Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis (11 page)

She saw when she looked at Thor that
he was studying her, a look of concern on his features. “I don’t
like heights.”

“
I did not know.”

Alexis’ smile was a little lopsided.
“You didn’t ask.”

He frowned. “It was wrong of me. I
should have realized—you are not like us.”

Alexis discovered an unexpected wobble
in her chin. “No,” she said, trying desperately not to cry like a
baby just because he’d scared the living daylights out of
her.

He pulled her close, hugging her
tightly. “I am a fool, but I did not frighten you on purpose. On my
honor, I would never harm you.”

Alexis sniffed, regaining control with
an effort. “I didn’t think that.”

He pulled a little away, studied her
face. “Forgive me?”

Alexis uttered a sound half way
between a chuckle and a sob. “Only if you promise not to do that
again.”

Thor lifted his hand, caressing her
cheek. “On my life, I swear it.” He smoothed her hair and then slid
his hand down, stroking her back. “Alexis?”

“
Hmm?”

“
I could take this fear from
you.”

Alexis sat up. “What do you
mean?”

He touched her forehead. “Here. I
could take it.”

Alexis pulled away, slid off his lap.
She found she was still a little shaky, but she could stand.
“No.”

His look was puzzled. “You wish to
keep it?”

Alexis shook her head. “Not
particularly, but I also don’t want anyone messing with my
mind.”

She could tell he didn’t understand.
Why would he? It was obvious Atlanteans thought nothing of
tampering with people’s memories, their will—they were accustomed
to control, and self-control. How could they understand that
someone like her would find that abhorrent?

Thor looked away. “We are so different
then?”

For some reason Alexis didn’t
understand, and didn’t want to analyze, his comment saddened her.
“We are.”

Thor looked as if he might say
something else, but instead he stood, looking around at the fields.
“The canal is that way,” he said, pointing.

Alexis lifted her brows.

“
If we are not to fly, then
I must find another way to show you Atlantis.”

* * * *

They had been following the canal for
almost an hour when a pole barge came into view. Thor hailed the
pilot and he poled over to the stone rim of the man-made canal.
Thor leapt into the barge and turned, grasping Alexis around the
waist and swinging her down.

When they reached the city of Oceanus,
they thanked the man and climbed onto the quay.

Alexis’ fright had driven any thought
regarding her indecent clothing from her mind until she began to
notice, as Thor guided her around the town, showing her the sights,
that most of the people they passed turned to stare at
them.

Uncomfortable as she was, she still
thought it a bit odd. She couldn’t see that she was dressed any
more daringly than anyone else.

“
It is because you are
beautiful.”

Startled, Alexis looked up at
Thor.

“
They look because you are
beautiful.”

Alexis rolled her eyes.
“Please!”

Thor chuckled. “Compliments make you
uncomfortable?”

“
Only when they’re too
exaggerated to be believed.”

Thor tried to look offended. “It is
truth.”

“
Thank you,” Alexis murmured
wryly.

Thor stopped, pulled her to a halt.
His expression was completely sincere. “In my eyes you are
beautiful.”

Alexis stared up at him a long moment,
discomfited. “Oh, so now it’s just in your eyes, huh? I see where
this is going,” she said jokingly.

“
Then why do you think they
look?”

Alexis thought it over. “Maybe because
they can look at me and see I’m not from around here?”

“
You think you are that
different?”

She shrugged. “We haven’t passed a
single female that was over a hundred and ten pounds and under five
foot eight … and blond. No wonder you thought I was short!” Short,
pudgy and auburn haired. She stuck out like one lone peanut in a
bag of popcorn.

“
What is this word,
pudgy?”

Alexis’ head snapped around. She
frowned, but she couldn’t remember whether she made the comment out
loud or not. “Soft and round.”

Thor’s eyes gleamed. “Yes. Very
nice.”

“
It’s not a compliment,
dolt!”

“
No?”

“
Never mind—Do you think we
could go back now?”

Thor studied her a moment, but turned
without a word, and they began to retrace their steps.

Alexis was glum as they returned home.
They had only visited one of the cities, but she’d discovered there
wasn’t much point in visiting them all. Each was built like an
island, connected by canals to the other cities. Each had a tunnel
that connected them to the outside world like the one Atlantis, or
Atalantium, had.

She suspected that was why Thor had
taken her, so she could see for herself that any thoughts of escape
were hopeless.

Chapter Seven

“
You are quiet.”

Alexis smiled faintly. “People don’t
usually complain about that.”

Thor frowned. “You have no wish to
tell me what disturbs you?”

Alexis stood up. They’d taken their
evening meal in the garden. It was a beautiful night. It should
have been enough to lift her spirits. Ordinarily, it would
have.

“
Back home people would kill
for something like this,” she said absently.

Thor looked taken aback.

Alexis chuckled. “Not literally! I
only meant to say Atlantis is beautiful, quiet, peaceful—safe. I
doubt anybody feels safe anymore back home. There’s so much—of
everything really: hardship, violence, noise,
pollution.”

“
But you miss
it?”

She nodded. “Isn’t that
strange?”

Thor didn’t say anything for several
moments. “You are thinking about returning?”

Alexis turned, discovering to her
surprise that Thor was standing close. She hadn’t even heard him
get up. “This memory drain Aurora was talking about—is it
painful?”

