Shameless Desire (The Outlawed Realm) (25 page)

“Wow, I’m really frustrating to be around, huh?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. If the veins on his temple became any more prominent, they’d pop. He was more pissed than she’d ever seen him. Definitely not the time for more verbal foreplay. She whispered, “Try to see it my way, all right? I had to take care of the guard in here and the one in the kitchen. I can’t lose you.”

“What about me?” he raged. “You believe it’s easier if I lose you?”

Perhaps with the passing of time, not that Gwen wanted to consider it. “You won’t. I promise. I’ve no desire to die.” She lifted her head to suckle his throat.

He eased back, not allowing her to reach him. Good God. The man was killing her. She didn’t want to argue or talk. Not now. Saving Staci and Teeko drove home the same truth Gwen had recognized in the alley after defeating the first guard. As long as the other dimensions existed, they’d always be in danger. She and Kuma had to take whatever pleasure they could before the next battle.

Don’t let that be for a few days at least.

“Kiss me,” she begged. “Fill me. I want you…I adore you. You’re everything I’ve always needed and didn’t believe existed.”

Kuma stared at her, then swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing with it.

“Do you love me?” she whispered.

“More than life. Now be quiet.” He lowered his mouth to hers.

That’s it, baby. Come to Mama.

In the kitchen, something metal fell to the floor, clanging loudly. Gwen flinched. Kuma glanced over at the door.

Oh, fuck. “Staci and Teeko are in trouble again.” Couldn’t the shit have been over for just one night?

Kuma turned back to her. “You’re not getting off this bed.”

Gwen kept trying. “We can’t let anything happen to them. We have to—”

“They’re mating,” he interrupted.

“How could you possibly know—”

“Listen,” he ordered.

Once Gwen did, she heard Teeko’s moaning, Staci’s giggles. Apparently, they were as randy as she had been seconds ago. Nothing like escaping harm to make the old hormones rage.

“They don’t need our help with that,” Kuma added.

True. “So, we’re no longer in danger tonight? We’re safe?”

“You’re not from me,” he warned.

Gwen sighed. Did he think she’d want it any other way? “I meant, are we safe from the guards.”

“For the rest of this evening,” he whispered.

“You don’t smell them?”

“Would I be answering you if I did? Would I remain in human form if I did? Would I—”

“Okay, fine, I got it.” She emptied her lungs in a noisy huff. “Still, they found this place. They must have followed us. You didn’t smell them doing so. They must have—”

“Quiet.”

“No, I’m worried. This could happen again.”

“It won’t.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because you’re not going out there again to hunt. You’re not leading the others back to this place.” He tightened his grip on her wrists as though to stress what he’d just said. “You’re not getting anywhere near them. I won’t have it. I’m going to keep you in this bed—beneath me—until you learn to obey.”

Sounded like a plan to Gwen. One she could live with until they needed to battle the guards once more. What no one else on this realm had the knowledge or ability to do, except for Nikoli and Regina. With the four of them working together, they could keep getting rid of the guards. After that, there were the women who were trapped on E4 and E5. Someone had to rescue them, right? Someone had to—

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Kuma asked.

She knew he wanted her safety and wished she could promise him that, but there was too much unfinished business. Not that Gwen was going to fight about it now. Time enough for that later. “Yes, I understand. And I’ll be good.” She smiled.

He gave her a look that said he knew she was lying, but claimed her mouth anyway to take what was his, not allowing her to worry about what would come next.

Gwen surrendered completely, grateful for his passion, love and what remained of this night. Resolved and prepared for tomorrow.

Epilogue

Paige Ross was having a bad day and an even weirder nightmare, which didn’t make sense.

A few minutes ago—at least, she thought it was only a few minutes—she’d been in Rozie’s, a Seattle watering hole that catered to local professionals. It wasn’t like her to go to singles bars or to have more than one glass of wine. Up until this morning, she hadn’t found it necessary. She’d been engaged to be married. Had the twelve-thousand-dollar bridal gown, the three-carat engagement ring and had ordered the other expensive stuff required for a wedding. Now all she was missing was her future husband.

Johnny decided he couldn’t go through with it. Two months before the date when absolutely nothing could be returned or fixed, including her pride, he’d decided he did not want to spend the rest of his life with her.

“We can keep living together,” he suggested.

For five years, they’d done that. Paige was closing in on thirty. She wanted a baby and a home, maybe even more than she’d wanted him. She’d had enough of the power career, putting in eighty-hour weeks at the law firm where she worked. Finally, she realized that no matter how many billable hours she had, she’d never make partner.

But a kid she could make.

At Rozie’s, she’d finished the last of her martini and was checking out baby clothes on her smart phone when a crying jag hit—partly because of Johnny reneging on their wedding plans, partly because she wanted a child she could pour all of her love into. When her sobs got noisy, the guy at the next stool finally noticed her but didn’t ask if she was all right. He moved to a table, safe from her tears. With an unsteady gait, she left the bar and went into the alley for a little privacy.

The next thing she knew, she had a freaking headache and was now dreaming about a place that was downright bizarre.

