“I wanted to tell you,” Ariella said the second the transport door closed and they were alone. “I never meant to keep it from you.”
“You should have told me.” Sebastjan’s brow furrowed in concentration as he studied her from the opposite seat. She wondered what he was thinking. It was impossible to tell.
“He said if I told you he’d take away my cure and I’d die a horrific death.” She looked at her hands, studying the lines. “I tried to get away once, to test it. Within six hours I was…” Her hands began to shake at the memory. It started with nausea and built into a blinding headache. She’d been stumbling and incoherent. When Supreme Walter found her, she’d been curled into a ball. He’d only given her relief after she begged for it.
“Tell me,” Sebastjan urged crossing over to sit beside her.
Ariella obeyed and told him everything. What did she have to lose now? Besides, his nearness was comforting—his smell, the sound of his voice, the brush of his leg to hers, the gentle tug of his fingers against her hair. When she finished, she added, “I wanted to tell you, but I wasn’t sure what he’d do. I’m still not sure. I’ve seen that look on his face before. He’s not happy and he’s capable of mean things when he’s not happy.”
“I see.” Sebastjan loosened his hold on her. “That is his game. He thinks to keep you at his house and by extension keep me. I’m sorry you were brought into this. My father was not pleased when I left Asclepius. He wants to groom me to be Medical Supreme, to keep the title in the family.”
“You don’t want to be Medical Supreme?” Even as she said it, she knew his answer. No. She saw the light in his eyes when he talked about going back to his research facility. He wanted out of the mansion as badly as she did.
“No. I have no use for the politics that consume my father’s life. I want to do research and make a real difference in the future of my people. That will be my legacy, not approving funding proposals and hosting evening sustenance parties.”
“I think yours will be the nobler legacy.” Ariella took a deep breath. Her words soft, she asked, “Do you think you can cure what he did?”
“Given enough time.”
“Within six hours?” She gave a wry laugh, not finding humor in her situation.
Sebastjan looked as if he wanted to tell her yes, but he slowly shook his head in denial. “No, not in six hours, not even if I had a fully stocked lab at my disposal. In six months if I was lucky, six weeks if I was very lucky.”
Ariella leaned toward the transport window and looked out over the passing city. Light gleamed on the cases surrounding the plants and glistened on the perfect sidewalks, reflecting like tiny jewels. As the mansion came into view, she said, “I don’t want to go back to the mansion. Not yet.”
Sebastjan reached for the consul, overriding the transport’s automatic coordinates. “I’ll set it to take us through the arboretum. It won’t be too busy this time of day.”
She swayed into him as the transport turned a corner. Ariella found comfort in the heat of his body close to hers and didn’t pull back. His hand trailed down the side of her arm. “You should leave. Go back to your research facility. I’m not sure he’ll ever give me a cure. Take samples of my blood, or whatever else you need with you. Maybe someday when you find what’s wrong with me, you can come back. I can’t leave and I can’t ask you to stay here. There is no reason why we should both be held prisoner.”
Sebastjan didn’t answer right away. “I won’t leave you with him. I promise. We’ll find a way to make you well.”
Ariella drew her mouth to his. When they touched, he felt so familiar, as if she’d known him her whole life. She trusted him on a base, primitive level, even if logic told her she hadn’t known him long enough.
“There are some things you just know,” she whispered against his lips, answering her own thought.
“What?” He pulled away, quizzical.
“Nothing,” she quickly amended. She placed her hand on his strong thigh, feeling it flex. “I was merely thinking of the arboretum. You said it wasn’t going to be busy this time of day?”
“It—” Sebastjan’s breath caught as she slid her hand higher, “shouldn’t, ah, be.”
“Good.” She boldly cupped her hand around his growing member and massaged gently. He opened his thighs as he adjusted his hips on the seat. He sat back, allowing her complete access to his body. She tugged at his clothing, wanting him naked. Ariella jerked the pants from his hips and pushed his shirt aside.
Sebastjan’s hands were on her, stripping her of her clothing as she continued to stroke him to full arousal. The transport turned, rocking them to the left. A flash of green passed outside the window as they turned into the arboretum. Ariella loved this place. Though separated from their human visitors, the green landscape stretched before them—trees, flowers and shrubs. Workers in stark white containment suits moved through the gardens, tending the foliage, picking up fallen leaves, plucking dying flowers.
