Mal stepped between us, raising his hands. “Enough. Both of you. Jenny, you’re right. Youdon’tunderstand. So please try to remember that. Tiger, she’s not wrong to call it selfish. Itis. But it’s also what your clan believes in. This whole situation isn’t easy for any of us, and we’re all on edge. Let’s try and calm down and be more rationale, and respectful.”
Jenny looked at me, and her anger softened. Her face still carried hurt and frustration and even fear, but her eyes—those beautiful eyes—held only love.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her tone now gentle and kind. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that. I don’t get this and I’m not sure I ever will. I hate everything about this for you. But most importantly, I love you.”
