Prince of Stone (Imperia)

by Gena Showalter

  She wound her arms around his neck and locked her ankles around his waist, holding him captive. He reached between them, grasped the neck of her shirt and yanked.

  The cotton split down the middle, cool air kissing her heated flesh. She had to bite her bottom lip to stop a shout of excitement.

  He reached for her shorts, and she arched her back to give him better access.

  Suddenly, a male spoke from the doorway, saying, “Am I interrupting something?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “NICK!”

  Cheeks flaming, stomach filling with a sickening combination of dread, embarrassment and horror, Katie disengaged from Jorlan and jumped to her feet. Or she tried to disengage and jump. He jolted to a battle position first, his feet braced apart and his fists clenched, all while glaring at her brother with a promise of pain and death.

  Popping up at last, she hurried to tie the torn folds of her T-shirt together, barely managing to cover her pink lacy bra.

  “Stay behind me, Katie. I will eliminate this threat.” Jorlan quickly thrust her behind him, acting as her shield.

  He thought he was protecting her from a threat. She grinned, overjoyed. What an adorable man.

  Reaching up, she moved her fingertips over his bare back. She loved his strength, his heat. Loved his ferocity. Loved…him? No, no. Way too soon for that. But dang. No wonder she’d decided to be with him fully, nothing held back.

  Whoa. I did?

  Think about it later. Deal with Nick now.

  Her brother looked amused by Jorlan. He arched a brow and peeked at Katie over Jorlan’s shoulder. “Little Kit Kat,” he said, and clicked under his tongue. “I’m going to need a bottle of bleach, a scrub pad and a total memory wipe. STAT.”

  Inwardly cringing—what had he seen? heard?—Katie placed her hands atop Jorlan’s shoulders and rose to her tiptoes to meet Nick’s gaze. “Nick,” she repeated with a bit more calm. “What the hel—heck are you doing here?”

  Nick chuckled. “Is that any way to greet your favorite brother?”

  “You forgot a word, you little shit.” She pulled a quarter from her pocket and tossed. “Currently, you are the least favorite.”

  Jorlan’s muscles relaxed, going slack beneath her palms. “You are family,” he said.

  “Yes.” Hiking her thumb in Nick’s direction, she said, “The man standing just out of strangling distance is my voyeuristic brother Nick.”

  “As he is part of your family,” Jorlan announced, “I shall allow him to live.”

  “Well, do us both a favor and reconsider that,” Katie said, sweetly batting her lashes.

  The sarcasm flew right over Jorlan’s head. “Done and done.” He withdrew the spatula and prepared to attack.

  “I was kidding, only kidding,” she said, gripping his bicep. His very big, very hard bicep. So powerful!

  Nick snickered. “No reason to be so sensitive, little lovebird. Tile burn is a bitch. Anyway.” He waved at Jorlan, his tawny eyes filled with amusement one second, and savage determination the next. “I’d like an introduction to your guest.”

  “I am Jorlan and I—”

  “The grilling can wait,” she rushed to interject. No telling what kind of details Jorlan would reveal. The whole “from another planet” thing? The existence of magic and curses? Better not to take any chances. “He’s my date, and that’s all you need to know. Besides, we’re a little busy at the moment. Hint, hint.”

  Nick blew her a kiss. “Nah. I think I’ll stay. There’s nothing more important than family bonding time, amiright? So where are you from, Jorlan? I can’t place your accent.”

  “He’s from somewhere far away, but it’s a sensitive and painful subject right now,” she rushed out before Jorlan had a chance to respond.

  “I feel you, man,” Nick said, somewhat somber. A mere twelve months her senior, he and Katie had always been close. And yeah, okay, he might be her favorite.

  He was the family comedian, and he enjoyed teasing and tormenting his loved ones just for the fun of it.

  Anytime she’d gotten a bruise, he had laughed and called it a “button,” then repeatedly jabbed his index finger at it, chanting, Reset. He made life a game, and she adored him for it. With Nick, she usually laughed so hard she peed a little. Never a dull moment.