When they were naked, Sebastjan pulled her body over his. She straddled his legs, balancing on the seat. He held on to her, keeping her from falling back. Hungrily, he pulled a nipple deep into his mouth. Moaning, he sucked and licked.
She tried to angle her body to accept his, but he held tight to her hips, gripping her hard. His lips moved to the opposite side, wetting the nipple he found there. Ariella tried again to impale her pussy on his shaft. He gently pushed her back.
“Sit,” he urged, pushing her across the transport to the opposite seat.
Her ass pressed against the smooth, comfortable surface. Sebastjan’s eyes lit as knelt before her on the transport floor. He nudged the inside of her knee, lifting her calf onto his shoulder. He kissed along the inside of her thigh, making the torturously slow journey up her leg. Lips pressed, tickled, brushed and sucked. His tongue flicked along her flesh, marking his path with delicate sweeps. Arielle tensed as he made his way toward the apex of her thighs. A firm hand on her thigh pressed it open.
“You look very beautiful in daylight,” Sebastjan said, jerking her hips forward. He wrapped his arm under her leg, keeping it on his shoulder, as he kept the other one held open. He licked his lips slowly. His eyes flickered with meaning. “I want to watch you find release.”
He buried his face in her pussy. Ariella gasped, arching into him. Her eyes lazily moved to the window, watching for anyone who might be looking inside.
Sebastjan moaned, fucking her with his mouth. He nipped at her clit, biting lightly before sucking it between his teeth. She grabbed onto the back of his head, rocking into him. His tongue slid along her sex, dipping inside her before moving up the slit.
Ariella gasped, grabbing her breasts as pleasure rippled over her. It was wicked and wanton and they could be caught at any moment should the transport pass anyone walking along the arboretum path. The hint of danger heightened her excitement. Her heart beat faster. She worked her legs against Sebastjan. He didn’t stop, even as his eyes lifted to watch her.
It felt so good that she had to close her eyes. Tremors racked over her, radiating from her pussy, over her stomach and thighs. She came against his mouth, gasping and jerking.
When his lips finally stopped moving and he withdrew from her, she looked at him. He took a seat across from her. She breathed hard. He sat naked. His hand brushed along his leg, slow and steady.
Taking his cock in hand, he stroked himself. His eyes roamed freely over her naked body. He licked his wet lips, moaning softly as if he could still taste her on them. His hand tightened, sliding up and down his thick shaft.
Ariella’s body began to tingle with anticipation. His lips had been nice, but she wanted the fullness of him moving inside her, thrusting and filling, pushing and pulling. The needy ache filled her and she touched her sex. Her fingers slid in the moisture left from his mouth.
She glanced around the inside of the transport, wondering how best to position herself so they could come together. As if reading her mind, he said, “Get on your knees and face the window.”
Ariella turned to the side, drawing her knees onto the cushioned seat. He came behind her, forcing her to crawl closer to the window so he could fit. Sebastjan braced one foot on the floor and one knee on the seat. He took her by her hips.
The tip of his cock probed her sex as he positioned their bodies. With a groan, he impaled her on his shaft. Ariella saw his passing reflection in the windowpane as a ray of light broke through the trees.
He took her hard and sure, somehow managing to keep their bodies together in the precarious position. Her hands dug into the cushion. They slammed together wildly. Tremors worked over her as she came again. His cry joined hers as he met with release.
Sebastjan fell back. She collapsed next to him, nestling against his chest. He kissed her temple and wrapped his arms around her. For a long moment, they didn’t speak. The plant life passed in silence.
“Are you certain every place on this plane doesn’t keep its plant life encased?” Ariella asked, more whimsical than searching for an answer she already knew. “I miss the smell of nature. I think I’m going to scream if I’m misted with sterilizer one more time.”
“Have you never been out of the city?” he asked, before answering his own question. “Of course you haven’t. My father doesn’t like to travel out of the city. He thinks everyone outside of high social circles of Asclepius are unworthy of his time.”
“Let’s not talk about him,” she said. An unspoken tension fell over them. They had no choice but to go back to the mansion and face Supreme Walter.
“Agreed.” Sebastjan pulled her closer. “Only the larger cities keep their nature locked up thanks to the old Medical Supreme’s edict. Where I live we’re much more relaxed. We even have a courtyard filled with flowers and vines.”
