Shameless Desire (The Outlawed Realm) Page 8

  Oh God. “You don’t have to say anymore,” Gwen cut in. “It’s okay, really.”

  “I want you to know,” he insisted, his chest rising and falling with his harsh breaths. “You need to understand why I have to kill them.” His gaze turned inward, as though he were picturing his mate’s death in his mind. “One after the other mounted Zule, taking her as they did the pleasure slaves. When they were through, they debated how they would kill her. One wanted to toss her into a pool of water to see how long it would be before she drowned. Another suggested nailing her to a tree so the predators could feed on her while she was still breathing. At last they decided to simply slit her from throat to belly, leaving her corpse for the subhumans and other creatures to consume.”

  Gwen shuddered.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Staci said.

  “No, you’re not,” Gwen warned her, then spoke to Kuma. “I’m so sorry.”

  He didn’t look at her. She sensed his shame and would have said something to dispel it, but what? “How many of them are still over here?” she finally asked. How many had he killed so far?

  He spoke through his teeth. “The ones who first came over are dead now. The ones who are still arriving are—”

  “Whoa,” Gwen interrupted. “They’re still coming over?”

  “Vakar’s sending them.”

  “Who?” Staci asked.

  “Wait,” Gwen said to her, then turned back to him. “Earlier you said you wanted to stop them from what they’re doing on this side. Did you mean hunting the two pleasure slaves who escaped?”

  Where had they gone? Were they also dead?

  Kuma loosened his fingers and slumped in his chair. “No, that’s not what I meant. The guards are taking females from this plane for use in E4’s Pleasure Palace. Vakar, the highest ruler, realized it’s easier to abduct women from your realm rather than to have them bred and grown for his use on E4.”

  Staci’s mouth fell open. “Huh?”

  Gwen kicked her again. This time, her cousin didn’t seem to notice. “How do you know this?” Gwen asked Kuma.

  “Before I attacked the guards, I listened to them speaking about it. In the beginning, Vakar ordered them to abduct females and males—some rulers prefer those of their own sex. The males proved too difficult because of their size and willingness to fight. The guards began to choose ones who were asleep, like the man whose clothing I took. Those males didn’t last long on E4. They had a sickness that made them scream and tear at their skin when they were awake.”

  “Drug withdrawal,” Gwen said, then added, “what you saw that man put into his arm caused the sickness.”

  “Then why do they take it?” Kuma asked.

  “They’re idiots,” Staci muttered. “Stupid fucking brain-dead idiots.”

  He regarded her and continued, “Vakar finally settled on females alone. Even though they were easy for the guards to take down, once the tranquilizer wore off, they weren’t as submissive as the usual slaves. Vakar and the other rulers like that. These new females posed a challenge.”

  One could only hope. Gwen tried to swallow and couldn’t; her mouth was too dry. The horror of what had happened in the alley, how bad it could have turned out, returned in full force. “That’s why that man, guard, whatever, attacked me tonight.”

  Kuma studied her mouth and breasts. A new wave of heat shot to Gwen’s face, chasing away her fear, replacing it with female wanting and need.

  “He needed to return with a prize,” Kuma said.

  God, she loved his voice, smooth and deep, promising all sorts of decadent delights.

  “However,” he added, “the rulers wouldn’t have kept you for pleasure.”

  Not expecting that, Gwen blurted, “No?”

  “Why?” Staci asked.

  For the first time, he focused on her fully. “They prefer your type. Smaller, with long hair, looking as a female should.”

  Gwen frowned. What in the hell did that make her? Dog meat? She wasn’t beautiful like Staci, but she wasn’t that freaking awful.

  “What would they have done to Gwen?” Staci asked, clearly getting into this.

  “It’s okay,” Gwen said to Kuma. “You can spare us the gory details.” She spoke to her cousin, “I probably would have been washing the pretty girl’s lingerie or serving their food, you know, sort of like here.”

