Raife: An Aquadomina Novel (8 page)

Sophie didn’t have to wait long before with a soft gasp Merideth sat
straight up on her seat.

“It’s okay.” Sophie assured her. “You are on the Aquavi. The only people
here are my guard, my stylist Allie, you and I.” Sophie wasn’t surprised that
Merideth didn’t seem placated. “I promise that nothing is going to happen to
you.”

She looked around frantically and Sophie called to Raife, “Can you please
stand guard outside?” When he looked about to argue she added, “Please.”

He nodded for Garritt, Connor and Ramsey to go outside, “I am staying.”
His tone left no room for argument so Sophie turned back to Merideth.

“Okay. It’s just us four.” She turned her chair so they were face to
face. “Can you tell me what is wrong?”

“I need help desperately.” Merideth looked from her to Raife. “My brother
has been arrested and I fear I am next. It is only a matter of time before they
find me.”

“You are a fugitive?” Raife snapped and went to move toward Merideth.

“Commander Raife, stop!” Sophie used her “severe” teacher voice. It
worked on grade schoolers. She had to hope it worked on him. To her relief he
paused, but the scowl on his face was hot enough to melt titanium. “Please let
her explain.” He inclined his head and she knew he was not happy. She would
deal with his anger later. Right now, she was working on the puzzle Merideth
posed. “Why was your brother arrested?”

Merideth bit her lip and looked worriedly at Raife, then blurted out,
“They are accusing him of being Deviant.”

Raife groaned and let loose a litany of words that Sophie was pretty sure
was cursing. “What were you thinking coming here? Do you even know—?”

“Raife!” Sophie interrupted his rant, she didn’t understand why “Deviant”
was such a big deal, but she had heard that word before and it didn’t sound
good. “Why is Merideth’s brother being Deviant such a problem?”

He gave Merideth a stony glare then turned to her, “A Deviant is a
criminal. The previous Chosen made varying degrees of punishment depending on
the severity of the crime committed. Depending on the judgement against him,
they could ask for the sentence of death. His sister is touched by the
accusation and will face judgement as well.” There had to be more to it than
that Sophie thought. What kind of crime meant death? Was Deviant a murderer,
rapist, sociopathic killer? Why did the sister have to face judgement too? Her
head was spinning and she needed to get some clarity.

Sophie could feel the heat rising in her face. “I can’t help if I don’t
know the facts. What crimes make one Deviant, and their punishments?”

All Raife would say was, “You need to talk with The Three.” Then turned
back to staring ahead.

So much for the clean-up of her brain making her more accepting. When all
Raife would say is to talk with The Three, Sophie saw red. “Fine. That is what
I will do.” Turning to Merideth she asked, “What is your brother’s name?”

Merideth started crying again, “I didn’t mean to cause problems. I was
just going to ask you to speak on his behalf.” She turned from Raife to Sophie
and back, “I didn’t know where else to go.”

Sophie stood up to leave. “Your brother’s name Merideth.” She asked
softly.

“Marcus.” Merideth hurried to answer, “Marcus Irie.”

Sophie squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, “I need you to stay here on
the Aquavi. Can you do that for me?”

Merideth nodded energetically, “Yes Chosen. I can stay here. Thank you
for helping Marcus—”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Sophie muttered under her breath, “Allie can you
watch over Merideth please.”

“Yes Chosen.” Allie hurried to sit next to Merideth.

Without waiting to see what Raife would do, Sophie left the Aquavi. She
called over her shoulder, “PAC, do not let anyone board my boat.” Walking fast
she hurried toward the Lextrium. Her guards quickly made their box around her,
Garritt in front, Connor in back. Willem and Ramsey on either side. Sophie
barely noticed. Her mind was dancing around so much. It was time she found out
exactly what being The Chosen meant, what a Deviant was, and why she was in
danger.

As soon as she entered the building, she was led into a glass enclosure
that resembled an elevator. It was clear on all sides and Sophie was able to
see her surroundings. It seemed like any normal office building you would see
on Earth. It had some plants in pottery placed in strategic places to liven up
the space. When the doors closed, Raife spoke out and requested “The Three” and
then there was the gentle sound of water hitting glass. When she looked down,
she realized that a stream of water was pushing them up. There was the metallic
clicking noise she recognized from the Castrum, and then the doors opened to
the floor Raife had requested.

“Chosen.” Sophie’s eyes swung away from the view out the glass elevator
to see The Three standing bowed over. There were a few people in the same
position standing in a row, the blond haired fellow from yesterday among them
she was unhappy to say.

