"What is it?"
"I want to see Charlie and my baby."
He looked at her as if weighing his decision. "If you submit tonight I will take you to see your baby but not Charlie."
Laura swallowed a sob and pressed Caleb's hands to her face.
"It's time, Laura. I will be gentle," he said softly.
"What if I get pregnant?"
"That is the intention here. However, Adrian plans to impregnate you. He senses your fertile time of month in a few days. Then it will be his turn. He likes to share and he wants me to prepare you for him so you are a willing partner.
A fist closed around her heart. Not if I have something to do with it. Hate drove away the heartache.
"And what of Charlie. Is he to breed as well?" She closed her eyes at that ugly word. Breed.
Caleb hesitated then nodded. "Tomorrow he will be initiated."
I won't let that happen.
Neither will I.
Her eyes flew open. His words punctured her brain like a searing bright ray of sunshine. Her powers were returning.
"Did you hear me, Laura?"
She nodded.
"Are you ready now to do your duty?"
"I'm ready."
He held her, infusing her with his smell of burnt pine and hay. Musky and male. She closed her eyes and wished it was Ben. She would make his every touch Ben's. Caleb untied her belt and pushed aside her robe's collar. The cool air tickled her breasts, but she kept her eyes closed. Her robe slid off. She shivered and heard his robe fall. Then his hard body was pressed into hers.
"Adrian is watching," he whispered in her ear. She stiffened and opened her eyes. She didn't know where to look. His muscles bulged everywhere. So she looked into his kind eyes. He stroked her back and his thick staff rose up against her stomach. Her nipples hardened despite herself. She tensed and moved away, but there was nowhere to go.
"What do I have to do?"
"Offer yourself to me."
He led her to the bed. She lay down on it. He stood over her, a mammoth young man of strength and power. "I don't think I can do this." She closed her eyes and squeezed her legs together.
"Laura, look at me."
She opened her eyes. He eased his bulk down next to her on his side and took her hand. His fingers were smooth and nail-less like Charlie's. Like Adrian's. Caleb's pale skin glowed in the dim light of her room. His muscles flexed as his body pressed into the length of her. She had never felt so vulnerable in her life. She thought of the first time giving herself to Ben as a shy young girl and tears rose up again. This time she let them go. She turned into Caleb's chest and cried. He held her in silence until her tears stopped. He wiped them from her cheeks like a gentle giant. She was painfully aware of their nakedness crushed together.
He moved closer to her. Laura, we'll pretend. His words came to her like a whisper in her mind. Can you pretend?
She nodded, relief flooding through her. "How can you be so good in this place?"
Then he whispered in her ear so she barely heard him. "I could choose to give in to my Destroyer genes, but it doesn't mean I desire it. It's why my father hates me. And Charlie can choose, too. His destiny is not set in stone." His words touched her. Maybe Charlie had a chance.
"How can you do these things your father orders?"
"I have my reasons. Two of them," he said cryptically.
And she knew he understood her heart.
He raised himself up and knelt over her. "It's time," he said in a loud voice. She hesitated then parted her legs. He smiled. She forced her fear and sorrow away and clung to the new hope inside her. She smiled back. He lay on top of her but kept his weight off, except for the male part of him that pulsed on her thigh straining for release. He stroked her neck and hair and gazed in her eyes. "Beautiful Laura."
She hesitated then wrapped her arms around him and felt ridges. "What's this?"
"From whippings. It's nothing."
She traced the raised skin, as she had traced Ben's scars. Caleb winced. "Some are fresh."
"Yes."
Hatred flowed through her with vengeance. Adrian whipped his own son. What would he do to Charlie?
She raised herself up on her elbows. "Let me see."
He twisted to the side. Dear God. So much pain he had suffered. Like Ben. Both of these men tortured and scarred. She sensed Caleb's deep empathy for the weak and innocent. This is why he suffered in this place.
I prayed to God, Laura. For years.
Our god?