“I wish I could show you my home world. It’s nothing like this. Asclepius is so sterile, not only literally, but in its art. Everything is carved in straight lines. We have these beautiful sculptures—bold rounded figures, fanciful expressions, as if the human figure was captured in all its perfections and imperfections before being put into stone.”
His hand moved lazily over her breast. “Perhaps someday we’ll go there.”
“Perhaps.” Though Ariella knew she would never go back. Without her family, her home would be a hollow shell of what she remembered. At least this way, her family lived in her memory and she could imagine they were still out there, surviving on a plane of reality she couldn’t see. Maybe even now, they stood, outside the transport box, as invisible to this world as air, running and laughing just beyond her range of vision.
“We should get dressed. The scenic trail will end soon and the transport will take us back.” He kissed her temple. “I think I have an idea how to deal with my father.”
“What will you do?”
“What he’s been trying to get me to do for a long time now. I’m going to act like he does.”
* * *
“You’ll be happy to know that your indiscretion today will not be on record,” Supreme Walter said as Ariella and Sebastjan joined him for their evening sustenance.
Sebastjan glanced at his wife, remembering all too well what they’d done in the transport. He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but when Ariella looked at him he couldn’t resist her. She hesitated, her hand gripping the back of her chair.
“Our indiscretion?” Ariella asked when no one spoke. She moved slowly take a seat.
“I spoke with Dr. Lu and Dr. Swift,” Supreme Walter continued, taking a small taste off the plate in front of him. Sebastjan hid his sigh of relief when he realized his father meant the quarantine. He didn’t want to talk about his private moments with Ariella. “They will be enjoying their new equipment acquisitions purchased from your laboratory’s budget.”
“I want you to cure whatever it is you did to Ariella,” Sebastjan stated as he took his seat at the long, metal table.
“I will not be dictated to,” Supreme Walter stated. He took another bite. Sebastjan knew it was an effort to look calm and controlled. Inside, the man would be raging mad.
“I want you to cure whatever it is you did to Ariella,” Sebastjan repeated, keeping his tone even, “or it won’t just be my lab’s budget that ends up paying people off. I’ll take her to every facility in the city and have her scanned. Then, just for fun, I’ll spread the rumor that every public building needs to upgrade for viruses because there’s something new and nasty that slipped through the Divinity portals. I’ll whisper and hint and others will listen because I am your son. Your reign as Medical Supreme will be known as a time of disease and chaos.”
“You are bluffing. You wouldn’t dare cause a planetary panic just to get even with me.” Supreme Walter smiled. “You take your position as a doctor too seriously. Panic and chaos lead to injury and death.”
“What I want you to ask yourself,” Sebastjan pushed up from the table without touching his food, “is whether my sense of duty as a doctor outweighs my dislike of you and everything you stand for.”
His father’s smile instantly faded.
“Ariella?” Sebastjan motioned for her to follow him. She stood, not speaking. To his father, he said, “You have three hours to arrange it. We’ll be waiting for your answer. Oh, and while we’re discussing it, leave my laboratory’s budget alone.”
* * *
“I can’t believe you said all those things to him. When you said you were going to act like him, I thought you meant you were going to do something asinine or worse, like try to take his job as Medical Supreme.” Ariella could barely contain her excitement, even as Sebastjan seemed stiff and irritated from dealing with Supreme Walter. “Did you see his face? He was speechless. I’ve never seen him speechless. His mouth actually opened and he didn’t know what to say.”
Sebastjan chuckled at her words. He relaxed some as he led her up the mansion stairs toward her room.
“I love you for that,” she continued. Then, realizing what she’d said, she stopped walking. “I mean, I love…that…you did that.”
His eyes softened. “I knew what you meant.”
“I mean, I appreciate what you said to him.” Ariella swallowed nervously as he looked at her. Why was she still justifying her statement? The monitor on the wall beeped, capturing her attention. She blushed to see that her heartbeat was elevated and that several of her levels had risen. The screen informed that a shot had been ordered to calm her. When she glanced at Sebastjan’s stats, she saw that he also had elevated levels.
“Would you like to find out?” He cupped her cheek, tracing her lips with his thumb.
“Find out?” She looked at him, curious.
