Darkness Unbound (15 page)

He groaned and lifted her so that her legs encircled his waist. His heavy arousal pressed tight through the PJ pants. Heat speared her lower belly, spreading like a wildfire through the rest of her.

His slow pelvic rocking was going to make her come. This wasn’t enough. She needed his hands on her. His mouth.

As if reading her mind, he moved them to the table and eased her down. He pushed up the pullover and T-shirt to tease one nipple with his mouth, and then the other. He was too controlled.

She yanked his head from her chest and pulled his gaze to hers. “I don’t want it this way. I want you real.” She pulled his head to hers and bit his lower lip.

He growled and his body tensed. “I refuse to hurt you.”

“I’m not breakable.”

The breath rushed out of her when his hard body collided with hers. He swept her hair aside and fastened his mouth onto the side of her neck, sucking. Her heart rate soared. She whimpered and ground her pelvis against him.

He broke away to maneuver clothes off her body. One yank and he had her shirt off, baring her to the cool air. He leered in a mischievous way that had her core clenching.

His hot breath gushed across her shoulder before his mouth moved over each breast, sucking her nipples tight, rolling them on his tongue. A moan ripped out of her.

His hands left her and then tugged at her pants—
oh, God, yes.

He traced the numerous new tattoos now marking her skin. His gaze darkened. His mind lit up with the need for vengeance.

“Don’t go there,” she said hoarsely. “I’m not and you shouldn’t. Just don’t. Not right now.”

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered as he leaned into her. “These marks of courage…if I could’ve been there…”

She cupped his face in her hands to bring his gaze to hers. “I’m fine. You have many more of these marks than I do. What caused them is in the past for both of us. Focus on what’s going on right now.”

He let his palms drift slowly down her ribs and hips. His fingertips slid through her swollen, slippery folds. Electric jolts flew through her. She arched against his touch, trying to get those fingers right where she needed them.

“Look at me,” he ordered. With his free hand he moved one of her thighs over his shoulder.

She met his gaze.

“You want me here?” he asked as a finger slowly thrust into her. She sighed as he slid in another finger, and cried out as he pushed them deep and brushed her clit with his thumb.

“Yes,” she gasped out. He slid in a third finger and she stilled. It was all she could do to strangle out, “Please…I need you.”

“I’ll take care of you,
rouhi
. Long and hard like you need it. But not here.”
Not now.

She heard his thought loud and clear in her mind. She moaned, grinding against his hand. “Why not?”

“We cannot. Not with the gods waiting for us or me to do this. I refuse to fulfill their prophesy.”

“I don’t understand.” She opened her mind to his, pushing images of her fantasy into his brain.

With a curse, he shifted and dropped his head to her stomach. And then moved lower. His mouth latched onto her core. With raw, whipping need, she moaned and arched against him.

“Oh, God, yes!” she cried.

An animalistic sound ripped from his throat as his hand grasped her thigh and yanked it wider, allowing his fingers deeper access. She grabbed the edge of the table to anchor herself as he licked devastating patterns over her clit while thrusting his fingers. She couldn’t get close enough to him. Her whimpers turned into a plea, needing to find the ending.

The incredible pain and anguish she’d locked deep inside her broke free. All the tension broke in waves and waves of shattering pleasure. She cried out her release, not caring if the world beyond the doors heard. His answering groan vibrated against her core.

Gently, he relinquished his suction on her, and his fingers eased from her.

Dismay set in as she realized she was far from done, but he’d withdrawn. She cringed at the emptiness.

His expression remained unreadable, but the firm set of his jaw and tightness in his shoulders hinted he carried the same level of tension that needed to be set free. Yet, he made no move to remove his pants. Didn’t he want his relief as well?

Apparently not. He stepped away.

“That’s it?” she asked. Rejection beat a miserable path straight to her heart.

Hoarsely he said, “We cannot. I refuse be a pawn in some deity’s game again.”

“What game?”

He worked his jaw back and forth, but remained mute.

“Right.” Secrets. He didn’t trust her. She didn’t trust him. She began the mortifying task of relocating her underwear and clothes.

“Astrid—”

“Don’t,” she interrupted. “You can go now.” She struggled to focus enough to open his doorway.

