His hunger for one woman will make him a traitor to his world…
Outlawed Realm, Book 1 From a portal in his lab on E2, one of the five dimensions of Earth, quantum physicist Nikoli Zorr gazes on everything forbidden to him. Passion. Desire. The exquisite pleasure of running his hands over the lush curves of a young woman he should have stopped watching weeks ago. His duty is to close the portals that keep the monsters out of E2—and never interfere with the inevitable fate of those on the other side. Yet he can’t bring himself to abandon the woman who has captured his soul. Psychologist Regina Page is trying to keep her mind on her client, and off the mysterious, unbearable sexual cravings that consume her when she’s alone in her bedroom. The next moment she’s attacked by vampires, then swept into another realm by a stranger whose touch awakens that same raw desire. Whose eyes are already filled with farewell. Yet beneath their undeniable carnal lust, something else stirs. The beginnings of illicit love. The unexpected need to protect him. Even if it means risking body, blood and soul to defeat the merciless horde…for a future that was never meant to be.
Warning: Contains a repressed scientist who likes to look, and the woman who delights in unleashing his inner caveman. And sex hot enough to burn a hole in all three dimensions…and maybe create a whole new one.
eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. Samhain Publishing, Ltd. 11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B Cincinnati OH 45249 Unending Desire Copyright © 2011 by Tina Donahue ISBN: 978-1-60928-540-1 Edited by Linda Ingmanson Cover by Scott Carpenter All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: October 2011 www.samhainpublishing.com
Unending Desire Tina Donahue
Dedication
To one-of-a-kind guys who are out of this world.
Chapter One
Undetected, Nikoli Zorr watched the woman sleep. His heartbeat continued to quicken, sending waves of warmth through his body. He whispered her name. “Regina Page.” A surge of pleasure weakened Nikoli’s limbs, awakening desire controlled for too long, giving him a taste of what it was like to be nothing more than a man. A creature of touch, taste, sight, sound, passion. Heat built in his groin. Desire flooded his thoughts. Behind him and to each side, monitors hummed, their lights blinking in response, reminders of his duty. Too easily, Nikoli ignored his responsibility and dared to whisper her first name again, testing the feel of it on his lips, embracing the sound, his attention riveted to the scene the portal between their dimensions revealed. Pearly morning light seeped past her bedroom’s filmy curtains. A steady rain greeted another Seattle morning, the water flowing in uneven ridges down the window’s glass. Regina’s dark lashes rested on her smooth cheeks. Her plush lips, tinted a soft rose, were parted slightly, her lovely features untroubled. Nikoli sensed she wasn’t dreaming. He knew she had no idea of the danger she faced tonight. His chest tightened at the horror of what today would bring to her if he didn’t intervene. Events Sazaar had put into motion weeks before when she’d crossed over to Regina’s side—a realm forbidden to all on E2. Searching for passion…for love…Sazaar had found Andris and a lingering death instead. Before fear and anger got the better of him at what Sazaar had done, Nikoli suppressed his emotions just as he’d been trained to do throughout his life. Only yearning for Regina remained. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to. He regarded her lush mouth, the inviting temptation of her lips, the delicate sweep of her cheek, slender brows, her auburn hair brushed away from her cheek, the ends spilling over her snowy pillow and the side of the mattress. His lids slid down to narrow slits. He craved her as he had nothing else in his life. No, it hadn’t been a life but an existence. And now he realized what he’d missed, wanting her more than food, water, safety or honor. Wanting her to be with him.
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Images unwound in Nikoli’s mind of Regina straddling his body, draping her torso over his, the firm tips of her nipples brushing his chest, her reddish locks sweeping past his shoulders. In his thoughts, he saw her face above his, her smile welcoming, seductive, her passion free and reckless as she edged closer, teasing the seam of his lips with her tongue, spearing the hot, wet tip into his mouth, filling it, exploring. A sound he’d never made before escaped Nikoli’s throat. He focused on the picture his thoughts created, building upon the scene. He could almost feel the intense heat of her body, the slick depths of her cunt hugging his cock, offering it a home, a place of delight and refuge where he could— A sudden, steady wail cut through the space between their dimensions, chasing the scenes from his mind. Her alarm clock continued to shriek, the noise subdued on this side by the portal’s barrier. Eyes still closed, Regina flung her arm to the clock, her fingers fumbling blindly to shut off the noise. Nikoli smiled at her muffled oath. He watched as she threw back the covers and left the bed. On tiptoes, arms lifted above her, she stretched, her movements supple and sinuous. Nikoli swallowed. He stared at her dark green nightgown, the hem fluttering above her satiny thighs. Raindrops zigzagged down the window, creating faint shadows on her pale skin. He pulled his attention from them, watching the ends of Regina’s hair dangling past her shoulders. Without thinking, Nikoli reached out, his hand seeking the glossy strands, his fingers touching nothing but sterile air. Air hissed through his teeth. Arms lowered, Regina slipped the nightgown’s narrow straps past her shoulders. The silky fabric slid over the gentle swell of her breasts, catching briefly on her nipples before drifting to her waist. Partially bared, she turned her face to the window, the dreary day. Focused on her ripe flesh, Nikoli told himself he should turn away, knowing he would not. He feasted on her beauty, the succulent contours of her breasts, full and weighty, large enough to fill a man’s hands. His. He regarded the curve of her belly, the lavish flare of her hips. Regina wiggled them, encouraging her nightgown to fall past her thighs and pool at her feet. Stepping out of the garment, she grabbed her hair in both hands, twisting then lifting the locks from her shoulders. Nikoli’s mouth went dry. He forced down a swallow as he regarded the delicate curls between her legs, slightly darker than her other hair. Her belly rippled each time she inhaled. After a brief yawn, she turned and padded toward the bath. Unwilling to bear even more separation between them, Nikoli stepped closer to the gateway. With his movement, Regina stopped, releasing her hair. The strands swished left and right, exposing then hiding her shoulders. Turned to the side, she glanced at the window. The ashy light caressed her features, revealing her confusion. She’d felt him. She still did. Nikoli waited for Regina’s next move. A second ticked by. Then another. And another.
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She lowered her face, glancing at the hardwood floor. Again, he stepped closer. She went completely still, then turned facing the portal that Nikoli knew was invisible from her side. There, Regina would see nothing more than the wall of her bedroom, the pictures she’d hung. Here, the gateway resembled a wall of glass, allowing him to watch her without restriction. To see what he should not, to want what he wasn’t allowed to have. Didn’t matter. No rule could stop the longing coursing through him, followed by insatiable lust. Color rose to her cheeks. Desire transformed her features. “I feel it too,” he murmured. Regina’s lids fluttered as though she’d heard him, a matter Nikoli knew was impossible. She stepped closer and stared. Not seeing anything untoward, she studied either side of him. “I’m here,” he whispered. His words drew her nearer. In her green eyes—the color of a stormy sea—he saw loneliness as great as his. Behind it was the hope for something more, something thrilling and comforting. The touch of a hand, the promise in a glance, the solace of a caress. Her emotions didn’t last. She frowned in confusion. “You’ll know me tonight,” he said, a pledge he would keep no matter the consequences. Once more, Regina’s expression changed, frustrated need replacing her bewilderment. Again, she moved toward the bath, pausing twice to glance over her shoulder. She parted her lips on a brief sigh. He treasured the gentle sound, imagining the warmth of her breath skipping across his cheek, the fragrant musk of her body as he held her to him. Tonight. The word reverberated in his mind. Into the bath she went. The portal adjusted immediately, like the lens of a camera, moving closer, zooming in on the new room. She flicked on the wall switch. Antique light fixtures above the sink bathed the snug space in a gauzy golden glow. The illumination transformed her ivory skin into a shade resembling ripe wheat. Her cheeks continued to pink up. Bypassing the claw-footed tub, she entered the more modern glass-enclosed shower, turning her front then her back to the water’s flow. The pulsating spray had hardened her nipples. Water beaded on her chest and ran in unruly streams down her torso and belly. Again Nikoli reached out as though to touch, to experience, a riot of pleasurable sensations jolting him. He watched the silvery beads journeying to her navel. Water circled the small depression, then moved lower, trapped in the dark auburn curls between her legs. His mind imagined their springiness on his tongue, the taste of her hidden lips beneath.
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She stepped to the right, facing him. It was nearly more than he could bear. On a sigh, Regina sagged into the shower’s wall, her left shoulder obscuring the enameled tiles decorated with blue-and-yellow flowers. Face turned away from the spray, she ran one hand across her breasts, her fingers squeezing their rounded contours, her palms massaging the nipples while her other hand dipped to her curls, searching for the small rise of flesh above her labia. Her clit, Nikoli thought, a word he’d heard in her dimension, one unknown in E2, the same as impetuous desire and unrestrained passion. Helpless to stop himself, he observed Regina stroking her sensitive nub. Faster than he would have believed possible and certainly quicker than Sazaar had ever responded to his touch, Regina blew out a sigh, her expression strained with arousal, her brows drawing together in a frown of concentration. Steam billowed around her. Water licked her flesh. She seemed unaware, concentrating on her pleasure. Her thighs tensed first. In his peripheral vision, Nikoli saw her toes splay, then curl. She dug her shoulder into the tiled wall, using it for support. Briskly, repeatedly, she moved her fingers over her clit, her mouth hanging open on a silent cry of delight. Pleasure he wanted to give to her. Finished and sated for the moment, Regina draped her arms over her head and gulped the misty air. Nikoli forced down a swallow. To his left, he heard footfalls hurrying down the hall, approaching the door to his lab. No doubt one of his colleagues come to discuss a matter of importance. Nikoli’s belly cramped with worry. And yet, his mind resisted closing the portal, losing sight of Regina for even a moment. The individual coughed. Caution won out. With the pulse points in his temple and throat pounding hard, Nikoli swept his hand in front of the monitor nearest him. A series of characters flashed on its screen. The footfalls stopped outside his door. The gateway’s transparency turned opaque. Where there had once been a window into Regina’s realm, there now stood a blank wall. Tonight, his thoughts whispered to her. He’d cross over as Sazaar had done, only not through a spontaneous portal as she had, but one he’d create, using a device he’d built. An instrument outlawed on E2. The reality of his actions should have troubled Nikoli, but it did not. Already he’d lied to his people, explaining Sazaar’s absence as a retreat she’d planned to take so she could clear her mind for the work that lay ahead. No one but Nikoli knew what she’d become after Andris had turned her. How she threatened Regina and E2’s existence.
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Turning from the wall and its now hidden portal, Nikoli responded to the light rapping on his door, placing his hand on the barrier to open it. In the hall stood his father, a scientist, the same as Nikoli. Elegant in appearance, his hair a silvery gray, the older man wore an expression of complete trust. Never had Nikoli been as ashamed at the lies he would soon tell the man. How he would continue to betray everything he was supposed to believe in so he could save Regina. A woman forbidden to him. One for whom he was prepared to risk a charge of treason. One for whom he was planning to die.
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Chapter Two
Seated in her leather wing chair, Regina observed her patient, a young man with generalized anxiety and panic disorder, her specialty. At thirty-one, she’d been a licensed psychologist for seven years, witnessing fear and anguish on a daily basis. She liked to think of herself as involved, caring, determined to bring her patients relief. Today, she found it difficult to think. Impatience ate at her. Anticipation hummed in her blood. For what? She had no idea. Her thoughts returned to this morning, the sense of someone watching her in her bedroom. Not an unpleasant or frightening sensation as it should have been. Rather, she’d been unexpectedly excited, a welcome thrill racing through her, causing her skin to tingle and her body to want. Oh God, had it wanted. Never before had she masturbated in her shower. Somehow, it had seemed needed, necessary. Her twenty-something patient cleared his throat. Brought back to the moment, Regina focused on him, suppressing a frown of annoyance. She wanted him to leave so she could be alone and think this through. No, she corrected herself; she didn’t want to think, she wanted to feel, to relive the pleasure from this morning. “I still can’t go out,” her patient admitted, fear rasping his words. “It’s too overwhelming.” With his mournful admission, Regina concentrated on him. Painstakingly groomed, he wore an expensive camel-hair jacket, tawny cashmere sweater and designer jeans. When Regina had been a child living in poverty, the cost of his clothing would have represented several months’ salary for her mother. For him, the garments and his job as a successful software engineer gave him no sense of power or freedom from his doubts. He gnawed the edge of his thumb, sneaking a peek at her, then glancing away in embarrassment. Last week, empathy had welled in her for him, as it did for all of her patients. Tonight, Regina forced herself to maintain composure, to bury her annoyance as she explained the obvious. “You said you can’t go out, yet you came here. You were able to leave your condo, drive several miles, come through the crowded building and arrive at my office. That’s a remarkable feat.” A glimmer of hope raced across his youthful features, replaced quickly by doom. Wrapping his arms around his well-fed frame, he rocked and muttered, “Why is this so fucking hard for me? Why can’t I be
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like everyone else and work in an office with other people rather than hiding in my room all day? If it wasn’t for my boss letting me program from home, I wouldn’t even have a job.” “We all have our fears. Together, we’ll work through yours.” He remained unconvinced. For the rest of his hour, he spoke of each defeat he’d endured during the last seven days. Repeatedly, Regina reminded him of the small victories, then fell silent as he did, her thoughts continuing to drift, her body hungering for what she’d encountered this morning. The feeling that somehow she wasn’t alone any longer. A sense of being wanted and loved that she’d never experienced with any man. There had been too few in her life, none memorable, none touching her soul. “Dr. Page?” Regina started at the sound of her name. Her patient stood near his chair, shifting his weight from foot to foot, anxiety not allowing him a moment’s rest. Did he want to run from here now? Had she spoken her thoughts aloud, unknowingly causing more distress? A moment passed. When she said nothing, he asked, “My hour’s up…isn’t it?” His hesitation touched her, making Regina feel bad for her previous irritation and inattention. She offered a gentle smile. “Yes, it is.” Walking him to the door leading into the reception area, she said, “Work on those exercises we talked about. Record each victory, no matter how small you believe it to be. Remember, every panic attack has a beginning, a middle and an end. It will be over.” His meaty shoulders slumped. “Not soon enough. It’s never soon enough.” With a heavy sigh, he moved toward the exit, offering a nod of farewell to Carly, Regina’s receptionist. The young woman watched the outer door swing shut, then tapped her finger against her computer screen. “Your next appointment cancelled a few minutes ago. Claimed to have a flat tire. I told her she’d be charged for the hour. Didn’t faze her at all.” With a shrug, Carly brought down her hand. Regina glanced at the heels of Carly’s boots rapping the hardwood floor. A sure sign she wanted to get out of here as badly as Regina did, though for different reasons. Having recently given birth, Carly couldn’t wait to get home to her new baby and husband. What many would have considered an ordinary life, perhaps even dull. Compared to Regina’s, it was Las Vegas on steroids. Tonight, as all her other nights, she’d return to an empty house, eat a solitary meal, then read patient files before exhaustion drove her to sleep. Maybe she should start prowling singles’ chat rooms, then take the ultimate leap to an Internet dating service. Or get a cat. Maybe a dog. Possibly both. “Looks like you have an hour to kill before your last appointment of the day,” Carly said. Leaning against her doorjamb, Regina had an overwhelming urge to cancel her final patient, telling her something had come up, that the doctor wouldn’t be able to see her tonight.
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“Hey, you okay?” Carly asked, leaning forward in her chair, her blue eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Uncertain how to answer, Regina lied. “Sure.” Carly regarded her for a long moment, then sucked her bottom lip. “How about you?” Regina asked. “Everything all right?” Guilt flashed across her face. With her short black hair and pretty features, she resembled a young Demi Moore in that old movie Ghost. She even spoke with a trace of Demi’s huskiness. “Can I take off a little early? The sitter called. She said Emma’s been fussy all day. I think she’s getting a cold. Poor little thing. The sitter took her temperature three times. It’s a bit elevated, and I—” “Go,” Regina interrupted. “Take care of your daughter.” Dimples on both sides of Carly’s mouth deepened with her grin. Nodding gratefully, she opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out her purse. Regina turned to go back into her office, then stopped abruptly at the sensation of warmth enveloping her. A thrilling jolt of heat as though a lover had wrapped her in his powerful embrace. Someone’s watching. The thought happened before she could stop it. She glanced at the front door to her office suite, half expecting someone…a man…to be standing there, an expression of wonder and longing on his face, his body as needy as hers. No one had opened the door. No one had come inside. A wave of disappointment swept through Regina, followed by confusion. What is the matter with you? Carly’s chair made a brief, squeaking sound. The girl had slung the purse’s strap over her shoulder but hadn’t left her desk. Instead, she stared at Regina. “What’s wrong?” Carly asked. Regina managed to speak far more calmly than her bewilderment should have allowed. “Nothing.” “You sure? You seemed kind of happy for a second, almost excited, then…” She paused, as though struggling for the correct words. “Did you feel it?” Regina asked. Carly’s slender brows shot up to the edge of her dark bangs. “Feel what?” The surge of heat. The sense of someone watching. “Nothing,” Regina answered, then added quickly to the girl’s troubled expression, “I’m fine. Really.” Carly didn’t appear convinced. “Look, I can stay if you want. Maybe I should. Your last patient’s really strange. The vibes I get whenever she’s here. Ugh.” Her narrow frame shuddered. “You probably shouldn’t be here alone with her. She’s obviously not using her real name.” Regina arched one brow. “Some people are named Smith.”
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“Not her,” Carly argued. “She doesn’t look like a Smith. And what’s the deal with not telling us her first name?” Regina stated the obvious. “Could be she’s embarrassed to be here.” “Uh-uh. I think she’s hiding something. She pays in cash. Who does that? And she talks funny—when she does talk. Haven’t you noticed her odd accent?” Regina crossed her arms over her chest. “How many of my patients speak English as a second language? How many of your neighbors are from other countries? And as far as Smith is concerned, maybe it’s her husband or ex-husband’s name.” Carly’s brow wrinkled with her worried frown. “Even if it is, there’s something deeply weird about her. Something I can’t put my finger on.” “She’s anxious,” Regina explained. “No, it’s way more than that. Do you notice how she never looks at you directly?” Few of Regina’s patients did. Humiliation over their problems made them timid and withdrawn. “That’s not unusual, Carly.” “Maybe not. But more than a few times I saw her staring at me when she didn’t think I’d catch her. Before she glanced away, she had this really bizarre look on her face.” “Could be she envies you. Could be she’s noticed the pictures of Hank and Emma on your desk and would like that for herself, rather than being alone all the time, living half a life.” That took the steam out of Carly’s argument. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice Regina had been talking about herself. Sucking her lower lip, Carly turned pensive, as though she was recalling her encounters with Ms. Smith. At last, she shrugged. “Yeah, well, maybe.” Pushing out of her chair, she backed to the front door, grabbing her black leather jacket from the coat tree. “You’re certain you’ll be all right?” She pushed her right arm through her coat sleeve. “Want me to go downstairs and grab a snack for you before I leave? Maybe a danish or—” “I’ll go down and get it, okay?” Carly pushed her other arm through its sleeve, shrugging her shoulders into the garment. “Sure. I’ll come in early tomorrow to make up for the time.” “See you then.” The door clicked closed on Regina’s words. Minutes after Carly’s hasty departure, Regina remained in her outer office, expecting, hoping for the previous warmth to return. It did not. Frustrated, she went into her office and paced, too restless to sit, her anxiety beginning to match that of her patients. Dammit. Get a grip. Unable to take her own advice, Regina pulled her purse out of her desk drawer. With a ten-dollar bill and her office keys in hand, she dropped her purse back into the drawer,
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locked the outer door to her office and hurried down the hall to the elevator, not wanting to spend the next hour alone. Not wanting to wait for something that made no sense…that probably hadn’t happened at all.
Although it was only mid-November, the building’s coffee shop—Cup-a-Joe—was already festooned with Christmas decorations. Large red bows embellished the decorative gas lamps at the two entrances. Dainty lights in bright red, green, yellow and blue blinked around the establishment’s service area and its numerous arched windows facing the street. Throughout the day, the weather had continued to deteriorate. Currently, a steady rain fell, the sodden clouds making the hour darker and drearier than it should have been. The pungent scent of freshly brewed coffee, coupled with the sweet fragrance of baked goods, drew Regina into the cozy, packed space. Couples occupied all of the seats near the windows. Solitary diners had taken most of the tall pedestal tables where one had to stand while enjoying the fare. A relaxed, dreamy quality permeated the room. Muted conversations lulled rather than disturbed. An occasional chuckle enhanced the festive décor, heightening Regina’s loneliness. A month ago, she’d refused to notice, suppressing her aching solitude beneath countless cases, patients who had their own problems. Tonight, though… She couldn’t help but notice the couples, many young, others approaching middle age. The psychologist in her studied their comfort level with each other, their quick, easy smiles, carefree conversations, contented silences. She could see these people belonged together, whether through romantic love, friendship or family ties. Yearning she couldn’t seem to shake continued to hound her. Six months before, she’d lost her mother—her best friend—after a grinding bout with breast cancer. The road to death hadn’t been easy, nor had the woman’s life. From the time Regina was small, she’d watched her mom worrying about them having enough food, a place to sleep, and had vowed to make things better for them. She’d worked tirelessly to earn her PhD and build her practice, doing all that she could to avoid making any mistakes, especially when it came to men. Her mother had fallen hard for Regina’s father, an older boy in her neighborhood, with that leading to no end of grief. He’d abandoned them when Regina was two, unwilling to accept any responsibility, wanting to hang with his friends and work just long enough to be eligible for disability. Without a high school education or family support, Regina’s mother had taken whatever menial jobs she could get, supplementing her meager earnings with state aid, leaving her daughter too afraid to take a risk on any guy. A young man near one of the wood-paneled walls slung his arm around his girl. She leaned into him, saying something that made him throw back his head and laugh. Regina couldn’t stop staring, envying them.
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“Ah, ma’am?” She turned. The ponytailed barista arched her brows, waiting for Regina’s order. Neither thirsty nor hungry, she couldn’t bring herself to leave for her empty office, so she selected a white hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and a blackberry scone. Patrons from behind discussed what movie to see tonight—the new Brad Pitt flick, which critics had likened to Se7en, or the more in-your-face action-adventure starring Matt Damon. Just as the group decided where to go, the barista delivered Regina’s order. Glancing around, she took her items to the last empty pedestal table and forced herself to go through the motions of setting up her fare, something she would have advised her patients to do. Stay with it. Don’t run. The bad will end. She wanted to believe it but couldn’t. Rarely had she felt more alone. She licked at the whipped cream on her decadent hot chocolate, then took a sip. The sensuous taste sparked momentary pleasure many women would have claimed, or joked, rivaled an orgasm. For Regina, it was a poor substitute, unable to replace the thrill of a lover’s kiss or his impassioned caress. Mechanically, she took a bite of her pastry. Flakes from the buttery dough fell to her napkin, while the aroma of sweetened blackberries brought to mind a homey kitchen filled with extended family. A Norman Rockwell portrait of a time long gone. What family ate together anymore? What family had ever been perfect? Arching a brow at her sentimentality, determined to push it aside as she’d done all of her life, Regina swallowed, then took another bite. Mid-chew, a sudden flush of warmth washed over her, permeating her limbs, oiling and loosening them. Within seconds, she sensed it again…someone watching. Anticipation made her look up; life experience made her wary. Peering right and left, Regina noted that no one glanced in her direction. Conversations continued. Patrons consumed their food and drinks. Disconcerted, she glanced behind herself, seeing nothing different. No one acknowledged or even noticed her. Heat continued to travel to her pussy, lingering there. It climbed to her throat and cheeks. A picture scrolled across her mind of large hands on either side of her face, gentle and caressing, lips brushing her skin, the rush of warm breath tickling her cheek, her lids closing on a lusty moan, her body sagging against hard male flesh scented with musk. Where are you? Regina’s mind asked before she knew it would. At the establishment’s street entrance a knot of people stood in the open doorway, shaking water from their umbrellas, brushing beads of moisture from their coats. The edge of her napkin fluttered in the dank breeze. The patron closest to her, a young guy in a beautifully tailored suit, called out, “Hey, close the door. You’re letting in the cold.”
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Regina experienced only building warmth. She rested her fingertips on the top of her table, noting how cool the polished wood was to her touch. Her attention swung from the baristas behind the serving area to the individual facing it. A man who must have arrived shortly before those who’d left the door open. Tall, with a powerful build, muscled yet lean, he wore a black crewneck sweater, jacket and a dark blue topcoat. The ends fluttered above his similarly colored pants. Combed away from his forehead, his thick raven hair was wavy and worn longish in the back. Strong masculine features, ruggedly handsome, complemented his olive complexion. Regina knew she was staring openly but couldn’t help herself. She guessed him to be in his midthirties and of foreign descent, possibly Greek or Middle Eastern ancestry. Did he work in this building? Where? What floor? Who was he? Why hadn’t she ever noticed him? He certainly wasn’t a man a woman could ignore. The barista who’d waited on Regina delivered his order with a suggestive smile, clearly interested in him. He seemed not to notice her flirting as he handed over a twenty. Regarding him closely, Regina saw that the shoulders of his coat weren’t damp from the rain. Neither was his hair. Had he bought the coffee to take on his drive home? Did a wife and children await him in one of Seattle’s countless suburbs? Chewing her lower lip, Regina checked out his large hands and long fingers. Naked. No ring. She was unbelievably pleased, an obviously crazy reaction. It was possible his culture didn’t believe in the men wearing wedding bands. Even if he was single, she didn’t know him. Other than being in this coffeehouse at the same time, their paths would probably never cross again. They would never speak or touch. To Regina’s surprise, brutal reality didn’t stop her. Fevered and wanting, she considered going up to him and starting a conversation. About what? With lightning speed, her mind considered and rejected numerous topics—the delicious pastry in the display case, the depressing weather, what films currently played. Through it all, persistent warmth engulfed Regina, a curious sensation of desire and well-being that continued to grow and draw her to him. With his order in hand, he turned, looking directly at her. No one else. Regina’s body softened with a rush of delight…an invisible connection between them. The psychologist in her knew it was ridiculous to consider such a thing. The woman in her didn’t care. She held his gaze, as dark as his hair, his irises sparkling in the tame lighting. A whimper of pleasure bubbled in Regina’s throat. Behind him, a middle-aged woman knocked his arm as she moved past to place her order. His focus remained on Regina, his manner composed yet commanding, his expression unguarded, filled with what appeared to be wonder.
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Around them, people laughed and spoke, lights blinked, rain tapped the windows, the sounds resembling drumming fingernails. An instrumental piece flowed from the sound system, a tenor sax wailing sensuously. Locking her knees, Regina leaned against her table for support. He didn’t break their unspoken attachment. With an easy stride, he approached her table. A current of expectation tore through Regina, tightening her nipples. She lifted her face, helpless in his presence. He smiled. At its comfort and beauty, her heart turned over. He gestured toward her table. “Do you mind if I join you?” Regarding the area past her, he added, “It’s very crowded tonight.” In his smooth, deep baritone, Regina caught the trace of an accent. Not Greek or Middle Eastern as she’d suspected but from some unknown locale. Managing a swallow, she cleared her throat and murmured, “Not at all. Please do.” Really, please. Again, he focused on her. Only her. As if no one else existed. Something inside Regina shifted, magnifying her sense of sight and sound, her pressing need to be close. She ached to touch him, wondering if he suspected as much and had noticed how her words caught. She had no doubt he saw her desire. “Thanks.” He rested his cup on the table. Unwilling to stop herself, Regina offered her hand, their fingertips nearly touching. “Hi. I’m Regina Page.” Tell me who you are.
Nikoli glanced at Regina’s hand, chiding himself for having followed her here, for wanting to be near her before Sazaar arrived. A foolhardy act that wouldn’t change anything. It wasn’t as though he could tell Regina what to expect. A horror she wouldn’t believe until it unfolded before her. Fearful of behaving inappropriately, of running her off and losing his only chance to be this close, Nikoli lifted his hand. After weeks of fantasizing about touching her, he cautioned himself to temper his reaction. The warning did little good. Longing he’d never experienced stole his breath as he clasped her exquisitely soft fingers, his thumb stroking hers. Lids sliding down, Regina parted her lips on a quiet sigh. Color rose to her cheeks, the same as it had this morning in her bath when he’d watched her, hungering to touch and taste every inch of her flesh. To smell it. A pleasure unknown in his dimension.
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On E2, sterile air replaced all fragrances, a matter deemed necessary to keep the populace diseasefree. Here, the scent of food, drink and muggy rain bombarded Nikoli. Even so, it wasn’t enough to keep him from catching Regina’s fragrance. Light and faintly sweet, it reminded him of what her people called vanilla and peaches. Blood rushed to his groin, pooling in his cock. Another word from her realm. A language Nikoli had learned over the years as he’d monitored the spontaneously occurring portals, never realizing he’d someday cross through one he had created into a dimension more electrifying than he could have ever imagined. Time passed more swiftly here than it did on his plane. As people moved about, their bodies seemed to blur. The vibrant colors dazzled when compared to his realm’s somber hues, making Nikoli slightly dizzy, the same as touching her. “Regina,” he repeated, enjoying the sound of her name. He glanced at her fiery red hair, gold earrings—the color of stars on his side—soft gray sweater and black pants. Gently, she squeezed his hand, her expression soft with arousal. “And you are?” There was no need to lie. Tonight would be their only time together. Tomorrow, Regina would be safe, and he would surely be dead. Even if he escaped harm from Sazaar, Andris and the others, death awaited him on his return to E2. Fear or sorrow should have overwhelmed Nikoli. Instead, gratitude for this small slice of time, this moment of unrestricted joy, quickened his answer. “Nikoli Zorr.” Regina moved her lips as though testing his name. Her resultant smile said she liked it. “Nikoli.” Her iris’s green tint was darker now, lushly verdant in the room’s scant light. She studied his features. “It sounds Russian. Were you born there?” Prepared for her questions, he continued to lie. “My parents emigrated from a small isolated village in Romania. They brought me over when I was twelve. I’m afraid our accent is quite unique.” “It fits you,” she said. “Do you work here?” She glimpsed at his shoulders. “Are you on your way home?” “Sir?” Nikoli glanced over at the young woman who had waited on him. She regarded Regina’s hand in his, then flashed him a hungry smile. Unmoved by her seduction, growing cautious, he said, “Yes?” “You forgot your change.” She rested a series of bills and circular coins near his cup, then regarded him, her expression expectant. Nikoli wasn’t certain how to respond. Of the currency he’d stolen, he hadn’t known how much to offer for the drink. Overwhelmed at seeing Regina, at being close enough to hear her speak, he’d watched her hand over a bill for her order but hadn’t noticed if she’d received anything back. “Thank you,” he said. Brows drawn together, the girl glanced at the bills.
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Tina Donahue
Nikoli sensed she wanted them back. Why, he didn’t know. Taking a chance, he slid the one on top toward her to see what would happen. “Thank you,” she said, pocketing it. Ponytail swinging, she hurried back to her station. “Wow. You’re a good tipper,” Regina said, arching one brow. Nikoli wasn’t certain what she meant. His only answer was the truth. “I wanted her to leave.” He smiled. “It was the only way I knew to get rid of her.” Regina laughed. The carefree, tinkling sound stroked Nikoli’s soul. With great care, he squeezed her fingers. Regina’s expression grew distracted, her smile fading as she glanced at their hands, her fingers hugging his. Not caring if he acted recklessly, Nikoli held on to her for a few seconds more. After he released her, Regina wrapped her fingers around her cup. She asked again, “Do you work in this building?” “On the third floor,” he offered, lying easily, giving her the name of one of the companies he’d passed on the way down here. Nodding, Regina captured a bit of the drink’s whipped cream on her fingertip, then brought it to her mouth, licking it off. The back of his neck tingled. “Do you own the company?” she asked. His attention remained on her mouth, the promise of its wet heat beyond her plump bottom lip. He imagined his tongue stroking her lips, parting them, seeking entrance. Once claimed, he pictured Regina offering even more of herself. On her knees, she’d take his cock into her velvety palms, lifting it to her mouth, drawing it inside, providing shelter, elation, completion. Sounding distracted, he said, “Yes.” “What business are you in, Nikoli?” The shameless images in his mind evaporated with her question. Stalling for an answer, his knowledge of this realm, he peeled off the white circular cover on the top of his cup and placed it to the side. A word popped in his mind, one he’d seen quite a few times on this plane. “Consulting.” “On what?” His pulse pounded. He thought back to things he’d seen here. “Computer software designs.” Regina’s quick nod told Nikoli he hadn’t said anything strange. She smiled. “My system could certainly use some expert help. Carly’s always complaining about how we need to move my accounting and other files into the twenty-first century. Sad to say, I’ve let her whine without really doing anything to fix the problem. I figured she could just live with it since she’s my only employee, kind of a combination bookkeeper-receptionist-secretary. But hey, if you know software, maybe you can give me a couple of tips on what I need to do.”
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Sweat trickled down Nikoli’s back. He had no idea what to suggest. The systems on this side were centuries behind the advancements on his. “Of course, but I generally work with large firms with hundreds of employees.” To take the focus off himself, he asked, “What business are you in, Regina?” “I’m a psychologist.” She ran her fingertip over the food she’d been eating. Small, delicate flakes fell from it onto the countertop. “I deal with anxiety disorders.” He offered a nod of encouragement. “I admire anyone who helps others with their problems. Your work must be very rewarding.” Appreciation for his comment radiated from her. “I certainly try to help all that I can. Unfortunately, I’m not always successful.” He thought of Sazaar and was careful to keep himself from sounding worried. “It’s understandable that some can’t be helped.” Regina offered a rueful smile. “I’ll have to remember that when I’m feeling badly about a failure. Now that I know you work here, perhaps I can ask you for a pep talk from time to time.” He spoke without thinking. “A pep talk?” “A word of support,” she amended. “Of course.” With his full attention on her, he spoke from the heart, offering a future they didn’t have. “Always.” A soft heat emanated from her, the kind a woman on this side showed when she wanted a man. “Are you on your way home, Nikoli?” Surprised at her question, not knowing why she asked, he shook his head. She glanced at his coat, confusion sparking in her expression as though she’d expected him to leave. “There’s a matter I have to attend to,” he said, being deliberately vague, “but I still have work to do and planned to return shortly.” Naked pleasure shone on her face. It pleased him as nothing else ever had. “Are you going home?” he asked. “I have one last patient in a few minutes.” She nibbled on the edge of her food, then returned it to the white square it had rested on—what her people called a napkin. Brushing crumbs from the side of her mouth, she said, “The appointment will be over in an hour. If you don’t have to work past seven fifteen or so, would you care to have dinner with me?” She lowered her hand to the table, waiting for his answer. His mouth had already gone dry. Her words rang in his mind. I have one last patient. Sazaar. For weeks, he’d watched his mate arrive at Regina’s office, then struggle to disclose her abominable secrets. Thus far, Sazaar hadn’t revealed anything about Andris and the others. Tonight, she would. Nikoli sensed it. Feared it.
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Tina Donahue
Once Regina learned what no human was meant to know, Sazaar would destroy her. She’d have no other choice. And then Regina would die, or she’d become— “It’s okay,” she said, cutting into his thoughts, sounding both embarrassed and disappointed. “If you’re busy, I understand. I’m sure you’ve already made other plans. I realize we’re strangers. I just thought…” At last, her words faded away. A mixture of sorrow and desire buffeted Nikoli. He spoke without pause. “I’d enjoy having dinner with you, Regina. I can’t imagine anything more pleasurable or a better way to stop being strangers.” Her brows lifted in obvious surprise, and then the corners of her eyes crinkled slightly with her wide smile. “Wonderful. Then it’s a date.” One they’d never experience. Denying sadness, caught up in the wonder of her joy, he also smiled. “Yes. A date.” She reached past him for the metal container containing the napkins. “Allow me,” he said. Pulling several free, Nikoli handed them over, his fingers touching, lingering on hers. Regina’s color heightened. Heat poured through him. “Would you like me to meet you at your office, or do you want to come to mine?” she asked. The warmth receded. His mind raced, struggling for an appropriate answer. “My office is behind a secured entrance.” He continued to describe his laboratory on E2. “You couldn’t get past the hall without proper access. I wouldn’t want to ask you to wait outside the door for me. Nor would I want to embarrass your patient by showing up if the individual hadn’t yet left. Perhaps meeting down here would be best, at the inside entrance near the elevators.” She balled up the napkins and placed them on the table. “Seven fifteen, then, here.” “I’m looking forward to it.” Her smile grew luminous, unlike any Nikoli had seen during the weeks he’d observed her. A smile meant for him. One he’d never see again. Regina had no idea what faced her in the coming hour and through the rest of this night.
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Chapter Three
Alone in the elevator, Regina surrendered to a happiness she’d rarely experienced, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. Tonight she’d have a momentary end to her gnawing loneliness. Within the next few hours, she’d learn everything she could about Nikoli. A man unlike any she’d ever met. So compelling, he’d defeated Regina’s usual caution around males. Already he seemed more than a new acquaintance, closer to a friend, providing a level of contentment and safety no amount of money or career recognition could match. In him, she’d seen intelligence and kindness. Nikoli, her thoughts whispered, savoring the sound of his name, appealingly foreign, slightly mysterious, the same as his appearance and accent. So unlike her father, Josh Page, the all-American male whose boyish good looks and crooked grin had seduced her mother into putting down her guard and believing his lies about loving her. Whose casual abandonment had changed the woman’s life and that of his daughter’s forever. Regina sensed Nikoli wasn’t a player like her father. She’d seen his genuine interest in her and what appeared to be his craving for intimacy, an emotion most men fled. Nikoli seemed to require it. The elevator dinged. Regina glanced at her watch. Only ten minutes remained before her last patient arrived. She’d been so caught up in her final moments with Nikoli, she’d been reluctant to leave the coffee shop. At her suite, Regina unlocked the door and hurried past the reception area into her office, her heels tapping sharply against the hardwood floor. Rounding her desk, she reached down to open the bottom drawer and stopped short at what she saw—what wasn’t possible. Her fingers tightened around the change she’d planned to return to her purse. She’d left the black leather bag in the bottom desk drawer. It now rested on her chair’s seat. What in the hell was it doing there? Pulse jumping, Regina took in the area to the right of her, the left and behind, expecting to see an intruder. No one else was in here. On unsteady legs, she hurried into Carly’s area and grabbed her umbrella from the stand, ready to use it as a weapon. She searched beneath the desk, then went to the suite’s front door to see if someone had broken the lock. How could they? She’d just used her key to come inside.
Tina Donahue
Dropping her umbrella back in the stand, she returned to her office and stared at her purse. Never had she left it on her chair. So how had it gotten there? Unsettled, she recalled her earlier sensation of someone watching her, the warmth it produced rather than unease. Again, she glanced about hurriedly, the ends of her hair slapping her neck, her mind trying to reason this out. As far as she could determine, nothing else had changed in here since she’d left. Prints of soothing pastoral scenes graced the room’s beige walls. A richly detailed Persian rug lay undisturbed beneath her wing chair and the one she reserved for patients. Crossing the room, Regina went to her mahogany bookcase and pressed the hidden button. A drawer slid out containing patient files. She searched the contents, relieved none was missing. Returning to her purse, she opened it and found all of her credit cards still there, along with personal items—lipstick, a comb, tissues, keys to her house and car. She counted the cash in her wallet and frowned. Three twenties and four one-dollar bills. There should have been four twenties and eight one-dollar bills. Rubbing the crisp currency between her thumb and forefinger, she tried to separate them, to locate the missing ones. They weren’t there. Had she miscounted her cash this morning? Had it been yesterday when she’d had the extra bills? She couldn’t recall. Regarding her desk, Regina tried to remember if she’d put her purse in there after she’d taken out the ten for the coffee shop. Had she even lifted the bag from the drawer? The memory refused to return. She thought back to how agitated she’d been after Carly had left, wanting to escape the office, to avoid being alone and having to think about the heat that had suffused her, the feeling of someone watching. With startling clarity, the sensation returned. This time, apprehension, not heat, snaked down Regina’s spine. What in the hell was happening to her? Sensing movement, fearing it, she turned. In her outer office stood her last patient of the day—Ms. Smith. When had she come inside? Why hadn’t she made any sound? Forcing down a swallow, Regina stared at the young woman. “She doesn’t look like a Smith,” Carly had said. In her late twenties or early thirties, she wore solid black, her expensive wool pants and merino sweater draped beautifully on her lithe figure. Long wheat-colored hair flowed in lustrous waves over her narrow shoulders. Coupled with flawless ivory skin and delicate features, she had the exquisite looks of a top model or a film star. The anguish in her dark, almond-shaped eyes ruined the perfection. She pressed her full lips into a grim line as though to keep from revealing her secrets. Regina could see they were tearing her apart.
