Damned and Desired (7 page)

“Hurry,” she ordered. She worried she was approaching the edge of danger. She had to finish him, not wanting to think of the consequences.

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Kathy Kulig

“Oh, God,” he yelled. Grabbing her hips, he thrust harder and deeper. She was captured in his grip, her breasts quivering with each thrust.

She tried to relax her body, fighting the flow of chi spiraling into her. “Oh, no, don’t.”

“Don’t stop?”

“Hurry.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t stop.” He thrust harder and let out a groan as his cock pulsed and his body shuddered in orgasm. At the same time Sakari planted the heels of both boots on his shoulders and kicked him away.

Stumbling, he tried regaining his balance, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the floor.

Sakari stared down at the motionless naked man.
No, no, no. Not again.

Didn’t she learn anything from Zorian’s training? Kneeling down, she rested her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat.

“Is he dead?” a man’s voice asked.

Sakari screamed and spun around, standing, half undressed. “Dante! What are you doing here?”

“I need you. There’s a problem in the desert. Get dressed.”

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Damned and Desired

What problem in the desert? Sakari had a problem right here. She dropped to her knees beside Austin and noticed the rise and fall of his chest. She sighed in relief, brushing the hair out of his face. “He’s okay. Just passed out.” She looked up at Dante.

“What happened in the desert?” She got up and put her clothes back in order then approached Dante and examined his face and arms. Thin bloody slashes and cuts crisscrossed his skin. She touched his cheek with the back of her fingers.

“Had a little trouble with the natives,” Dante said with humor.

“What the hell happened to you?”

“While I was with a Kithra, I was attacked by a shapeshifter.”

“A Drone?” She couldn’t imagine a Drone doing something like that.

“No, a human shifter. Can’t afford drawing any more attention to ourselves after your first incident.”

“I didn’t mean to kill that hiker.” Sakari clenched her teeth, trying to regain her composure.

Dante pointed to Austin who was moaning and slowly moving. “Almost did a repeat.”

She glared at him.

“Can’t kill any more Kithra and must protect the portal. The demoness has summoned me to return and I don’t have time to deal with an unconscious mortal man.”

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Take him home so I can return to Anartia. I took the female home. I think it best you deal with the man.”

“I’ll have to go through the portal alone?”

Dante huffed and rolled his eyes. “Traveling though the portal is safe as long as you have your nebula stone. You’ll get used to it.”

“My sister had her stone when she entered.” Sakari’s sister had traveled between portals on Prygos as a messenger for the rulers, when her stone must have been lost during her journey. She never returned.

“But it slipped from her neck and was probably damaged. That’s the only explanation.” Dante was losing his patience. “Hold the stone in one hand when you enter and you won’t have that problem.”

“And what about…” She inclined her head toward Austin. He groaned.

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“At least you didn’t kill this one.” Dante placed a hand on her shoulder. The tone of his voice softened. “Get him up and let’s go.”

“I have to take him home.”

“Then do it. Time’s wasting.” Dante walked toward the stairs.

“Where’s the man, the shifter?” Sakari asked.

“By the portal. He was still unconscious when I left. If someone starts looking for him there…”

“Could someone find it?” Another moment of uneasiness reminded her of the difficult duties as a Drone. Not only did she have to worry about harming her Kithra but she had to provide a continuous supply of bio-energy to Anartia
and
protect the location of the portal.

Dante shrugged. “Some mortals sense the energy of the vortexes and a vortex aligns with this portal but no one can get through it without the nebula stone. However, I’d prefer to keep the area secure.”

Austin struggled to sit up, appearing like an intoxicated customer. Sakari pointed at Austin.

“Fine. We’ll take him home. Let’s go.”

* * * * *

After dropping Austin off at his apartment, she said little to Dante on the drive into the desert. The stark Arizona night was a welcome change after being exiled for a thousand years on the isolated world of Anartia. The air was dry, cool, with a rich organic fragrance unlike any Sakari was familiar with on Anartia, or could remember on Prygos. She was surprised she could remember anything about her home. In the distance a thunderstorm lit up the sky.

