Illicit Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 2 (10 page)

Already, Vakar was speaking of their departure.

“Soon,” he said, “you’ll come away with me.”

To go where?
she wanted to scream but didn’t dare speak. To leave the Palace and never see Lukan again was more than Arez could endure. She’d almost lost him once.

He’d grown so weak from hunger, Arez had acted in the only way she could. Weeks before she’d last seen him, he whispered,
“If not for you, I would have died. I’ll never forget how you risked your life for mine.”

She’d done nothing more than save what little food she could, hiding it wherever she was able, offering it to Lukan when he came to prepare her for that night’s performance. On their first kiss, she slipped a bit of meat from her mouth to his. Later, she managed to deliver a slice of bread to him without anyone seeing.

The meager meal returned enough of his energy, allowing him to maintain his erection for hours as their captors demanded. It was a test all male slaves were put to as they grew older. With each passing year, they received less and less food. When they fell ill, no longer able to endure the hunger and the constant demands on their flesh, guards took them away. No one saw them again.

Even the threat of her own death couldn’t keep Arez from helping Lukan. Increasingly, she’d kept her own belly empty to fill his. He’d recovered, regaining his strength, urging her to eat. Foolishly, she had, and he hadn’t come back.

She bit her bottom lip, encouraging the pain, needing it to ease the ache in her heart. If she’d only been stronger, she could have gone without most of her meals for weeks, perhaps longer, keeping Lukan here. He needed the meat and bread more than she did.

Fool, you caused this. He’ll never come back.

Arez pulled her knees tighter to her chest, her misery so acute she couldn’t hide it. Hours from now, Vakar would return and notice her distress, surely demanding an explanation.

For once, she wouldn’t lie. She’d beg him to tell her whether Lukan was well. If he’d fallen ill again, she’d offer her life in exchange for his. Another minute, hour or day spent fighting for her own survival meant nothing to Arez, not when she had to purchase it with Lukan’s hunger or death.

Vakar might whip her for asking him anything. He could order the guards to kill her. It was a chance Arez was willing to take. She had to know about Lukan.

He can’t be dead.

A chill ran through her. Tiny bumps rose on her arms and legs. She brought her limbs closer to her chest. Simultaneously, the temperature inside the room dropped, telling Arez the cold wasn’t only inside her. An icy draft wafted in from behind where a stone wall stood. It had no opening to let in air.

So how was the frigid gust possible? What had caused it?

A hand rested on her hip, the skin hot.

Startled, Arez flinched and turned, seeing a man as naked as she was, his hair black, his eyes the same shade of violet as hers. How had he gotten in here? The door was in front of her, not behind. Who was—

Her thoughts stalled as she regarded him, not a stranger as she’d first thought, but oddly familiar…beloved. No, it couldn’t be. His coloring was wrong. None of this was possible. She gaped at the wall to his side. The stones shimmered with faint light. They moved, changing shape as though constructed of a liquid rather than something solid. Again, cold air drifted over her. It seemed to be coming from the stones.

Arez blurted, “What are you doing in here? How did you get in?” She belonged to Vakar now. No one dared enter her room but him. “Do you want to die?”

“Shhh.” Resting his fingers on her mouth, he leaned down and whispered, “Without you, Arez, I have no life.”

A cry caught in her throat. Heat rushed through her, chasing away the chill. “Is it really you, Lukan? You came back to me?”

“For you,” he murmured, brushing his lips over her cheek.

They were softer and warmer than Arez recalled, his stubbled cheeks as thrilling. She suppressed a moan, not understanding what any of this meant. Not caring. By coming here, he’d assured his execution. “Lukan, stop.”

“No.” He pressed his mouth to her throat.

Ribbons of sensation raced through Arez, draining all of her strength. She whimpered. “Please, you have to leave.”

“Do you want me to?”

No.
She wanted to die in his arms. A selfish wish Arez couldn’t abide. His life meant more than her happiness or peace.
“Yes. Before the guards come.”

“I’ll deal with them.” He cradled her breast.

Arez’s mouth hung open at his bold move, the insane liberty he took. Even so, her body kept warring with her mind. She tugged at the shackles imprisoning her wrists, needing to slip her arms around his shoulders, wanting him closer.

As though he’d read her thoughts, Lukan suckled her throat and fondled her breast, heating her with his skin and lust. He smelled exactly as she recalled, musky and male. Only his strength was a surprise, far greater than Arez remembered. He seemed heavier, less hungry. Where had he been? What had happened to him these last weeks?

She struggled to clear her thoughts. His wet, exploring kisses made it so hard.
Stop, please.

He paused to pull in air.

Too many questions poured from her. “Why were you away from the Palace for so long? What happened to your hair and eyes? Did you change them? Did someone else? Do you think the guards won’t know who you are? No one but Vakar’s allowed to take me now. Lukan, you have to leave.”

“Never. That bastard won’t touch you again.”

Although he’d done no more than whisper, his body shook with fury.

Arez shrank from him, something she’d never done before. “Don’t talk like that. You’re frightening me.”

Instantly, his hard edge fell away. He cradled her face. “Vakar won’t come near you again. I’ll see to it. You belong to me. You always will.”

She inhaled sharply. “What have you done?”

“Not what I’d like.” Resting his hand on her cunt, he smiled.

He’d gone mad. That was the only reasonable explanation. Near starvation had pushed him over the edge and somehow he’d managed to change his appearance, get food and possibly harm Vakar before coming here.

The guards were surely searching for him. At any moment, they’d come inside. “You have to save yourself,” she whispered. “It’s want I want. No matter what happens, I’ll always remember you.”

