Virgin (39 page)

Eantle knelt and took Ava’s hand, placing a kiss on her palm. “If there had been no battle at the temple, only those who longed for the New Age would have been present when the stones were conjoined—a truly unforgettable event, as I’m sure you will agree—and your words would not have been heard by those who needed to hear them the most.”

“True, but—”

“As you journey through life, Ava, you will find that there is good in all things, no matter how bad they may seem at the moment.” Laying a hand on Dax’s chest, he added, “What we have deemed lost is all the more cherished when it is regained. This New Age would mean nothing if the times before it had not been not troubled. Through strife, we grow as a people—an unfortunate truth, perhaps, but a truth, nonetheless.”

Eantle rose, motioning for the former combatants, now reduced to the level of awed bystanders, to approach. “Carry the Oracle,” he said. “And do not forget the honor he bestows upon you.”

Ava watched as twelve Aquerei gathered and lifted Dax, their interlocked arms providing a secure sling for his tall body. As they moved forward, the throng on the temple steps parted, allowing them to pass. Ava came next, taking Threldigan’s arm. The others fell in behind them.

A faint glimmer of dawn lit the eastern sky as they began their trek down the avenue from the temple. Their descent differed greatly from the upward climb. Instead of the deafening din of battle, people now lined the street in reverent silence, many reaching out to touch Dax or Ava as they passed. Ava’s emotions were a blur of anger, embarrassment, and astonishment; only the knowledge that Dax was still alive kept her from screaming at them. That they should feel this way now was difficult for Ava to comprehend.

The crowd amassed at the lower levels was enormous, but Ava’s attention was captured by the city itself. The impressive buildings and lights of Rhylos were eclipsed by those of Rhashdelfi, and she stood for a moment, transfixed by the sight. Though not transparent, the structures had apparently been crafted from the same colloidal matrix as the bases. As the first rays of morning struck them, the entire city lit up like a star.

Shielding her eyes from the light, Ava walked on until exhaustion began to overtake her. Without Threldigan for support, she would have collapsed, but she only had to stumble once for a dozen Aquerei to leap to her aid. She fell into their waiting arms and into a deep, welcome slumber.

Chapter 25

Dax awoke to darkness so complete, he feared he might have been blinded. Then, as his eyes slowly regained their focus, he realized that it was the darkness of night, rather than blindness. He had no clue to his whereabouts. The last thing he remembered was Ava placing the stone in its niche and the resulting explosion of light. What else had occurred, he could only guess at, but he knew one thing for certain: He was not sprawled on the stone floor of the temple. He was lying naked in a softly yielding bed covered in sheets so light, he barely felt them against his skin.

Nor was he dead. He could feel his heart beating, its rate steadily increasing to normal and his respirations doing the same. He had been in a regenerative state, as opposed to merely sleeping, but the reason for it was unclear. There was a fresh, sweet taste in his mouth, as though he had been given a cordial of some kind while he slept—perhaps an Aquerei remedy for whatever it was that had happened to him.

Inhaling deeply, he picked up Ava’s scent and knew he was not alone. Reaching out, he found the soft, smooth warmth of her bare skin. The emotions connected with that action assailed him, mind and body. Love flooded his being; he felt her trust and her total connection to him. No matter what else happened in his life, he wanted her to be that close to him. Always.

As he gathered her into his arms, she sighed deeply, nestling against him. Without conscious thought, he began purring.

“So,” she whispered softly, “you’re awake. I was beginning to think it would never happen.”

“How long was I out?”

“Three days,” she replied. “Three miserable, horrible days. Everyone said you would recover, but—”

Dax hugged her tightly. “Now you know how I felt when you jumped off the boat. Joss was so sure you couldn’t drown and would find your way to the temple, but I had some serious doubts.”

“It seemed like the only solution at the time—and it was an experience I wouldn’t have missed for all the Aquina stones in the world, whether they had magical powers or not.”

