Forbidden Worlds - Box Set (48 page)

“And I appear on none of them.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m only a dream.”

Mara’s heart pounded. She felt the heat of his skin, and smelled the familiar scent of warm sand and male musk. She permitted herself a momentary downward glance and was relieved to see he wore a normal-looking pair of denim jeans and nothing else.

His hand trailed down her back and settled on her hip. He dipped his head into the curve of her neck. “I’m impressed. You’ve captured my essence with such a commanding pose.”

Mara didn’t respond. She stood still, wishing he would go away.

“You have left out one important aspect, though. Vanquishing a sea monster with a beautiful maiden at my heels would give me a raging hard-on.”

“Maybe in the next painting,” she said, her jaw tight.

“In the next scene, it would be buried deep inside her.”

The image sprang to Mara’s mind of Poseidon and the nymph tangled on the sand. A traitorous pressure built between her legs, and she wondered if Poseidon were reading her thoughts. “You’d better leave before someone sees you.”

“I will leave before someone sees me, but that could be a while. I’ve created another diversion to occupy the men who hold you prisoner.”

“What?” She turned, disconcerted by how close he stood. She had to put her hands on his chest and push him back a step. “You created the radar glitch?”

He nodded. “I’m just experimenting now, but eventually I will create a diversion that will allow you to escape from your captivity.”

Mara swallowed the words and a sardonic laugh bubbled up. “Escape from the island?”

“Yes.”

“And go where?”

“I’ll take you anywhere.”

“Why?”

“Because you wish it. You want to be free of this place. Tiran told me.”

“Tiran? Where is he?” The memory of her intimate conversation with Tiran came back to her. As they lay dreamily on the beach, she’d told him about her loneliness, how she longed for her freedom even more than she needed to fulfill her sexual fantasies.

Apparently, he’d shared her deepest confessions with Poseidon.

“Tiran is occupied below. He has several females to entertain.”

“Ah.” Mara felt an odd twinge. Was it jealousy? Why would she care what Poseidon’s brother did with other females? “Let me ask you this, if you come and go with the wind, how am I supposed to go with you?”

He laughed. “I can show you. My race has many amazing abilities.”

“Your race? You just said you were a dream.”

“I’m many things. A dream. An illusion. A fantasy, but also a man, and the progeny of a god. Atlanteans have roamed this planet since before your people recorded time using knotted string or flint marks on cave walls. We are myth and legend made flesh.”

“Uh-huh.” Mara crossed her arms and leaned back, regarding his muscular torso. “So show me.”

“Show you what?” He leered.

She rolled her eyes. “How you’ll get me out of here without security seeing me leave.”

“Of course.”

Poseidon reached for her hand and tugged her fingers toward his chest. He flattened her hand into the rigid valley between his bulging pectorals, and she felt a very real heartbeat under her sweating palm.

With one hand over hers and the other sliding down her back to rest on her ass, he pulled her forward just slightly.

Before Mara could protest, the room began to shimmer. Brilliant sparks of light danced between their bodies and swirled outward, forming a silvery barrier between her and her surroundings.

Her body became light, empty and strangely cool. Her head spun, and she found she could focus her dizzy gaze on nothing but the ice green of his eyes. Reluctantly, to keep from falling, she clung to him as everything around her turned pearly white.

In the next instant, Mara could focus on her surroundings again. Behind Poseidon, she saw the whitewashed outer wall of her studio. Her shadow and his entwined against it in the fading light.

“We’re outside…”

“Without opening a door or a window,” he said, finishing her thought.

Mara pushed out of Poseidon’s embrace and looked around. I’m definitely dreaming.

“That was just a momentary trip. I can take you hundreds of miles using only the wind to convey us. In moments, you could be on any of a thousand islands. I could even take you to places no human could ever find you.”

Mara’s heart leapt at the selfish possibilities. “You can really take me anywhere?”

“Yes. For a price.”

