Ariella's Keeper (Divinity Healers)

by Pillow Michelle M.

  “Ariella,” he insisted, stepping to block the door. Worry filled his eyes. “I’m a doctor. You’re my wife. Why won’t you let me scan you? What are you hiding?”

  She took a step for the medical booth. Her hands shook as she touched the side. “It’s a small thing. It’s being taken care of.”

  “I insist.”

  “I—” The lasers turned on before she even stepped inside the scanner. She closed her eyes briefly before doing as he asked. Ariella hoped he’d find whatever it was his father had done to her.

  A loud blare sounded overhead. Ariella screamed in surprise at the suddenness of it. Her back hit the wall in alarm.

  “Containment,” the automated system announced, as a plastic wall slid down from the ceiling, trapping her on one side of the room. “Containment. Exam one. Terminal. Containment. Security level one. Containment.”

  Ariella stared at Sebastjan’s stunned face. The automated message repeated. Sebastjan reached for an electronic clipboard without looking directly at it. Instead, his eyes focused on hers as if he could read the cause of the sudden trouble in her face. His hand hit the wall several times before he found the device. His lips moved, but she couldn’t hear him. She shook her head in denial, motioning to her ears.

  “Containment. Exam one. Terminal. Containment.”

  * * *

  “Sebastjan! What is the meaning of this? What have you done?” Supreme Walter demanded from the exam room door. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes for it to open after Ariella’s containment started. The facility sensors had been testing the exam room air to make sure it and Dr. Sebastjan Walter were safe. “We have equipment at home. You should never have brought her in here.”

  Sebastjan glared at his father. “Did you know about her condition? Why haven’t the home monitors picked up on it?”

  “Of course I know,” his father quipped. “I know everything that happens in my city. You’re first doctor on scene. Clear her so we can go home. I will deal with the two of you in private.”

  “Then you also know it’s not a natural condition,” Sebastjan insisted, ignoring the threat. He looked at Ariella, knowing she couldn’t hear them. She stood against the plastic shield, hands lifted, palms and fingers pressed so hard they turned white. Her large eyes stared at them. She looked terrified.

  “Of course I know.” The Medical Supreme frowned. “Clear her. Now.”

  “What did you do? Program the home monitors so they wouldn’t show her abnormality?” Sebastjan refused to hand over the clipboard. “What’s wrong with her? Did you think to trick me into marrying someone who is…sick?”

  Sebastjan’s stomach tightened. He again looked at his clipboard. The anomaly didn’t make sense. It wasn’t natural, but he’d never seen anything like it. He began tapping the electronic interface, examining the molecular structure.

  “It’s not a—” Sebastjan began.

  “It’s nothing you’d recognize.” His father snatched the clipboard away. “Perhaps if you had stayed here and worked with me like I’d asked you to.”

  “You mean like you ordered me to,” Sebastjan corrected as he tried to grab the clipboard back. “What did you do to Ariella?”

  “You should thank me. I trained her to be the perfect doctor’s wife. She will do as she’s told and if she doesn’t…” Supreme Walter set the clipboard down decisively. “Clear her now or you can forget about my signing off on those handhelds and any future funding for your research facility.”

  “That threat is empty and we both know it. Besides, I’ve already authorized the posting of my preliminary findings to several predominate scientists. I’d like to see you explain your reasoning to them.”

  “Don’t threaten me, son. You’re not skilled enough for it.”

  “It wasn’t a threat.”

  Sebastjan looked at his wife. She stared at his father. Her face was hard, but he saw the fear in her eyes. He tried not to believe his father capable of anything so diabolical. Sure, the man was manipulative and shrewd, but this? Would his father really go so far as to poison a woman just to control her?

  “This is how you got her to marry me, isn’t it? You made sure she was well and then forced her to marry me by holding the cure hostage from her.” He felt sick to his stomach and his heart began to beat a little faster. The wall monitor instantly brought up his stats.

