"I have never left my dome and now thanks to you, it's gone."

He held her arm as he hunted through his cupboard, drawing out a shirt. He flung it at her. "That'll have to do for the moment, 89 Violet Visions until I program the dispenser."

He watched as she drew the shirt around her, her slender fingers pressure-sealing the garment.

"Thank you," she said.

"It's only temporary," Reilly said. "I'll have it off you soon enough. We can enjoy the trip back to Earth."

"No!" she said. "I don't..."

Reilly studied her downcast face. "You don't what?"

She lifted her chin. "I don't allow men to touch me. Ever."

"Ah...so the s.e.x was an illusion? But why?"

"I gave them what they wanted. While they slept, I stole what I could."

"An honest thief, if nothing else."

She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing. "The end justifies the means, isn't that what you earthers say?"

"Not in my jurisdiction. The end never justifies the means."

"I stole enough from each to pay...for the release of my people. There are so few of us left and those who survived the war, were held for ransom."

Reilly folded his arms. "Where are you from?"

"My star system no longer exists. Venaris. Do you know it?"

Reilly frowned. Venaris. A legend. A world of s.e.x-witches...the world of the succubae-women who ruled through s.e.x, through the illusions and the promises... so the tales went. "If what you say is true, you could have appealed to the Galactic League for a.s.sistance, not..."

"We never ask for help from strangers."

"No, you just f.u.c.k 'em and steal from 'em and then leave 'em.

I don't think much of your ethics."

"I don't have s.e.x with aliens."

"At least not physically." He paused. "I named you appropriately, Carmen."

90.

eXtasy's Collective Mind "How so?"

"Carmen was a wh.o.r.e, she lied and cheated and died because of it."

"You think so little of me?"

Reilly shrugged. "What does it matter what I think?"

"You saved my life. There is a debt between us."

"I was only doing my job. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Reilly stalked past her and returned to the console, plugged into the com link and started sending his dispatches. He carefully left out the s.e.x.

By the time he made planet fall, the legals would have been sorted-it would only require the presence of the defendant- Carmen-to have the file closed. Her sentence? Factors in mitigation? h.e.l.l, no telling what the justiciary would make of her.

After the justiciary, she'd probably be released to the Galactic Diplomatic Service, and after that, more bureaucracy. The thought gave Reilly a pounding headache. Red-tape and bureaucracy...the other cops wondered why he took the longest missions. Why? To get as far away from officialdom as he could.

To be on his own, free among the stars, answering to none. One couldn't measure freedom unless one had seen the stars up close...

He swiveled in his seat and saw her, sitting at the opposite side of the cabin.

"Your people...the ones left," he said. "Do you know where they're being held?"

"There are ten star systems, each has custody of five ... what do you call us? Witches?"

"Succubus...a woman to answer the dreams of any man... If half of what I've heard is true..." He gazed at her. "Are you telling me there are only fifty of your kind left?" Her eyes flooded with tears. Ah h.e.l.l! He hated it when women cried. "Lady, that 91 Violet Visions must've been one h.e.l.luva war."

"We died to be free," she said. "They came to enslave us, to use us for the s.e.x-dreams, to channel the illusions to their own perversions." Her gaze locked with his. "And our dreams can be used to control-to destroy. We died so that others would be free. There is one other who escaped her imprisonment...but I have lost contact with her. She was our Queen."

Reilly tapped his fingers on the console. "You can find them?"

"Yes."

Reilly sighed. "I guess my first duty is to rescue the dreamers and take you all back to terra-let the diplomats sort it."

She lifted her gaze to his. "You would do this for me? After what I tried to do to you?"

Reilly laughed. "Honey, I enjoyed the illusion you gave me. I pay my debts."

"As I," she said and rose slowly to her feet. She walked forward and came to stand in front of him. Her trembling fingers threaded through his hair. "Your hair is the color of s.p.a.ce," she said. "So dark."

