Arissa gasped at finding herself hurtling through space.
There was no floor under her feet, no walls, no ceiling above, just light-years of open space around her. She gripped at Jolar’s arms, still wrapped against her waist, in terror.
“Are you okay?” Jolar asked, his surprise and concern vibrating against her mind.
“I didn’t know that would happen!”
“Haven’t you ever played a—” He broke off and his sense grew heavy. “You haven’t, have you? You’ve never played a hologame. Just like you’d never been to a restaurant. Like you never went to school.”
“No.” Her throat was tight. “I’m sorry.”
“Why should you be sorry? It’s the rest of us that should be sorry, everyone who forced you to—” He broke off, his anger humming. His sense calmed as if he were forcing himself to it. “Game—level one.”
The view shifted. Two warships, each miniaturized to the size of a man, now flanked her. It was utterly disconcerting to have everything change and not even to be able to see the floor beneath her feet, even though her eyes registered plenty of light.
“How does it do that?” she asked, turning her head towards where she knew Jolar was. “I can’t even see you right behind me.”
“The sensors track your eye movements and adjust the holoprojectors to fool your perception.” He hesitated. “I guess you haven’t been to a holotheater either.”
“No. We had holos at home but it wasn’t as . . . immersive as this.” If it weren’t for Jolar’s arms around her, the familiar feel of his mind, she would be completely undone. “And this is your favorite game?”
“Yeah, well, you spend a lot of downtime on a Fleet cruiser trying to stave off boredom. The quarters are made up of a bunk, a private ‘fresher and shower, if you’re lucky, and a table with a chair bolted to the floor. You hit the gym, read whatever you can get your hands on, bet on stupid things like how much radiation a particular asteroid will give off. Star Quest here got me through a four-month rotation with my sanity intact. Are you ready?”
“Wait! What do I do?”
“The game responds to your body movements.” Jolar took her by either wrist and lifted her arms in front of her. Her flying speed increased. He turned her a bit and her direction changed. “Now, just fight the bad guys.”
“Fight? Oh!”
A ship came hurtling right at her, energy cannons blasting.
“Festering hell!” She ducked; instinctively throwing her arms up to protect her face. “Ships just attack me?”
“You are a ship.”
“Why the hell is it so starblasted loud?” she demanded trying to be heard over the cacophony of firing ships. “Why is it making any noise at all when we’re supposed to be in a fracking vacuum?”
She could feel his body shaking with laughter but the sound of it was drowned out by the holoships roaring past and firing.
Suddenly the ships were gone and she was flying through space again alone.
“What happened?” she asked, startled by the sudden quiet.
“Level reset.”
“How do I shoot back anyway?”
“Raise your hands in front of you and curl your fingers into a loose fist.”
She did, this time prepared for the increase in speed. “Okay.”
“Now you just kind of flick your fingers.”
She tried it and gave a start when a bolt of blue energy seemed to blaze from her palm. “So they fly in and shoot at me and I shoot at them?”
“Yes. Ready?”
This time as the ship came from her lower right, she managed to fire back. It came around for another pass, spattering blue light all around her and the level reset again.
“It would take me months to get good at this game,” Arissa complained.
“It took me a while too. But I’m right behind you and that doesn’t leave you free to move like you need to. I’ll step back and you can try it again.”
“No,” she said quickly. The noise and flashing lights were giving her a headache. “I think I’m good for now.”
“All right. Game—end.”
The star field vanished, replaced by the soft beiges of the hologame room and Jolar grinning at her. He was so stunning smiling down at her like this that she could almost believe the holoprojectors had created him too.
“I’d say I miss the dark but now I get to see you, pretty girl,” he said.
“You mean that,” she managed.
He blinked. “I spent most of last night and this morning telling you how beautiful you are. Did you think I didn’t mean it?”
“I don’t—I just—”
He pulled her close then. His mouth hovered over hers for a moment.
“Beautiful,” he murmured then covered her mouth with his own. He deepened the kiss, his hand cupping the back of her head.
“Come on.” His eyes were dark with hunger. “If I don’t get you back to our suite soon they really are going to have reason to put us off the ship.”
Twelve
They made it as far as the lift but Jolar’s mouth was on hers as soon as the doors closed. He leaned down and she gave a surprised cry as he lifted her, his hands under her hips. He pressed her back against the side of the car and her arms went around his neck as he kissed her.
Her casual day clothes of long tunic and pants allowed her to wrap her legs around his waist and he held her balanced, her back against the wall of the lift. He groaned into her mouth, his hand cupping her buttocks now as he held her against him.
A jolt against her mind alerted her. She pressed against his chest but it took a sharp deliberate cough from the doorway before Jolar, flushing, became aware that the lift had reached the next level and another couple stood waiting to enter.
“Now that’s a lucky girl,” the woman murmured.
“I heard that,” the man said dryly.
Jolar, red to the hairline, set Arissa on her feet.
“Honeymoon?” the man asked, amused. “We can take the next one.”
