Unending Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 1 (13 page)

Chapter Eight

“I ask that you please touch it,” Thomo said, gesturing to the wall behind him. He exchanged a glance with the young woman at his side. “We need your superior wisdom to determine if our findings are correct, Strii Zorr.”

Domm Zorr regarded the younger man who had been a trusted friend to Domm’s son, Nikoli, since childhood. Although Thomo spoke impassively, there was deference in the slight tilt of his head, the manner in which he held himself in the presence of a Strii. A title given to the most respected scientists on E2.

There was also a hint of emotion in Thomo’s expression, perhaps fear or excitement that he may have discovered a breach in the system. Impossible, Domm knew. In his decades of service to the dimension, he had never experienced such a thing, nor was it in the annals of E2’s history. Despite Thomo’s fine intellect, the younger man had always been prone to speculation when science demanded a dispassionate appraisal. The kind Nikoli provided.

Pride for his son’s accomplishments welled in Domm. Someday in the near future, he knew the government would choose Nikoli from among his peers, bestowing him with the same title as his father, allowing him and Sazaar to breed. To have a son of their own, fulfilling Domm’s hopes and dreams. For now, though, he had to deal with Thomo’s foolishness. “Did the alarms sound? Did the security force find anything when you called them inside?”

The younger man blinked, the only indication that betrayed his surprise at the questions. Clearing his throat, he spoke with a degree of hesitation. “They did not…nor would the alarms sound if there’s a sophisticated breach in our system.”

“Or if you’re mistaken.”

Thomo’s complexion paled at the mild chastisement.

However, to Domm’s surprise, the younger man held his ground. “I touched the wall, as did Murr.” He inclined his head to the young woman.

Domm kept his attention on Thomo. “And you claim there was a current of energy and intense cold that shouldn’t be there, is that correct?”

With caution, Thomo nodded. Once more, he gestured to the wall. “Please put your hand there and experience it for yourself.”

He would not. “You said you caught movement that brought you to the wall. Can you be more specific? Was whatever moved large, small, tall, short?”

Thomo’s expression grew pensive. His dark brows drew together in a frown. “Tall,” he said at last. “At least my size or yours.”

A shadow, surely, caused by the flickering screens and Thomo’s overactive imagination.

“And of an unusual color,” he added. “At least a portion of it, at the top.”

Domm’s mouth closed on the explanation he’d intended to offer—that one’s mind might be able to fabricate motion, shapes and perhaps even a change in the temperature. Color, however, didn’t seem likely.

He glanced about the room, no different from the countless others in this building. The only pigments here were varying hues of silver and gray, broken solely by the monitors’ faint green tint. With a mixture of curiosity and beginning dread, he asked, “What shade did you see at the top?”

Again, Thomo’s complexion paled. “Red…the color of blood.”

Domm stared, not believing what he’d heard, unwilling to be alarmed. This was a mistake. A misunderstanding. It had to be. He glanced at Thomo’s hands, suspecting the young man had cut himself. That was the red he’d seen. That was what had set him to worrying about a breach in the—

Domm’s thoughts stalled at the lack of injury on Thomo’s hands. No blood. As calmly as he could, he asked, “Have you discussed this with Nikoli? Have you sought his opinion?”

Domm knew his son would have a reasonable explanation that would put an end to conjecture and worry.

“I sent Murr to get him.”

“He wasn’t in his laboratory,” she offered, then glanced at Thomo before adding, “When Nikoli didn’t answer my calls, I asked the security force to determine if he was inside his lab. I thought perhaps Nikoli was so engrossed in his work, he hadn’t heard me. But they said he wasn’t in there, nor anywhere else in the building.”

Domm glanced at the timepiece on the wall, noting the late hour. Perhaps Nikoli had finally retired for the evening, no doubt exhausted. Since Sazaar had begun her retreat, his son had spent all of his time in the lab, working nonstop.

“I thought he might have left for the day,” Murr added, “but I didn’t see him on any of the monitors at the stations. Nor could I reach him at his home.”

“We concluded he must have gone out to eat,” Thomo said. “We didn’t want to wait to find him, so we called you.” His expression begged Domm to touch the wall.

