Shameless Desire (The Outlawed Realm)

by Tina Donahue

  Male pride filled Teeko’s grunt. Perspiration dotted his face and upper chest. Staci could see he was straining to hold off, the same as she was each time he stroked her clit.

  She settled the matter by tightening her sheath around his cock, adding to the heavenly friction.

  Teeko shuddered. His complexion darkened even more, as though he’d run several miles. He rubbed her nub faster, harder.

  On a burst of pleasure, she came, moaning as loud as she could. Stunning warmth and arousal raged through Staci. She fought to hold on to the precious feelings but finally gave in to contentment that left her limp. Even so, she clutched Teeko’s arms as he came and shouted for all he was worth.

  As the sounds faded, it took little effort for her to coax him down. He rested his head on her shoulder, his mouth on her neck. She’d tamed the beast for a moment, leaving a man who needed tenderness and safety as much as she did.

  Smoothing his tangled hair, she whispered, “Thank you.”

  He kissed her throat and snuggled closer. “I don’t understand.”

  Of course, he didn’t. On his realm, sex was natural, free of all the crap those on this side burdened it with. “You made me feel pretty again,” she confessed.

  Teeko eased back so he could look at her.

  Crud. She wasn’t ready for that much intimacy. “You should rest.”

  “Why? I’m still hard.”

  That he was. Amazing. What sane woman would go back to a normal guy after knowing someone like him? “You haven’t caught your breath.”

  “Neither have you.” He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

  The gesture was so endearing, Staci smiled.

  “I want to ask you something,” he said.

  Her smile faded. “What?” She hoped to God it wouldn’t be about her back.

  “You’re what the guards want,” he said. “The kind of woman they take from this side. How could you not feel pretty or desired?”

  His question was so guileless, Staci had to blink back tears. For too long, she’d believed a moment like this would never happen to her. That guys like Teeko didn’t exist. “Dunno.”

  “Dunno?”

  She laughed softly, then cupped his face so she could taste his mouth once more in a hard, deep, lingering kiss. They necked for minutes. At last, she breathed, “Take me again.”

  Make me forget everything bad.

  What had happened in the past. What might be occurring with Gwen and Kuma right now.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gwen warned herself not to make any more sudden moves, like shooting her damned gun. She had to see this through in the best way possible, when she really wanted to take off screaming.

  From what Kuma had told her, Teeko claimed this house was where the ruler resided. He’d caught the man’s scent on the wind, with the distinctive odor leading him here. Many a night, the young werewolf had waited in the shadows across the street, hoping for the ruler to emerge.

  He never did.

  A quick Internet search indicated the house belonged to Dr. Regina Page, a Seattle psychologist, born and raised in this city. Gwen couldn’t figure out what Regina had to do with any of this. No way could she be providing psychological counseling to a ruler from another dimension, could she?

  This definitely wasn’t the time to ask or indulge in any polite conversation. Gwen knew it was nuts to pull a .38 on the woman or to rely on Teeko—and now Kuma’s sense of smell—as her guiding force. However, love made people do all kinds of strange things. No way could Gwen let anything happen to Kuma.

  Regina seemed as protective of the man who was now several feet behind her in the hall.

  He’d come into it a second earlier. Tall, dark and great looking with soulful eyes, he resembled most women’s dream lover, not a ruthless bastard who raped young women and men each night in the Pleasure Palace or slaughtered the werewolves for sport.

  “Go back into the kitchen,” Regina ordered him.

  He remained, focused on Kuma.

  The werewolf had bristled immediately at the other man’s presence. In that moment, Gwen knew they had the correct residence. This guy was a ruler from E4, just as Teeko had claimed.

  Loathing and rage radiated from Kuma.

  Although Gwen couldn’t blame him for what he felt, murdering the man would leave them without answers or hope.

  “Don’t, please,” she begged Kuma before he changed into wolf form and attacked. Her hand trembled so badly the muzzle of the revolver dipped from Regina’s chest to her belly and back. The freaking weapon was heavier than Gwen recalled.

  The ruler stepped toward Regina, the hardwood floor groaning beneath his weight.

