Forbidden Worlds - Box Set (47 page)

“Most people would kill to have the view you’ve got. You should enjoy it while you can.” His gold-plated flatware clinked impatiently on the plate as he scooped a bite of his dinner.

“While I can? How long will that be? You make it sound like our little island vacation might be coming to an end soon.” If only…

He sipped his wine again and dabbed a snow-white linen napkin against his thin lips. “It will be soon. Then you’ll miss this place. I don’t understand how you can be so anxious to return to the squalor of that city.”

“It’s not the city I miss, Papa. It’s the people in it. There’s no one to talk to here. No one to laugh with.”

“I’m no one?”

Mara sighed. They’d had this same fruitless conversation so many times. Her father felt guilty. She understood that. Every time she broached the subject of her loneliness, she intensified that guilt.

“I don’t want to argue tonight, Papa. Can we drop the subject for now? I’m going to take a break from painting for a while. Maybe I’ll spend some time catching up on my reading or relearning all those piano lessons you paid for when I was twelve.”

“Good. Good. You see? You wouldn’t have that luxury in New York. You’d be working all the time at that squalid attorney’s office, commuting on that stinking subway. Here you can relax and indulge your creativity as a woman of your talents deserves to do.”

Mara nodded. She wanted to indulge her creativity all right, but not in the fine arts. She scooped another bite of salmon into her mouth and rose from her chair. “I think I’ll get started tonight, Papa. I’m going to grab a book from the library and find a quiet place to read for a few hours before I go to bed.” As if finding a quiet place on this damned island would be a challenge, she thought.

“Very good, dear. I’ll see you at breakfast. Sleep well.”

“You, too, Papa.”

But she knew he wouldn’t. Thanatos took a number of medications to help him sleep, to keep him calm in the face of constant threats to his safety. Even with seven security guards on his payroll, he feared retribution from those who had grievances against him. Of course, he’d made his own bed, but in doing so, he’d made Mara’s as well.

She didn’t approve of her father’s political dealings and she shouldn’t have cared, but she had become a pawn in his games and she wasn’t keen on being murdered by one of his enemies. So she stayed here where he could keep her reasonably safe until the repercussions of his latest misdeeds died down enough for her to sneak back to her world and resume her life. If nothing else, it was a comfortable bed—if only it wasn’t so big and empty.

* * * *

The late-afternoon sun cast Mara’s shadow, long and straight, ahead of her in the sand. She lay on her stomach, on a double-sized beach towel, with her back to the rising tide and watched a miniature crab dig itself a burrow one damp claw full of sand at a time.

A copy of
Pride and Prejudice
lay unopened next to her. She’d almost begun to read the book half a dozen times, but at the moment, the familiar story just didn’t appeal to her. Not that watching a crab was so fascinating, but at least it was something she couldn’t do in her apartment back home.

She crossed her arms and lay her head down, letting the breeze from the water lull her. Her breathing slowed, and she fell instantly into the shallow sleep of boredom where her fantasies took shape.

When she lifted her head again, two shadows framed her own on the pale dunes. Startled, she pushed herself up and turned around, clutching her gauzy beach cover-up over her breasts.

Good Lord, this was already an excellent dream. Her vivid imagination had conjured two incredible male specimens.

The one on the left had hair the color of sun-bleached wheat and eyes like polished beryl. He was a mountain of ripped muscle—massive arms, broad chest, narrow hips. Naked and wet, he strolled toward her, a magnificent erection growing between his powerful legs with each determined stride.

The one on the right was her dark fantasy lover from yesterday. Bold blue eyes locked hers in a gaze she couldn’t break. He matched the blond man step for step, muscle for muscle. His cock was longer, jutted higher, where the other’s was thicker and tautly ridged like some exotic dildo.

Mara licked her lips. Which one would she have first? Maybe both at once?

Her hand dropped away from her cover-up and she arched her back so the material pulled away from her breasts. She spread her legs, wondering which one of them would reach her first.

Eenie meenie meinie—oh!