“One.” Sophie called out and One moved toward her. “We need to talk.”

Two and Three joined One in walking toward her. “Of course.” They spoke
together, “We can use our personal sitting room.”

They ushered Sophie down a hallway and through some giant double doors.
When her guard went to follow her, they were stopped by The Three. “You can
come no further. Guard the doors.” Then Raife and her guard were shut out as
The Three closed the door.

“We sense that you are troubled.” The Three spoke once they were sitting.
“We had hoped that a few days of rest would make The Chosen more at peace.”

“I have some questions that I need answered.” Sophie began, “I need to
know what Deviant means?”

The Three sat still in their seats for a moment, and then One spoke. “To
explain Deviant we need to explain about the Three Kingdoms. Are you prepared
to hear everything?”

“Yes.” Sophie answered without hesitation, “I am ready to hear all of
it.”

One sighed, “The Three Kingdoms are really just three large cities.
Aquarian is the center for science, technology, and medical advancement. We do
all of the research and development for all of the things you will find on
Aquadomina.”

Two took up the explanation, “Kingdom Two is called Terragale. It is the
mining center for all of Aquadomina. The city is situated in the shallows of
the Satheen Ocean. It is due to their efforts that we have minerals, gems and
the most vital commodity of all…soil.”

Three continued when Two stopped, “Kingdom Three is called Norhurst. They
are the agricultural center of Aquadomina. They provide all of our food and
plant life. Between growing in the soil provided by Terragale, and hydroponics
we are able to sustain a food supply to our Kingdoms.”

Sophie sighed, “Okay, what does that have to do with Deviants?”

One looked at her so closely that Sophie became uncomfortable, “We all
need each other for survival, and the previous Chosen had some rules that not
all of the Kingdoms were happy with.” Sophie just remained silent and One
continued, “To keep the peace with the other Kingdoms we allow certain…” One
bit her lip in thought, “
eccentricities
to be overlooked.” “

“Is that why you don’t mention Kingdom Four.” Sophie asked. “Were they
one of the breaks that the previous Chosen caused?”

The Three looked surprised that she knew about the Fourth Kingdom
already, “Yes.” Two answered her. “Kingdom Four broke with our alliance when
the last Chosen rose to power.”

“What do these rules have to do with your Deviant population?” Sophie
didn’t wondered what all of this had to do with the question she had asked. She
wanted to know what Deviants were and why she was in danger. It seemed that The
Three were never going to get to the point.

One held her hand up, “We are trying to get to that part.” She looked at
the other two and then back to Sophie. “The previous Chosen became alarmed at
the genetic deviations she saw in the population. She demanded that all Four
Kingdoms use the facilities in Aquarian to clone their populations instead of
relying on natural selection. That way we could alter our population to weed
out violent, psychological and abnormal tendencies.”

Sophie’s heart stopped at the words
cloning
and
natural selection
. She had
been a teacher but her area of expertise hadn’t been science. Natural selection
was about heredity and traits being passed on through
reproduction. Survival of the fittest so to speak. The
science on Earth had provided for cloning, and she was vaguely familiar with
what that entailed. She wasn’t sure if it was the same here on Aquadomina. She
thought to ask, “Just for clarity, what does cloning mean here?”

“Cloning is the process of
creating a life form from a previous life form without using sexual means.” The
Three spoke together, “We use donated genetic material to create life.”

Sophie made a note to think
on this further. To move the conversation along she pressed. “So the last
Chosen made it a law to use Aquarian to
clone
their children instead of having them the old fashioned way? She was trying to
create a super race or something?”

“It never came to that.” Two hurried to continue, “Terragale, Norhurst
and Wildehaven balked at the demand and civil war was imminent. There was an
emergency meeting with all parties, and The Chosen relented in her request.
Wildehaven left the alliance. Terragale and Norhurst stayed with the
stipulation that they could reproduce as they saw fit. Aquarian agreed to the
terms of reproduction. The only demand that The Chosen would not sway on was
the Deviants.”

Three finished, “The Deviants, when found in any of the Three Kingdoms
are criminals to be bound for judgement. Their families are to pay the due
demanded by The Chosen. All siblings become prisoners of the state. Their
genetic Deviation is to be stopped from further polluting the population.”

Sophie was getting a really bad feeling about where this “Deviant”
explanation was going. The blood was pounding in her head and she suddenly
wanted to be back in the Aquavi on the way home instead of here in the
Lextrium.