A cold pressure closed over Mara’s lungs. Of course there would be a price. Perhaps it was one worth paying to escape this useless existence.

She gave Poseidon a narrow glare that meant she might be willing to negotiate, but she wasn’t going to agree to just anything. “What do you want?”

He smiled broadly. “The price is one of your fantasies. Let me be the man you’ve been dreaming about. Let me do the things you long for a man to do to you. Surely, that’s not so high a price to pay for your freedom?”

Mara took a few measured breaths, her mind reeling. Did she dare trust him? If this figment of her imagination wanted her to show him a good time in exchange for a one-way ticket out of Zander prison, she was certainly up for it.

If only it had been Tiran making the offer.

“I’ll consider it,” she said finally. “Give me time to think it over.”

“I’ll give you a day. What I’m going to do for you is against our laws, and I can only do it once. So be certain this is what you want. I’ll be on your little beach tomorrow at this time, just before sunset. Bring nothing with you. You must leave everything of this life behind. If you’re there, I’ll take you.” Poseidon laughed, his eyes gleaming. “Then, I’ll take you away.”

* * * *

“What you propose, Tiran, may cause political unrest. I caution against it.” Mykonos, father of Tiran and Poseidon, himself named for one of the glorious islands that floated above their Atlantean abode, paced the length of the Triumvirate Hearing Room. Tiran had cornered his father here after a session of the ruling body, and broached the forbidden subject.

“It’s not politics that concerns me, Father. It’s morality. We’ve long considered ourselves superior to humans because we have no wars and no physical suffering among us. Don’t we have an obligation to help someone in need?”

“The Triumvirate will never agree, Tiran. The implications of bringing a human to live among us with no preparation are too immense to consider.”

“All I ask is that you make the suggestion, Father. The Articles of Autonomy allow for granting asylum to someone who is oppressed in their own society. We could allow Mara to leave her prison.”

“It’s too dangerous to bring a human among us. With even one living here, others would follow and our society would suffer.”

Mykonos paced, and Tiran’s hopes for saving Mara diminished with each step. He began to realize, as the argument continued, that even with ancient laws to back up his request, the Triumvirate feared humans too much to begin to change their ways.

“We should help her, Father.”

“No, Tiran. The fact that you’ve shown yourself to her is distressing enough. The Triumvirate could choose to punish you for this, and I could not stop them.”

“I’m sorry, Father. But I feel it’s time we revisited the old laws and considered the possibility that we may one day need to merge our society with that of the humans. This would be a start.”

Mykonos shook his head and began to dissolve into his liquid state, signifying the end of the discussion. “Not in our lifetimes, son. Go now, and do not speak of it again.”

Tiran watched the dark current of his father’s morphed form as it snaked out of the Hearing Room. He should have felt ashamed after confessing to Mykonos that he’d been conversing with a human, but instead he was angry at his father’s narrow-mindedness. Mykonos had a reputation for being fair and just, the most forward-thinking member of the Triumvirate, yet he refused to even consider the notion of bringing a human to live among them, even in the interest of Atlantean superiority.

Despite the fact that another visit to Mara might increase his chances of punishment, he had to see her again and figure out a way to set her free.

* * * *

That night, Mara didn’t sleep. She paced the floor of her bedroom until her legs felt weak. Her mind played out all the terrible possibilities and left her no closer to a solution at dawn than she had been at midnight.

Was Poseidon real? Or had she finally gone insane? If he was an Atlantean, could he really get her off the island undetected?

If she left, could she go home to New York and resume her life?

No. Her father would find her, or worse, his enemies would.

She’d lived too long always looking over her shoulder, ready at a moment’s notice to go into hiding until Thanatos told her it was safe to resume her normal life.

Maybe riding the winds with Poseidon was the best offer she’d ever get. If she could let her father know she was safe and happy, he could live easier. Maybe that was a gift she could give him, freeing him from constant worry about her safety.

The first pink rays of morning light burst over the horizon, reminding Mara she’d barely blinked all night. Her eyes stung, and she crawled across her wide bed and sank into the soft pillows. Still, sleep eluded her.

