by Sara Rustan
Hands shook her, and she pulled herself out of the depths of her dream with an effort, to see Tom bending over her. Her immediate reaction was joy that he was here. Then she read his emotions. He was still angry and resentful—but aroused.
She tried to shield her emotions as much as possible, and raised up to lean on an elbow. “Why are you here?”
“You know damn well why I’m here.”
“Sorry, but I actually don’t.” She sat up all the way and brushed the hair from her face with a shaky hand. “You can tell how I feel. Read me.”
“You called me again—and made me so horny there’s no way I can sleep.” Through gritted teeth he added, “From two miles away.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip. “If it’s any comfort, I didn’t intend to. I was dreaming…”
He scowled. “Is this going to happen every time you have a dream?”
“I don’t know. This is new to me, too. It doesn’t happen on…where I come from, but things are different here.” She didn’t mention that on Lorelly two people who mated would never sleep separately.
Tom examined her with narrowed eyes and grim mouth, his gaze pausing at the swell of her breasts above the neckline of the nightgown and then dropping to her lower body, which was still covered by the sheet. “Roll over.” His voice was a low growl.
Janeth opened her mouth to ask why, then realized the surge of arousal she felt from him had given her the reason. She was hot and wet herself, ready and eager to receive him. That part of the dream had been true—she was throbbing with need.
She rolled over, making sure the bedcovers stayed underneath her, raised her bottom, and murmured, “Is this what you had in mind?”
“Stand on the floor and bend over the bed.”
She slid down and leaned over, arranging her nightgown around her waist. She felt a cool breeze on her hot, wet pussy, which she knew must be totally open to his inspection.
His breathing was suddenly loud and rough, and she heard the rustle of him opening his pants.
He pushed her legs farther apart with his foot, and a second later she felt the pressure of his cock against her entrance. He buried himself in her with one powerful thrust. She almost screamed with the intense satisfaction of having him inside her, filling her.
From reading him, she knew that he was treating her roughly as a punishment, because he was still angry. She didn’t care. Well, she wished he wasn’t angry, but the sex was just fine. It was certainly better than no sex—and no Tom.
He gripped her hips, pulled back until only his cockhead remained inside her, paused, and thrust forward again. This time she whimpered.
He pumped into her, his flesh slapping her on the down stroke, the only other contact between them his hands on her hips and his cock inside her. His rhythm was hard and fast, designed for quick release, but Janeth found something surprisingly arousing about her quiet passivity. All she had to do was lie there and let him fuck her, and concentrate on the sensation of his cock moving in and out of her creamy, throbbing passage. He needed her to relieve that heat, and it gave her power.
“Pull on your nipples.”
She glanced back at him, but couldn’t see his expression in the darkness.
“Now. Stimulate your nipples.”
Even in his anger, he couldn’t seem to tolerate leaving her unsatisfied. She moved her hands underneath herself, and pinched both of her nipples, tugging and twisting. The additional stimulation, combined with the relentless stroking of his thick shaft, caused a wave of intense heat and pleasure to surge through her.
Tom was close too, breathing in deep, rough pants. He, too, found the act that he had intended to be punishment arousing, and if she was reading him right, unexpectedly intimate. He gripped her hips hard, slammed in one last time, and paused, buried inside her.
She could feel him spasm inside her, and the knowledge that he was coming made her explode in orgasm, everything in her lower body pulsing endlessly. He emptied himself in her and their emotions blurred together in one confused mixture of sexual satisfaction and repletion and anger.
The muscular clenching stopped and their breathing calmed down. Janeth drifted in a rosy glow, interrupted only by her perception that Tom’s surprisingly tender feelings were swamped by self-hatred. It was difficult to be happy and content when he was not.
He pulled out, and their combined cream ran down her thighs. She half-collapsed, half-rolled onto the bed, and turned to watch him. He used a corner of the sheet to roughly dry himself off, fastened his pants, and hesitated a second. Though he tried to keep his face blank, his emotions roiled and twisted like water in a storm.
Then he exhaled heavily, turned, and left.
Janeth pulled the blanket over her, and prepared to go back to sleep. She didn’t expect that dream to return, and she had more hope now than just a few short hours ago. If he truly hated her, he wouldn’t have been nearly so confused.
Chapter Five
The next day Janeth scoured the city for her brother.
That night Tom came to her again. This time he wasn’t trying to punish her. He just wanted relief for his raging horniness. She welcomed him warmly, with the kisses and affection of a long-established lover, her heart singing with relief that he wasn’t holding on to his anger.
After they had hot, sweaty, satisfying sex and he collapsed on top of her, she said, “If I hadn’t used you, I would be in the same state as my brother. It didn’t leave me many options.”
She felt him stiffen, but he didn’t say anything.
“When he called, nobody responded, and he…lost himself. It’s something that can happen if one of my people goes into plenerty and there’s nobody to…help.”
He didn’t answer, but she could feel a further softening of his emotions.
“You’re not from here, are you? Why are you on this planet anyway?”
