Loving a Stranger

  “What’s this? What’s going on?” the Grand General’s voice came from somewhere near the door and then his face could be seen, bobbing along in the darkness by the light of an artificial lantern—probably battery powered. “What’s going on? What do you want, Parokk?”

  “I wanted to tell you—” Reeve began but just then, with a huge mental shove, Harryx pushed him completely out of his body. “Wanted to tell you that I fear this power outage may have affected the entire city,” he went on smoothly. “I have sensitive documents on my home system which must be backed up immediately or they will be lost—Inner Circle documents,” he added.

  Viceroy sighed.

  “I suppose you’d better go then. There’s nothing much we can do here until we get things up and running again.”

  Hovering silently outside his host’s body, in spirit form, Reeve groaned soundlessly.

  No, oh no!

  He tried to shove his way inside Harryx again but his former host was ready for him. He blocked Reeve as easily as though he was swatting away a fly.

  “Thank you, Grand General. Then I’ll be going.”

  He gave a salute which was barely visible in the dim light of the artificial lantern and turned to go while Reeve watched helplessly. Though he longed to get back inside Harryx and keep him from getting to Nallah, he knew there was no way.

  There was nothing he could do now but get back to his own body aboard the Mother Ship and try to get back here as quickly as possible—before Harryx did something awful to the woman he loved.

  Reeve just hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Nallah was glad when she saw the hovercar pull up in the driveway of their domicile. Harryx had been gone such a long time—last night she had been quite lonely without him. She was getting used to feeling him in bed beside her—not just beside her, though, but touching her too. She loved the way they had slept their last night together, with her smaller body cupped protectively in the curve of her husband’s much larger, stronger one.

  No longer did she fear his strength might be used against her—she had put all his past cruelties out of her mind forever and was determined to start fresh.

  He’s a different person now—just like he was telling me right before Grand General Viceroy asked him to come in to work, she told herself. She did wonder a little what his other talk had been about—something about one person’s spirit in another person’s body. But she supposed if it was important he would bring it up again.

  Right now, though, she hoped he had other things in mind. After the tender way he had treated her during the Ritual, she wished he would take her. Not just her mouth, as he had usually done in the past—she actually longed to feel his shaft inside her, though once she had dreaded it.

  Maybe he’ll put us face to face again, she thought and a little tingle of anticipation ran down her spine. She could still remember him telling her to look into his eyes while they were pressed together. What would it feel like to look into those same, dark, intense eyes and feel him inside her—not battering cruelly at her tender insides as he had in the past, but thrusting gently, filling her with himself while he looked at her with love and desire in his gaze, while he made them one…

  The hovercar opened and Harryx came out of it. Nallah made certain her robes were straight and then, as an afterthought, she removed her veil and slipped it into an inside pocket. Harryx had asked her to stop wearing it around the house—he said he wanted to see all of her lovely face.

  The thought made her blush—Hascion culture was such that his request was tantamount to another man asking his wife not to wear underwear or maybe to go topless around the house. But Nallah was willing to do it because he wanted her to—and because whenever he looked at her, she could see the tenderness and love and desire in his eyes.

  The minute Harryx opened the door, she was waiting for him, head bowed as a proper wife should be, but looking up from the corners of her eyes to see how he was doing. She hoped he wouldn’t be too tired from working so long to want to greet her with a kiss or a hug. After years of being starved for physical affection, Harryx’s new way of touching and kissing her was wonderful and utterly addictive.

  She wished she was brave enough to reach up on tiptoes and kiss him herself but she didn’t quite dare that much yet. Just going without her veil was daring enough for now.

  Harryx came in and shut the door behind him with a bang. Then he stood over her, saying nothing.

  Nallah began to feel uneasy. What was wrong? She risked a quick glance up at his face and saw that his eyes were blue. Blue and cold. And his face was expressionless. What was he thinking?

  “Oh my husband,” she said, wondering what was going on. “Are you well? Did you enjoy success at work?”

  “Of course I did, wife. I always enjoy success at work.” His voice had the same deep tones but there was something missing from it, Nallah felt. Some note of warmth and kindness. What was going on? Had she done something to make him upset?

  “I…I am happy to hear it,” she faltered. “You always enjoy much success.”

  “And you apparently, enjoy things as well. Most notably you have been enjoying another man in your bed while I was gone.”

  His voice was as cold as ice and horribly familiar. It was the tone he always used when he was about to punish her. But Nallah had never heard him sound so angry before.

  “Please, my husband,” she said, taking a step away from him. “I…I don’t know what you mean. You have been gone only a night and I swear I spent it alone. I would never—”

  “I’m not speaking of last night,” he growled. “I’m talking about the time since I ‘woke up’ from my coma.”

  Nallah shook her head in confusion.

  “But…my husband, you were with me all that time. Surely you cannot believe I was somehow betraying you with another man right under your nose!”

  “That is exactly what I think.” He took a step towards her, his pale blue eyes flashing like chips of some brilliant, unbreakable gemstone. “Not only have you betrayed me, wife, but you have greatly enjoyed yourself doing so. You spent days with another man, letting him touch you—letting him taste you.” He made a face as though the very thought disgusted him. “As if I would ever lower myself to submit to a woman! How could you be fooled by such an imposter?”