Reilly caught her hand. "Don't do that." But he felt his gut tighten, his c.o.c.k harden in the arousal even as he fought to suppress it. He'd been too long without a real woman.

"You smell of s.e.x," she said. "I have heard humans are very responsive."

"Yeah, with the right stimulation we can go all night."

She smiled. "Us, too."

"The illusion, you mean?"

"No, flesh to flesh. Illusions are fun, but nothing compared to the real thing."

"My sentiments exactly." He put her firmly from him. "Give me the co-ordinates, so I can put the ship on our rescue mission."

92.

eXtasy's Collective Mind "It will take months..."

"Then the sooner we begin."

"Don't you have to report to your superiors?"

"Out here I'm answerable to no one. The co-ordinates if you please."

Reilly tapped them in and sat back in his seat, his mind awhirl. There would be h.e.l.l to pay when he got back home, but with a ship full of rescued dreamers, well, he would escape the reprimand, h.e.l.l he might even get a medal. He smiled at the thought.

He turned in his seat, but Carmen was no longer in the cabin.

He followed her scent, finding her in the shower alcove. He watched the play of light over her body, the lasers cleaning and ma.s.saging her golden flesh.

She turned to him, enquiringly.

"Sorry," he said, holding up his hands.

She reached out and drew one of his hands to her cheek.

"This cubicle reminds me of home-the lights-all the colors of the spectrum. Come here, Reilly. If not now, then you will soon.

It is going to be a long trip and you will succ.u.mb..."

"You've got one opinion of yourself, Carmen."

"I am what I am, as you are, Reilly. You want me and I want you. What else is there?"

"A h.e.l.luva lot."

"We have months to discover what else, but for now, we will have the s.e.x."

"We will?" His heart thudded in his chest and his c.o.c.k throbbed.

She reached out to cup his rigidity. "Good. Please take off your clothes, Reilly. Unless you are shy?"

He laughed at that. "I stopped being shy when I was ten."

He unzipped his boots and then his suit, kicking all aside.

93.

Violet Visions "Do you like what you see?" he asked huskily.

"You are all contours and contradictions-smooth, harsh, but beautiful."

"I've never been called beautiful," he said, stepping into the cubicle, taking her into his arms.

His mouth descended over hers. At first her response was shy, then as he felt her lean into him, he captured her mouth, devouring her, drinking deep. His tongue probed inside her mouth, exploring, capturing her tongue in a sinuous dance of retreat and thrust.

His fingers slipped down her spine, resting at the tip of her b.u.t.tocks, he gently scratched and ma.s.saged. The laser warmed and flowed around them, bathing their skin in rainbow hues. Her fingers knotted in his hair and held him tight, savoring him.

Reilly gently probed a finger between her l.a.b.i.a, finding her c.l.i.toris.

"You are like a human woman," he said.

"We are kindred."

"I don't..."

"Hush," she said. "I will tell you all I know, but for now, this is all we must speak of." She fastened her fist around his c.o.c.k, a finger gently pressing into his swollen b.a.l.l.s. She stroked and probed, the gentleness with the harshness, theirs a union of contrasts as he plunged a finger, then two into her wetness.

She lifted her leg and drew it across his back, holding him prisoner as he plundered and devoured.

"I like what you do," she said. "Much better than any illusion."

"We haven't started yet."

"No?"

"No!" Reilly kissed her face, her lips, nibbled her earlobe. He lifted her up into his arms and carried her the short distance to 94 eXtasy's Collective Mind his cot. He lay her upon it, kneeling between her spread legs.

"I'm going to lick you all over, taste you, know all there is to know of you, Carmen. Then you can do the same for me."

"I'll do much more than that!"

Reilly felt the faintest touch of her mind upon his-a caress that was so intimate it took his breath away, nearly stalling his heart. His gut tightened, his c.o.c.k throbbed in time with the beat of his heart, the pounding of it reaching his temples.

In that union, he became one with her, felt the desire and the excitement and the clamoring of her own much needed release.