GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) (34 page)

She lowered her lashes so that he would not see the deception in her eyes. Though she would have preferred to open her mind to his completely as he was asking, she knew there were two things he mustn't know. Well hidden behind her thoughts of pleasure was the fact that she still intended to change history if at all possible. And behind that was the true depth of her feelings for him. She could bear anything but his knowing that.

As their minds met, he felt her desire and was assured that she was coming to him with no ulterior motives or conditions except to give and take pleasure. Gabriel didn't even realize he'd been holding his breath until he exhaled with a surge of relief.

He removed his clothing but requested that she leave the gown on... for now. He took a step forward and raised his hands up in front of him with fingers spread and palms facing her. As she went to him and matched her hands to his, their eyes closed and they saw themselves on three separate planes. Their spiritual selves were already blended into one existence. Their minds had melded into one. Only their physical bodies needed to intertwine to experience the complete joining.

Simultaneously their fingers moved, grazing down each other's arms and up over the shoulders to their faces. They traced each feature then eased their hands down and around each other's waist. With deliberate slowness, their bodies and mouths came together.

It felt as though they were being immersed in a sensual pool of liquid warmth. Each time they had coupled before, the fever had demanded urgent completion. This was much more arousing, with their bodies awakening a little at a time, absorbing each other's feelings and hearing each other's thoughts.

His lips on hers were gentle, yet incredibly seductive, and her tongue lured his into a leisurely exploration of her mouth. They didn't move any other parts of their bodies while the kiss deepened, promising greater pleasure ahead, yet they were reluctant to leave this stage behind.

And when they did, their actions remained unhurried, for with each touch they learned more of how to please and be pleased. He slipped the straps of her gown over her shoulders and lowered the lace only a bit at a time, so that her unveiling became a separate act of pleasure for them both.

His mouth on her breast was adoring rather than hungry. Her hands stroking his hard muscles were admiring rather than demanding. They moved to the bed and devoted themselves to finding every sensitive area the other possessed until their passion could no longer be held at bay.

Shara was vibrating with the need to have him inside her and yet she didn't want the beautiful waves of pleasurable sensations to come to an end.

Don't fret, sweetling. It isn't ending. It's only beginning.

And with that thought both thrilling and consoling her, he joined their bodies and together they climbed to the top of the volcano and leaped into its fiery heart... together.

* * *

The next morning, Gabriel awoke determined to give Shara a part of what had been stolen from her.

He began courting her. Though confined to the ship, he made a point of keeping her entertained. When he wasn't holding her hand, he was stroking her arm or her hair. He complimented her, teased her and whispered enticing suggestions in her ear when she least expected it. His supply of Caresses had run out but Shara's sweetness was better than the finest chocoberry.

Shara found herself responding to his attention with suggestions of her own and a great deal of time over the next week was spent in the big bed in their cabin. If she didn't know better, she would have thought they were just like any other newly joined couple.

Since he was unable to block any of his thoughts from her, she knew his compliments were as sincere as his desire and she knew he truly enjoyed everything they were doing together. She also knew he had yet to think of her in terms of love, though he did care for her. Given enough time, she hoped he could learn to love her... if only just a little.

If he loved her enough to want to share his life with her, they would find a way to deal with their different careers.

However, there was still one major problem that could prevent that love from ever developing. They had momentarily set aside any discussion of their opposing goals but she was aware that he hadn't changed his mind about her tampering with history. Because she was blocking her intentions to defy him, he seemed to be under the impression that she had conceded to his opinion. She decided to allow him that impression for the time being.

Each time she allowed herself to think about it, she became more frustrated. If he loved her, perhaps he would understand the importance of her mission and not attempt to stop her. If he loved her well enough, perhaps she would do anything to keep his love, including giving up that mission.

If only he loved her....

During one of their practice sessions, she sensed him worrying about how their joining would affect his future. Not wanting to face his exact plans quite yet, she blocked his personal thoughts from that moment on.

The morning they were to arrive in Innerworld, Shara awoke to find Gabriel propped up on his elbow beside her with a distinct sparkle in his eyes.
You're looking very pleased with yourself,
she thought to him with a satisfied smile of her own.

"You can speak aloud."

That was hardly the greeting she had expected from him but it made her realize that she hadn't reconstructed the partition and yet she wasn't hearing his thoughts.

"Go ahead," he encouraged her. "Say something."

"Good morning."

His wide grin was contagious. "I can hardly believe it," he said, bounding off the bed and crossing the cabin. "Say something else."

She sat up, her curiosity increasing by the second. "I'll say more when you explain what this is about."

"Look." He held out his hand and showed her the jammer. "I woke up this morning and realized it had come off during the night. When I couldn't find it right away, I tried blocking out the voices, the way you've been showing me." He came back and pulled her up off the bed. "Don't you see? I finally did it! Once I got used to that, I tried separating our minds and I did that too!" Giving her a great hug, he lifted her off the ground and swung her around. "Isn't this great?"

When he set her down again, she tried to give him the happy response he wanted. It was just that she hadn't expected his liberation from her to happen so soon or so abruptly. She thought she had more time.

"Shara? What's the matter?" She lowered her lashes so that he couldn't see her eyes, so he simply let go of the mental block.

Immediately she raised a partition but his ability had strengthened so much that she had to strain to hold it against his efforts to tear it down. Finally she let him win, but asked, "Would you invade my mind against my will?"

