by H. R. Moore
*****
The journey was as smooth as it could possibly have been, the sea flat calm, the sky a vibrant blue with not a cloud to be seen. They arrived in Wild Flower just after lunch, making excellent time, and waited for Draeus to go ashore to trade before they disembarked. It was a beautiful place for all the senses; pristine, whitewashed beach houses spread along the shore; walkways of wooden slats that thunked with every step, sprinkled with a light dusting of sand, surrounded by rustling grass dunes; warehouses and perfume factories seemed to melt into the background, looking more like beach huts than industrial buildings and an enticing floral aroma dancing lightly on the breeze.
Alexander led Anita along the beach, away from the most densely populated area towards a large, fairy-tale beach house sitting in complete seclusion just around the nearest headland. Anita couldn’t help but smile, ‘I take it that one is yours?’ she asked happily.
Alexander smiled back, pleased by her reaction. They reached the front of the house, Alexander unceremoniously dumping their bags by the door before pulling Anita towards him and kissing her indulgently on the lips. He pulled back and, grinning devilishly, kicked off his shoes and socks, stripped down to his underwear, and ran for the water. Anita laughed, following suit, her energy soaring at the prospect of the icy water against her skin, goose pimples flooding her body as she dived in, emerging, and gasping at the shock of the cold.
Alexander was twenty feet out by the time Anita reached the sea and she swam after him, invigorated by their sudden and unexpected freedom from others. She reached him and grabbed his shoulders, wrapping her arms around his neck, revelling in the feel of his bare skin against hers. She flashed him a mischievous smile before dunking him under, freeing herself from his grasp to gain an advantage in the race back to shore. Anita reached the beach first, splashing mercilessly as Alexander came within range. He reached the sand, scrambled to his feet and chased her back towards the house, tumbling together to the sand when he caught her, Anita landing with the advantage, which she used to pin his arms above his head, Alexander indulging her momentarily before launching a full force retaliation, throwing her sideways and rolling on top. Never one to give up, Anita moved her hands to his sides and tickled his bare flesh, Alexander wincing and squirming hysterically, trying to get away from her offending fingers. He finally managed to get hold of her hands and pushed them outwards, Anita laughing so hard there was nothing she could do to stop him. He waited for a lull in her fits of laughter to place a triumphant kiss on her sea salty lips then pulled her to her feet, draped a casual arm around her shoulders and walked her back to the house.
Alexander showed Anita around, each of them dripping water all over the wooden floors until they reached a bathroom equipped with fluffy white towels to wrap themselves in. He took her upstairs first, showing her four big, airy, seaside bedrooms, each with its own walk in wardrobe and immaculate white bathroom. All the rooms were made up with hardwearing fabrics appropriate to their surroundings but each with a different feel; one whitewashed and floaty, one with blue and white stripes, one with large, contemporary, statement floral prints, and the other also floral but the flowers smaller, giving it a cosier, cottagey feel. Anita and Alexander took the whitewashed room, changing quickly into the linen clothes and flip flops they found in the wardrobe, the clothes too big for Anita, so she wore a shirt long enough to pass as a dress with a belt wrapped around the middle.
They returned downstairs, Alexander giving her a quick tour of the mainly open plan layout; the kitchen and dining area set slightly off to one side from the large sitting room. There were enormous windows all around the ground floor, giving panoramic views of the sea beyond, a wood burning stove occupying the edge of the sitting room, which Anita imagined would make for a heavenly setting when a winter storm was raging outside. The large, squishy sofas were neutral tones with slate grey cushions, the tables made out of driftwood, and flowers were dotted here and there, making the house smell fresh and pure.
Although a house keeper came once a week to clean and ensure everything was in order, Alexander kept no full time servants here, meaning they would need to fend for themselves and Anita would, for the first time, be treated to the delights of Alexander’s cooking. As a result, they headed into town to buy groceries, leaving the house by the back door and walking along one of the slatted walkways before climbing a flight of steps to the top of the small cliff behind. To Anita’s surprise, half way up, they came out onto a terrace sporting a tiled swimming pool and several outdoor four poster beds, fabric at their four corners floating lightly in the breeze. ‘It’s a bit much, isn’t it!’ laughed Alexander, seeing Anita’s reaction.