Yes. He's supposed to be a loving god. He gave up his only son to be sacrificed for the greater good.
You sacrifice, too.
Not enough…never enough.
She reached up and for the first time since meeting Ben, she kissed another man. Her lips moved over his marked flesh tenderly, wanting to erase his scars. He turned back to her and covered her soft body again with his hard one. His lips moved down her neck. He hesitated when he reached her breasts.
Close your eyes and pretend I'm Ben. His words flowed across her brain. She did as he said. His warm breath caressed her breasts but he did not touch them, as Ben once had and never would again. Adrian appeared before her. Watching. Smiling. Waiting for his turn. He left but watched from afar.
Caleb's scent enveloped her. "Let me be your Ben."
She sighed and Ben came to her. Loved her. Encouraged her. Wanted her. He was with her now in her private world. A world with no sorrow or pain or loss—only love.
Caleb pushed open her legs and raised her hips with his hands. And he was Ben taking her for the first time long ago. She had moved with him then in the firelight. Caleb blended with Ben and he bent toward her, his hair fell soft on her cheek. I'm going to pretend to penetrate you, Laura. I need to make it look real. I'm sorry.
She nodded quickly and kept her eyes closed, praying he would honor his word. She couldn't suffer being violated. One night ago her husband had taken her in love and her child had burst from it in love.
Caleb's body moved over her, pulsing so close to her heat. He wrapped his arms under her back and pulled her closer, kissing her trembling stomach. He slid then—not into her but falsely over her skin, between her buttocks. His groin pushed into hers slowly then rocked with hers, pounding her soft mound and stroking her bottom. Thrust, after rhythmic thrust they were connected by pliant skin. She moved into him as he rode her, his hard body everywhere. He was inside her—but he wasn't—stroking her longer and deeper.
Like Ben had their first night together at the cabin. The wind had rattled the windows over and over with a screeching wail, rising with intensity as her heart beat did. She flowed beneath him now once again, meeting him half way in the firelight as its shadows leapt and bounded over them. The fire roared up hissing flames. Laura cried out with each fervid thrust that filled her body—and her heart.
His warm lips pulsed on her neck between ragged breaths as her breath matched his, linked by a fiery need to lose themselves in the sliding of skin. He rose and fell over her as their heat fanned their desire. He pressed her to him, his chest flattening her breasts as he strained against her. His hardness rubbed faster and faster beneath her. The bed shook. "Laura." He held her tighter. Wet warmth covered her bottom as he shuddered against her.
Ben was gone.
Caleb fell on her chest. I'm sorry. I couldn't contain myself. You're so lovely.
She put her arms around him. It's okay, Caleb.
His heart raced against hers and his sweat covered her chest. Adrian's face appeared once more. One eyebrow raised, mocking her. Then he disappeared.
Caleb pressed his head to hers. Ben is your match.
Laura's heart skipped. He told you that.
"Yes," he said aloud.
"You said is." She clung tight to him, wanting to believe.
"Yes."
He raised his head and looked at her with tenderness. "Time to go see your son."
Laura stood in the nursery next to Caleb. Two women rock
ed in corners nursing other women's babies. They glanced at her then dismissed her. They had their own jobs to do, and their own worries. She scanned dozens of tiny heads. There he was. Sleeping, content in his crib. She had memorized the path from her room to this place, as she memorized the details of this room.
"Hold him, Laura," Caleb said. "He is yours, no matter who fathered him."
So he had seen the likeness, too. She went to her child and stood over him, afraid to touch him, afraid to love him. Hate shot through her as she saw his name plate. Madroc. No first name. Just the last name of the devil.
Ben, will you accept him?
Benny murmured in his sleep. He was just a baby, not a monster. And then love washed over her with a mighty maternal force. She picked him up and his sweet, baby smell poured into her. Her breasts ached but she had no milk to give her son. He snuggled into her neck and she smiled at Caleb.