  “The rulers would have hunted you in the jungle like a wild animal,” Kuma said. “They would have taken you down with crossbows. They kill those who aren’t to their liking and the ones who aren’t perfect.”

  With that one awful word—perfect—Gwen looked at her cousin before she could stop herself. Staci’s face had already turned bright red. As she had earlier, she pulled in her shoulders as though to hide herself.

  “I saved you from that and worse,” Kuma said to Gwen.

  She mumbled, “What could be worse than that?”

  “I’ve heard the guards talk about keeping some of the females for themselves on E5.”

  Before he explained what that meant, giving her and Staci more nightmares, Gwen pushed to her feet. “We need to go to bed. That is,” she amended, when she realized what she’d said, “we need to sleep. It’s late.” She gestured to Kuma. “You can use my bed.”

  “You’re crashing with me?” Staci asked.

  “No.” She checked the lock on the back door once more, then led the way to her bedroom.

  The animal part of Kuma hesitated, feeling constrained by the house. Blood pounded within him. His body ached to be free, to run, to kill.

  The human part of him resisted and won out at the sight of Gwen leaving the kitchen. Before she got too far from him, he followed.

  “See you in the morning,” Staci called out.

  He didn’t bother responding. He sensed the girl’s fear of him, along with her carnal interest. Not that it mattered. He wanted Gwen.

  She’d stopped in the middle of her bedroom, her attention on the weapon she’d threatened him with earlier. “Have you ever used a shower?”

  “What is it?”

  Her shoulders sagged a little. “Guess you haven’t. I’ll turn on the water. Take off your clothes, step inside and wash off. I have several kinds of soap and shampoo.” She breathed hard before continuing, “I’ll open the containers for you. Use what’s inside. Whichever one you like best.”

  “Why?”

  She halted in the doorway to the bath and regarded his feet. “Because you’re filthy from being outside.”

  He took in Gwen’s length, enjoying what he saw—a ripe female, sensual, provocative. On her neck were several streaks of dirt from when she’d touched the dart’s entry point. He gestured to it. “So are you. Will you take off your clothes and shower with me?”

  She stared as if he’d lost his mind, but her yearning gaze told him another story. One of a woman who was as lonely as he had been, who was as wanting of his presence as he was of hers.

  Kuma crossed the space that separated them. He cupped Gwen’s face in his hands and ran his thumbs over her downy cheeks.

  Her lids fluttered. She closed them on a quiet sigh and released her weight into him.

  It was all the invitation Kuma needed. He brushed his lips over hers as he had earlier, teasing the seam of her mouth with his tongue, craving entrance.

  Gwen granted it. She whimpered as he deepened their kiss.

  Her response nourished those parts of Kuma that had wasted away when he’d lost Zule. He gathered Gwen as close as he dared, his embrace too tight, yet she didn’t seem to mind. Gwen slanted her mouth to allow him greater access. She followed his lead as a female should, encouraging him to indulge in her scent, how she felt, tasted.

  He couldn’t get close enough. She couldn’t seem to either. They turned in slow circles with their deepening passion, arms wrapped around each other, hands moving up, down. At last, Kuma cradled the back of Gwen’s head so she couldn’t abandon him or the moment. To make certain of it, he planted his other
hand on her ass, using it to force her against his cock, demanding she feel his erection.

  His desire made her wild, just as he’d hoped. She pushed his tongue from her mouth, then filled him with hers even as she tugged on the waistband of his jeans. He did the same with hers. They undressed each other, their fingers and limbs getting in the way. How he detested wearing any clothing. It stopped him from feeling her skin, from knowing her heat.

  After too long a time, they were finally nude. Kuma reached for her.

  Down the hall, a door closed, followed by the sound of running water and something falling to the floor. Staci muttered loudly, the words she’d said meaningless to Kuma, her aggravation quite evident.

  Gwen rushed to her own door, shutting it. Leaning against the wood, she wet her lips and looked everywhere but at him.