  Of all her brothers, he was the most protective of her. Anytime a boy had hurt her feelings, Nick had hurt the jerk’s face. The only time his temper came out to play.

  Grinning now, Jorlan lowered the makeshift weapon. “Your appearances, mannerisms and vernacular are so similar.”

  “No, they aren’t,” she and Nick said at the same time.

  They mock scowled at each other, and Jorlan laughed outright.

  “Fine. Almost everyone we meet assumes we’re twins.” They were both tall, possessed the same straight, silvery-blond locks, and the same light brown eyes that tilted up at the corners. That, to Katie, was where the similarities ended.

  While she had curves, he had hard planes and sharp angles. Mischievousness permanently etched his expression, yet she possessed more of a serious edge, usually all work and no play.

  Until Jorlan.

  “Well? What are you doing here?” she repeated.

  Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “Can’t a guy visit his one and only sister out of love?”

  “Not this particular brother. What gives?”

  “You know me too well.” Grinning, he switched his attention to Jorlan and held out a hand. “Since Katie refuses to be polite, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Nick James. I handle all of Katie’s social media accounts. Well, for her business, not her life. Were I posting about her life, I’d break my own heart.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny.” She flipped him off. “He only charges me a once a month wingwoman duty,” she said, her tone as dry as the desert.

  “I am Jorlan en Sarr. I handle…Katie.”

  Nick’s jaw went slack, and Katie had to smother a giggle.

  “If I knew what a wingwoman was,” her…boyfriend continued, “I’m certain I would be properly impressed.” Frowning, he regarded Nick’s proffered hand, as if he had no idea what to do with it.

  “Shake it,” she whispered in his ear.

  “Ah, ’tis a form of greeting. While in the garden, I observed many people who performed such a task.” He took Nick’s hand and pumped up and down with way too much force.

  Through narrowed eyes, Nick studied Jorlan more intently. “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

  Katie swallowed a moan. What if her brother recognized Jorlan…as the statue that had once stood in her garden?

  If anyone could make the connection, it was Nick. He was the cocreator of Slip through Time, a virtual reality game. He had a high-concept imagination.

  No, no. No way. No one would ever put two and two together. She barely believed Jorlan had once been encased in stone, and she’d witnessed his emergence. Otherworldly aliens, mystical curses and magic spells went beyond the realm of perceived truth.

  Still, she wouldn’t take any chances. She couldn’t tell the truth, but she refused to lie to someone she loved. What if she simply implied he was…who? Oh! The self-help guru, Hunter something. The redhead at the café had mentioned the two looked just alike.

  No, no one famous. With a quick internet search, Nick could easily disprove the notion. So, she’d have to go with something else. But what?

  “Hey.” Nick wagged a finger in Jorlan’s direction. “You’re that guy on the cover of those romance novels Katie likes to read.”

  Oh, perfect! “You can’t tell anyone,” she said, doing her best to appear worried. “Jorlan doesn’t want the world knowing who or what he is. He just wants to be a normal guy for a bit.” All true.

  Nick gave an understanding nod. “Do the women pose naked with you?”

  “I have no woman save Katie.” He reached around to wind his arm around her waist…and gently squeeze her butt.

  Heat whisked through her,
her body ready for another orgasm. Fighting a moan, she slapped his hand and moved to stand beside him, slanting him a halfhearted glare that said, Behave. But only a little.

  Fully absorbed in the conversation—because of course he was, considering they were discussing naked ladies—Nick barely spared her a glance. “How does a guy go about getting a job like that?”

  “You love computers too much to switch jobs,” she reminded him.

  “Who says I can’t do both?” her brother shot back. “Naked modeling and creating VR games.” He patted his own cheek. “You’ve seen this face, right?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Jorlan will not be giving you modeling tips, and that’s that.” Another truth. He couldn’t give any tips, because he wasn’t a model.

  “I must do as my woman says,” Jorlan said, clearly amused. “Her temper nigh flays her opponents alive.”

  “Very true, very true.” Nick shoved his hands in his slack pockets and jingled change. “So how’d you two meet?”

