As he came to her, naked and fully aroused, she was certain he must be the most beautiful man who’d ever lived. He looked at her, meeting her gaze, soft adoration in his eyes.
Her heart contracted. “Zeeland. If I turn into a ghost…” She swallowed the lump of dread wedging itself in her throat. “Don’t freak out. Please?”
He stretched out beside her pulling her down until she lay lengthwise on top of him, looking down into his face. His erection lay between them, their bodies separated only by the tiny scrap of lace of her panties.
He reached up and stroked the hair back from her face. “We’ll handle it, Juli.”
She tried to be reassured, but now that they were naked, were so close to finally
doing it,
her fear began to get the better of her. “I don’t know if I can go through with this, Zee.”
He cupped her cheek. “It’ll be okay.”
“Once you see the real me, you may not want anything to do with me.”
His dark eyes softened. “I’ve already seen the real you, sweetheart. Inside and out. If you have a few extra
gifts,
I can deal with that.”
“You’ve run from me once.”
“That was different. You scared the crap out of me.”
She laughed, a sharp sound of playful outrage, but the words pinched. “Thanks a lot.”
He cupped her face in his hands, his expression utterly serious. “You still scare me, Julianne. Not what you are or might do when I make love to you. But the way I feel about you. How badly I need you.”
She stared into his eyes, longing to ask
how
he felt about her. But his hands slid down her bare back, burrowing inside her panties to cup her rear, and her thoughts fled on a moan.
“Sweet goddess, Julianne,
I need you now.
”
He rolled her beneath him and pulled off her panties with a single quick tug that told her he was on the very edge of control. The realization filled her with hot excitement.
In a frantic storm of pent-up passion, his hands touched her
everywhere,
his mouth kissed every inch of her flesh until she was feverish with need for release from the torment of desire that raged within her.
“Zeeland, come inside me.
Please.
”
His finger touched her as it had before, sliding along the inside edge of her folds. But this time it pressed deeper, and deeper still, until it could go no farther.
“Is that okay?” he asked, his voice tight as a bowstring.
“Don’t tease me, Zeeland,” she gasped. “It’s not enough.”
His chuckle was hoarse. “Not enough. It’s a damned good thing.”
With his knee, he spread her thighs, then positioned himself over her, his weight on his forearms, his gaze glued to hers.
“If I hurt you, tell me, Juli. I’ll stop.”
Her hands lifted to grip his back. “Do it, Zee.”
She felt the touch of him against her slick opening, then the press of flesh as he sought entrance. He was too big. For a brief moment, she panicked. He’d never fit inside her!
“Juli, kiss me.” He bent his head and took her mouth, sweeping his tongue inside. Pleasure rushed through her, stealing her fear and opening her body. And suddenly he was in, sliding freely without causing her any pain, only a thick, welcome pressure.
“Okay?” he gasped.
“Yes. Oh, yes.”
He began to move, pulling back, then pressing forward again, slowly at first, then more quickly as her body softened and opened farther. Her own passion lifted, urging her to drive her hips against him, to seek more. Closer. Faster. Harder.
She gripped his shoulders, holding on as he plunged into her body over and over. Passion swept her up, spinning her in a tighter and tighter arc like a cyclone gaining strength and speed.
She was gasping, meeting him thrust for thrust, the climax nearly upon her when her blood began to fizz like champagne.
“Zee!”
But it was too late. The storm broke over her, broke over them both. As Zeeland shouted, his voice low and triumphant, she cried out her own release, a brilliant, exquisite orgasm that ripped her from herself and sent her spinning into a million pieces.
Literally.
She could feel her body turning to mist.
Chapter Eleven
Zeeland felt the moment Julianne began to change. The shift wasn’t immediate. The body beneath him began to turn soft, began to shimmer. He felt himself sinking. Into her.
Into her.
A frisson of panic bolted through him. His instincts told him to vault off the bed, away from her. But within her shimmering eyes he read the fear that he would do just that. He fought the instinct, his body still pulsing from the most incredible release he’d ever had.
