Captives of New Pompeii Read online

  With his hand still pressed to the side of her face, he wrapped his other arm around her waist. “All you ever have to do is tell me to stop and I’ll stop.” He brushed her lips with his and smiled into her eyes. “Remember? I will never hurt you.”

  Then his lips settled over hers in a slow, melting kiss. She grasped the front of his shirt and moved her head to the side, fitting their mouths more closely together. His tongue teased the inside of her lips, announcing his intention before he pushed fully into her mouth. She moaned and pushed her tongue across his, mimicking his movements.

  Their mouths slid and pressed then repositioned. She drew his breath into her lungs, memorizing his scent as his taste rolled across her tongue. She had stolen kisses as a giggling girl, but they had been nothing like this.

  She felt restless and needy, hot and…sensual. She wanted to rub against him and feel his naked body pressing over her, pushing into her. This was desire. She wanted Aiden—there was no doubt about it.

  “Are you adequately distracted?” he whispered against her kiss-swollen lips.

  Unable to stop herself, she touched her tingling lips. “Yes.”

  “Do you want me to stop?” Challenge threaded through his warm tone and it gave her the strength she needed to step back, out of his embrace.

  “My life is seldom about what I want. We need to stop for the good of my people.”

  He took her hand and led her out of the cargo bay. “And how does neglecting your emotional and physical needs serve your people?”

  They had entered the lift, so she waited for her body to adjust to the sudden ascent before she answered. “My dreams and impressions are a valuable gift. In exchange, Venus asks that I abstain from carnal pleasures.”

  “Are you allowed to pleasure yourself or is that forbidden as well?”

  Heat blossomed on her cheeks and crawled across her chest. “Such things are discouraged.”

  “Are you a virgin?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Have you ever had an orgasm?”

  She was not familiar with the word, but she was smart enough to ascertain its meaning. He was talking about the pleasure a man felt when he released his seed. Did this mean women received a similar sensation? She had certainly felt nothing but disgust and— No! She was not going to think about Perion. That was how this entire incident had started.

  “No need to answer. It’s obvious you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

  “I know what you are talking about.” The door slid open and they stepped out into the corridor.

  “Having sex is a natural biological function, like any other. I don’t understand why—”

  “That is all it means to you?” She gaped. “A biological function? Your stomach rumbles, so you eat. Your mentula hardens so you find a willing cunnus to shove it into?”

  His brow arched and then he laughed. “My Latin infusion didn’t cover some of those words, but I’m pretty sure I can guess their meaning. When my cock gets hard, I prefer that the pussy I shove it into belongs to someone I care about. But I don’t believe the act requires undying love.”

  “I would not know,” she reminded. “I just hope my sacrifice has meant more than going without an occasional meal.” She stormed off down the corridor in what she hoped was the right direction. He was a few steps behind, so her display was mostly for principle. How could something she had spent years coveting mean so little to him? Especially when his kiss left her aching for more?

  She rounded a corner and collided with a beautiful blonde woman. The blonde instinctively grabbed her arms, keeping them both from toppling to the floor. Images inundated Felicia’s mind in a nauseating rush. She closed her eyes against the deluge, but the vision came that much faster.

  The blonde bent over a bed, a tall dark-haired man behind her. The man held her breasts as he thrust into her. Felicia had seen people lost in passion before. The temples were filled with harlots. This scene was different. The woman’s features contorted with emotion, pleasure, guilt and regret. She wanted the man who possessed her body, but something about the coupling was bringing her emotional pain.

  “Are you all right?” The stranger gave Felicia a little shake. Felicia didn’t understand the woman’s words. She spoke in a language Felicia didn’t know. Yet Felicia’s gift translated the meaning directly to her mind.

  “Remove your hands,” Aiden suggested in the same language, his tall form suddenly behind Felicia. “I think that’s what triggered the vision.”