Would Prygos be the same after all this time when she returned?

She gazed out the window. Jagged bolts of lightning crisscrossed the black sky and violent cracks of thunder shook the car. Was the shaking caused by the thunder or earthquakes? Since she arrived on Earth more and more of these storms hit the area.

“Are these storms normal for Earth?”

Dante glanced at her as if she was crazy. “No, it’s not normal for this area. Not this bad.”

“I haven’t lived here long enough to know what’s normal.”

“I have and this isn’t normal for Arizona.”

“Can the storms harm Anartia?”

He didn’t respond for a while, then finally spoke. “Anartia is causing the storms.

It’s Tarik’s experiments. He may end up destroying us before he frees us. His projects are draining the core energy from Anartia.”

“Anartia used to be a paradise. Doesn’t he realize what he’s doing?”

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Damned and Desired

“Anartia can’t stay in this dimension much longer without consequences.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged. “Tarik could explain it. What’s important is the demoness won’t tolerate a Drone who doesn’t provide. Understand?”

Sakari nodded. What else has Dante learned during his offerings to Gwyllain? He could easily manipulate information out of her. Being the demoness’s favorite had other benefits like telling him things that she wouldn’t dare tell the other Drones.

“Let’s find the shifter before he’s found wandering around or someone reports him missing.”

“Shifter? You didn’t mention what kind of shifter.”

“A leopard. I’ve only seen one other like him. These shifters can cause a lot of trouble.”

Now she understood why he wanted help.
Could this night get any worse?

Pulling the car off the main road, she drove onto hard-packed ground and found a place to park about a mile and a half from the highway behind a group of juniper trees.

They got out of the car and started walking.

“This way,” Dante said. “It’s not far from the portal. That’s why I’m concerned.”

She followed him, unease building in this midnight task. The lightning had stopped for the moment. Was the storm over or had Tarik ceased his experiments for a time? She scanned vast expanses of desert draped in ghostly moonlight. Tree branches, bushes and grasses were coated in an ashen white glow.

“It’s very peaceful here,” Sakari said nervously. Without the incessant sound of rough seas battering the rocky cliffs and the demoness yelling her demands, this part of Earth was quite peaceful and pleasing despite having to deal with a human shapeshifter. “Why do we need to worry about this human shifter? Is he stronger than most humans?”

“Arizona was quite different a hundred and fifty years ago when I lived here,”

Dante said, his voice distant.

Was Dante completely ignoring her question or did he not know?

They were close to the portal now, she could feel the magnetic pull. As they continued to walk, the energy eased. They were moving beyond it. At least the shapeshifter wasn’t right on top of the portal. “How has the area changed?”

“More people.”

She could sense something in him had changed. His cold, hard-as-steel manner had softened. “Is there anything you miss from back then?”

Dante looked at her, his brown eyes clouded for a moment as if his thoughts were faraway and he didn’t speak for several moments. Straightening, he said, “I hope he’s still alive.”

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Kathy Kulig

Sakari stopped walking. “You said he was injured. Now you think you may have killed him? Was that why the demoness made you into a slave for a time?”

Dante laughed. “No. I know how not to kill Kithras. That’s not why she made me her slave. I’d lost my nebula stone. A year ago, a human stole it from me and it’s still missing.”

She shook her head. “What can a human do with the stone?”

“They could travel to and from Anartia if they can find the portals.”

“Dante!” a male’s voice called from behind them.

They spun around, confronting the new presence. Valdon stood several yards away. A blond shadow dressed all in black.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Dante asked him.

“The demoness has grown impatient and awaits the presence of her favorite Drone,” he said with an annoyed tone. “She doesn’t want to be kept waiting.

Obviously, you don’t know how to stay out of trouble.”

Dante stiffened. “This is a complicated situation and—”

“And I will take care it and assist the new Drone.” He patted Sakari on her shoulder in a condescending manner. “Tell me what happened.”