Amazingly, instead of dimming, that incredible pleasure only seemed to grow as he slowly sank into the shimmering, insubstantial form of the woman he loved. He felt as if, in merging with her, she wrapped him in the very essence of her warmth and beauty. And love.
“Am I hurting you?” he gasped. He could be crushing her.
Destroying her
.
“No.” Her voice was filled with the wonder rushing through him. “It feels…wonderful. As good as the sex, but in an entirely different way.”
He kept his head lifted, peering down into her shimmering, beautiful face and saw the tears in her eyes.
She laughed softly, and he felt the ripples of pleasure caress him inside and out. “I’ve heard the term
becoming one
, but I think we’ve taken this to a whole new level.”
He grinned at her, then sobered. “Just don’t go solid with me inside you or we’ll
be one
in a way we never intended.”
Julianne’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Maybe we’d better not press our luck.”
“I agree.” Zeeland pushed himself up and off her, feeling the loss, then turned and sat facing her as she rose to sit beside him.
He looked at her, really looked at her. Her body, so petite, so beautifully ripe, yet perfectly proportioned, shimmered like an angel’s come to Earth. But he was ready for her to reclaim her corporeal form. He didn’t like that he couldn’t touch her.
How could he protect her if he couldn’t touch her?
In her eyes, he saw glimmers of the same worry. He’d promised her she wouldn’t stay this way, but neither of them had ever experienced anything like this before. Neither of them knew anything for certain.
Zeeland rose and pulled on his pants. Maybe the book…
An odd breeze blew through the room, scented with pine.
Julianne gasped, her insubstantial face whitening as her gaze stabbed the space behind him.
He whirled. Behind him, near the end of Julianne’s bed, floated a petite, blond woman, her misty body outlined in a red glow. Anger blazed from eyes the color of sapphires. An Ilina’s eyes.
“You’ll come with me.
Now,
” the small blonde snapped. “Both of you.”
“Like hell.” Zeeland strode to the bed to stand beside Julianne, putting his arm out to protect her, accidentally passing it right through her shoulder.
Hell.
He faced the Ilina. “We’re not going anywhere with you. None but a true Ilina can survive in the Crystal Realm, and we know it as well as you.”
Melisande’s face darkened with anger. “How dare you reveal yourself to him!” She lifted a hand and pointed two fingers at Julianne. To his horror, Julianne gasped, doubling over with pain.
“I didn’t mean to,” Julianne cried, her voice little more than a whisper.
“Leave her alone!” How in the hell was he supposed to protect her when he couldn’t touch her? When he couldn’t touch either of them?
Still bent double, Julianne began to rise off the bed. He watched in disbelief as she slowly moved toward the Ilina’s outstretched hand.
She was calling her.
Taking
her.
“No.
” Zeeland lunged for Julianne, but his hands went right through her. “Juli! She’s pulling you to her. Stop her! If she takes you into the Crystal Realm, you’ll die.”
He swung to the Ilina, fury and desperation rippling through his muscles. “
You can’t have her. She’s mine.
”
Melisande’s lip curled. “You can’t stop me, Therian.”
Zeeland’s fingers curled into his palms. Maybe he could and maybe he couldn’t. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to stand here and do nothing.
Running on pure instinct, he launched himself at Melisande, diving into the heart of her essence and blasting her with his will and his hatred, anything to break her hold on Julianne.
Melisande turned his fury back on him tenfold, lighting every nerve ending in his body, setting them on fire until he was in so much pain he had to fight just to remain standing, to remain conscious. He felt as if his flesh were being scorched from his bones, as if his blood had turned to acid.
But through his own pain, he could sense the Ilina’s, and he held on with everything he had.
Little by little, he felt her hold on Julianne weaken. He knew the moment it was gone.
His spirit sang with relief…until he tried to free himself, and couldn’t. With bone-deep dismay, he realized he was trapped fast. He’d held on so tightly, he’d become one with his enemy.
The cool wind blew across his face, the scent of pine trees heavy in the air—air that shimmered and sparkled like refracted crystals.
The Crystal Realm
. She was pulling him out of the bedroom, out of his world, and into that place he would never survive.
“Zeeland!” Julianne cried behind him.
