STORY EXCERPT

Grunting, Sotarios endured a lash of pain racing frantically across his left shoulder and bicep. A sharp gouge to his side pushed out a hard groan between clenched teeth. Blinking rapidly, he found himself hanging facedown off his bed, legs tangled in the sheets, and upper body wedged between the dresser and mattress. Sweat slid in rivulets down his cheeks, stinging his eyes.

Cursing, he shoved the furniture away and instantly slammed onto the hard floor. Rolling over, he blinked up at the barracks’ shadowed ceiling and fought to calm his racing heart.

“Gods damn dream. Six years and you still come to me. Enough!”

Pulling his arm out from under the bed, Sotarios gripped his elbow while running trembling fingers over the jagged raised scar left from Maratinia’s macabre show of love from long ago. He’d kept it as a reminder that females were not always gentle and kind like his mother. Perhaps it’d been a mistake to keep the demented creature’s handiwork after all. He voiced his discontent to the empty room.

“For the love of Dii! Why do you still haunt my dreams? Go away. You’re dead. Accept it and move on.” Familiar anger bled through his emotions at the continued remembering of the fateful mating that had lasted exactly two months, four days, and twelve hours. It’d felt like an eternity. Despite everyone’s protestations that he’d had no control over her actions, Sotarios knew he still carried the burning shame that his mate had killed another. He scrubbed at his face, moaning into his cupped hands.

At least I’m not alone in what I bear. Even her father had shown his disgust at her behavior by refusing the ritualistic burning to honor her passing, opting for a quick burial at the spot she’d fallen instead.

The image of Atilius returning to the city grief stricken and covered in dirt flew through his mind. The once proud male had openly wept as he informed the authorities that he’d finally located his only child’s body on the edge of the forest—his lone consolation in knowing that his beloved mate wasn’t aware of their child’s treachery before eventually succumbing to the poison. He’d rarely spoken of his daughter again, withdrawing from the tribe consulate as further show of his remorse to the seamstress’s family. Maratinia became just another number added to the female’s growing death toll at Basilius’s hand. Maybe this explained her constant haunts from the spirit world. She’d never liked being ignored.

Knowing that he needed to yank himself from this continuous vortex of regret, Sotarios pulled himself up from the floor, arms shaking from the effort. A quick shower cleaned his body, yet his mind refused to release the sludge from the repeating nightmares. They’d returned with a vengeance since his rescue from Glaxon-8. Despite his efforts to bury the past, the pain remained as raw as the moment it had occurred.

Perhaps this had been the forewarning his mother had bestowed after she’d relayed her desire for him to cease his quest in killing Basilius on that damnable planet. Her whispered words before she’d melted back into the spirit realm rang loudly within his addled brain.

You rest within a prison of your own making, my son. There are no bars to stop your escape, yet you continue to pace an invisible edge. Just open your eyes and see the truth of things. Free your heart and the body will follow.

How was that even possible? Placing his palm onto his chest, he felt that very same organ beating wildly beneath his fingers, yet his vicious mate had all but cut it from his chest. Had she not been felled by Basilius’s poison, she probably would’ve succeeded that day. All these returning dreams accomplished were a reaffirmation that he should never allow this numb, beat-to-shit piece of meat to be that vulnerable again.

Subduing the growl rumbling within his chest, Sotarios tried to think of something else before he broke out into a sweat again. A smile lifted his lips as he thought of his encounter with Makar and Baruch last night at the gym. Keely had been firmly ensconced between them as they showed her the beast’s horn the Elite guards had brought back from Glaxon-8. Their glowing mating necklaces rode proudly upon their chests as she’d gazed at them with pure sweet love. Such a worthy female. If only I’d been so fortunate.

Sighing, Sotarios dressed, made a half-hearted attempt to straighten the bed covers, grabbed his duffel, and flung the door wide. He halted, eyes widening at what he’d found. Geleon sat on the corridor floor, thick arms folded on top of his raised knees, and light green eyes peering up at him. As expected, he took his time in speaking.

“I knocked, but you didn’t answer. I heard your struggles, amici. Have your dreams returned?”

ADULT EXCERPT

Eagerly, Raine hooked her fingers into the waistband of his shorts, gently tugged, and lifted the material over the thick meat adamantly pointing toward his hip. The monster immediately swung out and smacked against his flat belly. The bulbous tip was fully extended from its hood, red and glistening in anticipation. Her pussy answered in kind, releasing a flood of moisture between her shaking legs.

Eyes flicking upward, Raine noticed the edge of his lip rising as he lifted his hips to allow her to finally rid him of the last thing in her way. More fluids released upon seeing his hairless crotch and the impressive ball sac. She threw the shorts to the side, and he parted his legs just enough for her to crawl between them.

Damn, Raine. Nothing but pure, sexy-as-hell man splayed out like a cover model. I hope you’re not dreaming. Just in case, she didn’t waste time filling the offered gap and bracing her knees.

Placing her hand next to his waist, Raine bent and anointed a reverent kiss to his belly button. His abs tightened, and she felt his palm brush along the back of her head and pull her hair to the side. His sensuous voice was hushed.

“Your hair’s beautiful, Raine. I love touching it.”

Smiling against his soft skin, she ran a palm up the side of his thigh, feeling the muscles harden and his skin pebble. His breath caught as the back of her hand purposefully brushed across his tightened sac. Grasping the center of his rock-hard cock, she leaned back and pulled it closer to her mouth. It was hot to the touch, silky smooth, and so fat she could barely touch her fingertips together. Flicking her gaze up, she felt complete satisfaction in watching his white teeth catch his bottom lip the second her tongue licked across the sensitive tip. The grip to her hair tightened.

“Umm, you taste good, Sotarios.” Another slow lick scraping across the top drew a long moan from his throat. Drawing as much saliva as she could, Raine quickly licked her palm and recaptured his cock, giving it a few languid strokes from center to tip. His eyes were closed now, sculpted lips slack, and belly trembling. He was hers for the taking.

Pushing the smooth cock into her mouth, Raine slowly worked her tongue and lips up and down the sensitive flesh in order to suck him in as far as possible, fist tightening with every downward stroke. She knew she could only handle a third of his impressive dick without choking herself out, but she needed him to feel her everywhere. A heady sensation crawled across every inch of her skin, teasing her flesh. Overwhelmed with a need to possess him, Raine threw caution to the wind. Screw savoring. I have to have him.

Bracing her knees, Raine shoved her other hand between her legs and wet her palm with her copious fluids, clit pulsating at her quick touch. Gripping the bottom half of his cock, she began a slippery rhythm of sucking, twisting, squeezing, and hard swallows. Fire licked through her groin at the growly, strained words peppered with his sensuously beautiful language.

“Gods! Redolet. Your scent. I can smell you. Tam pulcher. So beautiful. Ita sentit bonum. Your mouth feels so good. So warm. Aw, Raine. Yes, like that. Just like that. I love it when you swallow me down.”

His hips began furiously undulating in response to her unrelenting barrage of sensation. It took only a few groans and vibrating swallows against the tip lodged inside her throat before she finally broke the chains of the caged beast.

Two large hands planted on her ribcage and pulled her upward. His dick popped from her mouth. Eyes watering, she could barely make out his features before her arms were lifted and the shirt disappeared from her body. Disoriented, she began to fall forward. He gently caught her face between his and a broad shoulder. Panting, heavy words blew hot against her ear as she felt him grasp her waist and lift.

“Put me in you. Now. I have to have you. Gods. I need to feel you, or I’m going to die.”