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Seconds ticked by. Her patient didn’t move, didn’t speak. She didn’t even seem to breathe. “There’s something deeply weird about her,” Carly had said. “Something I can’t put my finger on.” On the side of her slender throat, just above her sweater, the young woman’s skin was so translucent, blue veins were clearly visible beneath the surface. She appeared unbelievably fragile. Not quite real or human. Regina’s heart continued to thump. Despite it, she forced herself to remain calm, speaking as professionally as she could. “Ms. Smith.” Swiftly, almost guiltily, the young woman averted her attention from Regina as though she just realized she’d been staring. “More than a few times, I saw her staring at me when she didn’t think I’d catch her.” “Do you notice how she never looks at you directly?” Regina did now. Sudden dread raced through her. Just as quickly, she suppressed it, telling herself that her patient was timid, not dangerous, anxious, not psychotic. Nor could she be a thief, breaking in here and taking the twenty, not with her obvious cowardice. The bill hadn’t been there to begin with. Regina figured she must have spent it yesterday and simply didn’t recall. “Please come inside,” she said, trying to sound encouraging. The young woman moved with caution into the inner office. Regina closed her door to provide more privacy and assurance that no one would overhear whatever they discussed during the coming hour. “Have a seat,” Regina offered, gesturing toward it. Ms. Smith perched on the edge of the supple leather. Hands clasped, fingers clenched, she was a study in panic. Faint beads of perspiration dotted her temples and forehead. All the blood had drained from her face, leaving her complexion a ghastly color, accentuating the veins on the edge of her jaw. At the young woman’s obvious suffering, compassion welled in Regina. A response she hadn’t exhibited for her earlier patient, having allowed her personal feelings to compromise treatment. Meeting Nikoli tonight had changed that, giving her a measure of hope and peace, bringing her back to her purpose. “I admire anyone who helps others with their problems.” Regina’s unease faded at his remembered words, the sensual allure of his glance and touch. Although she was eager to see him again, she genuinely wanted to be here, doing her best to relieve some of her patient’s symptoms. Sitting across from her, Regina asked, “How was your week?” The girl bowed her head. Blonde tresses swung forward, hiding her lovely face. After several moments of silence, Regina murmured, “Can you tell me what you did? How it went?” Rocking her body, she moaned faintly. “Not good. Not good.” Silence followed her words, the quiet emphasizing the distress Regina had heard in her comment and odd accent.
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Tina Donahue
“She talks funny,” Carly had said. Without warning, an image of Nikoli filled Regina’s mind. She had no idea why, until she recalled how he’d spoken. What he had told her. “My parents emigrated from a small isolated village in Romania.” With new curiosity, Regina regarded her patient. She didn’t have the foreign features and coloring that Nikoli did, but it was clear from her speech that she hadn’t been born in this country. Was it possible she hailed from the same region as Nikoli? Had a church group sponsored numerous families from the area because of religious or political turmoil and relocated them in Seattle? Regina waited to hear her patient speak again, to determine whether her accent and Nikoli’s were similar. The girl’s halting breaths filled the silence. At last, Regina said, “You’ve had a difficult week. What happened?” Unclasping her hands, she covered her face with her fingers. “You don’t want to know. I can’t tell you.” Her obvious agony disquieted Regina, pushing aside her musings about accents. “Why not?” “They’ll know.” Stark terror reverberated in her words. Regina regarded her. To whom was she referring? Family members, friends? Was she worried they’d find out what she was going through and would berate her for seeing a therapist? What they would consider a weakness? Speaking quietly, Regina said, “Whatever you tell me here is in confidence. I would never divulge anything to—” “You don’t understand,” she interrupted, her shout hard with rage, naked, unexpected. “They’ll know. They always know. They’re always watching and listening.” A thread of fear snaked through Regina. What was she talking about? “There’s something deeply weird about her.” Unnerved, Regina wondered if she’d misinterpreted the results of the woman’s psychological tests and her anxiety, missing signs that she was spiraling into paranoid schizophrenia and was now hearing voices. Were the demons in her mind telling her they knew her every move and thought? Were they telling her to harm others? Regina’s skin crawled. As much as she could, she kept her mounting concern from being obvious. “Who are they, Ms. Smith?” She released a strangled sob. The chair creaked with her agitated rocking. “I thought they wanted me, that they cherished me like those on my side never could. When Andris first found me, he said he loved me. But when I became one of them, everything changed.”
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One of them? Was her patient also having visual hallucinations, creating friends and lovers that didn’t exist? Increasingly concerned, Regina chose her next words carefully. “Are you afraid to tell me what’s going on because they’re here?” “Here?” she parroted, then drew her shoulders into herself. “No.” She cocked her head as though listening. Sagging into the arm of her chair, she cried, “I was able to get away tonight as I have in the past, but eventually they’ll see the truth on my face. They’ll know.” Her explanation, though vague and distressed, convinced Regina the young woman wasn’t delusional. Whoever these people might be, they didn’t exist in her thoughts. Most likely they were from outside her ethnic circle, thus the odd phrasing about those on her side and her becoming one of them. Realizing she’d been holding her breath, Regina spoke on a relieved sigh. “Who’s Andris?” The girl stopped rocking. Her fingers curled away from her face, forming tight fists. “I can’t tell you.” “Why not?” “If I do, I won’t be able to stop myself.” “From doing what?” “What I have to do!” she cried. “Every night it’s the same. You have no idea. You can’t stop it, no one can. I was a fool for coming here. You can’t help me.” Lowering her hands, she studied Regina openly as she’d never done before. It took all of Regina’s will not to press back into her chair or glance away. In the young woman’s face, she saw wrenching misery, panic and something else…something disturbing…a predatory stare. Bloodlust. Forcing herself to remain calm, to control the situation, Regina asked, “What are you feeling now?” The young woman frowned. “You already know. I see it on your face. I can taste your fear.” “I’m concerned for you,” Regina said as casually as she could, not yet betraying her apprehension. “I want you to tell me what’s troubling you.” “You want to know who Andris is. You won’t be satisfied until you hear the truth, even though I warned you.” “About what, Ms. Smith?” “What I am. What he is.” Regina swallowed. “And what is that?” She turned her face away. “I didn’t want to do this. I had hoped…” Her words faded away. Seconds passed. Regina didn’t dare make a sound. She observed the woman’s inner turmoil, her shoulders slumping as though she’d made a decision or had lost a battle. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “About what?” Regina asked.
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Tina Donahue
“You’ll understand soon enough,” she said, then continued quickly, the words rushing past her pale lips. “Andris is unlike any man I’ve ever known. He found me hours after I came here. It was wonderful.” The corners of her mouth tilted upward in a sad smile. Rapture and tears filled her eyes. Her manner, so strained a minute before, grew wistful. “He wanted me. Never has anyone hungered for me as he did. For a few days, I knew what few have experienced—his exquisite touch, the pleasure of his mouth on my throat.” Her hand went to it. What seemed to be shame and then indignation flickered across her face. “He promised everything, and I gave him my life, my soul. All I wanted was his love. But he lied. He intends to use me to return. My people won’t let him. I told him we could stay here. I could endure anything, even what he requires me to do, if only he loves me. I don’t care what he is. I don’t care that he’s a—” Her words halted. She turned at the sound of hurried footfalls coming from the reception area. Startled, Regina glanced over. The door crashed inward. Flinching, she stared at Nikoli. He glared at her patient, anger tightening his expression. Beneath it, Regina saw his fear. The young woman left her chair, rounding it to go to him. Arms stretched out, she cried, “Nikoli.” He backed away from her. “Stay where you are, Sazaar.” Sazaar? Regina studied them both as her mind tried to make sense of this. Was her patient’s first name Sazaar? Was she Nikoli’s wife? His lover? Was that why he’d spoken to Regina in the coffee shop, to find out when Sazaar would arrive? Had he suspected she had feelings for Andris? Was that why Nikoli was here, to confront her on it? Moving in a wide arc around Sazaar, never turning his back on her, Nikoli edged toward Regina, at last looking at her. The fathomless sorrow in his expression, his obvious remorse, confused Regina even more. “Nikoli,” Sazaar cried again. “Please, you must forgive me. I never meant to harm you.” Her fingers clawed air, reaching for him. Regina stared. Although she knew it was impossible, Sazaar’s nails seemed to be longer than a few minutes ago, curved and deadly like an animal’s. Hands clutching the arms of her chair, Regina pressed into it. Nikoli reached her side. Sazaar cried out, speaking a language Regina had never heard before, her words impassioned, seeming to beg, then seduce. Regina saw the change on the young woman’s face, the carnal heat building within her, the feral hunger, her metamorphosis from human to something vile and unknown. This can’t be happening.
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A wave of nausea rolled through Regina. Struggling against it, she left her chair. Instantly, Sazaar positioned herself between Regina and the door, the only exit. At the same moment, Nikoli grasped Regina’s wrist, his grip tight, not injurious. “Get behind me,” he warned her in English. “Remain there.” She couldn’t move. “Now,” he ordered, pulling her behind himself, his strength keeping her there. With his attention on Sazaar, he used the same language she had. Her inflection seesawed between pleading and arguing, the words incomprehensible to Regina. “No,” Nikoli said at last, reverting to English. “I won’t allow you to return to our side.” Our side? Regina recalled Sazaar’s earlier words when she’d said those on her side had never cherished her. How everything had changed when she became one of them. One of what? Regina glanced around Nikoli’s arm to Sazaar. “Please,” the young woman said, her request filled with sadness, while her expression attempted to entice. “I can’t endure another night of this. You know what I have to do, what Andris makes me do. I’ll be good to you, Nikoli. We’ll have the life we once had.” Grief rang in his words. “It’s too late, Sazaar. You know that.” Her tears glittered in the office’s harsh light. Before one could fall, intense outrage replaced her misery. Throwing back her head, she opened her mouth and wailed, a thin keening sound, its pitch growing so high Regina no longer heard it…or considered it. Transfixed, she watched the impossible—Sazaar’s canine teeth lengthening, turning into fangs. Saliva dripped from them. The corners of her mouth lifted in a savage smile. Regina whimpered, powerless to do anything else. Nikoli’s hand fell from her wrist. Sazaar moved so swiftly across the space separating them, she was little more than a blur. Nikoli’s shoulders hit the wall with the force of the woman’s body slamming into his. Regina’s mouth opened on a silent scream. Nikoli gasped, “Regina, run!” With his shout, his fear for her, Regina couldn’t move. Everything seemed to slow down. She gauged the distance between where she was and the door, knowing instinctively she’d never make it. Nor would Nikoli. His hands went to Sazaar’s throat. He struggled to keep her from sinking her fangs into his neck. “Leave!” he shouted. Sazaar clawed his hair, his face, her nails inches long now and deadly. She screamed for him to let her return.
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Tina Donahue
Terrified, Regina searched for something to use as a weapon, some way to stop this insanity. Her umbrella? She nearly laughed at the thought. It was in the outer office. Too far away. Too useless against what Sazaar was. “Go now!” Nikoli yelled. Shaking uncontrollably, Regina backed away, her hip hitting the edge of her desk. The shade of her lamp rattled. Adrenaline made her move more than any plan. Lifting the lamp, yanking its cord from the outlet, Regina turned back to them. If she struck Sazaar’s temple with the heavy brass base, would that stop her? Would it at least stun her? What if she swung it at her mouth, breaking her teeth, or rather her— Regina’s thoughts stalled as Sazaar stopped her assault on Nikoli, turning to her instead, fangs bared. She froze mid-step. “You’re too late,” Sazaar said. She lifted her chin to the ceiling. “They’re coming.” Regina heard what the other woman did. Whapping sounds seemed to come from everywhere. “Invite them in,” Sazaar said. Regina stared at the woman, then Nikoli. Face reddened, he fought to push Sazaar off himself. With inhuman strength, she clung tight. “Invite them in,” she snapped at Regina, “or you’ll force me to feed on him. I won’t be able to stop. I’ll drain him until he dies. You’ll watch. You’ll—” “Don’t listen to her,” Nikoli panted. “Save yourself. I don’t matter.” Regina shook her head. As horrified as she was, she couldn’t just leave him to this thing. “No.” “You have no choice,” he growled. Regina spoke to Sazaar. “Don’t harm him, and I’ll do whatever you want.” “No!” Nikoli shouted. A hissing sound escaped Sazaar’s lips. She spoke to Regina. “Invite them in now, or I’ll—” “Screw that!” Regina shouted. “You let go of him first. If you hurt him, it’s over.” Sazaar’s beautiful face turned ugly, then hopeless. Whatever kindness or mercy remained within her struggled to get out. “I didn’t want it to come to this,” she cried. “I wanted only to be free of the pain.” “Get away from him,” Regina ordered. “And I’ll do whatever you want.” “She’ll kill us both!” Nikoli shouted. Regina refused to consider it. There had to be a way out of this. Between her and Nikoli, they might be able to fend off Sazaar. At the very least, this would buy them some time. “Now,” Regina said to the young woman. Once more, the good still within Sazaar seemed to fight against what she’d become. Cautiously, she lowered her legs and arms, pulling herself from Nikoli’s grip, backing away. Regina went to him, gasping at the scratch marks on his face and throat. He pleaded, “Run.”
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Again, Sazaar hissed. Regina flinched. Face lifted to the ceiling, Sazaar appeared to be listening. Regina heard the sounds too. To her, they resembled the flapping of dozens of wings. Something rattled. She stared as one of the metal ceiling vents vibrated. Suddenly, Sazaar was behind her, having moved so swiftly she’d made no noise. The young woman’s lips brushed Regina’s ear. She spoke seductively, enticingly, “Invite them in.” Nikoli shouted something Regina didn’t hear. Her brain went fuzzy with Sazaar’s proximity, the sexual lure of her words. Without thinking, without being able to stop herself, she mouthed, “Come in.” The vent clattered wildly. Regina stared as a bolt turned, slowly at first, then faster. Freed of its threads, the screw fell to the hardwood floor, making small pinging noises as it bounced across it. The second bolt followed, then the third, the fourth. The vent’s covering fell, clattering loudly on the hardwood. With slavish wonder, Sazaar moved toward the open vent, her lips parted, her arms lifted, welcoming. Grabbing Regina’s wrist, Nikoli pulled her toward the wall behind her desk rather than to the door. She turned from it to him. He stared at something on the ceiling. Regina’s scream died in her throat as dozens of bats poured through the opened vent, forming a vile black cloud above Sazaar. “Andris,” she said with obvious love, lust. The largest of the bats fluttered near her face, its eyes red, it leathery skin the color of night, its contours softening, elongating, transforming. In no more time than it took a heart to complete its beat, a tall man stood in front of Sazaar, his build lean, his blond hair flowing to his broad shoulders. Dressed in solid black, he had a beautiful, almost feminine face and irises so pale the tint seemed more silver than blue. Wearing a cruel expression, he lifted his finger and ran his nail, as long as Sazaar’s, across her cheek. She whimpered in what sounded like pleasure and moved closer. With the grace of a cat, he edged away. Humiliation and agony registered on her face. She begged, “Let me touch you.” Andris ignored her. He watched the other bats with obvious satisfaction. One by one, they transformed as he had until dozens of men and women filled Regina’s office, all of them clad in dark clothing, all young, their beauty unworldly, ethereal. “Andris,” Sazaar pleaded. “Quiet.” She shrank away from him, shoulders to her ears, her slender body shaking like a beaten dog.
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Again, Nikoli pulled Regina nearer the back wall, where they’d surely be trapped. What was he doing? The air behind them turned icy, stinging her fingers. Goose pimples rose on her arms. “You told the human about us,” Andris accused Sazaar, his attention settling on Regina. “You betrayed us.” “No, never,” she cried. “I adore you.” She reached out to touch him. His frigid expression stopped her. Bringing back her hands, Sazaar murmured, “You don’t understand. I was going to feed on her tonight. Whatever I said wouldn’t have mattered. She’d become one of us.” Bile rose to Regina’s throat. She cringed as Andris turned back to her, his focus on her neck. “You won’t feed tonight,” he said. “I will.” Behind him, the young men and women tilted their faces to the ceiling. Their mouths hung open, showing their fangs. Chests pumping, they appeared to be wailing, though Regina heard no sound. We’re going to die, she thought, instinct urging her to fight. How? With what? Hysterical laughter bubbled up in her chest, then died. She had the sensation of being out of her body, watching this scene as though it were happening to someone else, her mind refusing to let her understand what she’d endure…what Nikoli would face in the coming moments. These monsters attacking, feeding, draining— Andris pounced. Regina’s thoughts stalled. She stared as he crossed the room even more swiftly than Sazaar had. He seemed to hang suspended above her and Nikoli, his face ruthless, inhuman. Her mouth opened on a shout that didn’t come. With one hard shove, Nikoli pushed Regina against the seam of the wall. Her arms flailed. She gasped at the intense cold. The wall’s plaster and plywood offered a moment’s resistance, then liquefied, allowing her and Nikoli to pass through it, out of her office. Away from the vampires.
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Chapter Four
Nikoli removed his topcoat, wrapping the garment around Regina, protecting her from the cold in the void between their dimensions. Teeth chattering, she turned in all directions, her brows arched at the silvery light, the absence of sound. Silently, strong air currents pulled at their hair and clothing but didn’t push them back with its force. Although no floor lay beneath their feet, they stood as if on solid ground. Regina gaped, her expression saying she was trying to understand the phenomenon and what had just happened in her office. She glanced past him at the gateway into the room. Seconds before, he’d used the portable device he’d built to open a window so they could escape. Taking the instrument from his jacket now, he draped his other arm around her shoulder. She flinched at his touch, then lifted her face to his. Nikoli saw her terror. “We must go,” he said. Although he’d made no sound, he knew by her expression that she’d heard him in her mind. She glanced at the portal—Sazaar, Andris and the others still in her office. From their side, Nikoli knew they saw nothing more than a wall, the same as Regina had this morning in her bedroom when she’d felt him watching her. She gasped. Several of Andris’s followers tried to claw their way through the barrier. Although Nikoli had closed it to them, the wall remained stubbornly pliant. The vampires’ hands moved through the once-solid material, stretching it like heated glass, blindly reaching for them. With his body protecting Regina, Nikoli stepped back. One of the vampires broke through, his fingers exposed, his lengthy nails clawing the void’s air. Within seconds, the thing’s pale hand turned red, then burst into flames, the silvery light as deadly to it as the sun would be in Regina’s world. From behind him, she screamed, the sound heard only in his mind. He cursed himself for her fear. He’d wanted to save her from this, to destroy Sazaar without Regina having known what his former mate had become. What he was. The hand of a second vampire broke through, then a third, a fourth. Their mouths widened with their unholy shrieks as fire consumed their limbs. Sazaar cowered in a corner near Regina’s bookcase, her expression terrified as she watched Andris.
Tina Donahue
“Fools,” he screamed at those who’d dared break through the barrier. “You can’t breach the portal without Nikoli’s help. You,” he growled, turning to Sazaar. Her lips moved with her silent pleas. She draped her arms over her head in a futile attempt to protect herself as Andris approached, seeming to glide across the space that separated them, again moving so quickly he was no more than a blur. Nikoli couldn’t watch what punishment Andris meted out. Gradually, the portal closed with the fissure growing opaque, then solid. “Come,” Nikoli said as gently as he could. Regina stared as he turned them to face the other side. “Where?” she cried, trying to step back. Nikoli kept her from retreat. There was nowhere for her to go except with him. Sickened at how events had turned out, he ran his thumb over the portable instrument. Regina glanced at the figures scrolling across its screen. “My dimension,” he answered. She stared at him as if he were insane, then ahead to the portal that opened into his laboratory. The room was deserted as Nikoli knew it would be. As he had planned before he’d crossed over tonight, fearful that he’d be forced to bring Regina to his side. Her body shuddered. She kept trying to hold back. “I don’t understand.” “I know.” With the way clear, at least for the moment, he pulled her inside E2.
Instantly, Regina noted a change in the atmosphere. Gone was the icy cold in the area they’d just passed through. The air here was far warmer, comfortable but oddly sterile, absent of any odors. She found it difficult to breathe, and not only because of her panic. The air here had a denser quality than what she was accustomed to on— Her thoughts paused on the word earth. “My dimension,” Nikoli had said. Not Romania, as he’d told her earlier in the coffee shop. Not a small isolated village. A dimension. Dizziness overwhelmed her. Her legs shook so badly, her knees gave out. She sank to the floor. In an instant, Nikoli’s arm was around her waist, bringing Regina back to her feet, his strength solid, supportive, unreal. My dimension. Who was he? What was he? Regina’s heart pounded out of control. She heard each beat clearly, wondering if he did. Was that a power he possessed? He pulled a chair to her. Its three legs, made of a material that could have been metal, made a buzzing not a scraping sound across the floor. Constructed of a silvery, highly polished substance, it resembled stainless steel.
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Breathing as hard as she did, Nikoli said, “Sit.” Regina wanted to run but had no idea where she could possibly go. She sank to the chair. Immediately, the thing conformed to her body, holding her. Trapping her? God, no. Alarmed, she straightened and started to rise. The chair released her. Nikoli’s topcoat fell from her shoulders. “Sit,” he repeated, then paused to swallow and panted out his next words. “The chair won’t harm you.” Gently, he replaced his coat on her shoulders and stepped back. Again, Regina sat, her legs trembling, the sharp points of her heels tapping the floor. Pressing her hands on her knees, she tried to still them and keep quiet. She noticed the lone door in here was made of the same metallic material as the floor. It bore no handle, no lock. What was this room? “Will anyone come in here?” Regina asked, unable to speak above a whisper. She was too damned afraid. She had too many questions. Were there more monsters outside the door? Was that why it was metal, to keep them out? Were his people beyond it? Were they even people? Nikoli didn’t answer. With all of her being, Regina did not want to turn toward him, fearful of what she might see, what he may have become. My dimension. What did he look like now? Was he watching her? Was he still in the room? Was she alone? Had he abandoned her here? Overwhelmed by dread, she finally risked a peek and wished she had not. Nikoli was sagged against one of the metal-like tables, his elbows and forearms bracing him from falling. A thin sheen of perspiration dampened his face. His broad chest rose and fell as he fought to pull in air, a struggle he seemed to be losing. Streaks of dried blood revealed where Sazaar had clawed his face and throat. Was he going to pass out? Oh my God, was he going to die? Forgetting any concerns she had for herself, Regina pushed from the chair. Its legs buzzed briefly as it slid across the floor, coming to a perfect stop against the wall. Shivering, she went to Nikoli, reaching for him but not touching. She didn’t know what to do, how to help. She whispered, “Are you all right? What’s wrong?” With great effort, he focused on her, though not for long. His lids slid down. Panting, he said, “I need a moment to readjust.” She had no idea what he was talking about. Cautiously, Regina rested her hand on his coat sleeve, her attention moving to the small instrument he continued to hold. “Readjust to what?” “The atmosphere on my side.”
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She recalled how it had affected her upon entering this room. How thick the air seemed to be, though only for a few seconds. Why would he react so differently to it when it was his world, what he’d called his dimension? “You can barely breathe,” she said, squeezing his arm gently, trying to control her alarm for them both. If anything happened to him, who would she call for help? If he didn’t survive, there was no way she would either. Not in this place, nor in her office if those things were still there. “Did Sazaar break one of your ribs? Are you experiencing pain?” He spoke as quietly as she had. “It burns here.” He pointed the device at his chest. “What your people call lungs.” It was burning? Why? Had one of his ribs pierced it? Is that why he was having such difficulty pulling in air? Once more, she asked, “Did Sazaar injure you?” His hand fell back to the table. “Not tonight. Not in the way you fear.” He paused to swallow, then continued, his speech still halting. “Millennia before, my people altered the atmosphere on this side so that the vampires couldn’t return…and if they found a means to do so, they wouldn’t be able to breathe long enough to survive.” His explanation, the ease with which he’d used the word vampires, sent a chill through Regina. It made what had happened in her office seem all too real, not something she’d hallucinated. “This can’t be happening,” she argued. Nikoli’s silence told her it was. Again, she wanted to run, but couldn’t move. Millennia, he’d said. Did that mean what she thought it did? Those things had existed all this time, moving unnoticed among her and others like virulent bacteria poised to kill? Images flooded Regina’s mind of fingers piercing the once-solid wall, trying to get at her and Nikoli—skin turning red, flesh exploding into flames. She trembled. “Your altered atmosphere, is that why they—those things—caught fire in that silvery area?” “The void between your dimension and mine,” Nikoli said, his words strained, his lids opening to mere slits. “They can survive there, but only if one of my people invites them inside.” Regina recalled Sazaar’s enticing demand, Invite them in. “The same as my office?” “Your atmosphere is conducive to their needs,” Nikoli said, huffing his words, “except when a human is in the room. Then they must ask permission to enter, or seduce someone into giving it.” Regina recalled how tempting Sazaar had sounded. How easily she’d succumbed to it. Fighting alarm, she asked, “What about here? If they’re not invited in, will they burn as they did in the void?” “No.” He paused to pull in more air, his breaths deeper now, starting to slow, though not enough to be considered normal. “It’s impossible for anyone from here to invite the vampires in, a precaution my people took when they banished the monsters to your side, long before your civilization formed. Those in power at
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the time never thought that your plane would evolve as it had. Otherwise they wouldn’t have unleashed such a scourge. Since then, Andris and his kind have been trying to find a way back. They sensed Sazaar’s presence when she crossed over. They intend to use her as a means of reentry.” Regina frowned. “Use her how?” Nikoli swallowed with difficulty and continued. “Only someone newly turned like Sazaar can tolerate this side for brief periods, giving her a small window to recalculate and modify the atmosphere, bringing it to what it had once been, allowing the vampires to return. Once here, they’ll destroy the government for having banished them. They’ll grow and harvest our citizens for their blood…as their food.” Regina stepped back, not wanting to face the horror of what Nikoli was revealing—what she was now thinking. Pictures flashed in her mind of Sazaar’s attack, the force of her body knocking Nikoli’s into the wall. His reddened face, his hands around Sazaar’s throat as he attempted to keep her from biting him. She couldn’t have. Regina would have seen— Her thoughts halted as she recalled how she’d wanted to find a weapon, settling on her desk lamp. While she’d pulled its cord from the wall, she’d had her back to Sazaar and Nikoli. Only a few seconds had transpired before she’d turned to face them again. Moments in which anything might have occurred. Regina noted Nikoli’s pasty complexion, the scratches on his cheeks and throat. Were the wounds from a vampire’s claws any different than those they made with their fangs? Could both injuries result in the same outcome? “If Sazaar hadn’t become one of them, would she have been able to move freely from my side to yours?” He nodded. Her chest tightened. “She would have only been affected briefly by the air in here as I was? Within seconds, she would have adjusted to the atmosphere?” “Yes.” Regina blurted, “Then why are you still struggling to breathe, Nikoli? Why are you perspiring? Did Sazaar bite you? Are you going to—” Her words trailed off to a faint moan. He regarded her for a long moment, then spoke quietly, “I’m not becoming one of them, Regina. You have no need to fear me. Can you believe that?” “Save yourself,” he’d said in her office. “I don’t matter.” He’d been willing to die for her then. Regina sensed he still was. Out of a male’s sense of duty or something more? Not knowing what to think about his motives, she knew he was telling her the truth about this. “Yes.” He lifted his hand, hesitating for a moment as though he expected her to retreat. When she did not, he rested his palm on the side of her face. “Never would I harm you.”
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Despite what they’d just been through, what they surely faced, intense warmth suffused Regina, along with longing so fierce her entire body ached, just as it had earlier today when she’d awakened…alone as always, yet not alone. Had Nikoli been there? Regina’s words raced out before she could stop them. “This morning, when I was in my bedroom, it felt as though someone was there. Was it you, Nikoli? Were you watching me?” A moment passed in silence. When he spoke, embarrassment colored his response. “Yes.” Then why hadn’t she been afraid when she should have been? In the coffee shop, she’d been drawn to Nikoli immediately, unlike any man she’d known. Was that a power he had, to make a woman want him, no different than his ability to open a portal? Or was it something more? Something deeper? One heart touching another? Regina recalled the first moment they’d seen each other in the coffee shop, wonder flooding his features, as though they’d always known each other and their forced separation had finally come to an end. She hadn’t imagined his response. And he certainly hadn’t faked it. He wanted her. He seemed as lonely as she had always been. Covering his hand with hers, she said, “You’ve been watching me for some time. You knew about Sazaar coming to me for help. You saw her through the opening between our worlds.” “She shouldn’t have exposed you.” He frowned. “She had no right.” “Is she your wife?” He brought back his hand. With a soft grunt, he pushed away from the table and straightened. So, he was married. It shouldn’t have surprised Regina or disappointed her, but it did. She stated the obvious. “I saw how desperate she is to return to you and this side. I saw how much she loves you.” “No,” he countered immediately. “It was the sickness inside her talking, encouraging her to help Andris, not to return to me. Until she crossed over and fell into his hands, she was my mate. We lived and worked together. What you call love didn’t exist. We had mutual respect, nothing more.” That didn’t make sense. “Then why were you together?” “Respect, not love, is prized in this realm, Regina.” “Why?” “It’s easier to maintain control.” His explanation was so direct, so devastating, all Regina could do was stare. He spoke on a sigh. “You can’t desire what you don’t know exists. I saw it with Sazaar. She was like everyone else on this plane, until she allowed herself a glimpse of your side, even though it’s forbidden. We’re to close the portals immediately. We’re not to observe your people. She did, and they fascinated her. She craved their passion, what my government trains its citizens to resist. Here, we worship order, not the chaos that feelings create. I warned Sazaar not to let them tempt her, not to cross over, but her curiosity was
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too great. Within a day of her arrival on your side, Andris had found and seduced her. Until then, she wanted only to experience what those in your dimension did—the intense emotions, the joy. She didn’t understand that sorrow would accompany it.” Followed by horror. Regina remembered the barely contained panic on Sazaar’s face during each of her appointments, her guilt and sadness at betraying her world, her devastation at Andris’s indifference. “All I wanted was his love.” And some measure of peace, perhaps redemption, by coming for therapy. It all made sense now. “She hoped I would understand what she’d done and that I’d somehow help her to endure it.” “She would have forced you to endure,” Nikoli warned. “Her sickness compels her to use her victims, to destroy them. Eventually, Andris and the others would have discovered what she’d told you about them. They would have fed on you as they do any other human, turning you into what Sazaar is now.” An image of her elongated canines played in Regina’s mind. A wave of dizziness followed, making the room lurch as she thought of Sazaar attacking Nikoli, her strength unbelievable, inhuman. Forcing the memories away, Regina met Nikoli’s beautifully dark eyes. Seemingly fathomless. Filled with a man’s lust and the capacity to love that he’d been denied. In a whisper, she asked, “How long have you been watching me?” He glanced away, clearly shamed at his actions. “For weeks. I sensed tonight Sazaar would finally tell you the truth. I feared she’d feed on you, then—” He stopped. Regina slid her hand over his, squeezing his fingers. “I felt you earlier in my office. You were the one who took my purse out of the drawer and the bills from my wallet. You heard me telling Carly I was going to the coffee shop. You followed me there, pretending to be a customer because you wanted to warn me.” “No. You wouldn’t have believed me if I had.” “Then why?” she pressed. Yearning swept over his ruggedly masculine features. Just as quickly, he pushed it aside, his expression becoming distant. “What does it matter?” “I want to know.” “It changes nothing.” “Dammit, tell me.” “I wanted to be near you,” he admitted. “To feel the warmth of your hand.” He glanced down at her fingers embracing his. “To hear you without the barrier of the portal. To experience your scent.” “We lived and worked together,” he’d said about Sazaar. “What you call love didn’t exist.” Regina tightened her fingers around his. With what appeared to be resignation, Nikoli pulled his hand from hers and stepped back.
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Frustrated by his reaction, defiant, she asked, “Why are you pulling away from me when it’s obvious you don’t want to?” At her candor, surprise registered on his face. Not allowing it to change his mind, he concentrated on the portable instrument he held. Regina noticed how his hand trembled. “We have to leave,” he said. “We can’t stay in here much longer.” Her caution returned. “Why? What is this room?” “It’s where Sazaar and I worked together.” “On what?” He shoved his fingers through his hair, dragging it off his forehead. “Detecting the portals, protecting our people from what’s on the other side. I’m what those in your dimension would call a quantum physicist. Sazaar’s a theoretical physicist. This is our lab.” Regina glanced around the spacious area, noticing it fully for the first time. On one wall hung a large circular item—what appeared to be a clock. The twelve circles on its face represented what she suspected were the hours. A faint silver light shone from behind the seventh and third orbs. Seven fifteen. She glanced at her watch. It read seven thirty—fifteen minutes difference. Glancing up, she saw a flash of light moving in a very slow circle around the clock’s face. Regina suspected it was the second hand. She watched it for a long moment, then started counting. It remained in the same position for fifteen seconds before it moved again, telling her what seemed to be impossible. Time moved more slowly here than it did on what Nikoli had called her dimension. Torn between needing to know the truth and wanting to flee it, she asked, “Are we still on earth?” “Yes.” He kept his attention on his handheld device, observing or reading the symbols that scrolled by. “How is that possible?” Regina asked. “Your plane is above mine and closest to what you call the sun. There are five dimensions on this planet.” Unable to imagine such a thing, she blurted, “Do people—beings—live on the others?” “Each is populated, though time between them is distorted, not allowing the inhabitants to know of the others’ existence. Millennia before, my people discovered a means to open the portals between your realm and mine. They learned too late that what they’d done caused gateways to open spontaneously from one dimension to the other. Since then, my government has trained physicists to monitor the fissures, to close them as they occur so those like Andris and Sazaar will never compromise security or find a means to invade E2’s borders.” E2? The second dimension on earth?
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Not asking, Regina saw what appeared to be a hologram of the globe. Five lines circled it. Beneath each were symbols she couldn’t read. On the continents, white lights flickered, while brown ones burned steadily. Indicating what? Portals opening? Closing? Breaches in this dimension’s security? In the subdued light, she noticed the drab green monitors of what appeared to be computers, though the screens were circular, not square, and there were no keyboards or wires connecting them to a power source. She glanced at the walls, the floors, the furniture. Everything had the same drab, washed out appearance, the colors not vivid as they were on her side. “She wanted only to experience what those in your dimension did,” Nikoli had said about Sazaar, “the intense emotions, the joy.” The vibrancy of an imperfect world. Regina glanced at Nikoli. He pressed his fingers to his forehead, his swarthy complexion still too sallow. Because of her. He’d risked everything to leave his dimension, not only to save her, not only for honor, but because he craved the comfort of her touch, words exchanged in pleasure, not duty, a man and a woman experiencing the delight of their first conversation because they were attracted to each other. What had always been denied him. What she’d never experienced. Acting impulsively, Regina took his hand, bringing it to her lips. She wanted to offer some measure of intimacy neither of them had known, to ask if he was still all right. The words didn’t come. She stared at what she hadn’t noticed before. There were no lines on his palm. Unlike hers, his fingerprints were no more than a single round circle at the tip of each digit. Nikoli pulled back his hand. Not allowing it, Regina held on to him, wanting to show him how a woman behaved in her world. With great care, she stroked his fingers, palm and wrist. There, she halted, disturbed at what she’d felt. Folding back his sweater’s cuff, she inhaled sharply at the puncture wounds on his wrist—mean, black circles ringed by reddened flesh. “Sazaar bit you.” Twisting free of her grasp, Nikoli lowered his cuff. “Not tonight.” Horrified, Regina whispered, “When?” “Weeks before, when I tried to stop her.” “Stop her from what?” “From what happened tonight,” he said, frowning. “I crossed over to eliminate her so she wouldn’t be a threat to anyone here or to you. At the last moment, I hesitated, unable to bring myself to do it, and she tried to feed on me. Since then, she’s been vigilant, keeping herself just out of my reach. That’s why I had
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to wait until she showed up at your office, where she wouldn’t suspect my presence. If I could have had one more chance to destroy her before tonight, before she put you at risk, I would have.” “I don’t care about that,” Regina said. “She bit you. That’s why you had trouble breathing in here when you crossed back over, isn’t it?” He glanced at the lab’s door. “Within her is Andris’s poison. It’s not enough to turn me into what they are, but it has affected me here.” “For how long? Will it eventually recede? Will your immune system, or whatever you call it, fight the poison she’d infected you with?” Nikoli’s attention remained on the door. “Thus far, my body’s been able to counteract the effects, though each day they magnify. Now, I have only a few hours before I need relief in order to survive.” What did that mean? Was he saying he could die if he stayed here? Frightened, Regina could barely get her words out. “Relief? How? Do we have to go back to my side?” “Yes. We need to do so now before the atmosphere here overtakes me again and you’re left alone on E2.” He took her hand. Regina glanced down at his surprisingly strong grip. “Come,” he said. Regina held back. “What about Andris and the others?” Nikoli showed no emotion. “We have to return. We have no choice.”
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Chapter Five
Nikoli breathed cautiously, aware that the intense burning in his chest could reoccur at any moment. Along with it, he feared a return of the atmosphere’s oppressive weight on his body, what Regina had felt for no more than a few minutes before her physiology had adjusted to it. What a vampire would experience as an increasing and crushing pressure on its chest, with the feeling radiating to its limbs. Frozen in place, it wouldn’t be able to harm his people. Nor would it be able to protect itself from them or the scorching air consuming its lungs. If Sazaar had fed on him for a few minutes more, Nikoli knew he would have become what she had. As it was, he now belonged nowhere…neither in his dimension, where he found it increasingly difficult to survive, nor in Regina’s, where he was an anomaly. A bead of perspiration ran down his face. Foreboding flooded him, an emotion discouraged in his structured, placid world. The same as intense desire or love. Impetuously, gently, he squeezed Regina’s hand, captivated at its softness and warmth, stirred in a way he’d never believed existed. As she curled her fingers more tightly around his, demonstrating her trust, Nikoli battled an urge to pull her into his arms, to have her close for a moment longer when what he needed was force of will to save her life, knowing what he had weeks before—that his no longer mattered. He glanced at the figures on his handheld device. Even those in E2’s government didn’t have the power he now had—to open portals at will. Not once had Nikoli hesitated in constructing the instrument, making certain it wouldn’t trip his realm’s complicated security. When he’d understood what Sazaar intended to confess to Regina, he knew he had no choice but to help Regina escape Andris and the others. He led her to his lab’s door. Holding back, she spoke in a whisper. “What are you doing? We came through the other side.” She turned to the back wall. “Are Sazaar and the others gone?” “We’re not returning through that portal. I’m going to open another to your realm. Come.” At the door, he stopped and released her hand. Taking his coat from her shoulders, he pulled it on, then placed his palm on the barrier’s metal, waiting for it to read the circles on his fingertips. Nothing happened. Nikoli’s skin went cold then hot. Sweat ran into his eyes, stinging them. Had one of his colleagues discovered he’d crossed over and helped a human? Did that individual intend to trap him and
Tina Donahue
Regina in this room, forcing them to choose between dying here and returning to her office, where the vampires surely waited to destroy them both? “What’s wrong?” she whispered, huddling against him. “What’s that buzzing sound?” The lock opening, affording escape. Nikoli had an uncontrollable urge to laugh in triumph and to curse Sazaar for having caused this. He allowed neither emotion, speaking as quietly as Regina had. “A mechanism that opens the door. Some of my people may be on the other side of it. Say nothing, ask nothing, even if you’re afraid.” Giving her no chance to respond, Nikoli took Regina’s arm and pulled her back several steps to allow enough space for the door to open a crack. Face to the narrow slit, he glanced into the hall beyond the door, then to the right, the left. The area was deserted. His legs went rubbery with relief. For the moment, they were safe. With no hesitation, he led Regina into the dimly lit, deserted space. As far as one could see, closed doors flanked each side, the gray metal bearing the names and ranks of the scientists that worked in those rooms. Regina’s heels clacked faintly against the floor’s material, a silver alloy that resisted corrosion or wear for thousands of years. She matched Nikoli’s pace for several yards, then stopped abruptly, staring at something past him…above him, the blood draining from her face. He saw what she did—the crystal globe floating in place near the ceiling, part of the lab’s surveillance system. Before crossing over tonight, he’d altered it. For a few more minutes, it wouldn’t detect or record his and Regina’s movements; then its backup system would reset and search for whatever had caused the breach in security. With little time to waste, he pulled Regina past countless doors. She struggled to keep pace with his long strides, hurried even when measured against the movements of those in her realm. Nikoli didn’t slow down. Her life depended upon their haste. Just short of the door he sought, she stopped again, her hand gripping his, her nails biting into his skin. Only then did he hear voices coming from the left, belonging to men and women he’d known since childhood, scientists who’d trained at the same institutes of learning that he had. Nikoli’s lungs began to burn, reminding him to take a breath. As he did, the air felt too heavy, thick— not from the lingering aftermath of Sazaar’s bite, but from terror that was bone deep. Listening closely, his mind racing as to what he should do, he caught snatches of the conversation Regina couldn’t possibly understand. “Then you’ve seen it too?” his male colleague asked. What? The female scientist responded, “Earlier today. I must say, nothing was left to chance this time.” Pressing against him, Regina whispered, “Who is that? Do they know we’re here?”
