Sheila n eskew, p.27
Sheila N Eskew, page 27
“As he has acknowledged me,” Jessica affirmed.
“You do not seem overly happy about it.” The Shellconch commented.
“I was not asked to be his wife. I was told,” Jessica explained.
“You do not love him? He is the most considerate and kind of Lords.” The Shellconch commented.
“He is,” Jessica conceded. “I must tell you,” Jessica said, “I’ve never met a person like yourself. Do any of your species ever go to the surface?”
“We’ve seen the sky as you call it, yes, but your kind would kill us and eat us,” he informed her with some furor.
“Probably,” Jessica said sadly. “Some of my kind are rather, ah, stupid.” she smiled, “Please call me Jessica. What are you called?”
“Shellcor.” His mouth moved in what was a definite smile “and I will tell the others you may come here whenever you wish.”
“Thank you, I will be careful not to intrude, is there anything I should know not to do? I would not want to violate a custom you might have?” Jessica asked sincerely, feeling foolish to be talking to a crustacean.
“No, it is just unusual to see a human here, you may see one of my little ones around and they are shy, but will not hurt you.” Shellcor informed her.
“I should go, if Xerxes should discover my absence…“ Jessica looked up to see her husband scowling at her.
“He has already.” Xerxes voice was soft so as not to disturb the other night creatures and only so loud, that Jessica and Shellcor could hear him. Jessica jumped. “Shellcor, it is good to see again,” he said in a cordial manner to his subject.
“And you, milord, by your leave,” he started to leave.
“Of course, but stay if you wish, the Lady Jessica and I are leaving. Good night.” Taking her hand, he lifted Jessica to her feet and escorted her back through the foliage toward their suite in silence.
“I missed you,” Xerxes said, and there was an odd stress in his voice.
“From the way you left our chambers, I thought you wished some time alone. I went to the beach,” Jessica told him. “You do have some interesting subjects.” she smiled, not realizing he was upset she had left the security of their chambers.
“Your thoughtfulness is appreciated.” Xerxes said sarcastically, leaving Jessica perplexed and standing alone in the outer salon, miffed by his tone of voice.
Jessica saw the scrolls she had been reading earlier, and gathering them up, called out to her new husband. “Xerxes, I’m taking the scrolls back to the library since you appreciated my thoughtfulness so much, I shall leave you to your own.” Jessica said, her tone mirroring his, so she left.
Xerxes heard her and could not believe her tenacity. This time she was only gone moments, “Where did you go?” He demanded angrily the moment she stepped back into their apartment.
“I took the scrolls back, as I said.” Jessica stepped past him and gave him an indifferent glance. Wondering if she had misjudged him, perhaps he was a man who felt he must control her every movement. If he were, he would have much to learn about her.
“The clerk would have collected them if you had but called,” Xerxes insisted.
“I needed the walk.” She said plainly, in a flat tone.
“I get the impression you wish you had not found the Pyramid,” Xerxes alleged. The hurt she had caused him barely audible, but Jessica knew now what had nettled him.
“So that is what made you angry? I had no idea the High Lord of Atlantis was so sensitive.” Jessica smiled up into his face. “It was an off-handed remark. Finding the Pyramid was the find of a lifetime for any archaeologist, never would I have believed where it would lead. Now I find myself here with you. I do not regret finding it. I am worried about my family that is all. If either of us should be angry, I should think it would be me.” She could tell he didn’t like her reply.
“There is danger here Jessica, as there is anywhere. You should know Pericles and I have discovered someone inside my immediate Council, who is trying to expose our Underwater City. This person is working with someone in your State’s Government. We aren’t sure of whom it is, but we believe you may know him. We do know it is happening, and have contained his accomplices. Luckily we have retrieved all the artifacts, including the ones you and your partner unearthed.” Xerxes watched Jessica’s face, knowing the next statement would make her angry. “It saddened our Antiquities Board to collapse the Pyramid, but it was a total necessity. That was why Captain Curtis, Pericles, stayed so close to you that day. It was his responsibility to make sure you were not hurt or killed.” Xerxes watched the shock on her face. “That’s right my love, we collapsed the Pyramid to protect Atlantis’ security. This traitor would take great pleasure in putting you in a position that could cost you your life, and me the control of Atlantis. Keep this in mind when you go for a late stroll alone.” His voice had taken on an almost cruel edge.
