Read Pixie’s Prisoner Online

Authors: Lacey Savage

Tags: #Romance/Paranormal

Pixie’s Prisoner (7 page)

BOOK: Pixie’s Prisoner
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God, he’d had no idea sex could be this…
intense
.

Laela’s nipples scraped against his chest. Electricity seared his skin everywhere she brushed against him. Her mound pressed against his pelvic bone with every thrust, causing streaming heat to roll through him.

He could let go. He could tell her everything about who he was, what he’d endured. He could lay his soul bare for her to see beyond the Marine façade and into the man who wanted nothing more but to live the rest of his days somewhere where he wouldn’t be hunted. And he could pray she’d accept him, scars and all.

“Nathan.” She whimpered his name as her body tightened. A flush crept up her chest and into her face. She rocked against him, her pussy squeezing and fluttering, the orgasm crashing through her and, in the span of a shattered heart-beat, unleashing his own.

The abrupt release shook the center of his balance and made all other thoughts disappear. Fire blazed in his veins.

Gripping Laela’s hips, Nathan slammed his cock hard inside her and held on as tightly as he dared while unleashing his seed deep in her pussy.

She clutched at his back, her nails raking a fiery path down his skin. The strength of the orgasm pouring through him made his stomach clench and his muscles stiffen. A groan that sounded more like a wild cry escaped his throat, the only release of pent-up emotion he’d allow himself.

As he shook with the force of his release, Laela clung to him, whispering words he couldn’t make out. He knew by her tone they weren’t wild promises of an even more intense sexual frenzy to come. They were too soft, too tentative to be anything
good
. And then he felt the tears.

Wetness splashed his shoulder, dripped down his chest. He tried to pull her away from him and make out her face, but his hands wouldn’t obey. Blood roared in his head. Darkness crept in around the edges of his vision, blurring the wooden slats that made up the walls of the cabin.

And then, the world really did crash in around him.

Chapter Four

When Nathan woke up, he was strapped to a bed.

Even before he opened his eyes, he could feel the restraints around his wrists and ankles. They bit into his bare flesh when he tried to move, causing panic to rise like bile in the back of his throat.

His shoulder ached, as did the entire right side of his body. It felt as though he’d been thoroughly pummeled and he was willing to bet he had the bruises to show for it.

Forcing himself to thrust away the flash of anxiety building behind his temples, Nathan concentrated on attuning all his senses to his surroundings. Keeping his eyes closed to fool anyone who might be watching, he focused on making out scents and discerning noises, which proved tougher than he’d expected.

He’d spent six months in Zone 99’s laboratory. In his nightmares, he could still smell the acidic stench of the disinfectant they used to keep the odor of blood at bay. This place, however, didn’t have the aroma he expected. In fact, it smelled… pleasant. Sweet, like the perfume of wildflowers.

The infernal beep of heart monitors was missing, too. Nor could he feel wires coming out of his chest or arms, which told him he hadn’t been hooked up to anything. The only noise he heard was a distant crash of surf. For a moment, the possibility that he might still be on the ship knocked the air from his lungs. Perhaps this was all a mistake. Maybe Laela had tied him down with silk scarves, intending to do all manner of naughty things to him.

Nathan’s eyes snapped open.

The first thing he noticed about the laboratory was that it was pink. Hot pink walls clashed brightly with a subdued pink-toned floor. Even the ceilings were pink and dotted with blue stars. Only the variety of lab equipment, ranging from beakers to test tubes and Bunsen burners told him this wasn’t a playroom.

Or perhaps it was. The playroom of a sadistic individual with the mentality of a small child. That possibility chilled him to the bone. One thing was clear — he wasn’t at the mercy of Zone 99 this time.

Instead of relief, unease grew in Nathan’s gut. Whatever evil awaited him here could be a thousand times worse than what he’d endured at the hands of his former captors.

The sound of footsteps echoing near the door made him close his eyes again. He wanted to gain as much information as possible about where he was and who held him prisoner before he could decide on a plan of action.

“…the dose was twelve times higher than I’d intended to deliver. It knocked him out cold.”

Nathan’s stomach churned as the blood turned to ice in his veins. He’d lost his mind. That couldn’t be her voice. It was impossible.

And yet, he
knew
that voice. He’d heard it in his dreams.
Laela. Oh, God. Laela
.

“You put him in danger.” Another female voice, this one unfamiliar to him.

“I — no! Well, yes, but it wasn’t intentional. He startled me. I needed to see him and, well, instinct took over. I drenched him in the raw powder before I could think better of it.”

“Acting without thought for consequences and putting a subject’s life in danger! What’s gotten into you?”