  Supreme Walter eyed the wall unit and frowned. “Calm yourself. I did it for you, for the family. You refused to consider any of the women I found for you. Dr. Sanda had too much invested in the marine facility. Sans Franuk was too tall. Sans Gretchen too obnoxious and attention seeking. Sans Angeluv too messy. Ariella is perfect for you. I’ve made sure of it. The only way I could have found you a more malleable bride is if I built a woman from scratch. If it were possible, I would have done so. But I am merely a man.”

  Sebastjan frowned. The humble words hardly suited the Medical Supreme. He’d begun to feel something for Ariella, but now, with his father’s words, he became worried. What if the woman he knew was merely an act orchestrated by his father? What if her behavior, her attraction toward him, was pretend? What if her affections ended with her illness?

  “If you’re not pleased with her lack of experience, train her or take a lover. You’re married now. That’s all I care about. Procedures can be done to ensure she has a legitimate son and the family name will be carried on.” Supreme Walter walked to the isolation chamber and tapped on the clear plastic, like examining a specimen in a jar. Ariella pulled away from him, edging to the far side of the chamber. “Let her out of there. You see how scared she is. The longer this continues, the more you risk damaging our reputations.”

  “Reputations?” Sebastjan demanded, enraged. “You poison a woman and you’re worried about how it will look for your reputation? Maybe you should have thought about that before you did what you did. You want her cleared? Fine. Tell me then, how do we reverse whatever it is you’ve done? Can you even reverse it?”

  “Of course I can.”

  Sebastjan closed his eyes briefly before grabbing the clipboard. He began tapping instructions on the top of it.

  “What are you doing?” the Medical Supreme demanded. “Give me that.”

  Sebastjan jerked away from him. “I’m sending a copy of her medical records to my facility office. If you don’t cure her, I’ll make what you’ve done public.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Sebastjan cleared his wife, ending her isolation. The plastic shield slid up and a light, sterilizing mist sprinkled over them. Ariella was breathing heavy and shaking. Her eyes flew to Supreme Walter. “They must have scanned me when we walked in. I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t say anything. I promise I didn’t say anything.”

  “She’s making a scene. Take her, Sebastjan, and meet me at home. I’ll take care of Dr. Lu and Dr. Swift.” Supreme Walter stormed from the room, mumbling under his breath.

  “Come with me, Ariella. All will be well.” Sebastjan took her arm and led her toward the door. “Let’s get out of here. We can talk in the transport.”

  Chapter Five

  “I wanted to tell you,” Ariella said the second the transport door closed and they were alone. “I never meant to keep it from you.”

  “You should have told me.” Sebastjan’s brow furrowed in concentration as he studied her from the opposite seat. She wondered what he was thinking. It was impossible to tell.

  “He said if I told you he’d take away my cure and I’d die a horrific death.” She looked at her hands, studying the lines. “I tried to get away once, to test it. Within six hours I was…” Her hands began to shake at the memory. It started with nausea and built into a blinding headache. She’d been stumbling and incoherent. When Supreme Walter found her, she’d been curled into a ball. He’d only given her relief after she begged for it.

  “Tell me,” Sebastjan urged crossing over to sit beside her.

  Ariella obeyed and told him everything. What did she have
to lose now? Besides, his nearness was comforting—his smell, the sound of his voice, the brush of his leg to hers, the gentle tug of his fingers against her hair. When she finished, she added, “I wanted to tell you, but I wasn’t sure what he’d do. I’m still not sure. I’ve seen that look on his face before. He’s not happy and he’s capable of mean things when he’s not happy.”

  “I see.” Sebastjan loosened his hold on her. “That is his game. He thinks to keep you at his house and by extension keep me. I’m sorry you were brought into this. My father was not pleased when I left Asclepius. He wants to groom me to be Medical Supreme, to keep the title in the family.”

  “You don’t want to be Medical Supreme?” Even as she said it, she knew his answer. No. She saw the light in his eyes when he talked about going back to his research facility. He wanted out of the mansion as badly as she did.

  “No. I have no use for the politics that consume my father’s life. I want to do research and make a real difference in the future of my people. That will be my legacy, not approving funding proposals and hosting evening sustenance parties.”