“Xerxes,” Jessica’s voice was suspicious, “How long have you watched me?”
Xerxes looked a bit uncomfortable, “You were diving off of West Palm Beach when you were seventeen with your parents, on the wreck of the Mitzpah in ninety feet of water. I, too, was diving that day, without my father’s permission, I might add.”
Jessica remembered that day very well, or thought she did. An ocean barge had broken free of its tow vessel and hit their boat. Had it not been for another diver’s yacht nearby, there would have been in serious trouble. She looked at Xerxes in a different way, aware she had known him longer than their meeting at the dig site. At last, it all came back. Suddenly, Jessica felt a bit dizzy, and needed to sit down. Finally, the veil lifted from her memory, and she sank down on the sofa.
Jessica remembered their rescuer had been a handsome young man, who had acted quickly, but strangely. He had gotten them on his boat, donned sunglasses and a hat almost instantly, but their hands had touched. He had helped her out of her dive gear, caressing her shoulders and that was the first time Jessica had seen his eyes - those aquamarine eyes, now she remembered it all. He had given them strong coffee that tasted a bit strange. It had something in it to fog her memory. As soon as the Coast Guard arrived, he and his boat had disappeared even before the Coast Guard had gotten his statement. Now Jessica knew it was Xerxes. Now she knew why his accent had seemed so familiarly strange. Why, when he appeared outside her tent, he had not seemed threatening. Jessica closed her eyes remembering, and then looked up at Xerxes, her eyes wide and clear as if seeing him for the first time.
“I remember!” Jessica said astonishment in her voice. “I could never remember before now, not all of it, neither did my parents. But why did I have problems later because of the dive?”
“What do you mean - problems?” Xerxes asked concerned something that he had done caused her problems that he knew nothing about.
“I’ll get to that. We all remembered you helped us on board.”
“You were shaking.” Xerxes commented. “I wanted to hold you, to comfort you even then, and knew I couldn’t. I dared only touch you to help you out of your dive gear.”
“Yes, I was shaking. I always wondered why you were in such a hurry to put on the sunglasses and hat.” Jessica looked into his eyes remembering they had the same power then to posses hers as now. “You gave us all blankets with a symbol on them. At the time we just thought it was rich family’s crest, none of us had any idea.” Jessica remembered now, it was the crest of Atlantis, two white gold dolphins, two yellow gold dolphins standing on their tails, supporting a huge dark blue sapphire.
“Good, you were not supposed to. My parents - my father was ruler then - gave me hell, but he would not have left anyone at sea either.”
“You had already called the Coast Guard and they arrived so quickly I don’t think the blanket I had was even wet when I returned it. Then as soon as the Coast Guard transferred us over we started giving them our statements, your boat - well, it puzzled them to no end. You were just gone. How’d you do that?”
“The same way I walked into your dig and back out without being seen, considering the little island your Marines had made out in the middle of a muck swamp it was easy,” he grinned. “I will show you at a later time. Now what was wrong with you?” Xerxes remembered too, they had touched hands and he had caressed her shoulders helping her out of her dive gear, touching her had haunted him, until he had taken her last night. Now, eternally ingrained in his heart, was his wife’s essence. Even now, he wanted her.
“We all spent the night in the hospital. I woke up screaming. Too much stress; I didn’t sleep well for several weeks. It took days until I would go through my dive gear. When I did, I found this. She extended her left leg.”
Xerxes knew she wore an ankle bracelet but he hadn’t really looked at it. Now he did. “Where did you find that?” He sat next to her, instinctively putting his arm protectively around her.
“On the dive site only a few minutes before the accident, the day you rescued us. After I started wearing it, I was fine. I never had another nightmare or bad dream until just before I found the Pyramid. Almost like subconsciously I knew I was going to find the Pyramid and then possibly, I knew you would find me again.”