  “She’s having a vision.” The blonde snatched her hands back and Aiden wrapped his arms around Felicia as her knees buckled. “Who is she?”

  “My assistant.” He swung her up into his arms. Felicia’s head swam sickeningly and she groaned. “Her name is Felicia.” He switched back to Latin and his gaze filled with concern. “Do you need to lie down? Where shall I take you?”

  If they went to his bedchamber, she was afraid he would “take” her before the night was through. His embrace felt too natural and it was far too easy to imagine herself in his bed. “I need food. I feel weak.”

  “The Thrax brothers have that effect on women,” the stranger said in perfect Latin. “I am Laetif Xyell. I’m sorry I startled you.”

  “My head is clearing. Aiden, you may put me down.”

  Laetif smiled and moved up beside them. “I don’t think he wants to put you down. You look rather sweet there in his arms. Now, where are we headed? I want to hear about this vision? Was I in it?” Felicia felt her cheeks flame and Laetif laughed. “I see. You’re going to tell me every detail. And I do mean every detail.”

  Aiden wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Of all the people they could have run into, Laetif Xyell was the worst. Caleb was going to kill him! He’d still been reeling from Felicia’s bizarre behavior in the shuttle bay and their semi-risqué conversation or he might have chosen a more secluded corridor.

  “So, how long have you worked for the good doctor?” Laetif asked in Fedoros.

  Felicia looked at him with panic in her eyes. She obviously knew Laetif was trying to talk to her. “Felicia doesn’t speak Fedoros, Madame Xyell. She has trouble with the language infuser. It gives her terrible headaches.”

  “Then how did she learn Latin?” Laetif sauntered along beside them, suspicion gleaming in her bright blue eyes. Caleb was right. She was physically stunning. Aiden had yet to make up his mind about her character. The fact she had married Xyell was a massive obstacle.

  “There was no choice,” he told her. “We had to risk it. She’s no good to me if she can’t do her job.”

  Laetif snickered. “Somehow I doubt that.” She effortlessly switched to Latin as she went on. “Are you two lovers?”

  “Not yet,” Aiden said. Felicia gasped and he laughed. “The lady thinks it unwise to become emotionally entangled with her employer.”

  “The lady is wise.” Laetif smiled at Felicia. “However, no one ever accused me of being wise. I was Mikko’s personal assistant for two years before he asked me to marry him. That’s how we met.”

  Felicia cocked her head, confusion furrowing her brow. “You agree that it is unwise to become intimate with your superiors and yet that is how you met your husband. Do you regret your choice in mates?”

  Laetif glanced at Aiden, her expression reflecting both amusement and surprise. “She doesn’t miss much, does she?”

  “Please accept my apology. I am often too bold.”

  “I have no problem with your candor. I felt like I’d won the lottery when Mikko asked me to marry him. Many girls like me become rich men’s mistresses, but very few become their wives.”

  “Girls like you?”

  Aiden squeezed Felicia and shook his head.

  “It’s all right, Doctor Thrax. I really don’t mind.”

  Shit! She’d called him doctor again. She’d been speaking Fedoros when she did it the first time, so he was relatively sure Felicia hadn’t understood. Her clear blue gaze sna
pped to his now and her eyebrow shot even higher. “Doctor Thrax?” she whispered.

  “Later.”

  “My father is a Fedoros councilman, but my mother was his mistress, not his wife. I was raised with just enough wealth and privilege to know how utterly miserable I was without it. I knew Mikko was attracted to tall blonde women, so I put myself in his path.”

  They reached the entrance to the mess hall. Not wanting to embarrass Felicia if the room was no longer empty, he set her down before triggering the door. As he feared, people had started to trickle in for the evening meal. He led the women to a table in the back corner of the room where they would draw the least attention. He glanced around the room as the women continued to converse. Attempting to avoid attention was futile while flanked by two gorgeous blondes.

  “You set out to become his mistress, but he was more honorable than you expected?”

