Clockwork Memories: Book Three in the Memory Thief Series Read online

  I clasped him to me, not wanting to let him go. I missed him already.

  “Marry me,” he entreated.

  I shook my head. “I can’t marry someone who intends to leave me.”

  “If you love me as you say, you must marry me.”

  When I didn’t answer, he kissed me again. He unknotted the ties of the Jomon style tunic and slipped it over my head. This wasn’t very proper, but I didn’t stop him. I wanted him, and I wanted him to stay. Perhaps he would if he seduced me. It was a lie I told myself, but a pleasant lie.

  His breath whispered against my naked skin, warming me before dissolving into a chill of goosebumps. He rubbed his fingers up and down my arms.

  “Please stay.” I laced my fingers through his dark mane of hair. “You can live with me in the village. We can make the Tanukijin accept you. If you loved me, you’d stay.” I kissed his cheeks, his beard tickling my face as I did so.

  He secured the blankets around us. His head dipped below the furs, kissing his way between my naked breasts and across my belly. He nipped and nibbled at my flesh as though tasting me. One of his hands slipped under my skirts, stroking up my thigh. Warmth tingled in my core.

  He smiled knowingly. “By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll be begging for me to marry you.”

  He pressed his lips to mine, cutting off any objection. He stroked me between the legs. A spike of desire shot through me. I felt wet and slippery as he massaged me. He pushed a finger inside me and I gasped. I’d never experienced feeling so full inside. He pulled out and pushed in again. I found myself arching my hips to meet his touch.

  “Will you have me now?” he asked.

  “I told you already.” I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my words. No easy task with the way he cupped my breasts and kissed them with such ardor. He circled his tongue around my nipple, making the tender flesh swell and pucker.

  “I told you I will have you if you stay,” I said. “I will marry you if—”

  He touched a finger to my lips. “No, no, mon amour. Will you have me?” He pressed his groin against me. The hardness of him against me sent a thrill down to my core.

  He fumbled under the covers. I realized a moment later he’d pushed down his trousers. His naked erection pressed against my maidenhead. He leaned against me, teasing me with the pressure of him and then leaving, making me throb with wanting.

  He eased his way into me. My breath caught in my throat. A mixture of pleasure and pain filled me. He watched my face, his expression unreadable. He withdrew and stroked me again. I closed my eyes and sank into the ecstasy of it. A pulse of pleasure radiated from inside me. It built like drifts of snow. It buried me until all I knew was the sensation of his touch. He thrust inside me again. I cried out in pleasure. He plunged deeper and the throbbing in my core radiated more intensely. The warmth in me flared so strongly I thought I was on fire. A sharp spasm washed over me. It was as though a spaceship exploded inside me. But unlike the real spaceship that had erupted into fire and left my face and arm scarred and in pain, these flames consumed me in rapture.

  The zeal of the moment died away.

  He collapsed beside me and drew me into his arms. “I’ll fetch the captain. You will marry me and let me make an honest woman out of you. N’est-ce pas?”

  “Yes,” I said. “But only if you promise to do that again.”

  He laughed and so did I. I didn’t want him to go. I couldn’t stop him, but at least he would be mine and no one else’s. He would return to me, and then we would be free to leave together.

  Darkness closed in on me. The memory slipped away. I could feel myself speeding further from this place in his mind, a void left by the absence of this memory. My consciousness moved along a miniature maze away from Jacques and toward my own mind. I was so warm and relaxed I wanted to savor this memory. I wanted to rest in the sanctuary of his arms. He stirred beside me and sighed. In a moment I would completely be back in my own body. I would be myself again if he broke the connection where his hands were pressed to my bosom.

  But I wasn’t done. I had more to see. I couldn’t allow the drowsy lull of the memory moss to dull my mind. I’d been careless. I hadn’t maintained the control necessary to steal memories of my choosing.

