Captured Desire

by Tasha Winters

  “Yes, and the biggest proponent of going wide on this initiative is Robert Massey. I don’t anticipate as much influence if I’m battling the Chair. It’s easier to talk to the others if I’m one of them which is why I didn’t submit for the lead. I’ve learned a few things about human nature along the way.” Wilder poured himself a glass of iced tea before sitting down again. He winked at Amara but got no acknowledgement.

  “Massey can be egotistical at times. You’ve a way with people that encourages them to let down their guard, Wilder. That is another reason why you were the best man for the job. When is the next meeting?”

  “Next week. For all the hype over this, they don’t seem in a pressing hurry to begin making real decisions. Now they will wait on the program. Finn, can you start working on some background about Massey?”

  “Sure. Are they going to send you a packet to get through before the next meeting?”

  “Yes, usually we do.”

  “Okay,” said Finn. “If anything comes up on the packet that needs further work, then Amara and I will answer them or get the answers.”

  “Good,” nodded Wilder. “How does that sound to you, honey? Amara?”

  “Damn.” The back of Finn’s chair hit the floor as he reached for her.

  Amara

  Massey. That name took her back to Cailis. That name dominated the whole island, brought fear to the women and families in her community. Massey. She could see him. Remembered his voice. And she was immediately there, with the two merciless men. The vile man was saying she needed to be taught a few lessons after her final attempt to escape. After her refusal to conform. He had turned her over to a brutal third man.

  The first time she was beaten, the voice of Massey permeated her mind. The pain was worse because she could feel the sadist’s hatred and the result of his degrading thoughts towards women. His voice imprinted on her memory. Massey was a special kind of evil.

  In her last attempt to escape, she’d been caught in the jungle and literally dragged back to the training center by anything they could hold on to as she kicked and screamed. She landed with a violent thud against the wall and onto the hard floor in the little space that was her room. The door locked. As she sat, devastated that she had not gotten away, the door opened. It was then that the man that would forever haunt her day horrors and night terrors pronounced she was to be taught a lesson for as long as it took to learn it.

  His first name was never spoken. She never saw it written anywhere but as she was never left alone after that until her final escape the only name they referred to him by, Massey, was branded into her psyche forever. It can’t be him but maybe a relative? Even as she held on to the last remnants of sanity before falling into the abyss of her mind, she tried to reason the time difference, the commonality of the name but it was no benefit.

  She was there. Hearing the jeers of the men, feeling the strike of the leather, smelling the rusty scent of drying blood. Her stomach roiled. She couldn’t breathe, the smell was overpowering. She vomited what little was in her stomach onto the floor. It splattered on her jailor’s shoes or something. His roar of anger filled her mind as she retched again. Her stomach curled and knotted in the dry heaves. Abject misery. She couldn’t deal with it any longer. Death would be better.

  “Never give up, never give in, Amara. Don’t let anyone take your spirit,” said grandfather, but she hadn’t given in. Her spirit was torn from her. She was lost in the whirlpool of desperation.

  “Amara, baby.”

  More words in her head, more chaos to add to her overcharged, overwhelmed mind. “No, turn it off, turn it off.”

  She pushed the words away. “Amara, honey listen to my voice.”

  Who was that? It was familiar, in the nothingness in which she was now floating, the voice wasn’t threatening. No tormentor, no blood, nothing. Just a grayness and the voice. Then the warmth wrapped around her, surrounding her with strength bringing with it comfort. An ease.

  “Amara, come home, baby. It’s time to come home. We’re here to protect you. Walk into my arms.” Baby? The voice was urging, nurturing. Finn?

  “Push back, push it all back away from you, love. Grab Finn and push the ugliness away.” That voice was mellow, gently commanding. Ethan?

  An arm, there was an arm. Finn’s arm. She grabbed it. It was her life line, her salvation. “That’s it, baby, hold on. I’ll pull you back to me.” Suddenly his scent surrounded her. It permeated her mind, her thoughts, her soul. She was safe in Finn’s arms. He would protect her.

