Sterling responded to the stream gruffly. “You bet your ass I would.”
Pax understood what Sterling was feeling and if he hadn’t picked up on the earlier cues, he’d have heard the cursing. Sterling had to be under pressure to curse. He’d seen plenty of violence in his life but never to a woman he felt a connection with on the level he felt connected to Maya. It was nauseatingly painful.
She shied away from her jailer, swiping at the blood with her hand. He angrily grabbed the box and yanked the tissues out “You’re good at this act. Maybe you don’t understand me but this gibberish that the computer says isn’t one of the established immigrant languages gives you away. If we don’t have your language on the database, it isn’t real.” He roughly wiped at her face. Grabbing the tissue from his hand, she held it to her nose.
There was more abuse in the same vein and the last thing was a chair thrown across the room that just missed their girl. They watched as Sterling entered the room at that point and the abusive behaviors stopped. Thank God. It also answered why she was jumpier than she had been. She’d been hurt. Again. Sterling left it running until the feed played out, but Zander could see he was also angry. Again. The tightness in his chest and the iron taste in his mouth from biting the inside of his cheek when her hair was yanked made him sick. Sterling had stopped it with his presence, but he couldn’t have known when he entered the room that the real damage had already been done. Trust was going to be more difficult now.
What must she be thinking? She had to be scared, having been thrown into a world she had no idea about. He was sure she must have been longing for home. This world was cruel. He knew men in her own time were cruel as well, but she was used to that. This one was alien. Zander prepared himself for the first, hard stages of assimilation but primary to everything was to establish communication links. The sooner the better.
As the two men stood to go back to bed, Darla’s voice came over the intercom.
Distress in Maya’s bedroom.
Compound breach.
Intruder escaping.
Bots released.
Chapter 6
Zander beat them to Maya and had her in his lap by the time the other two made it to her room. She sat, drawn deep in his robe, her tee shirt hiked up to the crest of her rounded bottom cheeks and she was sniffling.
“What the hell happened?” demanded Paxton as Sterling checked on Maya. Pax was security first, people second. He’d had to be like that for years and tonight, with others able to attend Maya, it was a good division of tasks.
Zander pointed to the corner window that faced the private back yard. It was sectioned off from the rest of the free-range compound to keep any wild animals away if they entertained or later had families. Pax walked over, inspected the window, and peered through it.
“Darla, what happened?” Sterling asked first.
“Male intruder at Maya’s window. He is gone.”
“Why was he not detected coming onto the grounds?”
“Unknown.”
“Review the tape and analyze.” The two men made comforting sounds and tenderly soothed Maya while they waited for Darla. “Is Maya harmed?”
“Physically? No more than when she came to us. That’s all I can attest to, but she can’t feel safe,” Sterling answered.
“Tape reviewed. A dog or related animal was in the yard. Then nothing until the man was at Maya’s window. He tried to get in but did not appear to understand how to open the window. The lights came on, alarm was sounded, and he jumped the yard fence into the woods behind it. Was unable to identify the man. He appeared to be less dressed than typical for this culture but not atypical for the current climate.”
“Darla, translate our words for Maya.”
Darla translated a simple explanation of the intruder and promised her she was safe. When Zander tried to get up and put her on her bed alone, she clung to him. “Okay, baby, I’ll stay here with you until you fall asleep.” She nodded hesitantly, obviously not comfortable with the translation technique but already dozing in his lap.
Finally, they all returned to bed. Zander lay with Maya until she fell asleep. He watched her as he thought through some of his confusing emotions. He wondered if she was really from where Darla had suggested. He’d wanted Maya from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her but couldn’t understand a word she said. She was vulnerable and yet he didn’t think she was weak. She had stood up to all those men who had suddenly been thrown at her, put up with the three of them and now, had endured a botched break in. And they needed to look at the security system. It should have set off alarms all over the place earlier than it did.
Zander loved women, but his career had been the focus for him for so long, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to give the right amount of attention to a woman. He was different than his friends. He wanted to love a woman with his complete self. He wanted to enjoy her intelligence, her spunk, her vulnerabilities and be surrounded by her sensuality.
Loving a woman, for him, was fun and easy going. He didn’t like emotional arguments, but he had done his fair share of them in past relationships. He spent too many hours working, researching, and teaching, but as one of a triad of lovers, no woman they loved would be alone or lonely unless she wanted to be.
She’d have to love animals because his work was all about animals. He communicated with them on a different level than most and it made him able to accomplish more than any other in this field. His woman would have to be attuned to that and not resent the work. Maya, if she was who they thought she was, would be able to handle that and understand it.
Her sigh brought his attention to her sleeping form. He kissed her temple and slid off the bed. He would have lain with her, but she had a half bed. He’d never fit easily alone, and not with Maya unless they shared the same space, double decker style. It was too early. It was going to be a long settling in at this rate.
