Reclaiming Mystique (SpaceStalker Saga Book 2) (22 page)

Suddenly time flashed and they watched Nesham escape, saw Lord Demise’s surprise and interest in a new challenge. He grinned and they watched as Mikhel walked with him down a corridor. Then he was left in a room with only a large bed and a window.

A beautiful woman entered looking very much like Carinna. Yet slight differences in her face and height set them apart. Naria saw her sister, Depar, put Mikhel under her spell.

“This is where it began,” Mikhel said in a low voice, his eyes tortured as he watched the demon begin her torture. Naria could only imagine what everything looked like to Jace. How would he feel about Carinna after seeing this? And more importantly, how would he feel about her if he ever learned that these cruel women were in fact her sisters?

Jace watched, fascinated, as Mikhel’s memories loomed before him. He had used his mental gifts throughout his life, but never had he seen thought transformed to solid reality before.

He felt protected in Naria’s mind, feeling closer to her as they watched the scene unfold. He couldn’t help but feel slightly aroused at the lush body of the beautiful woman now naked and writhing against Mikhel. And the hardy Fenturi seemed lost in desire as well, at least, the one on the vision did. Standing next to him, Mikhel watched the scene unfold in horror. And then Jace began to understand.

The woman led him to the large bed while a window overlooking the room suddenly filled with dark eyes seething with lust and impatience. Mikhel lay on the bed, his large body strangely subdued as the redhead worked her lips and body over his. He watched as the creature worked Mikhel’s body like an instrument, playing him effortlessly.

Jace could feel Naria blushing in her thoughts, could feel the passion she tried to deny at watching such an erotic act. Mikhel’s large body thrust up and into the demon’s mouth and Jace could feel his own arousal grow. And then the demon rose up to face Mikhel and he saw her face change. Her eyes burned blood red, her mouth opened into a hideous smile to reveal long, sharp and broken teeth and a pronged black tongue.

Mikhel tried to protest on the bed but to no avail. The woman soon turned the pleasure he’d been receiving into horrifying pain as she scourged him with her teeth and whiplike tongue. And then another demon appeared in the room with her and began to desecrate Mikhel’s healthy body.

Jace watched with Naria as Mikhel climaxed over and over while the demons sucked not only his energy but his lifesblood from him, scarring and biting him as they fed off of his body.

All the passion Jace had at first felt seeing the nubile woman’s erotic actions faded as Mikhel’s terror seethed and pulsed in the mental image next to him. He would have put out a hand to reassure him but Naria stopped him.

He turned to see her shake her head and direct her attention to the action before them.

Jace did so unwillingly, knowing she had reason for watching the monstrosity before them. Finally the demons eased off of Mikhel after what must have been hours of torture, speeded up at Naria’s urging. Jace fought the urge to protect his body seeing the pitiful condition of Mikhel’s. Mikhel moaned on the bed, seeking more release as his body incredibly hardened and pulsed again under the demons’ presence.

“Once more, please Depar,” the other demon begged. The one named Depar smiled, her body smeared in blood and Mikhel’s seed, her eyes glowing blue as she stared at his helpless body before her.

The other demon softly bit down with her sharp teeth over Mikhel’s arousal and he moaned and tried to deny the ecstasy her torment created.

“So strong, so fierce,” Depar whispered as she watched the other demon devour Mikhel’s energy.

Jace watched with revulsion as a mixture of blood, saliva and seed pooled around the demon’s mouth over Mikhel. As Mikhel moaned and finally lost consciousness, the demon grinned, her face returning the beautiful picture it had been before she’d ravaged Mikhel.

Next to them Mikhel shook his head and breathed raggedly. “You don’t know,” he said hoarsely. “The pain, the exquisite pain they gave me. They changed me and took away that which makes me who I am,” he said, slowly lowering his mental self to the ground beneath them.

Jace felt such sorrow and anguish emanating around them that he felt it hard to bear. They stayed locked in that hideous cell and could only stare at Mikhel’s naked and bruised body lying limply on the bed.

He could never have imagined such a thing had he not seen it with his own eyes. Jace shook his head. Of all the manners to prescribe torture, only on Dark World could physical pleasures turn so very ugly, he thought.

