Vision of Seduction (9 page)

Katelyn to gasp. The queen was a powerful practitioner and wielded more

energy than Katelyn had ever seen in one person. Because Alyssa

concealed it so effortlessly, Katelyn assumed that, like most people, the

energy bled through only when strong emotions threatened.

I wouldn't want to be one of the Cunts if she gets ahold of them.

Alyssa blew out a slow breath and smiled at Katelyn. "Sorry, there's a lot of

history there, and it still makes me want to tear a few of them limb from

limb." Her smile was self-deprecating. "Not a very queenlike attitude, I'm

afraid."

The queen pulled off another small piece of the pastry on her plate and

popped it into her mouth. "Anyway, they raised me but never let me know

my true heritage. They planned to use me to overthrow the planet when I

came of age. Luckily, Stone found me just before my twenty-fourth

birthday, and last month I ascended the throne."

"Wow." Katelyn couldn't imagine everything Alyssa had gone through. She

didn't want to. "I'm glad it all worked out. But I don't see what that has to

do with me and my shop."

A flicker of a shadow crossed Alyssa's face and then disappeared, giving

Katelyn the impression the queen still held something back. "We know

they were looking for a Seer, but we weren't sure what they were going to

do once they found one. Luckily, Grayson happened to be there and was

able to keep them from taking you."

"Is that why Grayson was hanging around my shop?"

"Yes." The queen leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. "The

Cunts are extremely dangerous. They view humans as cattle, purely

existing to feed them sexual energy." Alyssa's suddenly intense gaze rooted

Katelyn to her chair. "They are also a very sexual society, but they don't

have the same moral code as the Klatch. They think nothing of rape,

necrophilia, bestiality, pedophilia, torture, and several other things the

Klatch would never dream of doing."

A shudder ran through Alyssa, and she closed her eyes as though trying to

chase away dark memories. Finally, her eyes opened, and she glanced over

at Katelyn again. "It might be best for you to stay here a while. In the

meantime, we will continue to search for more information on what the

Cunts are up to."

Holy hell. What have I fallen into?

"Is Rita safe?" Katelyn blurted out the words. "Should I bring her here with

me until whatever danger this is passes?"

Alyssa pursed her lips, considering. "We can, but do you think she'll

come?"

Katelyn studied her hands for a long moment. "No. For a woman who

owns half a new-age shop, she doesn't believe in anything supernatural or

new-agey."

The queen nodded. "As I said, we have Klatch guards watching over Rita

and your shop. No one will harm her."

Reluctantly, Katelyn agreed. Her first instinct was to tell them to thump

Rita on the head and drag her cynical, skinny ass back here and out of

danger. But how much did Katelyn really know about "here" yet? She

didn't sense any immediate threat, and her internal alarms were blissfully

silent, but what if Tador wasn't the right place for Rita right now? Katelyn

knew better than most that everyone's individual path had a purpose in the

greater scheme of things.

Besides, Rita was one tough lady. She would be all right, especially with

some hunky Klatch hanging around. Maybe Rita would even drop that

loser boyfriend after seeing some hot Klatch guys.

One could only hope.

"So, now that we've gotten through that, what exactly do you have to do as

queen? Is it all state dinners and paperwork?" Katelyn sat forward, excited

to learn more. Her imaginary playmates as children had included a prince,

but never a queen. She smiled as the warm memories trickled just below

the surface of her thoughts.

Alyssa's sudden bark of laughter surprised Katelyn.

"We are a very sexual society, remember? So my biggest duty as queen is to

maintain a symbiotic relationship with the planet. And I'm glad because I

think I would hate paperwork."

"Symbiotic?" Katelyn sipped her tea as she puzzled over the word. "It

sounds very ... Sci Fi Channel."

Alyssa cocked her head to the side. "Yes, I guess it does. But once you

understand it, it makes a lot of sense. I get energy from the king through

sexual interaction, and then I use that energy to heal myself and the

planet."

"Wow, talk about pressure. So what happens if you don't create enough

energy?"

The queen slumped back in her chair and sighed. "We are actually facing

that problem right now."

As a Seer, Katelyn wasn't often shocked by the metaphysical, but other

than sex magick, she'd never heard of using sex like a human battery to

power a planet. She wondered what had caused a sudden shortage of

energy if the entire society was as sexual as Alyssa had said.

Alyssa smiled as if she'd heard Katelyn's thoughts. "Usually, as the future

queen grows into a woman, she begins to take some of the burden for the

health of the planet from her mother. Think of it as on-the-job training."

Sudden understanding hit Katelyn. "And because you had been kidnapped

and only came here a few months ago, your mother was on her own."

Alyssa nodded. "You catch on quickly."

"Surely there is something that can be done to fix the situation."

"We're working on it and hope to have a solution in place soon. But, like

any world, the citizens are split about the right course to take."

Katelyn glanced out at the view from the balcony. A lush landscape that

could rival the Garden of Eden spread before her. "So what happens when

there isn't enough energy?"

Alyssa picked up her tea, and a drop of condensation caught Katelyn's

attention.

Katelyn's sight grayed.

The familiar disorientation that accompanied her visions rocked her

already weakened system. Her world tilted, and she gripped the edge of

the table as a moan escaped her lips.

Suddenly everything righted itself, and she stood inside a large

bedchamber with white walls, seams of pink crystals woven through them.

In her vision, a sense of urgency drove her gaze to the small round table

next to the bed. The table held only a steaming ceramic mug and a book,

laying facedown and open.

With silent steps, she crept forward and glanced around to make sure no

one had seen her, but everything seemed calm and quiet. She squared her

shoulders for courage and then tilted a dark vial of liquid into the mug,

watching it disappear into the depths of the beverage.