The blond one grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

“Tell me what you’d like me to do to you, woman,” he said then laughed. Mara didn’t like the sound, but that didn’t stop her from letting her thoughts roam to which way she’d let him have her first.

“We should let her choose, Poseidon,” the dark one said. His blue eyes sparkled when he looked at her, and the sound of his voice made her shiver with pleasure. The blond’s response just made her shiver.

“We
chose
her. Any female should feel honored by that, Tiran.” He dragged her against his chest and banded her waist with his thick forearm. “Will you walk with me, or should I carry you somewhere where I can bed you properly?”

“Uh…Poseidon?” Mara squeaked out the words. Crushed against his hard abs and bulging pecs, she could barely breathe. While she had to admit it felt wonderful to be trapped in a strong man’s arms, she couldn’t help but wonder at how realistic the dream had become. A tremor of fear rippled across the back of her neck, making the fine hairs at her nape tingle. “You’re the God of the Sea?” Dream big, she’d always told the art students she tutored on weekends.

“No. He’s no god,” the dark one said. “He’s merely named for one.”

“I’m as powerful as a god. Would you care to find out how powerful I am?” The blond squeezed Mara harder. His cock indented the flesh of her thigh, and it felt like a branding iron. She pressed against it, unable to help herself. When he laughed in her ear, her blood began to cool, though.

“You’re frightening her, Poseidon. Let her go.”

“She wants to be frightened. She wants to be chased and captured and held down…don’t you, pretty one?”

“Maybe later…right now, do you think you could let go, just a little bit?”

He let go.

She wobbled while the blood rushed back into her upper torso. “Thanks.”

Poseidon crossed his massive arms over his chest and glared at her. “Are you losing your nerve? When your fantasies come to life before you, you shy away?”

“Uh…I’ve never actually had a fantasy come to life in front of me before, so I don’t have much frame of reference. Can you give me a minute to process?”

The dark one laughed. What had Poseidon called him? Tiran? God, he was beautiful. They both were exquisite, but Poseidon’s was a cruel beauty, a frighteningly complete perfection that left Mara just a little cold.

Suddenly she felt naked under their combined scrutiny. She pulled the edges of her cover-up closed. “Where did you both come from?”

Poseidon sneered. “Your imagination. You were dreaming of a good hard fuck, weren’t you? Not pleasant conversation.”

The other looked daunted. He extended one hand toward Mara, coaxing her a step in his direction. “Forgive my brother’s insolence. Would you like to walk with me?”

Mara’s gaze bounced from one to the other. Some dream, she thought.
Maybe it’s time to wake up.
She concentrated for a second, but nothing changed. The two men stared at her, Poseidon with impatience and Tiran with benign curiosity.

“So you’re saying you’re not real?”

“This is a waste of time, Tiran. She asks too many questions when she should be prostrate, waiting for her champion to make use of her.”

“I
what
?” Mara took another step away from Poseidon.

“I’m bored with this game, brother. I’ll leave her to you and find sport with a woman of our own race.”

With that, Poseidon turned on his heel. In five powerful strides, he stood knee deep in the waves, and Mara’s jaw dropped when his body seemed to liquefy into a shimmering pillar of water. She gaped as the pillar folded into itself and merged with the beating surf.

Definitely a dream.
She gave Tiran a bewildered look.

He laughed. “It wasn’t our intent to frighten you. I’m glad Poseidon decided to leave. I wasn’t interested in fighting with him.”

Me, too, she thought. “You come from the sea?” Lame question. She was full of them, it seemed.

He nodded as if the revelation was of no consequence. “Sit down. Don’t fear me. I won’t hurt you. I wasn’t sure I believed Poseidon when he told me of your fantasies.”

“My fantasies? How would he know about my fantasies?” Despite her alarm, Mara felt strangely compelled to sit. She folded herself down on the beach towel and her naked visitor crouched beside her. When her gaze strayed to his impressive erection, she realized he now wore dark blue swim trunks. Where had they come from?

“Poseidon entered your mind. It’s against our laws and I apologize for him. I will never intrude on your thoughts in that way. I promise you.”