  I moved my hands over his own, keeping them pressed to my chest. I focused on drawing the river of memories into myself. For a moment it felt as though I fought against a rushing current. I pushed my way back inside of him, gaining an inch and then another. The memory moss warmed on my collarbone. I breathed in the lavender-citrus-mint and let the fragrance carry me away.

  I went back to that void where the memory had been inside him and traveled toward the present. This time I was more attentive. I sank into a memory, but I didn’t lose myself completely. I guarded my thoughts and kept myself from becoming him. I watched through his eyes, but I wasn’t him. I was myself enough to realize I’d gone too far forward.

  Jacques stood at attention in the captain’s private quarters, something that must have taken place mere hours ago. “Might I speak freely, capitaine?” He spoke quickly in French, but the meaning of his words flowed easily into me.

  He towered above Captain Jeanfreau who looked small as he leaned back in a chair at his desk. The lenses of his bionic eyes dilated as he stared up at Jacques’ face. “Have I ever been able to stop you before?” The captain looked haggard, but much the same as when I’d seen him in my own body only hours before.

  “Have you considered the danger you are putting the ship in? Lord Klark isn’t one to meddle with. If he suspects you intend to double-cross him, he will punish us all for your treachery. The mere fact that you demand a reward for the return of his son and daughter-in-law will be seen as insult enough.”

  “My dear, commander, I know what I’m doing. I didn’t make it to the position of captain by being an imbecile.” He laughed.

  Many ranks and titles had been bought by rich imbeciles and it was likely he fell into that category. Jacques dipped his head in apology. “Oui, of course, sir. I only meant that it might be in the ship’s best interest to send a small party to meet Lord Klark. Send a few junior officers along with them. That way you do not endanger yourself or this vessel.”

  Jeanfreau frowned. “This matter is far too important to send junior officers.”

  A thrill of satisfaction coursed through Jacques. The captain had taken the bait. “Perhaps, but is such a diversion worth risking our mission? Is it worth risking your safety?”

  Captain Jeanfreau scratched the stubble of his beard. “Hmm. I will have to weigh this matter and think about who might best serve his country most loyally.”

  A stuffy British voice interrupted in English, “If I might be permitted to make a suggestion.” Out of the shadows stepped Charbonneau.

  A jolt of surprise shot through me. I hadn’t seen the old man there. As Jacques gave no indication of astonishment at seeing Charbonneau, I assumed he must have known him to be present the entire time. It was hard to tell without diving deeper into the memory, and I feared if I did so I might not be able to maintain the distance I needed for control.

  Jacques looked down at Lord Klark’s manservant as he teetered forward with the support of a cane. The captain waved a hand at the older man in a show of indifference.

  Charbonneau bowed his head, ever the picture of subservience. I delved a little deeper into Jacques’ mind, struggling to maintain control. This spy succeeded where all others have failed, he thought. Jacques’ mind was like the sucking mud of a swamp. It was difficult to pull away.

  “Might I suggest Commander Bleu?” Charbonneau asked. “He has proven most perceptive in these matters thus far.”

  Relief flooded through me. The feeling wasn’t my own and it took a moment to realize it came from Jacques. He had been counting on Charbonneau to suggest him for the job.

  I was so confused. I had thought Charbonneau to be Lord Klark’s agent. After all, it was Lord
Klark who had commanded him to bring disease to Aynu-Mosir and try to contaminate the native citizens with plague. Now the dirty turncoat appeared to be working with the French, or at the very least, with Jacques.

  Captain Jeanfreau eyed Jacques with disapproval. “No, not with your history. Lord Klark will recognize you at once and kill you. Then I will have lost my best man.”

  “Oui, of course, capitaine. You always know best in such matters.” He smiled, hiding the seething inside him. Lord Klark wouldn’t dare kill him. He needed him, lest he’d have no one spying for him inside the French navy, but the captain didn’t know that. There had to be another way to convince the captain.

  Charbonneau cleared his throat. “Be that as it may, if you would be so kind to allow me to speak on your behalf, I might be able to clear up this misunderstanding with his lordship. In a gesture of contrition and goodwill, you might consider returning the red diamonds you appropriated. After all, you have the true prize.”