She’d treasure what they’d had, rather than yearn for all they’d never know. Maybe someday, after they both died, they’d find each other again in a place where they’d be free to hope, to love. “I’ll be all right,” she promised, knowing he needed assurance. “Vakar hasn’t harmed me in the least. He’s given me all the food I want. More than I can eat.”

“Do you know why, Arez?” Giving her no chance to respond, he growled, “So the kill will be more interesting.”

A thread of fear prickled her skin. She didn’t want to hear anymore. She wanted him to go while he still had the opportunity.

“Don’t you want to know what kill I’m talking about?” he asked.

She shook her head.

It didn’t stop him. “Yours, Arez. By being kind now, he will have gained your trust. You’ll be easier to manage when he hunts you like an animal along with the other rulers. With a full belly, you’ll run faster. Or he’ll leave you outside the Palace to starve. If you’re already close to death, he won’t have the opportunity to watch you suffer, to hear you beg for his previous kindness.”

Arez stared, trying to wrap her mind around such a horror. “Is that what they did to you? Is that why you were gone?”

“No.”

But he had survived and thrived. That’s all that mattered. “Then go, before he does to you what he intends for me.”

Lukan frowned. “I’m not leaving without you.”

New alarm replaced her sorrow. He expected them to flee together? Even if they could without anyone seeing them, Arez couldn’t imagine where they’d go or how long they’d be able to escape detection. “What?”

“Shhh.” His hand returned to her mouth, keeping her from asking anything else.

Footfalls rang down the hall. From the sound of it, at least two men. Given the noise from their shoes, they were guards, not rulers.

Already, they knew Lukan was in here and had come to take him away.

Arez turned her face so she could speak. “Go. I don’t want you to die.”

“I won’t. Keep still.” He clamped his hand over her mouth as the footfalls stopped just outside her door.

Chapter Six

Regina faced the wall of her dining room. Minutes earlier, Nikoli had created a portal there. It was gone now. The Monet reproductions she’d hung and the needlepoint chairs beneath them were solid again, the image of them wavering and dissolving, revealing the lighted void that lay between the dimensions something she might have imagined.

The package of strawberry licorice near one of the chairs reminded her it was not. Lukan had failed to notice the candy falling out of his backpack. He’d been in such a hurry to return to Arez, he’d shoved food and equipment into the canvas container, along with his tee.

Bare-chested, he stood, removing his shoes and socks, stuffing them next to the other items he’d bring to E4.

Damir and Meelo watched in silence, a lifetime of regret playing across their faces. Neither cried. Regina didn’t expect them to. They’d been trained too well on E2 to suppress all emotion.

However, Damir did reach out as though to touch the boy she’d help create, a man she considered her son.

Lukan didn’t see her wanting gesture. He busied himself with his preparations.

Regina wanted to take him aside, begging him to acknowledge Damir and Meelo. To at least offer them a good-bye. They might never see each other again. He could very well die in the Palace.

The ends of Lukan’s hair hung over his pecs as he worked the jean’s metal button. Within seconds, he’d be naked, prepared finally to return to a life he’d never wanted, danger he’d chosen to face.

As if she thought the same, Damir made a strangled noise that caused Lukan’s hands to stall. Regina noticed how they trembled. Whether it was from fear of what he’d soon encounter or Damir’s obvious misery, Regina couldn’t determine. For a long moment, Lukan simply breathed hard as though struggling against bone-deep sorrow and resolve.

Love won.

He crossed the room, slinging one arm around Damir’s narrow shoulders, the other on Meelo’s. They embraced as all families do when faced with a sad departure and the threat of death. None spoke. Regina knew words weren’t necessary. With that one gesture, Lukan had given Meelo and Damir more than they’d ever dreamed…his forgiveness.

The little boy within him had come home at last. The man he’d become was now leaving. He backed away from them, turned and stripped, pushing the last of his clothing inside the backpack. With it slung over his shoulder and his sunglasses on to protect him from the intense light, he entered the portal.

Its brutal wind pulled at his hair and buffeted his body.

Regina recalled how cold the void was when she’d been in there with Nikoli, escaping the vampires, going to E2, then returning to this dimension and the inventor’s house where they’d first made love.

If Lukan felt the same penetrating chill she had, he didn’t show any discomfort. One last time, he looked back at Damir and Meelo, then at Nikoli. Lukan’s handsome face revealed his concern that Nikoli might not succeed.

“I’ll find both of you,” he assured them.

He was upstairs in his office now, struggling to do what he’d promised. Meelo and Damir had left immediately to find whatever other materials Nikoli might need.

If he couldn’t bring Lukan and Arez back here, Regina sensed Nikoli would never forgive himself. A part of him would die with them.

She hurried up the stairs to be near him, stopping on the landing to catch her breath, realizing how stupid she was acting. He didn’t need to see her panting like a frightened dog. He had enough crap to deal with.

Regina worked her face into what she hoped was a look of composure and went down the hall. Spread out on his worktable were metal wires, discs and other stuff she had no hope of identifying. Rubbing his temple, Nikoli stared at the materials as another man might when trying to solve the
New York Times
crossword puzzle. His expression was challenged, maybe even pissed that her side had such crappy equipment to work with.

Not wanting to disturb him, she stepped back. The hardwood floor groaned beneath her weight. Damn. Regina gritted her teeth.

“Don’t leave,” he said, his focus still on the materials. He swung out his arm, inviting her inside.

Regina slipped within his embrace, her arm snaking around his shoulders as he rested his forearm on her hip. The weight of it and his warmth comforted her more than words ever could. Even so, she still needed the added reassurance. “How’s it going?”

He picked up a silver disc, turning it from side to side, frowning at it intently. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

“Then you’ve solved whatever the problem is?”

“I will.” He lifted his face and smiled. It touched his eyes, reaching deep into his soul, telling Regina he didn’t want her to worry. He’d take care of everything or would risk his life trying.