  “Wilder is going to give you something to help the fear recede. Do you hear me, love?”

  She settled into the comfort she knew was Finn. She was too tired to bring the image of his face into her mind. The man talking was Ethan. Calm, solid, Ethan. Wilder wouldn’t let anyone harm her again, he would take it from her mind.

  “It’s a prick, love, nothing else.”

  Cold, wet then a chilling breeze on her arm. “Here it comes, Amara. Don’t move. Finn is holding you safe.” Tiny streak of pain and then gone.

  The murmuring became louder and more distinct as Amara came back to herself. She was in her bed. No, in Wilder’s bed and she was very still for a few moments, allowing the world to resurface. Finn’s voice, low and full, was music to her ears as its comforting sound fell over her from one side of the bed. Ethan, she listened but couldn’t hear him near. Wilder was chatting quietly with Finn on her other side.

  She tried to move and felt paralyzed. Her immediate terror at being restrained returned. “Hush, honey. You’re safe. Finn and I have you.”

  She tried again carefully and found she could move her arms and touched the two men. They grasped her hands. “Can I get up?”

  Wilder answered. “Give yourself a moment to orient.”

  Amara felt the different emotions through their touch. Wilder’s was more relaxed, calming, soothing her as he rubbed her arm. Finn’s was tight, protective as he squeezed his message. His hold was hot, almost raging in its ferocity. Both had their own comfort. She squeezed their arms.

  “Where is Ethan?” she asked as she struggled to sit up.

  “You’re always trying to take the lead ropes, baby. Wilder said wait before sitting up.” Finn had let a hint of chastisement enter his tone.

  “I did. Now I want up, please.” As her struggling didn’t cease, they accommodated her.

  Ethan stood in the door. “Good, she’s awake. I thought I’d check back in to see how she was doing and there she is, meeting me with that wary smile. You’re safe, love. Don’t worry. You’re safe.”

  She wondered how long she would need that reassurance. “What happened? I remember us talking and then nothing.” Her eyes widened, and her head shook as she began to tremble.

  Ethan was right there, in her vision, controlling her environment. His hands wrapped around her face. “Listen to me, Amara, do not let go of my voice. Keep my eyes in your mind. Hold my image. Slow breaths, love. Slow.”

  The darkening edges receded, and she was still in Wilder’s bedroom. They anchored her. “Talk to me, love. Tell me where you are?”

  “Here,” she licked her lips. “I’m here with you.”

  “Who are you with? Name them.”

  “You know.”

  “Amara.” She loved Ethan’s dominant voice. He had made love to her using it and she knew it. “Ethan. I’m with Ethan.”

  “And who else?”

  “Wilder and Finn.”

  “What room.”

  She had to think. “Wilder’s.”

  “Good girl.” Ethan drew her into his arms, kissing her. “That’s my very good girl.” He spoke to the other two men. “We’re going to have to do this another way. I think I can help her, but I’ll need all hands-on deck.”

  Charlotte’s voice sounded over Ethan. “Visitor at the gate requesting permission to enter.”

  Ethan and Wilder looked to Finn.

  “On it.” Was the clipped reply.

  Chapter 1
3

  Finn

  Striding to the front of the house, he began talking to Charlotte.

  “Can you identify the visitor? Did they give a name?”

  “No, Finn, but I will inquire.”

  “No, I will. Open the gate com.”

  “Open.”

  “Hello, can I help you?” asked Finn as though it weren’t unusual for an uninvited visitor to appear at their property entrance.

  “Yes, I’m Dr. Robert Massey here to see Dr. Wilder Corsini. We have business.”

  “Yes, I recognize your name. Could you turn and face the camera, so we can verify your identity?”

  “Of course.” Dr. Massey accommodated, and Charlotte verified.