  Laetif laughed. “You obviously don’t know Mikko. My husband is a ruthless bastard who does nothing that doesn’t benefit him.”

  The bitterness in her tone drew Aiden’s full attention. “Then why did he marry you?”

  “My father offered him an obscene dowry for ‘making me respectable’. It was a financial transaction, plain and simple.” She shrugged it off, but pain lingered in her gaze. “Enough about me. Tell me about you. Have you always had visions?”

  Again Felicia looked to him for assistance. She was obviously not accustomed to lying. How refreshing. “She’s had prophetic visions since she was a child. That’s actually what brought us together. Six years ago she participated in a sleep study I was conducting in the hopes of debunking psychic dreams. Instead of being able to prove she was a fraud, she proved to me that she is a prophet. She’s really quite remarkable. We’ve been working together ever since. She’s too eager to believe and I’m too damn jaded, so we balance each other out.”

  “But you don’t sleep together? You have incredible chemistry. I can feel the heat from here.” She winked at him. “What are you waiting for? Seduce her!”

  “I cannot be seduced,” Felicia insisted.

  They both laughed. “Anyone can be seduced,” Laetif told her.

  “You misunderstood my meaning. If I surrender to my desire for Aiden, I would lose my gifts. These forces can only flow through a pure vessel.”

  “You’re a virgin?” Laetif’s eyes widened and she rested her chin on her hand. “You poor thing. I would die without sex.”

  “I did not say I was a virgin. But I must keep my mind and body—”

  “If the power didn’t leave you after you fucked the first time, why are you so convinced it will leave you now?”

  Felicia scooted to the edge of her chair and her eyes were unusually bright. Was she fighting back tears?

  “Madame Xyell, she obviously doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Felicia whispered, and a tear escaped the corner of her eye.

  Aiden scooted closer to her on one side and Laetif did the same on the other. They reached for her hands at exactly the same time and each ended up with one.

  “I’m sorry, Felicia.” Laetif beat him to the line. “Here I am running my mouth and you’re traumatized. Did you know the man who raped you?”

  “She doesn’t want to talk about it.” Aiden glared at her, damn the consequences. Being his employer’s wife didn’t give her the right to torment the passengers.

  “She needs to talk about it.” Aiden looked closer and saw only compassion in Laetif’s eyes. “Let it out, sweetheart. How long have you been holding this in?”

  Felicia shifter her chair, putting her back to the room, and spoke in a soft, anguished tone that tore at Aiden’s heart. “I not only knew him, but he was my mentor and spiritual guide.”

  “Another fucking priest,” Laetif sneered in Fedoros. “Are they lecherous in every culture?”

  “Power corrupts,” he responded. “Regardless of its supposed source.”

  “Not all priests are bad. Just as not all doctors take advantage of their patients.” Felicia waited for the comment to sink in before she returned her gaze to Laetif. “I was not this priest’s only victim. He convinced us that our goddess gave him permission to take his pleasure with us. He told us that it was allowed because we all served the goddess, that our coupling was a form of worship.”

  “How nice for him.” Laetif shook her head. “Was he punished for taking advantage of you and the others?”

  “As I matured and grew more comfortable in my power, I realized he was a charlatan. I tried to run him off, but he has powerful friends who protected him and his position in the temple. I warned each and every novice to avoid him, and we learned to stay out of each other’s paths.”

  A long, strained silence followed. Aiden seethed, wondering if the bastard was down in the cargo bay. Felicia looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Laetif was plotting something. He hadn’t known her long, but already he could spot that calculative expression.

  “You need to go get us some food,” Laetif told him, her gaze settling on Felicia.

  “I don’t think so. What are you thinking?”

  “I need to have a conversation with your assistant and you’re not invited.”

  “Anything you want to say, you can say in front of me.”

  “Not gonna happen.” She shooed him with her long, sculpted nails. “Run along. And give us at least fifteen minutes.”