  Captain Jeanfreau cackled. “Who needs the eggs when one has the hens instead?”

  “Indeed.” Jacques agreed. Visions of wealth danced before his eyes.

  I realized they knew the secret of the red diamonds, or chiramantep stones as the Jomon called them. No wonder they had been so anxious to feed the animals and keep them so well cared for. They intended to use them to harvest the stones now that they knew the secret. I felt bad for the bear-like creatures. The remainder of their life with be spent in torture. They would be fed memory moss and then be in pain as their bodies produced the red diamonds needed for interstellar travel.

  Then again, I wasn’t sure if the French understood that the chiramantep wouldn’t produce kidney stones with the properties of gems without the memory moss. I continued soaking in the memory, hoping I would find out more.

  “Just so. Those blue beasts are all you need to ensure the wealth of our country,” Charbonneau said. I thought I detected the slightest hint of a French accent, something I hadn’t noticed he’d possessed before.

  Was it only a day ago Sumiko had pointed out the old man’s surname was French? How could I have missed this detail previously? There were spies everywhere, and turncoats, the lot of them. I didn’t know who to trust now. I’d known Charbonneau to be a double-crossing scoundrel, but I still didn’t have Jacques figured out. So what if he was Lord Klark’s spy pretending to be a French spy? Or vice versa. The only detail of importance was whether he was on my side or not. If he had told the truth to me and intended to kill Lord Klark so that my sister and my family would be safe from his destruction, then I could tolerate the rest of his deceptions. Not that it meant I was wholly pleased to be his wife yet, but I didn’t see I had an easy way out of that.

  I wanted to dive more deeply into his perspective and see the situation more fully, but I was too much in my own head now. The scene around me faded into darkness and I fought to stay in the tide of memories. A current as black as the vacuum of space swept by me, pushing me back. I fought it, reaching toward the twinkle of memory in the river-like labyrinth.

  I sank into the light.

  Jacques grabbed the arm of a dark-skinned boy in a flat cap, shaking him hard enough the cap went flying off. His voice came out a snarl. “Hear me, you little devil. You will stop fiddling around and finish the machine.”

  I was swept up in a wave of fury. It took a moment to realize Jacques didn’t sound French, but British.

  “Blimey! I’m trying, sir,” the young man said. His black eyes were round with fear as he stared up into Jacques’ face. From his high-pitched voice, I wasn’t sure if he was a young man or woman, but the hair was much too short to be a girl’s and the clothes weren’t appropriate either.

  “Not trying hard enough. You know what will happen if you don’t do as I bid.” The cruelty in his tone made me want to distance myself and depart from this moment, yet I couldn’t, and continued to watch in fascinated loathing.

  The young man swallowed. “If you’d only give me a bit more time. Just when I got my mind wrapped around what you wanted done with the hyperdrive, it’s bloody difficult to switch to this clockwork memory machine just like that. Plus, you’ve got to understand, neither contraption is my specialty. This alien machinery don’t make no sense, sir.” His voice shook with fear.

  The young man wasn’t one of the Jomon. His skin was as brown as tree bark. I suspected he was a Negro or a native colonist from another world, but I hadn’t been to any other worlds besides Aynu-Mosir, and I didn’t know for certain.

  “I don’t want to hear any more excuses from you. You will finish this, or I will tell everyone about your little … secret.”

  “Please, sir, I’ll finish it. Just let me see my little girl. That’s all I ask. It would relieve my nerves if I knew she was all right.”

  “Not until you show me some progress.”

  I surfaced from the memory, Jacques’ mind a black flowing river before me again. Sparks of light flashed, and I swam to one. I was pulled down. Meriwether stood before me, a slender youth of no more than eighteen. He smiled brightly. The idea of seeing Meriwether in Jacques’ memories startled me so thoroughly I recoiled from the moment and fell back into the flowing labyrinth of his mind. I fought to return to that place and see how Jacques had known Meriwether, but I couldn’t slip below the surface. I had the sense I was falling away from him.