  Kuma’s belly clenched at her sudden unease. He sensed it wasn’t because Staci knew what would happen in here or that she might hear it. Gwen’s real concern was far more disturbing. He went to her and spoke quickly, “I won’t change. It’s within my control. I’ll remain a man. You have nothing to fear even though I’m different from—”

  He stopped at her fingers on his lips.

  “Different?” She smiled. It was glorious, illuminating her exotic beauty. “I’m the different one, at least in this realm, dimension, whatever you want to call it. I’m a mutt with more ethnicities than I care to count. My mother was a prostitute, which made me very careful about birth control. Been on the pill forever. No way am I having kids and doing to them what my parents did to me. My mother couldn’t deal with a child. My father was one of her johns. He never wanted to see me or even acknowledged my existence. He’s a corporate attorney from one of Seattle’s finest families. Staci’s from that side, not my mother’s. Like you said, that guard made a mistake by picking me. Staci’s the kind of woman he really wanted.”

  Kuma heard her heartache and wondered about a father who could deny his child, a mother who didn’t have enough love for her. He eased Gwen’s hand from his lips. “Why are you talking so much?”

  A look of offense crossed her face. She tried to take her hand from him.

  Not letting her, he said, “You know I have to have you, no other woman. Tell me what you want.”

  Gwen’s frown faded. She curled her fingers around his, her expression as tender as her gesture. “You. In the shower. With me.”

  With no hesitation, he followed her into the bath.

  She lifted a switch on the wall. Light poured down on them.

  “Too bright?” she asked.

  Almost as bad as the sun on her side. He tried not to squint. “Is it too much for you?”

  “No freaking way. I don’t want to miss anything.”

  Kuma liked how that sounded and the way she stared at his cock. “It doesn’t bother me. Leave it on.”

  “Will do.” She went to a flowered curtain, pulling it aside. The rings at the top rattled over a long gray pole. Gwen bent at the waist.

  At the sight she presented, Kuma forgot to breathe. Her cunt was rosy and plump, her dark curls glistening with moisture that signaled her excitement and hunger for him.

  She turned two devices that squealed a bit. Instantly, water poured into a long white container.

  It was as amazing as the other marvels he’d seen on this plane, but not what he wanted. He grabbed her hips.

  She slapped his hands. “We shower first. Trust me, you won’t regret it.” She pulled a knob on the wall. The water changed direction, coming from a circular device above her, falling like rain.

  Gwen stepped inside. Moisture beaded on her hair, face, nipples. She offered him her hand.

  Smiling, Kuma took it, eager for this new adventure. He flinched as the water hit his shoulder and throat.

  She laughed softly. “Too cold?”

  It was warmer than he’d imagined it would be. Not answering, he used his body to back her into the wall.

  With her palms pressed to it, Gwen looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Aren’t you going to ask what happens now?”

  She wanted to play. He stopped grinding his cock into her curls, and squeezing her breast, forcing himself to be patient. “Are you going to transform into something else as I did? Should I be afraid?”

  “Terrified,” she whispered and eased a lock of hair behind his ear. “I’m going to do you so hard and long you’ll be limp for a fucking week.”

  He kissed her cheek, savoring the salty taste of her skin, its musky fragrance, weakened and energized by it. “What’s a fucking week?”

  “Heaven.”

  “What’s that?”

  She stopped running her thumb over his cheek and sighed, as though he’d said something to irritate or hurt her.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered. “What have I done?”

  “Nothing. It’s not you. It’s your situation.” She gave him a wan smile. “Heaven is everything wonderful that you’ve missed on E4 because of that bastard Vakar and the guards. Those lousy, motherfucking—” She stopped and shook her head, clearly trying to temper her rage.

  Kuma slipped his hand beneath her chin and turned her face so she had to look at him. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine. Great. No more questions, got it? Just this.” Deftly, she slid away from his grasp. “Lean against the wall.”

  “Why?”

  Gwen touched his mouth in answer, tracing it with her fingers, then ran her hand from his chin to his throat.