He felt her rushing up beside him.
“No, Juli. Go!”
But she ignored him. And he felt the sweet, intense
rightness
of her body beginning to merge with his once more.
The terrible pain began to ease.
“She’ll kill you.” Julianne’s strong voice sounded in his head and his ears as if she spoke both within him as much as without. “We’ll fight her together.”
“Juli, no. My hatred hurts her. I won’t…hurt you, too.”
“Your hatred can’t touch me, Zeeland. It’s not for me.”
As she merged with him fully, strength poured into him, warm and pure. With his heart, he held tight to Julianne. With his mind, he flayed the Ilina, pushing her away.
They broke free with a hard shove of pine-scented power. Zeeland fell back against the bed, Julianne floating a foot away, naked at his side.
The Ilina collapsed as if half-conscious, to float inches above the floor, her glow a pulsing yellow.
His gaze flew to Julianne as he righted himself. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
The door burst open and Kougar strode inside, kicking the door closed behind him. The Feral’s cold gaze moved from the Ilina to Julianne and back again. If he was surprised to find two ghost-like women floating in the room, his expression didn’t show it.
“Melisande,” Kougar said coldly.
Zeeland’s gaze jerked toward him in surprise.
“Kougar,” Melisande replied as coldly, struggling to her feet. “This is none of your concern.”
Holy shit.
They knew one another.
Kougar’s gaze returned to Julianne. Zeeland’s jealousy began to rise as the Feral stared at the naked woman, but the Feral’s pale eyes held no carnal interest.
“Hold the moonstone in your palm and make yourself whole,” Kougar told her matter-of-factly.
Julianne’s head cocked with surprise and she reached for the now mistlike stone. Her hand clamped around it. Seconds later, she began to regain form as she floated down to settle on the floor.
Zeeland snagged Julianne around the waist and hauled her against his left side, his body singing with relief that he could touch her again. That he could physically protect her.
“I must have the moonstone,” Melisande cried angrily. “Queen Ariana suffers without it.”
With his foot, Zeeland scooped Julianne’s dress off the floor and slid it over her head.
“Ariana is a bitch and a parasite,” Kougar snarled. “She deserves to suffer.”
“You don’t understand.
”
“I understand better than you think.” The Feral turned to Julianne. “Don’t ever remove the stone. The longer you wear it, the less chance you’ll accidentally turn to mist. If you do feel yourself starting to turn, hold the stone as you did just now until you’re back in control.”
Julianne stared at him. “How do you know…?”
“The Therian must come with me.” Melisande snapped. “He knows the truth.”
Kougar shook his head dismissively. “He’s practically bound. I can feel the mating bond that all but links them. Once the ritual is complete, the bond will be unbreakable, and he’ll be unable to betray her. Your secret will remain safe.”
“How dare you interfere! They must die.”
“No.”
Melisande’s expression turned to fury. “I must at least return with the moonstone!”
“The moonstone will ensure that Julianne doesn’t turn to mist and give you away. Your bitch of a queen can do without it.” Kougar took a threatening step toward the far smaller woman. “Go, Melisande. The threat to your race has been nullified. Your job here is done.”
Melisande turned to Julianne, shooting her a killing look. “If you ever betray us…”
Zeeland tightened his hold on Julianne even as he turned, putting himself between them. “Get the hell out of here.”
With a shout of pure fury, Melisande threw her hands outward, rattling the furniture in a fine show of temper, then disappeared in a rush of cool, pine-scented air.
For several moments no one else moved. Finally, Zeeland relaxed his hold on Julianne, but his gaze remained fixed on the spot where Melisande had stood, not trusting she wouldn’t reappear.
Julianne stepped in front of him where she could see his face. “Are you okay?” The softness in her eyes filled his heart, and he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
Julianne pulled back enough to turn to Kougar. “She killed my parents.”
Kougar met Julianne’s gaze with cold, expressionless eyes. But his voice was not unkind when he answered. “Your parents were unmated. Unbound.” His gaze flicked to Zeeland’s. “You must bind yourselves to one another immediately. Your knowledge is a threat they will not allow.”