She did want more, she thought with a blush. He was right. But how was it he could be so utterly certain of it? What was more intimidating was that he immediately reached to cup both of her breasts in his big palms and began to mold them in strong, tight pulls. At the same time he was crushing her harder into his body, making sure she felt every inch of him. His thigh pressed between her legs, coaxing her to give him entrance, but she was too distracted by the thrills of sensation radiating through her body from the points of her nipples, which he was alternately abrading with his roughly callused hands and tugging and pinching gently with his fingers. It was strange, but she got the impression he was forcing himself to be gentle, as if he was not used to handling delicate things. The almost brutish way he’d handled her so far would certainly attest to that. But if she had to admit it to herself, she liked it. She liked understanding that he was barely in control of himself because of how she was making him feel. It was a powerful female feeling, one that every woman craved.
Then she felt his teeth on the back of her neck, opening wide just at the juncture of her shoulder, scraping the area again and again in erotic gnaws of attention. It was as though he wanted so badly to sink those teeth into her, but civilization was holding him back.
Barely.
The sounds erupting from deep in his chest were primal and rough.
“Mine.”
The word ejected out of him as if he couldn’t control it. Nor did he control the way he gripped her, his nails biting into her and making her gasp at the small pain. When had his nails grown so sharp? And what did he mean by “mine”? She wasn’t his. She wasn’t anybody’s. Just her family’s. Nobody else wanted her. And even if they did, she was trapped where she was, helping her father raise her younger sister and manage the ranch. There was no escape from her responsibilities. As much as she wanted to run with the fantasy of letting powerful arms sweep her away from all her troubles and the weight of what was expected of her, it wasn’t going to happen.
Abruptly she wrenched herself out from under his secure grip. It took a few clever twists of her body, but she eventually ducked under the hands that reached to resecure her and backed several steps away. She readjusted her dress and smoothed a hand over her hair as she raised her chin and faced him down. She tried to pretend she wasn’t embarrassed by the liberties she had allowed him to take with her body.
“I-I’m not yours,” she stammered, scrubbing at the flush she knew was coursing over her cheeks. “I’m not anyone’s.”
“Untrue,” he argued as he stepped up closer to her again, invading her personal space with his overwhelming presence and the deeply male scent of him. He reeked of the vast outdoors, horses, and just pure animal male. “Your family has possession of you in a way you cannot seem to break free of. And you are unhappy about it.”
“Now see, how do you know that?” she demanded to know. “I didn’t tell anyone that!”
“But it’s true, is it not?”
“That’s not the point!” she cried, flustered by his interest in this part of her life.
“Oh, but I think it is the point. Deny me rights to you if you will, but do not sit here and claim no one else holds your leash. Your family has you caged like a pretty little parrot, doing and saying everything they expect of you. You’d have more freedom with me.”
“I don’t even know you!” she exclaimed.
“Does that truly matter? Wouldn’t anything be better than being somewhere that crushes your spirit so thoroughly?”
“No,” she said through a suddenly tight throat. “I love my family and they love me. I have responsibilities—”
“You have taken over as your father’s wife. The only thing he doesn’t expect of you is to fuck him. All the rest, however, he demands you do perfectly and without complaint. And you do it well. You do it with sweet patience. But I know what lies in your heart. You cannot lie to me, Kat. You cannot hide. I see everything inside your heart and mind.”
“How?” she uttered in complete and total shock. How could this stranger know the deepest secrets of her heart? Even her own family had no idea she wished for escape in the worst way. In her fevered delusions she had even made up the idea of a horrible beast granting her wishes. As if she would do anything to be free, even submitting to the whims of such a vile creature.
But that had just been a transfer of one prison for another. Perhaps it all had been an expression of her subconscious, a deep internal reflection of just how lashed down and trapped she felt day after day after day.
But that still didn’t explain how Adrian knew so much about it.
“Adrian.”
Aerlyn’s voice was stern as she stood several feet behind them. They both turned to look at her, her long black hair whipping in the wind as it wound freely down her body. Adrian immediately tensed, as if he were a boy being called to task for doing something wrong, and his entire face darkened with a mix of irritability and resignation. He looked back at Kathryn as if he hated the idea of leaving her in any way, and Kathryn couldn’t help the hot blush that raced over her in spite of her confused thoughts and emotions. She had a thousand questions and uncertainties, but it seemed her body was quite sure of itself and what it wanted. And it seriously craved the idea of being back in Adrian’s hands.
Adrian gave a soft, short growl of frustration before he turned on his heel and marched off in Aerlyn’s direction. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she could swear the brother gnashed his teeth at the sister as he passed her. If he did, she made no sign she cared about it in the least. Instead, she beckoned softly to Kathryn.
“Come, it’s time you were resting again,” she said.
Adrian snarled fiercely at his sister, his fists clenching with the effort not to strike her again for keeping him from his precious treasure. She might be trying to force him to give her up, but he certainly didn’t have to like it, and he wasn’t going to waste his remaining time with her by pussyfooting around things. He was overwhelmed by the way she had responded to him. He had never expected she would…but then again, she hadn’t realized she was being touched by a monster. He could never have attempted anything close to that in his real form without ensuring she’d scream the world down on them all.
