His leer was all I needed to push me over the edge as we began moving like two caged cats around each other.
“Have you ever done this before?”
I watched him as he seemed to assess my true worth. “What? Fight?”
“Not really…it’s more like… defending yourself against an all-out attack like the one I’m going to give you. But I’ll be the gentleman here. You can take the very first swing.” His eyes swept my body in a quick appraisal.
“Now why would I do that?” I questioned and smiled, allowing myself to feel the first draw of sexual tension. Two could play this game. “I’d always been told it is ladies first, just like you said but not this time. I’d rather try to figure out what you’re planning.”
The men groaned and cackled as they urged us on to what I couldn’t even begin to know or understand. I tried to ignore them as they started to take their normal places around the edges of the room. It would be like any other day where I kicked one of their happy butts.
“How about using a little of those energy orbs you seem so fond of?” His brilliant smile made my heart flutter.
Unconsciously, I smiled back. If this guy wanted to go for the gusto, fine by me. I put out both hands and allowed the energy to flow through me. Glancing at one then the other, I granted myself the luxury to revel in the fact I controlled a lot of power. As the feeling began to wash over me, I found myself on my backside, hitting the ceiling with my abruptly misguided orbs, plaster pieces falling around us because the huge hunk had knocked me flat.
Not thinking of anything else except to get out from under this man’s body, I shoved my hand in his solar plexus and threw him against the wall over eight feet away. Breathing heavily, I stood up and saw him rub his chest before going back on the prowl.
“Hope I didn’t do any damage,” I said almost breathless. The man moved so damn fast. I’d never seen anything like it before. I wasn’t going to have a chance to think like with a human, I needed to be pure reaction. This wasn’t like fighting any of the humans I’d been sparring with this past week.
He came for me again. I managed to get a hand up and throw an orb toward him and my eyes nearly bugged out. The orb’s colorful energy shifted around him as if he had a shield of some kind. His fending off my attack threw me for a loop as it now seemed as if I’d have to face him without my powers at all. His ice blue eyes grew darker by the moment as I barely managed to miss his first swing, arching my abdomen out of the way. Somehow, I got in a jab to the right side of his ribs. And damn it all, my crotch grew wetter in anticipation of what I didn’t even want to imagine. Sex with this man would be oh so good and oh so right and oh so….
Stop it! I berated myself as I tried my best to concentrate on my opponent, knowing any miss step would find me flat on my back again. I almost shook my head to clear it but realized he’d then know he was affecting me somehow.
Grunting in what I could only assume was pain he turned quick and landed a kick square in the middle of my abdominal cavity, his foot print now on the white tank over my sports bra.
“You don’t give up easily, do you?” I ground out, rubbing my gut as I continued to circle him, trying my best not to hunch over in pain. While my abdomen was exceptionally hard, so was his kick, and I didn’t want to show this man any weakness. It quickly dawned on me we could keep this up for a long time. It seemed as if we both could take a licking.
I threw another fast lightening orb into him, making it hot enough for him to want to shield his face. It was the natural reaction for anyone surprised with that much energy. I immediately followed it up with a punch to his mid-section. On my upper jab, he grabbed my arm and flipped me over his back making me land with a resounding thud on the floor a few feet away.
His fast movement didn’t surprise me as the length of him pressed me solid against the mat. I tried to buck him off without success and did the one thing I could think of…I lifted my knee…and pushed him to one side. The girl in me cringed when he doubled over. It would be hard to bed a man if his cock throbbed from the pain caused by my knee.
“Sorry…I did what I had to do.” My breathing harsh, I stood over him offering condolences and my hand. Another mistake as he grabbed it and slammed me down on the floor next to him yet again. He immediately rolled over and covered me with his rock-hard body.
Heat swelled my breasts as they heaved under this huge hunk of a man. I hadn’t noticed the particulars before, but I couldn’t help it now as I gazed at his handsome face with all the right angles to flip my buttons. My nipples were hard the moment I even thought of the word sex. I wiggled a little, trying to figure a dignified way out of this for both of us. I could be nasty if my needs weren’t met and I apparently had much the same effect on him as his stiff cock pressed into me in all the right places, making me want to spread my legs right there in front of everyone present.
“I think you’d like a man on top every once in a while,” he purred into my ear.
“Get the fuck off me,” I growled. My body arched into him of its own accord, making his body grow even more as his inflexible curves met my softer ones. Sometimes it was hell to be a woman.
To everyone else our positions appeared as if we had a power struggle going, each one of us trying to best the other. Or so I hoped. What the crowd did not know was this was my most intimate moment in more years than I’d care to count. And if it didn’t stop soon…heaven help me. I swallowed hard and held the urge to go berserk inside.
“You need to get off me,” I said as calm and quiet as I could. The man’s cock hardened by the minute and there was no way I wanted this crowd to know what was happening.
“Just make her say the word, Lukas…then let her up,” someone yelled out.
“You know, they came in pairs.”
The familiar voice prompted me to turn my head and look over to the most welcome sight I’d seen in what seemed like hours.
Darien stood calm inside the room, arms crossed. “You need to let her up, Lukas, and both of you need to come with me.”
