Captured Desire

by Tasha Winters

  “I’m sorry, but again, I would prefer you tell me what you know. I’ll verify that information but to give you all of my background, to men I have never met and know nothing about, in an unfamiliar place, would be imprudent on my part, wouldn’t you say? And the men I live with would not be agreeable. It would be considered unsafe. I would be… chastised.”

  Frustrated, Mr. Martin blurted a question. “Are you or are you not a hermaphrodite and are you an empath?”

  Amara leaned back into Finn to give her time to read the room. These men were eager to gain this information, and she understood curiosity and exploration was their goal. There wasn’t anything malicious in their thoughts, not like Massey’s.

  She countered with a question from her slightly reclined position. “Do you know Mr. Massey?”

  Mr. Smith hesitated before shaking his head, but it was enough to tell her what she needed to know. “Answer the questions.”

  Wilder leaned forward and put his forearms on the table. “No, she is not a hermaphrodite.”

  Ethan leaned in the same manner on the other side of Amara. “Yes, she is an empath.”

  Finn pulled her to one side of his lap and looked around her. “And no, you are not going to use her for experimentation.”

  They had obviously reached a decision and spoke to Amara. “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding, dear.”

  Finn released a noise that sounded like a growl from deep in his chest. Amara knew he was done with the twenty questions. She wiggled in his lap, feeling his arousal mentally and physically. Without hesitation, he rearranged her, but the relief that move caused had to have been minimal.

  Ethan nodded. “Then we should go.”

  “No,” said Finn. “Baby go over and sit on the sofa. We have things to discuss. Gentlemen, either we can stay here or go to another room. Your choice.”

  “We will go to another room. I’ll send refreshment in to Miss Wilson.”

  “No, wait, I’m going to be in on the discussion if it concerns me.”

  Ethan shook his head. “No, we won’t be long.”

  “Oh, so it’s men speaking to men where women aren’t allowed.”

  “No,” said Wilder. “It is men in the same organization, speaking about an issue that doesn’t have as much to do with you as information we share with each other. Information that you are not privy to nor will you be.”

  “And what am I supposed to do in the meantime while the men settle the problems of the world?”

  “Sit and read.” Finn’s hands spread across the room to highlight the shelves of books. He lowered his voice, “Be happy you can sit.”

  “What if I would rather go with you?”

  “Not happening. Sit with your hands in your pockets if it will keep you out of trouble. Or, if you’d rather, we can talk alone for a few moments, but the outcome won’t change.”

  “Fine.” She knew the moment she had gone too far, her twitching and flexing lower bits were announcing it loud and clear. “Could you send me some coffee? And water?”

  Mr. Martin smiled. “Of course, my dear.”

  Finn’s parting word to Amara was, “Behave.”

  Hmph.

  The interview took fifteen minutes and Amara was not happy that they wanted to discuss the remainder of things with the men without her in attendance. She also didn’t like that she couldn’t know what they were talking about. She shoved her hands in her pockets in frustration. Her fingers ran over something in one pocket. Pulling it out, she saw it was a listening device. She hooked it on her ear and tapped the tiny button. Finn’s voice came through loud and clear.

  Chapter 18

  Amara

  Amara sat in the opulently decorated Victorian style room while she tried to figure out what was going on. Finn obviously had the mic on something near him because his voice boomed through, but she was able to hear the others well enough to make out the conversation.

  Wilder spoke. “So, what is this all about, anyway? You never would care if someone shared their body with multiple persons, nor if they had training or were being paid for the deeds. What is going on here?”

  Mr. Smith cleared his throat before continuing. “We are wondering now if we’re not being manipulated into believing an immigrant of less than acceptable background and morals was insinuating herself into your lives. Our member’s lives. Possibly learning Ambrose information that could be used against us. It appears that is the case, and it brings up monumental issues we must now address.”

  Wilder continued the questioning. “Who is it?”

  “This person, who shall remain anonymous,” said Mr. Smith, “said that the woman in your home was an empath and could read minds. She comes from a place where the hermaphrodites were almost always female, productively viable, gave sexual favors for a living, and most were empaths.”

  Wilder spoke. “The information you have is incorrect. First let me tell you about how she came to us.”

  As she listened, Amara remembered the details of the pain she experienced, mentally and physically, when she arrived but not the circumstances creating it. Those around her may not have been more battered and bruised than she was, but her brain couldn’t delegate the refugees and immigrants into anything other than pain. Wilder spoke of her abuse and torture and the physical scars.

  Ethan then took up the story and told of her history before coming to the Center and ultimately to them. Amara listened to Ethan. The story felt familiar, but not like it was her story. It was odd hearing it in a dispassionate way. Processing it from the outside in was difficult and her empathic brain cried real tears for the woman she knew to be herself Maybe Ethan was right not to unblock her memories of that terrible time.

  Finn spoke next. “And let me tell you who she is now. This woman will help anyone, sometimes to her own detriment. When she was in so much pain, mentally and physically, she helped others feel less frightened, more secure. She eased their deepest darkest fears. She still does when we take her to the Center to help. She is going to be our wife and the mother to our children. That is a fact. Now, let me show you clips from a dinner we had early in the week to offer the committee members some socializing time together.”