  My mind became conscious of my own body again. I sank beside him on the bed in exhausted. It was hard to remember what had been so important about all that I’d been set on accomplishing.

  “Mon Dieu! I feel so strange.” He stirred beside me. “Did I return your memories?”

  “One of them.” I yawned.

  He nuzzled his face against my neck. “Hmm. Perhaps we shall try again?”

  I sighed in contentment. The memory moss made me want to sleep more than anything else.

  “What was it that you wanted to give me? There was something, no?” He reached for the memory moss.

  “I don’t recall.” I closed my eyes and savored his hands on the bare flesh of my arms. His mouth nibbled my neck. I squeezed him closer. When his lips found mine I drank him in. I would have given him anything he asked for.

  “Perhaps it was something about Meriwether Klark you wished to share? You wanted me to see his weakness, no?”

  I had no desire to resist his arms hugging me to him. It had never experienced this level of familiar comfort when Meriwether had tried to seduce me. I had felt awkward and clumsy. Each time, I had been uncomfortable, and when I had relaxed enough to be intimate, the memory moss could be to blame. Jacques’ arms around me were as natural and welcome as an old blanket on a winter night. And was it any surprise? He was my husband, and my soul had known it was wrong to break the vows of marriage.

  “You want me to avenge your father’s death, n’est-ce pas?” Jacques asked. “You want me to save your sister from Lord Klark? Then you must share anything Meriwether Klark has told you about Lord Klark.” He smeared the green paste over my palms and fingers.

  The moss tingled against my skin. It was so warm and inviting I yearned to melt into it. I resisted being pulled into the blissful relaxation.

  It was the mention of my sister that helped ground me. He was lying. He only wanted me to believe my sister was in Lord Klark’s keeping. He had never intended to return my memories or help me. This had all been one elaborate lie to gain my trust.

  He pressed my hands to his chest. I focused on the sensation of drawing him into me. His eyes lulled closed. I would have fallen into the dark current in his mind and taken another memory, but the door swished open, interrupting us.

  Meriwether Klark rushed in. He was unshaven and bruised, but alive. My heart skipped a beat.

  “Dear Lord, have we come too late?” Meriwether smacked Jacques on the back of the head with a laser pistol. “My precious Faith, are you all right?”

  Of all the vexing times to be rescued!

  Chapter
Twelve

  Lord Klark, I believe I have something you want. If you’ll be so kind to meet me at the following coordinates, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

  —hyperspeed message from Commander Jacques Bleu

  Jacques toppled onto me, pining me against the bed with his large frame. I could scarcely breathe, let alone think clearly at the moment. Meriwether hastened to my aid. Jacques was so heavy it took the two of us to push him off. I managed to smear memory moss onto Jacques and Meriwether both, making our handholds on the man slippery and slimy. Midway through rolling him off, Jacques moaned and twitched. Meriwether stopped what he was doing and hit him on the head again. The thump sounded oddly metallic, but I was in no state of mind to think upon it. I was preoccupied with pushing him away from me.

  “Faith, my love?” Meriwether whispered. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m fine. I just—” I was so out of breath I could hardly speak.

  A second figure darted through the door. “That will take care of them until they realize we’ve escaped,” Sumiko said. She fumbled through the darkness before turning on a light.

  The warm glow from my vanity made me blink after being in the semi-darkness for such a lengthy amount of time. Meriwether’s hair fell into his eyes. His cheek was marred with blue. He raised his laser pistol at Jacques’ head.

  “No!” I shouted. “Please, you can’t kill him.”

  Meriwether tilted his head. “Why ever not? You don’t want this to be like a bad Gothic novel where the hero is too merciful to kill the villain and he comes back later to get them, do you?”

  I swallowed. There was no logical reason to let him live. Not that I’d had the enjoyment of reading many Gothic novels, but what Meriwether said did sound sensible. And yet, my heart couldn’t bear the idea of killing Jacques even if he was a scoundrel.