“Oh. Good.” Now Mara felt dreamy and tired. Her surroundings seemed to waver and blur, and she indulged the sudden desire to lie back on the warm towel.

Tiran loomed over her for a second, his broad shoulders blocking the orange light of the setting sun. She imagined he cupped her cheek with one large hand and caressed her skin almost reverently. The gentle touch made her nipples harden and the muscles of her pelvis clench. His hand trailed down her neck, fingers teasing the skin and dancing down her chest. He parted the front of her cover-up, and she felt his feather-light touch skim her breasts, then trail down to her stomach, where he rested his flattened palm just above her bikini.

“Tell me your name,” he said.

Mara obeyed.

He repeated the syllables with an appreciative smile. “If you tell me your fantasies, Mara, I’ll make them come true.”

“I…” A thousand naughty thoughts vied for attention in her brain. Could she really ask him to do anything?

She considered all the possibilities and how to phrase them.
Take me. Claim me. Make me so hot I beg for it.

Then she asked herself, as she stared into his soul-deep eyes, what did she want most? What was her true fantasy?

Finally, as she drifted off into a relaxed sleep, she told him exactly what she wanted. “Get me off this damned island.”

Chapter 2

“How was she, brother?” Poseidon demanded when Tiran returned to their city beneath the sea. “Was she worth the effort?”

Tiran tried to ignore him. He drifted past Poseidon on a cool current and headed toward his private chambers.

“Tell me you fulfilled your desires with her?” Poseidon morphed into a stream of blue water and anxiously circled his brother.

Tiran had to change direction to avoid moving through his brother’s widespread molecules. “I left her sleeping on the beach, untouched.”

The confession made Poseidon laugh. “She refused you? In the days when our race ruled this planet, an Atlantean male would never have taken no for an answer from a human female.”

“And they brought shame on our people that has lasted to this day. My meeting with her was not about conquest, Poseidon. I discovered that she’s trapped. She wiles away her time dreaming up diversions, but her deepest desire is to escape from the island where she’s been exiled.”

Poseidon crossed his newly formed arms over his chest, and considered his brother’s revelation. “So she entices us, but has no intention of making good on the promises of her body?”

“Wanting a man is only a small part of her true desire. She wants her freedom more than anything.” Tiran tried to move past his brother.

Poseidon blocked his way, his brow furrowed with curiosity. “A human female exiled. Why?”

“Her father has enemies who would harm her if they found her. To keep her safe, he has forced her to live here, away from the world.”

“And you took this information from her mind while she lay open to you?”

“No.” Tiran morphed into a strong current and slithered away from his brother. He spoke without words as he headed for the royal burrow and the privacy he craved. “She told me this while we lay on the beach, talking. I put her in a dream state to relax her, since I sensed you had frightened her with your demanding attitude.”

Poseidon shrugged. “So your efforts were wasted. Ah well, there are other females, brother. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding a willing one.”

Tiran slipped into his chambers, where he returned to his natural form. His time with Mara had been both enlightening and frustrating. He’d expected to discover her darkest sexual fantasies and act them out, pleasuring her in ways she’d never forget. He still longed to do that, but now he wanted more. He wanted to give his beautiful sand maiden her most urgent desire.

He wanted to set her free.

* * * *

Mara closed the fourth leather-bound volume of Greek mythology and tossed it across the polished reading table. It landed with a satisfying thump next to the others.

Still frustrated, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her tired eyes. She’d been in the library since sunrise, scouring the stacks for references on Poseidon. She’d found scads of information on the mythological God of the Sea, son of Cronus and Rhea, brother to both Hades and Zeus, among others, and father to illegitimate half-human creatures, demigods, warriors and kings. Nowhere could she locate the name “Tiran.” As she read and read, she became more convinced that her strange encounter on the beach the day before had been nothing more than a dream, despite how real it felt.

After all, the two men certainly weren’t members of her father’s security staff. If they were residents of one of the nearby islands, they’d have arrived by boat and been detected immediately. Even local fisherman approached the island only with Thanatos’s express permission.

The fact that Poseidon had seemed to liquefy before diving under the waves cinched it. She’d obviously imagined the whole thing.