“What exactly did the previous Chosen consider deviation?” Sophie
whispered the question.

“There are numerous deviations. A person that commits a violent act such
as murder, assault, rape and robbery. Non-violent deviations entail things like
depression, anxiety disorders…those kinds of things.” Three answered her.

The blood was now roaring in Sophie’s head. They thought that medical
disorders were deviations that needed to be “bred” out of the population. She
had come through a wormhole to God knows how far across the universe to land on
a planet with the same backwards problems as the one she left? It was too much
to believe.

“What is the judgement passed on Deviants and the siblings the state
takes into custody?” Sophie needed to hear it all.

“It depends on the deviation. All violent offenders, if found guilty
during judgement are given the death penalty. All other Deviants are banished
to The Hold. Regardless of the deviation, their siblings are taken into
servitude.” One answered her.

Sophie saw stars dancing before her eyes. “What kind of ‘servitude’?”

“The male siblings are given duties we require of them here in Aquarian,
pressed into the mines of Terragale, or the growing fields of Norhurst.”

Sophie’s head was reeling now, “What about female siblings?”

“If they don’t have a mate to stand for them. Female siblings face
banishment with the male Deviant.” Two supplied, “If they are mated, they must
remain childless. If children already exist, they are banished to The Hold.”

Her mind flew to her guard and staff. They were all from the other
Kingdoms. Were they all prisoners of this Deviant law? The people around here
weren’t serving her willingly. They were as much prisoners as their family
members in The Hold.

It had been two days of traveling toward Kingdom Two and they were
running out of things to talk about. Sophie had informed PAC to hold the
Castrum in Aquarian until she notified him otherwise. She had told Raife all
about Earth. The technology that were available, but there were people who went
without as well. She had talked about growing up in a small town, and he
laughed at how few people that was. She had talked lovingly of her younger
brother, and then she had gotten emotional when she had talked about his death.
She didn’t relay the reason for the attack, just that he had been killed. Raife
understood because unfortunately those things happened on Aquadomina as well.
Not very often, but they still occurred. The penalty for a severe crime was
severe in itself so most people stayed on the straight and narrow path.

When Sophie had asked Raife to talk about himself is where it got difficult.
The man didn’t want to talk about his childhood. “It was normal. I had a happy
childhood.” He didn’t want to talk about his family. “They were normal. I had a
happy family.” She didn’t push to find out the deviation that got him
servitude, that would have been too raw a nerve to touch. She finally gave up
and continued to talk about herself. How she had been a teacher and then a
nanny before coming to Aquadomina. How she loved kids and had been devastated
that she couldn’t have any.

PAC had interrupted to inform them that Kingdom Two was one day away at
their current speed. Ri’Carn had not yet stormed the Castrum to try to see her
but Sophie expected that move any day now. She just had to hope she had her
visit with the leaders of Kingdom Two accomplished by then.

The tension in the Aquavi that last day had risen exponentially. The
forced intimacy of their quarters was making them both skittish. Their nerves
weren’t all related to the dangerous aspect of this mission either. She knew
Raife was attracted to her and the sexual tension between them was building.
Every time he had to help her in, or out of her corset his fingers would linger
just a bit longer than necessary. When she brushed against him “accidentally”
getting something or “falling” into his way, she caught the gleam in his eye.
Oh, yes. The Commander was fighting his attraction. So Sophie had decided to
help time go a little faster and taught Raife poker. Tonight she had tricked
him into playing “strip” poker and was banking on her naked body getting his
attention.

“I won again!” Sophie gloated and Raife gave her a suspicious look.
“Don’t be a sore loser.” Sophie couldn’t help breaking into a wicked smile. “I
explained the rules and since I have the magic Jack, it beats your straight
flush.” She shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “sorry, rules are rules.” Then
waited to see what he would take off next.

Raife moved to take off his undershirt and Sophie couldn’t breathe. She
had been waiting for skin to show. It was amazing how many garments the man
wore. He had taken off an outer leather doublet, his wristbands, and some type
of holster with who knows what weapons, his boots, and his socks. She was
running out of cheats to get him naked! She had of course “lost” a few rounds
herself. She was down to her bra and panties. When he tossed his shirt to the
side, Sophie drank in the sight of all that tan skin. Those bunching muscles as
he shifted to take the cards. His chest had a sprinkling of dark hair that
trailed down his taunt abs and…lower. She may have drooled a little she wasn’t
ashamed to say.

“Is it my turn to deal?”