  Kuma swallowed without meaning to. Sensations he’d never experienced before wound through him, further diminishing his strength. On a prolonged sigh, he slumped against the damp wall.

  “Stay where you are,” she murmured. “Nothing bad’s going to happen. I’m only going to wash you.”

  She took two items from a shelf, holding the white one in her right hand, the green in her left. “Which of these soaps do you like most? Which fragrance is the best?”

  “The one that smells like you.”

  Gwen beamed with his answer. “Excellent choice.”

  Her throaty tone made him even harder. If they’d been on E4, he would have pulled her to the ground and quieted her with his kisses, driven his cock into her heated sheath to trap her even further. In this realm, he waited to see what she’d do next, both frustrated and excited with the delay in having her.

  Gwen rubbed the green bar between her hands to work up lather. Bubbles dripped from her fingers, landing on his thighs as she studied his torso. “What’s this?”

  She touched a scar on his side and quickly found another and another, her fingers stroking the jagged skin, unmistakable outrage and sadness on her face. “These look old. They couldn’t have happened on this realm like your other injuries.” She ran her fingers over the cuts he’d healed earlier.

  Kuma wrapped his arms around her waist, needing to draw her close.

  Resisting, she wiggled out of his grasp. “Did those freaking guards do that to you on E4?”

  “A long time ago, when I was young. Before I was big enough to fight them off.”

  “Pricks.” She kissed the first scar. The heat of her mouth radiated from Kuma’s torso to the tips of his fingers and toes. He gritted his teeth to keep from making any sounds that might frighten or deter her from continuing.

  Gwen lavished affection on each of his former wounds as though they still pained him.

  If not for her attention, Kuma wouldn’t have noticed them at all. His memory of getting hit by the ruler’s arrow would always be with him, but he no longer felt its sting, the agony of his father pulling the weapon out, his mother laying her hands on him so he’d heal and survive, killing those who harmed them. All he knew at this moment was how Gwen soothed and aroused every inch of his flesh.

  She sank to her knees, pressing her face to his groin, smelling his male scent. His toes splayed, then curled. He dug his nails into his palms to maintain control.

  Gwen stole it, licking his dark curls, running her soapy hands over t
he length of his cock, fondling his balls. They were so tight the pain of not having her became intolerable.

  “Enough,” he gasped. “I have to be inside you.”

  She shoved his hands away, not allowing him to pull her to her feet. “You will be,” she cooed.

  The back of Kuma’s head hit the wall. He gasped at Gwen’s mouth on his crown. She tongued the small indentation at the top and moaned as though she loved the taste of his pre-come. He grunted at her licking his full length, not knowing how much more of this he could endure.

  She stopped suddenly. Before he could ask why or order her to continue, she lifted his shaft and pressed her lips to his sac.

  A moan of delight poured from him. He shot to his toes, then came right back down, his heels slapping the wet surface.

  Gwen paid him no heed. She explored his right ball with her tongue, then eased it inside her mouth.

  He mumbled words from his own language, telling her she had to stop. He needed to come inside of her.

  Not understanding what he’d said, she persisted, tending to his right ball, then moved to his left, making his knees sag.

  His body trembled uncontrollably. Kuma wasn’t certain how much longer his legs would hold him. Gwen didn’t appear to notice or care. With her hands on his ass, she released his sac and took his cock into her mouth.

  It was beyond wet and amazingly hot.

  Uncivilized sounds poured from him, proving his animal heritage. He pushed back to his toes and came down hard. His shaft slipped down Gwen’s throat until she had all of him inside, her nose touching his groin. An even rougher moan tore from him. He tried to catch his breath and failed.

  She pulled at his buttocks, separating the cheeks, her fingers running between them, pausing on his anus.

  Kuma clenched his teeth so hard they made a noise that told him they might break. He didn’t care. Wave after wave of pleasure flooded him at Gwen exploring his anus while moving his cock in and out of her mouth, her lips suckling his thickness, tongue licking the bumpy skin at the back of his crown.