“It’s a series of chemicals the body produces. We traded medical research with another plane that had done extensive mapping of brain chemicals. They’re easy enough to read.”
“What is?”
“They call the chemical phenylethylamine—”
“No,” Ariella stopped him. “Not what it’s called. I won’t understand what you’re saying anyway. Find out what? What is a series of chemicals?”
“Emotions.” His fingers slid along her throat, gently pressing into her hair only to pull out again. “Happiness. Love.”
“Oh, I think that someone would know, I mean, the test isn’t necessary for the…” She had no clue what she was saying. “Does it matter to you how I feel?”
The question seemed to surprise him. “Of course it matters. You’re my wife. I know we didn’t meet as couples normally do, but we both chose each other despite the persuasion of my father. There is an easiness between us, even a friendship. I care what you think and how you feel.”
Ariella hadn’t expected such candor from him. She’d seen his kindness, felt it in his touch, but she’d never expected him to express it in words. She wasn’t sure she could be as articulate at the moment. She glanced at the monitor, feeling exposed by the way it told anyone who looked of her fast heartbeat, her quickened breath. But more poignantly, she felt exposed by the fact that he could read what the monitors said better than she could. “I care for you as well.”
“I think that is a good start.” Sebastjan drew her forward and pressed his mouth to hers. His tongue slid past her lips, hungrily devouring her with his passion. She stiffened for the briefest of moments before melting against him. All thoughts filtered out of her mind until all she could feel was the man before her.
She backed him toward the wall. His head bumped the monitor and he groaned. When she would have pulled back, he kept her from leaving him. He slid along the wall to a more comfortable position.
His hands moved freely over her clothes, fumbling to unbutton her shirt. His hand slipped beneath the material, enveloping her breast in his palm. He pinched her nipple. The sensitive bud peaked at the attention.
Ariella pulled at his clothing, reaching to the front of his pants. She rubbed his arousal, moaning softly to find him ready for her.
Suddenly, he pushed her back. “Ariella, wait.”
She blinked, shocked that he stopped her until she saw him looking down the stairwell.
“We should go…” He looked toward his room.
“Come on,” Ariella pulled him with her, moving to her room instead. It was closer and she wasn’t sure she could wait. She needed him, wanted him. Her skin begged for his touch. Her nerves tingled with anticipation. The door slid open and she hurried through.
“Sans Ariella, I have your—ah!”
Ariella pulled away from Sebastjan at the sound of the maid’s shock. She glanced around her husband, quickly adjusting her clothing.
“I have your injection.” The maid lifted a shot.
Sebastjan growled under his breath, reaching for the shot. “I’ll give it to her. Go.”
The maid rushed from the room and the door shut behind her.
Ariella chuckled. She automatically leaned her head to the side. Sebastjan tossed the shot onto the floor, not bothering to inject her.
“But…” Ariella made a move to go after it.
“Leave it,” he said. “No more medicine from my father’s house. No more food. No more anything.”
“No more anything?” Ariella pouted her lower lip. She reached forward to cup his cock. “Anything?”
Sebastjan chuckled. Instead of answering, he tore off his shirt and threw it over the syringe. Ariella tugged at her clothes, eagerly stripping. When they came together, naked flesh pressed against flesh. She reached between them and stroked his arousal. His breathing deepened, catching in his throat.
“I want you,” she whispered, nipping at his ear.
Sebastjan spun her around, placing her on the bed. The swift action pulled her hand from his arousal. He ground his hips into her, undulating as she rocked up to join him. His cock rubbed along the wet folds of her pussy, stroking just right. Cream moistened her sex, allowing him to glide against her.
“I want you, too,” he said, the word a hoarse growl of emotion as he drew the tip of his shaft to enter her.
Sebastjan pushed up. He grabbed her by the back of her knee, pulling it up to better allow for his claiming. Then, with a hard push, he plunged into her depths, burying himself to the hilt. Her pussy tightened around him.
Ariella met his thrusts with her own. Their hips slammed together. And even though they were bound by the prison walls of her room, she felt free because she had hope. The sensations of ecstasy built.
She came, stiffening beneath him. Sebastjan answered her body’s call, releasing into her. He collapsed next to her. His tousled hair and flushed features were more handsome than anything she’d ever seen.
A slow smile curled the side of his mouth. “Pack your things. We’re leaving here the second you’re cured.”