The human brain was an amazing construct, she decided, with the ability to create its own reality at times. Phenomena like lucid dreaming, out of body experiences, and visual and auditory hallucinations could occur if someone was stressed, frightened, overly medicated, fevered, exhausted, malnourished or mentally ill.

Could abject boredom produce such a vivid dream as well? Mara wondered. Or was she slowly losing her mind?

She rose and stretched, easing the kinks in her back with a yoga posture. Mid-pose, her father appeared, his gray eyebrows raised.

“You’re going to pull a muscle,” he admonished.

Mara straightened and allowed herself to laugh. “I do yoga to relax my muscles, Papa.”

“You’ve been reading, I see.” Thanatos fingered the stack of discarded mythology books. “Non-fiction today?”

Mara began returning the books to the shelves. “I just became very curious about the subject and decided to do some research. Maybe I’ll start a series of fantasy paintings based on mythological characters.”

Her father seemed to approve, and for the first time in months, a sparkle lit his dark eyes. “You’ll need blue paint, won’t you?”

She laughed again and put away the final books. “I suppose I will. Good thing I hadn’t gotten around to throwing it out.”

An awkward silence enveloped them. Thanatos stared at his daughter and opened his mouth to speak.

A high-pitched beeping interrupted him, and both he and Mara froze. She’d been trained to fear the security alarms. The Zander family estates always possessed state-of-the-art systems, and when an alarm sounded, it invariably meant real trouble.

“Stay here until I call you,” he said, heading for the library door.

Mara nodded, torn between her own curiosity and the instinct to obey her father and protect herself as she’d been taught. She finally decided to find out for herself what was happening.

At the north end of the compound, farthest from her secluded private beach, Thanatos’s security station ran like a miniature military operation. A secure underground tunnel connected the security bunker and the barracks to the Zander family residence. Mara jogged through the tunnel and emerged in the tiny command center, where one of her father’s security guards, a man named Zeke, blocked her way.

“Sorry, Miss Zander. For your own safety, please stay back.”

“What’s happening? Papa?” Mara stood on tiptoe to look over Zeke’s shoulder. With two other men, her father leaned over a bank of television monitors and seemed oblivious to her presence.

The alarm claxon abruptly shut off. Mara’s ears rebelled, ringing loudly in the sudden silence.

“It was larger than a fishing boat,” one of the guards said to Thanatos. “It appeared about a hundred yards off shore. It showed up on radar for thirty seconds then vanished.”

“You’ve got nothing on the monitors?” Thanatos was all business, like a military commander. Mara often wondered what her father might have accomplished if he’d chosen to work within the law. Thanatos Zander had decades of experience in politics, business, war strategy, electronics and even psychology. He could have been anything. She often felt guilty wishing he had chosen a profession that would have allowed her a normal life, like those of her friends.

Tears stung her tired eyes as she watched him checking video footage of the calm ocean and deserted shoreline. She grieved for the man her father could have been, a man whose daughter didn’t have to hide or fear for her life every time an alarm sounded.

“Perhaps it was a dense school of fish, or a piece of submerged wreckage,” the guard said.

Thanatos shook his head. “The shape you showed me on the readout was too regular. It was definitely a boat.”

“A boat that sank?”

“Possibly. I want someone out there checking on it. If nothing suspicious turns up in the next twelve hours, we’ll consider it a fluke. Recalibrate all the equipment. I want a guarantee that we don’t have a malfunction.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mara made sure she was gone before her father turned around. She didn’t want him to find her spying on him, and have to listen to a lecture about keeping herself safe in an emergency. Zeke would probably tell Thanatos that she’d been there anyway, and he would scold her at dinner, but for now, she had a reprieve.

She hurried back through the tunnel and headed for her studio. Since there was nothing else to do, the idea for that series of mythological paintings suddenly appealed to her. If her fantasy men were indeed all in her mind, she could give them life by committing them to canvas.