She considered Poseidon’s price. Of the two brothers, she preferred Tiran, but ultimately, did it matter? Poseidon promised to be her fantasy. What girl could turn down an offer like that?

She forced herself to close her eyes and get a few hours of sleep before breakfast. She had a busy day ahead of her if she were to take Poseidon up on his offer.

Chapter 3

Despite the warmth of the evening breeze, Mara shivered as she walked along the path between the dunes. She wore only her gauzy cover-up over a tangerine bikini. Her hair hung down her back, loose and curling, and despite her nervousness, she felt completely free.

She’d left a letter for her father in a spot where he wouldn’t find it until morning. Though she’d steeled herself for the possibility that she’d imagined it all and would spend the evening alone on the beach waiting for a figment of her overactive imagination, she did experience a pang of remorse at leaving without a face-to-face conversation. She had no other choice, though. Her father would not understand why she wanted to leave his secluded world forever.

The beach glowed with the vibrant orange light of sunset, and the calm surf sparkled. She might miss this place, but not enough to give up her chance for freedom.

She stood at the edge of the water and let the breakers wash over her feet, wondering if she hoped Poseidon would show up or hoped he wouldn’t. Relief and anticipation flooded her when a warm hand grasped her shoulder and his familiar voice whispered in her ear.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“I’m still not sure you’re real.” Mara’s nipples hardened when he blew a cool stream of air over her left ear and trailed his fingers beneath the filmy fabric of her cover-up to rest on her hip.

“I’m about to show you how real I am.”

She gasped when he scooped her into his arms and turned away from the rising tide. “Where—?”

“To the olive grove. It’s private there.”

Mara wrapped her arms around Poseidon’s neck and studied his features as he strode down the path to where a dozen ancient trees formed a perfect circle.

Like Tiran, he was beautiful. Mara couldn’t deny that. He carried her effortlessly, his expression feral and determined. The feel of his rippling muscles made her tense with desire.

Once within the barrier formed by the twelve gnarled trunks, Poseidon set her down and appraised her with a hungry look. He gently pushed her backward, walking step by step with her until her buttocks touched the smoothest of the weatherworn boles.

Her breath caught when he roughly dragged the cover-up and the strap of her bikini top off her shoulder. His mouth came down on her exposed breast. Despite her reservations, she arched against the heat of his tongue. He drew her nipple into his mouth with such force that she swore she felt the sensual pull in her womb. Her clit began to pulse. He suckled harder and harder until she cried out in a mixture of pleasure and pain.

Poseidon lifted his head and grinned at her, then knelt before her on the sandy ground. The movement put his face level with the waistband of her bikini, and he pressed his mouth into her belly and bit the elastic, drawing it down her thigh.

With the bikini at her knees, he pushed her legs apart and thrust his fingers into her soft curls. Mara reveled in the intrusion. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself and moaned low in her throat when he slipped two fingers inside her.

“You’re tight,” he breathed, working her with his fingers, drawing her own slick moisture out to coat her trembling thighs. “You’re going to feel so good wrapped around me.”

Mara nodded, panting. This was sex the way she’d dreamed about it. Hot and hard and fast. If only it were with Tiran.

She imagined Poseidon’s brother kneeling in front of her, dragging her bikini to the ground and tossing it aside, nuzzling between her legs and flicking his hot tongue over her clit. “Oh…more!”

His withdrawal left her wanting. Trembling with unmet need, she held her breath as he rose before her and freed his cock from his jeans.

“Take me in your hand. Feel how hard I am for you.”

She obeyed his command, wrapping her fingers around the swollen rod of flesh. The skin was molten hot and soft as silk. The concentric ridges of flesh that banded him grew as she slid her fisted hand over him.

“Imagine what it will feel like inside you.”

She did and her body responded with a surge of drenching moisture. She parted her slick thighs, but Poseidon shook his head.

“Turn around.”

