“You don’t believe me.” His words echoed with sorrow, but she could not allow herself to care.
“I believe you’re a spirit guide, part of the vision I’m having. I’m in a meditative trance, sitting on the back of the carnival wolf I bought. You’re supposed to tell me something about whatever evil is stalking me.”
He froze, every muscle in his body seeming to go on alert. He cocked his head to one side and it took her a moment to realize he was listening. Then he sniffed the air, much like a dog, or a wolf. “We are alone. There is no evil here now.”
She found she believed him, sensed he would know if there was anyone or anything else with them. “What about the other warriors?” She really didn’t want to discuss the evil presence that had been in her apartment last evening. She also knew she needed to listen to whatever Arand had to tell her if she was going to get the most out of this vision quest.
Arand studied her for a long moment before continuing. “Roric, Marco and Leander were all set free.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I believe they found a way to defeat Hades and free themselves from the curse.”
Now it was her turn to frown. “I thought the curse was broken now that you’re free.” She didn’t think she had anything to do with setting him free, but she was curious about the whole curse thing. Maybe it could help her figure out what evil was stalking her and how to break free from it.
She leaned against the wall, studying Arand’s strong jaw, broad nose and dark eyes. He really was attractive in a rugged, masculine way. And he was certainly at home with his body and sexuality, not bothered at all by the lack of clothing. She wished she were half as confident.
“Hades is coming for me, for us. We have to evade him for twenty-four hours and then we will be free.”
Sabrina snapped to attention. “Whoa, back up. What do you mean Hades is coming for us, for me?” She swallowed hard, fighting of a wave of nausea. She knew something evil was stalking her, but she’d been holding out some small grain of hope that it wasn’t the devil himself.
She silently whispered a small prayer, glad she had Jessica’s beads wrapped around her wrist and Tilly’s amulet around her neck. They weren’t much protection against such a powerful force, but they made her feel better, stronger.
Arand rested his forehead against hers and wrapped his strong hands around her shoulders. “Hades wants me to join him. If I will not, he’ll try to kill me.”
“And me, what about me?” She hated the way her voice trembled.
“You, he will want to kill you and steal your soul.”
Sabrina shook her head. Enough was enough. “Okay, time for you to go. I need to pull myself out of this trance and figure things out.”
Arand frowned. “You still do not believe me?”
She tried to push him aside, but it was like trying to move a slab of granite. “You’re a vision, a part of my meditation. You’re not real.”
But if he wasn’t real, why was he so damn heavy?
Chapter Seven
Arand stared down at the woman who’d freed him and set the remainder of the curse in motion. Sabrina. Her name was strong and feminine, like her. He cupped her face, marveling at her beauty. This woman, this fragile human had released him from five thousand years of torment.
And she smelled divine. His senses were overloaded with the stimuli bombarding him. Lavender and sweat coated her skin, but beneath it was the sensual musk of slightly aroused female. She might be afraid of him, but she wanted him too.
He could smell lemons and some kind of food, which made his stomach grumble. He hadn’t eaten in a very, very long time. But touching her was more important than food, more important than anything.
Her skin was soft and smooth, pale as the moon and warm as a summer’s night. He wanted to strip her naked and touch every inch of her. His cock pulsed in ready agreement. He ached, but it felt good. It meant he was alive, no longer held trapped.
The room was dimly lit, but he could see every inch of it as though it was bathed in the noonday sun. And he could see her too.
Hair as red as the leaves in the autumn fell in loose curls around her shoulders and framed her face. Her nose was straight, her cheekbones defined. Full lips were parted on a sigh and his balls contracted when her tongue slicked over the bottom one.
Vivid green eyes widened as he rubbed his thumbs along her stubborn jaw and tilted her head back so he could get a better view. Her eyelashes were long and thick, her eyebrows slightly arched.
He’d seen more beautiful women during the years he’d walked the earth, certainly he had, but he just couldn’t seem to remember any of them. Sabrina washed away the memory of them all. There was a vibrancy, a pulsing energy of life that surrounded her, and he wanted to bathe in it, in her.
He knew she didn’t believe he was real and was inexplicably saddened by that. It shouldn’t matter. His mission was clear—protect Sabrina, evade Hades, find his fellow warriors, if any of them still lived, and free the Lady. There was no place in his life for a fragile human female.
But she was here, so very close. And he’d been alone for so very long. Arand leaned down and their lips met in the lightest of touches. He drew back and she stared up at him, eyes wide and hands curled around his shoulders.
He kissed her again because he had to. This time he used more pressure, silently asking for her acceptance. Her lips moved beneath his and her warm breath caressed his face. When she tentatively parted her lips for him, he wanted to throw back his head and howl.
His wolf was prowling inside him, growling and snarling. He wanted Arand to position Sabrina on her hands and knees so he could take her from behind, claim her as theirs, and he wanted it now.
Ours, the wolf sent the silent message.
Ours, he agreed. He was more in tune with his animal side, more primal than some of the other warriors. They might fight their basic instincts, but he wouldn’t. He trusted his wolf and knew the animal’s instincts were correct. This woman was his. Period.
It didn’t for a moment enter his head that she wouldn’t feel the same way. She’d set him free and was allowing him to kiss her, to touch her. As far as he was concerned, she was accepting his claim, welcoming it. He was the alpha male and she was the woman he wanted.
He stroked his tongue into her mouth, tasting her for the first time. Warmth and gentleness, things that had been missing in his life for so long, surrounded him. She rubbed her tongue against his and dug her fingers into his shoulders, her nails scoring his bare flesh.
He had to see her, touch her.
He grabbed the hem of her top and shoved it up. An unusual garment covered her breasts. A bra, that’s what it was called. He and his brethren had been held in a state of suspended animation for long, lonely centuries, but for some reason they’d been able to absorb all the knowledge of the world. They probably had the Lady to thank for that.
Either way, it had helped him stay sane over the long wasteland of years, giving him something to concentrate on, something to make the time pass more easily. He loved to learn and the modern world was filled with fascinating inventions and ideas.
Unfortunately, the bra wasn’t one of them. He might know what the garment was, but he didn’t like it. It was blocking him from seeing her breasts. He shoved it upward too and pulled his mouth from hers. “I have to see you.”
He looked down and his heart stopped before it began to race once again. Perfect pale mounds, tipped with puckered pink nipples met his gaze. He groaned, leaned down and captured one, lapping at it with his tongue before carefully sucking it.