Dante gave him a sharp look, then explained about how he was attacked by a mortal shifter during his collection of chi. “He’s not the first mortal I’ve seen who could shift.” He motioned Valdon to follow him around a cluster of juniper trees. “I left him over here. He was unconscious.”

“There!” Sakari ran over to the man who was half naked, muscular and very handsome. The same man she’d seen earlier, this time smelling of sweat, blood and earth. Thankfully, she’d drawn away any memories of their first meeting when she left him. He wouldn’t remember her.

Unconscious and injured, the man still appeared powerful and dangerous. An appealing tug went straight through her, slamming her up against an invisible wall. No matter how beaten he was, she desired him now, his naked body pressed to her. She ached to feel him inside her. The sensual need continued to build in her. She needed a release she thought she could never get with a mortal. The intensity of the lust and her reaction to this man surprised her. Did Drones have these feelings for their Kithra? She hesitated to ask Dante.

Standing beside the man, she saw his lips part as he took in a breath. Her pussy quivered.
Wake up. I want you inside me.
She closed her eyes and imagined him taking her hard. His swollen cock, ramming and thrusting inside her cunt. She wanted him, like nothing she’d ever wanted before. Was she insane? Obsessed? If she had this strong a response, she didn’t dare take him as her Kithra. If she fucked him, she’d end up killing him.

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Damned and Desired

“Sakari!” Dante said, giving her an odd look. Could he see inside her thoughts?

Drones could only read mortals’ thoughts, not other Drones’. Dante held his gaze on her as if he didn’t trust her. “You’re wasting time.”

“He’s not moving. Did you kill him?” Valdon asked. “The demoness will not be pleased if you did.”

Dante gave him a wry smile. “I can handle the demoness and the guy’s not dead. I just stunned him. We could kill him if we had to. Out here in the desert no one would know.”

“No!” Sakari shouted. She went into her slave mode and knelt beside the injured mortal. On Anartia she occasionally had to attend Drones when they returned from Earth injured. Obtaining chi for the demoness was sometimes a dangerous task.

She smoothed her hand over his forehead and the male stirred. Well-sculpted chest and arms were covered in sand and bits of grass. Bloody claw marks crisscrossed his arms and chest. “Dante, did you have to? Look at his wounds.”

Valdon shook his head in disgust. “No, Sakari, we won’t kill a mortal because Dante lost control and attacked him.”

Dante paced. “He attacked me first.”

A pain twisted inside her, feeling the pain from his wounds transferred to her. “I doubt it was necessary,” she said, her voice hardening.

“It was.”

Sakari raised the man’s arm and noticed some bruising besides the scratches. The man didn’t awaken. “Why didn’t you subdue him with thoughts?”

“He caught me off guard. No time,” Dante said.

“I bet,” she said, anger making her shake. Her hands continued over his arms, shoulders, chest and down to his abdomen trying to sense for any injuries. Her gaze darted to his groin and her body temperature kicked up a few degrees. “What’s he wearing?” Around the man’s waist, he had on an animal fur of some kind.

“You need to leave,” Valdon said to Dante.

Dante ignored him. “I think the fur has to do with the animal he shifted into,”

Dante answered Sakari, sounding impatient. “He was a leopard.”

“A leopard?” Valdon asked, distracted from his power struggle with Dante for the moment.

She tried imagining this man shifting into a leopard. Then her mind drifted to him coming to her bed in her private chamber on Anartia. Where she could have a man, give herself completely to him in every way without concern for the loss of chi. What was it like to have a man without fear when getting personal could mean his life, or the death of her alternative world? It had been so long since she felt so drawn to a man like that.

“Never make it personal,” Valdon always said. What if she did?

“If you can’t keep your hands off the mortal, then jerk him off and get some chi out of it,” Dante said, leaning up against a rock, his arms crossed.

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Kathy Kulig

“Back off!” Sakari snarled.

“Hey, hey, hey. What’s all the yelling about?” the man said in a groggy tone. He blinked several times, squinted, then focused on Sakari. “You. You’re back.”

“So I am,” she stammered. “Are you all right?”
He remembered me.

“Who are you?” the man asked.