STORY EXCERPT

“Tell me, Naveenah, did you enjoy my brother’s touch?”

He released Antares and stalked toward her. He’d given the darkness too much free reign, and now, despite how badly he did not want to hurt Naveenah, his feet moved him toward her and his mouth spoke harsh words that were dagger sharp.

“Did he do for you what I have? Did his mouth bring you more pleasure than mine? Did he fuck you well, johoree?”

“Don’t you dare!” The deep growl came from behind, and in a flash Antares was atop him again. “She is not johoree. She is mine.”

She is not yours. She is rianu.

Antares’s fist slammed into his face, but this time he didn’t try to stop him. In truth he needed Antares to stop him.

A wave of emotion inundated him. In that moment, he almost wished Antares would kill him. He took punch after punch without defense. Without Naveenah, he realized, life would not be worth living. He surrendered his soul and his life to his fate. If Antares killed him, so be it.

* * * *

Naveenah had to stop this. This was all her fault, and she would not have the deaths of these men on her conscience. Screaming had done no good. The men were lost to her, instead, prisoners to their rage and hatred. What she had seen Nikolai do tonight truly scared her, and the entire situation was a horrible, horrible mess, but she would not let things end like this. There was only one thing she could see to do that might work.

She steeled her nerves, knowing she would most likely get hurt, but Nikolai and Antares were everything to her now. She couldn’t let this continue. In a flash of movement, she covered Nikolai’s bleeding body with her own.

“Antares, stop!”

She closed her eyes as his fist pummeled toward her face, expecting the pain to burst forth at any second.

When she felt nothing, heard nothing, she slowly opened her eyes to see Antares still standing above her, fists frozen in place, eyes haunted.

“You choose him?” His voice broke like jagged ice. She hadn’t meant to choose anyone. She merely wanted the brutality to stop.

“No. I mean…”

She stood and tried to touch him, but he pulled away. The cracks across her heart were starting to congeal into one shattered entity. How could anyone bear such pain?

“I loved you.” He cupped her face in his hands, more roughly than he had before, then placed a kiss to her lips. “And you reject me.”

“No.”

He released her and found his pants in the rubble of his room.

“Antares, please listen to me.”

She looked over her shoulder at Nikolai, who sat with eyes closed. He appeared to be in a trance, but she couldn’t concern herself with him now. She needed to stop Antares.

“Antares, I love you.”

“Lies.”

His voice was cold and level. The passionate responses she was so used to from him were gone. He dressed and began to walk away, then grabbed her one arm, pulling her face close to his. The pain and anger on the surface of his soul appeared with all clarity in his eyes.

“Tell the nay-chi I declare war on them all, and I won’t sleep until they are all dead.”

He released her as he stormed from the room, throwing her with enough strength that she stumbled and nearly fell. Naveenah wanted to run after him, convince him this was all a huge misunderstanding, but her feet were frozen to the floor. She looked to Nikolai, who seemed completely engulfed in his trance. Her heart was destroyed. Even if Nikolai would not refuse her the way Antares had, it didn’t matter. She could never be with Nikolai again after all this. Her entire world was crumbling into pieces of burning wreckage all around her, and she had no one to blame for it. She had done this all by herself.

Panic clawed up her spine and dug into her lungs. She couldn’t breathe. The rain poured in through the crumbled ceiling. With one last look at Nikolai, she ran. Ran from the room, ran from the hotel, ran out into the night, drenched and shivering. Heedless of the dangers she faced in the dark city streets, she sought only to outrun the pain and hide from what she had done.

ADULT EXCERPT

“Undress. I wish to see you.”

She had to remind herself to breathe as his voice reached deep into her soul and took hold of her deepest desires. She stood before him on the threadbare blue rug and did exactly what he asked of her, removing both her dress and her underthings until she stood before him naked.

The floor was cold, even through the rug. Sunlight filled the room now so nothing was hidden from him. She stood still, offering herself up to him. He looked at her for a long time, his heated gaze burning her skin and setting her desire ablaze, but she waited.

