The Power of Three (7 page)

She woke later to the sound of running feet
and agitated voices. It was the middle of the night and someone had
obviously discovered she’d gone missing. It amused her how easily
she could listen in on the other telepaths. They conversed with
each other so freely. It wasn’t a big ship. She wondered how long
it would take them to work out where she’d gone.

When the door finally opened, she closed her
eyes and pretended to be sleeping.

“
Thank the Gods.”

She recognized Dr. Mayek’s relieved
voice.

“
How the hell did she get in here?”
That deeper sound was the ship’s captain, Trenx.

“
I have no idea, but they look pretty
comfortable together.” She laughed softly. “I wondered why Major
Esca was suddenly sleeping so well.”

“
It’s not right. She shouldn’t be with
him, you know that.”

Dr. Mayek sighed. “I know. I’ll speak to her
as soon as she wakes up, I promise.”

“
Can’t you wake her?”

“
Captain, believe it or not, for some
reason, Major Esca is healing much faster with her support. If we
force the issue, he might relapse.”

“
Then get her out of here as soon as
you can.”

“
Understood.”

The door closed again and Soreya opened her
eyes. Why were they so worried about her being with Esca? Did they
think she would contaminate him or something? She’d assumed being
among telepaths would make her life better, but it seemed they were
as suspicious of her motives as her own people.

“
Lang?”
Esca’s
hand slid around to cup her breast.

“
I’m
here
.”

He tightened his grip on her, pulling her ass
against the rising swell of his cock.

“
You’re supposed to be ill,
sir
.”

His thumb flicked over her nipple and
she sucked in a breath. “
I’m feeling better
every minute
.”

He cupped her mound, rubbing her
already-slick sex and eager clit with strong, patient fingers. She
shuddered as he drew her thigh up and back and slid his cock
home.

“
Mmm…nice
.” He
kissed her neck. “
Don’t have the energy to
move. Just wanted to be inside you.
”

It was strangely comforting lying there
joined to him, feeling the pulse of his heartbeat through his
buried cock and his soft breathing in her ear. His fingers returned
to her clit and he slowly circled, rubbing her tender, sensitive
flesh until she came for him in long shuddering waves before he
joined her and fell back to sleep.

When she was certain he was asleep, she got
up and took a quick shower, difficult when managing a drip. Pulling
on her hospital gown, she walked down to the main room and smiled
at the nurse.

“
Dr. Mayek wanted to talk to me. Is she
around?”

“
I’ll call her.”

She proffered her arm. “Can you take this out
while we’re waiting?”

Five minutes later she was sitting in the
doctor’s office and the door was closed. Not that it did much good
in a ship full of telepaths who seemed to share every thought. She
didn’t think she’d ever relax enough to do that.

“
Private Lang.”

“
You can call me Soreya if you
want.”

“
Soreya, then.” Dr. Mayek took a deep
breath and then stared down at her folded hands. “When we recovered
you from the planet surface we gave you a thorough physical
examination. There were several bruises and abrasions on your
skin.”

“
Well it was a bit of a bumpy
ride.”

“
I understand that, but some of
these…anomalies were consistent with physical abuse. We also
recorded evidence of sexual intercourse and semen.” She raised her
head to look at Soreya. “I have to ask you—were you sexually abused
either by the guards at the facility or by Major Esca?”

“
Abused?” Soreya searched the doctor’s
mind, but could find no trace of amusement. “The guards manhandled
me in a deliberately crude way and Esca…” She paused. “Actually, I
think I propositioned him.”

Relief flashed across the doctor’s mind. “I’m
glad he didn’t take advantage of his superior rank. That would’ve
been quite unlike him.”

“
If any advantage was taken it was by
me. I’ve never met an adult male telepath before. The temptation
was too much to resist.”

“
That does change matters slightly, but
he is still your superior officer. If you wish to press charges, I
will support you.”

“
Why would I want to do that?” Soreya
smiled. “It was my first and last opportunity to have sex with one
of my own kind.”

Dr. Mayek frowned. “There are no adult males
in your society?”

“
Not telepathic ones. We’re not allowed
to breed.” Soreya stood up, her smile easy. “So, are we done
here?”

A sense of bleakness settled over her as she
strengthened her shields. Not that anyone on the ship thought she
had any power or the potential to be useful. He’d be furious that
she’d taken the blame for their sexual encounter. But whether Esca
liked it or not, she was going to save his ass and his career. It
was the least she could do. He’d given her more than she’d ever
expected in her life.

“
I’d like you to remain in sick bay
until I’ve written my final report. We’ll be arriving at Sub
Station Rouge in the next day or so, where we will liaise with the
Etruscan authorities.”

“
Oh great.” Soreya pushed in her chair.
”Is it okay if I go and sit with Esca?”

The doctor stood, too. “To be honest, I
wouldn’t recommend it.”

“
Why?”

“
It might just be better in the long
run, don’t you think?” Dr. Mayek patted her arm, her voice
sympathetic. “He’s from one of the first families in Pavlovan, and
you’re unlikely to see him again.”

Soreya caught all the doctor wasn’t saying.
They thought she was infatuated with Esca, that she was a silly
little girl on a hero-worshipping kick. Her stomach tightened with
self-disgust. She really was just like her mother, an object of
pity, a female who’d given up everything for the excitement of a
quick fuck.

“
Sure, whatever you think. You wouldn’t
want me getting all sentimental and emotional, would you? I’ll be
more than happy to go back to my sterile home planet with this
wonderful memory of Major Esca to sustain me through the rest of my
barren and lonely life.”

“
Soreya…”

Pity
.

She hated it. “Doc.”