  “I…I don’t know what you mean,” Nallah faltered. Fear was rising in her like a flood, threatening to drown her reason.

  It’s the old Harryx, her mind whispered. He’s changed again—he’s back to the way he was before the coma!

  But somehow he remembered everything that had happened when he was being kinder to her and now he resented her for it. How? And why?

  “I think you do know what I mean. The man you were doing all those things with was not me!” Harryx shouted at her, his voice rising suddenly and making her shrink away from him. “You whored yourself out to him, letting him do anything he wanted with you! And now I find you lounging around the house without even a veil to cover your modesty!”

  “I…you…you asked me not to wear one!” Nallah gasped. “You said…said you wanted to see my face.”

  “Let me tell you something, wife.” Harryx leaned close to her, his blue eyes flashing. “The only reason I would want to see your face is so I can mark it with the shrive and cast you out to the Punishment Gangs as one of the Disgraced.”

  “What?” Nallah felt all the blood leaving her cheeks and for a moment the world around her seemed to grow grey and vague. How could Harryx be talking like this? After the sweet and tender way he had loved her—the kind way he had talked to her and held her. How could he go back to his old self so abruptly? “My husband,” she begged as Harryx grabbed her by the wrist. “Please, what has happened to you? You were so different these past few days, I thought—”

  “Oh, did I seem different? That’s because I was different—it was a whole other man inhabiting my body!” Harryx’s voice rose nearly to a
scream. “And you didn’t even notice!”

  Nallah was shaking her head, trying to take his words in. Could it be true? Had he really been inhabited by the spirit of another man who had used his body? It reminded her of the things he had been talking of after the Ritual…and it would certainly explain why he had acted so differently.

  “I feel like a different man”—that’s what he said, she thought, feeling sick. Could it be possible he really had been a different man? But how could that be?

  “My husband,” she began. “Please, I didn’t know!”

  But Harryx was past all reason. His cold anger had turned to burning rage. His face grew red and ugly as he roared at her.

  “You let him use my body to touch you, you little whore! You let him do all kinds of fucking things—and you loved it!”

  Something seemed to break inside Nallah. She wrenched her arm from her husband’s grip and took a step back before drawing herself up straight to face him.

  “Yes,” she said, lifting her chin. “I loved it—I loved him for the way he treated me. For the way he didn’t abuse or hurt me. I…” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t know he was a different man in your body. He tried to tell me but I didn’t understand him. But he was kind, Harryx—kind and loving and all the things I’ve always dreamed of having in a man.” Her voice grew soft and pleading. “Couldn’t you even try to be any of those things? I do my best to be a good wife to you—is it so much trouble for you to try and be a good husband?”

  Harryx’s face turned red…then white. Nallah noticed with deep unease that his big hands were knotted into fists at his sides.

  “I’ll make you pay,” he said thickly. “I’ll make you both pay.” He took a step towards her, his face looming over her like an angry moon. “He loves you, you know. He told me so while he was still inside my mind—before I managed to kick him out. There’s nothing that could hurt him more than for me to punish you.”

  “Punish me? But my husband, I didn’t know—”

  “I don’t give a damn if you knew or not,” Harryx growled. “Besides, wife, when have I ever needed a reason to punish you?”

  He lunged for her.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Reeve couldn’t get into his body.

  He could see it lying there, inert on the sensu-bed, could see Olivia and Commander Sylvan speaking as they stood beside his limp form. But he couldn’t get in—couldn’t get past the invisible barrier that had somehow formed between him and it.

  Have to get in! Have to get back! He was nearly frantic with worry. Not just because he seemed locked out of his own body, but because of what might be happening to Nallah right now.

  What if the bastard hits her or decides to rape her again? What if he kills her? I’m not there to stop him, not there to protect her. Oh Goddess, please…please!

  Suddenly a powerful feminine presence was with him in the spirit plane. Reeve felt it enfold him like a warm blanket and some of his fear and anxiety left him.

  “Fear not, Warrior,” a voice which seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere whispered to him. “I will help you re-enter your mortal shell so that you can save the one you love.”

  “Goddess?” It must be her, Reeve thought, although he had never expected the Mother of All Life to answer him of all people. He’d mostly been praying out of sheer, blind terror.

  “You would be surprised how many prayers I get in those circumstances.” There was dry humor in the warm, feminine voice. “But before I help you, I must ask for your pledge in return.”

  “Anything,” Reeve promised at once. “Whatever you want me to swear to, I’ll swear it, Goddess. Please, just help me get back to Nallah in time. Help me save her from that evil bastard of a husband!”

  “Normally I do not approve of one male taking another’s wife,” the Goddess said. “But in this case, I believe you are justified. However, Nallah is not the only female who needs to be saved from Hascion Five.”

  “What do you mean?” Reeve asked, confused.

  “You saw for yourself how women are treated there,” the Goddess told him. “How they are defiled and used as objects—such treatment displeases me.”

