As they turned down the long drive to the partially domed home and property of the Compound, Finn wondered if she was into adventurous sex. Virgin. Wilder said she was untouched sexually. That was exciting because she didn’t know what was acceptable and what wasn’t. A clean slate and he was a great teacher. He couldn’t wait, and he didn’t feel at all guilty about that fact.
Chapter 8
Amara – The Compound
“You must realize there is no returning to your home. It isn’t possible, and it isn’t your destiny. Just as my destiny was to end Lakan and to help identify good and evil here so we could eliminate as much as possible, you have your own purpose,” Maya told Amara. “You will save the women of your time from being extorted… no, exploited, yes that’s the word, and then continue to save women now from evils in this time. An empath is special.”
The last few days had been an exciting, scary, exhausting, and enlightening time for Amara. She couldn’t imagine sifting through this world without the help of Maya even though she was so pregnant she looked to burst. That, and she was born around two hundred fifty years ago. Her men and she had dream danced for more than a month before she escaped from danger in a cave and ended up where Amara had found herself at the intake center.
Regardless of the rough start, with the implant her husband created to help her acclimate to this time, and her ancient knowledge, Maya was a treasure trove of valuable teachings.
“One more month to babies,” she’d said, but Amara thought she looked too huge to last that long. “You’re so big.”
“Twins,” Maya said.
Her friend’s husbands were so protective. Amara was sure one of them, Paxton, growled at Maya when she refused to take a nap yesterday. He had picked up her considerable girth and weight and walked her into his bedroom. Amara heard him speak gently to his wife before leaving her to rest. He had come out and given Amara a chastising look before telling her she could go for a walk but not to leave the dome. She had no intentions of disobeying him. He kissed her cheek in a brotherly, indulgent way and continued down the hall. What she wouldn’t do to have that type of man or men care for her.
In her time, multiple partners were the norm but not multiple husbands. A woman was encouraged to keep her freedoms and her name, and not enter into a contractual marriage with anyone unless her situation called for it, such as it had on Cailis. A man’s wife or the woman he claimed, was still considered a sacred thing in most circles. Paper was not needed. Some things in this time were very restrictive such as what people did and said, even what they read. In her home community that was all considered personal choice unless you violated another’s rights.
She spoke to the men from Restoration House twice a day since arriving and each day she grew to want them more. She didn’t tell them everything but before too long she would have to explain enough to enlist their help. Amara had pleasured herself enough before to be comfortable with her body overall and finding herself excited by the men made her needs escalate.
She was dismayed to find out the first day that there was a camera for protection in her room and that they utilized artificial intelligence everywhere on their property. Evidently Maya’s Zander and Amara’s Finn had set the system up with Zander reviewing it often. That didn’t help her intimate frustration level because now she was too embarrassed to relieve the pressure for fear of discovery.
She hadn’t thought how common technology was in this era but in both this home and at Restoration House, they had every high-tech device available that was practical to use. She was used to so much more and yet noticed it less. Both establishments lived under a protective dome that spoke to wealth and paranoia. When she mentioned that during one of their long conversations, Ethan said it spoke to survival and the state of the world. She believed he was probably right due to the rampant, uncontrolled chaos their world was in at present. At times, it was close to anarchy. She knew some of that settled down but other areas, well, didn’t. This time had obviously not yet understood that fewer rules encouraged more inner control, not less.
You couldn’t have a rule for every situation and by not demanding more restraint from people instead of less along with concrete consequences for violations, it robbed the citizens of many freedoms. It caused them to be bound by a stronger socially restrictive element, and much less self-actualization occurred. Take away guns and the only ones who had them were the crooks. To accept that one’s safety was always at risk was to allow that situation to continue. Thus, forcing law-abiding citizens to modify their behavior, not the offender. Hence the dome.
But, outside of the faulty logic on safety, during one of the twice daily chats, it was explained to her that the weather was so harsh most of the year—heat, UV rays, and frigid cold—that the dome made it possible to care for animals, plants and raise a family with complete success.
By the time Amara had been born, they had been able to find a way to shield a portion of the earth and control the weather patterns more uniformly in those areas. It negated something like a dome except for physical protection in at least part of the world. She reminded herself, this solution during this time, was rather ingenious.
While visiting the Compound, the men, Maya’s and hers, had decided she needed to do an orientation crash course, so they could get her papers. Amara agreed. She was learning about this era from Sterling, got tech help from Zander, and self-defense came in aggressive but informative training lessons several times a day from Paxton.
She was tired, but anxious to start on her chosen crusade. Time was passing. Her desire for the three men who had come to her rescue and to whom she had spoken for hours over the video com was becoming distracting. They had well and truly captured her in another way. As she prepared for yet another lesson with Pax, she found him video-conferencing with Finn.