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Not yet. They continued to discuss the new housing E2’s government had provided, extolling its excellence as fine citizens always did, never finding any drawbacks in their orderly, planned existence. Weeks before, Nikoli had been no different. And then, he’d seen and heard Regina, lusting after her just as Sazaar had done with Andris. Lightheaded, he pulled Regina even closer, unwilling to let the vampires or his people harm her. She shivered. On tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, “What if they see us?” They wouldn’t. He knew who they were. This hall wasn’t their destination. Within seconds, their footfalls faded away, telling Nikoli they had turned a corner prior to reaching this area. Regina must have heard their departure. She sank to her heels and lifted her face to his. Nikoli’s throat constricted with emotion he couldn’t deny, need he fought to resist. Everything about Regina—from her coppery hair to her green eyes, guileless smile and willing heart—was so different, so much more alive than the females in his dimension. They had never known true passion…nor had they experienced dread or hopelessness. “What if they see us?” she’d asked. Her worry tore at him. But he couldn’t lie to her. She needed strength to survive this night and the others. “I’ll be executed for treason.” She fisted her free hand into his sweater, so unlike the garments on this side. Clothing Nikoli had stolen so he would resemble the inhabitants on her plane, moving freely amongst them to eliminate Sazaar. His failure to do so at the last moment had brought them to this. Hating himself for that weakness, he led Regina to a door near an intersection. Halls continued in all directions. The sound of a new conversation came from the right, the words so muted Nikoli couldn’t yet determine what his colleagues said. Releasing Regina, he placed his fingertips on the metal door as he had on the one in his lab. This being a common room for many scientists to use, the lock opened immediately, recognizing his markings as authorized. Hurriedly, he pulled Regina inside. At this hour, it would be rare to find anyone working in here. Tonight was no exception. Faintly lit as the other labs, equipment—not scientists—crowded its space. Regina turned to a hologram of the three other dimensions on earth, then back to him as Nikoli eased her against the door. Facing her, he listened to the footfalls outside. They didn’t continue down the intersection as he’d predicted. Instead, the faint tapping sounds turned in this direction. Nikoli tensed, knowing what discovery would mean. He placed his finger on Regina’s lips and listened closely. “Then you’ve approached her about being your mate?” one of the men asked.
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“Not yet,” the other answered. “I noticed you had an interest in her and wanted to discuss the matter with you. Were you planning to seek her as your partner?” “It had crossed my mind. She’s quite intelligent.” “I understand she’s scored the highest percentile on her tests. I haven’t yet reviewed her file. Have you?” Nikoli’s shoulders relaxed as his colleagues debated the practicalities of which man would be better suited for the female in question. He expected to feel shame for having betrayed them with his actions tonight, but did not. All that mattered to Nikoli was Regina. Clearly frightened, her hands on his chest, she searched his face. Tenderness swept through Nikoli, along with unbearable desire. He stroked her cheek to let her know she had nothing to fear. His colleagues continued their debate not far from the door, their comments mild, absent of passion. It raged through Nikoli as Regina held his gaze in the gloom, showing him her uncertainty. Desperate to comfort her, he pressed his mouth to her ear, all too aware of her delicate fragrance, nearly undone by the silkiness of her hair. “They don’t know we’re in here,” he whispered. “They won’t find out. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Regina’s body softened against his, her warmth and scent consuming his thoughts. Blood heated Nikoli’s chest and groin, thickening his cock, tightening his balls. Another word from her side. Descriptive, dynamic, making him hunger even more…making him act. He pressed his lips to her velvety cheek. Regina inhaled sharply, a barely audible sound that touched his heart and captured his soul. Sliding her hands from his chest to his back, she wound her arms around his torso, clinging to him. Out of fear or carnal hunger? It didn’t matter. They had no future. Even so, harsh reality couldn’t stop him from easing back to learn what had driven her response. His limbs went weak. In her, he saw lust to match his own, along with wonder he needed more than the promise of safety. Dropping the portable device into his coat pocket, he leaned down, brushing his mouth over hers. She whimpered. Torrents of pleasure washed over him. His cock stirred, growing even harder, craving the sanctuary of her cunt. Regina’s arms tightened around him, her sweet breath warming, tickling his lips. He wanted more. For the first time in his existence, Nikoli craved everything a kiss should be, teasing the seam of her mouth with his tongue. Willingly, she yielded, parting her lips, inviting him inside. He filled her then, his tongue plunging into her mouth.
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She yielded immediately, arching her back, proving how eager she was to have her body close to his, her breasts crushed against his chest, her mound to his thick ridge of male flesh. At his cock’s stiffness, what she imagined to be its length, Regina moaned faintly, unable to help herself. Nikoli quieted her with his tongue, angling his mouth for greater penetration. In the hall, two men continued their quiet conversation, as though they discussed nothing more pressing than the weather. In here, Nikoli’s passion didn’t abate. He pulled her away from the door and into his large body. Slinging his arm around her waist, he drew her even closer to his length, his strength barely contained, his kiss impassioned, greedy, commanding. She surrendered, opening her mouth even farther, welcoming him inside, suckling his tongue. He tasted of toothpaste, a mild peppermint flavor, and another Regina couldn’t identify. Something clean and comforting. Inhaling deeply, she caught aromas within the sterile air…the wool scent of his coat and his musk, a faint yet heady fragrance that stirred her beyond restraint. On a subdued moan that no one outside could hear, she ran her hands up his back and slanted her mouth over his, giving him greater access. Whatever control he’d still managed to maintain weakened instantly, allowing the male animal within him to respond. Nikoli’s kiss grew even hungrier, a shade below wild, a faint grunt escaping his throat, his beginning beard rasping her skin. A pulse beat in Regina’s cunt. Her nipples constricted into stiff peaks, her body imploring him to fill her. It was crazy to feel as she did, but she no longer cared. She might have died tonight without ever having experienced this, without ever having known him. He’d saved her. He’d continued to protect her. He wanted her. Lifting his free hand, he drove his long fingers through her hair, anchoring her to him, leaving no means of escape. Regina wanted none. He wasn’t anything he’d told her in the coffee shop. He was more than she could have ever imagined. Strong. Brave. Kind. Passionate. Loving. Nikoli’s kiss grew tender, his tongue sweeping the insides of her cheeks, over her teeth, exploring their contours even as his hand went to her breast. His touch electrified, tempting her in a way she’d rarely known. A surge of desire tore through Regina, leaving her dizzy and limp. With a hunger to match hers, Nikoli cupped her breast in his palm, his thumb flicking the tightened nub, his fingers squeezing the rounded counters with a mixture of passion and care. She moaned once more, the sound again muffled by his tongue.
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It seemed to galvanize him, defeating restraint. Once more, his kiss spoke of a male who required a female, a man who cared for nothing but this moment. Pressing the pads of her fingers into his muscular back, Regina held tight, unwilling to let the moment end. They enjoyed each other’s taste, scent, warmth for minutes, hardly a lifetime, but to her it seemed as though they’d never been apart. At last, Nikoli pulled his mouth from hers. Regina heard his quiet gasps, his battle to pull in enough air, the same as her. Or was it? Her stomach clenched. She recalled how he’d struggled to breathe when they first went through the portal. Was the same thing happening now? Lifting her hand to his cheek, she avoided the wounds Sazaar had given him, running her fingertips lightly over his beginning beard. “Are you all right?” she whispered. “Is the atmosphere affecting you again?” Nikoli sighed deeply. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “No. You are.” A smile tugged at her lips. His answer was what all women wanted to hear from a man, no matter his dimension. Easing back, Regina went weak at his masculine allure. Several dark locks had fallen over his brow, making him appear curiously boyish, endearing him to her even more. With relief, she noted his breathing was still close to normal, as was his rich coloring, the pastiness from before gone. He leaned down to her, his lips touching her ear. In delight, she trembled. Nikoli murmured, “I’m sorry for what Sazaar and I have brought into your life.” His apology, the resignation behind it, sounded like good-bye. “It’s not your fault,” she whispered. “I don’t blame you. I’d never blame you.” He didn’t respond. Just past the door, the men’s comments grew serene, as though they’d made a decision about something. Snatches of quiet filled the spaces between their words. Was their conversation finished? Would they now move on, giving Nikoli a chance to do whatever he’d planned? For the first time, Regina wondered what his plan was. Did he intend to bring her to the other side, making certain she was safe, then leave her forever? One of the men spoke again. The other made a sound of acknowledgement, not adding any comment. Again, they fell silent. “What are they talking about?” she asked Nikoli. “Not us.” “Why aren’t they continuing down the hall?” Nikoli didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. One of the men had just spoken. Instantly, Nikoli’s muscles stiffened beneath Regina’s fingers, telling her that at any moment he feared one of the pair would come inside.
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“Where can we go for good?” she whispered. Deliberately, she included them both, unable to bear the thought of him returning to this dimension, facing execution or sure death from the atmosphere because he’d risked his life to save her. “Where will we be safe?” He pulled back from her, listening as the men resumed speaking. A bit of relief flickered across his face. Had they decided to move on? “Nowhere here,” Nikoli whispered, answering her question. “On your side…” He paused, then reached inside his coat pocket, taking out his portable instrument. “On my side what?” she asked. “You’ll be in a place where Andris and the others won’t know to find you. One Sazaar won’t be able to detect for them.” “What about—” Regina’s words stalled before she could say you. Footfalls sounded from behind. Glancing over, Regina listened carefully, hearing only one man departing, not two. What had happened to the other? She noticed the renewed worry on Nikoli’s face. What had changed? What had the men— A soft buzzing sound halted the rest of her thoughts. Regina stared at the door—still closed. In obvious haste, Nikoli ran his thumb over the controls on his device. Symbols jumped and flickered on the small screen. Taking her hand, he led her to the back wall, equally shadowed as the rest of the space, though offering no real place to hide. She noticed a timid whoosh. The door opening? Yes. Regina gaped at the man who entered, his coloring dark like Nikoli’s, his complexion nearly as rich, his features eerily similar, his clothing shapeless—a top and pants, resembling a health-worker’s scrubs, constructed of a dull gray material. He read a document in his hand, stopping abruptly as though he sensed an intruder’s presence. Had he heard them or smelled her perfume? All the energy drained from Regina’s body, leaving her clammy and weak. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Nikoli drew her into him, wordlessly demanding that she be still and not make a sound. Blood pounded in Regina’s ears. The man glanced to the left of them toward the hologram. His attention then inched to the right, where she and Nikoli stood just barely shielded by a large piece of equipment. A cry of horror stalled in Regina’s throat. She couldn’t pull in enough air. The man looked farther right.
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From behind her, intense cold swept in, just as it had in her office. Tightening his embrace, Nikoli directed her to step back. Regina’s legs refused to work. Frozen in place, mouth open in alarm, she stared as the man’s gaze inched toward her. Closer, closer, clos— Time stopped. Her senses became sharper. A clicking noise seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. She saw a small scar near the man’s chin, a wrinkle in his top, the fabric moving as he turned. Nikoli tugged her as he backed them through the seam in the wall where they slipped into a new gateway.
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Chapter Six
This time, unlike the last, Nikoli didn’t pause as he pulled her backward through the void between their dimensions. Whatever lay behind them, whatever part of her plane they had entered wasn’t Regina’s greatest concern. Nikoli had indicated it wouldn’t be her office. The quiet surrounding them, the murky light told her they weren’t in a public place. For the moment, he and she were alone, safe from both her people and the vampires. Although her mind accepted that truth, her body refused to relax. Shoulders bunched, knees tightened, she breathed shallowly, not only from the thinner air in her dimension, but also from her lingering fear of those on his side. Through the portal’s window, Regina saw the room she and Nikoli had just fled. To the left, something moved. She stared at the man who’d sensed their presence. Again, she noticed how similar his coloring and features were to Nikoli’s. Was he a sibling or maybe a cousin? Dark brows drawn together, the man seemed to see her. She shivered. Nikoli tightened his arm around her shoulders. Turning into him, Regina froze, immediate concern prickling her skin. “What’s wrong?” Nikoli’s lids remained closed, his face registering pain or discomfort. “Nikoli.” He shook his head. “Dammit, talk to me. Are your lungs burning?” “No.” He spoke with great effort, his words sluggish. “Atmosphere here is less dense than E2’s. Colors brighter. Time swifter. I need to adjust.” He paused to clear his throat. “Surely you noticed the change too.” She had but not to the degree he seemed to be experiencing. Placing her hand on his chest, Regina frowned at how his heart raced. “Were you wrong about what you said before? Is Sazaar’s bite affecting you here too?” “No.” He pulled in more air. The tightness of his jaw, the strain on his features, began to soften. “In a few minutes, I’ll adjust.” Regina curled her fingers into his sweater. Faint tapping sounds came from the direction of the gateway.
Tina Donahue
Nikoli’s colleague had moved closer to the portal, his shoes—gray like his clothing—having made the noise. Arm extended, he pressed his hand to the solid wall on his side. Instinctively, Regina leaned away from him and into Nikoli, the swell of her breast pressing against his ribs. “Will he feel the cold?” she asked, hearing the hollow ring of her words. “Will his hand go through as the vampires’ did?” “No.” Pulling in more air, he spoke with less strain, his adjustment nearly complete. “I recalibrated the settings. The portal on Thom—” His explanation stalled, though only for a second. Continuing, he said, “The portal on his side closed more quickly than it had in your office.” Regina heard Nikoli’s relief and something more—shame at what he’d done, what he continued to do in order to save her life. She ached for him, the blow to his integrity, what he’d been taught to believe in, to respect. He’d forsaken his heritage and safety for a woman he barely knew, who wasn’t even of his plane. Biting her lip, she wouldn’t allow herself to consider or be shaken by the odds he faced to save himself. Unless he didn’t intend to try. Oh God, not that. She snuggled closer to him, needing his solid weight, the heat emanating from his big body. Whatever it took, she’d do all that she could to save him as he’d done for her. Vigilant, Regina focused on their most current threat—the man on Nikoli’s side. “Who is he?” she asked, adding quickly, “He looks like you.” Her next question sounded hesitant. “Is he your brother or a cousin?” “No, I have none.” He breathed easily now, his words tinged by remorse, despair or a wealth of other feelings, not physical pain. “As a means to control the population, only one child is allowed to those who are allowed to breed. Not many are given that honor.” It took Regina a moment to digest that. “Then how can he resemble you so closely?” “All the males do. Between us, there are only slight differences. The same is true of the females.” “Why?” “Long ago, my people manipulated what you know as genetic material so they could produce the strongest specimens. The uniformity of my race eliminates risk.” And variety, anything novel or fresh. Regina tried to picture living in such a world and suddenly realized she already had. Prior to meeting Nikoli, she’d valued stability, the known, averse to anything new, any manner of risk, especially when it came to her involvement with a man. Her father’s legacy, the turmoil he’d created in Regina’s and her mother’s lives had imprisoned her spirit and trust. She’d made herself safe, though not fully alive. With Nikoli, there was more danger than hope. What she would have warned a patient against, explaining that the uncertainty no doubt added to the allure. As a woman, Regina knew that Nikoli made her feel protected and cherished. Her attraction to him might have been immediate, but it felt as natural as
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awakening each day. For the first time in her life, she accepted the unbearable need of a heart starved for affection. What had driven her mother into her father’s arms…and Sazaar into Andris’s grip. Denied the wonder of love, constricted by rules, Sazaar had longed for the spontaneity, the messiness of life on this side. The door behind Nikoli’s colleague opened. As though someone on E2 had heard Regina’s thoughts, a double for Sazaar came inside. She had the same lovely features, long blonde hair, and wore garments as shapeless as the man’s, the only difference being hers were a slightly darker shade of gray. The man said something to her in their language. Joining him at the wall, the young woman placed her hand on it. Regina regarded their palms, absent of lines, then the circles that represented their fingerprints. They were identical to Nikoli’s. Was there a slight and infinite variation in them as there were for human prints in her dimension? Something undetected by the human eye but readable by the door’s locking mechanism? Drawing back his hand, the scientist strode to one of the circular monitors that Regina had identified as a computer. For a long moment, he regarded the symbols flashing across it, then leaned down and spoke, his face close to the screen. Nikoli’s arm tightened around her shoulders, telling Regina something was wrong. “What’s he doing?” she asked. “Alerting security about a breach.” “Oh my God, he saw us?” “No.” Regina didn’t understand. “Then why would he think there’s been a breach? How could he know what we did if he didn’t see us?” “He senses something. We’ve been trained for that.” “Will he suspect it’s you?” “Not immediately. From childhood, I’ve had his trust.” Again, Regina heard self-reproach in Nikoli’s comment, the blame he carried for his continuing deception. Releasing her and stepping away, he lifted his portable device. Surely, he couldn’t be thinking about going back. “What are you doing?” “Closing the portal from our side.” So the man couldn’t see them or for some other reason? “Does he have one of those instruments you’re holding? Will he use it to come over here and harm you?” “No.” “Are you certain?”
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Nikoli’s expression grew more troubled. “Thomo, the man you see, would never think of constructing one of these devices or doing anything to harm me. He has too much honor.” “Then he’s no different than you,” Regina said, determined to refute what she sensed Nikoli was thinking. “You haven’t hurt him. You haven’t hurt anyone. You’ve risked your life to protect your people and me from the vampires.” Offering no comment, Nikoli ran his thumb over the instrument, closing the portal that allowed them to view his realm. In its place stood a wood-paneled wall. Despite the gloom, Regina could still see its color—a deep cherry, highly polished. She glanced at the timbered ceiling, a rustic design that reminded her of five-star lodges where she’d gone for work-related conferences, then advanced to the series of windows that made up one wall. Beyond the immaculate panes, a light rain fell. Moisture dripped from the towering trees and fat bushes that surrounded the building. Farther out, the clouds had parted temporarily, revealing the night sky crowded by dozens of stars. Within them hung a heavy moon. Its ashy beams sparkled off water that flowed across a wide channel to a series of hills. Past the meek ridges, Regina recognized the Olympics and Mt. Olympus, the largest of the mountains in Washington State. Snow glittered on its massive peak that rose regally above everything else. At the icy scene, she finally noticed the room’s damp chill. It seemed to seep into her core, producing a slight shiver. Turning a slow circle, Regina took in the massive stone fireplace that made up one wall, the plank floors, the comfortable furniture, constructed of what she suspected was expensive burgundy leather. Pine perfumed the air, along with the lingering scent of a fire. The sweet, smoky odor reminded her of fall and winter nights as a child, anticipating the magic of Thanksgiving and Christmas that never measured up to the enchanting scenes in TV movies. On most holidays, her mom had worked, leaving Regina to spend the time alone in a shabby apartment. When she’d earned enough money to buy a home in the Queen Anne section of Seattle, she’d decorated like a madwoman and baked for days to give her mother and herself what they’d never had. Given the view here, Regina suspected this mansion or estate was not too far from her home, possibly on Bainbridge Island. But where exactly? “What is this place?” Nikoli didn’t answer. Why? She was surprised to see him standing near the expansive sectional sofa, regarding her. Heat rose to her cheeks at the naked longing she saw on his face and his male beauty. In the faint light, he was a study in black, gray and ivory, the strong planes of his face arresting and masculine, the scratches from Sazaar less noticeable. Stubble shadowed his firm jaw, cheeks and upper lip.
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Several locks of dark hair dangled over his forehead, giving him a tousled, bed-mussed look. His eyes, so sooty and expressive, glistened in the faint light. Regina recalled his inner fire seconds before he’d kissed her. She recognized the same desire and yearning now. As though he sensed her thoughts or read her expression, Nikoli glanced away, concentrating instead on the instrument in his hand. “This estate is secluded,” he said, not quite answering her question. “It’s surrounded by a wide expanse of land, three acres in your realm. It provides privacy and safety.” “You’ll be in a place where Andris and the others won’t know to find you,” he’d said earlier. “One Sazaar won’t be able to detect for them.” “How did you locate it?” Regina asked. “Whose is it?” Nikoli kept fiddling with his device, showing no emotion. “A man Andris targeted, then fed on and killed.” Regina’s hand went to her throat. She suppressed a shiver. “What do you mean? You said they wouldn’t find us here. If Andris fed—” Regina couldn’t finish. She spoke in a whisper. “I don’t understand.” “I know. With the man destroyed, Andris has no use for this place, nor do the others. They’ve gotten his money. It’s what they really wanted. They have no idea I’ve been watching Andris in my efforts to locate Sazaar, and that I know of his victim’s existence.” “They wanted his money? Why?” “To see to their basic needs—paying for their clothing and housing, the same as anyone else in your dimension. The man who once lived here was an inventor. He worked in an upstairs room, rarely leaving this house. He had no wife or children, no one to be immediately concerned should he go missing. He was the perfect victim.” She regarded the beautifully appointed room. “They got money by stealing things from here to sell?” “There was no need for them to do that. Andris seduced the man into turning over a large portion of his money for an investment that didn’t exist. Once the transaction was complete, Andris destroyed him.” “Here?” “No. At a place where Andris felt safe and could dispose of the body.” Regina put up her hand, not wanting to hear details. “Did you see him do it?” Nikoli nodded. “I wanted to save him, but it wasn’t possible. Can you understand that?” Was he asking if she blamed him for the man’s death? “Of course.” “But I should have saved him.” “You shouldn’t have to save anyone.” Didn’t he understand that? “There was no choice,” he said, quietly. “Not after what Sazaar had done. When I crossed over tonight, I came here first to prepare.”
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“For what?” “To move among your people without being noticed.” Regina wasn’t certain what he was trying to say and then she did. She recalled the shapeless garments she’d seen on the man from his side, so different from the topcoat, jacket, sweater and pants Nikoli wore. Until now, she hadn’t considered where he might have gotten his clothing. The pants and topcoat fit him well, though not perfectly. The man who once owned the clothes and this estate wasn’t quite as tall as Nikoli. She cleared her throat. “Even before you crossed over tonight, did you know that Sazaar would call for Andris and the others while she was in my office? Did you know if we escaped that you’d be bringing us here?” “I planned for all eventualities.” “So you could protect me.” He hesitated a moment, then nodded. It took all of Regina’s will not to go to him and wreath her arms around his shoulders, thanking him for his protection, then asking him to stay with her so he could also protect himself. She sensed what was on his mind and feared if she approached him too quickly, he’d open another gateway and flee, not wanting to bring more terror into her life, taking the blame for all that had happened. How wrong he was. The horror belonged to Sazaar and Andris. Nikoli had given Regina a reason to fight, to live. She couldn’t let him go now and risk never seeing him again. They hadn’t even had their promised date. Despite her ludicrous thoughts, Regina allowed herself foolish hope. “You don’t have to leave.” Nikoli’s acceptance of their parting was obvious on his face. “You can breathe more easily here,” she said, trying to reason with him. “You can survive in this atmosphere. You can—” He interrupted, “When dawn breaks, the vampires will retreat to their lair. Until then, you should be safe here.” “What about you?” “By tomorrow evening, the threat to you should be gone.” “How? Why?” “If need be, I want you to use this tomorrow night.” He lifted the instrument. Indecipherable symbols filled its small screen. “If anything happens—” “Happens? Like what? Are there things out there that are worse than the vampires? Is that even possible? Will I have to go to another of the dimensions? What are they like? Do I have a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving on those planes, realms or whatever you call them? Talk to me!”
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“You’re being emotional, Regina.” “Fucking A. I want to know what your plans are, Nikoli.” Crossing the room to her, he took her hand, placing the device into it. She flinched at the current of energy pulsing from the thing, similar to a shock of static electricity. “Hold it,” he ordered. “No. I don’t want you to leave.” She sure as hell wasn’t going to let him. Her hand remained limp. Nikoli covered her fingers with his, folding them over to grasp the instrument. “Your life depends upon what I’m about to tell you,” he warned. “If anything happens, if Andris, Sazaar or the others should find you here, use this to open a portal into my world and escape into it.” She argued, “You said they wouldn’t find me here.” “If all goes well.” “With what? Tell me.” His jaw tightened. “The less you know the better.” “For whom?” She tried to release the instrument and pull her hand from his. He wouldn’t allow it. “How can I use something I don’t understand?” she snapped. “I can’t read the symbols on the screen.” “I’ll tell you what to look for.” “Why is it necessary?” she shot back. “How could the vampires find me here? You said they have no use for it. You said this place was secluded.” “From your people who reside nearby.” His frown deepened. “Not from the vampires. Sazaar was in your presence many times. She knows your scent as Andris and his minions do not. From thousands of others, she can pick it out. Your only defense tonight is the rain. It dilutes your essence, not giving her enough time before dawn to locate you. Should she survive through the day and rise again tomorrow evening, should the rain pass, she’ll find you easily. She’ll come here, seducing you to invite her in.” He tightened his fingers over hers, forcing Regina to hold the device. “When you want a portal to open, you run your thumb over the screen counter-clockwise. When you need the portal to close, you run your thumb clockwise. The symbols will blink when a portal’s created. They roll across the screen as the gateway comes to an end.” Pausing to swallow, he continued, his words rushed. “I’ve adjusted the device so that a new portal will take you to where I lived with Sazaar. Do not leave the structure. Stay there, hidden from my people, until the threat from her and the others is gone over here. Then use this to return to your realm. It will take you back to the bedroom in your home.” He released her hand. In spite of the room’s chilly temperature, sweat clung to the back of Regina’s neck. A dribble of moisture rolled down her spine. “No.” She tossed the device on the sofa and took his hand. His fingers were as cold as hers. His expression pained. “Don’t leave me,” Regina said.
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“I have no choice.” Of course, he did, there was always a choice and he didn’t have to make the most honorable one. Damn him. Damn his stupid emotionless race. “You’re going to wherever Andris and the others stay,” she said, then cried, “You won’t have a chance against them, Nikoli. They’ll kill you before you can do anything to them.” “No. That won’t happen. I’ll attack their lair when they’re at their most vulnerable. What I should have done from the beginning, rather than just targeting Sazaar.” “Are you talking about going to their lair at dawn when they hide from the sun? Or is that just a myth?” He spoke wearily. “It’s the truth, Regina. Daybreak will weaken Sazaar and the others. They’ll pose no threat to me then.” “How can you be so sure? What about the humans who’re supposed to protect them as they sleep— rest—whatever?” She recalled movies she’d seen, novels she’d read as a teenager, a character called Renfield. Hours ago, such thoughts would have seemed incomprehensible to her, the ravings of an unbalanced mind. Now, she mentioned them with one purpose—to convince Nikoli to stay, not to risk his life. “Aren’t there people who assist the vampires, assuring their safety?” “They pose no real threat.” Before Regina could challenge him, he continued, “This time I’ll do all that I can to succeed. I won’t allow anything, especially compassion for Sazaar, to stand in my way.” “You know where to find their lair?” He sighed. “From E2, I watched.” “How far is it from here?” “No,” Nikoli said immediately. “I won’t allow you to come with me.” He pulled back his hand. Again, Regina took it, bringing his palm to her lips, pressing her mouth against his smooth flesh, heating it with her breath. He inhaled deeply, his chilled fingertips touching her cheek. Regina blew warmed air on them, then lifted her face. “I won’t let you do this alone.” “You have no choice. We were never meant to be.” Even if that were true, she wasn’t about to accept his death. Nor did she intend to back down. Somehow they would find a way for both of them to survive. “We have a few hours until dawn. Until then, you said we’d be safe here. Would you deny us these few moments together, Nikoli?” He stared at her. “You don’t know what you ask.” “I know what I want.” Moving into him, Regina slipped her arms around his broad shoulders, the length of her body touching his. She snuggled her face against his neck, the cruel scratches from Sazaar’s claws. His Adam’s apple bobbed with his hard swallow.
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She kissed his throat. On a pained sigh, Nikoli turned until his cheek touched hers. “Regina, don’t.” She did, pressing open-mouthed kisses on the line of his jaw, his chin, seeking his mouth. He made another noise, this one of naked desire. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he drew Regina so close his stiffened cock pushed against her mound. Every part of her body screamed for him and the end to her awful loneliness, the promise of companionship and love she’d been denied too long. She brushed her mouth over his, spearing her tongue inside, trembling at his taste, his heat. His groan was lewd and demanding, his embrace as desperate as his kiss, his strength barely contained. He held her so tightly his ribs pressed into hers. Regina wanted more. Driving her fingers through his thick hair, she refused to allow him to withdraw from her. Nikoli didn’t try. Whatever reserve he’d once owned was no more than a distant memory. He suckled her tongue, pulling it more deeply into his mouth. Lifting his free hand, he allowed it to roam over the swell of her breast, his thumb stroking her nipple, tightening it through her sweater and bra. Her mouth opened on a gasp of delight. It gave Nikoli a chance to push her tongue from his mouth and to fill her with his own. On a wanton sigh, Regina surrendered to his male power. Pleasure rippled through her, draining her fear of whatever lay ahead, securing her to the moment, the miracle of being within his arms. He deepened his kiss, his lust building, the same as hers. It was more than Regina ever dreamed possible and surely not enough. Through his thin pants, his cock lengthened and hardened even more, demanding her attention. She wanted him inside her, his rod sheltered within her mouth and then her cunt, their bodies so close nothing would ever separate them. Not the reality of this world, the threat on his, or the terror that still waited from Andris and the others. No. She wasn’t going to think about that. For the moment, they were safe, they were together, and she was going to enjoy it. Tearing her mouth free, she pressed her cheek to his. Delight coursed through her at the rasp of his beginning beard, the solidness of his body. Gently, she pressed her lips to one of the scratches, then snuggled her mouth against his ear and whispered, “I want you inside of me, all over me. I want us naked.” He panted as she did, clearly weakened by desire even as he tried to reason. “It’s too cold in here. The tips of your fingers are icy.” “So are yours.” She nestled her face against his neck, her lips skimming his skin. “We’ll have to warm each other up.” “No.” Regina cried, “Nikoli, stop.”
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He would not. Hands on her forearms, he pulled them from his shoulders. “I want you,” she murmured. “And you want me.” A series of emotions danced across his face. Male need, tenderness, caution. “I won’t let you leave me tonight,” Regina whispered, cupping his face in her hands, her thumbs stroking the skin between his wounds. Seconds passed as he regarded her. She could see him battling his emotions. She touched his long, dark lashes and whispered again, her words deliberately tempting. “We have until dawn.” He sighed deeply. “Until then, there’s nothing you can—” “Shhh,” he interrupted, pulling her back into him, his cheek against hers. Hugging him close, she smiled then whispered an invitation few men could refuse, “Let’s get naked.” He shook his head, then spoke before she could. “I’m not denying you.” “You didn’t say yes. You haven’t ripped off my clothes. You’re not even close to being inside of me.” “I know,” he whispered, then added, “First, it needs to be warm.”
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Chapter Seven
She wanted only that he love her. To require her—no one else—as much as she needed him and their nightly feast of blood. Confined by Andris’s weight, the length of his long, hard body, Sazaar yielded fully to his seduction. His earlier threats to destroy her because she’d allowed Nikoli and Regina to slip away hadn’t moved Sazaar to do what Andris demanded. She didn’t fear annihilation. It was loneliness and indifference, the kind she’d known on E2, that she couldn’t withstand. At last, Andris had understood what Sazaar needed most. The promise that he would cherish her. At the very least, she needed the illusion. Rubbing against him, Sazaar stroked his chest with her naked nipples. Her cunt ached for him to fill its emptiness. She licked her fangs at his mouth on her throat. Sated from his earlier meal, Andris suckled her leisurely, his flesh warmed from the blood he’d taken, its life force heating his lips. She moaned in delight. To their side, the bodies of the humans they’d fed upon lay sprawled in death, eyes open, staring into eternity. One was a young man who’d been out for a run. The other, an older male who’d been walking his dog. They never saw their own demise coming. Near the corpses, the vampires gathered to watch the carnal display between Andris and Sazaar. Among them were two humans who’d been newly turned this night—young women, friends. They’d been on their way home from their jobs at the coffee shop in Regina’s building. Prior to them reaching immortality, Sazaar had seen shock and innocence on the girls’ youthful faces. It was only a memory now. They regarded her and Andris as the others did, their desire to join in the carnal play barely constrained. One of the girls lost what little control she had. On all fours, ponytail and naked breasts swinging, she crawled toward Andris, lust in her smile. Fangs bared, Andris hissed. The depraved sound filled the large, renovated loft in what had previously been a beer-manufacturing plant. Where offices had once stood were now walls draped in wine-colored velvet, floors in gleaming black marble, skylights opened to the night, silk cushions and pillows strewn about for bodies to lie upon. The girl pushed several of the cushions away as she continued to advance.
Tina Donahue
Andris hissed again, a warning that she stay back. Tonight, only Sazaar would know his touch, his bite. Shivering with need she couldn’t resist, Sazaar still cautioned herself that Andris hadn’t given this moment freely. He needed her compliance to gain what he really wanted…entry back into E2. Stopped at last, the young barista licked her fangs, a bold invitation for Andris to enjoy her. A growl of anger rose in his throat, threatening to become a shriek. Cautious at the vile sound, tamed for the moment, the girl retreated the same distance she’d advanced. Wrapping her arm around the leg of the male vampire who’d turned her, she ran her other hand up his naked thigh to his hairy groin, cupping his plump balls, running her thumb over his hard, ruddy shaft. Her friend watched, a feral smile cutting across her pretty face. Edging closer, she bent down, licking her friend’s nipple, pulling it into her mouth, moaning as she suckled. Andris regarded the scene, then turned back to Sazaar. His long blond hair swept over her naked shoulders as he fastened his lips on her throat. Tongue sweeping her flesh, he raked her neck gently with his fangs. Her toes curled, rapture filling her as it had their first time, hours after she’d crossed over into this realm. At a nightclub that evening, Andris had ignored the countless other women, many of them quite beautiful, and approached her, his smile lazy, his expression hungry. She’d mistaken it for love. Willingly, eagerly, she’d given him her future and soul. He valued neither. Once she led him and the others back into E2, she knew he’d discard her. The pleasant sensations receded. Her body stiffened in pain and anger. Andris’s suckling slowed. He lifted his head. She didn’t want to look at him, but couldn’t help herself. At his stunning beauty, every emotion except lust drained from Sazaar, dispelling reality, making her believe she could do something to bring him fully to her side. She parted her lips to reason with him as she had with the inhabitants of her realm. To declare her love in the foolish hope that it would somehow make him see no other woman except her. That he would never again crave anyone else, female or male. The words caught in her throat. At her silence, he finally spoke, his tone deceptively soft, charming. “You smell the woman?” Inwardly, Sazaar bristled at his question. Outwardly, she maintained her calm, well-practiced in doing so from the time of her birth. “Do you?” Andris asked, eagerness betraying his true motives. A hint of Regina’s peaches-and-vanilla fragrance, along with her female musk, was barely detectable on the cool air, overwhelmed by the more powerful scents of damp earth, the coppery odor of blood.
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Sazaar wanted to lie, telling Andris she smelled nothing at all, then decided against it. He’d see through her deception as he always did. In a whisper, she said, “Yes. But it’s very faint because of the rain.” Swooping down, Andris brushed his lips over her throat. She gasped in satisfaction. A whimper followed as he bit her neck gently, not breaking skin. “How faint?” he asked, his mouth brushing her throat with his words. His proximity and touch, denied her so long, was too much for Sazaar. Coarse pleasure tore through her. Unable to quell her desire, she tried to embrace him. Andris tightened his fingers around her wrists, keeping her pinned to the cold floor. “Answer me.” Desperate for his affection, she spoke without thinking. “Do you only want to find her because of Nikoli? Or do you want to feed on her and turn her as you did with me?” Surprise at her boldness registered in his icy blue eyes, replaced quickly by feigned indifference. “What use do I have for such an unattractive female? Her coloring revolts me. Her blood, however, might prove less offensive, especially if I thirst.” He offered a sly smile. “Upon locating her, would you give her to me to destroy?” Without hesitation, if it would secure her place in his world. Shame at what she’d become battled with Sazaar’s fatal attraction to him. Her desire to please won out. “I would—but I won’t be able to find her tonight. No vampire could, because of the rain, as you well know.” Instantly, his grip tightened. It should have been painful, but the only ache Sazaar felt was in her heart. She said nothing, surrendering fully to whatever he intended to do, knowing it couldn’t be worse than not having his love. Minutes passed. The ponytailed barista and her vampire made obscene sounds as they mated with the ferocity of wildcats, unaware of the others watching and waiting to see Andris’s next move. His long, thin fingers loosened on Sazaar’s wrists, his thumbs stroking her palms. Grateful for his small kindness, she parted her lips, groaning softly when Andris filled her mouth with his tongue. Those surrounding them murmured their approval as he mounted her, his hard, thick cock plunging into her channel, forcing it to accommodate his size. She moaned shamelessly. Releasing one wrist, he brought his hand down to her clit, stroking it. It was too much. Sounds of ecstasy gurgled in the base of her throat, turning into a helpless whimper. Andris responded by filling her even more, silencing her with his tongue. He continued to stroke her nub to give her the greatest pleasure. An unselfish act he hadn’t indulged in since the night he first claimed her.