“Magic?” he echoed. “Do you mean it worked?”

Ava gasped in surprise. “You mean you don’t remember?”

“Not a thing.”

“It was you, Dax.” Her voice was hoarse with awe. “You were the Oracle.”

“Impossible. You, I could understand, since you’re half Aquerei. But me? How could an alien like me be a part of their prophesy?”

“I don’t know,” Ava replied, “but you were. Maybe you were just in the right place at the right time, but a beam of light hit you, and the Oracle spoke through you as if you were a portal to be used and discarded.” Dax felt a quiver shake her body as she continued. “I thought you were dead. In fact, I was sure of it. But Waroun and Threldigan said you would survive. Thank heaven they were right.”

Dax couldn’t argue with that since “used and discarded” was pretty much the way he felt. “What did I say?”

“It didn’t even sound like your voice. All you said was, ‘By the hand of a lost daughter of Aquerei shall the New Age begin.’”

“Meaning you, I presume, but do you mean that’s it? Nothing more profound than that?”

Ava giggled. “No, but I gave them all a piece of my mind and amazingly enough, they took it to heart.” She paused before adding reflectively, “No one has ever paid that much attention to anything I’ve ever said before. Of course, it’ll probably never happen again, but I guess this was the best time to be heard.”

“And the fighting stopped just like that? Amazing.”

“Yes, it was,” she agreed. “I wish you could’ve seen it. I was too upset to watch my mouth, and, basically, I told them all to quit acting like a bunch of idiots and go home.”

Dax laughed aloud—a wonderful, cathartic laugh that seemed to cleanse him of any lingering effect from the Oracle’s “use” of him.

“There’s just one problem,” she went on. “Now that I have ‘spoken,’ I can’t even stick my toe out the door without someone rushing up to polish the ground for me to walk on.”

Dax laughed even harder. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“I only wish I was,” she said ruefully. “I can hardly
wait
to see what they do when you’re up walking around. You’ll probably have a bajillion virgin handmaidens at your beck and call and never have to lift a finger again as long as you live.”

“That might be fun for a day or two, but I don’t believe I’d care for a steady diet of it.”

“Me either.” Sighing, she added, “I wouldn’t have minded living here for a while, but—”

“Do you mean we don’t have to stay?”

“I think they’d like us to, but we aren’t exactly immortal. What I mean is, we’ll die eventually anyway, so I can’t see that it matters a whole helluva lot in the long run. I think we’ve done our bit. The rest is up to them.”

Dax felt himself relax with her reply. Aquerei was a nice place to visit, but the idea that there were people living at the bottom of the sea was sort of creepy. He really didn’t want to live there—unless Ava did.

“I found out something else too. It seems that my father paid Russ and Lars to keep an eye on me. Neither of them ever loved me at all.”

While Dax was pleased to hear this from his own perspective, her subdued tone was more than enough for him to understand her feelings. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her gently.
“I
love you, Ava. And no one had to pay me to do it, either.”

“I know that now. It’s the reason I fell in love with you, despite my best intentions. I thought I was fickle and weak; turns out I was drugged—at least, I was until my father was killed and Lars ran out of money.”

Dax had an idea she had more thoughts on the subject, not the least of which was that she had spent most of her adult life with men who had only been pretending to love her. If she’d wanted to go back and mop up the floor with them, he would have been happy to help her and was already wishing he’d caused Lars even more permanent damage than he had. “So what do you want to do now?”

“Spend the rest of my life loving you.”

For one heart-stopping moment, Dax was unable to breathe, let alone speak. Even if he had been immortal with all of eternity stretched out before him, he would never hear any words that would affect him more deeply. Swallowing hard, he asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to stay here and be the Goddess of Rhashdelfi?”

“Nope. I just want to be with you. Wherever you go, whatever you do.”