The thought made him even angrier and he knew his sister could sense that because she took a cautious step back away from him.
“You cannot accost the girl in such ways!” she scolded him fiercely. “And you cannot tell her things that are in her mind that she has not spoken aloud. You are going to ruin the protection of the dream!”
“I don’t give a damn,” he bit out. “This dream was not my idea! I don’t know why I ever agreed to go along with it!”
“Because you know that there would be consequences to your actions far harsher than me scolding you if we do not get her back to her home seamlessly, without her realizing just how real we are! How real you are.”
“I like that I feel real to her. She is not afraid of me when I touch her.” He rumbled with appreciation, the sound accenting the expression on his face and hands that reached out as if they were ready to grasp Kathryn once again.
“That is only because she doesn’t know your true face, Adrian,” she said as gently as she could, trying to remind him that this was all illusion no matter how they sliced it. “If she did, she would be repulsed and would run away as frightened as ever from you. You know that. Why are you making this so difficult?”
Adrian clenched his fists, wanting to scream at her what was so obvious to him. Why wasn’t it obvious to her? Kathryn was his! Body and soul, she belonged to him, and the more he touched, the more painful it all became, the more certain he was of his choice. Just the way she had responded to him had convinced him of it. But nothing he said was going to make Aerlyn see that truth. His sister was determined to take Kathryn away from him. And as far as he was concerned, that made her the enemy. One that he had to defeat at all costs.
He worked up a tight-lipped smile.
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“I will not make it difficult any longer,” he said.
The capitulation made his sister wary. She loved her brother with all of her heart, but she didn’t trust him as far as she could spit, and that wasn’t very far at all. Tomorrow, she thought. This all must end tomorrow. For some reason Kathryn’s presence alone was like tormenting a savage dog with a treat, dangling it in front of his nose, yet yanking it away every time he got close to it. Eventually, the dog would lose patience and get to the snack no matter what, even if it meant biting off its master’s hand. But with the heart of a sister it was hard to suspect the worst of him all the time. She didn’t trust him, but she wanted to so badly. She had once trusted him with everything and anything. He had been a valiant and powerful spirit of honor and goodness. She had to believe that those parts of Adrian still existed. That they would one day return.
She moved closer to him, reaching to wrap her arms around him. In an explosive rejection, he pushed her off and away.
“Keep your pity to yourself!” he roared at her. “I am sick to death of it! I have never asked for your simpering solace, nor have I any need for it!”
With that, Adrian stormed away from her before he was tempted to strike her again or before he lost all control of his temper. But instead of finding his horse and riding it until his temper cooled, he searched for Kathryn. Damn Aerlyn to hell and back. He was going to spend as much time with her as he could, whether his sister liked it or not. It was true that sometimes when this mental form of touching happened he could feel his real body flashing briskly with pain, but it was getting easier to bear and he was driven to find a way past the pain and into her graceful, trembling little hands.
He knew exactly where she was. He was aware of every detail of the world they held together with their skills and power. He had to be. Nothing could fail or be flawed, or their butterfly in this jar would see it for what it truly was—mere illusion.
What surprised him as he stood over her in the living area some time later was that she was asleep. No doubt having a dream within a dream. That was a nuance Aerlyn would be taking care of. He wanted to shake her awake and demand she interact with him, but he stayed himself as he stared at the sleeping softness of her perfect features. Her full lips had parted with the depths of her sleep, her breathing deep and rhythmic. For a moment he thought she might give off a delicate little snore. If she had, he would have marveled at Aerlyn’s attention to the smallest details. As it was, she had a superfine blush on her exposed cheek and a strand of misplaced hair that kept trembling like a bowstring every time she exhaled.
Watching her now as though she’d cast a paralyzing enchantment on him, Adrian noted the fetal position she was curled up in, her arms crossed under her breasts and her knees folded tight to her chest as if she were freezing cold. There was, in fact, a large window open nearby, and a cool breeze blew in and out, lifting the curtain and carrying with it the sound of gently toned bells. His sister had created wind chimes along all points of the house, a way of covering up mistakes in noise should they forget some detail. Creating a dream from scratch to the point of convincing the dreamer it was absolute reality was like creating an epic film that would run for two days. But they were responsible for every part of it, from set dressing to sound design to special effects, and even continuity. All of it. It was exhausting, and after this he and his sister were going to need a lot of rest and a lot of energy to feed from.
How they were going to explain the gap in their delivery of dream energy to the Ampliphi was anybody’s guess. He supposed his clever sister would think of something. He could come up with something too, if he gave a damn. But he didn’t. The only thing he gave a damn about right now was himself and his beautiful little Kat.
Adrian couldn’t help staring at her as she slept. Her long, graceful neck was exposed in such a way that her pulse could be seen. Suddenly his tongue itched to feel the thrum of it against his taste buds. Her hip was pronounced as she lay on her side, the curve of true womanliness that led into a juicy backside making his mouth water.