The next morning Sterling was surprised when he found a naked Maya sitting in the middle of the floor with her mattress and bedding under her. He checked the wooden shelf attached to the wall had held the half bed and saw it was as naked as Maya. She was sitting regally with her back straight, and her messy but clean raven’s wing hair lay heavy on her bare skin. She lifted her eyes to his, so trusting, tranquil. His breath caught at the stunning woman before him. She didn’t seem at all embarrassed to be seen in her skin.
She placed her long, slender hand into his extended one, gripping tightly. He couldn’t help himself, he lifted her hand and turned it to kiss her wrist and then her palm. He loved the light scent of magnolias on her warm skin. It was as though her essence had absorbed the fragrance and he was under her spell.
“Darla, load new translation program for Maya.”
“Loaded and operating.”
At the sound of Darla’s computerized female voice, Maya’s hand trembled and she tried to remove it, but Sterling had anticipated that, gripping firmly but not painfully.
“It’s okay, Maya. You’re okay baby. The voice won’t hurt you. It’s Darla our computerized assistant. She helps me.”
It was obvious a helper with a disembodied voice did not mean things were good. Especially when it spoke to her in her tongue after he spoke in a foreign one. Sterling decided to focus on Maya and her immediate needs. “Do you need to eliminate? Pee?”
The translator spoke to Maya and she looked around again. “It helps me talk to you. Do you understand the translation? The words spoken to you, do you understand them?”
“Yes,” she said in translation.
“Excellent. Darla helps me talk to you. She knows your language, I don’t, and you don’t know mine. Now, pee?”
She pointed to the bathroom and said, “In that metal ditch in the strange room.”
She couldn’t possibly know how to use the toilet. He walked in and she had availed herself of the bathtub. Of course, that would have been the only thing that made sense to her at all. He hoped she didn’t drink out of the toilet. A glance
at the water he left showed some missing but not all had been drunk. A good sign.
“I’ll show you how to use the toilet. We will go slow today, Maya. I want you to understand how to do basic things. It’s the first area we will start on.” He watched her face. Assimilation had officially begun.
“Let’s get clothing on again. I love your body but it’s important to wear clothing out of your bedroom.”
“Bedroom?”
“Sleeping room. Your lodge.”
He waved his hand to encompass the room they stood in. Reaching into the bag of clothing Zander had gotten, he held up a cute, light dress that was like a nightgown only gathered in a type of ruching over the breast area. He slipped it over her head and she helped him dress her. It fell to about the place her own dress had fallen. He’d find out how to clean her dress. She’d want it returned.
Zander’s boutique friend had chosen the clothes for Maya. Now, as Sterling debated on panties, he determined it wasn’t something the woman probably wore. And definitely not the ones he held up which was nothing but a little scrap of material. Some things one should do personally, like buying panties for a woman from several centuries ago.
They wouldn’t need to teach her to use a bra or panties for now and he hoped they could avoid it for some time. He knew there was nothing professional about the admiration of a woman’s more intimate assets. But he already knew if it were possible, this woman, and her assets, would be theirs. He felt an unnatural but enjoyable ownership of her attributes.
Maya watched him warily and he wished he could explain things better. He decided he’d try before they went any further.
“Maya. That’s your whole name?”
She nodded. “Maya daughter of Rainwater.” She cocked her head in a question.
“So here we say, Maya Rainwater.”
She nodded. “You walk in my dreams.”
“Yes, and you walk in mine. I’m Sterling.”
“Stir-link. You’re the dream walker, the medicine man.”
“Close enough and yes, I’m a doctor.”
Maya tried out the word he used. The articulation was difficult but not impossible. It still sounded like Stir-link, but it was close enough for now. After breakfast, the real work would begin. Identifying and naming household items.
The routine for the next few days included Sterling checking on her first thing in the morning. She loved learning the men she would share her bed with for the rest of her life, but they could frighten her. Her men were large, well built, and clever. The more she learned about them, the more she wanted to know.
She had learned where they eliminated and while she was afraid to push the magic button that called the water to come forth and wash away her waste, she desperately needed to go. Standing over the hole with water moments later, she was trying to gather the nerve to push the button. Suddenly, the hot, hard body of Sterling gathered her back to his chest, wrapping his arms around her middle. She knew it was the man Sterling, because the men had distinctive scents and the smell of fresh cut pines and sweet soap was his. His heated words sent tremors of anticipation and need down her back.
“Still afraid, baby?” The translator did its job.
She nodded. “I’m sorry I’m not brave to call on your water spirit.”
“It’s like a waterfall, not a water spirit. You’ll get used to it. It’s loud. Do you want me to do it?”
Another nod. He kissed the side of her head. “Let me take you back to bed first.”
She followed his lead. As she climbed back onto the soft mattress, he smiled and kissed her cheek. She boldly put her finger on her lips. Sterling hesitated before he lowered his head slowly. Dipping down, his lips touched hers briefly before smoothing her hair. Then he checked the little light on the wall before leaving. A couple of seconds later, the loud noise of the rushing water could be heard. She covered her ears.
Sterling had hung her clothes yesterday, showing her how it was done. “What do you want to wear today?” She looked back into the closet and chose a dress with dark blue designs that Sterling said were Polynesian designs. Whatever that was. She dressed herself this time.