  “Thank you. Please open the gate and follow the walk. Someone will meet you at the dome entrance,” said Finn as he momentarily suspended the locks and the alarms. The camera followed the progression of the good doctor and Charlotte notified Wilder of his visitor.

  What the hell? Finn had never met the man and wondered what would entice him to show up to a place like theirs without warning or invitation. That was an arrogant or desperate man. He imagined it was the former, but it could be both. But fuck, today? The day Amara had such a traumatic reaction to the mention of his name? Something was up.

  Massey was a hospital administrator somewhere but since he wasn’t a techno geek, they would not cross paths except at an Ambrose meeting. He needed to check on Amara and maybe get her to work on something in the computer lab to take her mind off the events of the day. He imagined she would have a nightmare tonight. She did when something went too close to her past life. This was smack in the center of it, and now this.

  As soon as the name was spoken Amara froze and tried to scramble out of Ethan’s grasp. “No, he can’t be here. He’s on the island, in another time, another world almost.”

  Finn heard her exclamation before he entered the room and immediately assumed the protector role again. Damn if he wasn’t about ready to find a way to get to her time and kill that bastard with his bare hands. Better and easier than that, he would find out who will be his ancestors and find his relatives, his direct line, and snuff it out. Finn knew it was ludicrous, but he was angry and frustrated. He loved Amara deeply in such a short time, it was impossible to allow her pain to continue. They had to find a way out of it. He kissed her head and tightened his arms around her.

  “What were you saying about a way to help her?” Finn asked Ethan.

  “Yes, I think if I hypnotize her, we can get through the whole scenario, record it, learn her triggers and avoid them. I can then work at blocking those specific memories or at least cordon them off. That way, we can control the effect more accurately. Avoid these flashbacks as much as possible.”

  “Will it work?”

  “I think it should. We’ve already been working on compartmentalizing her overloads and emotional tidal waves when working with the women. It has begun to show progress. I think the hypnosis will hurry that progression along.”

  Amara went to see the women, carefully taking another way to the wing, so she did not have to go past Wilder’s office where Charlotte said the men were meeting. She refused to allow the episode to control her. Too bad her agreement was not a criterion to one enveloping her. Finn refused to let her go until Ethan agreed to do some work in his therapy office in the women’s wing. She should be flaying him with her words, but she wasn’t because, dammit, it felt good.

  “Fine, but if there’s any trouble, you get her out of there.”

  Ethan, the unofficial leader of the group stared hard at Finn who showed no signs of backing down. Ethan nodded. “Agreed.”

  Amara helped the women work on their resumés. She was used to different skill sets and information on memory chips, but she helped them type their data and organize it in their chosen preformatted outlines. As the women left to their rooms, one by one, Amara was straightening up when Ethan and Finn came in to stand behind her.

  “Time to go to bed, love.”

  “I don’t think I want to sleep. I’ll just finish up in here.”

  “Amara, the staff will get this in the morning. We are leaving.” She sensed Ethan’s mood. He was tired and not going to negotiate anything tonight. So, it was the time for honesty.

  “I’m afraid.”

  “I, we, won’t let anything happen to you. You believe that, don’t you?” said Finn.

  “While I believe you think that’s true, I’m finding it difficult to agree after today.”

  “I know. It’s been a hard day.” Finn opened his arms, and she walked right into them. “Shall we ask Wilder for something to sleep?”

  “No, he doesn’t like to give me anything.”

  Ethan lead the group out of the wing. “I know, but I think we can make a good case for an exception.”

  She reached out to Ethan before answering. “I want to try it his way first.”

  She watched Ethan’s sensual mouth draw in a hard, straight line. She understood he wanted to give her a good night’s sleep after the day she’d had, and she loved him for it, but she was exhausted. It shouldn’t take much to fall asleep. She’d given up on the sweet dreams part.

  They arrived at her room. Finn left her with a soft kiss placed firmly on her lips. “I have my last security check before I’m done tonight. I think I’m going to do a bug sweep as well.” At the raised eyebrow of Ethan, he explained. “We haven’t had an unannounced visitor in quite a while.”