The huge man put his hands on the floor and leveraged himself away from me as he gave me a quirky smile. The tightness in his jeans made me think he was just as uncomfortable as I was but I wasn’t sure. Reaching down, he took my hand and pulled me to stand beside him. I nodded and turned to Darien.
“What do you mean…they came in pairs, sir?”
“I said come to my office.” He turned without a backward glance. “Everyone else get back to work. Don’t make me tell you twice.”
I glanced at Lukas and sighed, grabbing my shirt from the floor. This order crap was wearing real thin on me. “I need to have a bathroom break.”
Going into the hall, I again wanted nothing better than to grip my belly but as the rest of the men filed out with me, I could not let them know how I felt. It hurt like hell where Lukas had kicked me. By morning, I would be fine but tonight would be a different story. Quickly shutting the door behind me once I entered the only bathroom on this hall, I pulled up my tank top and gazed at my upper ribs. Sure enough, I could see a large purplish bruise forming from a spot between my breasts. Moving my bra out of the way, I saw the bruise continue out around my ribs to just under them and off toward my back. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. I would do anything to make sure this man didn’t know how close he came to having me down. No one had ever come so close to incapacitating me before.
Outside of Darien’s office, I heard the men’s loud voices inside but couldn’t hear any particulars. I hesitated a moment wondering if I should disturb them before going in. Instead, I knocked and walked right inside.
“Hey…sounds like you’re having a party here.” Shutting the door behind me, I eyed the occupants. Darien sat behind his desk with his usual calm while Lukas leaned across like a cat ready to pounce on him the moment he let down his guard. “Did I interrupt something you two?”
Lukas threw me an angry look and plopped into the nearest chair. “You could say so.”<
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“Oh.” I stood there looking from one to another, wondering what the hell our bout had stirred up.
Darien eyed me again from his position of power. “Do you want to know what we were talking about?”
Gingerly, I sat down in the chair next to the man I had fought. I looked at him and realized how foolish my hope that he wouldn’t notice my pain had been. Pushing myself back into the seat, I sat there for a few seconds to get my bearings, tamping down the ache in my abdomen. “I would guess it had to do with your comment before we left the sparring room.”
He turned his gaze to my opponent. “See, I knew one of you had heard me.”
I chortled then, trying hard to hold back the laughter so it wouldn’t hurt me. “I’m not sure if I wanted to because it sounded to me like you said something to the effect of coming in pairs. The only pairs I’ve ever heard about were those on Noah’s ark which is a human legend.”
Darien steepled his hands in front of his face and regarded me skeptically before closing his eyes. “You’re as bad as he is sometimes.”
I took a quick glimpse at Lukas who merely lifted his shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“Come on. Everyone saw how you two were grinding against each other,” he stated, exasperation in his voice. If I didn’t know better, I would say he almost sounded like a concerned father. As far as I knew, I didn’t have one.
I felt the color drain from my face and I slowly licked my lips, wishing I could disappear into the floor at that moment. What I thought had been a very private moment had been on public display with all my other sparring partners looking on. “So…I haven’t had sex in a long time…,” I turned to Lukas, “how about you?”
Lukas’ lips twisted in a half smile. “It’s been a while.”
I turned back to Darien and threw my hands up. “There you have it. Just two horny people trying to beat the crap out of each other for lack of anything else to do.” I stopped and glared at him. Surely, he could understand what I was talking about. “Give us something to do and I bet we’ll get over it really quick.”
My new boss wasn’t amused as he leaned forward in his chair. “There is more to it and I think you both know what I’m talking about.”
Swallowing hard, I could see where this headed. I closed my eyes trying hard to push back any feelings from the surface. Sure, I had a very carnal reaction to Lukas Everhard, but I’d had similar feelings before though never so overwhelming. “Why did we come in pairs?”
He nodded then and leaned back in his chair once again. “From what I can surmise to complement each other, to protect each other. To love each other, have a help mate. All the usual things.”
I turned to look at Lukas and nodded at him. “And he’s my complement…my mate?”
“I don’t know. All I know is four males and four females came to this world if my sources are correct. I would assume the pairing would be similar and allow for what humans have. Home, hearth and family.”
I let out a disgusting sound, wiping my hands down my thighs. “Humans at least have a choice.”
He gazed at me hard. “Do they? Think about it. Some of them jump from person to person but a majority of them pick one and stay with that person. Usually until they die. Something special happens there. I can’t believe it won’t happen for you.”
I looked at Lukas and knew Darien was absolutely right. My world had been turned upside down the moment this man walked in the door. He made my body hunger with a need I had never felt before. Something told me I would never feel it again should this man slip through my fingers. Yet, what did it all really mean? “But why now?”
He shook his head. “All I can think of is you’ve never been in the same closed area as Lukas before. It would explain your sudden awareness of the other.”
“Kinda like a shark with blood…huh?”
“Hey…I’m not that bad.” He frowned at me.
I turned to the man in question and the rest of the world seemed to fade away. “I didn’t mean how you’re thinking. It’s not personal. What I meant was when a shark smells blood it will look high and low until it finds it. Once it does, the prey is normally history and no matter how hard it tries to get away, it can’t.”
