Captives of New Pompeii (18 page)

“You understand me, and I trust you. Why
can’t you help me vent my anger?”

“Dominating you would feed the beast inside
me. I cannot risk losing control.”

Nonplused by the possibilities, she closed
her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t want to need one man, much
less two. I’ve spent so long convincing myself I need no one, that
I’m the one responsible for my happiness.”

“Ultimately you are.” He turned her around
and she opened her eyes, knowing she’d find warmth and compassion
in his eyes. His eyes were always filled with tenderness when he
looked at her. “Needing someone else doesn’t make you weak as long
as you choose the right person. Self-reliance is admirable, but
it’s also lonely. We are designed to give and receive love, to
share ourselves with others.”

She licked her lips and allowed her mind to
entertain the concept. Needing others didn’t equal weakness? She
wanted to believe it, but experience made her wary. “You honestly
think an occasional visit with Caleb will allow me to be satisfied
with you?”

“I think we should find out.” He brushed his
knuckles against her cheek and smiled. “Better an occasional visit
with a starship captain who will never remain in one place for long
than to have you find someone else.”

“What if I decide Caleb is who I want?” Her
pride demanded she pose the question. Quade was accepting this all
just a little too easily.

“And turn your back on all this?” He
indicated the lavish room surrounding them. “You can’t live without
luxury and we both know it.”

Lowering her gaze, she whispered, “Will you
come with me?”

“I must escort you. That’s my job.” He
raised her chin and looked into her eyes. “Or do you want me to
participate?”

“I’m not sure. I think it might be easier
for me if you were there too.”

“I’m not opposed to watching you with him,
but I don’t want to fuck him.”

Her fertile imagination was happy to provide
her with a variety of possibilities. She saw herself between them,
one in front and one behind. Then she pictured Quade in a chair,
calmly watching as Caleb fucked her. But the image that sent lust
blasting through her body was the two men together, touching,
kissing—and fighting for domination. Their muscles bunched and
flexed as they wrestled and twisted, each position more provocative
than the last.

She shivered and resisted the urge to press
her hand over her mound. “I think we should ask Caleb what he
suggests. He seems to have a better grasp on these things than
either of us.”

Quade’s only response was a curt nod, so she
took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom. Mikko’s
apartment was on the other side of the villa, separated from hers
by an enclosed courtyard with a multilevel fountain and graceful
statues. A large bed dominated the room, the diaphanous hangings
fluttering in the breeze. She walked to the far wall and pressed
her hand against the scanner panel, which was masked by the
intricate mural. A door slid open, allowing her access to the
combooth.

“The noninterference clause forbids us from
exposing any of the inhabitants to sophisticated technology.
Anything that didn’t exist in the original Pompeii must be kept
secured and out of sight.”

“That makes sense.” He followed her into the
combooth and the door slid closed behind them.

“Will you be living in New Pompeii
full-time, or have you kept your homes beyond the barrier?”

“We kept our penthouse in Akielesh and the
lake house, but the rest were sold and invested in this project.
It’s do-or-die for Mikko. This city will either make him one of the
richest men on Fedoros or grind him into the dirt.”

“Any predictions?” Quade remained by the
door, hands clasped behind his back. Despite their intimacies, he
remained polite and professional. She understood his detachment. He
used professionalism to remind them both that she was a mission,
and Mikko could reassign him at any time.

“Given the popularity of the gladiator
games, I think New Pompeii will be wildly successful.” She swept
her hand over the panel and activated the communications grid.
Selecting a private link, she pinged Caleb’s audiocom.

“Captain Thrax, go.” Caleb’s deep voice
filled the small space.

“It’s Laetif. I got your note.” All her
efforts failed to keep her voice steady. Just the thought of him
left her week in the knees.

He chuckled. “And? Are we going to finish
what we started?”

She swallowed hard and nodded then realized
he couldn’t see her. “I’d like that. I know you’re in the middle of
unloading the refugees. When will you be available?”

“Are you coming to me, or am I coming to
you?”