Paxton was voicing his concern. “Amara is healing physically, but maybe not as much as I’d thought. Emotionally, of course, things will go a lot slower, but her distraction is causing a problem. She started out focused but as the week has progressed, while she says she wants to continue, her dedication is lacking. Not sure if I should continue. Maybe she’ll concentrate better when she gets home.”
“Maybe she’s still in too much pain. I don’t know how well she has actually recovered from those wounds of hers,” Finn replied. “Did you talk to Sterling?”
“Sterling is dressing them daily, and he says they’re healing well. I already put padding on to help protect her delicate skin.”
“I’m right here, guys. And for your information, I’m not delicate, just tender,” snapped Amara from the doorway.
Both men looked in her direction but sat silent. When she said no more, they continued with their conversation, evidently choosing not to respond to her outburst.
“So, Maya takes a nap during the afternoon and that would be a perfect time to train her. Maybe the morning and afternoon is too much.”
“Could be, and she might not be a morning person,” Finn thought out loud.
“I’m not a dog.”
The men paused again. One on the video screen, one sitting in the room with her. Again, when she did not add to her words, they began to plan her regime.
“I’m not doing it.”
Now they responded to her. Paxton spoke first. “It is part of the assimilation protocol.”
“But I’m not required to go through the assimilation because I’m from the Women’s Center.”
She could hear Finn sigh. “True to a point. If you want your papers and freedom, you need to prove you’ve completed the protocol. We must see where you are lacking and fill in the blanks and tick the boxes, so to speak. That way you aren’t left without confidence in your abilities or your coping skills in this more hostile environment.”
“No.”
“No to what part?”
“All of it. You aren’t asking me. You’re telling me.”
“Because I require it of you. Asking you implies choice. In this, th
ere is none. If you ever want any freedoms, you will do as you’re told.”
Finn was obviously not happy at being defied and she was concerned at her own intractability. He had never pushed her in a direction she didn’t want to go. Captive. And she wanted him even more when he was like this. And that fact irritated her greater than the high-handed way they’d talked about her.
“I’m a sentient being, and I don’t accept your authority over me.”
If she wasn’t mistaken, the tremors and shakes that Paxton was trying to control were due to his attempting to contain his laughter. That made her even more irate.
“Listen to me little girl, you might be an empath, you might have suffered at the hands of merciless assholes that I would love to kill every day for the rest of my life, but you will not refuse to do what is going to help you become more prepared to survive. You will not refuse me.”
And that was that, thought Amara, as her belly did a weird flip flop and her core clenched in desire.
“Amara.”
Finn’s tone was unrelenting. He would be intimidating if she didn’t know he was a big teddy bear. If her breath didn’t hitch in arousal. She wanted to crawl into that mammoth man’s lap and feel his arms around her. Maya had said these men were her destiny and while Amara wasn’t sure about that, she was sure her attraction to them was controlling her daytime and nighttime dreams.
Finn wasn’t going to let go of this until she acquiesced. She liked that about him. In the same breath she hated that he was so dictatorial. Not in the way that she had been treated on Cailis but in a lovingly possessive way. She would be adding his absolute dominance to her dreaming.
“Fine.” She scowled at him over the monitor, arms firmly crossed in front of her.
“Excuse me? I need a more direct answer and lose the face.”
“Tough. I want to change the world and remap the future, but I won’t get that any time soon, so we will both have to do with what is offered.”
Instead of garnering more lecture from an unbending Finn, he burst out laughing. Then Paxton released his pent-up chortle. Amara felt her lips twitch and instead of railing at them, she allowed her mouth to relent.
“Touché. I guess we’re all frustrated. You’ll be home soon. But I expect absolute obedience and concentration with Paxton.”
She turned to Paxton. “I’ll do it if you don’t make me hurt while teaching me. I start feeling panicky.” The room was somber quickly.
“Amara, baby, why didn’t you say so earlier? You’ve been safe so far. We’ve never, nor would ever, risk your safety.” Finn was deadly serious, “We wouldn’t hurt you or allow anyone else to hurt you if it is in our power to prevent it. Never again.”
She nodded. Amara sensed he was truthful and of course he was right. Her insecurities sometimes jumped out at her without any warning since the kidnapping. “Okay.”
He stared at her for a moment as though processing the one word. “Okay,” he repeated.
Finn nodded, his broad smile returning, his long straight amber strands swayed with the movement. He usually had his hair in a mannish bun, but he obviously decided to let it go for today. His massive, muscular body and self-assured manner, a clear throwback to his Viking heritage, relaxed.
Trusting these men, hers and Maya’s, was the right thing to do. Knowing what she had learned from the young Native American woman who was her only female friend in this new time, had helped Amara understand about her purpose in battling the ills of the world. It was why she was chosen to time walk. Why she had endured such cruelty. Using her special gifts for others, not just hiding its existence as she had been doing since childhood, would alleviate others’ suffering. It changed her impatience to confidence. Her confusion to focus. The attraction to her men, acceptable.