He reached for her, and she avoided his hands, shrugging off the one that grazed her shoulder. “Just go.” She pointed at the newly opened portal and exited the room. The moment he crossed and was gone, her partially mended heart shattered.

****

Her shower lasted no more than three minutes. She jerked angrily at the tags on the new knit top and jeans before pulling them on, both stiff and unforgiving. One glimpse in the mirror, and she had no doubt Christian picked these. She plucked at the front of the scoop neck in a useless attempt to relocate it more than a few millimeters above her breasts. Maybe the loose girls Christian slept with wore shit like this, but in this pseudo-working environment she’d prefer not to have the guys boob scanning every few seconds. With a curse, she pulled open the bathroom door and stepped into a face-to-face with Dr. Kira.

“Great, you’re done. It’s ladies’ night, and it just didn’t feel right not to have you there.” Kira grinned.

“I’m not really in the mood.” She plucked again at the sweater, but stopped when she realized what she’d been doing.

Kira smiled and laughed. “You must be suffering from post-traumatic testosterone bullshit. I like to call it PTTB.”

Astrid cracked a smile. “It hit me so hard that I got whiplash.”

Kira grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the room. “You absolutely must join us. You’ll like Julie and Shay. Julie’s been with her guy the longest, and she is a pro at handling PTTB.” She led down the stairwell, across the veranda garden and into the opposite side of the house, the side lived in by Eric and Julie’s family. “I’m not sure what’s on the agenda tonight. I vote we do dinner and then a good sci-fi movie.”

The tall redhead she remembered from New Orleans appeared. With an Irish accent she said, “I prefer a romantic comedy. I don’t like the bullets.”

“In most sci-fis, they’re ray guns,” Kira said.

“I could do with some dinner,” Astrid announced.

“Sounds good to me. I’m Julie.” The tall redhead held out her hand, which Astrid clasped. “I’m Eric’s wife. I know we didn’t get a chance for proper introductions before…well, before that hell. Eric’s got the baby tonight.” She smiled broadly.

“I thought Scott was watching him,” Kira said.

Julie shrugged. “It’s Eric’s night on duty. If he coaxed Scott into watching, then good for him.”

“Is this the same Scott that does IT?” Astrid asked.

Julie smiled. “Yes. He’s my older son. Sometimes Eric can coax him into babysitting, but his babysitting fee is hefty. Scott is not fond of little kids. He’s good with the baby, though.”

“Let’s go into town and get dinner,” Shay suggested.

“You know Ashor doesn’t like Kira leaving here…the whole her-being-the-
akhrian-
thing,” Julie said.

Kira waved a hand. “Paah. We’ve got our own magus now for protection.” She grinned and pointed at Astrid.

“So true! Awesome. Then, let’s get out of this prison,” Shay said.

They piled into an SUV. Shay slid behind the wheel and scrolled through the nav system for restaurant recommendations, coming up with zilch. With a loud huff, she threw the vehicle into drive and headed out of the compound. “We’re on an adventure. I know there are at least three resorts in town. One of them has to have a decent restaurant.”

“Good thing you speak Spanish,” Julie said. She slouched in the back seat beside Astrid. “You speak Spanish, Astrid?”

Astrid nodded.

A few minutes of road away from the compound, Kira announced, “Astrid is suffering from PTTB.”

Shay groaned. “You poor thing. Don’t get me started. At least your guy isn’t stuck in the Middle Ages, like Dakar.”

“He’s not
my guy
,” Astrid declared.

“Ah, you’re still in
that
phase,” Julie said softly. “Who is your guy?”

“He’s not here. Not of this time.” Astrid rolled her eyes and declared, “He really isn’t my guy.”

Julie patted Astrid’s arm. “Don’t worry, it’ll all get sorted out soon. Kira and Shay went through this recently. Sucks. The gods do like to give us a bumpy ride in the start.”

“Bumpy?” Shay asked. “They put Dakar and I through thousands of years of hell.”

Julie said, “Eventually, the ride smoothes out, and if it doesn’t, then at least you’ve got fantastic sex to make up for it.”

On the outskirts of town the two-lane “highway” was blockaded.

“Great,” Shay announced, tucking a wild strand of auburn hair behind an ear as she braked.

