The Power of Fate (The Triad Series Book 5) (6 page)

“She’s coming to check you over.” Mya came back to his side and picked up his cup. “Would you like some of this? I’ll put some fresh ice in it if you like.”

“You do not have to stay.”

She paused, her hand reaching out to the jug. “I thought you—”

“I am sure you have more important duties to perform than to waste your time on me.”

“Rekk…” She put down the cup. “I’d like to stay, but if you don’t want me here all you have to do is say so. I thought having someone you know around would be helpful, but maybe it’s just me. Would you prefer Lieutenant Roberts?”

“The frosty-eyed male who is like no telepath I have ever encountered before?” Rekk shuddered. “No, thank you.”

“Then I’ll stay.”

The nurse came in and Rekk was poked and prodded and eventually allowed to sit up with the promise of a late supper if he was feeling like it.

“Do you feel any different?” Mya put down the flat screen she was reading from. “Dr. Frith said they took a lot of Etruscan hardware out of you.”

“I certainly feel changed. Some of the memories that I hid from the Etruscans are starting to re-emerge into the light. ” He fingered the sheet. “Do you still sense me or have I faded away?”

She made a face. “I was kind of hoping you would fade away, but—”

“You wish me gone?”

“I wish you to get well, to rebuild your shields and be happy.” She met his gaze, her brown eyes steady.

“I will do my best, Mya.”

“I know this is difficult for both of us, and I’m sure you want to forget what happened as much as I do.”

“How can I regret it when I am now a free man?”

“I’m glad you are free and that I was there to help you. I meant more that you don’t have to worry about all the other stuff that happened.”

“You mean our mating?”

Her skin blushed a darker green on her cheeks. “Our forced mating. We both had no choice.”

She obviously did regret consorting with him, and who could blame her? He slowly inclined his head. “I have no intention of embarrassing you, Captain Jong.”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“It is all right. I understand. We will keep our shields in place and behave like two civilized individuals. I am quite capable of doing that, you know.”

“I would never think otherwise.” She cleared her throat. “Which is good because the authorities have asked me to accompany you to the Temple at Quoxor.”

“To see the Oracle? I remember her. What an excellent idea. If anyone can help unravel the mystery of who I am it will be her.”

“There have been a series of Etruscan attacks on the Temple and on government ministers, so I’ve been asked to take you incognito.”

“As I’m unsure of who I am anyway, that should not present a problem, but what exactly do you mean?”

“We’ll travel to the Temple as a private couple seeking our Third. There will be additional security measures in place around us at all times, but for all intents and purposes, it will appear as if we are all alone.”

“I understand.” Rekk sank back against his pillows, suddenly aware of how vulnerable his neck felt without the weight of the golden collar. When had he come to accept his shackles as a normal part of him? How long had he been held in captivity and grown used to being at the Etruscan’s mercy?

“Rekk, are you okay?”

He opened his eyes to see that Mya was standing by the bed, her expression full of concern. He forced himself to calm down.

“I am just tired. I think I will sleep now.”

She gently touched his hand. “Go ahead. I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise.”

Chapter 5

Rekk examined the clothing someone had laid out for him on the bed. Since the removal of the Etruscan probes, flashes of his past that he’d buried deep inside his mind had begun to emerge into the light. When he’d last been on Pavlovan soil, men had worn long tunics with elaborate sashes in soft silks and bright fabrics.

“What is this?” He held up the top item.

Mya wandered over to his side. “The blue fabric? The fashion came from planet Earth. They are called jeans.”

He poked the stiff leggings and studied them. “The material is rough.”

“But very hardwearing.”

“Why would that matter? It is not as if I am destined to work in the fields.”

Her smile dimmed. “Lucky you. Most of us like jeans because they last for a long time and are very comfortable. They will also provide excellent camouflage as almost everyone wears them.”

“Ah.” He had erred in some way. “What does one wear with them?”

She surveyed the pile of clothes. “Socks, boots, and a T-shirt for starters, and maybe a jacket or a hoodie.”