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Passion for what he was, hope for what he could never be, competed within Sazaar. Her mind advised her to be cautious. She refused to heed the warning. She touched his golden hair, sinking her fingers into its satiny length. With endurance no human owned, he pounded into her, his finger on her clit keeping pace. Excited murmurs surrounded them, followed by the vampires’ crude comments, their desire to participate. “Take me next!” one of the men shouted. “Fuck us both,” the man’s male lover begged. Andris didn’t acknowledge them. His full attention remained on Sazaar, bringing her to climax. She cried out, the sound joyous and so high-pitched no human could hear. Andris hissed, the sibilant noise unearthly, shameless. Remaining inside her, barely panting from his exertion, he lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, “Did you enjoy that?” Unable to speak, Sazaar managed a nod. “You want more?” In answer, she tightened her strong inner muscles around his cock. A gruff sound rumbled in his throat, one she’d heard when he fed on his victims. Not only was it a grunt of pleasure but one of amusement at how effortlessly he could entice what he called his willing fools. Is that what he considered her? The thought hit Sazaar like a slap to her face. She’d given him her life. She delivered her soul. And he was laughing at her during such an intimate moment? How could he? How dare he. Anger like none she’d ever experienced surged through her. She wanted to sink her fangs and claws into him. To hurt him as he so effortlessly humiliated her. After which, he’d destroy her. Leaving nothing, not even the hope that someday she might matter to him. The same stark need she’d lived with too long—unending and unquenchable—curbed Sazaar’s anger, keeping her beaten, submissive. “I want everything you have to give.” He murmured, “And I’ll give it, as soon as we’re back in our true home.” He continued quickly, before Sazaar could speak. “You witnessed how the richness of your blood invigorated me. I didn’t have to hunt or feed again for a week. On this side, the nightly searches take me from you, forcing me to seek other women.” He cupped her breast, his fingers trailing over the soft swell, his thumb flicking the nipple. Without pause, Sazaar arched her back, offering her body to him.
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Gently, he fondled her, his words soothing. “On E2, we can breed individuals for their blood, eliminating our need to hunt or feed so frequently. With an endless supply of their fluid, you and I will never have to part. We can be together like this for all time.” Yes, for all time. Within her cunt, his cock flexed, its root stretching her opening. Intense pleasure snaked through Sazaar, causing the room to spin. She moaned loudly. Andris whispered, “All you have to do is find the woman and tell me where she is. She’ll lead us to Nikoli.” With Andris’s coaxing words, an image of Nikoli crowded Sazaar’s thoughts. She recalled their years together, his polite acceptance of her and their life, empty of emotion, filled with duty instead. Only when she crossed over had she witnessed Nikoli’s inner fire, the capacity of his heart. Though not for her. The truth pained Sazaar. The memories assaulted her. She’d seen his hunger for Regina, not for her. He’d crossed over to kill her, failing at the last moment—driven not by love but his inability to harm anyone. Tonight, he’d arrived prepared to risk his life in order to save Regina. Sazaar’s throat tightened at the surge of emotions she’d witnessed between them. What she’d sought all of her life and failed to obtain. “Just tell me,” Andris encouraged. Passion sang in his words; excitement rippled through his body. She wanted to believe it was for her. That she’d finally found a mate who wanted and adored her above all others. Clinging to that fantasy, she whispered, “Tomorrow evening, when the rain ends, I’ll find her for you.” As her lids slipped down, she added, “I’ll have enough time before dawn to deliver her and Nikoli.” She’d gamble everything in the hopes of obtaining Andris’s unending desire.
Outside, the lingering night threatened. Damp air barreled past, spattering rain on the vegetation, rattling branches. Several brushed the windows’ panes, the sounds reminding Nikoli of bat wings striking air. He remained at the hearth, lighting the fire he’d laid, watching Regina to see if she’d noticed the noise. If she feared. She gave him an inviting smile. He returned it easily even as his mind questioned. How much of her desire was given for the man he was? How much was offered because she didn’t want him to leave?
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Tina Donahue
He’d witnessed her loneliness during the times he watched her. He recognized her hunger for someone to care. Tonight, she’d seen things no human should. She dreaded tomorrow. All he could give them was the next few hours. It wasn’t nearly enough, but he couldn’t find the will to deny either of them. Not any longer. Already congested with blood, his cock thickened even more, straining his skin to the point of pain, the same as his tightened balls. Gladly, he endured the discomfort, knowing it would soon end. For a few hours, he would know Regina’s comfort, and she would know his. After that… Nikoli refused to conclude the thought, needing to savor this moment and the few others to come. “Finished?” Regina murmured. Too aroused to speak, Nikoli nodded and pushed to his feet, replacing the metal poker in its stand. Hungry flames licked at the logs in the massive fireplace, their light bathing the room in a golden glow, the energy they created sending out currents of hot air. More heat rushed through the vents of the structure’s heating system. Joining him at the hearth, Regina rested her hand on his cheek, her fingertips avoiding the scratches. The care she took with his injuries, her worry about him, her courage in standing up to Sazaar on his behalf were more than remarkable to Nikoli. It was what made Regina human…what brought him so easily to her side, keeping him there, at least until dawn. Unwilling to consider what might happen then, he allowed himself to experience the wonder of simply being here. Her touch was a balm, her skin now shamefully warm, just as he’d imagined it to be when he watched her this morning in her bedroom, then later, as she’d masturbated in the shower. The memory brought a smile. Without warning, a flicker of doubt crossed her face. “What is it?” he asked, his smile dying. Had she noticed the branches striking the glass as he had? Had she heard something else? She glanced around the room. “The security system. I hadn’t thought about it until now. Surely this place has one.” She frowned. “What if there’s a motion detector down here for intruders? What if it’s sensed us and a silent alarm’s gone out to—” “When I was here earlier, getting the clothing, I took care of it, altering the device.” “How? To do what?” “If anyone breaches the periphery of the estate, an alarm will go off in here. The locks won’t open from the outside.” She stared. He assured her, “We’re safe from your people.”
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“Yeah, I know.” Her mouth widened in a pleased grin. “Is there nothing you can’t do?” He couldn’t save them both or stay with her past dawn. Keeping the truth and sorrow from her, Nikoli said, “It was an easy matter. Your civilization isn’t advanced.” Arching one slender brow at his unvarnished comment, Regina moved into him, delivering a wave of her fragrance. His ears buzzed. She brushed her lips against his with her murmur. “I know. We’re all about emotion.” Nikoli spoke on a needy sigh. “Yes.” Easing her hands beneath his topcoat and jacket, Regina pushed both off his shoulders. “You like that?” He liked what she was doing. With a nod, he shrugged out of his garments. They tumbled in a heap on the hardwood floor. Arms freed, he reached for her. Deftly, she escaped his grasp. “I’m not through with you yet. I haven’t even begun.” Sinking to her knees, she pulled his sweater up, her hands going to the circular leather item her people called a belt. With impatience, she worked at the buckle. Nikoli’s belly quivered at her knuckles brushing his skin. For weeks, he’d fantasized about her touch. Now that it was reality, he could barely endure the pleasure. Drawing her fingertips over the short dark hairs that arrowed beneath his pants’ waistband to his groin, she purred. “Nice.” It was far more than that, a word that didn’t exist in her dimension or his. Each stroke of her fingers sent a storm of sensation racing through Nikoli. His scalp tingled, and his legs went watery. Gulping air, he locked his knees to remain standing, then bit back a groan as Regina pressed her face against his flat belly. “How about this?” she asked. “Is it what you imagined all the times you watched? Having me at your feet, yielding to whatever you wanted? Taking me anyway you desired, anywhere you chose? For as long as you pleased?” Not waiting for his answer, she explored his flesh with her tongue, sweeping it across his navel only to pause on the small depression. As though she hadn’t expected him to have one. Drugged by her touch, desperate to keep her at the task, he wanted her to know she had nothing to fear. “Only my palms are different,” he promised, sighing out his words. “There’s no reason to be afraid. We’re all conceived and born the same.” A small, indistinct sound escaped her. She rested her forehead against his belly. “I was stupid to think otherwise, Nikoli.” He stroked her hair. “You didn’t know.” She rubbed her cheek against him. “I want you to understand something—I don’t care how different you are. I’m not afraid.”
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As if to prove it, she eased back and took his hand, folding the cuff of his sweater, exposing his wrist. “Regina, no.” Willfully, she pressed her mouth to the puncture wounds left from Sazaar’s fangs, her tongue exploring them, her concern only for him, not herself. Never had a woman honored him like this, driven by emotion not duty. It was too much for Nikoli to comprehend. He knew he should have pulled his hand back, should have simply taken Regina, relieving both of their needs, but he could not. During the time that remained for him, he craved what she’d willingly give. “Will they ever heal?” she murmured. Only if he were to live another few months on this side, giving his system a chance to fight all of the poison. Wanting to give her hope they didn’t have, he lied. “Yes.” She gave his wounds one last, lingering kiss, then finished unbuckling his belt and unzipped his pants. With her fingers beneath the stretchy undergarments known as boxers, she pushed both items to his knees. Freeing his cock and balls. He huffed in delight. Regina whimpered, pressing her face to his shaft, licking the dark hair on his groin. Nikoli’s legs wavered. Fearful of staggering back and putting distance between them, he rested his hand on the top of Regina’s head to steady himself. Attuned to his needs, she cupped his ass in her palms, her fingers squeezing his cheeks, giving him the support he needed. On a sigh, she said, “My God, you taste good. You smell even better.” Her words, no more than a husky whisper, touched Nikoli’s soul. For the first time in his existence, he knew what it meant to be truly alive. Not perfect but flawed, with emotions outstripping intellect. A man hungered for and prized by a woman. Tightening his hand on her scalp, he inhaled sharply, then spoke, his words more a plea than a command. “Lick my cock. Take me in your mouth.” Not out of duty as Sazaar had done, but because Regina wanted to engage in the act as much as he did, unable to help herself. The throaty sounds she made convinced Nikoli of her unruly desire. They told him her control was at an end. Slipping her fingers between the seam of his buttocks, she touched his anus, a word unrecognized on his side, her caress unmatched by anything he’d known. He pushed to his toes, his legs trembling. Offering no comment on his reaction, continuing to probe the tight ring, Regina took his rigid cock in her other hand, lifting it to expose his testicles. With one slow, continuous lick, she ran her tongue up the length of his balls.
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Bursts of heat radiated from Nikoli’s groin to his chest. He raised his chin to the ceiling. A guttural groan poured from his lips. In response, Regina squeezed his ass. Her tongue continued its journey over his sac, her lips suckling, her mouth taking one of his balls, then the other inside. How could any man withstand such a thrill? He gritted his teeth and bunched his shoulders. A new noise rumbled from his throat, joyous, incoherent. She continued her carnal journey, exploring his testicles with a curious mixture of gentleness and passion, making certain not to harm him while also providing stunning pleasure. He panted at the intense heat and wetness of her mouth. It didn’t last. With a swiftness that disconcerted him, Regina released his balls, allowing the room’s air, not her lips and tongue, to embrace them. Why? Had he not reacted as she’d expected? Were the sounds he made too crude or not passionate enough? Was the difference between him and the men on this plane becoming too obvious no matter what he’d said? Nikoli’s heart sank, even as his need for Regina flared. An objection rose to his lips as her mouth abandoned him. What she was doing, thinking? Without words she told him, cradling his cock in her palm, guiding it into her mouth, taking him in so deeply the tip of her nose touched his dark curls. She was so hot, so wet, sounds of surprise and pleasure stalled in Nikoli’s throat. Fisting her hair in his hand, he confined her, demanding she deliver all that she could. She accepted his imprisonment, suckling him hard, then soft, inching away, though not to release him. Oh no. She swept her tongue over the back of his crown, the area that delivered the most sensation. His jaw tightened and his body shuddered. Scarcely able to withstand the sensations rocking through him, Nikoli fought for air, the intensity of Regina’s desire and his approaching orgasm undoing him. He whispered in a mixture of her language and his, revealing the depth of his feelings, what he’d experienced for no other woman, what nothing on his dimension could match—not duty, honor, professional recognition, or the promise of a long life, free of disease and the mildest inconvenience. All of what Nikoli had once accepted as norm seemed worthless now, so clearly foolish when there was a chance to fill his barren soul. His traitorous thoughts should have shamed him. They did not. During the last hours he was alive, he’d know only Regina. Flicking her tongue, she teased his flesh, encouraging it to respond. With all of his will, Nikoli resisted, needing to draw out the moment. She suckled faster, working his cock in her mouth as he would in her cunt. A bead of sweat ran down his temple. His lungs burned from holding his breath. He’d tightened his knees to the point of making them ache. But he wouldn’t allow himself to come. Not yet.
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Regina seemed to discern his intent. Her tongue stalled on his crown. Rather than pull away as Nikoli feared, she cupped his sac in her hand, squeezed gently while sucking and licking his rod, her movements synchronized, maddening. The room spun. Nerve endings fired throughout his body, prickling his skin. On a labored cry, Nikoli climaxed. His life fluid—what the men in this dimension called come—spurted into Regina’s mouth. She accepted it as a gift, not pulling away as Sazaar had always done. She drank him dry as though she’d never tasted anything better. How had he existed so long without this? Regina’s acceptance of him released something else inside Nikoli, emotions held so tight they all arrived at once. He felt young, alive, hopeful in a way he never believed possible. As though there was nothing he couldn’t do…nothing that would defeat him. He bellowed his satisfaction, allowing himself to truly feel. Still holding on to his balls and ass, Regina released his cock from her mouth. The sounds of her gasping mingled with his. “You okay?” she asked. There weren’t words in the entire universe for what continued to sweep through Nikoli. He wanted to tell her that, but the reality of their situation precluded it. At last, he patted the top of her head to reassure her all was well. Regina nodded as if she understood. “Then it was…” She didn’t finish. Nikoli cleared his throat and swallowed. “Was what?” “My God,” she said. At her obvious shock, Nikoli’s passion evaporated like smoke. He glanced at the tops of the windows unprotected by the vegetation. There, despite the protective rain, he fully expected to see Andris or Sazaar watching. Their mouths open and thirsting, fangs exposed. Drizzle fell on the deserted grounds. No monsters or humans were anywhere within sight. Not understanding, struggling to slow his sprinting pulse, Nikoli looked at Regina. Her hands fell from his ass and sac. She stared at his penis. He regarded it in the fire’s muted light. The moisture from her mouth sparkled on its length and meaty crown. A pearl of his come filled the small slit. “What is it?” he asked. Her eyes jumped to his, their color breathtaking. In the flickering light, her hair was a deeper, richer red. She spoke on a whisper. “You’re still hard…unless you’re hard again.” He was uncertain how to respond. “Already,” she added. Nikoli said the only thing he could. “I’m aroused.” Her brows arched. “Yeah, I can see that.”
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“Isn’t that good?” he asked. She laughed. “It’s great. Hell, on this side, men go limp after they come, which happens a minute or two out of the gate. Some stay that way for up to an hour.” Nikoli wasn’t entirely certain what she meant by “out of the gate”, nor had he known that men in this realm were so fragile. “How awful for the women,” he said, then boasted, “On my side, men get hard and stay that way for hours.” “Get out.” Nikoli stared at her. Had he said something offensive? Weren’t the men on this side allowed to boast? “What?” “Oh no.” Clearly catching his dismay, she rubbed her nose over his flat belly. “I didn’t mean—that is…” She fought a smile. Her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “I wasn’t telling you to leave. It’s an expression. I’m just surprised—no, actually, I’m pleased that you don’t have any downtime like other men do.” Staring at his cock, she licked her lips. Nikoli grinned at the hunger he saw on her face. “And what do the men on your side do during their downtime?” “Snore, mostly.” “What’s that?” “They make a noise in their throats that’s similar to gasping or choking.” He frowned. “Sounds unpleasant.” “It is. Boring too, for the woman. Take these off.” With her hands beneath his pants and boxers, she shoved them to his calves. “Let me help you with your shoes and socks. Put your hand on my shoulder.” “I’d rather undress you.” “In a sec.” She lifted her face. Her smile weakened any objection Nikoli might have had. Her willingness to touch him, her eagerness to have him inside of her was nearly beyond Nikoli’s comprehension. She was more than he ever dreamed possible, and everything he couldn’t have. Unwilling to think about that or the morning, he allowed her to undress him. Twice, she paused to kiss his cock. Twice, he forgot to breathe. She tossed his shoes aside. They hit the floor with two hard whacks, then tumbled across the wood, coming to a stop at the base of the sofa. After stripping him of his socks, she flung them in the same direction. “Step out of your pants and boxers,” she said. “I have you.” She placed her hand on his. With her fingers warming him, he did as she asked. Regina shoved his clothing aside and grinned at his naked legs and feet. “You have really long toes,” she said.
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Nikoli smiled, then laughed as she stroked his feet, tickling them. Eagerly, she asked, “Are you getting even harder?” He was. “Joy like this makes me hard.” With a radiant smile, Regina asked, “You’re happy?” It was more than that. With her, he was home. A sense of belonging, of being whole in a way he’d never imagined filled Nikoli, along with intense frustration because it couldn’t last. It was a myth, no different from the orderly world his people had built on E2. So perfect, it had left him wanting for nothing, until he’d seen Regina. Then he’d realized just how deprived he’d been, hoping for a woman out of his reach, for the one person who would make life worth living. The one love he could never have. “Nikoli?” “I’m happier than you could possibly know,” he finally said, speaking as he never had to another woman. “I regret nothing about crossing over to be with you. I wanted it from the start, the first moment I knew you existed.” Delight transformed Regina’s features, followed by a challenging smile. Lifting her chin, she said, “Then show me. I want you naked.” And he didn’t want the same of her? Sensing she was playing a carnal game, perhaps a mating ritual on this dimension, Nikoli crossed his arms over his chest and cocked one brow. “I believe those on your side would say fuck that, or—you first.” At his response, Regina’s delicate nostrils flared, betraying her mounting passion. Even in the muted light, her skin flushed with desire. “Very well,” she said, a blend of meekness and wantonness in her response. How Nikoli treasured that. A woman so filled with emotion she couldn’t contain them all or decide on simply one. Easing down to her right hip, she brought her legs around, pulling off her high heels and the sheer knee-length stockings that covered her narrow feet and calves. Her toenails were polished the same shade of red as her hair. He really liked that. She unbuttoned and unzipped her pants. Nikoli enjoyed that even more. Wiggling out of them, Regina dropped the garments on his topcoat and jacket. He stared at her legs, even more beautiful now than when he’d seen them this morning as she showered. “You like?” she asked. The way she asked the question told Nikoli she already knew his answer. Even so, he nodded, his attention captured by her black panties. Made of a delicate material, they were sheer enough for him to see the reddish curls between her legs.
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Already beating too hard, his heart slammed into his throat. Keeping her legs parted—a deliciously arousing pose—Regina pulled her sweater over her torso, past her head and flung it behind her. In his peripheral vision, Nikoli saw it land on the arm of a chair. The rest of his attention remained on her breasts, the creamy globes confined by her black bra, her stiff nipples pushing against the lustrous fabric. With a deliberateness that told him Regina knew exactly what she was doing, she ran her hands beneath her hair, lifting it off her shoulders. The movement caused her breasts to wiggle within their satiny prison. Was she trying to kill him? Didn’t she know his control was at an end? That he needed this game to finish? They had too little time left for them to be separated for even a moment more. Uncrossing his arms, Nikoli yanked off his sweater, pitching it in the same direction as hers. Regina’s pale pink lips parted as she glanced from his cock to his offered hand. She took it, her fingers curling around his. Not bothering to temper his strength or demanding need, Nikoli pulled Regina to her feet and into him. Her body softened immediately. Enjoying the feel of her weight, comforted by it, he leaned down. Mouth pressed to her ear, he murmured, “How does this come off?” He ran his finger beneath the edge of her bra cup, touching skin. Regina trembled, then sighed at his tongue licking her lobe. She whispered, “There’s a clasp in the back. I can get it.” “No.” He brushed her hands away. “I’ll do it.” Her head lolled to the side as he found the fastener and released it, resting his hands where it had once been. At the feel of her smooth, hot skin, Nikoli could barely control himself. Regina’s breathing picked up. When he eased back, she moaned. “What are you doing? Don’t make me move.” Nikoli stopped himself before he laughed, sensing she wouldn’t like it. “I have to in order to get this off you.” On a groan, she inched away, moaning brazenly when he pushed the straps over her shoulders and down her arms. They caught briefly on her hands, and then the item fell to the hardwood floor. Partially naked, she regarded him through hooded lids, her expression both excited and questioning, as though she wasn’t certain Nikoli would prize what he saw. “You like?” she asked. How could she pose such a question? “Of course,” he said, then paused to clear the catch in his throat. “How could I not? You’ve already given me so much.” “I have?”
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“Yes.” He cradled her face in his hands. “Your passion, your willingness to be with me tonight, your concern. It’s worth more to me than anything I’ve ever known.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks. “You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met. And it’s not only your coloring or temperament.” “No kidding?” Her hand covered his. She smiled. “Then what is it?” “You don’t want to listen to reason. You argue against anything logical.” Her brows drew together. “And you like that?” “It exasperating and magnificent.” Exactly what he craved. “If you say so.” “I do. Now, let me look at you.” He stepped back. Regina’s dusky nipples, puckered with arousal, enhanced and complemented her fair skin. The lush globes of her breasts wiggled with her uneven breathing, begging for his hands to hold and possess them, as did her womanly hips. Sinking to his knees, Nikoli pushed his thumbs beneath the edge of her panties to strip her bare so that nothing separated their flesh. Regina’s belly quivered. “Take them off,” she said. “Now.” “And if I don’t?” he teased. “You don’t get this.” She ran her finger up the length of her cleft. “Want to risk it?” “Do you?” She gave him one of those looks men in her dimension knew not to challenge. Unfazed, Nikoli took his time undressing her, noting her impatient sigh. At last, he tossed her panties aside and stared at her reddish curls. Unused to scents, he caught her musk instantly, his mouth watering at the delicate yet thrilling fragrance. A more powerful urge than one for safety, food or drink consumed Nikoli, urging him to bury his face between her legs as she had done with him. To burrow his cock into her sheath and remain there for the time they had left. Realizing it would never be enough, resolved to prolong their pleasure for as long as he could, Nikoli wrapped his arms around her hips, resting his cheek against her torso. He heard the wild beating of her heart, the rasp of air in her lungs, so like his own. He smelled her need. It called to the male within, to everything he had never been allowed to be but yearned for now. So foolishly. So hopelessly. A growl of dismay and anticipation escaped Nikoli’s throat, roughening his words. “Tell me what you want.” “You,” she said without hesitation, her hands on either side of his head, keeping him close. “Anyway you want me. Anyway you know how.” She paused to swallow and spoke on a ragged sigh. “Make love to me, Nikoli…take me…fuck me.”
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Chapter Eight
“I ask that you please touch it,” Thomo said, gesturing to the wall behind him. He exchanged a glance with the young woman at his side. “We need your superior wisdom to determine if our findings are correct, Strii Zorr.” Domm Zorr regarded the younger man who had been a trusted friend to Domm’s son, Nikoli, since childhood. Although Thomo spoke impassively, there was deference in the slight tilt of his head, the manner in which he held himself in the presence of a Strii. A title given to the most respected scientists on E2. There was also a hint of emotion in Thomo’s expression, perhaps fear or excitement that he may have discovered a breach in the system. Impossible, Domm knew. In his decades of service to the dimension, he had never experienced such a thing, nor was it in the annals of E2’s history. Despite Thomo’s fine intellect, the younger man had always been prone to speculation when science demanded a dispassionate appraisal. The kind Nikoli provided. Pride for his son’s accomplishments welled in Domm. Someday in the near future, he knew the government would choose Nikoli from among his peers, bestowing him with the same title as his father, allowing him and Sazaar to breed. To have a son of their own, fulfilling Domm’s hopes and dreams. For now, though, he had to deal with Thomo’s foolishness. “Did the alarms sound? Did the security force find anything when you called them inside?” The younger man blinked, the only indication that betrayed his surprise at the questions. Clearing his throat, he spoke with a degree of hesitation. “They did not…nor would the alarms sound if there’s a sophisticated breach in our system.” “Or if you’re mistaken.” Thomo’s complexion paled at the mild chastisement. However, to Domm’s surprise, the younger man held his ground. “I touched the wall, as did Murr.” He inclined his head to the young woman. Domm kept his attention on Thomo. “And you claim there was a current of energy and intense cold that shouldn’t be there, is that correct?” With caution, Thomo nodded. Once more, he gestured to the wall. “Please put your hand there and experience it for yourself.”
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He would not. “You said you caught movement that brought you to the wall. Can you be more specific? Was whatever moved large, small, tall, short?” Thomo’s expression grew pensive. His dark brows drew together in a frown. “Tall,” he said at last. “At least my size or yours.” A shadow, surely, caused by the flickering screens and Thomo’s overactive imagination. “And of an unusual color,” he added. “At least a portion of it, at the top.” Domm’s mouth closed on the explanation he’d intended to offer—that one’s mind might be able to fabricate motion, shapes and perhaps even a change in the temperature. Color, however, didn’t seem likely. He glanced about the room, no different from the countless others in this building. The only pigments here were varying hues of silver and gray, broken solely by the monitors’ faint green tint. With a mixture of curiosity and beginning dread, he asked, “What shade did you see at the top?” Again, Thomo’s complexion paled. “Red…the color of blood.” Domm stared, not believing what he’d heard, unwilling to be alarmed. This was a mistake. A misunderstanding. It had to be. He glanced at Thomo’s hands, suspecting the young man had cut himself. That was the red he’d seen. That was what had set him to worrying about a breach in the— Domm’s thoughts stalled at the lack of injury on Thomo’s hands. No blood. As calmly as he could, he asked, “Have you discussed this with Nikoli? Have you sought his opinion?” Domm knew his son would have a reasonable explanation that would put an end to conjecture and worry. “I sent Murr to get him.” “He wasn’t in his laboratory,” she offered, then glanced at Thomo before adding, “When Nikoli didn’t answer my calls, I asked the security force to determine if he was inside his lab. I thought perhaps Nikoli was so engrossed in his work, he hadn’t heard me. But they said he wasn’t in there, nor anywhere else in the building.” Domm glanced at the timepiece on the wall, noting the late hour. Perhaps Nikoli had finally retired for the evening, no doubt exhausted. Since Sazaar had begun her retreat, his son had spent all of his time in the lab, working nonstop. “I thought he might have left for the day,” Murr added, “but I didn’t see him on any of the monitors at the stations. Nor could I reach him at his home.” “We concluded he must have gone out to eat,” Thomo said. “We didn’t want to wait to find him, so we called you.” His expression begged Domm to touch the wall. “Red…the color of blood,” he’d said. A tint outlawed on E2 since its people had banished the vampires. Irritation at Thomo’s request warred with Domm’s continuing unease. As he approached the wall, Thomo and Murr stepped aside.
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Hand lifted, Domm hesitated, then placed his fingertips on the wall’s smooth surface and felt nothing unusual. His pulse slowed instantly. On a quiet sigh, Domm released the breath he’d been holding. “There’s no energy or cold here.” His pronouncement put an end to the matter. “Please continue with your work.” Leaving the room, he went down the hall to his own laboratory. Halfway to it, his steps slowed. He glanced at the door to Nikoli’s lab. As a Strii, he didn’t need permission to enter any of the scientists’ workrooms. The additional markings on his hands, put there by the government, allowed him access to all spaces, even those forbidden to the security force. All he had to do was touch the door. Domm paused at the thought of intruding upon his son’s workspace. More than father and son, he and Nikoli were now respected colleagues. To enter without invitation, even as a Strii, was a serious violation of etiquette and trust. A transgression Murr hadn’t dared to consider. “I asked the security force to determine if he was inside his lab. I thought perhaps he was so engrossed in his work, he hadn’t heard me.” In the past, Domm had witnessed his son’s intense concentration. Even as a young boy, Nikoli would focus on an assignment to such a degree it precluded him from noticing anything else, including his own need for food and rest until his body forced him to do so. “We concluded he must have gone out to eat,” Thomo had said. If he had returned from his meal and was back in the room now, he might be oblivious to a rap on the door. It could be days before he emerged again. By then, Thomo’s all too vivid imagination might have compromised his own work. A matter Domm wanted to discuss with his son. Together, they could reach a solution. Comfortable with his decision, knowing Nikoli would readily understand the purpose of this intrusion, Domm rested his fingertips against his son’s door, then watched as it opened.
On his feet, Nikoli drew Regina against his full length, passion evident in his rough breathing, a desire for more than just sex clear in his tender caress. It moved her as few things had. He was a man who’d been starved for simple emotion, the right to be uncertain as well as brave, to experience comfort, not only crushing responsibility. How many years had he longed for a moment of true warmth, of an embrace given in love, not out of duty? How many times had he denied himself the most basic of needs, remaining resolute, deprived, alone and wanting, even more so than her? She ached to give him everything he’d missed. They had so little time. When dawn came, he’d insist on leaving.
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Unable to face the thought, she released her weight into him, requiring his strength, the shelter of his body. He made a low rumbling sound in his throat, signifying his approval. A smile touched Regina’s lips at his rigid cock pressing against her inner thigh, the root snug against her mound, their curls touching. Demanding even more intimacy, she drew as close as she could, welcoming his chest crushing her breasts, his mouth seeking her throat. The brush of his lips delivered a shock of pleasure. Her heart skipped several beats, then hammered fiercely. Releasing a husky moan, she slipped her arms around his torso, her fingers exploring his broad back, tracing his impressive contours, reveling in them. He had an athlete’s build, lean yet muscled, his pecs and abs well defined, his body hair deliciously masculine, from the dark tufts in his pits to the silky hairs circling his navel to the thick bush on his groin and his lightly furred balls. The memory of them in her mouth, her tongue licking the wrinkled skin, sent another shiver through Regina. Nikoli held her even closer, his embrace confining and soothing. Lips to her ear, he whispered, “Are you cold?” “Not at all.” She pressed her fingers into his firm flesh and inhaled deeply, enjoying his wondrous scent…so damned male, so uniquely Nikoli. Eager to let him know his effect on her, that she’d deliver her body willingly…eagerly…she murmured, “Turned on.” His hand stopped stroking her back, resting instead on her naked ass, his long fingers dangling over her cheeks. “Do you mean aroused?” Regina’s smile widened at his innocent question, the fact that he didn’t understand the nuances of her language. It endeared him to her even more. She wanted to teach him about her dimension, to watch the wonder on his face as he experienced feelings so deep they’d capture his soul or would make him mad as hell. Either way, they’d allow him to live. “Yes…very.” He ran his fingers down the furrow of her buttocks. Tingles dashed up her spine. Legs wobbling, she pushed to her toes. With mischief in his voice, he asked, “Am I arousing you now?” “What do you think?” Her words sounded thick, throaty. “I’m not certain,” he murmured. “I don’t want to do anything wrong.” As if a man who was able to stay rock hard for hours could come close to disappointing her. Grounding her mound against his cock, Regina sighed deeply at the crown rubbing her thigh, its tip wet with pre-come, its remembered taste causing her to speak as she had before…in a way she’d never done with other men. “Fuck me, please.” Nikoli kissed her cheek, then rested his against it, his stubble scraping her skin. “As I would on E2 or as the men do on your plane?”
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There was a difference? Did it matter? “Either. Both.” Regina paused to swallow and catch her breath. Still starved for air, she continued on a strained sigh. “Whatever you want.” Nikoli made an indistinct sound as though he was considering the matter. Not certain what he intended to do, Regina sank to her heels, then shot right back up to her toes at his fingers stroking her anus. A moan gurgled in her throat. With a smile, he asked, “Then you have no preference?” She tightened her arms around him, clinging to his hot, hard body for support, panting out her words. “As to what?” “How I take you—fuck you.” “Now would be nice.” She forced down another swallow. “Right this very second. All right?” “That would be too quick. In my dimension, we move far more slowly.” Regina heard the teasing behind his words and was about to argue with him when she had another thought. What if he wasn’t sated until well past dawn? Would she be able to tempt him into remaining with her, finding another way to defeat Andris and his followers, giving them both a chance to survive? She eased back to measure his expression. Naked need flared in his eyes. She was about to smile when Nikoli slid his hand down her arm, removing it from his back, the act contradicting the passion she still saw on his face. “What are you doing?” “This.” Turning her hand, he exposed the inside of her wrist and suckled it. At the intense heat of his tongue, Regina moaned, then blew out a sigh as he trailed kisses up her inner arm while his other hand continued to explore the furrow between her cheeks. On a hoarse groan, she slumped back into him, struggling to speak. “You enjoy foreplay?” He stopped kissing her biceps. His lips remained on her as he murmured, “Is that the word you use for what I’m doing?” She cleared her throat and grunted, “Uh-huh.” “Then, yes, I do…I could taste you longer than you could ever imagine.” Well beyond dawn? Giving them more time? “And will you—” Regina’s words halted, followed by a gasp of pleasure at Nikoli slipping his arm behind her knees, sweeping her off the floor. Cradling her to his broad chest, he brushed his lips over hers. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her arm snaked around his shoulders. She pulled herself even closer, her free hand cradling his jaw, her fingertips cautious of the scratches on his cheek. “Will I what?” he whispered. Pulling her attention from the cruel cuts, Regina saw flecks of hazel in his chocolate eyes and a need so deep it humbled and thrilled her. “I’m sorry, what?”
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“Will I what?” he repeated. The quiet rumble of his voice captivated Regina, turning her brain to mush. Shaking her head, she confessed, “I don’t know what you’re asking.” “You started to question me about something, then stopped when I picked you up.” Had she? Regina couldn’t recall. The moment was lost forever. “I forgot what I intended to say.” “Tell me when you remember.” Easily, as though he found her weight inconsequential, he carried Regina to the far end of the sofa, lowering her to the chaise already in a fully reclined position. An ivory afghan covered its cushions. Given the fabric’s downy quality, she judged it to be cashmere. Although exquisitely soft, it was no match for Nikoli’s fingers trailing over the backs of her thighs as he slid his hand from beneath her legs, releasing them. While her mind registered the separation as temporary, her heart didn’t care. Not yet willing to let him go, Regina tightened her arm around his shoulders, holding him to her, nuzzling her face against his neck, recording his warmth and clean scent so that she’d never forget them. Beneath her fingertips, Nikoli’s muscles tightened. “What is it?” he murmured. Panic and dread returned at the thought of him dying to keep her safe from the vampires. She couldn’t allow it. No matter what it took, no matter how crazy the world had turned out to be, she wouldn’t let him fight Andris and the others alone. “Regina.” Composing herself, she lied. “Nothing. I’m just curious. How many orgasms can you have before you get tired and pass out?” “Pass out?” “Fall asleep.” He chuckled. “Too many to count. You’ll fall asleep well before I. Lie back.” Regina tightened her hold, her mind racing for a way to keep him here. “Don’t rush.” “Before the night’s at an end, you’ll be begging for me to stop.” At what lay ahead tomorrow, the impossible odds they faced, her throat tightened. “I doubt that.” “We’ll see.” He removed her arm from around his shoulders and guided her back to the chaise. On his knees beside her, he lifted Regina’s arms above her head, holding her wrists in one hand. Surprised at his firm embrace, the manner in which he displayed her nudity, she gave him a questioning glance. The corners of Nikoli’s eyes crinkled with his grin, both playful and wolfish. Something within her shifted, pushing worry aside. A pulse beat in her cunt, delivering a rush of moisture, lubrication for his cock. She turned her wrists, testing his hold.
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His fingers tightened a bit more, telling her she hadn’t a hope of defeating his strength and getting loose. A thrill, sudden and uncivilized, prowled through Regina. With Nikoli, she could be as uninhibited as she’d fantasized, knowing he’d never harm her. If her behavior really shocked him, she’d tell the truth, saying that was just the way it was on this side. Get used to it. Eager to begin their carnal game, she arched one brow and murmured, “You’ve trapped me, Nikoli.” “I have, Regina.” With a pleased expression, he continued, “You’ve given me no choice. I want to look at you.” Not understanding, she asked, “Look at me?” “Yes.” He regarded her mouth, nose, eyes, hair. There, he lingered, his expression growing distracted. “Never have I seen coloring like yours. It’s beyond compare.” He studied her face. “Your features are exquisite.” Heat stung Regina’s cheeks. She’d never had a man comment about her looks. And certainly not in the way Nikoli just had. Surely he wasn’t all that clear on the description he’d used. “Exquisite?” His smile faded, replaced by a measure of doubt. “Did I use the wrong word?” “Not if you’re just trying to be nice.” He appeared even more confused. “I don’t understand.” More blood rushed to her face. “It’s okay, Nikoli. I know I’m not even close to being beautiful, all right?” Shock crossed his features, and then he scowled. “By whose measure?” Anyone who could see. Although Regina considered herself somewhat pretty, certainly enough to attract a bit of male attention, she knew she didn’t have Sazaar’s breathtaking features or perfect body. Nikoli didn’t seem to notice. In him, she saw acceptance and gratitude for all that she was. Answering his question, she said, “You know what? It doesn’t matter.” His smile returned. “Lift your leg.” He ran his free hand up her inner thigh, stopping just short of her curls. She shivered at his casual yet expert touch. Bringing back his hand, he added, “Bend your knee.” Regina did as he instructed. Light from the fire glanced off her naked flesh, washing her pale skin in a honeyed tint. At the thought of his mouth, hands and cock using her, her nipples constricted, and a dull, needy ache settled deep within her cunt. She widened her legs a bit more. Her movement wasn’t lost on Nikoli. He wore an expression that said he approved as he took in her full length, his attention lingering on her reddish bush, her erect nipples. Finally, he looked at her and winked.
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Surprised at the gesture, she smiled. “Where’d you learn to do that?” Surely, he hadn’t seen it on his side. Nikoli’s manner was innocent. “What? This?” Swooping down, he settled his mouth on her nipple, latching on to the tight bud, drawing it between his lips. Regina’s toes curled, then splayed, accompanying her choked cry. A moan followed at his fingers clasping her wrists, affirming his dominance, while he returned his other hand to the inside of her thigh. Digging her heels into the leather cushion, she edged forward, pushing her mound toward him. He suckled her nipple faster and harder, precisely as she liked. His fingers explored her cunt, damp with arousal, plump with need. Drawing his finger up her moist cleft, he reached her clit and stopped. Regina bit her lower lip, waiting for more. When his finger remained poised on her nub, she blurted, “Why are you stopping? Rub it.” Nikoli skimmed her nipple with his tongue, then released the hard tip, exposing it to the air. Though heated, it was no match for his mouth. She frowned. He pulled back and murmured, “I’ll rub it in time.” “Now,” she argued. She’d spent a lifetime hoping for a man like Nikoli—honorable, kind, sexy as hell, and by God she didn’t want to wait a moment more to have him on top of her, inside her, loving her as Regina had never been loved before. “In time,” he repeated, as one would to a wayward child or a woman who couldn’t control her emotions. Screw that. Regina wasn’t about to hold back. A growl of frustration escaped her throat. “Patience,” Nikoli advised in that same maddening tone. Set to counter it, Regina opened her mouth, then gasped at his fingers entering her. “You like that?” he asked, not bothering to wait for her answer as he worked two fingers deeper into her cunt, tunneling through her tight sheath, filling and stretching her for his cock. Oh my God, what he was doing was nice. Freaking nice. Whatever irritation she’d experienced moments ago, it was forgotten beneath this. Her mouth watered at her memory of his impressive rod. Long, hard, thick with arousal. Shuddering in delight, she relaxed her leg, allowing it to fall to the side, exposing herself even more to Nikoli’s touch and male lust. With his fingers burrowed fully within her, he stroked her clit with his thumb, his pace measured and slow, just as he’d promised. The man knew how to please. Shocks of pleasure pumped through Regina, quickening her pulse, destroying whatever restraint remained. Pushing into the chaise’s cushion, she lifted her chin to the timbered ceiling and cried, “Faster. I want to come.”