“It might be best if we met on neutral
ground. Have you ever stayed at the Palace Arms? They’re known for
their discretion.”

“I’ll meet you there at twenty-one hundred.
Text me with a room number. Aiden can supervise the evacuation for
an hour or two. Thrax, out.”

Just like that, she was scheduled to meet
the lover of her choice while accompanied by the lover her husband
assigned to her. How had her life become so convoluted? She powered
down the comgrid and turned to Quade. “So, what should we do for
the next four hours?”

He inclined his head. “I’m open to
suggestions.”

“What happens now?” Felicia sat in Aiden’s
office, a datapad resting in her lap, displaying a book she had
been unable to concentrate well enough to read. “Shika explained
about the GPS chips. I know it’s only a matter of time before they
come for me.”

Aiden flattened the computer display and
gave her his undivided attention. “I never chipped you. Remember,
as far as Xyell is concerned, you didn’t survive stasis.”

Uncertainty swelled within her, fragmenting
her thoughts. She could walk away and begin a new life. On a
strange planet where she understood so little? “What if I want to
stay for a while, make sure the others have adjusted to the
relocation?”

“I’ll have to chip you and put you back in
stasis. You’ll need to be processed like everyone else.”

Her heart twisted as the only question that
mattered surged to the top of her list. “What are your plans?” She
didn’t want to sound desperate. In the back of her mind she’d known
their affair would end with their arrival on Fedoros. She had just
avoided the reality of what was to come.

He pushed back his chair and came around to
the front of the desk, gathering her hands in his. “Stay with me,
Felicia. This doesn’t have to end.”

“I cannot desert my people.”

“Can you oversee festivals and offer
sacrifices to a goddess you no longer trust?”

His conversational tone did little to
alleviate her immediate resistance to the question. She pulled her
hands out of his and stepped back. “My role in the community is far
more complicated than that. My gift has become a resource many
depend on for guidance and comfort. If Perion is truly dead, which
I am still not convinced of, the temple will be my responsibility.
If he’s alive, I must protect others from his lechery.” She crossed
her arms over her chest disappointed and depressed. “I cannot walk
away. I would be leaving more than friends and distant relations—I
would be abandoning my calling.”

“I understand. I hate it, but I understand
why you’re doing it.”

She wanted to suggest he come with her, but
that was an option he needed to come to on his own. She wouldn’t
beg him not to leave her, even though her heart was breaking with
each passing second. “These past weeks have been the best of my
life. I have—”

He swept her into his arms and silenced her
with a demanding kiss. “Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. I am not
nearly ready to let you go. There has to be a compromise, a
situation that will…”

Buzzing erupted in her ears, drowning out
the rest of his sentence. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed
her fists to her temples as emotions and sensations blasted into
her mind. Terror, raw and brittle, sliced through her being. Aiden
called her name, carefully shaking her by the shoulders.

She didn’t understand the source, but it
didn’t matter. Her gift compelled her into motion. She flew from
his office and dashed through the infirmary, ignoring the staff’s
startled gasps. Aiden was right behind her when she reached the
corridor.

“What’s wrong? What do you sense?”

“Danger and fear,” she forced the words past
the ringing in her head. “Someone is in trouble.” With no further
explanation she ran to the lift and paused to focus the sensations,
gather a clearer picture of the situation. “Crew quarters, near the
cargo holds.”

“Deck Nine.” The lift responded to his
command and his arm slipped around her waist, steadying her as the
car descended. “Security to Deck Nine. Immediately!”

Two burly guards joined the small procession
as Felicia led them down the corridor. The emotions spiked, pain
stabbing deep into her body. “There! He’s in there!” She pointed to
the next door on the left as the pain drove her to her knees.

The guards rushed past them, announcing
their presence before manually overriding the privacy lock. A
female’s scream echoed in the hallway as the door slid open then an
irate male demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”

Fury drove Felicia to her feet as she
recognized Perion’s voice. The guards had him pinned against the
wall when she rushed through the door, but her gaze flew to the
girl huddled in the corner, sobbing. Felicia snatched a blanket off
the bed and draped it around the victim’s shoulders, kneeling by
her side.