  Hearing it, Regina looked over. “Stay back,” she insisted.

  Kuma pushed past Regina to get to the man.

  “Nikoli!” Regina rushed Kuma, ramming her body into his.

  Despite his superior size, he lost his footing, his shoulder striking the wall. Regina was on him in a flash, clawing his face.

  “Hey,” Gwen shouted. She swung the gun at Regina to frighten her, get her to stop.

  Regina either didn’t see the weapon or didn’t care. She clawed Kuma’s cheek, not really hurting him but not doing him any good either, except to piss him off royally, which might make him turn into a wolf and attack her.

  “Hey!” Gwen yelled again.

  Kuma howled, an unearthly sound that filled the foyer and spilled to the outside.

  Nikoli joined the fray, grabbing Regina to pull her away from Kuma. They all bellowed, growled or cursed.

  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Gwen danced between the three of them and the entrance, not knowing what to do. At last, she kicked the front door with her foot. It closed with a bang. She yelled, “Dammit, everyone, stop. Regina, we’re not here to hurt you or Nikoli. We need your help.”

  To prove it, Gwen put her gun on the accent table. She stepped away from it and lifted her hands.

  Regina stared as though she couldn’t quite believe what she saw. In a flash, she broke away from Nikoli and grabbed the gun, pointing its muzzle from Kuma to Gwen and back, clearly prepared to off them both. “Who are you?”

  “He’s one of the werewolves,” Nikoli said. His shoulders heaved with his uneven breaths.

  A thin line of blood dripped from Kuma’s face where Regina had scratched him. Hatred flared in his eyes. He growled, “You’re one of the rulers.”

  “No, he’s not,” Regina said, directing the gun’s muzzle at his head.

  “Oh, no fucking way,” Gwen said. She stepped between Regina and Kuma, prepared to take a bullet to protect him.

  Kuma grabbed her arm to pull Gwen aside. With her free arm, she elbowed his gut, just as she’d learned in her martial arts classes. His breath whooshed out. He loosened his hold

  Quick as she could, Gwen moved away from him and spoke to Regina, “We’re here for Nikoli’s help. I don’t give a shit if he’s a ruler or not. He knows about the other dimensions. Right?” she asked him.

  “Don’t answer that,” Regina ordered Nikoli.

  On a heavy sigh, he went to her.

  Gwen backed into Kuma, bracing her body against his to keep him from moving. He stiffened and growled.

  “Hey,” Regina complained at Nikoli taking the gun.

  “Yes, I know about the other dimensions,” he answered Gwen as he held the weapon behind himself. “And no,” he said to Kuma, “I’m not one of the rulers. I was a scientist on E2 before I escaped it and my people to come here.”

  “See, he’s cool,” Gwen said to Kuma.

  His chest pumped with his lingering fury, his body coiled for revenge.

  Poor baby. He’d been through so much. Gwen cupped his face, trying to soothe him, her thumb brushing away a trickle of blood.

  Regina rushed past them to the front door. Locking it, she peered through the stained-glass panes. “Are there guards out there? Are they coming for Nikoli?”

  “They want women,” Kuma said through hi
s teeth. “For Vakar and the other rulers to use in the Pleasure Palace.”

  “We need to stop them,” Gwen said. “Permanently, before they harm Kuma.”

  Nikoli regarded him. “You’ve been attacking them.”

  Kuma’s shoulders bunched even more. His knuckles were white from squeezing his fists. “They hunted my mate, Zule, on E4. They raped her to amuse themselves, then slit her open, leaving her to die.”

  Regina pressed her fingers to her mouth.

  Gwen spoke to her and Nikoli. “It’s only a matter of time before the guards start hunting in groups to protect themselves from Kuma and Teeko. He’s a member of Kuma’s pack. Of the werewolves that crossed over from E4, they’re the only two left.”

  Regina turned back to the front door. “Teeko’s out there now?”

  “No. He’s at my place.”

  “Your place?”

  “Yeah.” Gwen frowned at Regina’s confusion. “I’m one of your kind, our kind, all right? Lived in Seattle all my life. Kuma saved me the other night from one of the guards.”