  “Um, Finn, I’m an uninvited guest,” Amara said.

  Ethan kissed the top of her head. “No, you are not. You were unannounced but not uninvited. You’re ours. Not a visitor, not a guest. Big difference. All right, I’ll leave you to sleep but get me if you change your mind. I’ll give you something to help you sleep if you need it later.”

  “But Wilder is the medical doctor.”

  Ethan patted her bottom. “You forget, I’m one as well, I simply took an additional specialty.”

  “Yes, mind control.”

  He swatted her butt harder. “Brat.”

  She laughed and closed her door on two of the men she was growing to love deeply. In the room alone, she sat down to cry.

  Amara

  Amara got into bed after performing her typical nightly routine, tears abated. She was tired, still unsettled. There was so much going on in her life she had to stop the merry-go-round to think. She’d seen a video of children dancing around a Maypole. A tall, stout center pole plain until it was wrapped in an intricate weave, ultimately leaving a pole enclosed in gayly colored ribbon. If that is what you wanted, neat weaves to surround you, that would be fine, but what if you wanted to be able to orchestrate your own design? Like the pole, she didn’t have much choice in how the design was created nor the end result either.

  She hadn’t chosen to be captured not once but three times. Nor had she asked to be forced to take training on how to please a man. She had barely escaped the surgeon’s scalpel, or the implant that would have taken her empathic abilities away and her own emotions would have been laid barren. And then, she was captured by a different set of people. Maybe freedom was a lie.

  She was grateful to have been spared more horrors but the experiences of physical beatings and untouchable fear for her future were still hard to eradicate from her mind. The implant helped her to sharpen her skills. She understood the women and could help Ethan find the methods most effective in helping each woman heal her own way. His skill and her insight in teaching skills to the women were paying off.

  Two of the recent, as well as three of the more established, residents had made good connections with family in another part of the country. They would soon go to live with them. Amara would miss them, but she was equally happy life was stable enough to try again. These events brought Amara’s thoughts back to herself. She was progressing, but in some ways, she was afraid to spread her wings outside of these men’s protection. Just when she thought she could take a tentative step in the world, she was s
lammed with something like her flashback today. Her fears were reset again.

  How was she going to be any good in making the right moves toward the project if she flashed back every time they spoke about it? No, it was whenever they spoke of him. These men were helping her because they trusted her. They were beginning to love her. It was all because they wanted to help stop what the future held for women if they didn’t. They were good moral men. She was incredibly lucky to have found them. Or for her fates to have sent her to them if she were to follow Maya’s thinking.

  Her men were a quandary too. She wanted to go further with them, explore more of life with them. There had to be more to a relationship than her men taking up the sentry posts around her and shielding her from everything that might upset or endanger her. She wanted them to be with her. Amara felt their frustration, and it was no less than hers. So why didn’t they take the steps necessary to be with her fully? They claimed her but didn’t take her. Well, Ethan had, and while she sensed the other men knew they’d consummated, it didn’t upset them or incite them to up their own affectionate time with her. Maybe they were waiting on her. Being an empath helped process emotions but not always motives or direction of thought.

  As she looked back on the last few weeks, that could be the reason they were the owners of some very frustrated reactions. She smiled. Now that was power. As far as her men were concerned, her feelings for them were strong. Wilder stayed at a distance, but she understood that. He might love her, but he was refusing to give in to his desire to draw her nearer too quickly. He had been hurt, she had touched his pain, his worry that it would happen again, and she had not pushed him either.

  She could give Wilder a little more time, allow him to do for her by working first hand on this issue of changing how they helped the imbalance of genders while encouraging his taking things further. She would do some tantalizing to draw him out. First, she would settle Finn, her loving Viking who desperately wanted to love her in every way. She would test his mood and then go in for the kill. Ethan was dominant as well, but he had let her do some leading the first time. She imagined Finn would as well.