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“In time.” What? Damn him. She growled, “Fuck that, Nikoli. Now.” “Very well.” He withdrew his thumb from her. What the— Lowering her face, she frowned at him. “What are you doing? Don’t—” He killed the rest of her complaint by positioning himself between her legs, snaking out his tongue and flicking it on her sensitive nub. Her mouth sagged open. The back of her head hit the cushion with a faint tap. She squeezed her lids at the exquisite sensations rolling through her, tightening her inner thighs and throat, precluding speech but not sound. The noises Regina made were new to her—wonderfully wild, the music of a woman falling in love. A conclusion she would have questioned as late as this morning, knowing that love couldn’t happen this quickly, especially with someone she barely knew. Then along came Nikoli, risking his life to protect her, wanting her as no man had before, changing her perception of how her heart worked. How foolish she’d been to believe she could master it. No longer willing to try, Regina submitted to feelings that were wonderfully primitive. She relished how Nikoli eased his fingers from her cunt only to drive them back inside as he would his cock, his tongue flicking over her clit in concert with the movement. Pressing her nails into her palms, Regina ground her teeth at the mounting tension between her legs, at once delightful and torturous. Her breath hitched. At last, she cried out, but didn’t come, fighting it now, fearing its end. The same as morning, the thought of losing him. No. She wouldn’t let that happen. Regina squeezed her fingers so tight her wrists jumped against his palm. Still suckling her clit, Nikoli released his hold on her. He ran his free hand between the cheeks of her ass. The blunt tips of his fingers circled her anus, then probed it. Gasping at his shameless touch, Regina scooted back on the cushion, withdrawing her body, unable to stand the added sensation. Not allowing her retreat, Nikoli sought Regina’s tight pink ring, understanding what she required. In the coffee shop, her mind had recognized him as a man she wanted, her body yearning for his touch, her soul for his caress. He teased her anus, licked her clit and sank his fingers back into her sheath. It was far more than she could endure. Regina let out an unrestrained cry, surrendering to her climax, shuddering with its force and beauty. Currents of warmth sped through her. A strong pulse beat in her pussy, sucking at Nikoli’s fingers still burrowed deeply within.
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She emitted a jumble of sounds—harsh sighs, a whimper that blossomed into a moan, disconnected words, each praising him. Nikoli lifted his head, the ends of his hair tickling her thigh. Regina expected him to say something, but he didn’t, seemingly content to listen and watch. Weakened and content, Regina made no attempt to temper her frank response or modify her suggestive pose. With Nikoli, she felt treasured and had no qualms about being imperfect and human. She swallowed. “Thank you.” Her words trembled with emotion. “Then I’ve pleased you, Regina?” She couldn’t help but smile. “Are you serious? Pleased can’t begin to describe what you’ve done. You were freaking amazing. No, you were beyond that. You were—” She stopped, struggling to find the right term. He kissed the inside of her thigh. “The way you look tells me more than any words could.” Her lids slid down. “And how do I look?” “I believe the correct word is sated.” “Not completely.” “Very well, then, spent. You are tired, correct?” With his question, the last of the heat seeped from Regina’s body, replaced by a new concern. Did Nikoli want her to drift off to sleep so he could continue with his plan to leave and go to Andris’s lair? Driven to keep him at her side, Regina reached out blindly, tunneling her fingers into his thick, silky locks. Filling her lungs, she emptied them in a sigh, “Not at all. And enough of foreplay. I want you on top of me. Inside me.” He licked her clit. She let out a crude cry, jerking at the waves of pleasure rolling through her. “You’re certain?” Nikoli asked, his breath skimming her damp cleft, warming it even more. Snatching some much-needed air, she released it on a sigh. “Uh-huh.” “But I haven’t finished tasting you,” he teased. He kissed her stomach, then circled her navel with his tongue. Regina’s belly quivered. She forced out her words. “You can do that later.” Tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next. Crazy, she knew, but hope was all she had. “Please.” Opening her eyes, she ran her hand from Nikoli’s hair to his throat, making certain not to touch those scratches. “Don’t deny me. I swear, I’ll get violent.” He regarded her with an amused smile, then pushed to his feet and bent down, his impressive size looming over her. Lifting her hands, Regina cupped his face in her palms and pinned him with her gaze.
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Moments passed with the quiet broken by rain striking the windows, the noise no different than water spraying from a hose. Wind whipped past. A log crumbled in the fireplace, the wood hissing within the flames. Their elevated breathing joined the other night music. At the longing Regina saw on Nikoli’s face, she gave him a shameless smile. A flicker of doubt or concern crowded out his pleasure, this disquiet different from when he talked of the vampires. Unnerved, she spoke quickly. “What is it, Nikoli?” Her thumbs stroked the bristly skin on his jaw. “Are you feeling all right? Did the atmosphere change somehow? Is it affecting you?” Would they have to return to E2 or go somewhere else? “No. I’ve adjusted, just as I told you I would.” Then what was bothering him when he was so close to mounting her, exactly as they both wanted? “Are you worried about making love?” she asked. “Is it done differently on E2 than here?” His brows lifted in surprise. “No.” Regina considered what else could be troubling him. “Is it your size?” Speaking before he could, she said, “There’s no reason for concern.” Lowering her hand from his face, she cradled his hard, thick cock in her palm. Its weight and heat made her shiver with desire. “You’re exactly who I want.” He watched as she eased her thumb over the slit in the crown, using his pre-come to lubricate the cap. His shoulders bunched at the sensations Regina knew were rushing through him. He spoke on a prolonged sigh, his words halting. “I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you. It’s just that…” Regina worried at his obvious uncertainty. Her first thought was to ignore it and simply give him all the pleasure she could. The look on his face, his aching doubt wouldn’t allow it. “What?” “I need to tell you something.” He glanced away as though it pained or embarrassed him to continue. “Before I begin, I want you to know it doesn’t affect my performance in the least.” “What are you talking about? What doesn’t?” He kept his profile to her and spoke impersonally as if they were strangers. “On E2, I’m not allowed to breed, so there’s no reason for you to fear that I’ll—” “Nikoli, stop.” Pushing up, Regina wound her arms around his shoulders, cradling him in her embrace, her heart aching at the thought of him never having a child to love and cherish. She whispered, “What did they do to you?” He shook his head, his nose rubbing her shoulder, his words muffled by her body. “It’s not what you think, nor is it permanent. The government can reverse it when the individual earns the right to breed.” Earns the right? Regina’s skin crawled with outrage and disgust. She couldn’t imagine him existing in such a place…or returning to it, living out his days without love, emotion, pleasure. Warning herself not to say anything harsh about E2 or beg him to stay on this side, she murmured, “I’m not worried about a child, Nikoli, or anything we do. I want you inside me.”
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To prove it, she stroked his cock in one hand, using the other to guide his mouth to hers, drawing her tongue over his bottom lip. He trembled and moaned, the sound a thirsty man makes when offered lifegiving water. Gratified, wanting to give him everything he’d never known, she angled her mouth to deepen their kiss. With a swiftness that surprised her, Nikoli took command, filling her with his tongue. She moaned lustily. He stole the sound with his passion that lasted only a few moments before he tore his mouth free. Gulping air, he placed his hand on her shoulder, guiding her to lie down on the chaise. With great reluctance, she released his stiffened shaft, smiling at how its rigidity made it bob. “Have I told you how amazing you are?” Giving her a self-conscious smile, Nikoli ran the tip of his forefinger over her bottom lip, sending tingles from it to the back of her throat. Wanting more, Regina opened her mouth and sucked his finger inside. His lids slid to half-mast, while his body continued to bunch, indicating their play wasn’t enough. Regina wanted more too, everything Nikoli had to give, for as long as she could keep him with her. There was no way she was going to allow him to leave at dawn. She had no idea how to stop him, but would figure it out when the time came. Pulling his finger from her, he crawled onto the chaise, settling between her legs, guiding her to lift and draw them back. Once Regina had, Nikoli rested his hands on her knees, the pads of his fingers pressing into her flesh, keeping her opened to him. How she loved that, welcoming his dominance and the picture he created. Firelight danced on his smooth, broad shoulders. It lightened the ends of his hair and cast shadows on his rugged features, sharpening them, making him seem every bit a vision from another world. A dangerous angel. Hers. A pulse beat steadily on Regina’s temple and at the base of her throat. Releasing one of her legs, Nikoli lifted his cock in his palm, running his fingers over the small duct in the crown. His pre-come glistened in the quivering light. Regina stared at it, her heart missing a beat, then racing at such beauty. Every inch of her body yearned for his and the end of loneliness endured for too long. Each minute apart from him stretched endlessly. It took all of Regina’s will not to make another demand that he mount her. As though Nikoli sensed her turmoil, he glanced up. With their gazes locked, he ran his free hand up her moist slit to her erect nub. Her body flinched at the delicious sensations, her legs parting even more. Leaning forward, he drew the tip of his cock up her cleft. Regina shivered. Nikoli’s smile told her how much her reaction pleased him. Watching himself, he brought his crown to her cunt.
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Taking his time as he’d pledged, Nikoli eased his organ into her opening, stretching her, using her, pausing only when he’d buried the crown inside with a confidence that said she belonged to him. Regina’s breasts jiggled with her heightened breathing. The pressure between her legs intensified her passion, magnifying her arousal. “More,” she whispered. Pleasure at her response transformed Nikoli’s features, turning them boyish and eager. “Quickly or slow?” he asked. “As fast as you—” She didn’t finish. There was no need. With one masterful thrust, Nikoli had tunneled through her channel, burying his cock to its base, his balls smacking her ass. Oh, wow. Regina’s delighted moan turned into a gasp at his fingers stroking her nub. “No,” she cried, wiggling her hips. “My clit’s too sensitive.” “You want me to stop?” Of course, she did…and didn’t. Sucking her lower lip, she shook her head. Nikoli drew his thumb over her erect bud, his gesture deliberately prolonged, teasing. An oath of frustration and joy bubbled in Regina’s throat. Before it broke free, Nikoli eased out of her until only his crown remained inside, and then he thrust back in. The room spun, and the world went quiet except for the sounds they made—the tapping of his sac as it spanked her cheeks, his lusty groans, her pants and whimpers. The noise of a man and a woman who wanted nothing except each other, who’d had little of substance before they met. Nikoli represented a life without loneliness and intolerable longing. She wasn’t going to give him up without a fight. She wasn’t going to lose him. Gripping his upper arm, digging her fingers into his biceps, Regina focused solely on him. Sweat bathed Nikoli’s neck and chest. Still, he continued to pump and stroke, fighting climax as much as her, both of them defiant. Minutes passed. Jaw clenched, he lifted his face to the ceiling, his throat and shoulders corded. Wanting to give him some much-needed peace, Regina tightened her inner muscles, squeezing his cock, impelling him to orgasm. His body shuddered. He rubbed her clit faster, harder, intent on delivering his own brand of relief. Within seconds, they came together, Regina shouting, then panting, only to shout once more. Above her, Nikoli continued to pump, opening her with his flesh, savoring her, pleasuring himself. He roared in satisfaction. The sound rang through the room as a shiver tore through him. On his elbows, his body trembling, Nikoli draped his torso over hers. Wrapping him in her embrace, Regina smoothed back his damp hair and wound her legs around his slim hips. She kissed his shoulder and neck, tasting the faint saltiness of his sweat.
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His cock flexed in her cunt, still hard…or rather harder…just as he’d said. Already prepared for more.
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Chapter Nine
Domm stared at the message on Nikoli’s monitor. One addressed to him, one Nikoli had intended Domm to find, though not tonight—tomorrow evening. Forgive me, the communication began. The room seemed to close in on Domm. With mounting horror, he read the missive that told of Nikoli crossing over to follow Sazaar, keeping her from harming a woman named Regina, Nikoli building a device that marked him as a traitor, planning an assault on the vampires to prevent them from destroying Regina or from entering E2. Domm fought dizziness. The room continued to pitch. Gripping the edge of the table, he struggled to slow the rapid pounding of his heart. It missed several beats as Domm recalled Thomo’s words as to what he’d seen in the other room. “…an unusual color. At least a portion of it, at the top.” “Red…the color of blood.” The woman’s hair? Most likely. And Thomo had seen it. Domm’s pulse raced at the thought, and another far more terrifying. Had Thomo also caught a glimpse of Nikoli? “Tall,” the younger man had said when describing the shadow he’d seen. “At least my size or yours.” Domm’s shoulders and arms trembled uncontrollably. He tightened his hold on the table, tensing his muscles even as his mind raced over what had most likely occurred. Nikoli had been with the woman, having brought her to E2 as a temporary tactic to protect her from the vampires. Although Thomo had seen his childhood friend, he hadn’t expected the form or recognized it to be Nikoli. Would Thomo keep revisiting the memory of what had happened? Would his mind continue to work each detail until he realized the truth? That Nikoli had altered their security system to keep Regina from harm on this side, preventing those on E2 from knowing about her. That he had compromised everything his people had worked on for millennia. And all for a woman from the next dimension. “I couldn’t allow Sazaar or the other vampires to harm her. She’s an innocent, Father.” Shoulders bunched, Domm pressed his fingers against the table’s hard surface. His thoughts raged. She wasn’t one of them! She was outside their realm! “Honor demanded I do this.”
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And what of honor for his own people? “The vampires won’t enter E2. My plan is to destroy them.” And what if his plan didn’t work? How could it with one man against so many monsters? Outrage at his son’s foolish actions cleared Domm’s mind and quieted his breathing. He had to tell his superiors about this and warn them of the breach. His duty was to them and E2, not his son. Pushing away from the table, he strode across the room, stopping at the door, an image of Nikoli filling his mind. Not as the man he now was, but as a child of five years, his dark eyes wide, his expression confused at the incomprehensibility of his mother’s passing. “She didn’t suffer,” Domm had explained at the time, using reason, a force more powerful than any emotion, even love. “The other individual wasn’t at fault. His vehicle and your mother’s tried to avoid each other, but the path was too narrow, there were too many others on it. To save them, your mother sacrificed herself. You should be proud of her. You mustn’t cry.” The anguish on his son’s face had remained, but Nikoli hadn’t wept. He’d taken Domm’s hand, his little fingers holding tight. “Don’t leave me,” he begged, panic causing his words to jump. “I’ll be good. I’ll do whatever you tell me, Father.” And he had, growing into the man Domm had wanted him to be, what their people expected, living a good life filled with safety and comfort. “I wanted to be all that you asked, Father,” his message had stated, “but I’ve failed. I love her.” Fists clenched, Domm spoke quietly, his words laced with rage and sorrow. “How could you think such a thing, Nikoli? How could you do this to us or yourself and throw everything away?” “I couldn’t allow anyone to harm her. She’s an innocent. Honor demanded…” No! He owed her nothing. His life was here…or had been. The Strii in Domm urged him to tell his superiors everything he knew, to show them Nikoli’s note, to be the catalyst in bringing his son back to E2 for execution as a traitor. To use him as an example to others who might consider doing the same thing. “The vampires won’t enter E2. My plan is to destroy them.” His plan was to save Regina. She, not his people, not his dimension, mattered most. “I wanted to be all that you asked.” “Don’t leave me. I’ll be good.” Domm’s fingers stalled inches from the door. “I’ll do whatever you tell me.” The words of a child, Domm warned himself, not of a man who’d deluded himself into believing in the futility of love. Even if it were possible for Domm to repair the damage Nikoli had caused, how could he convince his son to return to this side, not as a traitor, but as an honorable member of their society? “I love her.”
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Scorn pushed Domm’s hand forward. His memory of Nikoli’s features, the good he’d accomplished for E2 prior to seeing the woman, kept Domm’s fingers from touching the metal. Sweat bathed his face. Go on, his thoughts ordered. Do what you must. Rather than moving forward, his hand trembled in place, betraying a father’s weakness when faced with the ruin of his only child. Arm falling at his side, he glanced at the wall. Is that where Nikoli and Regina had crossed into E2 to escape the vampires? If Domm constructed a device similar to what his son had built, a simple matter really, would he see them on the other side when he opened a portal? Would he be able to convince Nikoli to forsake the woman and return to— His thoughts stalled at the sound of conversation in the hall. Remaining perfectly still, Domm listened. “I understand Murr’s with Thomo,” a male said, his tone subdued by the barrier of the door. “They’re still working,” a female responded. “We shouldn’t disturb them.” “It will only be for a moment. If they won’t join us for a meal, we can offer to bring them something back.” “Very well.” A ragged sigh escaped Domm at the thought of them speaking with Thomo and Murr. Would Thomo tell them about what he’d seen? In the time that had already passed, what else had he recalled? Hurrying back to the monitor, Domm hesitated only a moment before he destroyed Nikoli’s message, an act of treason on his part. His stomach got queasy, nausea threatening him. Ignoring it and honor, he left his son’s laboratory, his mind racing as he returned to the room where he’d last seen Thomo and Murr.
Nikoli mounted Regina numerous times, taking her on the chaise and in front of the fire, their bodies cushioned from the hardwood floor by a large sheepskin rug, the afghan and his topcoat. Repeatedly, he sank his cock into her heated sheath, burying his face in her wondrous hair, marveling at her peaches-andvanilla fragrance, her body’s musk, the scent of sex. Only when they smelled of it more than anything else did Nikoli finally relax, his limbs weakened, his shaft limp. Arms above his head, legs sprawled, he watched Regina’s fascination at his depleted strength. Hampered by her own fatigue, she struggled to a sitting position and cradled his flaccid cock in her palm. Her touch stirred feelings of tenderness rather than arousal. The caution with which she held him told Nikoli of her fear…that she’d somehow injured his organ during the last hours. He held back a smile at the thought of it coming to harm in a cunt that fit him perfectly, one that was nothing but wet, smooth heat. She asked, “Are you all right?”
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Never again would he be since experiencing this night with her. Once they parted, his purpose for living would end. At the moment of his death, he would have already been reduced to nothingness, not unlike the existence he’d known before meeting her. To hide his sadness, he forced a smile and nodded. “You?” Regina sank to his side, snuggling the length of her body against his. Her willingness to be near him, her softness and warmth, the comfort she provided was beyond anything he’d imagined in his days on E2, working tirelessly, taking as little time as he could to eat, sleep or indulge his sexual needs. He warned himself to be grateful for these few hours, not to want anything more. With her arm hugging his chest and one leg draped over his, she murmured, “Tired. How about you?” Fatigue pressed close, pulling at his lids, insisting they close. A yawn edged near. Fighting it, knowing he couldn’t sleep, that he had to leave and destroy the vampires, Nikoli told a partial truth. “I am.” Her fingertips circled his nipple, then tugged at the small tip. Nikoli smiled so quickly and so hard, his cheeks hurt, unused to the action. Regina whispered, “Sleep.” She kissed his shoulder. “It’s still night. It’ll be dark for hours more, Nikoli.” He glanced at the windows, the continuing rain that protected them. Past the trees, the sky showed no signs of the coming dawn. “It’ll be dark for hours.” He had to leave. As if she knew, Regina huddled closer, her hand moving to his arm, her fingers buried in the dark hair in his pit, her foot sliding past his calf, anchoring it with her heel. “Sleep.” He couldn’t. He shouldn’t. He had to protect her and his people. His life meant nothing when compared to theirs and hers. Regina adjusted her head. The scent of her shampoo drifted up, a floral fragrance unknown on E2, the same as color, intense light, reckless joy. Her hair flowed over his arm. Nikoli stared at her tresses, so fiery, like silken flames. He lifted his hand to touch them. Exhaustion pulled his arm back down. Regina didn’t stir. Her breath poured over his skin, heating it more than the fire he’d stoked a short time ago. “Sleep. It’ll be dark for hours.” He needed only a moment’s rest, enough time for Regina to fall asleep so she wouldn’t notice him slipping away from the confinement of her arm and leg. So she wouldn’t beg him to stay.
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Nikoli’s belly twisted at the thought of looking back on her one last time, then moving forward into the day and his death. His vision blurred with fatigue. At last, he closed his eyes, counting the seconds as they passed on his plane, not hers. He’d wait for ten minutes to slip by and then he’d free his body from Regina’s. He’d— The thought died in his mind, refusing to return as exhaustion overcame him.
Colors dominated Nikoli’s dream. Bright reds, yellows, purples and blues flashed boldly from the other side of the portal, capturing his attention, along with Sazaar’s. She put out her hand, her long, slender fingers stroking the sterile air on their side. Excited, she murmured, “This time, I must touch them.” “No.” Nikoli’s hand shot out to stop her. She slipped from his grasp, crossing over, disappearing into the outlawed realm. “Sazaar!” he shouted. She didn’t answer. The gateway began to close. Without stopping to think or to reason, Nikoli followed her to the other side—a large room crammed with hundreds of young men and women. A film of bluish smoke hovered inches above them, its acrid stench stinging Nikoli’s nose. White lights swept the space, the illumination gliding over the crowd, reflecting off the females’ glittery garments. With their arms lifted, the women locked their attention on the men as they swayed their lush bodies in time to the throbbing music. Nikoli felt its beat in his belly. He sensed Sazaar’s presence. Peering through the crowd, he saw a series of dark sofas against one of the plum-colored walls. On each, males and females indulged their carnal hunger, their mouths and fingers travelling over each other’s bodies. One young man with curly brown hair slipped his hand beneath a woman’s sparkling red top, releasing her ample breast. Her nipple was dusky and large. He took it into his mouth. Her lips, painted black, widened in a grin. Next to them, another young woman had pushed to her feet, tottering slightly on her gold high heels. Facing the sofa, her back to the man with her, she lifted her short gold gown to her waist, exposing her naked ass. One of the white lights swept over her plump cheeks, revealing them to the crowd. The young woman glanced over her shoulder, her smile feral. Leaning down to the arm of the sofa, she spread her legs, displaying her vulnerable cunt, inviting the man to fill her. Throwing back his head, he drove his hard cock into her channel. The white light bathed him in its glow, revealing his depraved expression and the act. For all to see, he plunged into the young woman,
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bringing her to climax, forestalling his own. With his cock slick from her juicy cunt, he penetrated her anus. Her mouth opened on what seemed to be an ecstatic moan, drowned out by the music, conversation, laughter. Blood pounded in Nikoli’s ears. Dizzy, he blinked rapidly, trying to maintain control. Someone from behind bumped into him. Looking over, he saw a young woman with blue eyes and black hair cut short like the men’s. Brows arched, she shouted, “Sorry.” Smiling, she asked, “Wanna dance?” Her teeth were straight and white, the incisors normal, not yet fangs. Nikoli glanced past her at the flash of blonde hair in his peripheral vision. Focused on it, he couldn’t move or think. In what seemed like slow motion, Sazaar turned away from the man she’d been speaking with, her attention slipping past dozens of writhing bodies, at last reaching him. After a shock of recognition, she smiled. She wore the expression of a predator. Nikoli locked his knees, forcing himself not to retreat. He met her stare, knowing he couldn’t show fear. Advancing through the crowd at startling speed, she reached his side within seconds, touching his hand. His pulse jumped at her clammy flesh, his body wanting to recoil from it. Standing his ground, knowing what he had to do, he remained. Her smile faltered even as her brows drew together in caution. Although she shouted above the noise, her pitch was barely loud enough for him to hear. “Why have you come, Nikoli?” He kept his hand at his side, his fingertips touching the stake hidden in his clothing. “I wanted to see you again.” Sazaar’s expression didn’t change. She stared as though trying to read his thoughts. “Why?” “To see if you were all right.” She searched his face. White lights swept past. The music grew frenzied. Around them, men and women had stopped dancing. Mouths touched. Hands explored. Geometric designs in vivid colors pulsed from the screens on the walls. Sazaar continued to regard him. At last, her features relaxed, revealing a bit of the woman she’d once been, gentle and kind. “You were worried about me, Nikoli?” Longing rang in her words. “You cared?” “You’re my mate, Sazaar.” She studied him, disappointment, then anger crossing her face. “Honor brought you here?” Realizing his mistake, he lied, “You did.” He jerked away at another woman bumping into him. Turning back to Sazaar, he asked, “Is there a place where we can speak?” Her gaze slid from the woman to him. “In the alley.”
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Damp air whisked through the narrow space cluttered with debris, a mound of trash shoved against one wall. Above it, stained papers clung to the brick façade. A lone cat, the color of midnight, clawed at the garbage, scratching in time with the muted music pumping from inside. Despite the chill and her gauzy crimson dress, Sazaar didn’t seem to notice the cold. “Have you come to join us, Nikoli?” She spoke without guile, the predator contained for the moment. “Or have you arrived to destroy me?” Hand in his pocket, his fingers gripped the stake. He told himself to lie to her, to buy time until he could bring himself to drive the weapon through her heart. Sudden sorrow swept across her face. “Tell me you care,” she pleaded. “Say you love me. That’s all I ask, Nikoli. That’s all I want…someone to love me. It’s why I crossed over.” His shoulders and chest ached. He held the stake so tightly, his knuckles hurt. “Does Andris love you, Sazaar?” He sounded as haunted as she did. “Has he given you what you sought?” Her mouth trembled. Tears brimmed in her eyes. Never had Nikoli seen his mate appear so lost and vulnerable. It was the moment he’d sought to take her down. He couldn’t move. “Do it,” she snapped, her expression turning hard. “Destroy me. I have nothing left.” He couldn’t pull the stake from his pocket. Sazaar’s lips curled up in disdain. “How honorable you are, Nikoli. How cautious. How careful. But not careful enough.” Mouth opened, incisors elongating, she lunged at him. Nikoli’s arm shot up, blocking her. Giving him a deadly smile, Sazaar sank her fangs into his wrist. Instantaneous pain ripped through his body, burning his flesh, then freezing it. On an agonized bellow, he slammed her against the brick wall, freeing himself. Staggering back, Nikoli stared at his blood on her lower lip, a drop falling on the swell of her breast. She caught it with her finger, bringing the tip to her mouth, licking it clean. Facing him, Sazaar spoke to Nikoli with her mind. “Join us,” she said, her words whispery like the breeze, tempting, intoxicating. “Be with me forever.” No. Pulse racing, Nikoli forced himself to step back. Effortlessly, Sazaar followed, her feet not touching the ground. “You want Regina,” her mind accused. Yes. “Would you leave her, then? She’s one of us, you know.” Sazaar gestured to the side.
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Nikoli stared at what he’d thought was a mound of trash. His mouth opened on a scream as it moved, showing him a flash of red—Regina’s hair. Puncture wounds scarred her pale throat. A fathomless horror filled her face. “She’s mine now,” Sazaar’s thoughts whispered. “She’s lost to you forever.”
No! Jerking awake, Nikoli pushed to a sitting position, his body bathed in sweat, his chest pumping with his ragged gasps. He fought to breathe, his heart catching at what he just noticed. Regina’s arm and leg no longer touched him. Nikoli stared at the space to his side, occupied only by his topcoat, the afghan and rug. Where is she? He turned to the windows. On the horizon, a sliver of light bled through the heavy clouds, announcing dawn. In here, the fire had died. His clothes and the device were missing. What had Regina done? How could he have allowed himself to sleep so long? Cursing himself, Nikoli pushed to his feet, ready to scream her name when he noticed the scent of food cooking. He padded in its direction and glanced down the hall, seeing a pool of yellow light spilling past a doorway. Nikoli stopped short of entering the room that Regina’s people called a kitchen. Furnished with dark wood cabinets and skylights over the food preparation area, the expansive space smelled of whatever sizzled in a pan and baked in the oven. She stood at the counter made of a dark, highly polished stone. Wearing only his sweater, her legs and feet bare, she watched what he knew to be a TV on the counter. A map of the Seattle area filled the screen, along with numbers. The sound was so low, Nikoli couldn’t hear what the weather announcer said, but he read the words. Today the rain would end. Tonight, the sky would be clear. Ideal conditions for Sazaar and the others. Misery tightened Regina’s features. Her hand went to her throat. Snatches of Nikoli’s dream returned. The damp wind. A dark alley. Papers clinging to a wall. A mound of trash. Puncture wounds on her neck. Her face sick with terror. A sound of animal pain welled in him. Only a rough sigh escaped. Hearing it, Regina turned. They moved as one, meeting halfway across the room, their caress fierce and desperate. She lavished him with kisses on his temple, chin, the side of his neck, his shoulder, reminding him of the wonder of last night and their inevitable farewell this morning. Nikoli tightened his arms around Regina, not yet willing to let her go. With his hand on the back of her head, he drove his fingers through her tangled hair, tilted her face and directed her lips to his. Regina
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moaned, her body sagging against his. The sound, her softness and heat brought back Sazaar’s words in his dream. “Say you love me. That’s all I ask.” His mate had given her soul—she’d damned herself to a brutal eternity so that she might know feelings denied them on E2. What Nikoli experienced now—indescribable warmth, excitement, contentment. Emotions that didn’t matter, not with Regina’s life at risk. Cursing himself for his continuing weakness, Nikoli tore his mouth free of hers, gulped air and eased back. She followed, wrapping her arms around him, her cheek pressed to his biceps. “I won’t let you go.” “You have to. We have no—” “There’s always a choice,” she argued. “I’m not going to let you die for me or anyone else.” Nikoli ran his hand down her back, touching the soft fabric of his sweater, missing the feel of her skin. Pushing his longing aside, he repeated, “We have no choice. Tell me where you put my clothes.” “No.” “There are more upstairs, Regina. All I have to do is take them.” With a moan of frustration, she tightened her hold on him and spoke quickly. “You have to listen to me. We can trick them, Nikoli. There’s no need for you to go to their lair alone. I’ve been thinking about this for hours. It will work. We can lure them to my house, and once they arrive, we can —” “No! I won’t allow it.” “You can’t keep me from doing this,” she countered, shouting as he had. “Sazaar’s not only looking for you; she’s looking for me.” “She won’t be looking for anyone once I destroy her.” “And what if you can’t? What if you fail? What happens if their protectors kill you first and you leave me here alone to face what the night will surely bring? Can you guarantee you’ll succeed? Can you promise that?” Each question, every word, shattered his conviction, delivering doubt, then fear. If he failed, Sazaar would hunt Regina. If not her, then Andris so he could feed on her, draining her to the point where he’d enslave her forever. Nikoli tightened his fingers into fists, a wave of exasperation and anguish grinding through him. Even so, he tried to pull away from Regina, to continue with his plan, the only one he had. She held tight. Her manner, so unnerved a moment ago, was stronger now, resolute. “We can go to my house.” “No.” “Once we’re there, we’ll wait for Sazaar and the others. Without the rain, she’ll smell us, she’ll find us.”
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“And then what? No,” he shouted. “Whatever you’re thinking, it won’t work. I won’t allow it.” “If I have to, I’ll die fighting with and for you, Nikoli. But I will not allow you to face these monsters alone.” Unwilling to argue, determined to do what he must, Nikoli reached behind himself, wrapping his fingers around her wrists to pull her away from him. Regina resisted, her strength a surprise, fueled by what he suspected was her guilt, him offering his life to save hers. Shoulders sagging, he slid his hands to her back, so narrow and seemingly frail, yet so strong. “Regina, don’t do this.” She swallowed audibly, then continued. “Just listen to me. I was thinking about how we escaped them when they came into my office. With your device, you opened the portal. What if we used it to our advantage, not to escape them but as a means to—” Her words stalled. She dug her fingers into his ribs. Instantly, his body tensed. “What is it?” She didn’t answer. Nikoli pulled back. Regina’s attention was on something past him. “Oh my God,” she whispered.
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She released Nikoli and hurried to the counter, grabbing the TV remote. “What is it?” he asked again. Holding up her free hand for silence, she increased the set’s volume, praying she’d been mistaken about what she’d just seen. The female newscaster spoke gravely. “The two young women are co-workers at Cup-a-Joe’s, a popular Seattle coffee shop.” Again, the girls’ pictures flashed on the screen, along with a shot of the establishment where they’d worked—the building where Regina had her office suite. Her body went weak. She leaned against the granite counter. The announcer continued. “Both went missing last night after their shifts. A local business owner found their purses and identification in the alley behind his office supply store, approximately two blocks from the coffee shop, on a route the young women were known to take to their respective apartments.” The camera shifted back to the newscaster. Her frosted hair shone beneath the bright studio lights. “Upon finding traces of blood on the purses, the business owner contacted the police. They found no signs of a struggle in the alley. Relatives are holding out hope that the young women are still alive. If anyone saw or heard anything last night, the authorities ask—” Regina muted the sound. She tried to stop trembling but couldn’t. Her lids sank at Nikoli’s approach. He turned her to face him, folding her into his embrace, his big, warm body pressed close. She splayed her fingers on his broad back and spoke without emotion, unable to stomach any more horror. “The girls are gone, aren’t they? Either killed or turned by Sazaar and the others.” With no hesitation, he nodded. Regina swallowed, thinking of the young women, kids really, barely into their twenties with their whole lives ahead of them, until now. She pulled in a shaky breath. Nikoli stroked her back. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have predicted or prevented it.” “But those things came for me,” she whispered. “If I hadn’t agreed to take Sazaar as my patient, then those girls and you wouldn’t have been in any danger. You’d all be—” “Regina stop.” He held her close. With his cheek against hers, he murmured, “There was no way for you to stop any of them. Not even if you had guessed what Sazaar was.”
Tina Donahue
It made perfect sense, as reason always did, but it didn’t ease the ache in Regina’s soul. “Their parents are never going to see them again, Nikoli. They’ll never have the comfort of knowing where their children are, putting their bodies to rest. Their mothers…” She stopped, unable to continue, thinking of her own mother if she’d had to go through anything like this. Nikoli murmured something indistinct, his tone deep and soothing. Wind brushed past the house. Sizzling sounds came from the skillet, followed by a sharp pop. Flinching at the sound, Regina looked over. She’d forgotten about the bacon she’d been frying and the cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. Food bought by the man who’d once lived here. A breakfast he’d never had a chance to enjoy because Andris had murdered him so casually and callously. Prick. Fucking prick. Sudden and frightening rage boiled within Regina, heating her limbs, chest and face. Never a violent person, she wanted to tear Andris apart, to annihilate him as he’d destroyed so many of his victims. Who would he have his sights on tonight? Someone else in her building? A poor soul who would be there past dusk when it was safe for Andris and the others to leave the protection of their lair, to sneak through the night like roaches or— Regina’s thoughts stalled, then raced. What if he returned for her and found someone she knew? Carly. Regina fought against Nikoli’s embrace. He tightened his hold. “What’s the matter?” “I have to call Carly, my receptionist. I don’t want her in that building.” Breaking free of him, Regina glanced around the room, searching for a phone, not seeing any. Panicked, she opened drawers, slamming them when she didn’t find what she wanted. The bacon popped again. Hurrying to the stove, she turned off the burner and oven. Nikoli went to her, his naked feet slapping the hardwood floor. “What are you looking for?” “A cell phone.” She shut another drawer and yanked open the next. In it was an iPhone with a security hurdle to overcome before she could even use the damn thing. She was about to toss it back into the drawer when she saw a Post-it note with a series of figures. Passwords? Her hands shook so badly, her thumb trembled above the device’s sleep/wake button. Holding it down, she whispered, “Please work.” Within seconds, the Apple icon appeared on the screen. Remembering to pull in air, Regina grasped Nikoli’s wrist so he couldn’t leave her side. “Don’t go,” she begged. “Regina.”
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“Please.” With the password prompt, she tried the first set of figures on the Post-it note. They worked. Bouncing in place, she tapped in Carly’s number. The call connected. Regina sucked her bottom lip through the first and subsequent rings. “Come on,” she muttered during the fifth, “answer.” After the ninth ring, the jangle cut off, replaced by silence. Regina prayed an answering machine wasn’t about to come on. If Carly had ignored the rings because she didn’t recognize the number on her caller ID or if she didn’t listen to the message, she’d eventually head to the office. “Carly?” Regina blurted at the lengthening quiet. A sleepy voice answered. “Who is this?” “It’s me—Regina. Is that you, Carly?” “Uh…yeah.” She sounded confused. The noise of her sloppy yawn came over the phone line, followed by her sharp intake of air. “Oh my God, did I oversleep again?” “No. It’s not even seven.” Regina continued quickly, “I’m sorry for waking you, but I’m not coming into the office today. I have a terrible migraine.” “Oh. Okay.” Carly cleared her throat, then spoke through her next yawn. “As soon as I get there, I’ll call your patients and tell them—” “No. Do it from your house.” She fell back to silence. “Carly?” “You want me to call them from here?” she asked, her confusion returning. “Their numbers are in my computer at the office.” The back of Regina’s neck prickled with sweat. “I have them in my email account, along with the schedule of appointments. I’ll give you the login information. Do you have a pen and paper nearby?” “Ah, I guess. Let me turn on the light.” Carly grunted. Something crashed to the floor. “Shit,” she growled. “Hey,” a male voice complained, the volume muted by his distance from the phone. “What are you doing?” “Nothing. Go back to sleep.” After what sounded like a drawer shutting and a rustling noise, Carly said, “Okay, shoot.” Regina gave her the email account, username and password, then added, “Call tomorrow’s patients too.” “You’re serious?” “I really don’t feel well.” In the background, Regina heard Emma’s piercing cries, the baby no doubt awakened by the noise of whatever had crashed to the floor. “Spend the next two days with your daughter.”
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“Wait a sec,” Carly said, sounding concerned. She spoke softly, as though she didn’t want her husband to hear. “As much as I’d like to stay at home, I have work to catch up on. Regina, are you pissed at me because I left a little early last night? Are you firing me?” “What? No. Not at all.” “You’re sure?” “Yes. Absolutely. You have my word.” Carly blew out a sigh. “Okay. Thanks. I was a little worried.” After another deep breath, she said, “Since there won’t be any patients there for the next two days, I’ll just bring Emma with me to the office and—” “No. Don’t go in. I want you to stay home. You’ll still be paid.” Expecting another argument, she lied. “While we’re gone, I’m going to have building maintenance check on that heating problem. You don’t want to expose Emma to all the noise the workers will make and the possibility of toxic materials, do you?” “No, of course not.” Carly sounded torn between renewed bewilderment and relief. “Thanks for paying me for the two days. Hank and I could really use the dough.” “Enjoy the time off with your baby and husband, but please make certain to call the patients.” “At nine, I’m on it. Before you hang up,” she added quickly, “do you want me to reschedule them for later in the week?” Afraid to look that far into the future, Regina said, “Just tell them their appointments are cancelled for this week.” “You got it.” Turning off the phone, Regina faced Nikoli. Determination hardened his jaw line. Sazaar’s scratches seemed all too prominent on his throat and cheeks. “It’s dawn,” he said. Above them, ashy beams pierced the thinning clouds to pour through the skylights, stealing the kitchen’s cozy warmth. Fighting a shiver, Regina argued, “You’re not leaving without me, Nikoli.” His brows drew together. “Regina, we don’t have time to debate this.” “I’m not.” She spoke far more calmly than he did. “I’m using reason, the same as you do in your dimension.” He stepped back. She followed. “Trying to destroy Andris and the others at their lair is too great a risk. There’s a better way to defeat them.” Nikoli continued to retreat. “There is no other way.” “What about the void between the dimensions?” Regina advanced, reducing the space separating them. “Using it to our advantage?”
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He backed into the counter. Looking at it, he asked, “The void? What are you talking about?” “What I was going to tell you before I saw the newscast. When we were in my office, you used your device to open a portal. What if we do the same thing tonight, only this time at my house and lure them into it?” “No.” He went around the counter, his frown deepening as she followed. “Only a few would be reckless enough to enter. Once they burned, the others would stop.” “Not if we invite them inside.” Before he could dispute what she’d said, Regina continued, “We can make them believe we’re willing to do anything to ensure our survival, even going as far as opening a portal into E2. But we won’t. We’ll wait until they’re all in the void, and then we’ll slip out of it and close the gateway to this dimension. They’d be trapped between the two realms, Nikoli, unable to enter your side because of the toxic atmosphere. Unable to return to this side because we’d closed it off to them. They’d never again be a risk to your world or mine.”
Even as Nikoli considered Regina’s plan—brilliant by the standards of his own plane—he kept shaking his head, not wanting to put her at risk, needing to handle the vampires on his own. “What if you fail?” she’d asked, her earlier words returning to torment him. “What happens if their protectors kill you first and you leave me here alone to face what the night will surely bring?” Nikoli’s stomach twisted. As though she saw that pain on his face, Regina went to him, resting her fingertips on his chest, speaking quietly. “It will work.” He couldn’t bring himself to comment. It didn’t matter. Conviction burned in her, along with her concern for him and her guilt. “Are you worried about Sazaar altering the atmosphere on your side?” she asked. “That she’ll try to force or tempt us to open a portal into E2?” “It wouldn’t matter if she did.” Surprise crossed Regina’s features. “But before you said—” “I know. However, E2 will be on full alert by this evening. No one will be able to open a portal.” “Why? Because of that man you called Thomo?” “No.” “Then how could you know that?” Because he was a traitor. Shamed, he told her the truth. “I left my father a message about crossing over to this dimension and my plans to destroy the vampires. I timed it so that he wouldn’t know what I’d done until you were safe, should you need to open a portal. This evening, he will have read my communication and taken action.”
