Captives of New Pompeii (14 page)

The distinct pulse of his cock sent another
wave of pleasure crashing over her. She squeezed him with her legs
and her inner muscles, savoring each heated splash of his seed.

He sank to his knees, clutching her against
him as they both fought for breath. She wrapped her arms around his
neck and rested her forehead on his shoulder. Gradually her head
cleared and her blood cooled. Uncertainty threaded through the
afterglow, making her restless and uneasy.

Unwrapping her legs from around his waist,
she found the floor with her heels and lifted herself off his cock.
The emptiness seemed absolute after the fullness of their joining,
but she refused to think about how easily she’d fallen into Mikko’s
trap.

She grabbed the first garment she found,
which happened to be his undershirt. The soft material smelled like
him and caressed her body like surrogate hands. “All right,
soldier. You’ve completed your mission with frightening ease.
What’s your final objective?”

Struggling to his feet on shaky legs, Quade
turned and faced Laetif. “My objective? You know your husband
sent—”

“Stop calling him that. Mikko isn’t
my
anything.”

He heaved a frustrated sigh and pulled on
his pants. “What would you like me to call him?”

“Fuckwad works or asshole or—”

“I get the idea. The ambassador sent me, but
I don’t fuck on command. What just happened was between you and
me.”

She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she
didn’t argue. “Then tell me about your daughter.”

“Do you have anything to drink besides
water?”

“Do you have something against water?”

She was really in a mood. Many women became
clingy after sex. Apparently Laetif turned feisty. “I haven’t had a
beer since I left Outpost Nine. I’d do just about anything for one
right now.”

“Will you rub my feet?”

“Are they clean?” He returned without
pause.

“You’re about to find out.” She strolled
across the cabin, long legs bare beneath his under shirt, and
opened a built-in coolerator. Her delectable ass cheeks peeked out
as she bent to retrieve the beer and blood flooded his groin all
over again. She was a mission! He could not let himself become
emotionally entangled with her. The fuckwad could reassign him on a
whim, so there was no reason to invest anything in this bizarre
relationship.

The view as she returned was even more
inviting. Her full breasts jiggled and her nipples were clearly
visible beneath the soft white fabric. He could remember the feel
of those warm mounds in his palms and those responsive nipples
hardening between his fingers. He wanted to tackle her and hold her
down while he licked her from head to toe. Their first time had
been over much too fast. He couldn’t wait to be inside her
again.

“Do you need to go shower before we talk?”
Her delicate brows arched as she looked pointedly at the erection
tenting the front of his pants.

“Only if you’ll come with me.”

“I think we’ve both come enough for right
now.” She handed him the beer and dragged the chair he’d been
sitting in earlier back to the table where it belonged.

“Speak for yourself,” he muttered under his
breath. He could come at least twice more before his body demanded
sleep. He sat facing her and used the edge of the table to pry off
the bottle top. After a long pull from the bottle, he set it on the
table. “Give me your feet. I’m a man of my word.”

She carefully kept her thighs together as
she raised her feet to his lap. “What’s her name?”

“My daughter?”

“She is the subject at hand.”

He lifted one foot and began to rub. “Her
mother named her Brishta. I call her B.”

“Is her mother still in the picture?”

“Her mother was a weekend fling before I
shipped out on a two-year tour of the frontier. B was waiting for
me when I returned. DNA tests confirmed that she’s mine, but I’ve
never seen her mother again. I have no idea how to find her even if
I wanted to, which I don’t. But B might want to someday and I don’t
know how to help her. I’m just grateful she decided to have the
baby rather than end the pregnancy. B is unbelievable.”

“How often will you be able to see her if
you’re stationed in New Pompeii?”

“She’s at a boarding school, so I can only
see her on weekends anyway. Anything was better than the options
available on Outpost Nine. I don’t mind the rustic environment, but
it’s no place to raise a little girl.”