The scene jumped forward, and Katelyn's stomach lurched.

She swallowed hard against the tang of bile in the back of her throat and

then almost lost her breakfast when Alyssa, happy and smiling, took

another healthy sip from the mug.

Panic clawed up the insides of Katelyn's throat as if trying to escape. Her

mouth opened in a wordless scream as she tried to warn Alyssa—although

she wasn't sure about what.

A tight band closed around her chest and made it difficult to draw breath

as the queen crumpled to the ground.

Alyssa lay on the floor like a rag doll tossed aside, forgotten, her face pale,

her lavender eyes open and staring.

"Oh, my Goddess! I killed her."

5

Grayson's deep voice made Katelyn's entire body tingle. She resisted the

urge to shiver as his comforting presence chased away the last tendrils of

terror that still gripped her from the vision.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself looking into both Alyssa's

and Grayson's concerned faces. Still trembling, she pried her fingers off the

edge of the table and clasped them in her lap as she gulped in air.

Alyssa still sat across from her at the table—very alive—her dark brows

knitted with worry. Grayson knelt beside Katelyn, his long, dark hair loose

over his shoulders.

Even with the horrible vision still fresh in her mind, Katelyn had a strong

urge to plunge her hands through that wavy mass and drag Grayson

against her.

She did a quick double take as she realized he'd replaced his jeans and tight

T-shirt with a deep blue tunic and trousers— something that looked more

at home in a Renaissance festival than in the real world she was used to.

Then the remnants of her vision returned in full force.

She blew out a shaky breath as she reminded herself that her visions didn't

always mean what she thought.

This did nothing to calm her frayed nerves, but it kept her from full-blown

panic. "I'm okay." Her stomach felt as if she'd swallowed a large stone, and

her temples throbbed—normal after-vision reactions, but in her already

weakened state, Katelyn was surprised she didn't feel worse. However, the

fact that her body continued to ache with arousal concerned her.

"What happened?" Alyssa passed Katelyn a glass of ice water, and Katelyn

pressed the cold glass against her forehead, which seemed to chase away

some of the clammy dread that filled her.

A picture of Alyssa's sightless eyes flashed into Katelyn's mind, and she

took a large gulp of the water. She let the frigid liquid cool her burning

throat. "I... I may not be as recovered as I thought." Or maybe I'm just losing

my freaking mind!

Grayson stood, his expression a calm mask. "I'm sure that's it. Alyssandra,

I'll look after her and see to any needs she may have." A look of

understanding passed between him and the queen, and Alyssa nodded.

"The council meeting resumes soon, and you mustn't be late. I'm sorry I

disturbed the last one."

The queen smiled. "Don't be. We needed a break."

Alyssa had told Katelyn about Grayson's need for sexual energy to fully

heal—maybe that could account for what was happening to Katelyn. Did

this mean that every time she had a vision here she would need to have sex

to recover?

The possibility both excited and scared her.

A vivid flash of her earlier, almost-too-real dream vision with Grayson

flowed through her mind. Heat seared her cheeks and spread out to her

entire body like wildfire as she imagined him seeing to her "needs."

A small, knowing smile curved Alyssa's lips, and the breeze tousled her

dark hair, and she pushed it back from her face. As she stood, her chair

scraped against the white stone of the balcony. "In that case, I'll leave you

two alone, and we can talk later." The queen's beaded braids clinked

together lightly when she rose. "Katelyn, it was nice to meet you. I hope

you enjoy the hospitality of Tador. My door is always open if you need

anything at all."

A hard slap of lust hit Katelyn and zinged hot need to her throbbing pussy

and aching breasts. She swallowed back the sudden sensations.

Her mind told her that "anything at all" were simply three innocent

words—appropriate and polite in this situation. Apparently, her body

didn't buy into the whole logic scenario since vague images of Alyssa's

naked body flitted through Katelyn's mind.

She shook her head to try to clear her thoughts but only succeeded in

making herself dizzy.

One minute she had a vision about killing the queen, and the next she

fantasized about her. Either Katelyn had suddenly turned into a

spontaneous nymphomaniac, or Alyssa was right and this planet triggered

all these strange reactions.

That had to be it. Since when had she ever fantasized about women before?

Katelyn rubbed her hands over her arms and tried to reassure herself that

this was actually reality.

Alyssa started toward the door to the balcony, and Grayson pulled her into

a quick hug before he dropped a very brotherly kiss on her cheek.

After Katelyn's strong attraction to both of them, she expected jealousy to

surge through her at seeing them so close. However, she hadn't expected

the fleeting wish that she could have both Alyssa and Grayson at the same

time. That Alyssa's bare breasts could press against hers while Grayson

fucked her hard from behind.

Oh, my Goddess! I've finally snapped.

She furrowed her brow and buried her face in her hands. She didn't have

an issue with women being attracted to women, or even threesomes—she'd

just never been part of either of those arrangements, and she wasn't quite

sure how to feel about these new inclinations.

Not to mention, she preferred taking dominant sexual positions. Since

when had she ever wanted any man to fuck her from behind?

Just one of the many things she had to worry about right now.

Katelyn slowly raised her head and then picked up the glass of ice water

and again held it against her forehead. The condensation cooled her skin,

and she sighed, letting a small trickle of calm worm through all the other

conflicting emotions roiling inside her.

Grayson's attention returned to Katelyn, and all the oxygen suddenly

seemed very thin. Her gaze locked with his amethyst one as he stepped

forward and took her hand in his.

His touch burned through her and ignited her senses as if she were

kerosene just waiting for his spark to turn her into flames. She bit back a

gasp and swallowed hard, then she hastily lowered the glass to the table