He stood off the bed. He brushed her cheek with one finger, then achingly slow, he walked around her in a circle, examining her from all angles. Naveenah stood still. She did not fidget despite how badly she wanted to. His perusal made her feel like a rare treasure being examined and admired for its exquisite qualities and many facets.

“I feel as though I have waited my lifetime for this moment, magita. I intend to enjoy it.”

He stepped back in front of her, tipping her chin up with one finger so she would look him in the eye.

“More than that, I intend to make certain you enjoy it.”

Naveenah sighed as his erotic promise registered on her heart. He cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips close.

“You honor me, magita.”

His kiss was soft, gentle, with hidden fire beneath licking at all her senses. She pushed her fingers up into his hair, tugging, pulling him just a hint closer. It was she who deepened the kiss, separating her lips and seeking him out with her tongue. He moaned as his met hers, and he wrapped his arms tight around her waist, lifting her from the floor and leaving her feet dangling in midair. He turned and laid her across the bed and watched her with blazing intent as he loosened the ties on his suede britches.

Her gaze momentarily snagged where his wound had been, but not even a scar remained. She reached to touch it, but he grabbed her wrist, forcing her attention back to him.

“You are mine. You will not hide any part of yourself from me.”

She licked her lips and nodded as her heart raced, wondering what he would do next.

“Spread your legs for me.”

She started to laugh, but the sound dried up and caught in her throat. She shivered. She reached to her core and found the courage to do as he asked. She’d never been spoken to like that before, but—good God—she loved it.

He stared at her until she started to cross one leg over the other. She had made only the slightest movement when he placed a hand on her left thigh and met her gaze with his own.

“You do not have my leave to block my view.” He slid his fingers down her inner thigh. Lightly grazing her mound with his other hand, he stopped just short of where she ached to be touched. “You are mine, are you not?”

She nodded enthusiastically, knowing if she said anything other than yes, he would stop.

“I cannot hear you, Naveenah. You are mine?”

“Yes. Yes!”

She felt herself become more aroused than she had ever believed possible, though he’d barely touched her. He reached beneath her, grasped her ass, then pulled her closer to the edge of the bed.

“You will remain still.”

She shivered again, but immediately complied.

He went to his knees between her thighs. She lifted her head to see him, but within seconds his warm mouth covered her pussy, and she dropped back to the bed, releasing a long moan of sheer ecstasy.

The caress of his tongue was slow but full of purpose, as if he knew exactly what to do and how. He ate her with such glorious artistry that she feared she might literally overload. He made slow passes with his tongue from near her ass to her clit, then closed his mouth over her clit, sucking and nipping it until she squirmed and moaned, nearly insane with wanting to come.

His hands still held her ass, positioning her in just the right spot for him to be most effective. His tongue pushed inside her, worshipping her pussy as if he’d never wanted anything more.

“Oh God, I’m going to come. Please, Antares, please. I need to come!”

Naveenah swore she felt him smile against her clit right before he slid his fingers inside her, to fuck her with both hand and mouth. He brought her so close to the edge—another second and she would have been over—and then he stopped. He stood above her again. She wanted to cry, but couldn’t breathe. She curled into a ball and groaned. Never in her life had she felt more desperate for anything. Right now he could have asked anything of her and she would have agreed. Crazy with lust and need, she recognized him for her only hope of salvation.

 He climbed atop her, straightening her body and shifting her slightly higher on the large bed as he climbed up.

His kisses came in a wave as he explored and discovered her mouth. She breathed him in, his essence, his taste, now mixed with her own, all that was so uniquely him that she loved so much. His hand cradled her head, and his other supported his weight as he hovered over her.

“You are mine, magita, so I will see to your every desire. You need only trust me to do so.”

Tears welled up. She shivered beneath his kisses, swept away by emotion. No other place in the universe could tempt her away now.

“Love me, Antares. Make me yours.”