“No, it’s all right.” Jolar cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
“Congratulations,” the woman said warmly as they got on.
“Second honeymoon,” Jolar mumbled. “Our deck is next.”
The woman lifted an eyebrow. “Very lucky girl.”
Jolar was so bashful at having been caught he wouldn’t meet anyone’s eye. He took her hand and ducked his head when they exited on their deck.
“I’m really glad I didn’t let you talk me into anything at the activity center,” she said at the door to their suite. “You’re still blushing.”
He swept her into his arms the instant the door opened. He had her in the bedroom and on the bed in a few strides.
He was already shrugging out of his shirt. “I have never been so close to making a complete fool of myself,” he said roughly. “If they’d gotten on a minute later I’m not sure I would have been able to stop.”
He was naked in moments, already fully aroused as he pulled her clothes from her. He kissed his way over her breasts and belly and urged her wider to settle himself between her legs, his skin warm and smooth against the inside of her thighs.
Startled, she sensed his intention. “Wait—What are you doing?”
He leaned his weight down, easily holding her thighs open with his elbows. His fingers gently parted her folds, revealing her most sensitive place to his vivid gaze.
“Kissing you,” he murmured, his breath hot and moist against her center.
He pressed his mouth there, his lips warm and gentle. A moment later his lips parted and his tongue leisurely traced the spot. Her breath drew in sharply and Arissa’s eyes fell shut, her hands in his golden hair as his tongue teased her higher, gasping at the thrumming pleasure he took in doing it.
He sank a finger into her folds, pressing the sensitive place inside, stroking her higher still until suddenly she cried out, her release breaking over her.
Catching her sated expression a grin o
f pure masculine satisfaction flitted across his face. She was still trembling from her climax as he covered her body with his. Caging her with his arms and too roused to wait, Jolar quickly positioned himself to enter her. She placed her palms on his chest to hold him away.
He searched her face. “Sweet?” he asked, his voice husky. “What’s wrong?”
“I want to do what you did,” she said. “To make you feel like you made me feel.”
He was taut and tense with wanting, the tip of his shaft already poised at her center and plainly reluctant to relinquish his place but he let her move him so he was lying back on the bed.
Jolar watched her, his gaze hot, his eyes half closed as she knelt over him, tracing the warm, golden skin of his chest down the muscles of his stomach. His mouth parted as she slid her hand around his shaft, feeling it jerk against her hold as she stroked. Arissa scooted back so she could kneel between his legs. She leaned forward and caught how the feel of her curls against his thighs sent his arousal and anticipation soaring.
She pressed her mouth against the tip of his shaft in a kiss and flicked her tongue to taste the bead of moisture there. He groaned when she took him into her mouth, her hand moving along the length in tandem.
She let his sense guide her to what gave him the most pleasure, how fast to move, how much pressure to use.
She used her tongue against the underside of his shaft and the rising waves of his pleasure echoed through her mind. It was a thrill to be able to rouse him so powerfully. His thigh muscles were quivering now, she felt him wild with it and she cupped him where he was soft.
“Gods,” he ground out. “Arissa—”
His eyes were squeezed shut, his body taut and trembling, poised just at the brink now. She changed the pressure just enough to delay it, keep him there at the very edge for another moment, then another . . .
He cried out hoarsely as his climax tore through him. The salty taste of his seed burst into her mouth, his whole body quaking with his release. She held him there, as the aftershocks of it pulsed through his shaft.
She sat back to look at him. He was shaking, his eyes shut, his hand half covering his face, the sweat gleamed on his chest.
She grinned. “So, that was okay?”
“That was—Gods!” he rasped. “The best ever.”
“Really?” She expected that was the kind of thing men said to women all the time but he genuinely meant it. “I just kept my awareness on you, followed what you were feeling and whatever you really liked I did more of.”
His eyes snapped open. “You can do that?”
“Apparently.” She smirked. “Maybe I should be an Ornament.” She blinked at his sudden, scalding rush of possessiveness. “I was just joking.”
“You better be. I have no intention of sharing you, sweet.” He pulled her down to cradle her against him. He cupped her face and kissed her, then dissolved into a wide grin. “In fact, I may never let you out of this bed again.”
“What if I get hungry?”
“Hmm, I guess I will have to let you eat,” he murmured against her hair.
He held her there while his breath slowed and she rested her cheek against his shoulder, enjoying the safe warmth of his embrace.
His fingers threaded through her curls and his sense grew pensive.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Something I need to know, Arissa.” He searched her face. “If you weren’t an Ornament, how did you manage on Tellar without an ID?”
She shifted against him, finding it hard to meet his eyes now.
“Arissa?”
He was not going to let this go.
“I, um—” She cleared her throat. “I was a thief.”
“What?” he breathed, his shock reverberating.
“I didn’t want to steal. I had some money when I got to Tellar but it ran out after a few months.” The words came out in a rush. “One day I was in the market in Xan-Tellar, I hadn’t eaten all day and I didn’t have any way to pay my rent and this man—I knew he wasn’t paying attention, that no one was and I just . . . took his billfold.”