  “How did you find this place?’ Regina snapped. “Has Teeko come here at night?”

  “Yeah…he smelled Nikoli. Look, I think I have a way to stop the guards, but we can’t do it without your help.”

  Regina and Nikoli exchanged a glance.

  Gwen sensed this wasn’t the first time they’d had to deal with those from the other realms. She saw unmistakable weariness in them. It might have worried her if not for the calm resignation she also recognized in their eyes. An inner strength that would see all of them through this crap…or so she hoped.

  “Let’s take this into the kitchen,” Nikoli said.

  Once there, Kuma refused to sit, standing near the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Without asking, Gwen took a paper towel. As she wet it at the sink, she noticed the items on the counter and a bowl of yellowish liquid.

  Regina went to them. “I’m making an antidote for the guard’s tranquilizer darts.”

  No shit? “Does it work?”

  Regina lifted her shoulders.

  Gwen wanted to scream why the hell don’t you know? but pushed down her anxiety for the time being and went to Kuma to clean the blood from his face. He grasped her wrist, stopping her. “Don’t.”

  “Fine, do it yourself.” She slapped the wet towel in his hand and ran her palms down her jeans, drying them. “I see you have one of those devices that open portals,” she said to Nikoli. “We need it.”

  He covered it with his hand. “Why?”

  “To get rid of the guards for good. You can calibrate it so that once a guard is in the portal, it takes him to any of the other dimensions including E4, correct?”

  Regina made a face. “Why would you want to send them to E4? They’d just come back over here.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Gwen said. “We can’t send them to E5 either.”

  “The realm of fire and ice,” Nikoli muttered.

  Regina stopped stirring the antidote. “What are you talking about? You’ve never mentioned details about it before. Have you watched what goes on there just as you watched me here?”

  He shook his head. “It’s part of the earth’s dimensions that all those on E2 study.” He spoke to Gwen. “Why can’t the guards go to E5?”

  “From what Kuma overheard, those bastards already have an outpost there where they’re taking some of the women to use as their sex slaves.”

  With her fingers to her forehead, Regina mumbled, “This just keeps getting better and better.”

  “Are you thinking about E2?” Nikoli asked Gwen. “Are you hoping to expose Vakar and the other rulers by sending the guards there?”

  “It’s a nice thought, but it’d take too long.” She leaned against the counter. “If your government is anything like the one in this realm, there’ll always be those who’d never believe what Vakar has been doing or will protect him because they’re caught up in it. He’d lie to stay in power. Actually, I was thinking about E3.”

  Regina dropped her hand and turned to Nikoli. “I’ve never heard you talk about that dimension either. What’s there?”

  “The realm of the departed,” Kuma answered.

  Regina’s brows lifted. “Huh?”

  “Each generation of my kind has heard the same tale,” Kuma said to her, then spoke to Nikoli. “Is it true? Are the dead from all the dimensions trapped there?”

  Nikoli nodded.

  “Are you serious?” Regina blurted. “Andris, Sazaar and the other vampires aren’t really gone? They’re on E3?”

  “Sazaar’s human soul is,” Nikoli said. “So are those of the other innocents the vampires turned. Andris and his kind were always evil. They had no souls. They’re gone for good.”

  Regina went back to rubbing her forehead.

  If they’d known each other better, Gwen would have given Regina a hug and told her this nightmare would end; it had to, for everyone’s sanity. As it was, she asked Nikoli, “Can you calibrate your device to send the guards there? A place they’ll never be able to escape?”

  “Even if I could, even if I gave the instrument to you, how would you get them to enter the portal willingly?”

  “Who said they’d be willing?” Kuma countered. “Set your device to take them to E3, and they’ll go inside the portal. I’ll make certain of it.”

  “Uh-uh,” Gwen cut in. “We—you and I—will make certain of it.”

  Kuma gave her a warning look as he’d done with Zule the few times she’d questioned his authority. His annoyance did nothing to dissuade Gwen.

  “How soon can you make that thing do what we want?” she asked Nikoli. “Hours? Days? Weeks? By the way, we really don’t have weeks or even days.”