  There was something in her tone that let Reeve know it was an understatement of massive proportions. It would have sent a shiver down his spine if he had been in his body. The Goddess was more than just displeased—if he was a male of Hascion Five he would be in fear for his life right now, hearing her speak that way.

  “It’s true,” he said, agreeing with her. “They are female haters and abusers there. Women are treated like objects to be traded and used however the males deem fit. It sickens me.”

  “So it should.” The Goddess’s tone was cold as ice, but Reeve was relieved to realize her anger was not directed at him. “I want you to undertake a mission—you and your fellow M-Kindred. Using the gifts that I have given you.”

  “Of course, my Goddess. I am yours to command—I’ll do anything you say,” Reeve promised. “And I’ll get my Brothers of the M-Kindred to obey as well.”

  “I know you will,” the Goddess murmured. “Very well, listen well before I return you to your body. Here is what I wish you to do…”

  * * * * *

  Olivia was startled when she heard a gasping sound coming from the inert form on the bed. Running over to check on Reeve, she nearly bumped heads with him when he sat straight up in the sensu bed, his black eyes wide.

  “Quickly!” He looked from Olivia to Sylvan and began ripping the tubes which fed him nutrients and saline out of his arms. “Quickly, you have to fold space for me! I have to get back!”

  “What happened?” Sylvan came over quickly, frowning.

  “I did it—I fried their instruments and ruined their tech—the wormhole generator is dead.” Reeve stood up straight and nearly fell. He had been out of his body for over twenty-four solar hours and it didn’t seem to want to work right for him. With a visible effort, he righted himself and looked directly at Sylvan. “I did what you asked—now you have to help me save Nallah.”

  “Nallah is the mate of the male you snatched, right?” Sylvan asked.

  “He’s a fucking tyrant is what he is,” Reeve snarled. “Bastard is a rapist and an abuser and I wouldn’t put it past him to kill her. Please…” he grabbed Sylvan, his fists bunching in the front of his pale blue uniform shirt. “Please, help me save her! Please.”

  “Of course we’ll help but we need to be careful,” Sylvan said, frowning. “We can’t just appear in their airspace—the Hascions will consider it an act of war and we’ve been trying to keep this whole operation quiet.”

  “Hey, did someone here say they needed some stealth tech?” Baird, Sylvan’s half-brother and Olivia’s mate was suddenly lounging in the doorway.

  Sylvan looked up, surprised. “Brother? How did you…?”

  “Olivia called me.” Baird tapped the side of his head, indicating that the call had been mental, made through the soul bond he shared with his mate. “So—stealth tech?”

  “Yes.” Sylvan nodded. “Yes, we need a way to get Reeve here down to the surface of Hascion Five so he can rescue a female he fears is in danger.”

  “I don’t just fear it—I know it,” Reeve rasped hoarsely. “When he kicked me out of his body, that bastard Harryx said he was going home to go after her.”

  “Kicked you out?” Baird frowned. “Wait a minute—you’re the snatcher Olivia’s been telling me about.”

  “Yes, I am,” Reeve said shortly. “But I don’t have time to fight with you right now. Will you help me save the female I love or not?”

  “Hell yes,” the big Beast Kindred growled. “Can’t leave a female in danger. But I promise there’ll be all Seven Hells to pay if you try to snatch me.”

  “I have no interest in using your body for anything but having you fly me to Hascion Five,” Reeve snapped.

  “In that case, let’s get out of here.” Baird gave Olivia a quick kiss. “I’ll be back soon, lilenta.”
>
  “Be careful.” Olivia had a worried look in her eyes. “That place sounds awful, Baird!”

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart—with this new tech we’ll be in and out before they even know it.” He kissed her again and then jerked his head at Reeve. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “He said you were beautiful—he seemed much taken by your loveliness, wife,” Harryx snarled. He had Nallah on the bed with both arms twisted above her head. He held both her wrists pinned easily with one large hand.

  In the other hand, he held the shrive.

  The three-bladed ceremonial knife looked as deadly and sharp as it had at their wedding ceremony, when her father had presented it to him along with her hand in marriage.

  It was a traditional part of the Hascion ceremony, an acknowledgement that the marriage could end at any time if the husband decided to cast his wife out. All he had to do was draw the shrive across her cheeks, scarring her permanently, and declare her one of the Disgraced. After that her life was functionally over, since she had no place to live, nothing to eat, and no protection from the Punishment Gangs which roamed the streets every night.

  Nallah remembered now how the instrument of female destruction had looked in her husband’s big hand during their wedding ceremony. After signing the bill of sale, her father had handed it to him with the traditional words:

  “I offer you now this worthless woman, my daughter, as your bride. You have bought her and so you own her—her fate is yours to decide, her body yours to despoil, her punishment yours to undertake. If at any time she displeases you, you must cast her out with my blessing. I sell her to you and give you the instrument of her undoing if she does not please you. Please use it as you see fit.”

  The words were supposed to be a formality and most new grooms would refuse to take the shrive at least three times, as a symbol that they intended to keep their new wife—or at least not condemn her to life as one of the Disgraced. But Harryx had taken the shiny, silver instrument the very moment her father had offered it—taken it and examined it coldly before nodding and slipping it back into its tough leather sheath and putting it in his pocket.