‘No, it’s beautiful,’ she said, turning around to take in the astonishing view out to sea, ‘just a bit unexpected.’
‘You have no idea the amount of hassle it was putting that pool in,’ he joked, ‘Philip decided he wanted it, but it took five years to build and get operational; it was Philip’s favourite topic of conversation for the best part of a decade!’
Anita laughed, ‘well it was worth it; it’s amazing.’
They continued up the steps to the top, then walked the short distance along the cliffs into the centre of town, not that you could really call it that. There were five shops on the main street; a butcher, a grocer, a fishmonger, a baker, and a hardware store, which apparently provided sufficient supplies for all who came to stay. They went from shop to shop, picking up enough food for a couple of days, joking with the shop keepers as they went.
They entered the hardware store, not because they needed anything, but because Anita was curious to see what was for sale, when she heard her name and stopped in her tracks. ‘…Anita. I just can’t believe that dear Alexander would stoop so low,’ said the high, prim voice of someone who had the air of a mid-fifties busybody. ‘I mean of course he should be married by now, but to someone from a nice Spirit family…I suppose with nobody left to guide his choice of wife it’s no surprise he’s been led astray by an avid social climber.’
‘Quite,’ said a more softly spoken women, ‘moving from Marcus to Alexander so quickly; it’s indecent.’
‘The poor boy dodged a bullet if you ask me. Now she’s got her claws into Alexander and with no father like Austin to protect him, who’s to say if he’ll ever escape?’
‘And at a time like this, when we need the Descendants to work together, not to be pulled apart by a divisive little hussy like her.’
Alexander heard every word, and deciding they’d listened to enough, put his hand on the small of Anita’s back and steered her out of the shop. They made their way, in silence, back along the cliffs to the house, Anita’s energy despondent, Alexander brooding over what he’d heard. They reached the safety of the beach house, Alexander dumping the bags in the kitchen before following Anita to the sitting room where she was staring absorbedly out of the windows.
He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He bowed his head and kissed her hair, willing her to relax into him, wishing her energy would respond. After a few moments it did, just not in the way he’d hoped. He felt anger build within her, boiling up until she tore his hands from her and whirled away, putting several paces between them.
‘Anita,’ Alexander started, undeterred by the desolate look on her face, ‘you’ve got to ignore them. This is what comes with being part of my life; people gossip about me and what I should or shouldn’t be doing, and you’re going to get caught up in it.’
‘But they think I’m some kind of social climbing slut,’ she exclaimed, ‘too lowly for the likes of you.’
‘Because they want me to marry one of their daughters probably,’ he replied, the half laugh on his lips a dreadful mistake.
‘You think this is funny?’
‘No, of course not. I couldn’t care less what they think, but it’s amusing they even stopped to talk about us; it says a great deal more about them than it does about us.’
�
��But people think I’m only with you because I want to marry a Descendant. You have no idea how that feels.’
‘Anita, you are a Descendant.’
‘So? They don’t know that.’
‘So who cares what they think? They don’t know who you are any more than they know who I really am. They think they have some kind of right over me and my life because I take part in parades and sit in Council meetings, but they don’t. They’re jealous of you and your proximity to me, especially because they think they’re the kind of people who should be involved in my life; they’re from prominent Spirit families after all.’
Anita turned from him and left the house, heading back up the cliff and Alexander let her go, knowing she needed time to calm down. Instead, he turned to the food they had just purchased, at least now he would have time to prepare a meal for them without Anita looking over his shoulder.