  “I think yours will be the nobler legacy.” Ariella took a deep breath. Her words soft, she asked, “Do you think you can cure what he did?”

  “Given enough time.”

  “Within six hours?” She gave a wry laugh, not finding humor in her situation.

  Sebastjan looked as if he wanted to tell her yes, but he slowly shook his head in denial. “No, not in six hours, not even if I had a fully stocked lab at my disposal. In six months if I was lucky, six weeks if I was very lucky.”

  Ariella leaned toward the transport window and looked out over the passing city. Light gleamed on the cases surrounding the plants and glistened on the perfect sidewalks, reflecting like tiny jewels. As the mansion came into view, she said, “I don’t want to go back to the mansion. Not yet.”

  Sebastjan reached for the consul, overriding the transport’s automatic coordinates. “I’ll set it to take us through the arboretum. It won’t be too busy this time of day.”

  She swayed into him as the transport turned a corner. Ariella found comfort in the heat of his body close to hers and didn’t pull back. His hand trailed down the side of her arm. “You should leave. Go back to your research facility. I’m not sure he’ll ever give me a cure. Take samples of my blood, or whatever else you need with you. Maybe someday when you find what’s wrong with me, you can come back. I can’t leave and I can’t ask you to stay here. There is no reason why we should both be held prisoner.”

  Sebastjan didn’t answer right away. “I won’t leave you with him. I promise. We’ll find a way to make you well.”

  Ariella drew her mouth to his. When they touched, he felt so familiar, as if she’d known him her whole life. She trusted him on a base, primitive level, even if logic told her she hadn’t known him long enough.

  “There are some things you just know,” she whispered against his lips, answering her own thought.

  “What?” He pulled away, quizzical.

  “Nothing,” she quickly amended. She placed her hand on his strong thigh, feeling it flex. “I was merely thinking of the arboretum. You said it wasn’t going to be busy this time of day?”

  “It—” Sebastjan’s breath caught as she slid her hand higher, “shouldn’t, ah, be.”

  “Good.” She boldly cupped her hand around his growing member and massaged gently. He opened his thighs as he adjusted his hips on the seat. He sat back, allowing her complete access to his body. She tugged at his clothing, wanting him naked. Ariella jerked the pants from his hips and pushed his shirt aside.

  Sebastjan’s hands were on her, stripping her of her clothing as she continued to stroke him to full arousal. The transport turned, rocking them to the left. A flash of green passed outside the window as they turned into the arboretum. Ariella loved this place. Though separated from their human visitors, the green landscape stretched before them—trees, flowers and shrubs. Workers in stark white containment suits moved through the gardens, tending the foliage, picking up fallen leaves, plucking dying flowers.

  When they were naked, Sebastjan pulled her body over his. She straddled his legs, balancing on the seat. He held on to her, keeping her from falling back. Hungrily, he pulled a nipple deep into his mouth. Moaning, he sucked and licked.

  She tried to angle her body to accept his, but he held tight to her hips, gripping her hard. His lips moved to the opposite side, wetting the nipple he found there. Ariella tried again to impale her pussy on his shaft. He gently pushed her back.

  “Sit,” he urged, pushing her across the transport to the opposite seat.

  Her ass pressed against the smooth, comfortable surface. Sebastjan’s eyes lit as knelt before her on the transport floor. He nudged the inside of her knee, lifting her calf onto his shoulder. He kissed along the inside of her thigh, making the torturously slow journey up her leg. Lips pressed, tickled, brushed and sucked. His tongue flicked along her flesh, marking his path with delicate sweeps. Arielle tensed as he made his way toward the apex of her thighs. A firm hand on her thigh pressed it open.

  “You look very beautiful in daylight,” Sebastjan said, jerking her hips forward. He wrapped his arm under her leg, keeping it on his shoulder, as he kept the other one held open. He licked his lips slowly. His eyes flickered with meaning. “I want to watch you find release.”