He stripped off his hospital garb and reached for the jeans. “I shall try them.”

Her gaze dropped to his groin. “Um, underwear, boxers, something to shield your… softer parts from the zipper of the jeans.”

Of course now that she was staring at him nothing was remaining soft.

She handed him a pair of shorts. “These. Put these on first.”

He drew the underclothing up his legs and attempted to arrange his now hard cock within the clinging fabric. She must think him a whore to be aroused so easily by a female’s gaze. He pressed a hand to cover the curve of his balls and rigid cock.

“I apologize.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s just those hormones. I was the one who was staring.” Mya was looking everywhere but at him, her cheeks flushing.

He grabbed the jeans out of her lax grip. “Mayhap you could find me something to wear over the jeans while I put them on?”

“Sure.”

She turned away and he struggled to step into the jeans and draw them up his legs. His breath hissed out as he caught the underside of his balls with the rough inner seam.

“Are you okay?” Mya asked. “The best way to put them on without catching anything important is to protect yourself with one hand inside the zipper.”

“Ah.” Rekk jiggled the metal fastening. “I do not understand how this works.”

“Would you like me to show you?”

Rekk briefly closed his eyes. He’d like her to put her hand on his cock and keep it there until her fingers were covered with his come, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“Let me.” She made a soft, breathy noise as she reached around him, cupped his covered cock and balls with one hand and drew the metal tag upward, meshing the metal teeth together like a train track. “See? Right to the top and then you take out your hand and fasten the button.”

He almost groaned when she removed her hand. He could smell his pre-cum on her fingers and his cock was throbbing in time to his heartbeat.

“Thank you.” He turned away from her and clothed himself in the first shirt he saw. “Now all I need are some shoes.”

“Okay.”

From the corner of his eye he saw her bring her palm to her mouth and inhale. Was that the hand she had shoved down his pants? Why would she be doing that if she wasn’t—

“I’ll go and check on our travel documents, okay? Why don’t you finish dressing and then pack the rest of the stuff in your bag?”

She practically ran to get away from him, which was even more bewildering. He packed his bag and then sat on the bed. He hoped to the Gods she would return. He wanted to get to the Oracle’s Temple and find out who he was and his place in this new and frightening world.

“Oh Gods, oh Gods…” Mya ran into her bathroom, locked the door, and stripped off her clothes, her fingers pressed hard to her mouth as she inhaled the luscious, panty-melting scent of Rekk’s cock.

Within a second, she had those same fingers pressed deep inside her and then she was coming hard, her breathing ragged and her body convulsing deep inside as she rocked back and forth on her knees.

“Gods…” She collapsed on the bath mat, her head in her hands. Why had she volunteered for this mission again? One glimpse of his naked body and one touch of his cock had turned her into a raging, demanding sex fiend again. He was a vulnerable man in an impossible situation. She had to give him his dignity, and climbing on top of him and fucking him until they both screamed was not on the agenda.

And he’d made it very clear that, although his body was still responding to hers, his mind and his emotions were not. She had to respect that. With a deep sigh, she washed up, packed her bag, and made her way back to Rekk’s room. The travel permits had been delivered earlier, and now there was nothing to stop them beginning their journey out of the city.

“If you are weary, Mya, please consider resting your head on my shoulder,” Rekk said softly. “I will not let you fall.” And holding her while she slept would give him a tiny taste of the comfort he was denying himself.

They were on some kind of public transport system that was taking them on the first leg of their journey into Quoxor Province. The carriage was full and the atmosphere light as people either commuted home or were leaving the confines of the city behind.

“Are you sure?” Her brown eyes met his. “I don’t want to be a pain.”

“You are not. I am happy to be of service.”

She angled her face against his shoulder and gave a deep, shuddering sigh. “I’m still a bit out of sorts since our last mission.”

“Then sleep. I will watch over you and keep you safe.”