“Good. You can dress yourself from now on. You should wear clothes in front of others. Zander, Paxton and I don’t mind but others will be embarrassed to see you and we won’t want anyone else seeing that perky little body of yours.”
She smiled. Did that mean they desired her? She liked that thought because she desired them.
Paxton spoke from the doorway. “Hey, little rabbit, you look pretty today. Zander has good taste. Now, anyone for breakfast?”
Pax heard the translation and the look of agreement on Maya’s face, for food anyway.
She looked at Paxton and said with conviction, “You walk in my dreams.”
“I do? Then I’m honored. Want to eat?”
“Yes.”
“Great. I made steak and eggs with fruit. Not sure what she wants to eat, but it worked the last few times, so I thought it would work in another form this morning.”
“Good thinking. I don’t think she is a cereal kind of gal.”
“Yet.”
Sterling laughed. “Yet.” He grabbed her hand again and pushed her between them. Paxton wrapped his arm around her waist and led her out of the room.
Zander met them in the kitchen. “Oh, good, I thought I’d have to eat this all myself.” He smiled at Maya. “That dress was a good choice. Glad I made it.”
“You stitched this?”
“What? Oh, no, I meant I’m glad I bought the dress. I don’t sew, Maya.”
“Oh, because men do not sew here?”
“Men do, however, I do not.”
“We have a lot of work ahead on cultural language concepts alone, don’t we?” asked Pax.
“Yes. There are many things here she not only has no words for, but no concepts of. For instance, just about everything in our world. It was at least the beginning of the twentieth century before more than half the population in the U.S. had electricity in their homes. That seems to be more than one hundred and twenty-five years before our girl,” added Zander.
“We’ll get there,” said Sterling. “I’m setting up for the physical after breakfast.”
“Are you sure we need to do that today? I believe timing is as important as the medical information we hope to glean. Trust is a big factor. I’m worried we’ll retraumatize her so soon after she got here.” Zander smiled at Maya as he spoke, knowing she didn’t have most of the words they were saying in her language, meaning she couldn’t really understand him. He purposely kept his voice comforting.
“I have reports that need to be filed.”
“Understood, Sterling, but I think we’re taking for granted the way she is allowing us to do all of these things with her and around her. I mean, she has to be very wary if not completely scared out of her mind.”
“I have to agree with Zander, Sterling. Let’s give it a week.”
Sterling stood for a moment. “I don’t want to lose her either. Okay, how about we play it by ear. When we think she’s ready, we’ll do it. I’ve cleaned up her wounds and we will let her heal more. Thing is, I can’t do the implant unless I have a physical. Without the implant, we’re using the wrist translator and Darla in broadcast mode. I think, if we’re feeling confident she is okay for now, we could put it off for up to a week.
The next few days was more of the same learning this strange world. She liked sleeping on the floor with the thick mat they called a mattress. Although her men didn’t seem happy about it, they let her. The days were overwhelming, but she knew she was welcome.
One confusing and yet exciting thing was how they made her feel. She got slippery in her woman’s place when Sterling kissed her, even if it was just the top of her head. She trembled with desire at his every touch and, whether to teach her something or offer a word of kindness, she wanted him.
Zander was always touching her. His finger trailed down her cheek, he put her hair beh
ind her ear when it covered her face, and held her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. She wanted to know what loving a man so gentle would be like. She felt cherished and safe with Zander.
Finally, Paxton, the man who carried her and swatted her backside on the first day was not shy at all about his touches. He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap, cuddling her, showing her likenesses called pictures of places he had been while listening to odd but relaxing music. Paxton excited her, and it made her wiggle with desire to have him claim her in every way.
She had no doubt he believed she was his to take but she knew that the first time would not be until she was ready. Sterling had said so when he walked in her dreams. He desired her, but he was an honorable man. She felt so comfortable with this gruff man, she had even fallen asleep in his lap in the afternoon.
Maya didn’t know how to tell them they all were meant for each other. Her dreams had foretold her destiny with these men—like Mountain Sage Woman. Except she wasn’t Mountain Sage Woman, was she? She didn’t save anyone from anything. Maybe she’d do so in this place. How did she tell them? Sterling hadn’t even mentioned the dreams except vaguely.
And she hadn’t told them of hers except to say they were in them. She’d not told them she’d continued to dream but the things they did in her dreams that included all three of them and were exciting. They took her many times in her sleep. She wanted them to take her when she was awake. Soon, she’d talk to them. But how she got here, and the cave, were still a mystery. She had no doubt Sterling had answered her when she had called out to him, had led her to him.
This different world was hard to live in. Everything happened by the marking of time not in days or seasons, but in minutes, or hours, which were much smaller than days. In the village, she had tasks to complete but here she had nothing to do except watch confusing images move on a wall. She was not preparing for winter, but her men were not concerned. They had a box in a wall that was like winter and they stored food in there. What did Sterling call it? She couldn’t remember. It was a box with winter inside. What did he say this learning was called? Assimilating. It was tiring.
Captured Obedience Page 7