She escaped into her room and shut the door.
Lying down on the bed, she stared up at the ceiling and allowed
herself to cry.

Stupid.

What had she expected? That they’d suddenly
see her true worth and rush to unite her with her one true
love?

“
Private
Lang?
”

“
Captain
Trenx
.”

“
Would you come to my
quarters please?
”

“
Yes
sir.
”

She hastily wiped her eyes. No doubt the good
doctor had called in reinforcements to make sure their precious
Major escaped unscathed from her unwanted crush on him. Her
despised uniform was in the closet so she put it on. A security
guard waited in the main sick bay and accompanied her through the
upper floors of the ship to the captain’s door. She knocked and
went in.

He was sitting at his desk, his blond hair
disheveled as though he’d been pulling it out, his uniform shirt
open at the neck and his jacket discarded over a chair.

“
Lang, come in.” He pointed at the
chair opposite him. “Sit down.”

She saluted him and took the seat. She felt
his mind press against hers in a tentative exploration.

“
Sir
?”

“
We have a situation.” He studied her
face. “When we reach Sub Station Rouge we’ve been ordered to
offload all the Etruscan members of our team, including you and
Captain Wassain.”

Soreya kept her expression neutral, and after
a second he continued. “We are insisting that Wassain is brought to
justice for both his cowardly desertion of you, and his outright
attack on Major Esca.”

“
They won’t prosecute him for leaving
me behind, sir.”

He sighed. “So they’ve already told us.”

“
And I’m pretty sure that even if they
do reprimand Captain Wassain publicly for his behavior toward Major
Esca, they won’t punish him.”

“
Because you are both
telepaths.”

“
Exactly, sir.” She hesitated. “I’m not
sure why you’re telling me this.”

“
Because I want you to know that
whatever your government says,
my
government will do everything in its power to make sure that
you are not…impacted in a negative way by these
proceedings.”

“
Thank you, sir.”

Didn’t he understand that the moment the
Etruscans got her back she was dead? She’d shown them up and forced
a superior officer to behave badly in front of his allies. Sure,
they’d probably wait until the Pavlovan ship left before they
carried out her sentence, but she’d still be dead.

“
Is there anything else,
sir?”

“
Yes. Dr, Mayek is concerned about
you.”

Inwardly Soreya sighed. “There’s no need,
sir. I’m completely recovered.”

“
She’s not worried about your health.”
He cast her a quick glance. His mind felt as uncomfortable as he
looked. “Major Esca saved your life and that can create a unique,
if unrealistic, bond between two people. I also understand that you
aren’t used to dealing with other telepaths. Connecting with a male
of Major Esca’s talents must’ve have been quite overwhelming for
you.”

Soreya set her jaw at his patronizing tone.
“I’m fully aware of all this, sir. I’m not going to throw myself at
him or anything.”

“
Good, because you’re worth more than
that.”

“
I am, sir?” She looked up into his
very blue eyes. “I thought this little lecture was all about
protecting Major Esca.”

“
Don’t be sarcastic, Lang. I watched
the security footage of the shuttle expedition to retrieve you and
the major.
You
got him onto
that ship. I have no idea how you managed it, but I’ll never forget
that.” He leaned forward. “Neither will our nation. Major Esca’s
mate is a major political figure in our senate. If you need our
assistance against your superiors, I’m sure our government would be
grateful enough to put in a good word for you.”

“
Major Esca is mated?”

Captain Trenx nodded. “Yeah,” he said gently.
“For the last ten years or so.”

From somewhere, Soreya summoned the
ability to smile. “I doubt I’ll need anything, but thanks for
offering.” She rose to her feet. “It
would
be helpful if you could get me off this
ship without Wassain or the rest of the team seeing me. If you put
me in with them, I might not make it to the barracks.”

“
Understood. We’ll arrange a separate
escort.” He stood and held out his hand. “And don’t worry, we’ll do
our best to protect you.”

“
Thank you, I appreciate that.” She
shook his hand. What else could she do? “I’d better get back to
sick bay.”

Major Esca was mated.

She followed the guard back along the narrow
passageways, her thoughts in turmoil. What kind of ‘relationship’
had he been talking about? Was he the kind of male who kept another
source of available ass on the side? Like her mother had been to
her father, available, eager, and too in lust to demand a legal
relationship.

She took off her uniform and lay on her bed.
So her choices had narrowed to death or…what? She wouldn’t want the
gallant major to rescue her even if he wanted to. His ability to
lie to her hurt far more than she’d anticipated. But she’d been so
willing to be deceived…

“
Lang?
”

Damn him and the need in his voice. Damn him
to hell. She wanted to go to him more than she wanted to
breathe.

“
Soreya?”

Not anymore. She sat up and glared at the
door until it locked. Strengthening her shields, she shut him out
and forced herself to go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy
day.

* * * * *

“
Trenx, where is she?” Esca glared at
the protesting nurse and the bleeping instruments as he pulled off
his hospital jammies. “Get this out of my arm or I’ll rip it
out.”

“
Esca, will you just calm down and wait
for Mayek?” Trenx made soothing gestures with his hands. “Where do
you think you’re going anyway?”

“
We’ve docked, haven’t we?”

“
Yeah. I’m waiting for the escort for
Captain Wassain and the rest of the Etruscan team to arrive. Don’t
worry, I’ve arranged a separate escort for Private
Lang.”

“
She’s already
gone
, Trenx.”

“
You’re delusional. She’s in her room
across the hall.”

“
She freking is not. How do you think
we got out of that damn prison? She’s a regular escape artist.”
Esca pulled his arm away from the nurse and grabbed hold of the
tubing. “I said take it out or it’s coming out.”