“Do you know what it is?” Xerxes asked her, looking into her eyes.
“I do now. When I first found it, we - my parents and I, thought it was a relic from the shipwreck, now I know now it belonged to Cleopatra. It’s from here isn’t it?”
“Yes. You are lucky to have found it. I had it in my pocket and lost it. I had taken it from the archives. I was going to have it cleaned and the latch repaired by a jeweler in West Palm Beach as a gift for my stepmother. I used that as a reason to go to West Palm that day and for my dive.” Xerxes looked like a small boy who’d been caught stealing. In a manner of speaking he had been. “I had to convince the Curator of that Department to allow me to have it as a gift for her. He was not happy that I had lost it. In fact I don’t think he has ever forgiven me.” Xerxes thought about Councilman Marcus who was the Head of the Archaeology Department.
“We had a jeweler we have always dealt with and know we can trust clean it. I don’t think he knew what it was.” She shrugged, “How often since then have you watched me?” Jessica asked, and leaned closer to him, feeling safe in his arms.
“On and off occasionally,” Xerxes hugged her then stood, going to the bar and poured them each a glass of brandy. “But why did your bad dreams return after my visit to your tent?” Xerxes didn’t want to feel he had caused her pain. He handed her a glass of the strong aged, Napoleon Brandy and rejoined her on the sofa.
“It was before you came to my tent that the dreams returned.” she sighed, “Just before I found the Pyramid really, almost like a premonition. Afterwards, your eyes haunted my dreams, mystifying me. After the Aztec thing…” Jessica sighed. “I remembered more than I told the FBI, the Sheriff or Bruce. I remembered your face and, of course, your eyes,” her face flushed, “and I remembered your kisses. Your phone calls about drove me nuts.” She slugged him playfully in the arm and took a long sip of the brandy.
“I was glad you gave me cause to abduct you, but it has put you in danger too. For that I am sorry, and about your parents. I must admit,” Xerxes looked out the view windows at the beautiful world around Atlantis, “I did not give consideration to that aspect of your removal from the upper-world. Later today, when you do speak with them it will be a short call and you must not, under any circumstance tell them where you are. Tell them you are on assignment for the government, if you wish. However, I do not like you having to lie to them.”
“Xerxes, I am grateful for the call, but that is a short-term, temporary solution.” Jessica made her feelings clear. “I cannot go a lifetime without ever speaking with them in person, or seeing them again. They are my family, I am an only child and I love them.”
“For now, Jessica, it must be this way. I do not propose it will stay this way. Until I can trap this traitor, my options are restricted. I am working on a solution.” Xerxes could plainly see she did not believe him and it hurt him to see she distrusted him. “Would you bring them here to live for the rest of their lives?
“I cannot make that choice, it is enough that my freedom has been compromised, but,” she looked into his eyes, her desire for him clear; “there are compensations for me.”
Xerxes pulled her to him, “Jessica, I know your pain. A way will be found, I swear it to you.” He kissed her and words were not enough to express how he felt. Xerxes found he could no longer deny the desire for his wife, nor the need to comfort the pain he saw in her beautiful brown eyes. He carried her to bed, his desire for her overpowering all else.
Jessica wanted to deny him, “Xerxes, please!” She begged. “Is this all you think of?” She protested and tried to suppress the small amount of humor that snuck into her voice.
“When I think of you, or I am near you, yes!” He said seriously. “It is one of the best ways I know to comfort the pain I see in your eyes. To hold you close and make love to you, as I have longed to.”
She tried to be cold, but her desire for him was greater. She wanted him too. His slightest glance sent her blood racing, his touch made her weak, and his kisses she could not resist. She didn’t hate him, she couldn’t. For all the years since the rescue on the Mitzpah, that one brief encounter, she had loved him and now she was his. Jessica knew fate meant for Xerxes and her to be together. She thought about the old myths she had studied as part of her education to become an archaeologist. The Fates could be cruel and hard taskmasters, and just like the myths of old, their paths ran together closely, touching repeatedly, too often for mere chance or coincidences. It was Xerxes’ fate to dive on the Mitzpah on the day, as it was for her and her family. It was her fate to find the Pyramid. Jessica’s strange dreams of him and their meeting at the mall where they had just stared at each other could not have been a coincidence. Had Xerxes not been predestined to save her from the Aztecs, she was sure she would have died at their hands.