Thor looked away. “I do not know. I do
not believe it is.”

Alexis pursed her lips. “But you don’t
know that it isn’t?”

Thor shrugged. “I have not experienced
it. I cannot tell you whether it is, or is not.”

“
And, afterwards, I wouldn’t
remember anything?”

“
No.”

“
It would be like I had
never been here?”

“
For you.”

Alexis glanced at him. She discovered
she didn’t want to pursue his comment, however. “What about
everything that had come before? I’d remember everything else,
right?”

Thor studied her a long moment. “I
believe so, yes.”

That wasn’t the answer she’d wanted.
“But you don’t know that, for certain, either?”

“
No.”

“
Because you haven’t
experienced it?”

“
No. I have not experienced
it.”

Alexis sighed, beginning to feel a
little annoyed. “But you’ve known people who did,
right?”

“
Other
outworlders.”

“
Did they remember
everything else?” Alexis asked.

“
I do not know.”

Alexis gaped at him. “You don’t know?
What did you do, just take them out and dump them
somewhere?”

“
That was all that was
required.”

That comment scared her and because it
did, it also made her angry. “So, what you’re saying is that if I
decided to go through with this, somebody would erase my memories,
I’d be taken—hopefully somewhere where I’d have a chance of
surviving until I was found—and then I might, or might not,
remember enough to get home?”

“
I would take you. And, yes,
to a safe place.”

“
And maybe leave me
wandering around with something like amnesia?”

Thor frowned. “I do not know this
word.”

“
It happens sometimes when a
person gets a head injury, or if they’re in an accident. Sometimes
they just can’t remember what happened in the accident. Sometimes
they can’t remember who they are or anything about their past. I
heard of a woman once who had amnesia and couldn’t remember her
husband or children. She was scared, because it was like living
with strangers. It must have been awful for her husband and
children, because they loved her and she didn’t love them because
she didn’t know them.”

“
I would ease your mind if I
could.”

“
But you can’t.” Alexis
shivered. “I think I’ll go in now. I’m a little
chilled.”

Alexis was still awake, staring at the
ceiling when Thor came to the room she’d claimed down the hall from
his.

He stood in the doorway for a moment,
studying her.

She ignored him.

After a few moments, he moved to the
bed, scooped her up in his arms and returned to his
room.

Alexis didn’t protest. It obviously
hadn’t done any good that she’d been down the hall from him the
night before. She’d had plenty of time to think it over since she’d
left him in the garden and had become convinced that the little
tour she’d been given had been Thor’s response to what she’d
thought were her secret plans.

She would still have preferred to
sleep alone.

The problem was, he didn’t seem to get
the message. Or, if he did, he didn’t care.

In any case, what disturbed her most
was the conversation in the garden.

She’d hoped for reassurance. Not only
had she not gotten it, but Thor had revealed an aspect of his
personality that disturbed her.

He simply hadn’t cared what had become
of the ‘outworlders’ he’d abandoned to their own
devices.

Not that he should have been
responsible for them. She had to assume they were adults. Adults
were responsible for their own survival.

But what if they’d been ‘crippled’ by
having no memory of the things they needed to know to
survive?

“
I did not take you only
because I knew that you were planning to try to escape again,” Thor
said quietly.

Alexis turned to look at him,
realizing that, although he’d brought her to his bed, he’d made no
attempt to cuddle her, merely placing her on one side of the bed
and lying on the other. He was, she saw, lying on his back, staring
up at the ceiling as she had been earlier. “You had other
reasons?”

He didn’t answer.

Alexis sighed. “I guess that means
you’re not going to tell me.”

He turned on his side, facing her.
After a moment, he reached for her, pulling her close. He leaned
over and kissed her before she realized his intentions.

Her body responded immediately, and
with a will of its own, heat curling beguilingly in her belly and
between her thighs, her nipples puckering into tight little buds,
begging for his kisses.

Alexis placed her palms against his
chest, torn. On a purely physical level, she desperately wanted to
just go brain dead and let him do anything he was of a mind to
do.

But her brain had not ceased to
function. Warning bells were screaming in her head that she would
regret it if she gave in.

Regretfully, she pulled away. “No.
Don’t get me wrong. Last night was great sex and I’d really like to
do it again, but I don’t think it’s a good idea … for
me.”

It was in fact a very bad idea. She
realized she could easily become attached, and that wasn’t
something she wanted to deal with.

Thor frowned. “Attached?”

Alexis pursed her lips, flipped onto
her side with her back to him. “Good night!”

* * * *

A conversation about the weather would
have been welcome, but Thor seemed disinclined to talk. Alexis
could think of nothing to say for fear she would open her thoughts,
all of them, to Thor. Consequently, the meal was eaten in complete
silence, punctuated by nothing more than the sound of eating
utensils scraping plates and the dull thud as glasses were lifted
and returned to the table. Alexis imagined it must be like this
everywhere in Atlantis, except that at most tables they would be
mentally conversing.

Even the thought of it exhausted
her.

Besides, she was a talker. She was
used to talking to people, and hearing them talk back. Living in a
telepathic society was for—well for telepaths, not for ordinary
humans like her, who yearned for the sound of another human voice.
If she was here much longer, she was going to begin talking to
herself.

To all intents and purposes, she’d
spent most of her time alone since she’d arrived, with no one at
all to talk to for hours upon hours.