  “I told you this wasn’t the time for a grilling.” Katie linked her fingers with Jorlan’s. “Let’s go to the kitchen. You can explain whatever it is you’re wanting from me while we eat lunch.”

  Jorlan perked up. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?”

  “As many as you want.” With that, she led him around her brother.

  Behind them, Nick erupted into laughter. “Katie,” he called, “you’ve got a piece of linoleum glued to your ass.”

  Of course, the two men were best friends after that. They all entered the kitchen together, the boys chuckling over something Jorlan had said. She was fairly certain that something involved breasts and thighs, and not the chicken variety.

  As soon as she released Jorlan’s hand, Nick slung his arm around Jorlan’s shoulders and fired off a round of questions centered around Jorlan’s make-believe job.

  “Do you get to hold them against you or are you put together digitally? Do you undress in the same room? Of all the models you’ve worked with, who has the biggest rack?”

  Scowling now, Katie hurled a bottled water at each man’s stomach. Jorlan moved with lightning-quick reflexes, catching the thing midair; Nick wasn’t so skilled. The plastic knocked the air from his lungs.

  She smiled, smug. “Oops. My bad.”

  He blew her another kiss before unscrewing the top and taking a long swig. When he finally lowered the bottle, he said, “I thought you were dating Steve Harris, that detective from Gray’s unit.”

  Katie had just tipped her bottle to her mouth. She spewed every last drop onto the floor. “What was that?”

  “Steve Harris. The future Mr. Katie James.” Nick practically sang the words to the melody of Katie and Steven sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

  Jorlan stiffened. “Does this Steve want to die?”

  She slammed her water onto the countertop. “Steve isn’t my boyfriend. He expressed interest in me, but I turned him down.”

  “The way Gray talked,” Nick said, “you and Stevie boy were already planning the wedding.”

  Mouth agape, she skipped her gaze to Jorlan.

  He crossed his arms over his chest, a storm cloud of fury brewing in his expression. Nick continued talking, saying something about flowers and churches, but she barely heard him. She continued to watch Jorlan. He grew stiffer and stiffer by the second.

  The water bottle crunched in her too-tight grip. Just what kind of woman did Jorlan consider her? Only moments before, she’d kissed him, touched him and contemplated making love to him. Now he thought her so lacking in honor that she would marry another man?

  Men were idiots!

  “I’ve never even met the guy,” she grated to both her brother and Jorlan. “And I have no interest in meeting him, either.”

  Jorlan relaxed. Barely.

  “Good. That’s actually why I came to see you.” Nick worried a hand over his clean-shaven jaw. “I wanted to tell you to stay away from Steve.”

  Something about his too-slick tone made her suspicious of his intensions. She planted her fists on the widest flare of her hips. “Why warn me away from him? Gray says he’s a good man.”

  “Because I want—wanted—you to go out with a buddy of mine instead. He just struck it rich selling a video game, so he can easily provide for you and any kids—”

  “’Tis enough!” Narrowed gaze locked on Nick, Jorlan advanced.

  * * *

  I WILL RIP Nick’s tongue out!

  A wild mix of emotion pummeled Jorlan. Disappointment. Fury. Even fear. Katie and her brother spoke so blithely of her marriage to another man, and Jorlan did not like it!

  He did not believe her capable of making love with one man while being promised to another, yet the knowledge made no difference to his fury.

  He would allow no other man to touch her. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her. He would not share!

  Jorlan had almost reached Katie’s brother, his intent to pulverize shining brightly in his eyes.

  To his surprise, Nick grinned and held up his hands in a sign of surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ve changed my mind about the other guy. You’re perfect for our Kit Kat. Honest. My buddy pales in comparison.”

  Jorlan stilled. Nick’s retraction mollified him somewhat, yet it wasn’t the reason he’d stopped. A startling revelation stabbed him. He did not simply lust for Katie, and he did not need her simply because she had the power to save him. No. He…cared for her. He cared deeply for her.