Dax was overjoyed but thought that a woman like Ava would need more. “What about exploring all the oceans in the galaxy? I can take you anywhere you want to go. Free of charge.”

“I’d like that, and your ship
could
use a hostess. Think Kots would take me on?”

“He would if I told him to,” Dax replied. “But I’d still want to keep you as my own personal goddess.” He nuzzled her neck, purring. “One I would worship religiously every day of my life.”

“Oh? And just how would you go about worshipping me?”

“Like this.” He flicked her earlobe with the tip of his tongue.

“That’ll do for a start.”

“I promise to make it my sacred duty to discover hundreds of new and exciting ways to please you.”

Dax wasn’t sure, but if the funny choking sound she made was any indication, Ava liked his idea. Kissing her again, he breathed in the scent of her desire and felt his cock begin to stir. At that moment, he realized that they’d both been virgins when they met; she who had never been with a man who loved her, and he who had never known a woman he could love.

And Dax did love her, He was glad he hadn’t denied his feelings, because now he would spend the rest of his life with Ava in his arms. “Think you’re ready for that?”

“Oh, yeah,” she replied. “Bring it on—if you’re feeling up to it, that is.”

“If I was any more ‘up,’ I’d be floating.”

“I—um… Mmm…”

Dax didn’t have to ask if she liked what he was doing; he could smell her reaction as he kissed her deeply, his tongue plumbing the recesses of her mouth. She tasted sweet, as though she had also partaken of whatever cordial he’d been given. “What have you been drinking?”

“Aquerei water,” she replied. “Makes my tongue kinda slippery, doesn’t it?”

That was a gross understatement. “Got any of more of it?”

“Yeah. Want me to drink some and then suck your cock?”

So much for him worshipping
her
body. “You can suck any part of me you like.”

“You’d better have some too. You’re bound to be thirsty after three days. I tried to give you some earlier, but I was afraid you’d choke on it if I gave you very much.”

He took the carafe she handed him and drank. The water was crisply sweet and very refreshing. “No wonder this stuff is so expensive.”

“Would you believe it’s actually derived from seawater? I’m not sure how they get the salt out of it, but it’s not bad.”

“What makes it so sweet?”

“Sweet? Really? I don’t get that at all.”

“Maybe only Zetithians can taste it. It doesn’t seem to have any intoxicating effect on me, either—or if it does, it’s very mild.”

“Mmm… Kiss me and tell me what I taste like.”

Dax did as she asked, noting that the sweetness had doubled. “Very slippery and extra sweet, but then, you always are.”

“Maybe it’s a matter of my being Aquerei as much as the water itself,” she suggested. “Of course, I
have
been drinking it off and on ever since I boarded your ship—didn’t have any on Rhylos, though. Maybe I should lay off it for a while and see if there’s any difference.”

“I’ve got a better idea.” Pushing her onto her back, he dribbled a small amount of water between her thighs and went after it. She was incredibly sweet and slick as he pleasured her engorged clitoris with his tongue. Ava’s sighs drove him on, and he licked and sucked her with wild abandon, enjoying every moment of it until, with a sharp cry, she reached her climax.

As her body contracted, Dax’s tongue slid deeply into her slit. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. Though he’d never had an orgasm without an ejaculation before, he was pretty sure he was having one now. The only difference was that it seemed to take place in his brain, rather than his genitals, though his cock was throbbing painfully with each beat of his heart.

“Holy moly, Dax! That was fabulous! It did something to you too, didn’t it? Here, have some more.” Tipping the carafe, Ava poured more water over her sensitized flesh. Dax thought his head would explode from sheer ecstasy. As it was, he was seeing fireworks where there weren’t any.

After a few moments, Ava experienced yet another orgasm, and Dax sat back on his heels, gasping for air. “I don’t think I can take much more of that. I’m… I don’t know… hallucinating or something. It’s like, well, it’s probably like what happens to you when you lick me—either that, or I’m actually tasting your orgasms.”