Initially he had planned to only keep his treasure, to literally place her on a pedestal and admire her again and again for the perfection he saw in her. He had not thought much past the urge to take her when it had fallen on him, but now he’d had time to contemplate this precious creature that his sister said he could not have, that he had to give back. Everything about that idea felt wrong to him. And he wasn’t standing there in a haze of rage and stupidity, letting it cloud his thinking. In fact, he had not felt such true clarity in many, many years.
She was a fighter, and in her heart she yearned for great adventure. He could give that to her. More than she’d ever dreamed. Unfortunately, it would mean she could never see her family again. But she would get over that, he thought with a dismissive nod.
It was the alternative that could not be tolerated. Let her go? Let her fade away into obscurity in a world that didn’t appreciate the first thing about her, a world full of people who could not see the wondrousness of who she was or relish the innocence inside her?
No.
Adrian couldn’t stomach the way it made him feel just to think of it. So yes, the more he thought on it, the more clear his purpose of mind became. He was sorry for what must come and all the pain it would cause, but his soul screamed at the idea of leaving her behind, and he could not tolerate it. Even now he wanted to roar with fury at the feelings it garnered, but he didn’t want to do anything that would draw attention to what he was about to do.
Aerlyn must not be made aware until the last possible second.
Adrian’s consciousness transferred out of the dream and into his real body. He took a deep, silent breath at the change, then looked around. He was in the environs of his mirror just as his sister was in the environs of hers. They could not cross into each other’s mirrors without causing themselves excruciating pain. Hers was a focus of all that was good and light; his—well, his was truly the stuff of nightmares. As good and clean as Aerlyn was, she couldn’t mentally or physically cope with the heavy blackness of his mirror.
And the only way Kathryn could safely do so was through her own nightmares.
So while they manipulated the dream world, they stayed in their respective mirrors and Kathryn’s physical body lay on a stone table directly between the two rooms they used. When he saw her there curled up in a fetal position and shivering, he cursed himself and his sister. The stone had leached all the warmth from her body and she must be freezing. Cronos had been refused permission to touch her or to even come near her. Otherwise he might have thought to throw a blanket on her. But there was no telling with Cronos. The little mongrel might have sat there enjoying every minute of Kat’s suffering. The very idea broiled Adrian with flames of anger.
Wait…wait…softly, now. Do nothing to attract attention or you will lose her forever.
Telling himself this forced him to calm down and control himself, something he never would have done before, never even would have been capable of. But Adrian didn’t mark the change in his control. He just used it as he planned to betray both of the women currently in his life. He walked up to the stone table and peered down at his deeply sleeping treasure. She would not awaken because of the sleeping spell she was under. It was part of his and Aerlyn’s powers, the ability to draw people deeper and deeper into sleep. Now he checked her and felt the theta waves of her deepest sleep state rolling over him like a blanket. Then he reached out and ringed one clawed hand beneath her neck and shoulders and the other under her knees.
Then he carried her to his mirror, and without a moment’s hesitation he stepped through.
The darkness of the portal lashed at his good-hearted burden with stinging, painful power. It wanted to suck the white and light out of her, wanted to destroy the innocence. Like trying to nibble on a food it was allergic to, it nibbled at Kathryn. The agony jolted her out of her sleep, as he’d expected. She gasped as the pain rode through her, but she screamed when
she saw his face and realized he was holding her.
“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream!” she said hastily to herself, squeezing her eyes shut.
“This is no dream, Kat,” he rumbled at her. “This is the beginning of a new life. For both of us.”
Her eyes flew open and she gaped at him, staring into his eyes for the longest moment. Then, “Adrian?” she asked, her voice crossing between horror and fear.
Adrian was surprised she had identified him. He no longer carried any traits of his former self, of the man she had eagerly let touch her. And for a moment, Adrian was jealous of himself. She would never react so hotly for a monster like him. She might always want the handsome man who had once been but was now gone.
“How did you know?” he asked gruffly.
“Your voice. Your eyes.” Kathryn was astounded she hadn’t recognized it before. Or perhaps she had and her mind had dismissed it because she couldn’t process the concept. If this was another nightmare, why was she demonizing Adrian? He had done nothing wrong. Not unless giving her those wild moments of pleasure was wrong. And she didn’t think that at all. Didn’t feel it in her heart. So why this nightmare version of the man?
“This is not a dream,” he told her gravely. “This is the reality. I am sorry to be the one to tell you this.”
And as he said it, he stepped out of the mirror. But instead of stepping into her world, the earthly plane, he stepped into his.
The plane they called Beneath.
Chapter 6
The room they’d been in a moment ago had been more like being out of doors, Kat thought, when it was the dreariest of days. It was that combination of heavy grays and barely blue skies, only there had been no skyline. That color had surrounded them completely, like a rolling bank of dense fog. But then a moment later he was stepping free of it, not through an obvious doorway or anything she could see at first, just a step that took them from one room into the next.
Stealing Kathryn Page 8