Jace’s thoughts merged with Naria’s as she agreed with his assessment wholeheartedly. Then he watched as she lowered herself to comfort Mikhel.

“Look at me, Mikhel,” she said gently. Jace could feel her mind stirring, her power and her heart merging as she felt such pity and remorse for Mikhel that Jace felt tears pooling in his eyes.

He watched without interference as she placed her hand over Mikhel’s eyes and began to whisper to him. He watched as she slowly took his memories away, piece by piece. No more dark cell, no beatings or encounters with Lord Demise. The female demons, Succubus, he heard her call them, vanished as well as if they had never existed. And as she lifted the memories, Jace could actually feel Mikhel begin to ease.

Now he understood why she had been so adamant about taking Mikhel’s memories. A Fenturi could never forget such intense physical interaction, no matter how much Jace might have tried to heal Mikhel. Mikhel’s memories would always have been there to haunt him.

Jace had never before taken memories and found the process to be curiously simple. In Naria’s mind, he felt and saw her thoughts form, the way she used her mental gifts to do things even normal Psi would have found intimidating.

Slowly the images around them faded and Jace blinked to find himself again sitting in his chair next to Naria, her body bent over Mikhel’s protectively.

She had released them from Mikhel’s mind and yet the connection remained between she and Jace. He could feel her intense sorrow and pain at Mikhel’s abuse, yet she shelved it away as she continued to ease his mind.

Then she looked deeper into Mikhel’s memories, finding one that made Jace start with surprise.

“What are you doing?” he asked mentally.

“I need to replace all this ugliness with a good thought, something that will give him peace,” she answered. But Jace could feel her power ebbing, her strength low.

“Let me,” he said and physically touched her arm. As he did so, the connection between them faded and he felt alone and a touch empty.

“If you insist,” Naria smiled, exhaustion lining her features.

She pulled away from Mikhel and Jace took her gently in his arms, seating her in the chair he’d been occupying.

“You just need to,” she began.

“I know what to do,” Jace interrupted. “I saw what you were doing before.”

She nodded and Jace returned to Mikhel. He reached through Mikhel’s thoughts and picked up a trace of what Naria had found. Uncomfortable at having Naria watch the erotic act, odd considering the horrors of what they had all witnessed previously, Jace nevertheless resurged and emphasized Mikhel’s memory.

In it, Mikhel met with a young Fenturi in the Fentra forests. He and the female lay naked together, entwined in each other’s bodies as they experienced their first foray into sensuality together. Actually, he thought as he noted the scene, the loving and tender coupling amidst the lush homeworld of the Fenturi could be nothing short of heavenly. He grinned to himself, thinking that if he had such thoughts to fall back on, he might never have left that planet, or that woman.

Jace drifted back out of Mikhel’s mind and shook his head as he again felt his feet underneath him. He noted the peace and slack stature of Mikhel’s restful body and nodded with satisfaction.

He glanced to Naria to see her reaction and found her sleeping as well, her face in a slight frown. Knowing that Mikhel would now be all that he had before, Jace lifted Naria in his arms and left the room. He walked with her quietly back to his room, resetting the security codes, and lay down with her in bed.

He stared down at her, wiping her hair off of her pale face. He noticed the bruises of exhaustion under her eyes and frowned. Such beauty, he thought, and such a giving heart.

He knew that Naria, while not ignorant of the intimacies between man and woman, had not the experience to fall back on. That she had witnessed such ugliness through Mikhel’s thoughts concerned him. And yet, he knew she had a connection to Dark World. Hel, Carinna looked exactly like the Succubi that had attacked Mikhel. And though Naria did not, she had more to do with Dark World than she’d admitted.

He stroked her soft black hair gently as he stared at her face. He tried to ease her mind as she frowned and shook her head slightly. He could only imagine the dreams that would plague her until she awoke.

As he stared at her, he wondered what it must be like to grow up on Dark World. Everyone in that world subscribed to pain and darkness. Even the sexual act had been relegated to anguish rather than the raw ecstasy it should have produced. Had she grown up there? And if so, how was it that she didn’t carry the darkness that the others did?

As his thoughts tumbled over one another, Jace shook his head. He needed rest and he resolved to deal with Naria and her issues when he next awoke. Settling down next to her, he hugged her to him tightly.