As he realized what he had just done, shame washed over him and he mentally backed way. "Forgive me. I wasn't thinking."

Understanding how new and tempting this was for him, Shara stroked his cheek as she carefully closed off her thoughts. "The power can control you if you're not careful. Do unto others, Gabriel, and they might give you back more than you can handle."

"Something I said caused you distress, sweetling. I only wanted to know what it was."

"It was nothing. A selfish thought, that's all. I'm embarrassed that it even occurred to me."

Gabriel rubbed his chin. "Now you've got me more curious about what it was. Shall I guess?"

"Why don't we see if you've acquired any of my other skills instead?" She slipped out of his arms and went to the supply station to order something to wear.

"I already tried. I still can't do anything else on my own but none of those powers are as important as the blocking. I know this is a small thing to you but..."

Shara's pulse pounded in her ears, drowning out whatever he was saying but his excited pacing said enough. This was it. He didn't need her any longer. As soon as they got back, he'd be leaving on a long journey... alone. He would probably take her hand, give it a kiss and say something like
It's been an interesting experience but there's really no reason to spend the rest of our lives together. Let's keep in touch though.
And then he'd be gone.

She welcomed him back to bed when he was done pacing and wanted to share his joy with her in a more physical manner. He was too caught up in his own happiness to think there was anything unusual in the way she clung to him, but while he was celebrating his accomplishment, she was saying good-bye.

* * *

Once everyone disembarked and went their separate ways, Shara and Gabriel found an empty alcove off a remote corridor of the transportation hangar to prepare for their transmigration to Outerworld.

As she searched through her bag, she said, "I wasn't sure I would need this but I'm glad I brought it along just in case." She pulled out an ornate gold ring with a large fire opal in its center and put it on her finger.

Gabriel recognized the special Innerworld ring immediately. Only a handful of people possessed them, since they were the key to so much power. Its obvious use was as a means of identification but it was also a direct connection to Innerworld's central computer and an extension for the transmigrator unit. "Are they issuing those to genetic scientists nowadays?" he asked with a doubtful expression.

She clucked her tongue at him. "I only
borrowed
it from my father's office. With luck I'll have it back before he knows it's gone. I'll need some help with the coordinates."

Gabriel extracted Beauty from a pocket of his jumper. "Beauty, give me a map of the Western Hemisphere of Outerworld Terra showing the former location of the continent of Atlantis in relationship to its neighbors' borders today." A grid appeared on the mirror and the land masses were outlined.

He showed Shara the map and said, "Atlantis covered an area west of Europe and Africa from approximately twenty-two to forty-five degrees longitude and twenty to fifty-five degrees latitude. Beauty, highlight the royal city and the nearest seaport on the coast of Europe."

One dot appeared on the easternmost extension of Atlantis and another identified Lisbon, Portugal.

Gabriel arched an eyebrow at Shara. "I hate to criticize your plan but that's a distance of about a thousand kilometers over some very rough seas. Even if we located a boat large enough to safely make such a long trip, we wouldn't know how to pilot it ourselves. The more critical problem would come when we needed to time-hop from the past back to the present. Without being able to pinpoint the arrival time, we couldn't count on the boat being where we left it."

"I've been working on that aspect and I think I've improved it but I see the problem." With a thoughtful frown, she studied the map for a moment. "If we time-hop backward from here, we might not be able to get to a location on Outerworld, since transmigration hadn't been invented yet. And if we migrate out now to where Atlantis was then, we'd wind up in the ocean. A boat was the only solution I could come up with."

Gabriel put Beauty away. "I think I have another one. Keep an eye out for anyone passing by while I build us a raft."

Shara knew better than to question one of Gabriel's plans, no matter how impossible it sounded. Her gaze alternated back and forth between the corridor and Gabriel. From his satchel he removed the square of silver that had formed the base of his tent, spread it out on the floor, and inflated it.

"The underside is sturdy enough to hold us and our bags on top of water," Gabriel assured her. "And if we don't arrive on solid ground when we time-hop, I can improvise a sail to direct us toward land. The only serious difficulty we might have is, if the ocean is extremely choppy, we could be tossed overboard. I'd suggest you put the tempometer on, program it and have it set to go the minute we hit Outerworld."

Shara did as he suggested, then asked Beauty for the exact coordinates of a spot on Atlantis's coast near the royal city. By pressing a series of the raised gold nodes on the sides of the ring, she tapped into the main transmigrator unit and programmed it to send them to their destination. "I'm set," she said and they both sat down on the raft.

It took a little maneuvering but with Shara sitting between Gabriel's legs, they managed to maintain contact with each other while he kept one hand on their luggage and another on the raft, so that nothing would be left behind.

"Sweetling, promise you'll stay by me so we can hop out again if the situation is too risky."

"Yes, Gabriel."

Her tone was almost too sweet to be believable. "And another thing. I haven't said it but I am glad you've come around to my way of thinking about not altering history." He suddenly felt as if she were mentally squirming. "Shara? You
do
agree with me now, don't you?"

Rather than say a word, she turned the opal stone halfway around to the right and they were on their way.

The migration took more than a minute but it wasn't nearly as jarring as a time-hop. They were simply suspended in a black void until they rematerialized on the Altantic Ocean.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the gray sky followed closely by a crash of thunder. Blowing rain pelted their faces as the raft was carried high in the air by a mighty wave and dropped again with a bone-jarring splash.