Once again, she obeyed, eager for anything he would do. She spread her legs wide and braced her arms on the tree trunk, thrusting back toward him as he caressed her.

When she felt him position himself between her legs, she pushed back more, letting his huge erection part the swollen folds of her sex.

He tore her cover-up away from her, and her bikini top followed. Naked now, Mara felt completely uninhibited. She moaned as Poseidon pressed her forward, taking her breasts in his hands.

The wide head of his cock pushed upward, and she bent forward to take him inside.

“That’s right,” he urged, his breath hot against her neck. “Open for me.”

“Poseidon!” Tiran’s voice sliced through the heady atmosphere in the grove.

Every taut nerve ending in Mara’s body pulsed with relief. As ready as she had been for Poseidon’s claiming thrust, she wanted Tiran more, even though he hadn’t offered her freedom the way his brother had.

Poseidon’s hands dropped from her breasts. When he retreated from her, so did the heat from his body, leaving Mara leaning against the olive tree, shivering in the encroaching darkness.

She turned to see Tiran grab his brother by the throat and throw him to the ground.

The two men wrestled in the dirt while Mara stood, transfixed. She had imagined this very scene only days ago. How could it be happening exactly as she’d fantasized?

Tiran landed on Poseidon’s chest and levered all his weight on his brother’s windpipe. “How dare you touch her?”

Poseidon’s eyes bulged in anger. With a bellow that rattled the grove, he threw Tiran aside. “She agreed to it, brother—eagerly agreed to take me on in exchange for her freedom!”

Tiran’s eyes flickered to Mara, who had bent to retrieve her cover-up. Heat rose to her cheeks. She clutched the thin fabric to her chest, feeling terribly naked.

“You promised her something you couldn’t give,” Tiran said. He lunged at his brother again.

Mara sidestepped the pair as they crashed into the nearest tree trunk, grappling with each other. Her eyes locked on Poseidon. He’d lied to her? Why wasn’t she surprised? It seemed to fit his character. That meant there was no escape for her. She had to get back to the house and destroy the letter she’d written to her father.

While the two Atlanteans fought behind her, she headed for the path that led to the dunes. She’d just passed the tree line when she heard the alarms, distant but audible in the still evening. Her heart plummeted when the shouts of the security guards reached her. Intruders on the island—her dueling Atlanteans had tripped the alarms.

Mara ran back to the center of the grove and tried to pry the brothers away from one another. “Stop it! Stop! They’re coming! Can’t you hear the alarms? They’ll find you here.”

To their credit, the men instantly parted. Both stared at her as though they could not fathom what she meant.

“You have to leave! The guards are armed. They’ll shoot first and ask ques—”

Poseidon grabbed Mara’s arm and dragged her toward him. “I promised you I would take you away from here, and I will. You will pay me later.”

Mara struggled against him, certain now that she didn’t want to go anywhere with him. Even as she tried to squirm out of his embrace, her surroundings faded to pearlescent white and a cool breeze seemed to waft through her body.

Distantly, she heard Tiran cursing his brother. Disoriented and dizzy, Mara rode the tumultuous wave as the battle surged toward the beach.

When she finally felt solid ground beneath her feet, she flung herself away from Poseidon, landing in the wet sand. Before he could reclaim her, Tiran stepped between them. He shoved his brother backward with enough force to knock him down.

“I won’t let you take her away, Poseidon. You’ll only abandon her somewhere when you tire of her.”

“Perhaps, but I’m certain it will be a while before that happens. She’s certainly beginning to amuse me.” Poseidon brushed sand from his hands and regained his feet. His shadow fell on Mara, who glared at him.

“I won’t go with you. Leave me alone!”

Poseidon laughed. “Atlantean males don’t take no for an answer, little sand maiden.” He reached for her just as the Zander security force mounted the dunes and cascaded onto the beach.

Mara took little solace from the knowledge that her two fantasy men were quite real in the eyes of the security guards. The six men took aim at Poseidon and Tiran, barking at them to back away from Mara and lay face down in the sand.