"Thank you." It seemed surreal she had been so intimate with Caleb and now she was here with her child.
"It's the least I could do."
"Can I see him again?"
"No. Bonds are not allowed between mothers and fathers and their children. A baby is taken away at birth and placed in the nursery. Most do not even know who their children are."
"But you do."
"They are my likeness. It wasn't hard."
Hatred flashed through her for Adrian, for these Elyons—her people. What kind of world did she come from where such evil reigned? And yet, they had good, too. Good and bad, like on Earth. And good in Caleb. In Charlie. In her. And even in her dead twin, X-10. He never had a chance to be good. His goodness was crushed—hidden—as these Destroyers hid their evil from the world. X-10 was like Adrian but not. He'd never wanted power like Adrian, he'd just wanted to live free and in peace. Perhaps Charlie would choose the same.
"How do you stand it?"
"That pain is fleeting. It does not fester and live on like other kinds of pain."
And then it was clear. Caleb had children.
"Your children?"
He nodded. "Twin sons."
His two reasons. Twins. Like she had once been. "Where are they?"
"Being raised by a community of women in another part of the compound."
"Do you ever see them?"
"Just in passing in the courtyard and at meals. When they become older I may be allowed to train them. Someday I imagine being with them, in another place but…"
She couldn't fathom his pain. She kissed Benny's head, not bearing to say goodbye. She would come back for him.
Help me, Caleb. Help me, escape. Get me to Ben.
He didn't answer, just looked at the women nursing. They stared at her.
"It's time to return to your room, Laura."
She placed Benny back in his crib, so small and helpless. It took every effort to turn and leave him behind.
She followed Caleb back to her room. His wide frame covered the hallway. Charlie would grow as big as him soon.
Caleb opened her door and stood in the doorway. She reached up to hug him. Help us escape. She squeezed him harder. I know you're good inside. Help me get Benny and Charlie and Ben.
I used your belt, Laura.
She drew in a sharp breath. Did you travel to Elyon?
Yes.
What did you see?
Nothing and no one.
No building? No ship maybe? I saw…something.
Only an empty land.
She let out a defeated breath. Perhaps they really are all dead.
Or perhaps they're on their way here—now.
Her heart jumped with the thought.
Caleb took her hands then, so big and warm. He slipped a square folded piece of paper into her palm. He squeezed his hand over hers. "I must lock you in now."
I'll set you free tonight, Laura. Work on your powers. Be ready.
His words filled her mind.
Then screams shattered the quiet.
Caleb took a step back and slammed her door. The lock clicked in place.
She pounded on it. "Caleb!"
But all she heard was his footsteps running away and the wrenching screams of someone being tortured.
CHAPTER 38
Adrian was in a foul mood.
He knelt and looked at the perfect bottom that faced him waiting for his mount. He still couldn't make himself rise to the occasion. This was the third attempt at relieving himself. His frustration boiled inside. He needed release and the female was prime for fertilization. He moved into her. She pushed back into him eagerly. He squeezed her hips, she moaned, and he grew to full length. He pushed between her thighs. Her entrance waited, glistening like a pearl to be treasured. He pushed in and instantly shrunk. He yelled and pushed her away.
Her head twisted around, eyes wide with fear.
"You can't arouse me, wench. What good are you for breeding?"
She put her head down. "I'm sorry. This can happen with the elder males. I've birthed many children. I'll do better."
Adrian straddled her. "You think I am a weak, old male?"
"No—no. I didn't mean that. Let me help you."
A dark film descended over his vision. "Help me?"
The body beneath him swam in a blur of water. He was in the well again of his father's making and this female made him weak with her lush body taunting him—as the moon above had once taunted him, as Manta had taunted him with her leaving and infidelity.
There was no escape then for his being weak, and there was no escape now from his body's failings. The female had to suffer, as he had suffered, to become strong.
"Your body disobeys me, female," he whispered in her ear. "I pour out my vengeance upon those who refuse to obey me. Now it is yours."