Laetif closed her eyes and sighed as he
rotated the pad of his thumb across the bottom of her foot, digging
in just a little. “That feels so good.”

A few minutes passed in companionable
silence. He rubbed her feet and she basked in the attention,
obviously starved for a little pampering. “Do you and the fuckwad
have children?”

She shook her head, pain sparking to life
within her eyes. “I’m not able. A fact Mikko likes to remind me of
as often as possible.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Unfortunately, it’s
not Mikko’s either. No one is to blame but me. I’m defective.”

He squeezed her foot until she looked at
him. “You are perfect just the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell
you differently. You could always adopt. Lots of wonderful children
are in need of a good home.”

“Which is why I’ve never considered it. Any
home with Mikko in it is anything but good.”

His hands moved up her leg, squeezing her
calf and then moving higher. “Keep mentioning his name and you’ll
find yourself impaled on my cock again.”

She snickered and tossed back her hair. “Is
that supposed to intimidate me?” She bent her knees and opened her
legs. “Mikko. Mikko.”

He gazed at her flushed pussy and desire
curled though his balls. Grasping the backs of her knees, he pulled
her out of her chair and onto his lap. “You can’t say I didn’t warn
you.” He lifted her, positioned himself at her entrance, then
lowered her onto his cock.

Felicia fought the bonds of sleep, desperate
to escape the hated memories. Perion stood beside her pallet, gaze
dark and lecherous. His whispered lies echoed through her mind and
then he was on top of her, holding her down and invading her body.
She thrashed and bucked, screaming behind his clasped hand. “I’m
inside you, part of you. You will never escape me now.”

She sat up in bed, her screams still ringing
in her ears. Not her ears, her mind. The only sound in the darkened
bedroom was her heavy breathing. Beside her, Aiden stirred but
didn’t waken. As he’d said earlier, he was exhausted.

Why had she dreamed of Perion? It had been
years since she succumbed to the nightmare.
You will never
escape me now.
He had actually said the other hateful things,
tormenting her verbally while he violated her physically, but the
last part was new. And foreboding hung over her like a
thundercloud.

Aiden touched her arm and she gasped. “Are
you all right?”

“I had a nightmare. At least I think it was
a nightmare.”

Sitting as well, he told the lights to
illuminate fifty percent. He brushed the hair back from her face
then took her hand. “Where you dreaming about the priest?”

She nodded. “The images were familiar, but
one thing he said was odd. I do not think it was merely an
unpleasant dream.”

“What did he say to you?”

Pulling her hand out of his, she crawled out
of bed. “He said, ‘You’ll never escape me now.’ Did you process
Perion before you woke me? I do not think he has come through
since.”

“He could be on one of the other ships, or
he might not have been found during the initial sweeps.”

It would be such a relief to be rid of him
permanently. Somehow she didn’t think the fates would be so kind.
She paced beside the bed, needing an outlet for her anxious energy.
“How were the initial sweeps accomplished? I remember nothing at
all about that day.”

“I wasn’t there for the actual evacuation.
From what I understand, they gassed the entire city and then sent
teams out to collect as many of the inhabitants as they could
before the volcano blew.”

“Then those remaining would have been asleep
when the destruction hit?”

“It’s a nice thought, but I suspect the
Fedorans left themselves plenty of time to get the ships to safety
before the sparks began to fly.”

Unfortunately she agreed with him. The
Fedorans had been methodical, leaving nothing to chance. “You
mentioned a roster. Can we search this list for Perion?”

“In the morning.” He patted the bed beside
him. “It’s not even dawn. Come back to bed.”

“I cannot go back to sleep. I do not want to
go back to sleep.” She shuddered, unwilling to consider making
herself vulnerable to those images again. “I will read in your
office until you arrive.” He threw back the covers with a loud
sigh. She rushed forward and drew the covers over him again. “Shika
is on duty. I will go directly there. Sleep. I insist.”

