GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) (26 page)

"I know." She raised her head and wiped at her eyes. "Forgive me. I never cry but it's been one
drek
of a day."

The enormity of the understatement struck them both at the same time. Shara's mouth quivered, Gabriel grinned and suddenly they both burst out laughing.

"It really isn't funny," she said, muffling her giggles behind her hand.

He shook his head, struggling to keep his own laughter from erupting again, when she surprised him by clenching her vaginal muscles around him. Though her body was no longer burning and her mind had cleared, one look at her eyes confirmed that her fever had not been completely cooled by their frenzied coupling. He didn't expect her to try to appease her need however, without the fever being at its peak.

His own fire reignited with a vengeance when she slowly raised and lowered her hips. Yet he still hesitated to believe she was actually taking the initiative when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Again she eased her tight, moist sheath up and down his length then whispered, "More, please."

Tossing aside the last vestiges of her resistance to the inevitable, she covered his parted lips with hers and stole his breath into her mouth. While his one hand captured and caressed her breast, the other kneaded her bottom, urging her to pick up the pace of her stimulating ride. Without relinquishing his mouth for a moment, with her fingers she explored the muscled expanse of his shoulders and back then combed through his hair, allowing herself to do all the things she'd been fantasizing about.

But now that she had given in to the temptation, she found herself needing more, as quickly as possible. Though she would have liked to make the exquisite shimmering inside her last, she was suddenly too greedy to wait. The moment she felt the first ripples of release approaching, she rushed them both into the deep and held him firmly until the last wave of sensation washed over them.

Her sigh of extreme satisfaction was her admission to him that she had finally accepted the pleasure he offered along with the relief.

As they both tightened the reins on their overwrought emotions, he withdrew from her body but kept her on his lap. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face, he murmured, "You certainly are beautiful when you smile."

She bent her head shyly. She knew she shouldn't let his compliment go to her head but, for just a moment or two, she needed to believe he actually cared about her.

"Now comes the fun part of the plan."

His words jolted her back to reality. "Oh, great," she said with light sarcasm. "I was hoping there was more to come."

He gave her a boost up then rose himself. "We need to give your mind a little exercise. I'm sure the officer that brought us here is still outside the door. Can you suggest he come in without notifying anyone else then put him to sleep?"

She ran a self-test and nodded. "Yes, I'm fine now."

"Good. Once he's unconscious, I'm going to borrow his clothes but you'll need a uniform also. How strong is your power?" When she hesitated, he prodded. "I need to know what else you can do to help us get out of here."

She recalled his telling her that sometimes survival takes priority over ethics. And yet, if he resented her mental abilities before, it would undoubtedly be worse once he knew them all. Weighing freedom against his opinion of her, she decided to reveal the truth. "When I concentrate very hard, without any distractions, I can move objects with my mind and sometimes I can picture things that are beyond my eyesight."

She could sense him trying not to react to her declaration, but his jaw clenched with tension and his hands fisted at his sides for a split second before he successfully hid his feelings.

"Is there another officer down the hall that you could bring back here?"

She closed her eyes and mentally traveled down the corridor. "Yes. But I can only work on one at a time."

"It's still more than I can do," Gabriel muttered under his breath. "Start with the one outside."

Shara wondered if resentment wasn't the only thing he felt toward people with extrasensory abilities but there was no time to analyze it now. A short time later, they had both donned security uniforms over their tunics and the two officers were sleeping peacefully with no memories of how they lost their clothing. Unfortunately, the officers' shoes were both too small for either Shara or Gabriel and they had to keep their sandals on.

"Is there a way out of this building besides how we came in?" Gabriel asked, while he repositioned his paralyzer rod so that he could get to it if necessary.

She pictured the rest of the shelter's layout. "No. There are rebels being questioned in the rooms along the corridor but those doors are closed. There's only one officer left out front. I can suggest he take a nap while we leave."

"Fine. Once we're outside, stay calm. Don't look anyone in the eye. No one should question two officers amid all the confusion. We're going to walk off and keep walking until we get back to the commune. Ready?"

She nodded, made one final check of their exit route and put the officer on duty to sleep.

They had only taken a few steps down the hall though, when one of the doors opened and an auburn-haired man dressed in a rebel-style tunic stepped out and blocked their path.

"Greetings,
Friends,"
he said arching an eyebrow at them. "I heard there was a couple suffering from the mating fever and had a feeling it was the two of you." He looked at the uniforms they were wearing. "You seem to have changed sides since I last saw you." When he noted their sandals, he added, "More or less."

Shara quickly sent him a suggestion but he blocked it before she finished her thought.

"Uh-uh," he said, wagging a finger at her. "You did not let me in. I do not let you in. Shall we talk instead?" He motioned them into the room behind him and gave a signal to the officer inside to leave. The only furnishings were a square table with four chairs around it.

Shara remembered his name was Misha and he had been the one who had levitated Gabriel's satchel when they'd first arrived. He had also been seated at Zeus's table at dinner. From his comment, she surmised that he must have been responsible for at least one of the probes she had sensed. But why would a security officer obey his order to leave?

"Are you the spy?" she asked bluntly.

He gave her an easy smile. "I prefer to think of myself as a man with divided interests. Zeus is my father. The Tribunal is my employer. No matter what happened today, I was coming out ahead. I have succeeded in walking a double path thus far by knowing everything about everybody. So you can imagine how the two of you concerned me. And now I find you dressed as security officers."