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Regina lowered her hand, the color draining from her face. “Will he alert the people in your realm? Will they come over here looking for you?” “Their only concern will be to protect E2. They’ll make certain no one will be able to enter.” Her expression grew pensive at what he’d said. “If they see what we’ve done, they’ll ensure that Andris and the others remain trapped?” He nodded, then spoke before she could. “I can do this alone, Regina. I must. There’s no reason for you to be involved. The vampires need me to cross over.” “I need you to be safe,” she said. “There’s no reason for you to worry about me or feel guilty about what’s happened. None of this is your—” “Guilty?” she interrupted, then frowned. “Guilt has nothing to do with it. I need you in my life.” He stared, not certain what she was saying, lacking the courage to ask. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I’m doing this with you, Nikoli. If you leave, I’ll follow. I’ll look for you on this side or yours. I won’t stop until I’ve found you or those things have found me.” She was back to that? He spoke through his teeth. “Don’t say that. I won’t allow them to harm you.” “Nor will I allow them to do anything to you. We’ll protect each other.” Not giving him a chance to comment, she took his hand and headed for the table. Nikoli held back. Regina looked over, her expression pleading. Nikoli’s reason warred with his emotions, with neither of them winning. If he left to safeguard her, as he should, she’d foolishly put herself at risk to find and save him, driven by whatever was going through her mind. Without his protection, she had an even lesser chance of survival. Defeated for the moment, he followed her, noticing a black garment draped over the top of one of the chairs. Regina offered the item to him. “Put the robe on. It’ll keep you warm while I finish making breakfast.” He didn’t take it. Not letting that stop her, she shook out the robe and eased it up his arms, then pushed to her toes, touching her lips to his ear. “We can talk while we eat. Please. If you care for me, Nikoli, don’t deny me this.” He forced down a swallow. “Is there nothing I can say that will change your mind?” “No.” She smoothed the robe over his shoulders and pulled the edges of it across his chest. Chewing her lower lip, she regarded him. “What?” he asked. “Do you care for me?” He grabbed her arms, pulling her close. “You know I do and more. So much more.”
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Her smile was quick. “I feel the same about you.” Nikoli stared at her, unable to comprehend that she would truly want him given what had happened, what he and Sazaar had brought into her life. He tried to reason. “What you feel is guilt, Regina. Perhaps gratitude. Maybe—” She interrupted. “For a smart guy, you don’t know anything.” He frowned. “I know I should be doing this alone.” “No, and that’s final.” Nikoli wanted to scream at her for fighting him on this. Instead, he pulled her into his arms, desperate to touch her as much as he could. Regina sagged against him, denying nothing. He tightened his hold, eased it, then crushed her to him again, unable to make up his mind. Through it all, she sighed contentedly, then lifted her hand, stroking his bristly jaw and throat. “You never have to be alone again, Nikoli. I’ll be there for you.” That’s what worried him—her refusal to let him get on with the business of destruction and dying. On a frustrated sigh, he released her. She didn’t seem happy, but she wasn’t defeated either. Waiting until he sat, she backed away toward the oven. Short of reaching it, she glanced over at the skillet, then returned her attention to him. “I’m making bacon, eggs and cinnamon rolls. Do you know what that is?” “Food?” She laughed. “Yeah. What I meant is, do you have anything like this on your side? Is this what you eat?” She frowned. “What do you eat?” He toyed with the thought of telling her they dined on rocks and dirt. Knowing Regina, she’d start preparing it. Maybe she did really care for him. Thinking about that, knowing she shouldn’t, he said, “What you do on this side, only we refer to it by different names.” Nodding, she turned the oven back on and set the burner to a low flame beneath the skillet. “Then you don’t have any food allergies, something that would make you ill if you ate it over here?” “Our food hasn’t caused illness in centuries. We have no disease.” Regina’s hand stalled near the skillet’s handle. She stared at him. In spite of his best intentions, the picture she created sent Nikoli’s pulse racing. Her fiery hair slid over her shoulders, with several strands snagging on the soft fabric of his sweater. Her erect nipples pressed against it. He regarded her naked thighs and calves. The sight of her bare flesh banished reason, encouraging emotion, cherishing the few hours they had left before dark and the coming battle. “You have no disease at all?” she asked.
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“What? No.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Long ago, our scientists sterilized the air, eliminating what you refer to as viruses and harmful bacteria. Most on my plane live well past a hundred years, with some having to wait until their sixties or seventies before they’re allowed to breed.” Her brows inched up. He answered what he sensed she wouldn’t ask. “My father was one of them. He’s already reached his hundredth year having sired me when he was in his mid-sixties. He had hoped that I wouldn’t have to wait as long, that Sazaar and I would…” Nikoli stopped, unwilling to finish. Worry crossed Regina’s face. Again, he assured her, “Those on E2 won’t be looking for me.” “I know.” She frowned slightly. “You said the air on your side is free of all harmful organisms?” He nodded. “It isn’t here.” She took several steps toward him and stopped. “Will our germs harm you?” “No.” Regina’s expression remained unconvinced. “Why not?” He wanted to lie. He sensed she’d know if he had. “Sazaar’s bite, the poison within her, gave me immunity.” She glanced at his wrist, the puncture marks hidden by the robe. Nikoli pushed to his feet, sending the chair scooting backward, its legs scraping the floor. “Regina, I’ve already told you, I won’t become what they are. Nor is your air toxic to me.” She pressed her hand to her throat. “Why won’t you believe me?” he asked. “I do. It’s just that I don’t want anything happening to you. I couldn’t go through losing someone again. My mother…” Stopping, she shook her head. Nikoli padded across the room to her. “What happened?” Regina spoke on a pained sigh. “She had breast cancer. I got her the best doctors and treatment. No matter what they did, no matter how much I paid them, they couldn’t save her. She suffered so much. It was so fucking unfair. She’d always had such a lousy life. First, my father abandoned her. She had to work constantly, but we were always so poor. By the time I was able to get us a nice house and she could relax, she got too sick to enjoy it.” Wrapping his arm around her narrow shoulders, Nikoli pulled her close. Without hesitation, she released her weight into him. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, recalling when he’d lost his mother. How hopeless the world had seemed. How large and frightening. “If I had known about you then, if I could have helped, I would have.” She fisted her hand in his robe.
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Leading Regina to his chair, he eased her into it, then hunkered down at her side. With his fingers beneath her chin, he rested his thumb on her plush bottom lip. “I’ll finish making breakfast.” The corners of her mouth ticked up slightly, the beginning of a smile. “You know how?” He confessed, “I watched you do it many times during the past weeks.” Color flushed Regina’s throat and face at the reminder of him having observed her during the most mundane and personal endeavors. He feared it embarrassed her until she ran her hand down the edge of his robe, her fingertips touching his chest. His pecs and belly quivered at the small intimacy. His cock thickened. She murmured, “You watched because you were worried about Sazaar coming to my place and you wanted to protect me from her?” “I watched because I wanted to look at you.”
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Chapter Eleven
His guileless answer touched Regina’s soul. He was a man who’d been indoctrinated from birth to reason, never to feel, to always put duty above the most basic needs of his heart. What many men on her side had endured from the demands of their various cultures, though for Nikoli it was to a far greater and more tragic degree. He seemed so young suddenly, not a quantum physicist with an intolerable burden to carry, but a boy who’d simply wanted to be cherished. Cupping his face in her hands, she drew her thumbs over his stubbled cheeks, ever mindful of the wounds from Sazaar. “So many times I sensed your presence.” Nikoli searched her face, his expression uncertain. “Did I frighten you?” “Oh no.” She spoke in a whisper, running her thumb over his chin. “You provided comfort and peace, Nikoli, along with a thrill I’d rarely known.” His eyes closed in what appeared to be relief. Eager to reassure him further, Regina leaned toward him, kissing his lashes. His breath spilled out on a sigh. She murmured, “On some level, I recognized you when you came into the coffee shop. You saw it on my face, didn’t you?” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to. I wasn’t certain if I had only imagined it.” “You didn’t.” She eased back. “We’ve been looking for each other for a long time. And now, we’re together.” He seemed ready to comment, perhaps to refute her statement, reminding her of what awaited them tonight. “We are,” she insisted. Easing her hands from his face, turning them over, he kissed both palms. Regina’s fingers curled, touching his cheeks. Nikoli allowed it for only a second, and then he pushed to his feet and backed away. “I’ll finish making breakfast.” She wanted to follow him, to force the issue, but decided against it. In silence, she watched Nikoli cook their meal. Having a task to complete and with his emotions buried for the moment, he moved fluidly, his large body at ease in the kitchen.
Unending Desire
It reminded Regina of the morning she’d laid her mother to rest. Well before dawn, she’d cooked feverishly, preparing for the gathering after the wake, eager to do anything to keep her mind off her loss. To escape the emptiness the next hours and days would bring. To lose Nikoli now that she’d found him was more than Regina could bear. Heat prickled her skin. She tried to swallow but couldn’t. Gripping the edges of her chair, she lowered her head. Stop it, she ordered herself. They weren’t defeated. They wouldn’t be. Her plan would work. With great effort, she focused on the moment, determined to make the most of their time together, to convince Nikoli of what he didn’t yet believe or trust. Pulling his sweater up her torso and off, she flung the garment to a side chair. It missed, hitting a wooden rooster on the counter. The ornament rattled in place. At the sound, Nikoli glanced over, staring at her tightened nipples and her reddish bush. Surprise and immediate lust registered on his face. Stoking it, Regina draped her arm over the back of her chair. Legs spread, she planted one foot on the furniture’s horizontal bar to display herself. Nikoli’s chest rose and fell with his heightened breathing. Tossing the spatula on the counter, he moved toward her. The oven’s timer dinged. He started at the sound, his steps halting, his attention returning to the appliance. Regina spoke on a silky purr. “Go on, finish up. I’ll still be here.” No matter what you say or try to do, I won’t desert you. Staring at her fingers dipping over her mound and touching her clit, Nikoli withdrew the same amount of steps he’d advanced. His arm hit the counter. A plate clattered. He ignored the sound. Repeatedly, his focus jerked from his meal preparations to what she was doing. Regina loved seeing him like this. He was so flustered and wanting of her, he dropped the spatula twice, a fork once. The plates kept getting in his way. He cursed one in his language and hers. Giving him no relief, continuing with her show, Regina stroked her nub, then brought her finger to her lips and licked its length, surprised at her boldness. She was no beauty, but Nikoli wanted her. Hurriedly, he cooked the eggs, scooping them onto their plates, followed by bacon and the cinnamon rolls. With the tube of frosting between his teeth and a plate in each hand, he approached, setting the dishes on the table, still watching her. Regina lowered her foot, touching his. Nikoli looked down. A smile spread across his face. She guessed he liked her polished toenails. The women on his realm probably didn’t indulge in such frivolity.
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Bringing her arm from the back of the chair, she pushed to her feet and slipped her hands beneath his robe, fingers brushing his hot skin. In a murmur, she asked, “Will you be cold without this?” He stared at her, then shook his head, sending several locks of hair tumbling over his forehead. Between his teeth, the tube of frosting wiggled. Smiling at how human he looked, how very male, she eased the robe from his arms, letting it drop to the floor. Before she could make another move, he pulled her aside and sank to the chair. Taking the tube from his mouth and tossing it on the table, he offered Regina his free hand. With her fingers curled around his, she straddled his body. “I want you inside of me,” she murmured. “Do you want that too, Nikoli, or are you too sore from last night?” “Are you?” “I’ll work through the discomfort.” “And I won’t?” Pleased at his macho response and the intensity, the vulnerability she saw on his face, Regina released his hand and wound her fingers around his rigid cock. He whispered something she didn’t hear. Her hand caressed his weighty organ, directing the head to her lips, slick with arousal. Piercing them, she slithered down, taking his full length slowly, giving herself and him time to adjust to the slight sting. It passed quickly even as his rod widened her channel, straining against her tight inner muscles. At the delicious friction, his breath caught and so did hers. Regina gulped air and tried to quiet the intense pounding of her heart. Nikoli set it to an even faster pace. Jerking his hips, he drove his shaft more deeply inside, their groins and curls touching. Weak with arousal, the feeling of being filled completely, Regina slipped her arm around his shoulders, leaned down to his ear and whispered, “Comfortable?” He grunted, one hand cupping her ass, the other on her breast, his thumb dragging over her nipple. Her lids sagged down. She inhaled deeply, filling herself with his scent. Masculine. Musky. “Ready to eat?” He made another sound, this one impassioned, just short of uncivilized. Lifting his hand from her ass and his other from her breast, he wrapped his arm around her waist, then leaned toward the table as though reaching for something. With their bodies listing to the side, Regina murmured, “What are you doing?” She kissed his throat and purred, “What are you looking for?” “This.”
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Nikoli used his teeth to open the packet of frosting. A smile tugged at her mouth. “And what’s that for?” “I’m not certain. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.” Studying the container, he continued, “However, there does seem to be only one use for it.” He leaned back in his chair to separate their bodies, then squirted the sugary white glaze on her nipple. Oh, he was getting used to the way things worked on this plane. “Bad boy,” she breathed, driving her fingers through his hair. “Look at the mess you’ve made. You’re going to have to clean that up.” “And if I don’t?” he challenged. She tightened her muscles around his cock. “I won’t give you any more of what I’m doing right now.” He struggled not to smile. “Then I better be good.” Giving her his full attention, he flung the tube over his shoulder. It landed on one of the eggs, breaking the yoke. Prepared to point that out and tease a bit more, Regina managed no more than a gasp at Nikoli latching his mouth onto her icing-covered nipple, drawing it into his mouth. At its heat, Regina’s head fell back on her shoulders. She pressed her fingertips against his scalp to keep him close. He suckled hard, then groaned crudely—so humanly—before again flicking his tongue over her erect tip. Not only did the man know what she liked, he was already hard, or still hard, having the stamina of a Spartan warrior. With his continued suckling, a deluge of sensations swirled through Regina. Locking her heels on the chair’s horizontal bars, she squirmed in place, deliberately rubbing her clit against the base of his thick, hard rod. On a pleasured gasp, he released her nipple, his shallow pants skipping over her skin. With his forehead against her breast, he murmured, “Yes.” Regina caught enough air to speak. “Yes, what?” “I’m ready to eat.” She laughed, the sound reckless, joyous, the kind one hears from the young who haven’t yet faced the tragedies of life. In hers, there had been too many. With Nikoli, she would allow only good. Easing his hair behind his ears, she said, “I’ll feed you.” “We’ll feed each other.” He grabbed a piece of bacon, slipping one end between her lips, then took the other into his mouth. Each chew and swallow brought them closer. Relinquishing the last bite to him, Regina licked stray bits of the food from his lips. He touched his tongue to hers, then slipped it inside her mouth, delivering the bacon’s saltiness and his signature excitement that couldn’t be denied.
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Like teenagers, they necked, making noisy, sloppy, happy sounds, their breakfast forgotten already, their desires all that mattered. Deepening his kiss, Nikoli tightened his arm around her waist and pushed to his feet. Instinctively, Regina wreathed her arms over his shoulders. She wrapped her legs around his lean hips, hooking one ankle on the other. Inches from their abandoned meal, he lowered her to the table, directing her to remove her arms and legs from him, to lie back. Once Regina had, Nikoli curled his fingers around her wrists, holding them to each side of her. Confined and filled, she regarded him, seeing herself and their future in his eyes. “Comfortable?” he asked, mimicking her earlier question. She grunted as he had. He laughed. The sound was so uninhibited, so delighted, tenderness rushed through her. For the first time in her presence, he’d allowed himself complete abandon and happiness. Wanting to prolong it, she tightened her muscles around his shaft. He sobered quickly and arched one dark brow. “I thought you weren’t going to do that again.” “Only if you weren’t a good boy.” Wriggling one hand free of his grasp, she brought it down to his thick pubic hair, running her fingers through it. “I’m happy to say, you’re being very good.” She dipped her fingers between their bodies to touch his balls. He pushed to his toes, his weight rocking into her. “But I think you can be better,” she goaded, bringing back her hand. On a hard swallow, he dropped to his heels and planted his hands on her knees, pushing her legs toward her chest, driving his cock even deeper into her sheath, taking her without question or regret. Regina moaned lewdly. “Better?” he asked. “Don’t stop,” she begged. His fingers slid down her inner thigh to her clit. She inhaled sharply at his quick strokes on her nub, the mounting pleasure they generated, an exquisite heaviness Regina could scarcely withstand. Her cunt tightened around his rod, and he responded with one, two, three quick thrusts, full and hard, sending Regina over the edge. She cried out, not recognizing the sounds as her own. Heat and a sensation she found impossible to describe whisked through her. Giving her no chance to recover from the intense pleasure he’d generated, Nikoli continued to pump, far more slowly this time, while his fingers circled her nub, taunting and teasing it beyond her endurance. A protest rose in Regina’s throat. Only a whimper escaped. She thrashed her head from side to side. Her fingers curled into fists.
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Nikoli ignored her silent complaint, pumping and stroking, his stamina beyond a Spartan’s. Hell, he was freaking Superman. With each new thrust, their surroundings retreated a bit more for Regina. Sounds, smells, colors no longer existed. Nikoli had reduced her world to his cock sliding in and out of her damp channel, his thumb rubbing her clit. Gulping air, she loosened her fists and yielded. It made no difference in his slow, steady pace as he inched her toward the next orgasm. The promise of it—the momentary denial—sapped all the strength from her legs and arms. In contrast, her sheath continued to tense. With an expert touch, Nikoli fueled her passion, seeming to know what she needed better than Regina did, proving it as jolt after jolt of new pleasure hit. Mouth hanging open, she cried out, the earthy sounds ringing through the room. Within seconds, Nikoli’s bellow joined them, low-pitched and thunderous, his thrusts coming to a halt. Regina clutched his muscular biceps. Sweaty and spent, she fought to pull in enough air, her chest heaving with her efforts. “You okay?” Damp hair clung to his forehead and temples. He stroked her clit. She choked on a swallow. “I’m fine,” he said, his baritone gritty with lingering lust. “You?” “I want more.” She wanted it all. Guiding him down to her, Regina wrapped one arm around his shoulders and settled her other hand on the side of his face. “I want to go home, Nikoli. I want to show you what life should be like…what it will be like as long as we’re together.”
They had only today. Less than twelve hours. At the brutal reality, Nikoli squeezed his lids, ordering himself to pull away, to find a means to leave her so he could fight the vampires alone. So she could continue with her life once they and he were gone. As though Regina heard his thoughts or sensed the tension in his body, she kissed his temple, her cushiony lips brushing his skin. Her tender caress weakened his best intentions, keeping him close, a response he couldn’t fight or deny. Starved for her warmth, hungry for what little time they surely had, Nikoli allowed himself to consider that her plan would work. Just as quickly, his mind warned that it wouldn’t change anything. Should he survive, he’d be no more than a traitor, facing execution on E2. Here, he was an aberration without a future. If her government learned of his presence, they’d confine and study him, forcing him to reveal secrets about his dimension. Even if he escaped notice, he had no work, no means of taking care of her. Regina’s breath warmed his ear. She whispered, “We need to clean up and go home.” He had none.
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“I’ll take care of you,” she promised, addressing his unspoken concerns. “We’ll take care of each other. Together, we can do this, Nikoli.” She made it sound so easy. She made him want. Images flashed in his mind of the times he’d observed her from E2, watching as she shopped for food or walked down the street, glancing into windows at the goods offered for sale. Simple, routine tasks he imagined sharing with her as they held hands, discussing nothing more pressing than what they’d do that night, enjoying each other’s company. Content in the fact that they weren’t alone. They had each other. But for how long? Days? Months? Years? Would she eventually tire of him? Would she come to regret her decision to keep him in her life? His chest ached with uncertainty. Sliding her palms up his back, Regina ran her fingers over his ribs. “Nikoli?” He didn’t dare speak, unable to trust what he might say. Curbing his emotions, he pushed away from Regina, releasing himself from her body. She regarded him, then extended her hand. “Help me up?” Once he had, she placed her fingers on his chest. “Everything will be all right.” Her promise held softness and strength. “We’ll make it that way.” “You can’t know that,” he blurted. “There are no guarantees.” Worry flickered across her face, replaced quickly with determination. “I never said there were. But I don’t want to go back to a world without you. I’m willing to accept whatever happens as long as you’re at my side.” Curling her fingers on his pec, she murmured, “Can you accept the same?” He lowered his face. A long moment passed, their silence filled with the rush of heated air pouring from the vents and the oven pinging as it cooled. At last, Regina asked, “Is that a no?” It should have been, but Nikoli couldn’t get the word out. Hating himself for his weakness when what he needed was resolve and strength, he placed his hand on hers and said the only thing he could. “I never meant for matters to get this far, Regina. I planned to do no more than protect you. I have nothing to offer but uncertainty. In your realm, I have no means to work, no way to provide for you.” “Nikoli, look at me. Please.” When he did, she spoke softly. “What you just said, what you’re thinking, isn’t true. You’re an expert in psychics and technology. Your knowledge is far more advanced than anything on this side. With what you know, you could be an inventor, the same as the man who owned this estate. You could bring things to this world we’d never dreamed of. “Not to harm anyone on E2,” she added quickly, “or to lead them to its existence, but to enrich the lives of those who live here, to possibly bring them something good in terms of peace and security. And
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you wouldn’t have to interact with the public. You could work on your prototypes and patents from home. It’s done all the time.” His heart wanted to believe. His mind wouldn’t allow it. “You’re trying to make it sound so easy, so possible.” “It won’t be easy. However, it is doable. We’ll make it that way. We’ll get the patents under an assumed name or mine, whatever it takes to keep your identity a secret. All you have to do is trust me. I wouldn’t lead you to harm.” “I’m not worried about myself.” She searched his face, then spoke quietly. “I know what I’m doing.” With a look of conviction, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “After we clean up, we can leave for my place. It shouldn’t take us more than an hour to remove all traces of our having been here.” Nikoli didn’t understand. “What do you mean by removing all traces?” “Wiping off my fingerprints and yours. Eventually, someone will come here looking for the man who owned this estate. When they report him as missing to the police or should someone find his body, the authorities will search these premises and might dust for prints. They’ll run whatever they find through their database. Mine will lead them back to me, while yours…” She didn’t finish. He said what she would not. “Will identify me as something not quite human. Someone whose identity needs to be kept secret.” He spoke as harshly as he could. “And this is what you want for yourself, Regina? This is what you want your life to be?” “Yes. If you were taking me to E2, would you worry for yourself or for me?” “How can you ask such a thing?” “How could you?” Nikoli didn’t know how to reason with her. Again, she touched his pec, making it dance. “Come on,” she murmured, “we’ll clean up and then we’ll go to my place. There, we’ll make our plans. We’ll spend the rest of the day together.” She ran her fingertips down his torso to his navel, then beneath it to his groin and cock. “Until night falls, I’ll make you forget everything bad. I’ll take care of you.”
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Chapter Twelve
Beneath the sink, Regina found several packages of rubber gloves along with dozens of cleansers and disinfectants. Handing Nikoli a set of the gloves, she donned another to avoid leaving any more prints. As they worked, they cut off forkfuls of the cinnamon rolls, scooping them up with bites of bacon and egg. Chewing slowly, Regina made certain to leave Nikoli the bulk of the food, convinced it wouldn’t harm him. Upon searching the cabinets for the dishwasher detergent, she found five bags of Reese’s peanut butter cups in red, gold and green foil wrappers—the kind sold around the holidays. Considering how the candy had been hidden inside a trash bag, she wondered about the man who’d lived here. Did he have diabetes and was trying to avoid temptation? Or was he simply concerned about the fat and cholesterol he ate? She thought back to his clothes on Nikoli. Although they weren’t a perfect fit, he appeared to be near Nikoli’s weight, far leaner than the average American. Far more hygienic too. Did he have all of these cleaning products because he worried about germs? Probably. Too bad he hadn’t known the real danger he faced when confronted with Andris. “There are no guarantees,” Nikoli had said. At the thought of tonight, a shiver tore through Regina. Wanting comfort, even if it was only from candy, she took one of the bags, glanced over and smiled. Nikoli’s ass flexed as he wiped the table clean of food particles and their prints. At this angle, she saw his erect cock bobbing with his movements. Hours would pass before it became flaccid again, urged to relax by her willing body. With more than a little lust whipping through her, Regina asked, “Have you ever had peanut butter and chocolate?” He regarded the bag she held. “What is it?” “Heaven.” Pulling off her gloves, she unwrapped one of the red-foiled treats, bit half off, moaned in delight, then went to him, offering what remained. Studying the candy, he lowered his head and sniffed. Instantly, the blood drained from his face. He straightened and stepped back. “What is it?” Regina asked. “Are you allergic to peanut butter? I thought you had no allergies.” “I don’t.”
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Confused, she asked, “Then you don’t have peanut butter on your side? You’ve never smelled it before? You find it distasteful?” “I’ve eaten it many times, but never that dark brown coating over it.” “You mean chocolate?” “That’s not what we call it.” His voice had an edgy quality Regina had never heard before. Padding to the sink, she dropped the half-eaten candy into the disposal and turned it on. Nikoli stared at the traces of chocolate on her fingers, his expression filled with dread. Shutting off the disposal, Regina asked, “What’s wrong? Why does chocolate frighten you?” He shook his head, dismissing her question. It made her more determined. “Tell me,” she insisted. “I want to know. Now.” “What you call chocolate is used on E2 to execute traitors. The element has a pleasant flavor, but our physiology has been altered so that one taste of the chocolate results in a slow, painful death.” Regina stared, unable to believe it. Quickly, she hid her hand behind herself. “I see.” She cleared the catch in her throat and continued. “Is that the only food that’s used to execute prisoners?” “Others are used to control the populace to avoid the necessity of what you know as prisons.” Was he serious? Not only had his people eliminated passion, they’d used the comfort of food to annihilate and control? She wanted to curse the bastards, to tell Nikoli they were no different from the monsters on her side, human or otherwise. Nikoli’s expression, his obvious acceptance of what was normal for him, stopped her, leading Regina to another question. “What food do they use to keep you from having children?” Color rose to his face. He glanced to the side. “It’s what you would refer to as a berry.” “Is it available in this realm?” “Only in a few countries, not where you live.” Regina pushed away from the sink and went to him. “I’m so sorry.” “There’s no need to be.” There wasn’t a hint of sorrow on his face. “It’s what I’ve grown up with. What I’m used to.” She cupped his face in her clean hand and pressed her cheek to his, afraid for their lips to touch should any traces of the candy remain. “Not anymore,” she murmured.
Nikoli heard her determination and the desperation beneath it. He noted how Regina washed her hands for minutes, pausing repeatedly to smell them to make certain that none of the chocolate remained. Three times, she ran what he knew to be toothpaste over her teeth and lips to remove all traces of the food. Its absence didn’t relax her. During the rest of their cleanup, Nikoli felt Regina studying him, attuned to each breath he took, every move he made, her manner overly concerned.
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What he’d faced on E2 in the past, what he’d confront tonight at her house, was nothing compared to the possibility of losing her to Andris or Sazaar. Fragments of his nightmare returned, quickening his pulse, churning his belly. “Nikoli.” Regina stood in the doorway to the hall. His pulse didn’t slow. Wonderfully nude, her skin glowed with the work she’d done, her cheeks flushing a darker pink than the rest of her body. Her nipples had tightened to hard buds. In the wan morning light, her hair appeared especially fiery, the same as the reddish curls between her legs. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “Will you be okay?” “I’m fine.” She seemed doubtful but asked no more. Listening to her padding down the hall, Nikoli removed his rubber gloves, dropping them in the trash bag she’d provided for that purpose. He heard her closing a drawer in one of the rooms, then the floor creaking slightly beneath her weight as she entered the area where they’d made love most of last night. It seemed a lifetime ago. A dream that wouldn’t return or last. “I never meant for matters to get this far,” he’d said. Gripping the edges of the counter, Nikoli stared at the clock on the wall. Like everything else on this plane, its second hand moved too swiftly, counting down the hours they had left. A wave of dizziness washed over him, making the room lurch. Fighting to steady himself, he inhaled as deeply as he could, his mind racing over all that could go wrong this evening. The vampires’ swiftness. Their seductive lure. Andris’s unwavering desire. His brutal intent to return to E2 no matter what it took or whom he had to destroy. In the hall, the hardwood recorded Regina’s return. If anything happened to her… Nikoli couldn’t complete the thought. He pushed away his emotions, burying them as he always had, and glanced to the side as Regina entered the kitchen. She’d draped her clothes and his over the crook of her arm, which she held against her chest to anchor their shoes. In her free hand, Nikoli saw his device. Extending her arm, she offered him the instrument. “Take it,” she said. “I don’t know how to use it to its best advantage. You do.” He stared at the device, thinking how easy it would be to activate, to leave here and go to the vampires’ lair as they slept. To destroy them. To free her of the monsters and him. Her earlier accusation filled his mind. “What if you fail? What happens if their protectors kill you first and you leave me here alone to face what the night will surely bring?”
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“Go on,” she said, her words cutting into his thoughts. “I trust you, Nikoli. I know even though you believe it’s best, you won’t leave me.” Her lingering hope, what seemed to be her growing feelings for him, banished whatever argument he might have had. Wrapping his fingers around hers, he took the device. At the last moment, she stopped him from pulling back his hand and kissed the wounds on his wrist. The torn skin seemed to be lighter this morning, though far from healed. In silence, they dressed. With the trash bag and iPhone in hand, taken so the authorities couldn’t immediately check her call, Regina glanced around the kitchen one last time. “Ready?” she asked. Nikoli held out his arm. She slipped into his embrace, her body pressed close, her cheek on his shoulder. His heart pounded wildly at what he was about to do, the course they would take. Regina placed her free hand on his belly. She curled her fingers in his sweater, offering him more comfort than words ever could. With his thumb, Nikoli activated and controlled the handheld device so it would open a path to her home. Upon finding the correct target, the instrument vibrated slightly, sending a ripple of energy through his fingers. He pointed it at the kitchen wall where the clock hung. The item shimmered for a moment, then turned transparent, revealing the portal. He led Regina toward it. She shivered at the cold. Not waiting for her to grow accustomed to the change in temperature, Nikoli urged her forward, through the gateway.
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Chapter Thirteen
In the middle of her bedroom, he stopped and took in a space he’d seen repeatedly and yet didn’t know at all. The area seemed smaller than he’d imagined, more intimate and welcoming than he’d ever dreamed. Plump pillows and an ivory comforter decorated her brass bed. A patterned rug in shades of gold and red lay beneath two crimson chairs that stood in front of the large window. Through the sheer curtains and panes, Nikoli saw a wide expanse of vegetation. Its deep green color bordered the sea that had taken on a light pewter hue, mirroring the sky blanketed with a fresh layer of clouds. Inhaling deeply, he hoped to smell the metallic scent of coming rain that would continue long past the night, protecting them, contradicting what the weather report had claimed. It didn’t happen. Disheartened, he caught only Regina’s peaches-and-vanilla scent he knew and loved, along with the lingering fragrance of soap. He glanced to the left, toward the bathroom, recounting those times he’d watched Regina shower or soak in the tub, her attention turned inward, her expression wanting. No different from his. Swallowing at the memories, he glanced to the right, noting the pale stone fireplace, pictures arranged on its mantel. In most, Regina hugged an older woman who resembled her, no doubt her mother. The photographs recorded the time from when Regina had been a child to her current age. Details Nikoli had missed while observing her from E2…ones that captivated him now. In her earliest baby picture, Regina’s red hair was wispy and adorned with a bright yellow ribbon. Eyes huge with wonder, she’d opened her mouth in surprise at the animal her mother held. What Nikoli knew was a young cat, its fur a mixture of black and white. In the next photo, the cat and Regina were older. She smiled widely, showing her missing front teeth. A mixture of awe and sadness twisted his gut at the thought of them having a child, of pouring their love into an infant he knew would never be. Turning away from her past, reminding himself they had no future, he glanced farther to the right. A dresser of dark wood took up most of that wall. On one end stood a small TV. Above it hung a mirror. Nikoli stared at his and Regina’s reflections, the lacerations on his throat and cheeks, his arm draped around her shoulders, her fingers clutching his sweater. She glanced around the room as though expecting the vampires to be here, waiting for them.
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“They have to be invited in,” he reminded her. Regina lifted her face to his, then glanced behind them at the gateway. He noted the portal had closed, taking the cold with it. “You’re certain no one on your side has one of these?” she asked, touching the device. “No one from E2 can come in here?” “My father won’t know of my absence until tonight, after the vampires have arrived.” Her face didn’t regain any of its color. “Even if he learns what I’ve done earlier than that and warns our people, only a traitor would think to build—” “Stop it.” Frowning, Regina rested her fingertips on his lips. “Don’t ever say that again. Don’t refer to yourself that way.” She refused to face reality. She wanted to believe he was something he’d ceased to be the moment he’d crossed over, choosing her above all those in his realm. Waiting until she removed her hand, Nikoli reassured her as best he could. “I built a warning system within the instrument. If a portal occurs spontaneously—if it were possible for one to open deliberately— an alarm will sound. Well before any gateway exists, we’ll be warned.” Releasing her, he went to the dresser, placing the device on it, the sensors facing all possible points of entry. She crossed the room and turned on the TV. “It’s not going to rain,” he said. Regina continued to change channels, stopping when Seattle’s weather filled the screen. Although the satellite pictures predicted more clouds throughout the day, the chance of precipitation at dusk, when the sky would be clear, was nonexistent. “It’s all right to be afraid,” Nikoli said. “Tell me to leave and I will. There’s still time for me to go to their—” “No.” Shutting off the set, she pulled in a shallow breath. He saw her shoulders tensing. He imagined her fear and cursed himself for bringing such misery into her life. “Regina, don’t fight me on this. I understand what you’re feeling.” “No you don’t,” she snapped. “You haven’t a clue.” Turning to him, she growled, “I’m not afraid, Nikoli. I’m pissed.” He regarded her frown. “Pissed?” “Angry. Enraged.” She went to him. “You and I want so fucking little, we’ve experienced so few moments of joy. How dare anyone try to take that from us? I don’t give a damn how powerful Andris believes he is, no one—nothing—is invincible. If he were, we’d all be dead by now and he’d rule the world.” Nikoli tried to reason. “Sunlight is his weakness.”
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“Arrogance is.” Her jaw tightened. “He’ll come here tonight, and he’ll bring the others, but he’s not going to win. He’s not stealing our future. And I’m not going to let him ruin these next few hours for us.” She laced her fingers through his and headed for the bath. When Nikoli didn’t follow, Regina glanced over. “What are you doing?” he asked. As quickly as it had come, the anger drained from her. Lifting his fingers to her mouth, she kissed each knuckle and murmured, “I’m going to take care of you as I promised.”
She was going to give him a glimpse of their future that no one—not his people, not Andris or Sazaar—could take from them or destroy. For Nikoli, Regina wanted to fight. No matter what happened at dusk, she wouldn’t be left alone. Not again. In the bath, she released his hand and turned on the faucets in the tub. Pressure from the water rattled the pipes. Peering past her arm at him, she asked, “How do you like your bath? Hot? Warm? Cool?” Surprise lifted his dark brows. “You’re going to bathe me?” A smile cut across her lips. She murmured, “I’m going to do a whole lot more than that. How’s really warm sound? Is that all right?” He watched the water spilling into the tub, the frail threads of steam rising from it. Nodding, he stared as she went to him, slipping her hands beneath his topcoat and jacket, coaxing them from his shoulders and arms, tossing the items past the doorway into the bedroom. Next, Regina pulled his sweater off, flinging it aside. It landed to the right of his jacket. With one hand on his naked pec, she pushed him toward the toilet. “Sit,” she instructed, her finger playing with his nipple. He sank to the seat, watching as she removed his shoes and socks, casting them aside. She reached for his belt. Hands around her wrists, he kept her from unfastening it. “No.” Her gaze jerked up. “No?” “I’ll do it,” he said. “I want you undressed. Now. Go on.” Her body softened at the allure of his command. “Once you’re in the tub, I’ll take off my clothes.” “Regina.” “Don’t make me wait, Nikoli.” On a huff that sounded decidedly annoyed, he pushed to his feet and made quick work of unfastening his belt and lowering his fly. Stripped of his pants and boxers, he kicked them away. Unable to resist, Regina rocked forward, grabbing his ass in her hands, pressing her face to his groin, inhaling deeply, filling herself with his musky scent.
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A sound of delight poured from him. “Suck me.” “Not yet.” His satisfaction turned into a puff of protest. Settling his hand on the top of her head, he spoke on a strained sigh. “Why not? Do you enjoy torturing me?” “Over here, we call it foreplay. Remember?” Ignoring his scowl, she kissed his rigid shaft, then ran her tongue down one of the veins to the reddish cap. Nikoli pushed to his toes. He muttered something in his language that sounded like an oath. Bad, bad boy. Suppressing a smile at her effect on him, Regina licked away a pearl of pre-come and asked what she hadn’t before. “Does it bother you to be hard for so long? Does it cause you any pain?” He pulled in another ragged breath, releasing it in a rush. “What do you think?” Regina thought his whining sounded no different from men on this side. She smacked his ass playfully and pulled back. “I’m certain a warm bath will help. Go on, get inside the tub and relax.” His expression said she had to be kidding. She explained, “The sooner you do, the quicker I’ll be naked and ready to do all sorts of things to you.” Brows drawn together, he said, “How about you disrobe now and I bathe you.” “You will. Later.” Tomorrow, and the next day and all the ones to follow. “I swear.” He didn’t appear to notice how she’d referred to their future, one Regina knew he still didn’t believe in and continued to resist. Pointing at her, he said, “I’m holding you to that.” He padded past her. Regina regarded his broad back, narrow hips, powerful thighs and calves. Her body weakened. It yearned. Leaning down, his tight ass fully displayed, his cock and balls hanging pendulously, Nikoli turned off the faucets. Like most men, he used as little grace as possible climbing into the tub, then plopped down with a grunt. A stream of water splashed over the side. He gave it a cursory glance before leveling his gaze on her. “There,” he announced. “I’m in the tub.” He dipped his head, the gesture taking in her entire length. “Now undress.” Hands behind his neck, shoulders against the tall porcelain back, he grinned. “Then bathe me.” Regina’s mouth watered at the delectable scene Nikoli created. His olive skin had taken on a bronze cast from the room’s subdued lighting. The dark tufts of hair beneath his arms, his muscular build and bristly cheeks awakened female longing she had ignored, allowing worry to consume her. Not any longer. No one would take these moments from them. She wouldn’t allow the magic of having him in her home—their home—to be diluted by anything bad. Regina looked at him from beneath her lashes.
