Chapter 8

LUCIEN

^~Welcome to the danger zone. Step into the fantasy. You are now invited to the other side of sanity.~^

The food in this world didn’t come close to the cuisine from my kingdom, even if it were prepared by the finest chefs. But I was especially enjoying this meal because of the woman sitting next to me.

Nicolette had been silent the whole meal. She hadn’t even glanced my way, just stared straight, out the window. I didn’t want to push her, though. She knew what I wanted. With every bite, the tension in the air grew. Nervous tension? Or something else?

“I found it in the backyard of a church in Malta,” she said abruptly, breaking the silence between us.

I snapped my eyes to her. She was looking at me resolutely. She’d surrendered and was now willing to give me what I needed. Finally.

“Hmm?” I cocked a brow, swallowing and putting my fork down.

“That’s where my excavation team and I found the mirror.” She drank what was left of her water.

“Yes, that much I know already. Go on.”

She exhaled slowly, like she didn’t know where to begin.

“There was pottery, craft tools, and jewelry buried just under a large stone box. At first we thought the box was a sarcophagus—which would have been a career-making find—but on opening it, we found the mirror. We were all a bit disappointed, to be honest.”

I nodded, urging her to continue.

“It clearly had a different origin from the other items, so we assumed someone had buried it at a later date. It was just too simple and plain to have been left with the other more valuable objects.

“Since it wasn’t worth much, from an archeological standpoint, and since it didn’t seem to belong to main discovery, I decided to keep it. And the others let me. I brought it home and put it in my bedroom.”

“Why did you take it?” I asked.

She looked down, and her brow furrowed. “I don’t know. It…called to me.”

“You know what it can do, so why did you give it away? I need to know.”

She looked up at me, and I could see fear on her face. “It scared me.”

I knew she wasn’t lying. She wasn’t a spy or an assassin. The Zaxonian silver had transported her accidentally to my realm.

No wonder she had been so resistant to talk about it. Her brain was still fucked up by the revelation that hers wasn’t the only livable dimension.

And I’d given her the shittiest welcome any world could offer. Grabbing her hair. Setting a monster loose on her. Pointing my sword at her.

I cleared my throat and pushed those thoughts aside. I still needed to find out who had built the mirror and buried it there. “Anything else?”

“That’s it.” She picked her fork back up. “Unless you want me to examine the mirror for anything else that might catch your attention. I can’t help you any more than that.” She continued eating.

~I can think of one way you could help me. ~My eyes drifted lower, her feminine form enhanced by the dancing candlelight.

My sight was far better than a human’s, so her clothes didn’t hinder my view at all. I could see the details of her brassiere under the white blouse, the fullness of her breasts, the curve of her waist.

“That would be helpful,” I said, thinking of her in my bed and how she’d probably give me the orgasm I craved so much.

She gave a curt nod. It broke my trance.

I picked up my fork and looked at my plate. “And to be safe, I am going to tear that church down. Excavating the backyard is not enough.” I skewered a piece of meat.

Nicolette almost choked on her food. “You’re just kidding, right? You mean y—”

“Yes, I will destroy the church,” I said, sweeping my arm across the table. “Then I will have more people excavate underneath to see if there are any more mirrors hidden there.”

“You can’t do that!”

I lifted a brow. “Why not? I have money. I have the people. I have the power to do anything I want in this world.”

“Mr. Ozric, it’s a church! Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Don’t you have values?”

“No.” I held her gaze, showing her I wouldn’t back down. ~Values make a man bleed. ~My father had taught me that.

“Well, I do.” She dropped her fork and napkin and stood up. “Thank you for the meal, but I’ll be on my way. I’m not getting involved in this.”

I glared at her. ~Does she think she is in control here? ~“Nicolette, sit.”

But she didn’t. She got up and walked away, giving me a view of her delicious backside.

I stood up and followed her toward the door. “Nicolette!”

She exited my suite and called the elevator.

“Remember our conversation on the phone last night?” I asked.

She glanced over her shoulder, curiosity in her eyes again.

“I told you I am not a stalker.”

She turned to face me, arms crossed in front of her. “Yeah? What are you, then?”

“I am a hunter.”

When the elevator pinged opened, I rushed forward, grabbed her waist, and pushed her inside. I couldn’t wait any longer.

Before the doors were closed, I’d had her chin in my hand and was claiming her mouth with mine.

NICOLETTE

He moved so fast, and all I could do was gasp as his lips crash into mine. One moment I was getting away from him, and the next I was wrapped in his arms, closer to him than ever.

Our eyes were still open, and he seemed to be enjoying watching my reaction to his vigorous kiss.

I yelped against his lips when he grabbed at my hair, pulling me even closer to him. As his tongue brushed against my lips, my defenses cracked.

I opened my mouth for him, and he explored it with the intensity of a man starved. But his mouth felt ~too~ good. If I didn’t end it soon, my defenses would shatter.

I pressed my hands between us and pushed him away. He stepped back, but only so he could press the red button on the panel. The elevator jolted to a stop.

He looked at me. And I looked back at him. It was a face-off. Each waiting for the other to make the first move. I felt paralyzed again, like before, but my knees buckled slightly, and that was signal enough for him.

He was on me in an instant, kissing from my lips down to the nape of my neck and back up. His hands reached for my curves, and it seemed they were desperate to find skin. He untucked my shirt and melted against me slightly as his fingers scoured my body, sending sparks as they went.

This wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced with a man. It felt like he was hungry…for me. Not just anyone, but me. Like he missed me. Like he’d had my body before and knew it well, maybe better than I did.

My eyes closed in the ecstasy of his touch. His lips were the keys unlocking desires I hadn’t even known were there.

~Oh, fuck. Take me now, in this elevator. ~That thought caused my eyes to open. Was I really ready to lose my virginity, right here, right now? Did I really want to give it to this man?

The sound of my skirt unzipping scared and excited me, but he suddenly stopped and pulled away from me. His face held no emotion, and his eyes looked to be a few shades darker than normal.

He cupped my face with his hands, and a playful grin spread across his lips. He lowered his hands to my upper arms, gave them a squeeze, and violently spun me around, gripping my throat from behind with one hand while pulling my body against his manhood with the other.

My head was facing up because of his hold, but my eyes closed as he continued kissing and exploring my body. He released my neck, placed both hands on my waist, and bent me forward with his body.

My hands flew out in front of me onto the wall of the elevator, and my eyes snapped open.

~What the—?~

The mirrored wall no longer showed a crisp reflection. Instead, it was swirling. And, like with the Malta mirror, I fell that familiar pull.

~Oh, no. Is this really happening again?~

I felt a tingling sensation as blackness enveloped me.

The pleasure caused by Darien’s touch was gone, replaced by overwhelming fear. I screamed into the darkness, but no sound came.

***

I opened my eyes to a star-filled sky. I was sprawled on the ground, on my back this time. But like last time, my head was pounding and a wave of nausea surged through me. I knew I was back.

“No! No! No!” I bolted upright and the world spun. I grabbed the sides of my head as if that could make it stop. “This can’t be happening! Not again!” Panic threatened to overtake my senses.

“It’s happening, desime,” Darien said.

I whipped around, turning toward his voice. “You…” My throat was suddenly dry.

He was still wearing the same clothes, still had his godlike face, but his short hair had transformed back into that sinfully silky raven-black hair from before. He spread his arms wide.

“Welcome back,” he said, “to ~my~ world.”