Carpathian 18 - Dark Possesion

MaryAnn asked.
    "Sure. Sometimes. When I'm alone in the middle of the night, or when I go into heat." She dropped a hand on Jasmine's shoulder. "There's no other way to put it. We suffer from mating urges a little more than most women, I think, but I'm not willing to live the kind of life a woman has to in order to have a family."
    "What kind of life is that?" MaryAnn asked, spooning a little honey into the tea. For some reason, she was having a difficult time drinking it. The food on the table turned her stomach. She hadn't eaten in a long time and should have been starving, but even the fruit didn't appeal to her.
    "Giving up freedom. Being under a man's thumb."
    "Is that what you think most marriages are like? Is that what Juliette's marriage is? Is she forced to do everything Riordan's way?"
    Solange opened her mouth, took a breath and closed it. Sighing, she sank down into a chair. "To be fair, maybe not. It looks like it on the surface, but the way he looks at her, the things he does for her, no, I think she has just as much say as he does. She wants to make him happy." There was curiosity in her voice. "I can't imagine wanting to do anything for a man."
    "Surprisingly, Solange, I felt the same way for a very long time. In my line of work, I see the worst in men—
    much, I suppose, as you do. But we're seeing a very small section. There are a lot of good men out there who have women they love, and they treat women with love and respect."
    MaryAnn willed her to understand and see what she was saying, because Solange was bitter and bitterness eventually ruined lives. You're too good a woman to live your life that way, honey . She wished she could take away all those terrible memories, all the tragedy that had befallen the two of them. Solange had been rescuing female captives from the jaguar-men for some time. She'd seen too much death and brutality, There were no policemen on the corners to call. It was a life-and-death struggle in the rain forest, and Solange had managed not only to survive, but to save many other women as well.
    "Maybe you're right," Solange agreed. "I keep thinking eventually Jasmine and I have to leave this place. It's my home and I love it, but if we keep up this fight, we'll eventually be killed. They already know us and our reputation."
    It was logical, but more than that, the fight with the jaguar-men colored every aspect of their life. "It isn't the best place for Jasmine," MaryAnn agreed.
    Solange nodded. "I know. We've known for some time that we have to find another home, haven't we, Jazz?"
    She ruffled her cousin's hair.
    There was too much sorrow in Solange, as if a great weight sat on her shoulders. She was younger than MaryAnn, and that was shocking. She looked older, her face serious and womanly rather than innocent, but she had to be only a few years older than Jasmine.
    "We've talked about it," Jasmine admitted, "but where would we go? Neither of us could live in a city, so close to other people."
    "Juliette said that Riordan had a house built on their ranch property for us," Solange said, her voice ultracasual. "We might try it."
    Jasmine stiffened and shook her head mutely.
    MaryAnn was too adept at reading people. Solange did not want to go to the ranch. She had such a distrust of men, and the De La Cruz main home was a working ranch with men everywhere. But it would place both women under the protection and eye of the De La Cruz brothers, all of whom took their roles very seriously.
    Solange was worried about Jasmine. If she knew about the pregnancy, as MaryAnn suspected, she would want to take Jasmine to the comparative safety of the ranch house.
    "Have you met Rafael and Colby?" MaryAnn asked. "Colby's younger brother Paul and her sister Ginny are living at the ranch. They seem to really love it there. Ginny is particularly wild about horses."
    Solange sent her a grateful smile. "Ginny is still young, right? I've heard Juliette talk about her. Eleven or twelve maybe."
    "It's not going to work, Solange," Jasmine said. "I'm not going to go to the ranch without you."
    "Did I say without me? I would go, too, if you did," Solange said. "And you're not eating enough to keep a bird alive. Eat."

    Jasmine scowled as she took a banana. "You'd go to the ranch, Solange, but you wouldn't stay there and you know it. You'd leave me with Juliette and come back to the rain forest and try to work here by yourself."
    Solange sat back in her chair and regarded Jasmine with a sober face.