Loving a Stranger Read online

  “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