“What?” She moved her eyes back to his, “Yes. I believe it is.” She waved
for him to go ahead, and then watched the play of muscles in his forearms and
biceps. What was it going to take for him to get sweaty with her already?

After another few minutes, Sophie called this hand and he showed her his
two Aces. She spread her hand and smiled softly. “My King kills your two Aces.
Sorry.” She almost clapped her hands in happiness. He only had his pants on
now. When he stood up to move around the table her eyes flew to his hands. They
were resting on his waistband and she watched as he slowly unclasped the
fastening. As he pushed them to his hips, it was obvious that he wasn’t wearing
underwear.

“Chosen.” His husky voice called to her, “If you had wanted to see me
naked, you should have just asked.”

Sophie’s eyes flew to his and it was like the gun going off at a track
meet. She jumped into his arms. He pulled her higher against him, so she was
forced onto her tiptoes. Their mouths met in a clash of lips. His naked chests
was pressed into her and Sophie couldn’t stop herself from rubbing back and
forth.

“Mmm.” She groaned against his mouth. He felt so good. He was steely
strength wrapped in warm velvet. She wanted to touch and taste every inch of
his skin. Her mouth watered at the very thought of running her tongue down his
body. Digging her fingers into his hair, she sighed against his mouth at how
silky the strands were. She loved the light red highlights that played through
the dark tresses.

Neither had broken the contact of their lips yet, and both seemed
reluctant to do so. Sophie had taken the initiative and played with the seam of
Raife’s mouth with her tongue. When he just froze and didn’t open his mouth,
Sophie worried she had done something wrong.

“Do you not kiss that way?” She whispered against his lips. Looking up at
Raife, she drew a shaky breath at the light show his eyes were putting on. He
was radiating raw passion and she had never felt this kind of chemical heat
before. She had been about to step back when he finally spoke.

“Yes, I just...” His voice was deep and vibrated against her lips. “I’m
trying to hold onto my control.” Raife pressed his mouth against hers and his tongue
licked the seam of her lips. He suddenly became even more aggressive and Sophie
gave herself up to the kiss. Their mouths opened wider against each other and
tongues sparred more hungrily.

With his hands holding her steadily against him, Raife back-pedaled into
the private chamber. Turning at the bed, he picked her up by the waist and held
the back of her thighs. Figuring he wanted her to lift her legs, she leaned up
into him and with his help wrapped her legs around his waist. The material of
his pants had fallen lower as he walked and Sophie wasn’t surprised when he did
a little wiggle motion then knelt on the bed.

Sophie was desperate for more intimacy and moved her hips against him to
show she was more than ready. She felt him lean to grab a pillow from the head
of the bed, and place it at his knees. The material felt especially cool
against her heated skin. Then he was breaking the kiss, his teeth holding onto
her lower lip as he pulled away. He released her lip before it became painful
and with his hands against her upper and lower back, he slowly lowered her to
the bed. His fingers spread her hair out around her. Then trailed over her
shoulders to the taunt nipples of each breast. He plumped them in his palms,
and then used his thumbs to caress and torment them.

 
“You are a dream come true.” She
saw the brilliant flashes of light in his eyes and caught her breath. He was
magnificent. “I want you Chosen—” His voice was thick with desire when Sophie
put her finger across his lips.

“Sophie.” She whispered her voice just as hoarse. “In private, call me
Sophie.”

He only wrestled with the request for a second. She was still working
herself against him, inviting a deeper connection. “Sophie.” He groaned.
 

She was about to throw him on his back and have her way with him. Why
didn’t he get down to business? Her eyes moved along his body and when she got
to the appendage between his legs, she froze. Her eyes flashed back to his then
between his legs again.

 
“Are you not aroused by me?” Had
she gotten all the signs wrong? They were kissing and he had her on her back
with a pillow under her butt. There was enough heat going between them to melt
the polar ice caps and yet he didn’t have an erection. She could only describe
his poor member as…a limp spaghetti noodle…snapped in half. The potential for
the “mushroom” head was there, but just barely. Another oddity was he had no
testicles. How did a guy not have balls? Sophie wanted to cry in frustration.
Raife was the perfect man. Smart, courageous, with a wicked sense of humor,
handsome and with a body like…that! Then there was his erection…which wasn’t
erect. She wanted to scream in frustration.

Looking between his legs, he shrugged and said “Yes. I am very aroused by
you.” He worked a finger into the curls between her legs, “You are also aroused
by me.” Sophie moaned and pushed against his finger. How had he found the right
spot to torment so quickly?