That was the how she had felt every day since meeting them, stronger, more confident, and protected. She needed to learn how to tackle this world so she could fulfill what Maya called her destiny. But first, she needed to get ready for the men who would be coming soon. It was time to take the next step in her new future. Today she would go home with them. She’d spoken with them for hours since first meeting them and coming to the Compound. Now she would go to Restoration House, or the House.
“Maya, I’ll have to go soon. The men will be here to pick me up, but I promise to come and help, if they let me.”
“They will find it hard to deny you anything. Trust me on that.”
Amara wasn’t sure her friend had it right on that issue. She already was having her will thwarted. She would have to wait and see how accurate Maya was in her predictions. Watching Maya waddle and have her men care for her was bittersweet. The desire to have children that Amara could keep as her own had begun to reignite a longing to have the life Maya had. After the forced training for mating, she was surprised when she dreamed of having a family. She’d thought she would never want any of that but the thought of having a baby with her men was leaving an ache deep in her soul.
Over the course of the week she’d spent with Maya, she explained many things. “I dreamed of my mates, and I have dreamed of yours. I have seen your family, and these three men at Restoration House who you speak to on the talking device, are for you.”
“But Maya, how can you be so sure?”
“Do you not feel their spirits pull to yours?”
Maya was a challenge to understand when she was deep into her ancient seer abilities.
“I’m attracted to them, but they are incredibly cute, you have to admit it. Any woman would be heating up like they were in a sauna.”
Maya nodded. “Yes, and so are my men.”
“Yes, of course they are, but…”
“But you don’t have that same call to them as you do your men. That is because my men are for me and yours are for you. The ancient ones have chosen.”
“What if they don’t feel the same about me? I would be mortified.”
Maya stood and closed her eyes as she occasionally did when a concept or word did not register. She explained that she allowed her implanted internal translator to process what was being said or what was happening. Maya nodded.
“Yes, you would be embarrassed, but that’s not going to happen. I tell you, I know, these men are for you. Besides, you do not have the time to waste. You can’t wait until you are comfortable. You have to trust them and your path.”
“What if they aren’t attracted to me? You know, like they didn’t get the signal or message?”
Maya laughed at that. “You’re stubborn and I fear you will be earning punishments. Maybe even spankings if you are lucky but trust me when I say you will not have to worry about them not wanting you. The golden god, the one that wants to touch you whenever he sees you, watches you intensely whenever you are on the video com. I think he is like my Zander in that he is a gentle lover but will be stern when necessary. I think your Wilder is like my Paxton, protective but easy to understand. And your Ethan is like my Sterling.” Maya shrugged. “They are the teachers and the ones who don’t have many rules but will make you sorry if you don’t follow the ones they do have. Actually, all my men are overprotective, and you will find that in yours. We will,” she paused waiting for her implant to find the right words, “compare notes after you know them better.”
Amara stared at her new friend with incredulity. “Wilder and Ethan help women; Finn does too in his own way. They don’t hurt them. There will be no spanking and no punishments.”
Maya shook her head. “Whatever you say. I have always known harsh punishments in my village, but my men discipline in more devious ways. They withhold orgasms or force them and practice their horrible edging.” At the confusion on Amara’s face, she added, “Something you will have to ask your men about. Paxton spanks me for sexual pleasure, and as a means of correction. He likes to spank me, and I like it too. He doesn’t cause me any harm, and it makes me crave him more. I never knew it could be so… so… arousing.”
Maya might be right about the men be
ing over-protective and maybe all the men in this time punished their mates. Amara was surprised she wasn’t repulsed, in fact her attraction to the trio demanded she find a way to be with them. It didn’t matter what they did; she sensed she’d never have to worry about being hurt.
“You’ll need to explain to your men that you must complete your calling to earn the right to be happy with them. They won’t want you to be in any danger because they’ll love you by the time you finish. Just know there might be a time you have to go against their protection to complete your path.”
“Won’t it be all right if they help me stop the population overgrowth of males?”
“If it isn’t too dangerous, they could, or they might try to stop you preferring to fix things themselves. But Amara, no matter what, if you want these men and to have your happy life that I have seen, you must use your gifts to benefit the world in more than one way. I saw you in my dream last night and you were helping women now, not only later, so pay attention and do not turn away those you could help. Understand that if our gifts are used for evil, we will lose them.”
Amara nodded. “I won’t forget.”
Amara prayed her choices would be the right ones. She had begun to have feelings for these men and while she couldn’t explain the attraction, she would do as Maya said and not fight the inevitable. She would do as she needed to and accept things as they came, including her feelings for the three men who seemed to have claimed her for themselves.
Chapter 9
Amara
Darla, the Compound’s automated assistant announced the men. Amara’s men. She had healed well in the last week, learned many things from Maya and about herself. Maya patted Amara’s arm. “Time to begin your forever, my friend.”
Captured Desire Page 9