Even as he said the words, he wondered if they were true. He was the hunted one here, and she was protecting him. There were supposedly other security personnel on the transport with them, but he hadn’t detected anything unusual. To be fair, he was more worried about sensing the unique signal of an Etruscan telepath, which might indicate that his old captors were after him again.

He tried to relax and reminded himself that the removal of his collar and shackles should have destroyed any link between him and the Etruscans. But he was still wary. One thing he knew was that if they tried to take him back, he would die rather than submit to experimentation again. He had no memory of how he had been captured in the first place, which wasn’t reassuring when he had thought of himself as a warrior.

This world… He glanced outside again. It was nothing like he remembered it. How much time had passed since he’d been captured? He couldn’t sense anyone except Mya, but that might be because of the damage inflicted on his shields and telepathic abilities. It didn’t have to mean he was alone.

A tiny snore escaped Mya and he smiled down at her. Her hand came to rest on his chest and she softened against him until there was no space between their bodies where they touched. Rekk’s cock kicked up and he mentally groaned. Mya might have a more comfortable journey, but it seemed that he was destined to suffer. The jeans she had told him to wear made no allowances for the growth of his shaft and pinched in many places. He couldn’t wait until he could strip naked again.

He focused his thoughts on reconstructing the fragile barriers of his mind. Too many people stopped to stare at him as if caught by the strength of his thoughts, and that was not a good way to remain anonymous. As he painstakingly rebuilt the connections, he watched the outside world go by, marveling at the changes on his planet, and became increasingly convinced that he’d been away for far longer than he’d realized.

Was any of his family still alive? Surely if they still lived they would’ve sought him out at the military hospital or at least been informed of his return.

Mya was all he had—an anchor in a sea of uncertainty. His feelings for her were unexpected and inconvenient. In captivity he’d trained himself not to react to anything or anybody. But one night with Mya had destroyed all that and left him unsure of how to proceed. When he’d last been on Pavlovan, if he’d been interested in a female he would simply have expressed that desire, and it would’ve been instantly fulfilled.

He already had the sense to realize that the world didn’t work like that anymore, and that the females he’d recently encountered were valued alongside the men. But where did that leave him?

“Next stop Paloma.”

The bus driver’s loud announcement woke Mya from her doze, and she sat bolt upright and rubbed at her eyes,

“That’s our first stop.”

Rekk reached for her hand. “Then I’ll retrieve our bags.”

The room was small with a single window and a bathroom that barely had space for a tiny shower, a toilet, and a sink.

Mya grimaced as she put her bag on the bed they were going to have to share. There was a big festival in Paloma and lodgings had apparently been hard to find.

“You’d think the government would spend a bit more money on us than this dump. But I can’t say I’m surprised. We’ll have to find somewhere to eat because there isn’t a restaurant in the hotel.”

“It will suffice.” Rekk placed his bag on the chair and stretched his arms over his head. “Gods, I am cramped from sitting in one space for so many hours.”

His T-shirt rose to expose his toned abs and Mya hastily turned away. He looked damn fine in his street clothes, but she already knew he looked even better underneath. A male with a body like a sculpture should wear as few clothes as possible. And there she went again, panting over a man who had told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t available.

“I’ll just use the bathroom and then we can go out for a walk, okay?” She darted past him and closed the flimsy door. She didn’t think she could stand being in that small room with him for hours. His scent drove her mad. How she was going to get to sleep lying that close to him was something she refused to think about.

After she finished in the bathroom, Rekk took his turn while she unpacked her bag, pulled on shorts and a T-shirt, and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals. The room was already too hot and she doubted there would be much air conditioning.

“Mya.”

She looked up to find Rekk in his boxers in the doorway, his body dripping with water, and she forgot how to breathe.

“What should I wear now?”

She tried not to drool. “Shorts would work.”

“Do I have some?”

She rummaged in his bag and found him a change of clothes. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” He hesitated. “I find this manner of dress somewhat confusing.”

“Why, what did you wear back in your day?”