His hands closed around her throat. A wild need for release overtook him.
"Writhe and groan in your terrible pain! You are exiled from my land."
The female bucked beneath him, her screams garbled. He plummeted into pure bliss and ravished the dark depths he coveted. He bit with primeval hunger as he had been bitten long ago in that cold well. The water flowed around him as it once had, and he tore into what was his to now devour. Howling in ecstasy, he slid in glory amongst the crimson waves.
Panting, he pulled his head up. The water he held the female under cleared. He stared in horror at what he had done. She sprawled unmoving before him. Her skin shredded from his raging feast. He fell back, his chest slick with blood. He licked his lips, tasted her, then leaned over and threw up. He had killed them in a rage before but never this. His crime would be found out. How could he cover this up?
Manta's trembling bloody body flashed before his eyes.
Thunder crashed at his door. "Father, let me in. I heard screams. Who's in there?"
"Go away," Adrian mumbled, weak from his outburst. He looked away from the female, sure he would be sick again.
The door burst open. He squinted in the harsh hallway light. Caleb's face appeared. "Father, what have you done?" He knelt to the female, felt her body, and listened to her chest. He pulled away, his robe smeared with red. "You killed her."
"She challenged me!"
"Killed her," Caleb repeated. "Like a wild animal."
"You would have done the same. We are the same. Admit it."
Caleb shook his head. "Never." He closed his eyes and placed his hands on her.
Feet slammed along the hallway. Shocked faces stood in the doorway.
"We heard screams. Brother Adrian, are you all right?"
Tollen and the brothers stood over him, realization dawning on their shocked faces. They dragged him and Caleb up and held them, staring at the murder scene.
"No, let me help her!" Caleb tried to twist away from his captors.
"It's too late to save her," Tollen said coldly. "You and your father killed her."
Adrian wiped his mouth and his legs shook. His rage had depleted his energy. "She made me do this."
One of the elders bent down to the female. "Yes, she's
dead."
Tollen crossed his arms and smirked at Adrian. "Even you cannot escape such a crime, Brother Adrian. You are a savage beast and must pay. And Caleb. I didn't expect this from you."
"I just got here. I found this," Caleb said. "Let me heal her!"
"Her blood soaking you speaks otherwise. You can't save the dead." Tollen tipped his head to the others. "Take both Madrocs here to a cell."
Caleb struggled against the elders as they held him back. "No. It wasn't me. I can save her!"
"Traitor," Adrian screamed. "You'll be the downfall of us all." He lunged at Caleb, but his son jerked away and the elders' grip tightened. "The well awaits, Son. It will serve you well—as it served me, as it served your mother."
"No one serves you," Tollen said and shoved him back.
"Put my son in the well, Brothers. Kill his weakness. His mother was weak, like him. I made sure death came for her. Let it come for him."
Caleb grabbed his arm. "You murdered my mother."
"She deserved it. A traitor, like you."
"You led the search party. You let me find her." Caleb's voice rose.
"Not pretty in death was she?"
Caleb's fingers pressed hard into his arm. The elders pried them apart.
"And your death won't be pretty either, Son."
"You can't kill me, Father."
"Enough of this family spat," Tollen said. "You'll both be silenced soon."
"Brother Tollen, ask him about the bodies in the bog," Caleb said in a deep shaken voice.
"The females taunted me," his father screamed. "Don't you see? They needed to be punished. They are weak. All of them. I am not. I am the strong one. You'll see."
"No, you'll see, Adrian. You took matters into your own hands, Brother," Tollen said. "What you've done was not a sanctioned punishment. Nor other crimes you may have committed."
"Like killing Manta—and your unborn son?" It felt so good to say it out loud. Vengeance flowed through him like wine to a drunkard.
Tollen took a step back, steadied himself with one hand on the corridor wall. "My son?"
"She told me. It was yours."
"No."
A Hidden Element Page 21