An hour later, with lamb cutlets marinating, chocolate mousse setting, and salad made, Alexander selected a bottle of sparkling wine from the cellar, a variety made from grapes and not ginger, picked up two glasses, and headed back up the cliff, hoping Anita hadn’t gone too far. She hadn’t; he found her sitting on one of the daybeds by the swimming pool, looking out at the sea, tracking the progress of the now setting sun. Her skin was covered with shiny sweat, her face red, her hair dishevelled. ‘Been running?’ he asked, handing her a glass of wine.
‘Yes,’ she said, looking up at him as she accepted it. ‘It helped clear my head.’
‘And?’
‘You’re right, I know you are. The problem is I can’t do anything to influence what people say about me and our relationship; I’m powerless.’
‘Even if you could show them who you really are and the true nature of our relationship, you’d never be able to get everyone on side, and it would drive you mad trying. Whatever you do will be wrong in the eyes of somebody, take it from me, I’ve been living with it my entire life.’
‘I know, people have whispered about me and how odd I am for my whole life too. I’ve been winning Body challenges for years, but that’s always been about me and something I’ve chosen to do. I’ve learnt to deal with that, but I don’t like being someone who’s only noteworthy in relation to someone else. They were only talking about me because of my relationships with you and Marcus; I could be anyone at all and they would have said exactly the same things about me.’
‘Doesn’t that make it more palatable? You know that makes it total fiction.’
‘You’re missing the point. I’m not interested in being noteworthy only because of who my boyfriend or husband is.’
‘But that has nothing to do with this. You were noteworthy in your own right after you won the Chase, they’ve just moved on to gossip about something else now. Next time you win a challenge, they’ll talk about you because of that again.’
‘Don’t you think it would be easier if you found some girl from a prominent Spirit family to go out with?’
Alexander laughed, a little off balance from Anita’s sudden change of direction. ‘People like that women have been trying to make that happen for long enough, and yes, it would be easier, but it would also be my idea of hell…and would probably be more likely to lead to divorce,’ he joked.
Anita shoved him playfully on the arm as he sat down next to her, ‘who said anything about marriage?’ she teased.
‘Who said I was talking about you?’ he fired back.
Anita leaned across, grasped handfuls of his shirt and pulled him towards her. Alexander smiled, complying with her touch, bending forwards and placing his hands either side of her face. He rested his forehead against hers, breathing deeply, enjoying her now familiar Jasmine scent as it permeated his lungs. He closed his eyes, savouring the moment before touching his lips to hers, kissing her with a gentle but demanding intensity, her lips responding softly then more urgently as she moved her hands from his chest to his shoulders and pulled herself on top of him. He moved his hands to her waist, unbuckling the belt holding her shirt in place as she ran her fingers through his tousled hair, their kisses reaching a new found fervour as each revelled in the other.
Alexander swung her around, pushing her back onto the bed, pulling the shirt up over her head and discarding it as he positioned himself above her and removed his shirt. She looked up as he hovered over her, moving so he was just out of her reach any time she tried to touch him, leaving her entirely vulnerable to his next move. He forced her to wait, anticipation rising, as he studied every inch of her toned body, Anita doing the same to his muscular torso. He leaned forward slowly, reaching down to kiss the middle of her chest, his touch causing a shiver of energy to radiate out from the spot, her back arching as sparks travelled through her. He dwelled there for a moment, feeling the buzz of their mingling energy travelling between his lips and her skin before moving his attention to the swell of breast visible at the top of her bra. He bit the skin there, Anita on the edge of pain as she reached for his neck, needing something to hold onto. He freed her, taking advantage of her arched back to unclip her bra and slide it off her arms, moving his attention to her other breast, taking the recently liberated nipple between his lips, playing with his tongue as she took handfuls of his hair.
He released her slowly, kissing his way down her ribcage, across her stomach, reaching the tantalising dip away from her hip bone. He blew gently on the sensitive skin, delighting in the gooseflesh that formed, then kissed it away with light touches of his lips, moving his hands to her writhing hips to hold them still. He removed her underwear, kissing his way slowly down her inner thigh before working his way at leisurely speed back up the other, her energy coursing ever more powerfully as he grew closer. His lips reached her and her body exploded, powerful convulsions racking through her, Alexander smiling triumphantly.