He rolled off her and crossed his arms beneath his head. “I’m here investigating an incident that was reported to the Alliance government.”
“So, you’re undercover?”
“Not exactly. It’s just a low-key investigation.” He glanced at her quickly and looked away. “Is this insanity of your brother’s what usually happens if you go into—what did you call it?”
“Plenerty.”
“Yeah, does everybody who goes through plenerty without a response go nuts?”
“Not on our home planet—and we usually make sure that we’re there at that time so suitable partners are available. But it does occasionally happen on other planets. As long as an empathic mate is available, it’s not disastrous—and there’s almost always somebody. If there isn’t, the support of knowledgeable empaths can prevent insanity.” She stretched and closed her eyes. “But Dragnath has no empaths, and something about what the troll is broadcasting makes things even worse. I was lucky you—”
He sat up, his body full of tension. “The troll?”
“That’s what I call the entity who’s broadcasting anger and negativity all the time. Surely you’ve felt him?”
“I’ve felt something. But how do you know it’s a male? Why call him a troll? How do you know it’s an entity?”
She ran her hands through her hair. “There’s an art on Lorelly called shontil that’s a combination of singing and the broadcasting of emotions. I’m considered skilled at it. I sang and called to the entity three days ago, and it responded.”
“How did it respond?”
“It focused on me—quite unpleasantly. I passed out,” she said flatly. “But right before I went black, I picked up some distinct impressions. It’s trapped somewhere dark, like a cave, it’s male, and it’s very angry. It reminded me of the trolls in children’s stories.”
Tom stood and started pacing back and forth. “That troll is the thing I’m here on Dragnath to investigate.”
She leaned back against the pillows. “Well, I’m so glad I was able to help with your investigation.”
“Could you tell anything about
where it was?”
“No, not really. Just that it was closed in, trapped, and dark.”
He stopped next to the bed. “We have to figure out—”
“We don’t have to do anything right now. It’s the middle of the night. I have to go to sleep.” She cupped his cheek with her hand. “And I would like very much for you to sleep with me.”
He looked at her. “Do you realize that you told me the name of your home planet—Lorelly?”
“Yes, I know.” She shrugged. “It was a calculated risk.”
He sighed. “Move over. I like to sleep on the right side.”
***
The next few days fell into a pattern. During the day, Janeth would scour the city for her brother, while Tom interviewed people, searched the historical archives for information on the troll, and filed reports. At night, Tom would come to her and they would have sex—intense, mind-blowing sex.
The third night, she warned him that if he wanted to revert, this was not the way to do it. He ignored her.
The fifth night, he came over early so they could go out to eat at a local restaurant with a good reputation. The food was good, the wine even better. It was almost like a first date—except they were already sleeping together every night. They exchanged bits and pieces of their pasts, and even laughed at each other’s jokes. Then one of them—Janeth wasn’t sure who—thought of sex and their interest in wine and dessert vanished. They left in a hurry and didn’t even make it to the bed.
Sometime during the night Janeth dreamed again. This time she wasn’t the princess in the tower. She was a little girl, skipping along a street filled with comfortable homes, but with not a person in sight. She was throwing a stick to her pet dog, who chased after it and disappeared behind some bushes. She called, “Here, puppy. Here, puppy. Come here!” Suddenly the sky darkened, and a wind whipped at her as though trying to push her over. The comfortable homes morphed into ominous, tumbledown shacks, and the neatly cut grass turned into vicious weeds with thorns and teeth that tried to bite her.
The wind rushed at her with a high-pitched whine. She covered her ears, and shrieked, “No!” Somehow the wind got in her head, churning and whirling, and everything started to go dark.
Then she felt arms around her, and someone shaking her. “Wake up, Janeth. Wake up. You’re dreaming.” She pushed at the evil wind, and this time was able to easily fling it out of her head. It roared away, furious, and she opened her eyes. Her face was pressed against Tom’s chest, and his heart was pounding—like hers.
“What was that?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, and blew out. “That was the troll.”
“He attacked you?”
“I must have called in my sleep. I was dreaming… But when you held me it gave me more strength.” She kissed his chest. “Thank you.”
“It’s dangerous here.”
“Uh-huh.” She snorted. “You just figuring that out?”
“No, I mean really dangerous. We should leave.”
“I can’t leave without my brother—and what about your job?”
“Fuck the job. They never really expected me to solve the case anyway. Not to mention I’m not quite the same person who was assigned this mission. You raised my empathy about three levels.”
She raised her eyebrows. “And what’s with the we? You over being mad at me?”
He scowled. “Maybe you shouldn’t remind me.”
“Okay. I’ll stick my head back in the sand. Works for me.”
He swatted her on the bottom.
“But I think you’re right that it’s a good idea not to stick around here too long. If I could only figure out how to— Wait a minute. The troll has never responded when I call you. Do you think that’s an accident?” She pulled away from Tom to sit up in bed.