He paused, his gaze moving over her face.
“Are you in danger? If this was a vision, we should take it
seriously.”

Hearing him defend her abilities filled her
with warmth and determination. He believed in her. Too often others
sneered at her warnings. She had become accustomed to being
dismissed and ignored by those in positions of power. “If the
danger were imminent, the images would have been more specific.
Perion is still out there. I am certain of it. All we need to do is
find him.”

“If you locate him, you must not make a move
without me.”

“I would never do something so foolish. If I
discover anything of consequence, I will notify you.”

He hesitated a moment longer then rubbed his
temples. “All right. Tell Shika to ping my cabin when you arrive.
The companel will beep, letting me know you’re safe.”

“I will. I promise.” She dressed quickly in
the dark and left the cabin, going immediately to the
infirmary.

Shika looked up, her confusion obvious.
“What time is it?”

“It is early yet. I was unable to
sleep.”

“Ah, anything I can do?”

Felicia walked across the room, thinking of
all the people who had come and gone in the last couple of days.
“Aiden asked that you ping his cabin to let him know I
arrived.”

“No problem. Make yourself at home.”

She went to Aiden’s office and stood before
the triple row of books. What she really wanted was the list of
names of the people who had been awakened. She went back into the
infirmary and Shika looked up as she approached.

“Did you forget something?” Shika asked with
a smile.

“I would like to review the list of people
who have been through orientation.”

Shika hesitated. “Is Doc okay with
this?”

“He told me he would help me search as soon
as he arrives, but I would rather begin now.”

“Are you searching for someone in
particular?”

She didn’t want to mistrust Shika, but she
had yet to spend enough time with the young woman to determine her
true loyalties. “I’m just interested in who we rescued from the
explosion and who was left behind.”

Shika thought for a moment then shrugged. “I
don’t see any harm in you looking over a bunch of names. All the
details are in Fedoros, so it should be cool.”

“Anything would be helpful.”

Shika walked into Aiden’s office and slipped
in behind his desk. She swept her hand from top to bottom across
the desk and an intricate image manifested in front of her. Aiden
had explained that this was the interface graphic, “A way of
navigating the computer’s processes”. Felicia’s skin still chilled
and her stomach tightened every time she saw someone manipulating
something that wasn’t really there.

It took more faith to believe that machines
could create these wonders than to accept the existence of the
gods.

“Here you go. The list is on screen. As you
reach the bottom of each page just go like this.” She ran her
fingers upward from the bottom edge and the image followed her
fingers.

“I appreciate your assistance.”

Shika nodded and pushed back from the desk.
“If you need anything else, just let me know.”

Felicia took the seat Shika had vacated and
gaped when she saw the roster. Not only had each name been recorded
but they had captured an image of each person. This would make it
so much easier to spot Perion! She scrolled through the list,
skimming the names when she didn’t recognize the features. She
quickly realized she knew more people by face than by name. How had
they done this without the refugees’ knowledge? The device must
have been concealed.

As Shika had said, much of the information
had been entered in Fedoros, but Felicia recognized certain words
and phrases. Too curious to concentrate entirely on the pictures,
Felicia called out to Aiden’s assistant. “Shika, can you help me
for a short time?”

The young woman returned to the office and
pulled up a chair. “Shoot.”

It was a word Shika commonly used to
indicate she was ready to continue. Felicia didn’t understand the
context, but it didn’t matter. She centered a file in front of her
face. “This is a street name and this lists his occupation. But
what does this entry indicate?”

“I thought you just wanted to look at
names.” Shika’s expression turned dubious.

“I hadn’t realized so much information had
been collected about each person. If the evacuation was
spontaneous, how did the ambassador learn this much about us in
such a short period of time?”

“The original location of each person was
documented by the evacuation teams. They gave each refugee a number
and entered their physical description into the master log. We have
been adding details to the log as we process each person. We’ve
added their names, occupations and family members.”