  They’d shared painful moments from their pasts. They’d kissed and touched. He’d watched her writhe with pleasure and break apart as she came. Now he was under her spell.

  The knowledge blistered him, but all he could do was curse his own stupidity. Why had he allowed himself to care about this woman? Had he learned nothing from Maylyn?

  At least he hadn’t been foolish enough to fall in love with Katie—yet. From now on, he needed to be more careful. He could still fight to win her heart, but he had to also guard his own. Unless…

  Before, he’d considered taking her home to Imperia with him. He’d discarded the idea but for the life of him he could not remember what his reasons had been.

  What if he did it? What if he wed her and took her to his homeland? He wouldn’t break her heart when he left, so he wouldn’t have to live with a lifetime of guilt. He could make love to her again and again, could watch her reach her peak again and again. When they tired of each other—everyone always tired of each other at some point—he could return her to Earth.

  You will willingly part with your wife?

  Of course! He could not imagine being this possessive for the rest of eternity.

  Jorlan grinned, his good humor restored.

  Katie gave him a strange look.

  Nick settled in a stool on the other side of the speckled counter. “You do anything besides modeling, Jordie? Like security work? Or military intelligence? I swear you’ve got the same guarded look in your eyes that Gray and Erik have.”

  “You do not get to call him Jordie,” Katie said, and he grinned again.

  She is as possessive of me as I am of her.

  “Who is this Erik?” he demanded, his fury bursting forth anew.

  Katie slapped him on the shoulder. “Your jealous fits are cute and all, but Erik is my brother.”

  Another one? “Just how many brothers do you have?”

  “Five in total. Four are scattered across Texas, and one lives in New Orleans.”

  “Well?” Nick interjected, obviously not liking that his question had been ignored. “How did you guys meet?”

  He looked to Katie. So far, she’d kept her answers vague, always misleading Nick away from the truth.

  She nibbled on her bottom lip before saying, “I needed a handyman, and he fit the bill. He agreed to be my temporary employee.”

  “You’re paying him to work for you?” Her brother tsked under his tongue. “What else are you paying for?”

  Katie slapped her brother’s shoulder this t
ime. Unlike Jorlan, who had given no reaction, Nick winced.

  “Ow!”

  “Say another word along those lines,” she snarled, “and I will personally kick your ass into next week.”

  Jorlan grinned, glad such threats were not reserved for him alone.

  “You owe me another quarter.” Nick’s brown eyes glistened mischievously. “I have a feeling I’m going to leave here a rich man.”

  Katie punched him in the same spot she’d slapped him. “You’re not getting any money from me. You earned your curse.”

  Enjoying their easy banter and amusing byplay, Jorlan settled against the wall, getting comfortable. Although, a twinge of regret and homesickness did wash through him. Regret because he’d never thought to tease his half-sister in such a way.

  Corrine was his father’s first and only child with the first queen, the woman he’d wed before Jorlan’s mother, Alana. When the first queen died and Alana had moved in, Corrine had been only two. Nannies had raised her, Alana wanting nothing to do with her. As she’d grown older, Jorlan and Percen had followed their mother’s lead, a great shame to him now.

  Corrine had grown to be skittish of everyone, especially men.

  If Jorlan could go back, he would shower her with affection and teasing.

  “Jorlan?” Katie asked.

  Both siblings were regarding him expectantly. He must have missed some of the conversation. “I am staying in Katie’s house,” he said, hoping that answered whatever question had been placed before him.

  Katie’s jaw dropped.

  Nick lost his grin. “That’s good to know. But for the third time, are you up for pool later? After work, of course. We certainly wouldn’t want to piss off the dragon lady.”

  Why could these people not speak plainly? Jorlan recognized all of the words Nick had used, but not their meaning when strung together. Up for pool? Dragon lady? However, he knew enough to deuce an invitation had been issued. “I thank you for the offer, yet I must decline. What time I have left on your world will be spent with Katie.”

  Nick’s gaze sharpened. “You’re going back to wherever you’re from?”

  “Aye.” He gave a single nod. “Soon.”

  “How soon?” Nick pressed.