  He looked at Felicia, but her features had fallen into an expressionless mask. “Do you want me to stay, or would you like to hear what she has to say?”

  “I have already told you two more about myself than I told my own mother.” She shook her head and finally smiled. “I am still trying to figure out how that happened.”

  “You just needed the right friend, and now you’ve found her.” Laetif returned her smile then turned on Aiden, shooing him away with a playful glare.

  Chapter Four

  Felicia watched the easy exchange between Aiden and Laetif, mesmerized by their banter. He had returned with a tray full of food, but her appetite had yet to return. She was not sure if it was her prolonged stay in stasis or if talk of Perion was upsetting her.

  She held her wineglass, still amazed that her hand did not pass through. Stop resisting him. Laetif’s advice echoed through Felicia’s mind. She knew what Perion had done to her had been evil and wrong, and she knew she had done nothing to invite his attentions.

  What she had never considered was that her first and only exposure to sexual intimacy was the reason she accepted the “purity mandate” without question. She had no desire to ever repeat a painful and humiliating act, so forgoing copulation was no real sacrifice.

  Laetif had gone on to explain how a woman’s body created the sensation Aiden had called “orgasm”. She’d used words like “clit” and “pussy”, but Felicia had been too embarrassed to ask questions.

  “You know, your best bet is to just stop resisting Aiden.” Laetif had spotted him walking their way and quickly added, “He knows what happened to you, so he’ll take his time. He’ll be gentle and show you how it should have been.”

  “Still not hungry?” Aiden asked when he noticed her untouched plate.

  “She’s thinking about my suggestions, I hope.” Laetif grinned. “You are too sweet to be so…alone. Isolation hovers around you like a cloud.”

  Felicia’s heart gave a guilty pang. How did this woman see her so clearly? She had always felt set apart, isolated from the world. “And you think what we talked about will help me feel more connected to those around me?”

  “I know it will.” Her eyes flew open wide and she pivoted in her chair, shifting her long legs out from under the table so she could cross them. “You never told me about the vision. What did you see?”

  Raising her wineglass to hide her panic, she scrambled for a plausible lie. How did Aiden concoct fictitious stories so readily? “I do not think it was a vision. Sometimes I am able to see other people’s memories.” That much w
as true, but that was not what had happened when Laetif grabbed her. The event she witnessed had not yet taken place.

  “You hijacked one of my memories?”

  “Not intentionally. It is a spontaneous reaction when my mind encounters another for the first time.” Again that was true. It just did not pertain to the situation.

  “Tell me what you saw. I want to see how accurate your gift is.”

  She looked at Aiden, fidgeting. “I’d rather not. You were in an intimate situation.”

  Laetif laughed. “Every time you shake someone’s hand you see them fucking?”

  “No. The memories can be of anything. Often whatever the person is thinking about at the time.”

  “Well, let me think. I’d just passed his brother in the hallway and I was thinking he had an amazing ass.”

  Felicia looked at Aiden and thought of the man in the vision. There features were very much the same. “Does your brother have a colorful tattoo across his shoulder and down one arm?” His gaze registered his shock and he nodded. She turned back to Laetif with a smile. “You were thinking about more than his amazing ass. I believe what I ‘hijacked’ was a fantasy, not a memory.”

  “Oh my God, I did not picture us fucking. I swear! Now granted he is high on my I-wouldn’t-mind-doing list, but I watched him walk for a few seconds and then I turned the corner and smacked into you.”

  “Your imagination can form a detailed fantasy in the blink of an eye. You might have passed the image into my mind before you even understood what you were seeing.”

  “I’ve never seen Caleb without his shirt on,” Laetif defended. “How’d I know about his tattoo?” They were all quiet for a moment as the possibilities spread out before them. Felicia watched understanding unfurl in the other woman’s eyes and reached for her hand.

  “It was a fantasy. A harmless imagining.”

  “How often do your predictions come true?” All playfulness was gone. She drew her hand away and unfolded her legs.