What appeared to be velvet covered the walls. Some of the panels were red, the others a deep scarlet. Black silk sheets draped the bed. Black candles, not lamps, lit the space. She smelled jasmine and cinnamon and—

Whoa, hold it. Since when did nightmares have fragrances?

Good God, she wasn’t sleeping. She was fucking awake and lying on the freaking silk-covered bed.

Paige opened her mouth to scream, but it caught in her throat.
Don’t make any noise,
she warned herself.
If you do, someone might come inside.

She stared at the door, suddenly realizing this room had one. Rolling off the bed, Paige swayed on her feet, then gaped at the floor. It appeared to be made of stone, possibly granite. However, it was warm, as though there was a heat source beneath it.

Frowning, she noticed her feet were bare. No high heels or stockings. A quick search told Paige the items weren’t in here, nor was her purse. Beneath the velvet hangings, the stone walls were icy, as though this room lay inside a refrigerated meat locker.

Snatching back her hand, she regarded her clothing, relieved she still wore her power suit, blouse and underwear.
Thank God, thank God, thank God.
The thought of someone touching her or undressing—

She shuddered, forcing herself not to think about that. Right now, she was alone. If she got hysterical and started to scream, someone might come in here to find out why or to shut her up.

Pulling in a ragged breath, she rubbed her neck, then stopped at a sore spot on the side. Felt like a bee sting, the skin puffy and tender. When had that happened? Who’d brought her here? What was going to happen to—

Don’t go there, dammit.

She stared at the door, then screwed up enough courage to try it. Locked. She searched the room for a weapon and settled on one of the candleholders. Made of metal, the fixture felt nicely heavy in her hand. With one well-placed whack, she could knock out the psycho who’d brought her here. Then she’d run like hell before he could—

Paige’s thoughts paused. She forgot to breathe at the sound of footfalls, the steady
tap-tap-tap
of someone approaching the door.

Skittering away from it, she bumped into the mattress, then thought better of being anywhere near the bed. She gripped the candleholder as hard she could and went to the side of the door, prepared to hide behind it until her captor came inside and she could clobber him.

The footfalls stopped.

Paige lifted the holder above her head.

Nothing happened. Had he changed his mind? Was he going to—

The knob turned. She focused on it as she’d never done with anything else before. To the right it went, to the left, as though the psycho was testing it. Didn’t he know the damn thing was locked? Had he lost the key?

Oh shit. Then she’d never get out of here.

She pressed her lips together to keep from whimpering. Her heart slammed against her chest. Her arms started to ache from the weight of the candleholder. Her head pounded with her migraine.

She squeezed her eyes, hoping it would relieve some of the hurt.

A key turned, and the door swung inward.

The sound galvanized her. Blindly, she brought down the holder and hit the knob rather than the man. The metal
ting
drowned out her gasp.

She’d expected a troll. Even through her panic, Paige could see this guy was possibly in his early thirties, tall, with olive skin and black hair combed away from his forehead. Dressed in what seemed to be camouflage gear, he was surprisingly good-looking and seemed sane, though troubled.

Why? Was he a member of a SWAT team sent to save her? Did the operation go wrong and now he was a prisoner too? If so, how in the hell had he escaped his room to come into hers?

Wait a sec. This wasn’t her room. She wanted out of here.

Before she could flee, he took the candleholder from her all too easily, closed the door and put his forefinger to his lips, indicating she needed to be quiet.

The whimpering she’d repressed earlier poured from her now.

“Don’t make any noise,” he whispered, “or the others will come.”

Others? There was more than one maniac to worry about? What about him? His thick accent sounded Greek or Middle-Eastern. Even if he did look really good, Paige didn’t know him.

“Who are—”

“Who I am doesn’t matter.”

The hell it didn’t. “Why are you here?”

“Do you want to go home?” he asked.

“Are you kidding? Of course, I do.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me.” He offered her his hand.

For the first few seconds, she couldn’t move. And then she realized she could either go with him or stay here and wait for the unknown maniac. They couldn’t be one in the same.

Paige forced herself to take his hand. His palm felt dry, nicely warm. Gently, he curled his fingers around hers. Hardly the touch of a lunatic.

“I’ll do all I can to bring you back to E1,” he said.

“What? Where?”

He didn’t answer. Pulling open the door, he led her into a candlelit hall.

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. Two of her titles received an Award of Merit in the RWA Holt Medallion competition (2011 and 2012). Tina is featured in the 2012 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. She was the editor of an award-winning Midwestern newspaper and worked in Story Direction for a Hollywood production company.

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[email protected]

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www.tinadonahue.com

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Look for these titles by Tina Donahue

Now Available:

The Yearning

Outlawed Realm

Unending Desire

Illicit Desire

The Prophecy

Come Fill Me

His hunger for one woman will make him a traitor to his world.

Unending Desire

© 2011 Tina Donahue

Outlawed Realm, Book 1

From a portal in his lab on E2, one of the five dimension 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 burn a hole in all three dimensions…and maybe create a whole new one.