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Nikoli’s grin caught, then wavered, desire tensing his muscles. He lowered his arms and gripped the lip of the tub. “Take off your clothes,” he said. There was no tenderness in him now, no hesitation, only a primal command for a female to do as a male demanded, to satisfy him. Heat rose to her cheeks. A pulse beat within her pussy. Rising to her feet, she removed her sweater, discarding it as she had his clothes. Hip propped against the sink, she removed her heels and knee-length stockings. Her bra followed, along with her pants and panties. Naked and willing, Regina faced him, allowing Nikoli to look his fill. He studied her entire length, pausing on her breasts, reddish curls and her polished toenails, gripping the tub so tightly his knuckles blanched. Feeling playful, she murmured, “Careful or you’re going to hurt yourself.” He stared at her stiffened nipples. “Come here,” he ordered. His gruff command, its masculine power, sent pleasant sensations slithering through Regina’s belly and groin. From her sheath, a hint of moisture eased out, preparation for him filling and completing her. At the picture her mind created, her body trembled with pleasure. But she didn’t obey…at least not yet. “Regina,” he warned, reaching for her. “Yes, Nikoli.” She spoke submissively even as she remained clear of his grasp, opening the mirrored cabinet above the sink. From it, she chose a slender can of shaving cream and her razor. He straightened in the tub, his legs splashing the water, sending more of it over the porcelain lip. “What is that? Why do you have it?” “To shave you.” Enjoying his surprise, she went to the side of the tub and sank to her knees. “Now, don’t move. I don’t want to cut you.” He grasped her hand that held the shaving cream. After reading the label, he asked, “Have you ever shaved a man before?” “You’re the first.” Delight lit up his face. “And is this what you meant by taking care of me? You intend to shave my face?” “For starters. There’s so much more to come.” This time, unlike the last, her vague reference to their future clouded his expression, reality and reason replacing the magic she strove to create. Refusing to acknowledge what tonight would bring, she spoke breezily. “Lean back and relax.” Edging closer, her lips so very close to his, she added, “I don’t want to hurt you.” Again, something within him shifted. This time it returned his amusement. “Whatever you do, I promise I won’t scream…at least not too loudly.”
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“You are a brave man.” She pecked his lips, placed the shaver on a counter to the side and shook the can. Once she had a mound of the lather in her palm, she brought it to his face, then halted suddenly, not touching him. Nikoli studied the foam, his manner growing cautious. “What’s wrong? Is it going to burn?” She had no idea. “Have you ever used this stuff before to shave? Have you ever been exposed to anything like this?” Did his people use it to torment the malcontents on his side? Nikoli shook his head. “On E2, the men use a device that vaporizes their beards and the upper layers of what you call skin.” Regina made a face. “Oh my God, are you kidding? Doesn’t that hurt? Doesn’t that—are you laughing at me?” “You make it too easy.” His shoulders trembled with suppressed laughter. Dropping the can, she slapped his shoulder. Nikoli’s smile remained. “Is that also foreplay?” “You wish. So how do you get rid of your beard on E2?” “With a device that pulls out the hairs one by one.” Regina arched a brow, guessing he was putting her on. With a sigh, he slumped against the back of the tub. “Very well, it pulls them out all at once. The pain is more intense that way, but it doesn’t last as—” She smacked his shoulder again. He laughed loudly this time, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. “Forgive me,” he sputtered. She enjoyed seeing him like this, but pretended to be annoyed. “Maybe.” With a bit of the lather on her fingertip, she said, “If this hurts at all, tell me.” His laughter drifted away, replaced by a tranquil smile. “It won’t. The men on my side shave as yours do, Regina. The only difference is, the foam we use doesn’t have an odor.” Hers had a faint lime scent. “Does this smell bad to you?” “Not at all. It reminds me of the bacon.” Sure. Ignoring his renewed laughter, she warned, “If you don’t want to be hurt, then keep quiet and still.” Reaching out, he ran his damp fingers around her nipple, causing the areola to constrict. Regina’s limbs went weak. Nikoli murmured, “Are you certain you want that?” Hell no, but she had to shave him, didn’t she? On a slow nod, she smeared a bit of the lather on his upper lip and waited for his reaction. He winked.
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Liking it…loving him, she spread the rest of the foam on his throat, chin and cheeks, doing her best to avoid the lacerations. Time had turned them a dark red, puffing the ripped skin near the edges. Dipping her fingers into the water to clean them, she asked, “Do your scratches sting?” “They’re fine.” He cupped her breast in his palm. Her lids sank at his gentle fondling. Blindly, she reached for the razor, knocking one of her perfume bottles from the counter. With a muffled thwack, the plastic container hit the tile. “You better stop doing that,” she breathed. Her fingers curled around the razor, lifting it to show him. “To use this, I’m going to need a steady hand.” “I’d prefer to continue with what I’m doing. I could grow what you call a beard.” That would take weeks. What seemed a lifetime, given the battle they still faced. Forcing her eyes to open, Regina studied Nikoli. He seemed unaware of what he’d just said…the time he’d given them. The hope he’d afforded. Smiling, she whispered, “I like you clean-shaven. Now let go of me and hold still.” “Let go? Hold still?” He squeezed her breast again. “Forgive me. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Your language is incomprehensible to me.” She laughed. “Since when?” “Very well.” Matching her smile, he brought back his hand, plunging it into the water, grabbing his stiffened cock. “I’m ready. Go on.” While he masturbated? Again, she warned, “Keep still.” With her hand on the side of his head, she tilted it back to expose his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbed with his swallow. Finished with her first stroke, she swished the razor in the water to clean it and snuck a peek at his hand on his shaft. “You okay?” she murmured. He swallowed again. “Give me a few minutes, no more than an hour on this side, and I’ll be ready to cli—” “Nikoli.” Grinning, he brought his hand up and gripped the edge of the tub. “You make this too hard on me, Regina.” “I’ll make it harder than you ever believed possible.” Slipping her hand into the water, she stroked his dark curls and the length of his erect cock. “Just as soon as I shave and bathe you.” Her promise and touch did wonders. Lids closed, Nikoli didn’t move. At times, Regina had to check his chest to make certain he continued to breathe, noting the difference in their respiration. For each breath he took, she needed three. It reminded her of how slowly the clock’s second hand had moved on his side, making her wonder how well he’d adjust to life here, his only recourse. She refused to consider any other outcome. “Doing okay?” she whispered.
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His brows drew together. “Have you cut me? Am I bleeding? Should I scream?” This time, she slapped the water, driving a wave of it into his face. He grinned. So did she, gliding the razor over his skin. In the following minutes, not once did Regina nick him. “Finished.” She rolled her shoulders to relax them. Tossing the shaver on the counter, she grabbed a sponge. “Now, for your bath.”
Through hooded eyes, Nikoli watched Regina concentrating on his right arm. Directing him to drape it over his head, she ran the sponge down the dark tangle of hair in his pit. He inhaled sharply at the water’s warmth, the bursts of sensation travelling from his chest to his belly, settling in his cock. It bobbed away from his body, eager, needy, wanting her touch. Seemingly oblivious, she drew the sponge across his pecs. Nikoli’s toes splayed, then curled. He dipped his head to the side, exposing his neck. Regina latched on to his throat immediately, her lips suckling, her tongue sweeping. Nikoli’s pulse jumped. His legs shot out, his feet smacking into the tub. Water sloshed over the side. On a moan that sounded like pure pleasure, Regina trailed kisses from his throat to his ear, pausing to nibble his lobe. He groaned loudly. Driving her tongue into his ear, she reached beneath the water to grab his cock, her grip firm, her thumb stroking the bumpy skin at the back of the crown. It was more than Nikoli could withstand. He pushed his feet so hard against the tub, he feared he might break it. Ass lifting, he growled, then fell back down, sending a wave of water to the floor. Unruffled, Regina ran her tongue over the contours of his ear and worked her hand up and down his shaft. He gasped at the shock of delight whisking through him and choked out a protest. “Enough.” In a flash of movement, Nikoli removed her hand from his cock, pulled away from her mouth and pushed to a standing position. Dripping water, dizzy with need, he left the tub and stumbled back. Still on her knees, Regina looked up in what appeared to be surprise and concern, reaching for him. “What is it? Did the water get too cool? Did it start to hurt your skin? Don’t you use it on—” “Quiet.” Grabbing her hand, Nikoli pulled Regina to her feet. She stared at him. “Quiet?” “That’s right.” With his forehead against hers, he growled, “My bath is over. Now be quiet and do exactly what I want. Take care of me as I want.” Pulling back, he slipped one arm around her waist, the other beneath her knees, and lifted her to his chest. She grinned. “We’re going to bed?” He carried her to the shower. “Open the door.” A blush darkened her cheeks.
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“Now,” he added. Brows lifting, she reached over and opened the door. He carried her inside, lowered her feet to the tile, then used his body to push hers against the wall, trapping her length. She moaned softly. He ordered, “Quiet.” Capturing her mouth, he thrust his tongue inside. It muffled her next moan and clearly fed her passion. Hands on his back, she dug her fingers into his skin, attempting to get closer. Pleased, Nikoli ground his groin into hers, his cock pressed against her pussy, his heart banging into his throat. He couldn’t wait any longer. They had so little time. What she wouldn’t admit. What he knew to be true. Pushing his hand between their bodies, he lifted his cock, directing the crown to her moist cleft. She trembled and yielded, her arms moving from his torso to his shoulders, her legs wrapping around his lean hips in concert with him cupping her buttocks, urging her body upward. Positioned perfectly, Nikoli drove himself inside her narrow cunt, sinking as deeply as he could. She was tighter, hotter than he’d recalled. Pulling her mouth free of his, Regina fought to take in enough air. So did he. With his feet planted apart and his toes gripping the tile for traction, he eased back, then entered her again, as hard as he dared, his balls smacking her ass. Her gasp evolved into an unrestrained moan…enticing him, encouraging him. For minutes, Nikoli pumped into her sweet, succulent heat. Blood hammered in his ears. Perspiration clung to his face and throat. Regina’s cheek rested against his shoulder, her channel tightening around his cock. It was too much and not enough, the contradiction of need and reality warring within him, threatening to ruin the moment. Not allowing it, Nikoli growled out his frustration, his wanting of her, thrusting harder, faster. They came within seconds of each other, their bodies shuddering, their mouths hanging open to shout their release and to gasp for air. Still panting, Nikoli recovered first, easing his cock from Regina’s cunt, her legs from his hips. The soles of her feet smacked against the tile. She muttered a protest. “Quiet,” he said, gentler this time. With his arm around her waist, he reached over and swung the shower door shut, causing the glass to rattle. He regarded the faucets and circular dial on the wall beneath the showerhead. Recalling how she’d controlled the water’s flow when he’d watched her from E2, Nikoli mimicked her movements. She flinched at the burst of water hitting them. “Oh God. It’s—” Her complaint stopped as the cool flow turned warm. Releasing her weight into him, she spoke on a sigh. “What now?”
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The beginning of the end. Not voicing his thoughts, Nikoli took care of her, allowing himself to imagine that this fantasy would continue. That each morning, he would carry her into the shower and wash her as he did now, running the soapy sponge over her curves, touching each intimate part of her. She made contented sounds at his strokes on her nipples, cunt, anus. He continued to hunger, wanting this to last. Within minutes, he’d cleansed every part of her, and she did the same with him, ending their shower with another savage kiss, the noises they made muted by the pounding spray. On a rough groan, Nikoli pulled his mouth free of hers and turned off the water. After toweling them dry, he lifted Regina’s moist, fragrant body back into his arms, enjoying how she clung to him as he brought her to their bed. There, with the truth of tonight facing him, Nikoli lowered her to the mattress. Her skin was rosy from the water’s heat. She reached for him. He brought her hand to his mouth, kissing her fingertips, then backed away. Regina shot to a sitting position, damp hair clinging to her neck. “Where are you going?” Nikoli heard her panic. He saw how she stared at his clothing. “To light a fire,” he explained, maintaining his calm. She sagged back to the mattress, watching as he went to the hearth. Nikoli glanced at her pictures, touching the one where she wore a yellow hair ribbon. “I’ll show you more later,” she said. He started to look at her, then stopped. He had no right to acknowledge hope that they didn’t have. Sinking to his knees, he made fast work of building a fire. Soon, the bobbing flames softened the shadows created by the pale outside light. Joining her on the bed, Nikoli unfolded himself over Regina, the firm planes of his body pillowed by her luscious flesh. She searched his face as though trying to read what was in his mind and soul. For now, he allowed nothing but pleasure, driving his cock back into her pussy, demanding it sheathe him, expecting her channel to comfort, arouse and relieve as he took her repeatedly. Hours passed with neither of them tiring from their acts of love, both of them evading the passing of time. At last, supported by the pillows against the brass headboard, Nikoli held Regina in his arms, warmed by her body and the fire he’d stoked. She ran her fingers around his navel, her movements sated and slow, no different from his as he stroked her upper arm. They said nothing. Nor did their attention stray from the window, the aging day, the coming of twilight.
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Chapter Fourteen
Sazaar’s eyes snapped open. The night’s lure, the heady fragrance of human scents—of blood—stirred the monster within her, banishing any need for additional rest. As one, she and the others rose soundlessly to their feet, their faces lifted to the skylights. The panels covering them slid back, the motors humming smoothly, the moon’s milky beams pouring through the glass, touching their flesh, acting as a balm. She smiled with the rest of the vampires, baring her fangs, luxuriating in the cool, silky illumination even as she understood what tonight would bring. Nikoli and Regina’s destruction. Andris’s return to E2. Her people’s enslavement. A pang of guilt skittered through her, diluting her smile. Within her mind, Andris’s voice murmured, “Do you want me, Sazaar?” More than honor or life. Hadn’t she already proved that? “Will you give me what I ask?” She had no choice. She existed for a word of his praise. For any evidence of his fidelity and love. “You do this,” he’d promised last night, “and I’ll have no one but you at my side for all of eternity.” The hope that his words might be true, that he would keep his pledge, filled Sazaar with more than mere joy. She glowed with satisfaction unequalled by those times when she’d drunk her fill of a victim’s blood, quieting the beast within. Not caring what she’d become, wanting nothing but Andris, she lowered her head and turned. Face raised to the skylight, fangs exposed, Andris bristled with energy and power, his blond hair more white than yellow, his pale skin glowing, his irises silvered from the moon’s gentle glow. Fists clenched, shoulders bunched, he hissed loudly. The others followed his lead. Sazaar made certain she produced the lustiest sound, craving his approval and attention. Andris regarded her without emotion, his indifference returned…unchanged. Sazaar’s belly cramped worse than it did when she hungered for blood, a condition he’d damned her to without a moment’s hesitation. Then, he’d promised her an eternity of his love and delivered nothing but humiliation and pain. Her muscles stiffened in rage, stealing her breath. Overwhelming sorrow followed, along with the continuing need to make him see only her, to want only her. He was all she had left. All her future held.
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She couldn’t give up. Perhaps if she tried harder. Perhaps if she gave him everything he desired. She made a sound in the back of her throat, one of supplication, inviting him to claim her again as he had last night. Another noise intruded, a prolonged sigh that came from behind. Andris turned in its direction to the ponytailed barista. Slouched against one of their human protectors, the girl grinned indecently as the young man fondled her naked breasts with his left hand while his other held an assault rifle. Its metal glinted in the filmy light. Satanic tattoos covered his meaty arms and thick neck. Beyond redemption, he’d slaughtered a Seattle family earlier in the year, taking the mother, father and their three children hostage because they’d interrupted his burglary of their home. For hours, he’d taunted and terrorized them, raping the mother and oldest daughter, playing his savage game that ended in the family’s death. Shortly after the carnage, Andris had smelled the young man’s corruption and craved his blood but fought his urge to feed, recruiting him for protection instead. Three other men, all in their mid-twenties, all labeled sociopaths in this realm, flanked the room, cradling weapons in their arms as a normal man might hold a babe. Sensing Andris’s attention and disapproval, the barista slipped away from the young man. With more arrogance than sense, he reached for her, unable to follow because of the shackle around his left ankle. Bolted to the floor, it kept him from abandoning his post. Fetters also held the other protectors in place. They accepted their confinement without protest, at least for the time. This one did not. Yanking his foot against a restraint he could not break, he growled, “Fuck.” Again, he reached for the barista, seemingly oblivious to anything but his own lust. Sazaar watched without emotion, the same as the others, waiting to see how events played out. “Come here.” The young man grunted, straining to reach the girl. She backed away again. All fell quiet. Even the night breeze had paused. Breathing hard, the protector spoke through his teeth. “You get over here now,” he said, “or I’ll give you some of this.” He lifted his weapon. The girl stared at the assault rifle with more curiosity than dread. A smile tilted the corners of her mouth. She licked the points of her fangs. His finger slipped to the trigger. Easing it back, he muttered, “Fucking weird bitch. Do as I say or I’ll—” “You’ll what?” Andris interrupted, his tone more puzzled than angry. The young man’s attention snapped to him. His scowl turned to a cruel grin, the kind one would give to a partner in crime. “I’ll blow her fucking kneecaps off; then I’ll tear the rest of her apart with my bare
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hands. I’ll teach her real good that no bitch defies me, just like you’ve taught your ladies to obey.” He glanced at the other women in the room, settling at last on Sazaar. Repulsed, she turned away, facing Andris. His attention remained on the young man, his manner quite mild. “You intend to follow my example.” The protector laughed. “Hey, dude, you’re the best, right?” Andris smiled. Clearly bolstered by it, the young man spoke to the barista. “Get over here now, you fucking—” His command turned to a gasp. Arms flailing, he fell back with the force of Andris’s body slamming into his, their combined weight making a loud thumping noise as they hit the floor. The assault weapon flew from his hand, clattering across the marble, stopping at the barista’s feet. Claws extended, Andris shredded the young man’s throat. His blood arced across the room. Mouths opened, vampire after vampire attempted to catch the precious drops. Andris drank from the gaping wound. His kill was so fresh the young man’s gaze still darted from face to face, as though he didn’t understand what had happened. His lips moved with the last of his breath and life, mouthing words no one could hear. Warned off by the attack, the three remaining protectors kept their expressions blank, their attention on the corpse of their comrade, what would happen to them if they displeased Andris in the least. He fed noisily, his sucks and slurps filling the cavernous loft, riveting the other vampires with the enticing sounds. Even so, they kept their distance. Like lions witnessing a kill on an African plain, they waited for their chance to feed. The victim’s eyes sank into his sockets as Andris continued to drain fluid from his body. A current of anticipation rippled through the spectators. Sazaar sensed their hunger, the same as hers. To feed after Andris wasn’t only a privilege but ecstasy. His saliva flavored the victim’s plasma, making it richer, thicker. Her mouth watered. She drew closer. Instantly, Andris lifted his head. Blood dirtied his cheeks and chin, the rich red color turned black by the gloom, his manner suddenly threatening. Proving her devotion, that nothing mattered to her but him, Sazaar sank to her knees. She dipped her fingers into a pool of blood near the young man’s severed foot, torn off at the ankle, freed from the shackle by the power of Andris’s attack. Hand lifted, she offered the treat to her master. Andris licked her fingers clean, then returned to his meal, nearly draining the corpse, leaving little for everyone else. On a satisfied groan, he stood and stepped back. With keening wails that grew too high-pitched to hear, the other vampires moved forward, swarming over the body, taking what they could. Falling to her hip and edging back, Sazaar lapped the blood at the boy’s dismembered foot.
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The barista and her friend noticed. They crawled toward Sazaar, their shoulders ramming hers, their elbows jabbing, forcing her to retreat, to give them her meal. Enraged, she fought back, knowing their next target would be Andris, wanting him for their own. She slashed the ponytailed barista across her chest, relishing the girl’s howl. She sank her fangs into the shoulder of her friend, interrupting her hiss. Despite her attack, they wouldn’t relent. Blindly, Sazaar bit and clawed. Her mouth opened on a scream of frustration cut short by her gasp. She stared at Andris grabbing the barista’s ponytail, using it to lift her from the floor. With one powerful swing, he flung her across the room. Her body crashed into the velvet-covered wall, then crumpled at the feet of one of their human protectors. He made no move to help her. His attention remained on Andris, his expression revealing his awe and admiration. Andris glared at the other barista. Terror filled her youthful face. She crawled backward, putting distance between them. It didn’t matter. Andris stalked closer, intent on his prey, his words menacing. “The blood belongs to Sazaar.” Sazaar stared, surprised and moved at him protecting her. Nodding, the girl crabbed away from him. He followed, his body darting from side to side, mimicking her movements perfectly. Still, she retreated, straight into the wall. She glanced at it, then back. Too late. Grabbing her hair, Andris hurled her across the room. Arms and legs thrashing, the girl’s body sailed above the others, landing with a loud thud near her friend. Chastised, they huddled together, licking their wounds. Within seconds, their torn flesh healed, leaving no scars or bruises. The ponytailed barista kissed her friend’s cheek, then sought her mouth. They necked as the others continued to feed. Andris glided to Sazaar, his feet not touching the floor. “Drink,” he said, gesturing to the pool of blood. At his kindness, her eyes filled with tears. She lifted her hand to him and begged, “Join me. Take all of it.” On his knees at her side, he stroked her hair with care and tenderness. Sazaar swallowed. Her lids slipped down. “You take it,” he murmured, “I want you to be strong for tonight.” Her body tensed instantly, her happiness fading faster than it had peaked. He’d offered the blood only so she could find Regina and Nikoli. So he could use them to return to E2. Not because he cared. Before she could stop them, the words spilled from her. “Once we’re back in our true home, will you love me then?” Andris trailed his fingers down her temple to her throat, touching the spot where he’d first fed on her. “You and I will rule our realm.”
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A tear slipped down her cheek, catching on her jaw before falling free. “But will you love me, Andris?” “I love you now.” He latched on to her neck, his fangs piercing her skin, though not to drink but to claim. So easily, too easily, Sazaar’s heart opened to him yet again, allowing her to ignore his lie. He didn’t love her now, but he might once she gave him what he needed most. What no one else could. Turning her face to his, she licked blood from his smooth cheek, savoring its metallic taste. As he eased back, she held him with her hands, her palms on either side of his head, cleaning the rest of the blood from his face, licking the points of his fangs, longer than the others, more deadly. Excitement coiled in her belly at Andris’s savage allure. At the thought of ruling with him, waves of anticipation tightened her sheath and chest. There, a muscle ticked, mimicking a heartbeat, a sensation she’d forgotten since being turned, one she relished now. Lips on his, fangs withdrawn, Sazaar coaxed Andris’s tongue into her mouth, still flavored with the protector’s blood. Enraptured at the taste of human and vampire, she suckled hungrily, unable to help herself. Andris allowed their kiss for several minutes, then tore his mouth free. Gripping her upper arms, he asked, “Do you smell the woman?” Regina’s scent, so familiar to Sazaar, rode the clear night air where it mingled with millions of other odors, some pleasant, some foul. They drifted in and out, masking Regina’s fragrance but not hiding it. “Yes, I smell her,” Sazaar answered. Andris’s grip tightened on her arms, his claws digging into her flesh. “Where is she? Is Nikoli with her?” He was. Even if she hadn’t smelled Nikoli’s scent, she knew he wouldn’t abandon Regina. He loved her too much. A new wave of grief cut through Sazaar at what Regina so easily commanded from a man. Sazaar had given so much—she’d lost everything in her pursuit of the same and still didn’t have it. She looked from Andris’s hands on her to his face. Her body weakened as it always did at his unearthly beauty. “Do you know where the woman is?” he asked, shaking Sazaar as one would a recalcitrant child, impatient for a response. She couldn’t give it. Too many questions filled her mind. Once they were on E2, how long would he keep his word to claim only her? A year? A month? A day? An hour? Would such a short time be enough to soothe her battered soul? While he enjoyed others, both female and male, would she be able to fill her eternity with memories of his promises and her foolish hopes? Brows drawn together, Andris opened his mouth and hissed.
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His fetid breath aroused her. His anger brought no fear. For a few precious moments, she had his attention. He noticed no one else in the room. “Yes,” she answered at last. “And Nikoli is with her.” Pleasure transformed Andris’s features from vile to angelic. Releasing her, his claws retracting, he ran his fingers over the edge of her black gown, tracing the neckline above the swell of her breasts. Sazaar trembled in delight. Andris whispered, “Bring me to them.” “I will.” She’d deliver Regina for him to feed on and kill. There was no other outcome. Regina had no purpose on E2, so turning her would be cruel. The woman had done nothing to harm Sazaar. She’d only tried to help. And with her gone, Nikoli’s grief would be so great he’d welcome an end to his own pain. In death, Sazaar could give them both what they wanted…the chance to be together for all time. In that way, she’d assuage any guilt. Andris rose to his feet. The other vampires followed. Glancing up, Sazaar drove away the last of her doubt as to the course she’d take. Doomed by love, she stood and began the transformation. What their human protectors would see but not hear. She missed none of the sounds of her bones compressing, becoming a fraction of their size. The noise resembled the grinding of stone, the squeal of metal reaching the limits of its strength before snapping. Searing pain ripped through her, stealing her breath and her agonized cries. Head thrown back, her mind begged for a pause to the agony, a chance to rally her endurance. Her body took no notice or pity. With a creaking sound, her shoulders continued to narrow even as she shrunk one foot, two, three and more. Her milky skin darkened, the smooth flesh growing leathery. Where once had been arms, she now had the wings of a bat, no different from the others. The sound of their beating wings thundered through the loft as they flew to its ceiling. Beneath them, the protectors watched, their expressions a mix of awe, horror and excitement. With the change complete, Sazaar’s suffering ended as quickly as it had begun, the lack of pain delivering relief and drowsiness. Fighting it, she led the way from the lair, entering the ceiling vent, traversing its murky contours with skill born of heightened senses. In this form and as a vampire, she saw, heard, smelled what humans could not. Regina’s unique fragrance called to Sazaar. Free of the building, she headed into the cold night with Andris at her side and the others following. Gliding above rooftops, she caught the rancid odor of vegetables and eggs decaying in a bin. Beneath it, Sazaar identified vanilla. Banking to the right, she turned, following the scent. Below, the horns of several cars honked. Red, yellow, green and blue lights glowed on the neon signs atop businesses. Humans talked and laughed unaware of the movement above them. Several cats noticed and stopped their nightly prowls to lift their heads and look.
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The vanilla scent grew stronger. Swooping down to follow it, Sazaar came upon a squat brick building. Steam poured from several vents on the roof. On its facade was an image of bread in brown-andwhite paint. Words circled it, reading Temple’s Bakery. Andris flew closer, emitting a high-pitched cry, wanting to know if Sazaar had found Regina and Nikoli. In answer, she pitched to the left, winging past several downtown structures, catching the scent of peaches this time, along with the vanilla. At Regina’s office building, Sazaar hovered in place, aware of Andris’s building impatience and the tension of those behind them as they awaited her sign that she’d reached the correct goal. Sazaar wasn’t certain. Although the fragrance was indisputably Regina’s, it seemed far too faint, as though it were no more than a residue of her scent. To test it, Sazaar’s mind reached out to Regina’s. “Invite us in,” her thoughts whispered, “allow us to join you.” A cat hissed. One of the vampires broke free of the formation, falling through the air, landing on the animal, draining its blood within seconds. Sazaar’s mind called to Regina again. “Let us in.” This time, the city’s sounds responded—a clamor of noise Sazaar had once found vibrant. Tonight, its shrillness unnerved her. Where is she? Flapping her winds, gaining altitude, Sazaar floated on a wind current, her mind focused, her senses elevated. On her third whiff, she recognized Regina’s scent…and Nikoli’s. Their odors merged like lovers, almost indistinguishable, mocking Sazaar. He hadn’t loved her for a moment. He’d given her nothing more than his honor. Jealousy ripped through Sazaar along with a primal thrill of a predator on the hunt. “Lead me to her,” her mind asked the scents. “Show me where she and Nikoli are hiding.” A new current of wind rushed past. On it, the fragrance was stronger. It came from the left, leading her in a new direction. Seamlessly, she turned to follow it. The other vampires mimicked her movements with Andris flying closest to her. The sounds he emitted warned Sazaar to hasten the search, to find their prey. She concentrated on nothing else. Not the traffic or the humans below. Not the downtown area she’d just left. Not the stately houses in the residential area she’d just entered. Here, dogs barked at the sounds she and the others made. Humans shouted for their pets to be quiet. A car moved down the street, its engine humming smoothly. The scent grew stronger, nearly overpowering, the same as when Sazaar had sat across from Regina in her office. Focused, she chased the fragrance to the end of the street, a two-story house of red brick with three gables, a black roof and a fenced yard overflowing with trees and bushes.
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Regina’s home. Relief swept through Sazaar, along with an emotion she chose not to identify. With their wings beating the chilly air, she, Andris and the other vampires circled the house.
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Chapter Fifteen
Face lifted to the bedroom’s ceiling, Regina held her breath. She and Nikoli stood in the center of the shadowed room, the fire’s waning light their only illumination. Outside, wind rushed through the trees, shaking branches. The boughs of several firs hit the windows, making faint tapping noises on the glass. Underneath it, Regina heard something else, a sound like sheets slapping in the breeze…or the flapping of wings. “Invite us in.” She flinched. Sazaar’s request sounded from everywhere and nowhere. It seemed to be inside of her. Pressing her cheek against Nikoli’s shoulder, Regina fought to remain calm, to reason, not to react. In a whisper, she said, “They’re here.” He didn’t comment. Through his sweater, she felt the fierce beating of his heart. She sensed his doubt. “Nikoli, don’t,” she cried, grabbing his arm. He wasn’t having it. Tightening his grip on her wrist, he removed her hand from himself, then bent down and whispered, “Go into the bathroom. Lock the door. Don’t listen to whatever Sazaar says. Don’t come out until day—” “No.” She twisted free of his grip and edged away to the fireplace, her attention moving back to the ceiling. Regina focused on the sounds, what seemed to be faint clicking noises. The bats landing on the roof? Their tiny claws trying to tear through the shingles? “Let us in.” “Regina.” Hands on her shoulders, Nikoli pulled her back. Again, she wrenched free. Not only to stand at his side and fight with him, but because Sazaar’s entreaty drew her, enticing Regina with its alluring silkiness, its underlying comfort. No different than a mother’s soothing words to her child that everything would be all right, the father she loved still adored her, and someday she’d see him again; they’d all be a family. “We’ll take care of you,” Sazaar’s words promised. “With us, you’ll never be alone.” As she would be without Nikoli. As she had been before meeting him. Images flashed in Regina’s mind of her mother’s last hours, holding the woman’s limp hand after she passed, kissing her papery cheek, smoothing her wispy hair. Grieving not only for an end to the woman’s life, but for her own loss and loneliness.
Unending Desire
She swallowed at the memory and spoke before she knew she would. “I couldn’t stand to go back to the way things were.” To wake up each morning alone, this time without Nikoli’s caress, the hope and peace she found in his presence. “Not again.” Nikoli pulled her back forcefully. “Whatever she’s saying to you, Regina, she lies. Go into the bathroom.” “We love you, Regina.” She bit her lip. “We’ll be your mother and father. We’ll be all that you need, along with Nikoli.” “Now,” he snapped. “He’ll come with us too.” Yes. They’d all be together. They’d— He swung her around to face him. Regina saw his terror and his love. It broke Sazaar’s unearthly hold on her. “Lock yourself in the bathroom,” he said. “I can handle them.” “No. I won’t leave you.” “Regina, Regina, Regina, Regina, Regina, Regina, Regina, Regina…” Her hands flew to her ears to quiet the echoing enticement. It continued, hounding her. Battling temptation, forcing herself to reason, Regina backed away from Nikoli, toward the dresser where he’d left the device. With it, she could open a portal, luring the vampires inside the void between the dimensions, away from Nikoli, keeping him— Her thoughts stalled. She whirled around as Nikoli shot past her, grabbing the instrument. He bent his head to it, then glanced up suddenly, this time seeming to hear what she still did. “Let us in, Regina. Let us innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.” She ran to Nikoli, grunting in frustration as he held the device out of her reach. With his free hand on her upper arm, he yanked her toward the bath. Regina’s foot caught on the area rug. Mouth open on a gasp, she stumbled, knocking Nikoli into one of the chairs. Its legs skidded across the hardwood floor. His hand fell from her to grab it for support. Seizing the opportunity, she snatched the instrument from him, then backed up quickly. He growled, “Save yourself.” “Never. Not without you.” She pointed the device at the wall where he had watched her for weeks. Thumb poised over its screen as his had been, recalling what he’d told her about opening a gateway, she shouted, “Come in!” The clicking and whapping stopped. Abruptly, a dog’s howl cut off. And then the wind quieted. Regina heard only the rush of blood in her ears and Nikoli’s strained breaths. He lunged at her, sending the chair smacking against the window.
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Regina spun away, the instrument cradled to her chest, keeping him from taking it, from dying to protect her. Behind him, the last of a log popped, sending a spray of sparks shooting upward. Regina’s pulse pounded. She stared at a stream of soot falling from the chimney, dousing the bright beads of light. Hearing the faint sounds too, Nikoli snapped his head to the side. More soot poured from the flue, releasing a cloud of dark gray dust. It burned Regina’s throat, making her cough. It stung her eyes. Blinking quickly, her attention riveted to the fireplace, she lifted the device, pointing it at the wall. Her arm shook so badly, she had to steady it with her free hand. Turned to the fireplace, Nikoli backed away from it and into Regina, shielding her with his body. She edged to the side so the vampires would see her too, seeking her instead of him. Anticipating her movement, Nikoli blocked her. She stepped to the other side. Again, he stopped her. Damn! She couldn’t let him come to harm. With all of her strength, Regina shoved her shoulder into his back. Nikoli turned quickly, his bulk sending her reeling backward into the wall. Her hip and arm hit it with a solid whack. A torrent of ash spewed on the center of the fire, leaving only the far corners burning—enough to eat away the shadows and reveal the coming horror. The first bat flew from the chimney, hovering above the embers, its eyes glowing red in the darkness, its mouth opened on a silent cry, its fangs prominent. Once more, Nikoli stepped back, his length protecting Regina, hiding her from their attackers. Grunting with the effort, she shoved her body into his, desperate to keep him safe. He wouldn’t allow it. Feet planted widely apart, he braced himself against her assault. She started at a sharp slapping sound. Quickly, others joined it. With her shoulder, she pushed hard enough against Nikoli so she could lean to the left and peer past his arm. In front of the hearth, numerous bats hovered, their wings obstructing Regina’s view of the photos, their crimson eyes bright pinpoints in the dim light. More creatures descended from the chimney, joining the others. With the last inside, they rose to the ceiling as one, covering it like a writhing, living shroud. “Soon you’ll know the ecstasy we do,” Sazaar murmured, her tone coaxing, taunting. Regina’s stomach rolled. She felt Nikoli’s back and thighs tense. The bats spread out over the ceiling, into every corner…in front, to each side and behind, leaving her no protection from them, despite what Nikoli had planned. Quickly, he turned around, pushing Regina down, draping his body over hers. Too late. In a flurry of movement, bats dropped from the ceiling, while others scurried down the walls, all of them taking human form. There were so many, they left only a small circle of emptiness surrounding Regina and Nikoli.
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No! her mind screamed. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be a way out. A chance for her and Nikoli to escape. Several of the young men grabbed his arms, hauling him back. Regina shouted, “Nikoli!” Reaching for him, she dropped the instrument. As it fell to the rug, Andris grabbed her. “Let her go!” Nikoli yelled. Shoulders bunched, he yanked his arms, unable to free himself of his captors. Still, he tried, shouting to be heard above their hissing sounds, “Leave her here unharmed and I’ll open a portal to E2! I’ll invite you inside!” With his forearm to her throat, Andris pulled Regina away from Nikoli. To the side, Sazaar stood, her attention on Andris. He ran his long thumbnail down Regina’s cheek. Sickened, she jerked her head from him. He chuckled, lowering his nail to her neck, resting his fingertips on her pounding pulse. “You’ll open the gateway, Nikoli. You’ll invite us in. And I’ll also feed on your woman.” He pressed his lips to her neck. She shivered at his clammy flesh. “Leave her!” Nikoli shouted. “Take me.” “No,” Regina begged. “Quiet,” Andris ordered, “I’m going to feed on you both. Nikoli will die quickly, of course. However, for you…” He lowered his hand from Regina’s throat, covering her breast. She shuddered. Laughing softly, he drew his thumb over her nipple and settled his cold cheek on hers. “For you, I have other plans. I’ll feed on you slowly, drawing it out so you know how much you please me.” He moved his hand to her other breast, fondling it. A cry of fury tore from Nikoli. Again, he struggled to get free. The vampire on his right opened his mouth, baring his fangs. Regina shouted, “No, don’t!” Andris yanked her back into him, her shoulder hitting his. “I’ll do whatever you say,” she told him, “just don’t let them harm Nikoli.” “Harm?” Andris asked, his foul breath skipping over her cheek. “They’re simply playing with him. They know he’s mine. As are you.” He spoke quietly, as though he wanted no one else to hear. “After I turn you, I’ll enjoy you every—” “Andris,” Sazaar interrupted. For a long moment, he didn’t respond. Regina froze as she awaited the worst, feeling it in the way he bristled. Slowly, Andris lifted his face.
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Sazaar drifted forward, reducing the small space that separated them, her feet not touching the floor. Regina saw the young woman’s anger, along with unbearable pain, the same she’d shown each time she came for her appointments. What seemed to be years before, rather than only a day. “She serves no purpose on E2,” Sazaar said. “Nor does Nikoli.” Bending down, she lifted the device from the floor. “With this, I can open the gateway into our home. There, you and I can rule.” Andris regarded the instrument even as his fingers played with Regina’s nipple. Fighting revulsion, she forced herself to remain still, to give the creature what it wanted. Sazaar’s brows drew together in a frown. “You’ll have your pick of those on the other side, their rich, thick blood to fill your belly.” Drifting closer, she murmured, “With Nikoli’s invitation, we can enter the void between dimensions so it no longer burns and destroys. As a newly turned, I can still withstand E2’s atmosphere long enough to change it, to allow you and the others inside.” She made a sweeping gesture that included all in the room, including the ponytailed barista and her friend. Regina stared at the young women’s pale skin, their predatory expressions. Sazaar continued. “We need Nikoli for no more than a few moments. We don’t need Regina at all. Come.” She extended her free hand to Andris. “We must go.” “To our new home?” he asked, sounding innocent and curious. “Our kingdom.” She smiled. He released Regina. Stunned, she edged away from him toward Nikoli. Andris didn’t appear to notice. A thread of hope cut through Regina’s fear. Was he only going to use Nikoli to get past the void? Was Andris’s desire to return to E2 so great, she and Nikoli no longer mattered? Andris extended his hand to Sazaar. With no hesitation, she reached for it. Their fingertips touched. Rapture filled her beautiful face. The vampires stopped hissing. No one moved. Expectation bristled in the room. Why? Regina glanced from face to face. All of the creatures stared at Andris. He regarded Sazaar as a scientist might contemplate a specimen in the lab. And then he struck, drawing back his hand, swinging it at her face, his claws lacerating the length of her cheek. Sazaar’s head snapped back with the blow. Regina gasped at the gaping wounds, the lack of blood. Hand flying to her face, Sazaar stared at Andris in surprise. Beneath it, Regina saw the young woman’s rage and finally her desperation. “We don’t need her!” she cried. “I want her,” Andris said, his manner no different than a petulant toddler or a bullying teen. His hand shot out, his fingers circling Regina’s wrist, hauling her back to him. “I’m bringing them both to E2, her and Nikoli. He’ll watch while I turn her. She’ll watch as I kill him. I’ll give her the last of his blood.” The room lurched. Regina’s knees buckled.