  Amara had finished her water and her coffee. While they were watching the video, she would find a bathroom. It was important that she be back when the discussion started over what the men had seen. So far, they had asked very few questions. Wandering into the hallway, she found someone to direct her to the bathroom and as she was coming back, she had a distinctive emotional read. It startled her because she wouldn’t have expected that kind of hatred here-a place that worked to keep the world and the humans in it from destroying each other. The familiarity was strong.

  Amara’s impressions were fading. She needed to know who had such hatred. Such malice in their soul that they would be thinking it everywhere. As she rounded the second corner, she lost the source of the anger, but she was also lost in the building. She tried to go back where she’d walked but she hit dead ends and wrong rooms everywhere. She had a fleeting thought: no wonder the Victorians were so eccentric. These houses could have driven one mad. Thank Venus this wasn’t a castle.

  A stiff and unamused voice broke into her thoughts, “May I help you?”

  She turned quickly. One of the clerks she’d seen earlier walking around. “Yes, thank you. I was waiting for my,” what do I call them? “boyfriends. I got turned around out of the bathroom.”

  “Which room were you in?”

  “I don’t know. It’s on the first floor. I know that.”

  The prudish man said, “Who are your friends?”

  “Ethan Glasman, Finn Berg, and Wilder Corsini. They’re in some kind of meeting.”

  When they returned to the desk, the clerk called into the room, asked the question where their friend was supposed to be, and then in one minute, Finn walked purposefully around the corner. He didn’t say a word. He grabbed her hand and continued past the bathroom she had used and walked her i
nto the room she had exited some minutes prior.

  He closed the door, swatted her butt twice, and then spoke as Amara was rubbing her ass and staring hard at Finn. “What are you doing? When I tell you to stay, you stay. Have you no sense woman? You could find yourself in more trouble than you can handle if you are found wandering in this place unescorted.”

  “Finn, I had good reason.”

  “What could have been good enough to risk making things worse?”

  “I used the lavatory. When I was coming out, I sensed a familiar anger, hatred really. It was evil.”

  “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know exactly because I couldn’t find him, but I think it was Massey. You know that guy from dinner the other night. There were some of the same emotional patterns.”

  Finn looked around the room and began moving chairs and closing curtains. He opened a closet, and rearranged things inside it so there was a small area in which to be cocooned.

  “Finn, you’re scaring me. Your emotions are worrying.”

  “Listen. We have a few more things to discuss. Until we are done, I want you to lock this door behind me and put the chair up under the handle and jam it a little. Keep the curtain closed and don’t look out. You have the speaker in your ear. If anyone tries to get in, you get in the closet and pull those things around you. Do not open the door to anyone other than us.”

  “How will I know for sure?”

  “You’ll hear me through the speaker in your ear. It is highly unlikely but if someone breaches the door, then you scream bloody murder.”

  “Finn, I want to go with you.”

  “Baby, I can’t take you because we are talking sensitive stuff in there and the leadership doesn’t want you to hear it.”

  “Then I want to be with Paxton.”

  “He’s in the meeting with us.”

  Amara frowned in frustration. “Then hurry.”

  “It takes as long as it takes, but we will call you in turns on that video-com to check on you. Yeah?”

  “Okay. Check often.” She hugged him hard and Finn kissed her tenderly, hugging her in return.

  “Right, I need to go. The clips are surely over by now. Stay alert.”

  He walked out, pointing to the chair near the door as he went. Amara was left with a chair reinforced door, a cubby in a closet, closed curtains to block the sunlight and a room full of books to help her anxiety.

  She rummaged in the corner and found a little wet bar and a soft drink. They were entirely too sweet, but she added lots of ice and let it melt a little before drinking. She grabbed a book just as Wilder’s face came up on the video-com.

  “Hey, honey. How are you?”

  “Fine. Nothing going on. I think I’ll read a book and drink my soft drink.”

  “Well, only one. Those things are killer on your health.”

  “Got it. Bye.” Those men simply could not pass up an opportunity to discuss her upkeep. It was annoying sometimes.

  After reading for a short while, she heard Ethan came over the com. “How are you doing, love?”

  “Good, just reading.”

  “Need anything?”

  “Nope I found something to drink. I’m fine.”

  “Okay, we’ll check back soon.”

  “Yep.”

  She was getting drowsy and rolled over to take a nap on the sofa. When she woke, it took a moment to reorient. She put the speaker back in her ear and heard some mumbling but no real discussion any longer. She checked the video-com and the last call had been when she spoke to Ethan nearly an hour ago.

  She rubbed her face vigorously and stood. Worried, she tried to detect anyone, especially her guys, but she couldn’t. It was quiet outside as well. Peeking outside, she saw darkness was beginning to fall. They had been here for quite a while, nearly three hours. She was getting hungry. And damn if she didn’t need to use the bathroom again. She wondered if it would matter if she just nipped in and out.