“Gods, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? For you of all people?” he demanded. “What if TelSec had picked you up? Hell, steal from the wrong person and they wouldn’t bother calling TelSec, they would have just taken care of it themselves.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said, her voice thick. She sought his gaze, silently pleading for understanding. “I couldn’t work. I couldn’t even register as an Ornament. I mean, I could have tried it on my own without the license but—anyway I didn’t think I could do that.” She put her hand on his chest. “I could now though.”
His blue eyes were horrified. “Because of me? Because we—”
“No! I just . . . I could do it now because no one can take this time—our time—away from me. I’ll always have it. I gave myself to someone I wanted. If I have to trade myself later, well, that’ll just be my body, not me.”
“You won’t need to.” His arms tightened around her. “Not ever. I’ll take care of you. I promise. I just—we have to succeed on Sertar. We have to.”
And what will be between us after Sertar?
“We’ll be there tomorrow.” She wasn’t even sure why she said it. He knew when they would arrive. Something about just admitting their time on the ship was almost over put an icy knot in her stomach.
“I wish I could send you back,” he said quietly. He must have seen the hurt on her face because he quickly shook his head. “I don’t mean I don’t want to be with you. Sertar is . . . it’s not a place for someone like you.”
“A Seer, you mean.”
“No,” he said. “I mean someone as innocent as you are.”
“I’m not innocent anymore,” she protested with an arch look.
“Yes, you are.” He gave her a rueful smile. “If I had my way, I wouldn’t take you within five parsecs of that fracking planet.”
“You’ve been there. What’s it like?”
“Polluted, dangerous, corrupt.” He let one of her ringlets wrap around his finger. “I never went planetside unarmed. I never drank more than two lums in an evening because even a blaster won’t keep you from being beaten half to death for your billfold if you don’t have your wits about you.”
“The whole planet can’t be like that.” She frowned. “There must be some nicer areas.”
“That was one of the nicer areas.”
“Funny. It can’t be that bad.” She traced the line of his jaw. “You’re so worried about me. I survived without even an ID in Xan-Tellar for eight months, Jolar.”
“Well, humor me and let’s pretend you need me, okay?” he mock grumbled. “It makes me feel useful.”
Despite the warm feeling in her chest that he wanted to take care of her, she didn’t want him to feel he had to.
“All I need is an ID and I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “I’m a Seer, remember?”
“I know. I’m still going to take care of you, sweet.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “That reminds me. We have practicing to do.”
“Practicing?” she wondered, then quickly shook her head. “Oh! Oh, no, Jolar, I really don’t think—”
“Come on, Arissa,” he said with a fond pat on her bare rump. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want you to get dressed.”
Thirteen
Jolar was insistent and in short order Arissa found herself dressed again in the tunic and pants, sitting with him in the living area of their cabin.
“All right, go ahead.” He gave a nod. “Read my mind.”
She cringed. “I told you before, I don’t know how to do that.”
“Okay,” he allowed. “Tell me what you can do and we’ll go from there.”
She wet her lips. “Mostly I know what people are feeling. I know where their attention is but I don’t know what they’re actually thinking. I don’t hear words.”
“Ever tried?”
“No, and I don’t wa
nt to now. I would shut this off, tear it out of my head if I could. My mother was even quietly researching if there were any surgical remedies that she might try.”
His eyes widened. “Your mother was going to cut into your brain?”
She gave him an impatient look. “She was a surgeon, not a butcher. She was looking for some way to make me normal.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he said, his face reddening. “You’re gifted, not abnormal.”
“You didn’t think so in Xan-Tellar.” It still hurt to remember. “You recoiled from me like I had the blood plague. You threatened to put a blaster bolt through my head.”
“I didn’t mean it,” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t have hurt you. I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”
She swallowed, remembering the storm of emotions she’d felt from him then.
He let his breath out slowly. “I owe you an apology for it, though—for the way I acted. For scaring you the way I did. I had so little time to convince you to come with me. I bargained everything I could to get them to agree in the first place. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done if you’d refused, but I swear I wouldn’t have hurt you or let anyone else hurt you either.” He paused before continuing, “As to the rest, I didn’t know you then. All I knew about Seers was what I’d heard. I’d never recoil from you now. I can’t get close enough to you now. I can hardly keep my hands off you long enough to get you from the lift to the cabin.”
Sudden tears stung her eyes. This is what she’d wanted, always. What she’d dreamed of, someone who wanted her. Wanted her just as she was.
Why was it so hard to accept?
“And I want to know everything there is to know about you,” he said, brushing back a curl from her cheek. “So let’s figure this out together, okay?”
She swallowed back her tears. “Okay.”
He studied her for a moment. “Remember when we were on the shuttle and you focused just on me? Let’s try that to start. Just focus on me.”
He was the only one here and she was getting used to feeling him. “Well, you’re a little nervous. Curious. Excited, too.”
The Seer Page 11