“Red…the color of blood,”
he’d said.

A tint outlawed on E2 since its people had banished the vampires. Irritation at Thomo’s request warred with Domm’s continuing unease. As he approached the wall, Thomo and Murr stepped aside.

Hand lifted, Domm hesitated, then placed his fingertips on the wall’s smooth surface and felt nothing unusual.

His pulse slowed instantly. On a quiet sigh, Domm released the breath he’d been holding. “There’s no energy or cold here.” His pronouncement put an end to the matter. “Please continue with your work.”

Leaving the room, he went down the hall to his own laboratory. Halfway to it, his steps slowed. He glanced at the door to Nikoli’s lab. As a Strii, he didn’t need permission to enter any of the scientists’ workrooms. The additional markings on his hands, put there by the government, allowed him access to all spaces, even those forbidden to the security force. All he had to do was touch the door.

Domm paused at the thought of intruding upon his son’s workspace. More than father and son, he and Nikoli were now respected colleagues. To enter without invitation, even as a Strii, was a serious violation of etiquette and trust.

A transgression Murr hadn’t dared to consider.

“I asked the security force to determine if he was inside his lab.
I thought perhaps he was so engrossed in his work, he hadn’t heard me.”

In the past, Domm had witnessed his son’s intense concentration. Even as a young boy, Nikoli would focus on an assignment to such a degree it precluded him from noticing anything else, including his own need for food and rest until his body forced him to do so.

“We concluded he must have gone out to eat,”
Thomo had said.

If he had returned from his meal and was back in the room now, he might be oblivious to a rap on the door. It could be days before he emerged again. By then, Thomo’s all too vivid imagination might have compromised his own work. A matter Domm wanted to discuss with his son. Together, they could reach a solution.

Comfortable with his decision, knowing Nikoli would readily understand the purpose of this intrusion, Domm rested his fingertips against his son’s door, then watched as it opened.

On his feet, Nikoli drew Regina against his full length, passion evident in his rough breathing, a desire for more than just sex clear in his tender caress. It moved her as few things had. He was a man who’d been starved for simple emotion, the right to be uncertain as well as brave, to experience comfort, not only crushing responsibility.

How many years had he longed for a moment of true warmth, of an embrace given in love, not out of duty? How many times had he denied himself the most basic of needs, remaining resolute, deprived, alone and wanting, even more so than her?

She ached to give him everything he’d missed.

They had so little time. When dawn came, he’d insist on leaving.

Unable to face the thought, she released her weight into him, requiring his strength, the shelter of his body. He made a low rumbling sound in his throat, signifying his approval. A smile touched Regina’s lips at his rigid cock pressing against her inner thigh, the root snug against her mound, their curls touching. Demanding even more intimacy, she drew as close as she could, welcoming his chest crushing her breasts, his mouth seeking her throat.

The brush of his lips delivered a shock of pleasure. Her heart skipped several beats, then hammered fiercely. Releasing a husky moan, she slipped her arms around his torso, her fingers exploring his broad back, tracing his impressive contours, reveling in them.

He had an athlete’s build, lean yet muscled, his pecs and abs well defined, his body hair deliciously masculine, from the dark tufts in his pits to the silky hairs circling his navel to the thick bush on his groin and his lightly furred balls. The memory of them in her mouth, her tongue licking the wrinkled skin, sent another shiver through Regina.

Nikoli held her even closer, his embrace confining and soothing. Lips to her ear, he whispered, “Are you cold?”

“Not at all.” She pressed her fingers into his firm flesh and inhaled deeply, enjoying his wondrous scent…so damned male, so uniquely Nikoli. Eager to let him know his effect on her, that she’d deliver her body willingly…eagerly…she murmured, “Turned on.”

His hand stopped stroking her back, resting instead on her naked ass, his long fingers dangling over her cheeks. “Do you mean aroused?”

Regina’s smile widened at his innocent question, the fact that he didn’t understand the nuances of her language. It endeared him to her even more. She wanted to teach him about her dimension, to watch the wonder on his face as he experienced feelings so deep they’d capture his soul or would make him mad as hell. Either way, they’d allow him to live. “Yes…very.”