“Janeth, you know much more about all of this than I do. I haven’t a clue what your people can do.” Tom rolled over to rest his head on his raised fist. “Speaking of your people, do they really make those telayin jewels you tried to bribe me with? I know people in the AIA who would give their right arms to talk to you about them.”
“Telayin…” She rubbed her temples. “There’s something about telayin jewels…”
“I’ve noticed that telayin jewels are all different. Some of them are soothing and restful, others are energizing. What causes the differences?”
“That’s it! Telayin jewels absorb the emotional state of the empath who trains them. The ones I have will feel very much like me.” She slid out of bed to rummage in her luggage. “Close your eyes,” she told Tom. She pulled out the bag of shield cloth, poured the jewels onto the small table, and then stepped a short distance away.
Tom turned his head back and forth, a puzzled look on his face.
“Can you tell where I am without opening your eyes?”
He tilted his head back and was silent for a few minutes. Finally he pointed to Janeth and opened his eyes. “Strange. The main difference is that the jewels are static and unchanging. Your emotions change and shift. After a minute your emotions were tinged with impatience, which gave it away.”
“Sorry. Patience has never been my strength.” She flashed him a smile. “But my idea was that I could use the jewels as a decoy for the troll while I call for my brother.”
Tom shook his head. “It doesn’t seem like much of a defense. Do you really think it will slow him down for more than a minute or so?”
“Maybe not. But every minute counts. And if you join with me for extra strength, it would help too.” It was hard for Janeth to ask for help. Her normal tendency was to try to handle as much as possible on her own. She had dragged Tom into this against his will, and though he seemed to be over his initial anger, he didn’t owe her anything.
“Of course I’ll help,” he said brusquely. “I want you off this planet, I want me off this planet, and if this is what we have to do, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” She picked up the jewels and slid them back into their bag. “Can we go back to sleep now? It’s still a few hours until dawn.”
***
Ram Nori tapped a finger on his desktop computer screen. “You’re asking me to help you rescue an off-planet criminal by protecting this civilian woman from assault by an empathic being—who you call a troll—that I don’t even believe in?”
Tom nodded. “That sums it up pretty well.”
“Just out of curiosity, why do you think that I would do such a thing?”
“Well, if the operation works, I’ll leave the planet—and turn in a good report to my superiors. It will also keep this guy from committing a lot of crimes. You could write up a whole story about the dangerous criminal you saved the population from with your inspired police work.” Tom linked his hands together, concentrating on picking up Ram’s emotional state. “It would also be the right thing to do. You would be helping me to save two people whose lives have almost been destroyed by the troll—who does exist.”
Ram sighed. “Can you promise me that nobody on my team will be harmed?”
“Nothing in life is certain. But the people on this planet have been living with the troll for a long, long time. If they could be harmed by him, I think it would have happened already. It’s my belief that the only colonists who survived here were those incapable of receiving empathic broadcasts.”
“I guess that will have to be good enough.” Ram leaned back in his seat. “You need some location into which you can lure this crazy man, and then trap him, right?”
“Correct.”
Ram brought up a map on the computer wall display. “There’s an empty warehouse right here.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “Would that work?”
“What kind of access does it have? He’s pretty skittish. Is there enough cover to make him comfortable?”
They hashed out the details, the number of people, their instructions, and the time for the operation. When Tom finally left Ram’s office, he was satisfied that at least the preparations had been handled.
He was less satisfied with the plan itself. He knew it was dangerous for Janeth. The VIP who had been attacked had spent several months in the psych-adjustment ward recovering.
As Tom wound his way through the booths selling bowls of curry and samosas in the public square, he realized he was automatically heading toward Janeth’s room and stopped. Their lives were becoming entwined. What, exactly, was their relationship? He was pretty sure Janeth was leaving a lot out of her explanation of plenerty and what had happened between them.
He suspected that, by the customs of Lorelly, they were married. The clues were all there. She had said that her people only did this once. The changes her sexual fluids had caused in him were clearly those required of a mate. They could receive each other’s emotions more strongly than anybody else’s. It couldn’t be anything else but some weird mating process.
Why didn’t she want him to know? Didn’t she want to be married to him? Did he want to be married to Janeth? Married in a way that was more of a merging than most marriages, married to someone who belonged to a secret, hidden society of empaths?
Married to a warm, intelligent woman with whom he had the best sex he’d ever had in his life?
Unfortunately he couldn’t answer those questions. Yet.
Thank god she wasn’t a telepath, too.
He glanced toward her lodgings again. Part of him really wanted to go in that direction. He felt at home with her; he could share with her. But the other part of him thought he should probably take at least a few hours of time to give them both space.
With a sigh, he headed toward his rented house. At least he was done pretending he wasn’t going to go there at all. Tonight he’d go over at dinnertime again.
Chapter Six
He hid for several days in an old abandoned basement. In one corner, he made a nest out of a pile of rotting clothes. Someone had been looking for him; he knew it. He repeated his name to himself often. Darian. Darian. A young woman passed by the broken window and the hunger swept over him. But he resisted. He was afraid if he gave in to it, he would lose even his name.