“It’s all right. No one will hurt you now.
You are safe.”

The girl raised her tormented gaze and tears
blurred Felicia’s vision. “I screamed and screamed, but no one
came. Why did they do this to me?”

They
? The word filled Felicia with
dread. Why had her gift taken so long to engage? She’d sensed the
girl’s peril, but not soon enough to prevent the deplorable crime.
She wrapped her arms around the girl, aching with regret. “It is
not your fault. None of this was your fault.”

“But they said—”

“It does not matter what anyone said. You
are not to blame.”

Unable to restrain her fury any longer,
Felicia flung herself across the cabin and confronted Perion. “You
fucking pervert!” She punctuated the label with her fist. His head
snapped to the side and blood gushed from his nose. His startled
scream only fueled her anger.

“What is going on here!” Xyell’s voice
cracked like a whip, silencing everything but the girl’s soft
sobbing and Perion’s moans. “I demand an explanation.”

Panting, blood dripping from her hand, she
turned toward the doorway.

“You tell me, Ambassador Xyell.” Aiden’s
tone was every bit as autocratic. “Why is this man not in stasis
and why was he allowed to brutalize this girl?”

“Allowed? I resent the implication.” They
faced off through the open doorway, Aiden on the inside and Xyell
in the corridor. “The priest has been helping me assign residences
in the new city. His knowledge of the social structure of the city
is invaluable. Obviously, he did not have my permission to harm
anyone.”

Perion’s struggle suddenly resumed and he
screamed at Xyell. “You brought her to me! Your seed was still wet
on her thighs!”

“Clearly he is deluded. I’ve been nowhere
near this girl. Ask her.”

Felicia moved closer to the doorway, shaking
with barely suppressed rage. “Then how did she get in here? Can
Perion authorize an awakening?”

“Felicia, I presume?” He tried to push past
Aiden, but the doctor wouldn’t budge. “Perion insisted you were
still alive. I see now where you’ve been hiding.”

“Take them both to the brig,” Aiden told the
guards. “I’ll summon spaceport authority.”

“You will do no such thing,” Xyell said,
unconcerned with Aiden’s threat. “As you’re doubtlessly aware, I
have diplomatic immunity and this priest is my responsibility. I
will deal with his misbehavior. And I will not be harassed on the
word of a deranged rapist. If you summon spaceport authority,
Prince Tarhee will be here to greet them.” Suddenly a sea of red
and gold filled the corridor. At least twelve of Xyell’s men had
responded to a silent signal. “Step aside,” he told Aiden.

“At the very least, I insist on examining
the girl.”

“She will be tended in New Pompeii. Your
infirmary is too—sophisticated for her needs. You signed the
noninterference clause when you took this job.”

Aiden seethed. Felicia could almost feel the
waves of anger and frustration radiating off his body. After a
strained silence, he cleared the doorway, allowing Xyell’s men to
enter the small room. They dragged Perion, kicking and screaming,
down the corridor. The girl was nearly catatonic, so one of the
guards carried her.

“I’ll go with her.” Felicia rushed forward,
but Xyell blocked the door. “You aren’t going anywhere. At least
not yet.” He looked at Aiden, hostility blazing in his eyes.
“Dismiss your guards. You owe me an explanation.”

“Wait in the corridor,” Aiden told the two
grim-faced guards. Four of Xyell’s men had tarried as well, so the
hallway was still rather crowded.

The door shut and Xyell strolled farther
into the room. “She’s dressed in a crewmember’s uniform. Did you,
perhaps, mean to keep her for yourself?”

“She is no longer your concern,” Aiden
insisted.

“She is my property.”

“I am no man’s property!” Felicia yelled. “I
am not, nor have ever been a slave.”

Xyell crossed his arms and stared at her,
his lazily assessing gaze bordering on insolence. “We intend to
maintain the status quo. Those who were freemen before shall remain
free. So, I suppose your claim is valid. However, you must
reimburse me for your transport if you intend to leave my
care.”