Stolen Dreams (25 page)

 

Gabriel was barely
clinging to
consciousness as they entered the building. He could see the officer
smiling and speaking to several others, but he could no longer hear the
words for the blood roaring in his ears. As the officer led him down a
hallway, Gabriel felt as though he were walking in slow motion through
a thick fog. His body was burning up and his sex throbbed painfully.
Shara was moaning and squirming so much in his arms he could hardly
hold on to her.

 

The officer waved him into a lavatory and
closed the door. Muscle spasms had Gabriel's entire body shaking
violently as his gaze landed on a single straight-back chair in the
comer. With the last vestiges of his control he carried Shara to it.

 

She
was so far gone, she fought his efforts, but with his increased
strength he was able to maneuver her so that when he collapsed in the
chair, she was straddling his lap. Unable to wait another moment, he
lifted her hips and buried himself within her.

 

Their cries of
relief
had little to do with pleasure and everything to do with salvation from
oblivion. As Gabriel's mind cleared, he knew they had come very close
to the edge of life itself. Shara continued to cling to him as
desperately as he held on to her. He felt dampness where her cheek
rested against his head, and as she took a ragged breath, he realized
she was crying.

 

A fist closed around his heart and squeezed.
"I'm
sorry," he whispered, discovering his throat was tight with an
unfamiliar emotion. "I didn't mean to risk your life."

 

"I
know." She raised her head and wiped at her eyes. "Forgive me. I never
cry, but it's been one drek of a day."

 

The
enormity of the understatement struck them both at the same time.
Sharas mouth quivered; Gabriel grinned, and suddenly they both burst
out laughing.

 

"It really isn't funny," she said, muffling her
giggles behind her hand.

 

He
shook his head, struggling to keep his own laughter from erupting
again, when she surprised him by clenching her vaginal muscles around
him. Though her body was no longer burning and her mind had cleared,
one look at her eyes confirmed that her fever had not been completely
cooled by their frenzied coupling. He didn't expect her to
try to appease her need, however, without the fever being at its peak.

 

His
own fire reignited with a vengeance when she slowly raised and lowered
her hips. Yet he still hesitated to believe she was actually taking the
initiative when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Again she eased her
tight, moist sheath up and down his length, then whispered, "More,
please."

 

Tossing aside the last vestiges of her resistance to
the
inevitable, she covered his parted lips with hers and stole his breath
into her mouth. While his one hand captured and caressed her breast,
the other kneaded her bottom, urging her to pick up the pace of her
stimulating ride. Without relinquishing his mouth for a moment, with
her fingers she explored the muscled expanse of his shoulders and back,
then combed through his hair, allowing herself to do all the things
she'd been fantasizing about.

 

But now that she had given in to
the
temptation, she found herself needing more, as quickly as possible.
Though she would have liked to make the exquisite shimmering inside her
last, she was suddenly too greedy to wait. The moment she felt the
first ripples of release approaching, she rushed them both into the
deep, and held him firmly until the last wave of sensation washed over
them.

 

Her sigh of extreme satisfaction was her admission to
him that
she had finally accepted the pleasure he offered along with the relief.

 

As
they both tightened the reins on their overwrought emotions, he
withdrew from her body, but kept her on his lap. Brushing a strand of
hair away from her face, he murmured, "You certainly are beautiful when
you smile."  

 

She
bent her head shyly. She knew she shouldn't let his compliment go to
her head, but for just a moment she needed to believe he actually cared
about her.

 

"Now comes the fun part of the plan."

 

His
words jolted her back to reality. "Oh, great," she said with light
sarcasm. "I was hoping there was more to come."

 

He
gave her a boost up, then rose himself. "We need to give your mind a
little exercise. I'm sure the officer that brought us here is still
outside the door. Can you suggest he come in without notifying anyone
else, then put him to sleep?"

 

She ran a self-test and nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine now."