Poseidon ignored them, but Tiran raised his hands to show he was unarmed. He moved away from Mara, drawing the attention of the armed guards from her.

She stood. “It’s all right. They’re just leaving. No harm done!” She also put up her hands.

Zeke took a step toward her. “Miss Zander, stay down until the intruders have been neutralized.”

“You’re not neutralizing anyone. Leave them alone. They’re leaving peacefully.”

Poseidon gave her a wicked smile. “This is your last chance. Tiran hasn’t got the courage to defy our laws, but I do. Come with me now and you’ll never have to return here.” He thrust out his hand toward her.

The lightning-fast movement spooked one of the guards. A shot rang out, and as it did, Poseidon melted into a pillar of clear liquid. Like a performing dolphin, he arced toward the waves and sank into the surf, the bullet passing harmlessly through his liquefied body to embed itself in Mara’s left shoulder.

* * * *

Tiran caught Mara as she reeled backward, propelled by the force of the projectile. She collapsed into his arms, her eyes wide and her mouth moving soundlessly. He looked up and saw the human men surging over the dunes, weapons aimed, ready to attack even though it had been one of their own who’d injured Mara.

Alone he could not fight them all. He had no choice. He scooped her shivering body into his arms and turned, morphing to stone as he moved. Bullets bounced off his broad back as he trudged with her into the sea, shielding her from further injury.

They submerged completely for a moment, then he morphed their bodies into air. As he did, the bullet dislodged from Mara’s flesh and sank into the sea. They rose together and sailed away, visible to the security guards as nothing more than a whirling patch of fog above the waves.

* * * *

Mara felt nothing. She seemed to exist in a dream state, unable to speak or move her body, yet the vista before her eyes changed rapidly as though she were flowing like water over the land.

She saw the island. It looked so small from above, a crescent-shaped strip of land bordered by pearly stretches of beach on either side. The square buildings of her father’s compound resembled toy building blocks nestled into mounds of green and brown clay. As she drew closer, she saw the dark heads of the security guards. They formed a line, like ants, trudging back to the barracks near the north beach. She followed them, aware that her movements seemed to be controlled by her thoughts alone.

Inside the security building, her father stood clutching the back of a chair as if to hold himself up. He looked thin and pale, and his hands trembled against the vinyl backing of the seat. His fingers made deep indents in the cushion.

When the guards had assembled in front of him, their heads bowed, he asked one simple question. His tone was controlled, even, and his voice low. “Where is my daughter?”

Zeke lifted his head, though he didn’t meet his employer’s gaze. Mara felt as though she was hovering between the two men, and she sensed their emotions. Zeke was angry at the intruders, disappointed in his team and a little bit afraid of Thanatos. Her father was steeped in pure rage; no other emotion clouded his mind except the overwhelming necessity for revenge.

“She was taken, sir.” Zeke’s emotions weighed heavier on the side of fear now. Mara wondered how she knew that. “She may have been injured.”

Injured?

She tried to remember what had happened on the beach. A bullet had hit her, but she felt no pain now. Was she dead? Is that why she was here with her father and yet felt no emotions other than bland curiosity?

Thanatos sagged. He had never been a tall man, even in his youth, but years of failing health and worry had shrunk his frame. His shoulders bowed. “Injured? Or killed?”

“Sir, if she were dead, I doubt the intruders would have taken her with them. I’ve got men gearing up one of our boats to search for her, but…”

Thanatos looked up, but his eyes didn’t seem to focus. “But what?”

“Whoever they were, they went underwater. They may have had a submersible waiting a few yards off shore.”

“She could be anywhere by now.”

“We’re going to monitor all radio bands. We expect a ransom demand.”

Thanatos sank again. One of the guards helped him to sit in the chair. His greatest fear had come true. Mara hovered near her father, wondering if there was some way she could comfort him and let him know she was all right—yet, she wasn’t sure herself if she was all right.