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Andris pulled her into him, using his body to support her weight. In a corner of her mind that still functioned rationally, Regina heard Nikoli’s pants quieting, his futile attempts to free himself finally at an end. Had he given up? Had he accepted their fate? Inching closer, Sazaar begged, “Andris, please, say that you want me too.” “You expect me to lie?” he asked, the brutality of his words ringing through the room. “Never did I want you. Not from the moment you first crossed over. Not now. Not tomorrow or the next day or the next.” “Don’t say that,” she cried. He laughed. Sazaar continued to plead. Regina focused on Nikoli. He seemed at peace, not defeated. Why? And then, she knew, her mind snagging on something he’d said this morning when they’d been in the inventor’s house. “I left my father a message about crossing over to this dimension and my plans to destroy the vampires. This evening, he will have read my communication and taken action.” “They’ll make certain no one will be able to enter.” He knew what Sazaar did not. Once in the void, she and the others would have no place to go, unless they returned to this side. An outcome Regina intended to stop at all cost without putting Nikoli at risk. When the vampires were inside the void, she’d get Nikoli back through the gateway first, shoving him through it if need be, then grab the device from Sazaar and close the portal before any of the creatures could react. A hopeless plan, perhaps, but it was all Regina had. Andris squeezed her wrist. With her fear receding beneath conviction, Regina glanced down at his bony fingers, barely aware of the pain they caused. Looking up, she saw Sazaar’s wounds had healed. Her cheek bore no scars. Her eyes, though… The anguish they’d revealed just seconds ago had disappeared. In its place, Regina saw the numbing effects of shock. Of one’s world spiraling out of control. Of loss so great nothing mattered any longer. “Open the portal,” Andris ordered. Mechanically, Sazaar lifted the device, running her thumb over its screen. Symbols blinked on the display. A rush of cold air, familiar now to Regina, swept across the room…stronger than when Nikoli had opened the gateways. Unlike those times, the wall near her bed didn’t retain its shape, appearing to be solid. It shimmered. Artwork, plasterboard, beams, nails seemed to liquefy as they became transparent, revealing the void. Its
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intense brightness spilled into the room. The creatures hissed in what sounded like awe and fear, backing away so the light wouldn’t touch them. “Bring Nikoli forward,” Andris said. Two of the largest vampires flanked Nikoli. With their brutal grips, they escorted him past the others, stopping just short of their leader and the light beyond. Smiling, Andris addressed Nikoli. “Enter the void. Invite us in.” Slinging his forearm around Regina’s throat, he placed his other hand on the side of her head. “Or I’ll break her neck.” He tightened his arm, his fingers digging into her scalp. Regina froze. With one forceful twist, he could easily sever her spine. Color drained from Nikoli’s face, turning his rich skin a chalky color, matching that of their captors. Within the last few seconds, he seemed to have aged a decade, the lines around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes more pronounced. However, when he spoke, he betrayed none of his feelings. “I’ll give you whatever you demand. I won’t do anything to bring her to harm.” “It’s the truth,” Sazaar said listlessly. “He loves the woman.” “That remains to be seen,” Andris said. His body tensed against Regina’s. He growled, “Make one mistake, and you won’t have the pleasure of seeing me turn her. I’ll drop her lifeless body at your feet before I kill you.” Nikoli regarded Andris with fathomless hate that he replaced quickly with apathy. “I won’t make any mistakes.” Andris lifted his chin in a gesture for his followers to release Nikoli. Freed, he went to the portal and slipped inside. The vampires stirred, excitement, anticipation, rippling through their ranks. Regina watched the void’s cold wind whipping Nikoli’s hair and clothing. He turned to face the room, regarding Andris, Sazaar and all of the rest but not her. I love you, her thoughts whispered to him, Somehow, you’ll be safe. I will not allow you to die. For a moment, his features relaxed, as though he’d heard. Andris’s arm tightened around her neck. He gripped her skull. “Say it!” he shouted to Nikoli. Inhaling deeply, Nikoli spoke on a ragged sigh, his mouth moving soundlessly, his words reaching Regina’s mind. “Come in.”
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Chapter Sixteen
The vampires reacted like the abominations they were, their mouths stretched open, fangs bared, saliva dripping from the needlelike points. Those behind Andris and Sazaar pressed forward in their haste to get to the portal, to cross over into E2. Watching the chaos, Nikoli avoided looking at Regina, concerned as to what her terror would do to him. “Your mind is your salvation,” his father had said shortly after Nikoli’s mother had died. “It can deliver you from pain. It can bring you peace.” It alone could save Regina. Reason, don’t feel, he ordered himself. Reason. With the detachment of the scientist he’d been only the day before, Nikoli regarded Andris. The vampire turned to those behind him, hissing and spitting like a feral cat, his fangs deadly, cautioning the others to hold back. The ponytailed barista didn’t heed his warning. Shouldering her way through the crowd, drawn to the void as some insects are to light, she slipped past Sazaar but not Andris. Releasing Regina’s head, he flung out his arm, his hand cupping the barista’s scalp. The girl screamed shrilly, like a creature from hell, her eyes rolling up. With little effort, Andris crushed her skull. The sound of her pulverized bones echoed through the room. Still holding on to Regina with his other arm, he slung the barista into the void. Her body landed at Nikoli’s feet. Fighting the urge to move back, he kept his attention on Andris. The vampire regarded his kill, his features expectant as though waiting for the barista to burn. When she did not, he shouted to the rest, “Hold back. The woman and I enter first.” “What of me?” Sazaar asked. She betrayed no emotion. And yet, beneath her detachment, Nikoli sensed sorrow so deep, longing so hopeless, it cramped his heart. He had never been able to love her, not as he did Regina, but Nikoli hadn’t wanted Sazaar’s life to come to this. “What of you?” Andris said dismissively. Not waiting for an answer, he pulled Regina forward. “I have the instrument,” Sazaar called out, lifting it for all to see. “Would you want me to be the last to enter when I hold the way into E2? When I alone can alter the atmosphere for our kind to enter and thrive?”
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“Nikoli can do the same,” Andris shot back. “Or the woman dies.” Sazaar countered, “To him, she’ll be gone once on E2. You’ve cowed him thus far, but he’s an honorable man, Andris. Do you want to risk facing Nikoli’s integrity when it comes to him betraying his father and people? Do you want to lose precious time seeing if he does what you demand? Time in which the security systems may alert those on E2? Time he’ll try to use to save Regina?” Nikoli’s pulse raced at what Sazaar had said. He watched Andris’s blond brows drawing together. Making no attempt to hide his irritation at the power Sazaar held, power Andris couldn’t dismiss, he shouted to the others, “She goes next. Then the rest follow.” Arm firmly around Regina’s throat, he entered the void. His pale eyes rounded at the bright light. His obscene smile widened. Nikoli stole a glance at Regina. She was already looking at him. Love, longing, every powerful emotion he’d denied himself, whipped through Nikoli. It took all of his will not to pull her from Andris and protect her within his embrace. Cautious of making any wrong move, tearing his attention from her, Nikoli watched Sazaar enter the portal. Regret and shame shone in her eyes, and the manner in which she held herself. Like an animal beaten by its master, expecting no better. The other vampires poured inside, their gazes snapping to the right and left, up, down. They clawed at their hair, pulled across their pallid faces by the wind. It stole all sound. Only in Nikoli’s mind did he hear their loud hissing as they reached out to touch the far side of the void and what lay beyond it. E2. Despite the air’s cold bite, sweat coated Nikoli’s throat and chest. He had to free Regina and grab the device before Sazaar and Andris realized they wouldn’t be able to enter the other side. That their only option for survival was to flee back into Regina’s dimension. More creatures entered the space, leaving only a dozen still in the bedroom. Focused on them and the gateway, Nikoli inched closer to Regina, the tips of his fingers brushing hers. She reacted instantly, her thumb stroking the back of his hand. In his peripheral vision, Nikoli saw Andris staring at E2. Like the others, he used his free hand to reach for it, his fingers straining in that direction, the sounds he made growing in volume and excitement. One by one, the vampires turned away from Regina’s bedroom to face what they believed to be their new home, their profane sounds growing louder, frenzied. Glancing to the side, Nikoli saw Sazaar staring at his hand touching Regina’s. He didn’t bring it back, not wanting Sazaar to know he feared. He needed to reason. He required the element of surprise. So close to the gateway, with the creatures’ attention diverted, Nikoli knew he had a slim chance of getting Regina away from Andris, of pushing her back to the other side, then taking the device from Sazaar and closing the portal.
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As if she’d heard his thoughts, Sazaar lifted her face to his. Despite his thudding heart, Nikoli kept his expression neutral. His former mate studied him, then spoke in their native tongue. She produced no sound, except in his mind, her tone loud enough for no one but him to hear. “What would you give to have her safe?” With her question, Nikoli stared, not certain why she’d asked it. What would he give? Everything. Wary, forcing himself to think, not to trust, he answered in their language, his pitch as subdued so only she could hear. “What would you give to have him for yourself?” Sazaar glanced at Andris. A curious mixture of adoration and loathing crossed her features, followed by resignation. “That will never be.” “Unless you make it so,” Nikoli said. Her expression changed, understanding flooding her eyes. In their realm and in Regina’s, Andris would never quell his appetite. He’d always seek new conquests, both female and male, relegating Sazaar to nothing more than one of his victims. Forcing her to watch him preferring others, dismissing her very existence when she’d given him everything she had. In the void between dimensions, though… Driven by the wind, the ends of Sazaar’s black gown lashed her ankles. Long blonde tresses blew away from her face. Her focus moved past Nikoli to the last of the vampires entering the space. “Open the portal to E2,” Andris ordered, his mouth moving soundlessly, his words thundering in Nikoli’s mind. And in Sazaar’s. Almost too quickly, she lifted the instrument, prepared to do whatever her master commanded in the futile hope that it would make him want her. Nikoli’s hope evaporated. With no choice except to make his move, he tensed his legs. If he rammed Andris, knocking him off balance, that might allow a few seconds in which to free Regina. He could then push her back to her own side. Once he wrenched the device from Sazaar, he could close— “No,” Sazaar said, interrupting Nikoli’s thoughts, speaking in their language. His pulse jumped. She continued. “There’s no time.” From the left, Nikoli saw Andris’s head whipping around. The vampire growled, “What are you saying to him?” Meekly, Sazaar answered. “I told him of my love for you.” Andris frowned. “Your love? You think I care about that? You think I care about you? Open the portal.” “No,” she said again, this time in English, loud enough so everyone could hear.
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Shock crossed Andris’s face, replaced quickly by rage. Lips spread wide, fangs exposed, he released Regina and turned toward Sazaar. The vampires surrounding them backed deeper into the void, allowing their master and his victim space. Regina edged to the side of Andris, nearer the portal, closer to Nikoli. Andris didn’t appear to notice. His attention remained on Sazaar. Despite his rage, she didn’t shrink away. Facing him, she continued to lie. “Only Nikoli can open the gateway to E2. Only he knows how to defeat its security that’s surely been changed since I crossed over.” Andris glanced at Nikoli, then back to Sazaar. Distrust contorted his features. “You said you could open it. You said he would delay matters to alert security.” “If given the opportunity, because neither you nor the others know anything about it. I do. I’ll know if he’s doing anything to harm or betray us.” Giving Andris no chance to react, she handed Nikoli the instrument. For a moment, he was unable to believe it. He curled his fingers around the device, deliberately not looking at Regina, not wanting to remind Andris of her. “Open the portal,” Sazaar said, her lips moving silently with her order. The vampires heard her in their minds. Lifting their arms, fingers curled, they clawed the air, trying to reach the other side. Andris opened his mouth, releasing an inaudible hiss. Nikoli gauged his movements, knowing he had only a few seconds to distract Andris and the others so he could get Regina to safety. Lifting his arm, he pointed the device toward E2, running his thumb over the screen, knowing it would have no effect. “It’s opening!” Sazaar shouted. As one, the creatures moved across the void toward what they believed was the coming gateway. Andris watched. In the same instant, Sazaar pounced, flinging her body across the space. As her weight struck his, Andris stumbled. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, she screamed, “Go! Close the portal!” The vampires turned from her to Nikoli. Shock, indignation, bloodlust registered on their faces. Andris wailed, clawing at Sazaar. She held tight, her cheek to his temple, her lips mouthing words of hopeless love. Swarming past her and Andris, the creatures headed for Nikoli. He pushed his body into Regina’s, forcing her to go through the gateway into her own realm. Gasping, she grabbed his sweater, pulling him with her, not allowing Nikoli to remain with the rest. As he and Regina lurched into her bedroom, Nikoli swung his arm up, activating the instrument, closing the gateway. It remained transparent even as it grew solid. Several of the vampires tried to run through it. Their bodies bounced off the invisible barrier and tumbled backward into the void. Still others rammed their shoulders against it to no avail.
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Grabbing Regina’s upper arm, Nikoli pulled her back from the scene. He stared at the creatures’ palms pressed against the obstruction, their deadly nails clawing it. Behind them, he saw Andris fighting to free himself of Sazaar. Despite her injuries, despite Andris’s fury, love flooded her features. She clung to him with lacerated arms, still seeking one tender touch. Unable to bear the sight, Nikoli turned away, pulling Regina into his embrace. She collapsed into him, shivering uncontrollably, then moaned at the volume of Sazaar’s words reaching past the barrier to this realm. “I would have betrayed my people for you,” she sobbed. “I would have given you E2 and the other dimensions beyond, if you’d only loved me.” “Oh God,” Regina cried. Nikoli tightened his embrace. He listened to Sazaar’s pleas growing fainter. Glancing over, he saw the last of the portal closing, the wall and paintings becoming solid again. Only a circle of emptiness remained, an opening the size of a fist. Through it, Nikoli saw the vampires’ escalating panic. They pounded the circle. They screeched. The hole closed, leaving only the sounds of his and Regina’s strained breathing.
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Chapter Seventeen
She held fast to Nikoli, resisting when he led her to a chair, wanting her to sit. Face pressed against his shoulder, Regina tried to speak but couldn’t. Her throat was too tight. Her body shook too badly. With great care, Nikoli eased her fingers from his sweater. Regina croaked, “What are you doing?” “Nothing.” Guiding her into the chair, Nikoli hunkered down at her side. “Were you injured? Did any of the vampires—” “No.” She cupped his face in her hands, her thumbs avoiding the scratches Sazaar had given him, and all for Andris. “If you’d only loved me.” The young woman’s voice rang through Regina’s mind. She recalled how Sazaar had pleaded with Andris, her words so desperate, so helpless. “Regina, you’re safe now,” Nikoli murmured. “It’s over.” Was it? This morning, when she’d talked about trapping the vampires, her plan had seemed so perfect, sterile, emotionless. “If you’d only loved me.” Sazaar had only wanted what most did. Someone to love them. Someone to care. Regina whispered, “How long will she survive in the void?” Nikoli looked away. “Tell me,” Regina said. “I want to know.” He spoke quietly. “Not long. Even if Andris doesn’t destroy her, their presence will alert my people to take action. If they aren’t gone already, they will be in a few minutes.” Regina’s hands dropped from his face. “It had to be done,” Nikoli said, resting his fingertips on her forearm. “It’s what Sazaar wanted.” Regina frowned. “To be destroyed?” “To have Andris for her own. To be with him even if it meant the end of her existence.” He spoke calmly, with reason. “What she’d become didn’t change all that she’d been. In the end, her motives weren’t entirely selfish. The action she took saved our people. It saved you.” Regina shook her head, not wanting to think about Sazaar’s last moments. On a sigh, Nikoli pushed to his feet.
Unending Desire
She grabbed his wrist in both of her hands, afraid of his intent now that the vampires were gone. Would that make him a hero on E2, or would his people still consider him a traitor for having crossed over? “He’s an honorable man,” Sazaar had said. Honorable enough to return to face the consequences of his actions? Regina asked again, “What are you doing?” His face betrayed none of his thoughts or emotions. “I want to build the fire back up, to get some warmth in here for you.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I’ll be right here.” Reluctantly, Regina released his hand. He placed the device on the dresser, then went to the hearth. She studied him as he worked. His hair was disheveled from the void’s wind. His dark eyes glittered in the building light. Regina wanted to ask him what now? She held back, not ready to hear that he would leave her. That he felt there was no life for them on this side or on E2. That he’d served his purpose. He’d protected her. He, along with Sazaar, had saved their people. His life and future belonged to them, not to Regina. Nothing, not even love, could change that. She chewed her lower lip. The night, so frightening a few minutes before, seemed empty now, still bereft of any future. Down the street, a lone dog howled. Something in the wall popped. Flames licked the logs, causing one to pop. A shrill wail cut through the other sounds. Regina flinched. Nikoli’s hand stalled before he could replace the poker in its stand. He stared at the device. Its alarm continued to fill the room. “Oh God,” Regina whispered, leaving the chair, going to Nikoli. “What does it mean? Who is it? Could Andris have survived? Could it be him?” Not answering, Nikoli moved toward her bedroom wall. Regina followed. He stopped and snapped, “Go into the bathroom.” “No.” She took his hand. He twisted it to free himself. Regina wouldn’t allow it. “Who is it?” Nikoli didn’t say. “Should I get the device?” Regina asked. “If a portal opens, can we close it and protect ourselves?” “No.” “What? Why not?” Releasing him, she hurried to the dresser and grabbed the instrument, then returned to his side. “Take it.” She shoved the device at him. “Stop whoever it—” “It’s too late, Regina.” Grabbing the instrument, he ran his thumb over the screen, turning off the alarm.
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Simultaneously, the wall in front of them grew transparent even as Regina sensed that it remained solid, impossible for them to breach. This time, it didn’t show the void but Nikoli’s lab. She recognized the odd clock on the wall, the strange chair, the circular monitors, muted colors. She blinked at a man entering the scene. Like the others on E2, he resembled Nikoli closely. Although he had few wrinkles, his silvery hair betrayed his advanced age. His expression revealed nothing. Regina’s hand went to Nikoli’s back. She whispered, “Who is it?” “My father.” At the shame she heard, Regina turned to Nikoli, wanting to tell him he’d done nothing wrong. He’d helped his people. His father spoke before she could, using E2’s language, his manner neutral, as though he were speaking to a stranger, not his son. Nikoli answered in kind, without emotion. Regina looked from one to the other, helpless to understand what they discussed. It was only when the pace of their words quickened that she sensed they were arguing. Nikoli’s father had the final word. The men stared at each other, neither speaking. At last, the older man turned to Regina and continued in English. “My son understands what you refuse to accept. He has no right to love you, not only because of our people, but also for your continued safety and his. Nikoli’s feelings will only bring harm to each of you.” Regina’s throat tightened. “Do you want him to come to harm?” the man asked. “No,” she cried. “Of course not.” “Then tell him you understand,” the man ordered her. “Tell him he’ll always have to hide from those on your side or be taken prisoner and studied like an animal. Tell him his life is here on E2 with his—” “Father,” Nikoli cut in, also in English. “Enough.” Not heeding his son’s warning, the man continued, “This woman has nothing to offer you except uncertainty and pain. You have nothing to offer her but continued fear.” “That’s not true,” Regina argued. “I’m willing to go through anything as long as I have Nikoli at my side.” Reaching up, she touched the edge of his jaw, turning his face to hers. “Anything,” she whispered to him. He swallowed. “I don’t want to bring you pain.” “You won’t,” she insisted, then spoke to his father. “I love your son more than you could ever know.” The older man’s expression hardened. “Your kind knows nothing. That’s why you’re plagued with poverty, chaos, endless wars. You want that kind of existence for Nikoli? You want him to come to harm to gratify your own needs for the futility of what you call love?”
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“I want him to be happy,” she countered. “I want him to be safe. Can you promise Nikoli that on your side?” “I know Sazaar bit him,” he said. “I’ve already explained to Nikoli that we have the means to rid him of her poison.” “Only if you risk your position,” Nikoli cut in, then shook his head. “I can’t do that to you, Father. I won’t see you lose everything you’ve worked for. To have you marked as a traitor, the same as me. The only way to spare you would be to deliver myself to the authorities and face—” “No!” Regina turned to his father. “Nikoli risked his life for your people and for me. He’s no traitor. You know that. Tell him that.” “She speaks the truth,” the older man said to Nikoli, a hint of desperation creeping into his words. “Come home, please. I give you my word, my position will protect you.” “That’s not what I meant,” Regina cried, “and you know it.” The older man ignored her and spoke to Nikoli. “If you love the woman, do what’s right by her. Together, you have no future. You were not meant to be. You have no home on either side. Leave her to her life over there. Allow her to find some happiness and peace.” Uncertainty filled Nikoli’s eyes. Regina’s stomach twisted at what else she saw. Longing not only to be with her but also to keep her safe. “I’m all right,” she insisted, taking his free hand. “I want this, Nikoli. I want you.” “She claims that now,” his father argued, “but what of the days to come? What happens if you can’t adapt to her side? If you’re found out? What will her people do to her? Please, show her what your love really means, how much you do care for her.” Anguish flooded Nikoli’s features. Regina tightened her fingers around his. He didn’t respond to her touch. “Use your device to return,” his father coaxed. “It’s as I told you before—with the monsters gone, our security will allow it. Go on, use it.” Nikoli poised his thumb over its screen. At the thought of never seeing him again, Regina begged, “Please don’t do this. Certainty doesn’t matter to me, Nikoli. I want you.” “Our realm needs you,” his father said. “I need you.” Nikoli stared at his device. “Please,” Regina repeated. He pulled in a ragged breath. “I never wanted to hurt anyone or for matters to end like this.” A world of pain tinged his words. “I wanted only to protect, to—I’m sorry.” A helpless cry caught in Regina’s throat, the same as when her mother had died. Then, she’d had no power to change events, no different than now. The choice lay with Nikoli.
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At last, he made it, pulling his hand from hers. Regina’s hand flew to her mouth. His father shouted, “No!” With Nikoli’s throw, the instrument sailed through the air, landing in the center of the fire. Flames melted and consumed it, giving him no means to return. His father had opened a portal but only to view his son, to reason with him, not to allow Nikoli entrance into E2. For that, his son would have to act on his own. Regina could hardly believe that Nikoli had chosen them over honor, duty, the only world he’d known. Even though the truth was indisputable, she couldn’t stop shivering. Pulling her into his arms, Nikoli spoke to his father. “Forgive me, I can’t leave her. No matter what we face, I’ll never leave her.” Regina clung to him. Past Nikoli’s arm, she saw his father’s grief, an emotion he’d been trained to suppress from birth. One he could no longer deny given the enormity of his loss. He seemed ready to argue, to reason, but in the end said nothing, all of his energy seeming to have drained away. Glancing at one of the monitors, he moved his hand over it. “Father,” Nikoli called out as the portal began to close. The older man looked up. “I love you,” Nikoli said. He regarded Nikoli for a long moment, as though memorizing his son’s face, then murmured, “I will miss you, my child.” He sounded so forlorn and lost. As the last of the gateway sealed, keeping him forever on this side, Nikoli hugged Regina even closer. Moments passed in silence. She didn’t know what to say, what she could say to soften his pain. At length, she whispered, “I’m so sorry.” He pressed his cheek to hers. “For us?” “Oh God, no. Never.” She held him tightly, wanting to protect, desperate to show her love. “You’ve given up everything you’ve known, Nikoli. Your family, your people, your world.” He inhaled so deeply his chest pressed into hers. Releasing his air on a tattered sigh, he said, “I’m not sorry. I’ll never be sorry.” He brushed his mouth over hers, his breath warming her lips. “Whatever happens in the future, wherever our journey takes us, know this—you are my world.”
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About the Author
Tina Donahue is an award-winning, bestselling novelist in erotic, paranormal, contemporary and historical romance for Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, and Kensington. Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, Romantic Times and numerous online sites have praised her work. Three of her erotic romances were named finalists in the 2011 EPIC competition. The French review site, Blue Moon reviews, chose one of her erotic romances as their Book of the Year 2010 (erotic category). The Golden Nib Award at Miz Love Loves Books was created specifically for one of her erotic romances, and another of her titles recently received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition (2011). She was the editor of an award–winning Midwestern newspaper and worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company.
Email:
[email protected] Website/blog: www.tinadonahue.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/tinadonahue Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000458023097
Look for these titles from Tina Donahue
Now Available: The Yearning
To break this curse, they’ll have to turn the heat up. Way up…
The Yearning © 2011 Tina Donahue Jasmine Dante prowls Key West’s nightlife, fighting a losing battle against a jealous rival’s curse that forces her to seek carnal pleasure, no matter the danger. Weakened from lack of sleep, driven by insatiable lust, she spots a man who stirs her desperate craving, and begins yet another dance of seduction. Except the dark stranger who returns her direct stare is no ordinary lover. Inside his powerful body lies a raw sexuality that just might be enough to break her curse. There’s only one way to find out: imprison him in her bed and feed on his passion. Former U.S. Marshal Mike Stearn is many things, but he’s no woman’s sex slave. The deadly telekinetic power he ruthlessly suppresses comes alive again at Jasmine’s touch. Beneath her bold, potent sensuality he senses vulnerability and desperation. He may be in handcuffs, but she’s the one who’s enslaved. As Mike resurrects his power to free himself so he can find the curse’s source and defeat it, Jasmine revels in his masterful rule. Her ravenous yearning evolves into rapture as she surrenders to his hunger, her darkest needs—and the emotional connection that lies beyond. Unless the curse takes her life first… Warning: Tons of steamy sex, smoldering passion and a to-die-for love story with a hot Alpha hero who finds himself imprisoned by one sultry and desperate babe.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Yearning: Desire compelled Jasmine forward even as a thread of panic stole up her spine. Had Violet and Lily seen them leave the floor? If not, how long would it be before they noticed? Where was he taking her? His earlier comment nagged. He didn’t have anything planned for the next couple of days or nights. Jasmine forced down a swallow. She’d asked about work to learn if he’d be missed immediately. Too easily, he told her he would not. Her sisters would be pleased if she lured him to their house tonight. If not, where would she end up? Dizzy with ambivalence, she allowed him to lead her past the restrooms and a small, cluttered office. He paused at the opened back door where two club employees enjoyed a smoke and shared laughter. The young men cast them a look, then exchanged knowing glances. Sly smiles plumped their youthful cheeks as they discarded their cigarettes and moved past, returning to their jobs. Mike brought her outside. Late-summer air, humid and heavy with the ocean’s tang, enveloped her. The dimly lit alley stretched the length of this establishment and the other businesses. Her heart jumped at the metallic clack of the door closing. She heard traffic whooshing by on the next street. Faint music
pumped from the club. Laughter floated on the gentle breeze, coming from an unknown place, since she and Mike were the only ones around. She asked, “Why are we back here?” His mouth captured hers. Her apprehension fell away, turning into stark need. She tried to slip her arm over his shoulder. He stopped her, taking her wrist and tearing his mouth free. “Not here.” Her heels clicked on the asphalt as he led her to the adjacent building, set back from the club and closed for the night. He stopped next to a door stenciled with fading white letters stating: Delivery Only. If the same young men or others came outside for a smoke, they wouldn’t see her or him. Without warning, images of Travis sped through her mind. Him ordering her to undress in the secluded apartment above his shop. Her wrists and ankles lashed to his bed. His frightening smile. Jasmine’s heart crashed into her chest. She looked at Mike, her emotions torn between worry and craving. “I won’t hurt you,” he said, reading her fear. Holding her face gently, he studied her, his dark eyes concerned. “Have you been raped?” It never got that far. Her sisters had arrived and—she shook her head, not wanting to think about it. “No.” “But someone hurt you.” Her mind saw the belt in Travis’s hand. She recalled its whistle as it hit the air. “He tried. I got away.” “A boyfriend?” She lied. “Yes.” Her voice sounded strange, strangled as she next offered the truth. “He seemed fine at first. I didn’t know he was doing meth and that he’d injured another woman. He got crazy and—” She couldn’t continue. Mike’s thumbs skimmed her jawline, stoking her pulse, making her limp and restless for more. “Why did you choose me tonight?” he asked. Her smile wobbled, feeling weird. “Like I said before, I liked the way you handled that young woman. You were the perfect gentleman.” “That may be, but I wasn’t the only one showing restraint. The bouncer was a regular sweetheart.” Her smile widened. “I’m sure he’s a nice guy and really I don’t want to sound unkind, but he’s not you. Haven’t you seen yourself in a mirror recently?” She could scarcely hold back her wonder. “You’re freaking awesome.” He barked a laugh. “Bullshit.” “You are.” She touched his bottom lip with her fingers, breathless at its silkiness. Her words rushed out. “I spotted you the moment I reached the dance floor. It pissed me off when the redhead got to you first. The server told me there were a dozen other women interested in you. Could be she was lying. It might have been more. That’s why I sent you the beer. It was the only way I knew to get you to notice me.” His eyes rounded in amazement. “You wouldn’t be putting me on now, would you?”
She reached for her purse. “I have a mirror. You really should look at your—” “Fuck that.” He lowered his head and captured her mouth. An indecent grunt tore from the back of her throat. Lips parting, she accepted his tongue, needing its wet warmth more than she required oxygen or food. She tasted a hint of the beer he’d drank, along with his flavor, which spoke of cleanliness and good health. His chin and upper lip rasped hers with his beginning stubble. She wound her arms around him. Eager to touch, her hands moved up and down his muscled back. He ground his lean hips into her mound, taunting her with his imposing cock. Her pussy clenched, bidding him inside. Unaware, he trailed his fingers over her cheek, sending tingles to her temple. His hand ventured lower, past the line of her jaw and throat to the edge of her halter. He hesitated, interpreting her reaction, before he slipped his fingers inside, his palm clothing her naked breast, his heat searing it. She edged nearer, her knees knocking his, telling him she craved all he had to give. Assured, he squeezed her flesh hungrily. It wasn’t enough. With his superior height and weight, he backed her into the building. Shoulders pressing the weathered wood, she moaned. His tongue invaded deeper, while his other hand explored. Bunching her skirt in his fist, he lifted the gauzy fabric, exposing her to the night air. Its sultry breath licked the moisture bathing her opening. The side of his hand grazed her, moving from her navel to her mound. There, he stopped, most likely surprised. He broke the kiss, stepped back and whispered, “My God.”
Mike dropped to one knee in front of her and looked up. Silken waves the color of cocoa framed her face. Her graceful nostrils flared. She searched his eyes, no doubt gauging what lay beneath his shock. He found it difficult to breathe or think. She wasn’t wearing panties. Even more amazing was what she did wear—a silvery belly chain and navel ring with tiny diamonds in an ornate design that dangled over her slightly rounded stomach. The gems winked in the scant light, trailing beads of brightness to her shaved pubes. Jasmine’s feminine folds were slick with womanly moisture, plump and impatient. In spite of her bad experience with the fucker she’d dated, she hadn’t given up on men. She wanted him. Equally important, she trusted him. His cock hardened painfully, insistent on entry. Eyes closed, he touched his mouth to her smooth mound, enthralled by the exposed skin. His tongue snaked over it. She gasped and parted her legs, enticing him further.
Her real scent, earthy and feminine, wafted up, stealing what remained of his admired restraint. “Grab the ends of your skirt on each side.” He had to taste her. Obedient, she gathered the fabric in her hands and pulled it to her waist. He pushed her wrists into the building, holding them captive as he examined her. The murky light didn’t hide her engorged clit, blushing dark above her cleft. He’d seen few things more beautiful. Tongue poised, he flicked it over her erect nub. She moaned brazenly, her thigh muscles tensing. As cautious as she’d been, now she became wild, twisting her hips to bring her mound closer to his mouth, begging for relief. Mike wasn’t about to give it so easily. By dragging this out in a public place, where someone might discover them, he’d added to the allure. Like most women, she wanted simulated danger. A riot of sounds filled the steamy night—the rumble of passing cars, a horn blaring with its shriek weakened by distance, snatches of voices carried on the muggy wind, Jasmine’s mewl in response to his mouth embracing her defenseless sex. His tongue probed her inner recesses, lapping her salty dew, indulging his appetite, while ignoring hers. She bent her knees to force his tongue nearer her clit. He used more pressure on her wrists, wordlessly commanding her to follow his lead. To wait for what he would offer. “Please,” she groaned in a guttural voice. Resting his forehead on her belly, he breathed heavily, refusing to relent. “Straighten your knees.” The back of her head hit the building with a tiny, frustrated whack. Her wrists flexed within his grasp as she clenched her fists. Each panting gasp quivered her sweet little tummy. Finally, her knees straightened. Pleased, he licked the trail of light drizzling toward her groin. She reacted instantly, nudging nearer, intent on her goal. Not yet ready to allow it, he moved his head away, tipping it back to look at her. She’d sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. Her eyes sought his and implored. He winked. Her slender brows arched. Swooping down, he latched onto her sex, his tongue circling her clit. Contented sighs poured from her each time he made brief contact with the nub. Soon, she learned the value of obedience and opened her body to his will. Not even the murmur of female voices coming from the end of the alley slowed Jasmine’s hitching breaths. Oblivious to everything except this—or simply not caring what anyone else saw—she delivered herself to him.
Bloodlines merge, passions surge…
Vampires’ Consort © 2011 Bonnie Dee Magical Menages, Book 2 One riveting glance from the handsome stranger stalking her in the supermarket shakes Akila Massri down to her soul. And when Jacob Baum hands her an engraved invitation to visit his billionaire employer’s retreat, curiosity—and the need to pay off her student loans—overcomes the instinct to refuse. Once on Valarian Kaspan’s private tropical island, her dark and deadly host confronts her with several incredible facts. Vampires exist. Her Egyptian ancestry traces back to the sun god, Ra. And her bloodline is critical to the future of mankind. From his thrall’s heated reaction to the supple-limbed Akila, Valarian is certain she is destined to mingle his Genghis Kahn bloodline with that of Ra. As a vampire, Valarian is sterile; it is through Jacob that a prophesied savior of mankind will be born. As Akila tries to wrap her mind around all this, she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of erotic passion for two, very complicated men. When they all come together, something powerful unfolds within her. Something that makes her the target of evil vampires who plan to use her—and her unborn—to erase humans’ very existence from the earth… Warning: One woman plus a powerful vampire and his thrall equals sexy ménage with explicit sex scenes.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Vampires’ Consort: Akila decided to let Jacob walk off whatever demons raged in him. She kicked off her sandals and went to the edge of the water. She could smell the brine in the astonishing blue-green water as it lapped warmly around her toes. The Atlantic down here was an entirely different ocean from the gray water of Long Island Sound near her parents’ home. It would be great to strip bare and simply float in it for a while. This place was too gorgeous not to take advantage of it for the brief time she was here. Why not stay through the weekend? She could learn more about Kaspan and when she returned home, write an exposé about him as she’d planned. Of course, she’d have to edit out the vampire stuff…and the bloodline stuff…and the crazy baby-making plan. That didn’t leave much juicy gossip to spill. Without those elements, there was only a wealthy businessman hanging out at his tropical retreat. She squatted in the sand and dug with half of a clamshell, watching the water fill the pit she made. Her mind careened all over the place, trying to fix on one aspect of his crazy tale and have it make sense. As shocked as she was about vampires existing, what really got her was the idea of Ra, a god, for God’s
sake, as her ancestor. It was preposterous but utterly fascinating. Maybe she needed to learn more about this prophecy thing. “I’m sorry.” An unexpected voice beside her made her screech, drop the shell and leap to her feet. She slapped a hand to her chest. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” “I apologize.” Jacob’s eyes reflected the sunlight, making them bluer than the ocean. “I lost my temper, something I rarely do.” She believed that, having gotten the impression he was usually firmly in control of his emotions. “That’s okay. I press buttons. It’s what I do. I shouldn’t have said that about Hitler. I’m sure Kaspan is a great guy. He supports about half the charities on the planet.” Her head was tipped back in order to look up into his face. The angle, coupled with their bodies’ proximity, made it feel like she was waiting for him to lean down and kiss her. Their gazes locked while the surf rhythmically washed the shore and seagulls screeched overhead. There was no denying the attraction between them. She’d felt it that night at the supermarket and again from the moment she saw him at the airport. A subtle thread stitched them together every time they were near each other. Akila reached out a tentative hand and rested it against his chest. His heart beat as steadily as the incoming waves. Thud, thud, thud, filling up her senses and drawing her closer still. Her toes dug into the sand as she rose up. His eyes widened and he seemed suddenly younger and uncertain, a man who perhaps wasn’t used to women coming on to him—surprising, since he was so attractive. She liked his hesitation. It gave her the courage to slide a hand around the back of his neck and pull his head down to hers. She heard his small gasp before she fastened her lips over his and softly plucked at his mouth. Jacob’s hands encircled her waist, holding her steady as she leaned into him. For a moment, he acquiesced to her kiss, then his mouth opened and he kissed her back. Their tongues met, slicking around each other, and electricity shot through Akila. The taste of him left her hungry for more. Her body thrummed with the low voltage that passed between his body and hers. She’d never experienced anything quite like the rising need inside her, a sudden flare like a spike in a heart monitor. Jacob’s hands moved below her waist, cupping her ass and pulling her tighter against him. She felt his hardness nudging her crotch, escalating the heat there. He groaned quietly into her mouth and their kiss deepened from sensual exploration to passionate hunger. She gripped his shoulder with one hand and drove the other through his hair to cup the back of his head. Her tender breasts smashed flat against his solid chest and her entire body throbbed. It was too intense, too soon, too crazy.
Akila broke it off, pushing her hand against his chest to propel herself back from him. She stood in the moist, cool sand, panting. His lust-glazed eyes seemed as shocked as she felt. He wiped a hand over his lips, as though wiping away—or capturing—her kiss. “I’m sorry,” Akila said. “I don’t know why I did that.” He shook his head. “No. It’s…” God, she was humiliated. She could sink into the sand right now and let the tide wash her away. But even in the midst of embarrassment, her body still clamored for more. More of those kisses, more of the way he’d held her, the solidity of his body in her arms, more of his scent, his taste. His cock. She wanted to see his erection, not just feel it pressed against her. Another shudder of lust passed through her. Akila crossed her arms over her chest and began to walk down the beach. “Maybe you should show me the rest of the property. Or the house.” Or maybe she should go to her room and hide, get entirely away from this man to whom she seemed to have an uncontrollable attraction. “Yes.” He strode alongside her, but several yards away, and blurted random facts about the island as they walked from the beach to the interior. The vegetation grew thick around the narrow path through the trees. “Before Mr. Kaspan purchased the island, it was uninhabited except by wildlife. He’s kept as much untouched as possible, a preserve for local species of reptiles and birds.” “Reptiles?” Akila scanned for alligators that might pop out of the underbrush. “Various kinds of lizards and frogs, except frogs are amphibians.” Jacob was suddenly babbling, and she realized he was covering his own embarrassment at what had happened between them, trying to pretend his cock hadn’t been pushing insistently into her crotch. Clearly having sex with Jacob wouldn’t be a burden for either of them if she were really to follow through on Kaspan’s plan. As if she would. To be impregnated with a child? Crazy! And how in the world would it be Valarian’s anyway? “Tell me more about this thrall thing.” She interrupted Jacob. “What does it mean that you share his blood? Why doesn’t that turn you into a…what he is?” Jacob stopped walking and stared at the scarlet blooms that dotted a bush beside the path. “To become a vampire, one must be drained nearly to death and then ingest a large amount of blood from a donor. After a long, coma-like sleep, a period of hibernation during which the body alters and the blood changes, the person has become a vampire. But a thrall…is something different.” He stopped talking and Akila waited. Even she was able to hold her tongue once in a while. Right now, she could tell it was difficult for Jacob to speak about what had happened to him. She gave him time to formulate the words. “I met Mr. Kaspan in Germany toward the end of the war.” He glanced at Akila. “The second World War. I was in a camp, in bad shape. He freed me, fed me and then made me an offer. He needed someone
to serve him since his previous thrall had been killed. Valarian showed me his fangs and explained what becoming his servant would mean.” Akila could barely breathe as she listened to his voice, as quiet as if he was in a confessional. The birds calling in the trees were louder than Jacob. “I had no illusions. I agreed to it. I welcomed the chance to repay him for his kindness.” He paused. “Besides, I had no one left to go home to.” “How does it work?” she asked softly. “A vow and an exchange of blood, although not enough to turn the chosen one into a vampire. I suppose you would call it a covenant. I will serve him until I die.” “But what do you get from this arrangement?” “Long life, health, strength, protection and a bond you could not begin to understand. I owed Valarian my life. I was happy to give it back to him. In return, he helped me accomplish something I was determined to do.” Jacob began walking again, signaling he was through discussing the topic. Akila trailed after him. “May I ask one more thing?” “Could I stop you?” he said dryly. “What’s Kaspan’s story? How long has he been alive? When was he turned and how?” “That is his story to tell. You must ask him,” was the unsatisfactory reply. She would indeed. There was a goldmine of a story here that spanned years and continents, lifechanging experiences and deep emotions. She was determined to extract the gold if she had to chip away the rock piece by piece.