His kisses on her neck and shoulders were distracting her, sending all logical thought from her mind. His lips teased hers, and her blood heated. Jessica’s lips took his and she became the aggressor. She slipped her hands beneath his shirt, her hands caressing his lean muscles, pushing the shirt up, over his heavy biceps, and over his head. She met his eyes and the desire there reflected in her own eyes.
Xerxes speculated if Jessica knew the moment, her silken, perfumed, muscular arms slipped around him, that he became her captive. He knew he loved her, and had for a long time. Watching her from a distance, praying for the time when their lives would touch. At last that time came. Xerxes’ arms surrounded Jessica and he held her tight to kiss her neck and breasts. With deft fingers, he unbuttoned the simple dress she wore and pushed it from her luscious body, Jessica wasn’t one of the skinny, thin women, so popular with the boys of the upper-world, she was a rounded, muscularly fit woman, comfortable to a man’s hand. He nuzzled each precious nipple until she gasped. With one hand still holding her tightly, his other smoothed over her shapely body to move over her buttocks and slip between her legs, Jessica groaned when Xerxes’ hand found the hot, wet well of her sex. Gently he spread the honey of her body through her nether lips, and the tight curls of her pubic mound. Jessica moved closer, though Xerxes had not thought that possible. Jessica was anxious for his touch, and her mouth found his in a fiery kiss, her tongue seared his. Xerxes became lightheaded and he eased them to the bed.
Since the previous night, her hands had become less shy, and they roamed over his body. She had never touched a man’s body in a lover’s embrace before their wedding night, and his defined muscles were a source of wonder to Jessica. Touching with her hands no longer satisfied her, and she placed kisses along his sculpted physique causing his breath to come in short gasps from her explorations. As Jessica became bolder, her slender, delicate fingers caressed Xerxes’ body and caused a sigh to slip from his lips as he teased her right nipple with his tongue. Xerxes looked into Jessica’s flushed face, his aquamarine eyes becoming a deep sea green of turbulent passion. She marveled at the color his eyes became in his passion for her, and drew his lips to hers.
“I hungered for your lips and didn’t know it after you came to my tent.” Jessica whispered, “I didn’t understand the sensations that upset me so badly that night.”
Xerxes covered her lips with his, possessing her entire being. “I will always be at your disposal in the future,” he responded in a hoarse voice full of humor.
Jessica protested when he stopped, but Xerxes lips lightly kissed her throat down over her breast to her tight belly to tease her navel, then lower - his hot breath blowing gently through the tangle of dark red curls where his fingers had pleasured only moments past.
“Xerxes!” Jessica protested as his hands parted her legs and slipped a masculine hand to pleasure her delicate femininity, followed by his kisses.
“Hush!” His voice was a low and husky command, as his short kisses sent waves of delights washing through her body. She moaned in her pleasure, her fingers running through his long blonde hair as he moved once more upward over her belly. “There are many pleasures you have yet to learn, my yet innocent wife.” Xerxes told her, looking down into her half closed eyes. Xerxes took his wife slowly, merging gently with her, watching her eyes become a redder brown as he filled her.
“I love you!” He whispered to her, stopping for a short, sweet moment before he began to propel them both into a secret place, hidden in the treasures of lost paradises, where no other human could ever find but them. For Jessica, their journey was a voyage of heightening ecstasy that left her wrapped safely in Xerxes arms and looking into those wonderful eyes that told her she was safe. Smiling, he kissed her and she slept for a time, knowing again that place of peace she would never have believed possible.
Xerxes had to leave her for a time later that day. When he came back to his suite, he found the salon empty, and an uneasy feeling assaulted him, only to be relieved moments later when he found his wife, clad in her undergarments, surrounded by five gowns laid out over the bed and bedroom chairs.