  He buried his face in her pussy. Ariella gasped, arching into him. Her eyes lazily moved to the window, watching for anyone who might be looking inside.

  Sebastjan moaned, fucking her with his mouth. He nipped at her clit, biting lightly before sucking it between his teeth. She grabbed onto the back of his head, rocking into him. His tongue slid along her sex, dipping inside her before moving up the slit.

  Ariella gasped, grabbing her breasts as pleasure rippled over her. It was wicked and wanton and they could be caught at any moment should the transport pass anyone walking along the arboretum path. The hint of danger heightened her excitement. Her heart beat faster. She worked her legs against Sebastjan. He didn’t stop, even as his eyes lifted to watch her.

  It felt so good that she had to close her eyes. Tremors racked over her, radiating from her pussy, over her stomach and thighs. She came against his mouth, gasping and jerking.

  When his lips finally stopped moving and he withdrew from her, she looked at him. He took a seat across from her. She breathed hard. He sat naked. His hand brushed along his leg, slow and steady.

  Taking his cock in hand, he stroked himself. His eyes roamed freely over her naked body. He licked his wet lips, moaning softly as if he could still taste her on them. His hand tightened, sliding up and down his thick shaft.

  Ariella’s body began to tingle with anticipation. His lips had been nice, but she wanted the fullness of him moving inside her, thrusting and filling, pushing and pulling. The needy ache filled her and she touched her sex. Her fingers slid in the moisture left from his mouth.

  She glanced around the inside of the transport, wondering how best to position herself so they could come together. As if reading her mind, he said, “Get on your knees and face the window.”

  Ariella turned to the side, drawing her knees onto the cushioned seat. He came behind her, forcing her to crawl closer to the window so he could fit. Sebastjan braced one foot on the floor and one knee on the seat. He took her by her hips.

  The tip of his cock probed her sex as he positioned their bodies. With a groan, he impaled her on his shaft. Ariella saw his passing reflection in the windowpane as a ray of light broke through the trees.

  He took her hard and sure, somehow managing to keep their bodies together in the precarious position. Her hands dug into the cushion. They slammed together wildly. Tremors worked over her as she came again. His cry joined hers as he met with release.

  Sebastjan fell back. She collapsed next to him, nestling against his chest. He kissed her temple and wrapped his arms around her. For a long moment, they didn’t speak. The plant life
passed in silence.

  “Are you certain every place on this plane doesn’t keep its plant life encased?” Ariella asked, more whimsical than searching for an answer she already knew. “I miss the smell of nature. I think I’m going to scream if I’m misted with sterilizer one more time.”

  “Have you never been out of the city?” he asked, before answering his own question. “Of course you haven’t. My father doesn’t like to travel out of the city. He thinks everyone outside of high social circles of Asclepius are unworthy of his time.”

  “Let’s not talk about him,” she said. An unspoken tension fell over them. They had no choice but to go back to the mansion and face Supreme Walter.

  “Agreed.” Sebastjan pulled her closer. “Only the larger cities keep their nature locked up thanks to the old Medical Supreme’s edict. Where I live we’re much more relaxed. We even have a courtyard filled with flowers and vines.”

  “I wish I could show you my home world. It’s nothing like this. Asclepius is so sterile, not only literally, but in its art. Everything is carved in straight lines. We have these beautiful sculptures—bold rounded figures, fanciful expressions, as if the human figure was captured in all its perfections and imperfections before being put into stone.”

  His hand moved lazily over her breast. “Perhaps someday we’ll go there.”

  “Perhaps.” Though Ariella knew she would never go back. Without her family, her home would be a hollow shell of what she remembered. At least this way, her family lived in her memory and she could imagine they were still out there, surviving on a plane of reality she couldn’t see. Maybe even now, they stood, outside the transport box, as invisible to this world as air, running and laughing just beyond her range of vision.

  “We should get dressed. The scenic trail will end soon and the transport will take us back.” He kissed her temple. “I think I have an idea how to deal with my father.”

  “What will you do?”

  “What he’s been trying to get me to do for a long time now. I’m going to act like he does.”