“Yes.” She gasped when he added another finger to play in her wetness. “I
am very aroused by you.” He pressed his palm against her curls and let his
fingers go deeper. “But…” She was trying to remember what the problem was. Oh,
yes. He was limp noodled and ball less. How was this supposed to work?

“Are you sufficiently prepared?” Raife asked worriedly.

Sufficiently prepared for what, Sophie wanted to ask but didn’t want to
hurt his feelings. “Yes. I think I am ready.”

Raife was sitting back on his heels and pulled her higher along his
thighs. She wrapped her legs around his back and waited to see what he would
do. Pressing himself, forward Sophie gasped again. She could feel that damn
thing growing! He wasn’t limp anymore. His erection was pressing into her…hard
and steely. She was suddenly worried that instead of not being enough…he might
split her in two.

Raife was watching her with an anxious expression. “Tell me if I become
too large. You are just so different from our women. So small and tight.”
 
When he adjusted his hips and moved against
her Sophie put her hands against his legs.

“Enough.” She was stretched and he was as deep as he could go. “That is
big enough.” If he got any larger, this wouldn’t be a pleasurable experience.
As it was, she may have to ask him to shrink it down a bit…if he even could.

“Are you sure?” He asked his breathing heavy. “I can get both thicker and
longer if you desire it.”

“No.” Sophie panted. “No…this is good.” She needed to remember not to
judge a book by its cover and ask more questions next time. Before she could
catch her breath, Raife moved to his knees and pulled his hips back. Her body
seemed to scream against him leaving. Her muscles were clutching at him and her
legs were taunt. Then he pushed forward and she groaned. Using her heels around
his back, she demanded with each thrust that he push harder. Tightening her
legs against his hips, she ground herself against him, and then mourned a
little when he pulled back. God this felt good. It was too good and she was
going to come long before he did at this rate. The sounds of their heavy
breaths and gasps were loud in the room.

“How long can you last before you climax?” She was moving desperately
toward release and she wanted him to join her.

“It usually takes hours.” Raife had sweat glistening on his body already,
and Sophie knew she wouldn’t need a few seconds much less hours. She was ready
to explode. She was almost giddy with relief when he added, “With you I am
sorry sweetheart, but something about you has undone me.”

She could feel what being “undone” meant. With a loud groan, his erection
was swelling and her body responded. Raife gave a few more desperate thrusts
and then Sophie half shouted and climaxed. Raife clutched her butt and drew her
so tight against him she was balancing against the bed with her upper back. She
felt the warm spray of his release and then the strange sponge like feeling of
him absorbing her essence. Her body answered and was spasming hard, her muscles
pulling at every inch of him.

Pulling Sophie into his arms, Raife half-turned and then fell back on the
bed. They were still connected and when she was caught her breath she wondered
something, “Do we have to stay connected until your erection shrinks?”

“What…No. I just like being inside of you.” Raife was rubbing the small
of her back. “I will have to withdraw before you become too dry. If a male
isn’t careful, his erection will absorb all of the moisture and then it is
painful for the female. Is that not the way it is with males from your planet?”

“No.” Sophie enjoyed the feel of him inside her. Most guys just rolled
over and went to sleep after sex. “You are not quite the same as the males from
Earth. Can I ask you a question?”

“Given what we have just shared, I think you could ask me
any
question.” Raife spoke softly his
hands still massaging her skin.

“In a male from Earth, they have two sacs at the base of their sex that
produce sperm and hormones. Do the men of Aquadomina not have that?” She could
feel her face slightly burn at the personal question, but they were both adults
and had just shared some amazing sex. She figured she could handle a talk about
the birds and bees.

“Yes. We have those also.” He laughed and her body shook against him. Her
nipples rubbed against skin and the response went lower. “Why would a species
evolve to have them on the outside? I would imagine that would be dangerous. Ours
are here.” He lifted her leg against his hip and pulled her hands to where they
were connected. Tucked her fingers against the base of his still impressive
erection and pushed slightly. He gasped. “Inside there, protected against
damage.”

“I see.” Sophie moved her fingers against the spot again and Raife
groaned.

“Can we do it again?” His eyes burned with desire. “I won’t get you with
offspring. I am absorbing all of my ejaculatory fluids along with your essence.
No sperm will make it to your egg. If that is how you reproduce.”

“Yes we can do it again.” Sophie moved her leg higher to his waist. “And
yes we have eggs.” She gasped and shifted again. “I don’t think I can get
pregnant…though it is good for you to prevent it just in case.”