  He regarded Regina before he answered. “Hours.”

  Gwen pushed away from the counter. “Awesome. Kuma and I can go hunting to—”

  “No,” he interrupted. “You’re not putting yourself in danger.”

  She frowned. “I’ve already told you, you can heal me if I’m injured.”

  “And I’ve already told you, my abilities may not work on you. Because of that, you’re not getting involved in this.”

  “I’m already involved. You can’t stop me from getting in even deeper.”

  Is that what she truly believed? He’d been gentle with her until now, the same as he’d been with Regina, holding back, not tearing her apart for attacking him. However, that would change quickly if it meant saving Gwen’s life. If need be, he’d tie her up until she couldn’t move as much as a finger. He’d gag her luscious mouth so she couldn’t speak or scream and then he’d carry her back to her home and would lock her in her bedroom.

  There, he’d show her what a werewolf in charge could do, right down to stripping and enjoying her as a female should be enjoyed by a male. He’d fill her every orifice with his fingers and cock. He’d make her scream in delight and forget all this nonsense about protecting him.

  Her cheeks flushed as though she knew what he was thinking and wasn’t certain whether she liked it or not.

  Before their time together was finished, Kuma was determined she’d see things his way. That he’d lead and she’d follow.

  He smiled. She arched one slender brow.

  Regina cleared her throat, breaking the charged silence. “You can heal?”

  “He’s amazing,” Gwen said. “Show them. Make the scratches on your face go away.”

  Kuma kept his hands at his side, refusing to perform for her or anyone.

  “He can,” Gwen insisted to Regina and Nikoli.

  “Okay,” Regina said, sounding as if she didn’t believe it. “Even if you do trap the guards on E3, what makes you think it’ll stop Vakar from sending even more of them over here?”

  “He doesn’t have a limitless supply,” Gwen said. “Even a narcissistic SOB will figure out the guards are leaving and not coming back. He’ll shut down the plan.”

  “And come up with another,” Nikoli muttered.


  “Unless he’s dead,” Kuma said.

  Gwen grabbed his arm. “Don’t even think it. You’re not going to E4 or anywhere else to hunt down Vakar, understand?”

  Heat shot to Kuma’s face, driven by his mounting exasperation with her. He wasn’t a young boy she could give orders to…nor was she like any female he’d known on E4. Brute force wouldn’t stop Gwen. It would only make her more determined.

  Reigning in his anger, Kuma patted her hand and spoke to her as he would a child. “And you’re not going on any hunt.”

  “I have to,” she insisted, digging her fingers into his arm. “You need a female to lure the guards. Have you forgotten why they’re in this realm?”

  “You’re not the kind of woman they’re looking for,” he reminded her. “I’ve already told you that. They prefer females like Staci.”

  “Too fucking bad. No way is she going to be helping you.”

  “I didn’t say she was. I’ll do what I’ve always done. Wait until a guard leaves his hiding place to find a victim, then—”

  “No. I don’t want another woman hurt. I’m doing this whether you agree or not. That’s final, got it?”

  He frowned. “You dare speak to me like that?”

  Gwen’s frown hung on for a moment more before she sighed. “Sorry, baby, but on this plane, women do their own thing.”

  She ran her knuckles over his cheek. Despite his anger with her, Kuma’s skin warmed even more beneath her touch.

  “Trust me,” she whispered, “it’s not a bad thing. You’ll get used to it.”

  Before he could counter such ridiculous thinking, Gwen spoke to Nikoli. “Can you put a rush on that?” She turned to Regina. “And what you’re doing? It’ll be dark before we know it. I don’t want those prick guards taking another woman tonight.”

  As Nikoli calibrated his device, Regina continued making the antidote. Partly because she had to finish it for Gwen and Kuma, partly to stay busy and keep from thinking about realms that consisted of fire and ice or dimensions that housed the deceased. Would she and Nikoli be in that dead zone one day? Was that the real heaven or hell?

  Suppressing a shudder, she watched Kuma pace past, going from one end of the kitchen to the other. He moved with the grace of a wild animal and with the fury of a man who wasn’t used to a female speaking her mind.