Chapter fifteen:
Celestia knew that she was attracted to Jason, but until the moment she saw him again for the first time after being captured, she didn’t realize that she cared for him as well. After telling him everything that had happened to her in the last month she decided she wasn’t going to hide it. Celestia moved back next to Jason and laid her head on his left shoulder. She saw the brief look of surprise on his face when she did so. She snuggled closer, sighed and closed her eyes. Celestia smiled a bit when she felt Jason reach up and wrap his arms around her.
She thought about what Jason had told her. Apparently he had been tested and run through the same interrogations they had done to her. She wondered if he had been subjected to the same drug that she found uncomfortable because of how it stimulated you. Celestia also wondered what Jared had done to Jason, when she had mentioned his name Jason had shuddered and looked away. She thought he had looked frightened, but she wasn’t sure. She pushed the thought from her mind. The Versilan’s might never allow her to see Jason again and she didn’t want to spoil their time together by dwelling on their situation.
Celestia didn’t even realize she had dozed off in Jason’s arms until she felt him stiffen and clutch her protectively. When she opened her eyes she saw that Jason was looking towards the door. Never had she seen such a terrified look on his face. Celestia turned and when she saw what had frightened Jason she felt cold all over. Instinctively she tried to move backwards and as a result she slipped and fell off the side of the bed to land on the floor. Terrified she watched as Jared walked over towards her. To her surprise he reached over and helped her stand back up.
Jared smiled and said, “The doctor tells me that the tests on you two are complete. On her recommendation and as a reward for cooperating I’ve decided to move both of you to better quarters as you both will be coming with us when we leave this system.” Jared paused for a moment and continued, “I’ll also remove the disruptor restrains and arrange it so your time working with Nathan is together. I suggest you both continue to cooperate as you will never be allowed to return to Earth.”
Celestia paled at the thought of never being allowed to go home. She had known it would come to this, but it still hurt to hear it. The door opened again and several guards entered. Jason’s disruptor restraints had already been removed and one of the guards came over and removed the ones fastened to Celestia.
“Follow me,” Jared said.
Both Celestia and Jason followed Jared out of the sickbay flanked by the two guards who had entered. He took them to the new quarters for Celestia first. When the door opened Celestia was surprised at how spacious and luxurious the new quarters were. It was more like a small apartment with a living room. There appeared to be a small terminal for ordering food, there was a table with several chairs next to it. There were two sofas and several footstools and she could see doors to two additional rooms. One of the rooms was a spacious bathroom with an actually bathtub big enough for two people. And the bedroom hosted a huge bed big enough for two people as well!
Jared took them through the room explaining how things worked. In the main front room there was a huge screen on one wall that could be used to display their current location in space or a mural of their choosing or it could be used with the computer workstation in the corner as a bigger screen if they wished. Celestia wondered if she would actually be allowed access to the computer system.
Jared smiled to himself as he watched Celestia and Jason’s puzzled expressions. Once again the doctor impressed him. Not just because he would enjoy having Jason so close to him but also because the better quarters would effectively remove some of the feelings of being a prisoner. As an expert interrogator he knew the effect of being treated more like an equal would unbalance them and make it harder for them on an emotional level. Especially once they realized that the only one on the ship with better quarters was the Commander.
“For now only the Commander, Doctor and I will be able to open your door. Continued cooperation will result in that restriction being lifted as well. For today you both will be left in your quarters, take time to explore them so you will know where everything is. Everything has already been provided for you. You will even be allowed limited access to the computer system,” Jared turned to face Jason and continued, “Your quarters will be the one next to this one, other than a few of the colors it is identical to this one.” Jared turned to leave and his two guards motioned to Jason to follow.
Celestia watched as the door shut behind them when they left. She felt uneasy about Jason being alone with Jared, though she wasn’t sure if it was because she was worried about what he would do to him or if it was because she didn’t want to be separated from him. On some level she had wanted him to stay even if it meant sharing the same quarters. Celestia sat down on one of the sofas. Maybe later she would explore the quarters more, right now she was feeling too confused by the sudden change of the restraints being removed and being assigned to quarters that to her seemed way to luxurious even for an officer.
When Jared dismissed the two guards and Jason realized it meant they were alone while Jared showed him around the new quarters, he nearly fainted. Although it had been a month since he last saw Jared, Jason realized that being near him was worse than it was before. He was beyond terrified and honestly wondered how his heart could keep going. If he had realized just how terrible it had been for his sister when the stalker plagued her he would have hunted the man down and killed him. No one should ever have to be tormented like this. Even if Jared never touched him, though he doubted that he would be left alone, he and others like him should die for their crimes. Jason promised himself that if he ever did get free, not only would he apologize to her but he would also make sure that she never had to worry about the stalker bothering her again.
Now he understood why victims of rape and violent crimes often killed their attackers, how could one possibly continue with the knowledge that they weren’t safe? If the feeling of terror and disgust was this bad just from the implication of being used then it must be beyond horrible to actually be attacked. It didn’t help that he knew he was no match for him. Nathan had told him that Jared wasn’t interested in women, but somehow he got the feeling that Jared would enjoy hurting her too. Jason couldn’t help but tremble a bit, if he resisted Celestia would most likely be hurt as well, and he knew it wouldn’t do him any good, as Jared would get what he wanted anyway.
Jared smiled as he watched Jason struggle to hide his fear of him. He would do as the doctor recommended and wait until she cleared him for what he had in mind, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy himself in the meantime. He would have preferred to use the drugs, but he was patient, he could wait until then to make Jason his. But first he would make sure he understood exactly where he stood.
Jared moved towards Jason, he smiled when he saw Jason’s look of panic. He continued until Jason had his back to a wall. He waited a moment, then moved until he was so close they were touching. Jason shuddered when he felt Jared run his hands along his back and then pull him even closer to him. He turned his face to the side but Jared moved his hand up along his back and grabbed the hair along the backside of his head.
Jared forced Jason’s head back until they were facing again and said, “I talked to you before about cooperation, I may not care for women, but I have no problem including Celestia if you feel the need to resist.”
Jason shuddered again and closed his eyes. He couldn’t stop the few tears that escaped and ran down his cheeks. With his free hand Jared undid Jason’s shirtfront and then ran his hands along the bare skin of his back. He held him close with one hand behind his back and used the other to hold Jason’s chin forcing him to look into his eyes.
Jared said, “Remember what I said as I won’t repeat myself the next time.” He released Jason and left.
Jason knees gave out and he sank to the floor. He leaned back against the wall and shook. He didn’t even try to stop the tears that came. Now he knew why Jared had allowed him to see Celestia. He was making sure Jason knew what would happen if he didn’t do what he demanded. If someone had told him that one day he would face the reality of being raped and used by another man he would have never believed him or her. He would rather die than cooperate yet the thought that he might touch Celestia sickened him in a way he didn’t fully understand.
Jason got up and went into the bedroom to hunt for a change of clothes; his encounter with Jared had left him feeling dirty and unclean. He wanted a bath so bad he could taste it.