* * * *

Tiran sat in the royal archives, a pile of data chips scattered on the work surface in front of him. After half a day of intense research into Atlantean law and history, he’d discovered a few little-known clauses that might allow him to intervene in Mara’s situation and end her exile. He’d have to approach his father and the Triumvirate—and he’d have to admit to having congress with her and face punishment for his transgressions, but that would be a small price to pay to do as he’d promised and make her fantasy come true.

A familiar shape drifted into the archive structure and settled in front of Tiran before morphing into Poseidon in humanoid form. His brother eyed the data chips and smirked. “You always did have a penchant for learning. What are you submerged in today?”

Tiran quickly gathered the chips together, hoping Poseidon would not be able to identify the subject matter before he put them away. “DNA manipulation. You know I’ve always been consumed with the problem of Atlantean mutation.”

Poseidon yawned. “Oh, that again. Aren’t there enough scientists working on that problem? Why waste your time? You’ve got exemplary DNA, as do I. We both should be out enticing females to mate with us, rather than worrying about helping other males make offspring that will one day compete with our own for power.”

Tiran sighed. In truth, he felt guilty that he hadn’t actually been researching his chosen subject. It still confounded Atlantean scientists that some citizens could morph and others could not. Those born without the ability faced a significant disadvantage in the underwater communities.

“My research keeps my mind vital, Poseidon. You should try it yourself.” Tiran rose and dumped the data chips into the sorter, which would automatically return them to their storage units. He felt immense relief that his brother hadn’t questioned him further on the subjects covered by the chips.

“I’ve better things to do, brother. Now, would you like to go to the Gemstone Caverns with me this afternoon?”

“I’ve other things to tend to. Why don’t you take Lalia? She’s anxious to get you alone, and I’m sure you could find a private niche in the caverns together.”

Poseidon considered. “Lalia…yes. That’s exactly what I’ll do. And you, brother? More boring research?”

“Yes. Lots more boring research.”

“Suit yourself.”

Poseidon left the archive, and Tiran waited a few moments to make sure his brother wouldn’t be nearby when he followed. He did have plenty to occupy him, and with Poseidon disporting with Lalia in the Gemstone Caverns, he’d be free to do as he pleased for a few uninterrupted hours.

* * * *

To Mara’s surprise, it was Poseidon who took shape on her first canvas. Even though thoughts of Tiran’s blue eyes and sexy smile plagued her while she sketched, the underlying frustration in her soul made her draw Poseidon’s cruel smile and beguiling green eyes.

He stood naked on a rock overlooking the sea in a pose that displayed his powerful thighs and thickly muscled back. She longed to add his impressive erection, but instead positioned him so his firm buttocks showed rather than his genitals. In his outstretched hand he held his namesake’s mythical trident, which he used to command a bolt of lightning to strike a monstrous shape submerged in the surging ocean tide. As an afterthought, Mara sketched a maiden into the scene. Naked except for what would become a pearlescent net of sea foam, the woman’s legs ended in delicate scaled fins. Her long red hair whipped about her face in a violent wind, and she reached out with a graceful hand, imploring Poseidon with her gesture.

Whether she beseeched him to destroy the sea monster or spare it, Mara hadn’t yet decided.

The story took shape in her mind as she began applying a base layer of dark gray to the sea and the sky to create roiling waves and clouds. In her mind, the woman had befriended the hideous sea creature and frolicked with it in the shallows, but the impetuous Poseidon assumed the monster meant to harm her, so he dragged her away from it. Tossing her behind him in the sand, he set about destroying it to prove his bravery to the maiden.

When the creature lay belly up in the waves, he would turn triumphantly to the nymph and find her grieving for the creature, her friend.

Tears welled in Mara’s eyes. She worked in the dark browns of the rocks, the deep blues of the waves and the black of the sea monster’s gnarled hide.

“You’ve neglected a very vital organ.”

The voice from behind startled Mara. She dropped her brush, splattering drops of Phthalo blue on the floor.

She gasped when Poseidon put his heavy hand on her shoulder. “How did you get in here?”

“I blew in with the breeze.” He smirked and leaned over her shoulder to inspect her painting.

“The security guards will—”

“They have no idea I’m here.”

“Every room of the house has video cameras.”