She relaxed back on the bed, her energy subsiding as Alexander removed his remaining clothes before covering her with his body. She kissed his lips as he manoeuvred inside her, exhaling reverently as he reached his aim. He moved above her, sliding his hand under her hips and pulling her into him, her legs wrapped tightly around him, not wanting to let him go. She pushed him sideways and he rolled them over, Anita now sitting astride him, moving slowly on top of him. He grabbed her hips and she moved faster, their energy so intermingled that neither one of them knew whose energy belonged to who, the pulsating flow snaking backwards and forwards between them, heightening the ever increasing tension that consumed them. They climaxed together, a sudden surge of energy coursing through them, electricity radiating out from everywhere they touched. Anita folded forwards, lying on Alexander, her face resting on his chest. Alexander wrapped his arms tightly around her, a contented lull settling on them both.
Chapter 11
Draeus walked into Monty’s back room. It had been a while since the Institution had used it for meetings, but they were running out of safe locations in Kingdom since the demonstrations had stepped up a gear. Austin had doubled the size of his personal army, so it now outnumbered the official police force of the city three to one. There was usually so little crime in the capital that there simply wasn’t a need for a bigger force. Amber, having assumed the role of Austin’s Commander in Chief, had taken to raiding the warehouses by the docks to steal food, not to mention bribing, or probably more accurately, threatening, farmers to make them sell what little produce they had directly to Austin, so they could amply feed their growing militia. But worse, they had also started capturing and interrogating people they suspected to be instigators of the rebellion, or just members of the Institution, and fear was spreading through the people like wildfire that they would be next to be wrongly carted away. Amber had herself paid Helena a visit, to warn her she was being watched and to tell her, should she put a single foot out of line, that ‘justice’ would be served.
‘How did it go?’ Helena demanded, as Draeus crossed the threshold of the room to be greeted by the expectant, impatient faces of Helena, Rose, Milly, Bas and Gwyn.
‘Not as well as we’d hoped. Timi couldn’t work out a way to open the cylinder; he managed to stay in Anita’s head longer than anyone else has, but he did that by anchoring to Anita’s mind, and she passed out under the strain.’
‘I’m sure Alexander loved that,’ said Milly, sarcastically.
‘It didn’t go down overly well,’ he confirmed.
‘Is she alright?’ asked Bas, his concern palpable, Gwyn shooting him a warning glance.
‘She’s fine. No damage done. She’s just annoyed we went all that way to no apparent avail.’
‘Where are they now?’ asked Rose, ‘Marcus has been putting out feelers for their whereabouts ever since they left Empire. I suspect he’s feeling a bit embarrassed by the whole thing.’
‘My son is not embarrassed. He’s frankly glad to be rid of her after the way she treated him,’ snapped Milly, feeling a venomous pulse of hatred for Anita at the impact she’d had on Marcus, who, despite her best efforts, wasn’t exactly on top of the world.
‘That’s not what I heard,’ said Gwyn, enjoying twisting the knife; she’d never really taken to Milly; far too superior.
‘Enough,’ barked Helena. ‘We’re not here to discuss petty gossip. Where are Anita and Alexander now?’
‘At Wild Flower as we planned. They’ll return to Empire soon and can tell anyone who asks that they were spending time at Alexander’s beach house.’
‘Good,’ said Helena, some of the tension leaving her face. ‘I suppose the question now is what we do next? We’ve got to get that cylinder open one way or another.’
‘But we can’t wait for that to happen before we act,’ said Rose, her no nonsense tone not inviting any disagreement, ‘tensions are rising and it won’t be long before Austin starts shooting people in the streets in some misguided attempt to keep the peace.’
‘She’s right,’ said Draeus, ‘we came across a meeting of the rebels in the Wild. They elected a new, more impatient leader, precisely because he voted for launching a strike against Austin soon.’