“Shh,” he whispered as she whimpered in sleep, strangely affected by her unease. No matter her allegiance now, this night she had helped Mikhel. For that alone Jace would do what he could to try and believe in her. “I’m here, Naria. You’re safe,” he said and kissed her ear gently. She stilled and sighed, then snuggled deeper into his embrace.

Jace closed his eyes and gave himself up to sleep. He didn’t dream.

Naria awoke much later to find laughter and good humor flowing through the ship like a tide of warmth. She stretched on the bed and stood, noting that the room seemed strangely empty without Jace present.

She wrinkled her nose down at her wrinkled and stale clothing. Moving quickly into the lav, she shed her clothing and stepped into the solar bath. As the rays cleaned her, she felt refreshed, as if the memories of yesterday faded along with the grime from her body.

Even knowing what her sisters were and a small glimpse of what they had done to Mikhel hadn’t been enough to prepare her for Mikhel’s tortured memories. She exhaled deeply and stepped from the solar bath.

“No more,” she reminded herself. She heard a door whisper open and stilled. She peered around the open doorway of the lav and found Jace frowning as he looked for her.

“Jace?” she said. His eyes whipped around and fixed on her face. He studied her intently before his expression relaxed. “I seem to be out of clothing. Do you perhaps have anything I might wear?”

His expression didn’t changed but Naria swore his intensity deepened. He moved towards a panel in the wall of his room and pulled out some clothes. He held them up for her to view and she gasped.

“Not much to them, I’m afraid,” he said apologetically. “But this will have to hold you until we can find you new ones. You’re much smaller than anyone else aboard ship,” he grinned. “And we aren’t used to garbing females.”

He brought the slim garments to her, standing uncomfortably close, she thought. She felt completely aware of her lack of clothing as she hid in the lav.

“It will cover the necessities,” he said in a husky voice.

She nodded and pulled the clothing into the lav with her, shutting the door. She pulled on the short, flowing skirt and tight-fitting top. The skirt came to her mid thigh and surprisingly felt soft against her skin. Though it exposed much of her legs, she felt comfortable in the silken cloth.

The shirt, however, only served to surround her breasts, tying around her neck. Her midriff, shoulders and back lay mostly bare, the tight fit of fabric causing her breasts to appear larger, fully outlined by the clingy fabric.

She opened the door and stepped out into the room uncertainly. Jace had his back to her rummaging through a chest and when he turned at the door opening he froze.

His dark eyes glittered as they ran over her from the top of her head to her gracefully arched feet. Along the way his gaze lingered over her legs, abdomen and breasts, most fixated on her nearly bare chest.

“You might need this,” he said and cleared his throat. He handed her a large shirt. “It’s big but it should cover you, should you want it,” he murmured, his gaze still fascinated by her body.

“Thanks,” Naria said and quickly threw his shirt over her head. He had said it was large and he hadn’t lied. A thin white shirt with a ‘v’ down the center, the shirt at least covered her back, shoulders and midriff. The deep ‘v’ only emphasized her breasts outlined in the purple fabric she wore. “Where did you get this?” she asked, looking back at Jace once she felt better covered.

Jace smiled, a look of pure pleasure as he stared at her. “Better,” he said and stepped closer to her. He ran his fingers over her covered shoulder and then down to the exposed area under her neck. “But it still leaves a lot to be desired,” he said softly. His eyes followed his hand and Naria swallowed nervously, her body heating as his touch ignited her desire.

“Naria, we’ve just hit Vembi,” he said with a grin, his eyes returning to hers. “Everyone’s
very
happy to be here. And to answer your earlier question, the clothes you’re wearing are a Vembi pleasurer outfit. I believe they may have been leftover from an earlier visit,” he said blandly.

“Oh,” Naria said, frowning slightly. She didn’t know exactly what that meant but didn’t like the idea of Jace having gotten the clothes personally from a pleasurer. Her jealous thoughts made her blush and she quickly turned towards the door.

A hand on her arm stopped her, however.

“Naria,” Jace said softly. She turned to find his earlier good humor gone. “We much to discuss. And though you healed Mikhel and have my eternal gratitude for it, you still have yet to tell me the truth about yourself, a fact that greatly upsets me.”