Read Taydelaan for Free Online Page B

eyes glazed with passion, but Jessica could barely breathe when Kayla shook her head no. It took a few moments for Kayla to find her voice.
    “No. I mean no, that’s not what I mean. I just…” She took another deep breath before seeming to gather her thoughts and continuing. “It’s just I’ve lived alone for a long time, and this place barely has enough room for one, and I don’t want you and David to be uncomfortable.”
    Jessica watched the woman squirm again. Something wasn’t right here. Now, more than ever, Jessica wished for the Taydelaan link that would have given her access to her lover’s thoughts and emotions, but right now she had to do things the human way—by talking.
    “Would you rather move in with us?”
    “But your house is empty.”
    “Minor detail. We still have four months left on the lease, so technically we just need furniture.” Kayla still looked worried, and Jessica felt herself running out of patience. Her lover seemed anxious, and she really needed to get to the root of the problem. “Baby, what is it? Don’t you love us?”
    Kayla’s face paled as she shook her head, but Jessica waited for the words. Waited to hear that the woman she loved, the woman she chose over having a family of her own, somehow loved her but didn’t want her. Her chest began to hurt as the air in her lungs stilled. Unable to force words past the constriction of her throat, Jessica just stared at Kayla as the woman tried to find her voice.
    “No. I mean yes. I mean I love you and I love David, but I don’t want to be a third wheel. I’ve spent the last few months as the outsider looking in, and I don’t want to feel like that anymore. I can’t be the extra. I want to be, but I can’t.” And then very quietly she added, “I can’t do that to myself again.”
    “What do you mean again?”
    Kayla shook her head, clearly choosing not to share the details of that statement.
    “What do you mean again?” Jessica repeated. “Baby, I want to understand what’s going on here. I love you, and David loves you. Please explain to me how that brought us to this point.” When it looked like Kayla wouldn’t answer the question, Jessica’s fear had words tumbling from her mouth, each one angrier than the last. “Tell me! Tell me what the hell is going on. You love us, but you don’t want to love us?”
    “No! It’s not like that.” Kayla’s angry response curtailed Jessica’s next question, and she watched in fascination as the woman she loved leaped off the bed and paced back and forth. Naked. “I want to be with both of you. I do. It’s just that I need to be a part of the relationship, not just the extra on the side. I can’t watch from the sidelines as you two live a life together.”
    All of Jessica’s anger fled as worry and grief replaced it. “Why would you think that you, David, and I wouldn’t be a true triad? On Sesturia, all relationships are triads—three equal partners, not a couple plus one. Why would you think we ask for anything less than a full commitment from all three of us?”
    Kayla stopped her pacing and dropped onto the edge of the bed. She rested her elbows on her knees and her face on her hands for a moment before turning to Jessica with tears glistening in her eyes.
    “A triad? Three equal partners?”
    Jessica nodded but held back her reaction as Kayla pinned her with a stare.
    “Two Sesturians and a human? How is that equal partners? You’ve traveled the galaxy. I haven’t even left this state. You’ve got advanced learning and skills and knowledge of things I can’t even imagine, and I’m a barely capable secretary. You probably even live longer.”
    Jessica tried not to flinch at the angry words, but Kayla guessed the truth, anyway.
    “You do live longer? How much longer?”
    Jessica gave her a sad smile, not really wanting to upset Kayla any more than she already was, but she didn’t want to lie either. “About twice as long as a human.”
    “Twice? So