Astrid didn’t like the look of the two ex-army SUVs. The five or so gritty guys wore secondhand army combat fatigues and toted AK47s. Kidnappers, drug cartel, or worse. “Do not get out of the car. Let me handle this.”
Crap
, she wasn’t armed.

“Do you want me to alert Ashor?” Kira asked. She tapped her head.

“Give us a second to see if we can handle this. It’s not like he can magikally appear here to help out,” Astrid said.

As the car halted Astrid rolled down her window at the driver’s side rear. She put on her best irritated-white-bitch smile. “¿
Qué está pasando
?” What’s going on?

“
Sal del coche
.” Get out of the car. The leader with cigarette dangling from his lips sneered while waving his rifle.

Four guerrillas approached her side of the car, but stayed a few respectful feet behind their leader. This went beyond kidnapping, especially given the ribbing and hey-heys going on between the clowns. These assholes planned rape and who knows what else.

Astrid ordered quietly, “Ladies, on my signal you will exit through the passenger side of the car. Then go through the doorway.”

“What doorway?” Julie whispered.

“I will do my best to open one. I haven’t really tried this before on demand, but all of you must get out of here. Hopefully, I’ll send you home. No guarantees, though, on the destination.”

“What about you?” Kira asked.

“I’ll be right behind you. I’ll distract them.”

The leader flapped his gun about wildly. “
Deja de hablar. Fuera!
” Stop talking. Get out!

Astrid focused for the portal energy. It revved in her chest and expanded out to her arms and fingers. She envisioned the courtyard through which she’d been tugged less than an hour ago. Without looking, she knew a doorway opened on the passenger side of the car, but didn’t have time to confirm where it led. With her luck they’d end up in Zannis’s world. She only hoped if she screwed it up or lost the portal before she got through it, she could find them again.

“Go.” Astrid exited out of the driver’s side and held her arms up. “¿
Qué es lo que quieres
?” What do you want?

The leader leered a salacious once-over that had her gut clinching with fury.
Try it
, she thought.

He reached out and touched her cheek. She knocked his hand away and dodged the fist headed for her chin. She landed a throat jab and swiped his feet out from beneath him. Three hostiles moved in on her. She knocked the butt of the muzzle headed for her head away and tripped its owner, located to her left. She spun to gut punch the third closing in on her and nut crunched the fourth. With a pivot, she sped around the car. Automatic gunfire rang out.

Her side burned. She resisted the urge to give into the stinging pain. Fury burned a hole in her stomach. These fuckers would pay. Shooting her? Planning to rape, possibly kidnap, and perhaps even to sell her into slavery? She needed Kane.

The three ladies stood in front of the portal.

“Go,” Astrid yelled.

“What is that?” Kira pointed at the doorway.

“Get through it!”

She ran at the doorway amidst new gunfire, pushing the others ahead of her into darkness. She only hoped Zannis wasn’t on the other side. She’d rather go back into gunfire.

As she stepped through the portal the abrupt light change disoriented her. She bumped into Kira as the portal snapped shut behind them. Everything was dim, shadowy, and mountainous. Not a single tree or plant dotted the cold terrain.

No breeze, nothing living. Just spiky rock formations, dirt, and snow. And it smelled oddly reminiscent of decaying sewer refuse. The smell of a daemon. Shit. She definitely didn’t want to run into one of them right now. This clearly wasn’t where they needed to be. She reached for the energy to open a new doorway, managing no more than a dull sputter. Great. Marooned in who knows where hell.

A skull-shuddering keening cry dropped her to her knees with her hands over her ears.

“What was that?” Kira moaned, also on her knees.

Astrid took in the spiky mountainous landscape around them. “No idea. Are any of you hurt?”

A round of no’s confirmed the all-around okay.

“Aside from where the hell are we, what was that doorway thing?” Shay asked.

“So, my gifted power is a little weird,” Astrid replied. “I can open doorways.” A crash followed by rocks falling shuddered the ground. She jumped. A quick terrified upward glance confirmed no rockslide headed their way.

She pointed at a small cave opening and led the way inside. A brief scan showed it to be shallow with no strange creatures hiding in its depths. “Get in here. I’m a bit weak on energy right now. I need to rev up before I can open a new doorway that will hopefully get us home. Let me take a peek up ahead to figure out what’s going on and where we are.”