“We’re not talking about hunted and hunter here.”
“Then what are we talking about?” My heart beat rapidly in my chest. “You came in like a predator looking for prey. And dumb-ass me took the bait, following you to something I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to do so.” My breathing increased, and my senses were on high alert. I had to get away from this room and this man as I didn’t know just what I would do if I stayed in his presence just one more minute. Without waiting for an answer, I rose and beat a hasty retreat to my lonely suite, trying to figure out just what to do about the current dilemma I now found myself in.
Chapter Two
I should have expected he would come looking for me. I had left the room on my terms and apparently someone didn’t like those terms. I sat up on the edge of my bed, listening to see if the knocking and shouting would happen again. They did but much louder this time. Thank goodness since I was the only woman staying at the facility right now, there was no one located in this wing and couldn’t hear Lukas make a fool of himself.
“Aingeal…open up…I know you’re in there.”
His deep voice made shivers run up and down my spine. I thought about leaving him out there but with my luck he would break the damn door down. I really didn’t know who would be paying for it if he did. “Just a minute.” I took a deep breath and swung it open, leaning on the door jam, door held in my hand. “What do you want?”
He stood there, propped against the opposite wall, looking finer than any man had a right to do. I hadn’t had a chance to look at him except to size him up as an opponent. The man was long and lean and all muscle but packaged in a way which was attractive, not like many of the muscle-bound asses I’d seen before. No, this man had all the right proportions. But he had a wildness about him, his dark hair still unkempt from our sparring match and his eyes holding a hint of a devil while remaining cold and aloof. He drove me to distraction with his hard, male lines…hell…who was I kidding? This man was a woman’s wet dream in one nice neat package.
And here he was outside my bedroom door, my door. No one else’s. Mine. I let out a long sigh, gazing at the floor.
“You left in a hurry.”
I rolled my eyes, my eyes returning to his face. “The man got all mushy on us…talking about forevers…and just weird stuff. I couldn’t take one more minute of his drivel.”
Lukas arched his eyebrow. “You don’t believe in forever?”
Sighing deeply, I slumped. “Lukas…I’ve been fighting the bad guys since I can remember…and some of them are much, much worse than anything you can imagine.”
“I can imagine worse,” he said in a very quiet tone. “I think I’ve been in worse…if you consider the military…and other weirdness.”
I eyed him cautiously as I felt he were holding back. This man was not what I thought but then again, I wasn’t sure just what I had thought about him. “Special Forces.”
“What else?”
He threw me a lopsided grin and I melted a little. I didn’t want this guy to think he had a chance with me because that wasn’t going to happen. I wouldn’t – couldn’t – allow it. We couldn’t be objective and be in life threatening situations together if we cared too much. It would jeopardize everything. My job was to protect the people of Earth. “You guys. You know everything, don’t you? I just don’t buy the bullshit.” I laughed.
“Well…are you going to invite me in or what?”
The ‘or what’ should have been a definite no but there was something very inviting about this man. I lifted my chin. “Give me one reason why I should.”
He put his hands in his pockets and grinned. “How about the fact your pheromones have been calling me since I had you flat on your back? Your mouth might be saying no, but your crotch is sa
ying yes.”
I gave him a cold stare. Sometimes I really hated my body. “Do you think it would be a good idea to invite you in then considering what we’ll be expected to do?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But you’ll never know if you keep me standing here in this hall.”
So, there I had it. I could invite him in and take my chances having some damn good sex or I could say no and possibly walk away from the best thing I’d ever had a chance to have. I was about to give him the ‘no’ answer and he must have seen it in my eyes because he was by my side in an instant, cupping my face with his large hands.
“Don’t like what you see?” he questioned, his voice soft. “Or like it too much?”
My eyes widened at his comment, but I had only a second to reflect as his mouth swooped down on me. And nothing in my world would ever be the same. His mouth was softer than I had expected as it moved over mine. Flames raced through my blood and I wondered briefly what would happen if we did pair up. Pushing him away enough to look up at his face, I stared and bit my lower lip. Everything within me, heart included, screamed yes while my mind said no.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
His hands slid down my body, brushing my hot skin through my clothes. “I don’t either, but I know it will relieve some tension at least.”
He kissed me again, this time more aggressive, pushing his tongue into my mouth and I felt my resolve weaken. Heat radiated from him as he continued to caress me, nibbling first on my bottom lip and moving to my neck, his hard body pressed against mine. “I want to take you to bed.”
It wasn’t a question, just a statement of fact to outline his intention. An intention I would have to agree with or…or what? There was nothing I wanted more than to do the horizontal mambo with this man. But something held me back, something I couldn’t quite understand and might never understand. I knew if I didn’t take this chance with Lukas, I might never get another one. He felt so right for me. A perfect fit. A missing piece wouldn’t fall into place as I felt it on the fringe of my mind, waiting for me to grasp its full meaning. What idiot threw away their perfect fit?
Mystic Realms: A Limited Edition Collection Page 18