 

"Good.
Once he's unconscious, I'm going to borrow his clothes, but you'll need
a uniform also. How strong is your power?" When she hesitated, he
prodded. "I need to know what else you can do to help us get out of
here."

 

She recalled his telling her that sometimes survival
takes
priority over ethics. And yet, if he resented her mental abilities
before, it would undoubtedly be worse once he knew them all. Weighing
freedom against his opinion of her, she decided to reveal the truth.
"When I concentrate very hard, without any distractions, I can move
objects with my mind, and sometimes I can picture things that are
beyond my eyesight."

 

She could sense him trying not to react
to her
declaration, but his jaw clenched with tension and his hands fisted at
his sides for a split second before he successfully hid his feelings.

 

"Is
there another officer down the hall that you could bring back here?"         
 

 

She closed her eyes and mentally traveled down the
corridor. "Yes. But I can only work on one at a time."

 

"It's
still more than I can do," Gabriel muttered under his breath. "Start
with the one outside."

 

Shara
wondered if resentment wasn't the only thing he felt toward people with
extrasensory abilities, but there was no time to analyze it now. A
short time later, they had both donned security uniforms over their
tunics, and the two officers were sleeping peacefully with no memories
of how they lost their clothing. Unfortunately, the officers' shoes
were both too small for either Shara or Gabriel, and they had to keep
their sandals on.

 

"Is there a way out of this building besides
how
we came in?" Gabriel asked, while he repositioned his paralyzer rod so
that he could get to it if necessary.

 

She pictured the rest of
the
shelter's layout. "No. There are rebels being questioned in the rooms
along the corridor, but those doors are closed. There's only one
officer left out front. I can suggest he take a nap while we leave."

 

"Fine.
Once we're outside, stay calm; don't look anyone in the eye. No one
should question two officers amid all the confusion. We're going to
walk off and keep walking until we get back to the commune. Ready?"

 

She
nodded, made one final check of their exit route, and put the officer
on duty to sleep.

 

They
had only taken a few steps down the hall, though, when one of the doors
opened and an auburn-haired man dressed in a rebel-style tunic stepped
out and blocked their path.

 

"Greetings, Friends" he said
arching an eyebrow at
them. "I heard there was a couple suffering from the mating fever and
had a feeling it was the two of you." He looked at the uniforms they
were wearing. "You seem to have changed sides since I last saw you."
When he noted their sandals, he added, "More or less."

 

Shara
quickly sent him a suggestion, but he blocked it before she finished
her thought.

 

"Uh-uh,"
he said, wagging a finger at her. "You did not let me in. I do not let
you in. Shall we talk instead"?" He motioned them into the room behind
him and gave a signal to the officer inside to leave. The only
furnishings were a square table with four chairs around it.

 

Shara
remembered his name was Misha and he had been the one who had levitated
Gabriel's satchel when they'd first arrived. He had also been seated at
Zeus's table at dinner. From his comment, she surmised that he must
have been responsible for at least one of the probes she had sensed.
But why would a security officer obey his order to leave?

 

"Are
you the spy?" she asked bluntly.

 

He
gave her an easy smile. "I prefer to think of myself as a man with
divided interests. Zeus is my father. The Tribunal is my employer. No
matter what happened today, I was coming out ahead. I have succeeded in
walking a double path thus far by knowing everything about everybody.
So you can imagine how the two of you concerned me. And now I find you
dressed as security officers."

 

"What do you want from us?"
Gabriel asked, assuming that he would have reported them already if
that had been his intention.

 

"I would like my curiosity
satisfied. Who are you? Where are you from? What is your true purpose in being
here? And then we can move on to the more interesting questions. Why
did my probe strike a blank wall in you, and what was the strangeness I
picked up in her mind:?"

 

"That was you who touched me at
dinner?" Shara asked.

 

He
smiled. "Just for a moment, before you stopped me. You are quite
gifted—perhaps my equal—which is another reason you interest me. Not
many possess my talents."