  After debating and perseverating on the issue of getting to the bathroom, she decided she couldn’t wait any longer; she’d have to take her chances. She opened the door carefully and saw no one in the long hallway. She carefully closed the door and raced into the bathroom. The relief was so immense that she sat for another minute.

  She reached for the toilet paper and was cleansing when the bathroom door slammed open.

  “Amara, are you in here?”

  Oh, no, it was Finn. He had said not to leave but what was she supposed to do, eliminate on the floor?

  “Um, yes.” She hated that she sounded so meek. “I had to use the restroom, and you guys didn’t check in so I could tell you. I really had to go.” She stood, and the toilet flushed. She went to the sink. She didn’t need to look into his face to know he was pissed.

  “If I say stay, I mean stay. When are you going to get that through your head?”

  “Finn, I had to pee, for Venus’s sake.” She washed and dried her hands. “Are we ready to go now?”

  “Bend over. Put your hand on the sink stand.”

  “No, you are not swatting me in this place. The whole world will hear, and I tell you I had to pee. What was I supposed to do, go on the floor?”

  “Yes, that is exactly what you should have done.”

  “You’re crazy, sometimes, you know that?”

  She made to walk around him, and he turned, pressing her belly against the sink, his mouth on her ear. “I love you. If anything happened to you, I don’t know how I’d survive. I have to keep you safe. You have to obey me. Now don’t move.”

  Four swats, hard, fast, done. She immediately rubbed.

  “Go right ahead, keep rubbing out the sting and I’ll repeat this when we get home,” he said casually as he walked out of the ladies’ room with his arm around her. He strolled past the room she had occupied for three hours and she tried to stop him.

  “Finn, we can’t leave that mess in there.”

  “They have housekeeping.” He led her outside where Ethan and Wilder were waiting.

  “Found our little wanderer I see,” said Ethan, but he wasn’t angry. He was amused. That was unusual for him. He was usually serious except when they made love which wasn’t often.

  “Yep, found her and she is sporting a pink bottom.”

  “Finn! And I was going to the bathroom. Something I couldn’t do in the room I was in.”

  Wilder spoke up. “You could have gone in the corner.”

  “Shut up. No, I couldn’t have! How unsanitary, how uncouth, how disgusting!”

  “Well, it’s over now,” declared Ethan. Wilder’s quiet caused Amara some concern, but she was tired and trying to connect with him was going to be difficult. She might not read right.

  “Can we please just get something from a take away place, Wilder? I’m hungry and tired.”

  “Sure honey, anything you want.”

  “What? I can have anything I want? Now I know something is wrong. You didn’t list the things I could eat.”

  “Just tired like you.”

  “I’ll drive,” announced Amara.

  “No,” said her three companions simultaneously.

  “Fine. I won’t. But tomorrow, I am. I know how to drive. And I can drive a hovercraft, too.”

  No one answered her. Amara was disappointed she didn’t get to explain about hovercrafts.

  The next day, as Amara decided to go for a walk, she pondered the reasons her men didn’t want to discuss what happened after Finn turned off the little speaker. She hadn’t noticed because she’d been preoccupied or sleeping, but at least they were much more relaxed. Finn had gone over to the Compound early this morning. Wilder went to the Women’s Center and Ethan was doing therapy with a new batch of women. There was no one to stop her from enjoying one of the few perfect days of fall.

  Amara told Charlotte what she was doing and took off. Breathing the unfiltered air was harder than she had expected but she soon adjusted and allowed the sun to bounce off her rarely exposed skin. In the d
ome, it was UV filtered, so she got sun but not raw rays. After she had walked through a park near home, she let down her guard and called Maya. She hadn’t seen her since the babies were born and she missed her friend.

  After speaking for a little while, Amara decided she didn’t need to risk her men’s ire. “Well, I need to turn back now, and I hear one of your little one’s has woken up. I’ll come and see you next week and we can chat and cuddle babies.”

  Maya laughed. “Soon, you’ll have one of your own to cuddle.”

  “I’m not sure I’m ready for that but loving yours will do for now. I…”

  “What? I missed that Amara. What did you say?”

  They were disconnected. Maya was immediately alarmed. She tried calling her friend back. No answer.

  “Paxton, something is wrong with Amara. Get Finn.”

  Finn

  Finn ran into the room fast on the heels of Paxton. “Maya, what happened?”

  “I don’t know but something is wrong. I was talking to Amara, and we were about to end the chat when she broke off in mid-sentence. I tried calling her back, but she didn’t answer. I know something is wrong. Do you understand? I know it.”

  “I’ll pull up her implant. It has a tracking device. We learned with Maya,” said Paxton. “Darla, bring up Amara Finau’s tracking device. Place on screen.”

  “Bringing up Amara Finau’s tracking device on screen.” Darla’s voice held the distinctive Artificial Intelligence inflection.

  “Notify Charlotte at Restoration house and tell her to notify Ethan and Wilder. We are going after Amara.”

  “Understood.”

  Finn didn’t wait for further instructions. He headed for his vehicle knowing the coordinates were transmitted to his smart car. Pax climbed in beside him and they followed the tracker.