"What do you want from us?" Gabriel asked, assuming that he would have reported them already if that had been his intention.

"I would like my curiosity satisfied. Who are you? Where are you from? What is your true purpose in being here? And then we can move on to the more interesting questions. Why did my probe strike a blank wall in you and what was the strangeness I picked up in her mind?"

"That was you who touched me at dinner?" Shara asked.

He smiled. "Just for a moment, before you stopped me. You are quite gifted—perhaps my equal—which is another reason you interest me. Not many possess my talents."

Gabriel enveloped Shara's hand in his and gave it a squeeze to stop her from answering. She returned the pressure to signify her agreement to let him do the talking.

"I can promise you an interesting explanation while satisfying your curiosity," Gabriel said as if dangling a sweet in front of a child. "But what can we expect in return for our cooperation?"

Misha angled his head in a thoughtful manner. "If you do not tell me, I could turn you over to security again or I could hand you to Zeus and convince him you are the spies. You may have heard, he is not known for his compassionate nature. In case you were thinking of repeating what I told you about myself, your testimony would hold no weight against mine with either faction."

He walked around the back of the table and took a chair. "Please sit down. There is no reason for hostility between us. I was being honest about my curiosity. If you satisfy me that you are no threat to any concern of mine, I may even help you get out of here."

Shara glanced at Gabriel. She had no intention of doing anything, even sitting down, unless he told her to do it. At his nod, they joined Misha at the table, but he retained her hand. She supposed it was the best method for him to give her signals, but it also went a long way toward calming her.

Gabriel leaned forward and kept his voice low in a conspiratorial manner. "We're historians from the distant future doing research. We didn't mean to get caught up in the actual rebellion."

"Aah," Misha said, smiling. "Yes, that
is
an interesting explanation. But a difficult one to prove."

"Perhaps not. I can show you the recordings I've been making with a device that doesn't exist in this time." He turned Beauty toward a blank wall. "Beauty, project the speech made by Zeus shortly after dawn this morning."

Misha shot up from his chair as a hologram of his father appeared and Zeus's booming voice filled the room. Cautiously he walked up to the projection and passed his hand through it.
"Amazing!"

"Beauty, discontinue transmission." Zeus vanished.

Misha returned to his seat with excitement in his eyes. "Tell me of the future. What will happen to the Friends? Will Norona colonize Terra as planned?"

Gabriel shook his head. "We are under strict orders not to interfere with any culture we encounter. Revealing future events could be disastrous. But I can assure you that everyone involved at this time will prosper because of the decisions made."

Shara was tempted to tell Misha of her true purpose but her instincts warned her that contradicting Gabriel at this point could be dangerous to them both.

Misha was obviously disappointed with such a vague answer but he seemed to accept it as reasonable. "Was the antigravity device also a product from your time?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yes. My skills don't encompass invention."

Misha looked introspective for a moment then asked, "Are you both Noronians?"

Shara waited for Gabriel to reply.

"Yes, though Shara has inherited some genes from another humanoid species."

"I see. And what of the mating fever? Was it real or an act?"

He held Shara's hand tightly as he spoke. "Real. It struck after we began our journey and has escalated much faster than expected. We are quite desperate to get back to our own time so that we can have the formal joining ceremony with our parents."

Misha chuckled. "Some things do not change with time, I suppose. You have explained Shara's difference but what of your mind?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I have no idea. Shara can't read me either. We're especially looking forward to being joined so that we can finally know the joy of sharing one another's thoughts."

Shara wondered how he managed to say that without choking on the words, but his voice was so sincere, she almost believed it herself.

Misha got up and paced the room. "One more question. How did you get those uniforms?"

Gabriel answered that question honestly and Shara added, "All three of them will awaken in a few hours with no recollection of us whatsoever."

"Very interesting," Misha said as he continued pacing. "I don't know of anyone with the power of suggestion, although I've always suspected one of my cousins of being able to do such a thing."

"Really?" Shara asked, her intuition alerting her to a possible hint of her heritage. "Which cousin might that be?"

"Cyclops—Poseidon's one-eyed son."

Shara hoped that her intuition was wrong. She didn't want to learn that she had a Noronian ancestor if he turned out to be a mutant monster. "I don't believe we met him."

"No. None of Poseidon's followers were at the Summit. They have a commune on the other side of First Province. Zeus and Poseidon have never been able to share anything... least of all center stage. All of Poseidon's protests have been submitted separately from his brother's."

Shara caught a warning look from Gabriel and ignored it. "Misha, I wonder if you could help us with something. We were trying to compile a list of all the people involved in the Friendship movement. I believe we got everyone who was staying at Zeus's commune or who attended the meeting. Could you name those who are loyal to Poseidon? You just have to speak and Beauty will record you."

Misha smiled toward the mirrored pendant on Gabriel's chest, clearly flattered to be part of history, and rattled off a list of about forty names.

"Thank you," Gabriel said as soon as Misha paused. "That will be enough. I hope we have convinced you we are no threat and only want to leave this time as quickly as possible."

"I am convinced," Misha replied. "But I am not sure how I could help you."

"We need to get back to Zeus's lodge. Any suggestions?"

"That is easy. As long as you are in those uniforms, you can take one of the scooters in the rear of the building. One word of warning though. Make sure you are gone by morning. Security does not have the manpower to spare at the moment, but by tomorrow, they will be sending teams out to search Zeus's property for more weapons. If you get picked up again, I will assume you have not told me the whole truth and I will deny knowing you."