He ran his fingers down the furrow of her buttocks. Tingles dashed up her spine. Legs wobbling, she pushed to her toes.

With mischief in his voice, he asked, “Am I arousing you now?”

“What do you think?” Her words sounded thick, throaty.

“I’m not certain,” he murmured. “I don’t want to do anything wrong.”

As if a man who was able to stay rock hard for hours could come close to disappointing her. Grounding her mound against his cock, Regina sighed deeply at the crown rubbing her thigh, its tip wet with pre-come, its remembered taste causing her to speak as she had before…in a way she’d never done with other men. “Fuck me, please.”

Nikoli kissed her cheek, then rested his against it, his stubble scraping her skin. “As I would on E2 or as the men do on your plane?”

There was a difference? Did it matter? “Either. Both.” Regina paused to swallow and catch her breath. Still starved for air, she continued on a strained sigh. “Whatever you want.”

Nikoli made an indistinct sound as though he was considering the matter. Not certain what he intended to do, Regina sank to her heels, then shot right back up to her toes at his fingers stroking her anus. A moan gurgled in her throat.

With a smile, he asked, “Then you have no preference?”

She tightened her arms around him, clinging to his hot, hard body for support, panting out her words. “As to what?”

“How I take you—fuck you.”

“Now would be nice.” She forced down another swallow. “Right this very second. All right?”

“That would be too quick. In my dimension, we move far more slowly.”

Regina heard the teasing behind his words and was about to argue with him when she had another thought. What if he wasn’t sated until well past dawn? Would she be able to tempt him into remaining with her, finding another way to defeat Andris and his followers, giving them both a chance to survive? She eased back to measure his expression.

Naked need flared in his eyes.

She was about to smile when Nikoli slid his hand down her arm, removing it from his back, the act contradicting the passion she still saw on his face. “What are you doing?”

“This.” Turning her hand, he exposed the inside of her wrist and suckled it.

At the intense heat of his tongue, Regina moaned, then blew out a sigh as he trailed kisses up her inner arm while his other hand continued to explore the furrow between her cheeks. On a hoarse groan, she slumped back into him, struggling to speak. “You enjoy foreplay?”

He stopped kissing her biceps. His lips remained on her as he murmured, “Is that the word you use for what I’m doing?”

She cleared her throat and grunted, “Uh-huh.”

“Then, yes, I do…I could taste you longer than you could ever imagine.”

Well beyond dawn? Giving them more time?

“And will you—” Regina’s words halted, followed by a gasp of pleasure at Nikoli slipping his arm behind her knees, sweeping her off the floor.

Cradling her to his broad chest, he brushed his lips over hers.

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Her arm snaked around his shoulders. She pulled herself even closer, her free hand cradling his jaw, her fingertips cautious of the scratches on his cheek.

“Will I what?” he whispered.

Pulling her attention from the cruel cuts, Regina saw flecks of hazel in his chocolate eyes and a need so deep it humbled and thrilled her. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Will I what?” he repeated.

The quiet rumble of his voice captivated Regina, turning her brain to mush. Shaking her head, she confessed, “I don’t know what you’re asking.”

“You started to question me about something, then stopped when I picked you up.”

Had she? Regina couldn’t recall. The moment was lost forever. “I forgot what I intended to say.”

“Tell me when you remember.” Easily, as though he found her weight inconsequential, he carried Regina to the far end of the sofa, lowering her to the chaise already in a fully reclined position. An ivory afghan covered its cushions.

Given the fabric’s downy quality, she judged it to be cashmere. Although exquisitely soft, it was no match for Nikoli’s fingers trailing over the backs of her thighs as he slid his hand from beneath her legs, releasing them.

While her mind registered the separation as temporary, her heart didn’t care. Not yet willing to let him go, Regina tightened her arm around his shoulders, holding him to her, nuzzling her face against his neck, recording his warmth and clean scent so that she’d never forget them.

Beneath her fingertips, Nikoli’s muscles tightened. “What is it?” he murmured.

Panic and dread returned at the thought of him dying to keep her safe from the vampires. She couldn’t allow it. No matter what it took, no matter how crazy the world had turned out to be, she wouldn’t let him fight Andris and the others alone.