 

Gabriel enveloped Shara's hand in
his and
gave it a squeeze to stop her from answering. She returned the pressure
to signify her agreement to let him do the talking.

 

"I can
promise
you an interesting explanation while satisfying your curiosity,"
Gabriel said as if dangling a sweet in front of a child. "But what can
we expect in return for our cooperation?"

 

Misha angled his
head in a
thoughtful manner. "If you do not tell me, I could turn you over to
security again, or I could hand you to Zeus and convince him you are
the spies. You may have heard, he is not known for his compassionate
nature. In case you were thinking of repeating what I told you about
myself, your testimony would hold no weight against mine with either
faction."

 

He walked around the back of the table and took a
chair.
"Please sit down. There is no reason for hostility between us. I was
being honest about my curiosity. If you satisfy me that you are no
threat to any concern of mine, I may even help you get out of here."

 

Shara
glanced at Gabriel. She had no intention of doing anything, even
sitting down, unless he told her to do it. At his nod, they joined
Misha at the table, but
he retained her hand. She supposed it was the best method for him to
give her signals, but it also went a long way toward calming her.

 

Gabriel
leaned forward and kept his voice low in a conspiratorial manner.
"We're historians from the distant future doing research. We didn't
mean to get caught up in the actual rebellion."

 

"Aah," Misha
said, smiling. "Yes, that is an interesting explanation. But a
difficult one to prove."

 

"Perhaps
not. I can show you the recordings I've been making with a device that
doesn't exist in this time." He turned Beauty toward a blank wall.
"Beauty, project the speech made by Zeus shortly after dawn this
morning."

 

Misha shot up from his chair as a hologram of his
father
appeared and Zeus's booming voice filled the room. Cautiously he walked
up to the projection and passed his hand through it.  Amazing!"

 

"Beauty,
discontinue transmission." Zeus vanished.

 

Misha
returned to his seat with excitement in his eyes. "Tell me of the
future. What will happen to the Friends? Will Norona colonize Terra as
planned?"

 

Gabriel shook his head. "We are under strict orders
not to
interfere with any culture we encounter. Revealing future events could
be disastrous. But I can assure you that everyone involved at this time
will prosper because of the decisions made."

 

Shara was tempted
to
tell Misha of her true purpose, but her instincts warned her that
contradicting Gabriel at this point could be dangerous to them both.

 

Misha
was obviously disappointed with such a vague answer, but he seemed to
accept it as reasonable. "Was the antigravity device also a product
from your time?"     
 

 

Gabriel nodded. "Yes. My skills don't encompass
invention."

 

Misha looked introspective for a moment, then
asked, "Are you both Noronians?"

 

Shara waited for Gabriel to
reply.

 

"Yes, though Shara has inherited some genes from
another humanoid species."

 

"I see. And what of the mating
fever? Was it real or an act?"

 

He
held Shara's hand tightly as he spoke. "Real. It struck after we began
our journey and has escalated much faster than expected. We are quite
desperate to get back to our own time so that we can have the formal
joining ceremony with our parents."

 

Misha chuckled. "Some
things do not change with time, I suppose. You have explained Shara's
difference, but what of your mind?"

 

Gabriel
shrugged. "I have no idea. Shara can't read me, either. We're
especially looking forward to being joined so that we can finally know
the joy of sharing one another's thoughts."

 

Shara wondered how
he
managed to say that without choking on the words, but his voice was so
sincere, she almost believed it herself.

 

Misha got up and
paced the room. "One more question. How did you get those uniforms?"

 

Gabriel
answered that question honestly and Shara added, "All three of them
will awaken in a few hours with no recollection of us whatsoever."

 

"Very
interesting," Misha said as he continued pacing. "I don't know of
anyone with the power of suggestion, although I've always suspected one
of my cousins of being able to do such a thing."