“I didn’t harm him!” Laela protested.

Nathan’s hands clenched into fists before he could think better of it. Anyone watching him would know he was awake, but damn it, the way she justified kidnapping him and bringing him here to be experimented upon made anger leap to life inside him.

Now it began to register. Everything about her… everything she’d said, everything she’d done, had all been a lie. It had all been just a way to ensure he’d come willingly and she wouldn’t have to get her tiny little hands dirty.

God, this hurt more than all the injections and small surgical cuts put together. The raw pain tearing at his soul sent fire streaming through his body. The fact that he’d trusted her when he had no reason to made him feel like a fool.

But it was the knowledge that he’d turned her into his idea of a fantasy woman instead of realizing who she was that got to him. He’d been so desperate to claim the woman whose image had seen him through so many painful nights that he hadn’t looked beneath the surface.

Once again, he’d made a grave mistake. And once again, he’d end up paying for it.

Somehow, he managed to keep his breathing even. His lips felt dry, but he fought the impulse to moisten them. She had to think he was still asleep. When he confronted her, it would be on
his
terms.

“This is unacceptable. Philip Quinn is expecting my report by the end of the day. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t ask for your immediate resignation upon receiving it.”

A frenzied fluttering of wings sent a soft breeze to cool Nathan’s overheated face. She was close. He could smell her honeyed scent. The blend of lust and anger created a powerful concoction, one that made his cock harden beneath the thin pink sheet he’d been draped with.

Unfortunately, that was one reaction he couldn’t hide from Laela.

He felt the air scattering around his arm as she flew toward his groin. “Éliane, look! He’s awake. I told you he was all right. He’s —”

His hand shot up as far as the restraints would allow. It was far enough. His palm closed around Laela as his eyes snapped open. He squeezed, trapping her inside his fist.

Her shocked cry filled the room. Her eyes rounded as she fought to turn her head and get a better look at him, but he’d captured her as she faced in the opposite direction.

“Let go of her this instant!”

Nathan’s head snapped to the side. Close to the door, a thin blonde woman wearing a business suit and gold-rimmed glasses reached for a syringe. There was no doubt in Nathan’s mind about what she intended to do with it. He’d been sedated enough times to know when it was coming.

“NO!”

Laela’s shout made the woman pause. A thin stream of liquid jetted out of the tip of the needle. “Laela, he’s dangerous! He’s hurting you.”

Despite the fact that he was clearly doing just that, Laela took a deep breath, fidgeting in his grasp. “I deserve it. I brought him here against his will. And then I tied him to the bed.”

“You said he was enraged, hurting himself.”

“He was.”

Fuck
. He hated being talked about like he wasn’t in the room. Still, his grasp loosened just enough to allow Laela to suck in a deep breath. “I was doing what?”

Laela’s shoulders shot up in a shrug. He could feel her heartbeat hammering hard against her ribcage. Every thrum of her pulse vibrated through his palm. God, she felt so
small
. So vulnerable.

And he was so angry. At her, at himself. Hell, he didn’t know. He just knew he didn’t trust himself to hold her life in the palm of his hand. And at the same time, he knew the only thing he wanted to do was protect her from the world — and that included him.

“The effects of the formula I doused you with were… unpredictable. You lost consciousness and collapsed into nightmares, I think. You were raging out of control, slamming against the cabin walls, shouting about surgical instruments and men in white coats. It took three of the ship’s crew to restrain you.”

That explained the pain on the right side of his body. But had it really been self-inflicted?

“Leave us,” Laela whispered. “Please. Nathan and I need to talk.”

Éliane placed the syringe on the table, but was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of leaving Laela here alone with him. For that matter, so was Nathan.

“I’m calling security,” Éliane said. “Okibi will deal with this.”

She marched out of the room but didn’t shut the door behind her. What little Nathan could see of the hallway looked clean and bright, with full-length windows that lacked metal grates, unlike any of the corridors in Zone 99’s compound.

“I’m sorry.”

The woman drove him mad. Threatened his equilibrium.

Nathan’s fingers tingled with the urge to squeeze her, shake her, rip those tiny little doll’s clothes off her body. He didn’t know what he wanted to do to her, and that scared him the most.

He opened his fist.

Not expecting to be released so abruptly, Laela fell onto the bed sheet with an
oomph
. She rose to stand on his knee. “No, I deserved that. You want to punish me. Do it.” She’d made an obvious effort to keep her voice from shaking. To make matters worse, she puffed out her chest, looking so brave it damned near broke his heart.

He squelched that emotion down, too. Until he knew what was real and what was a side effect of this formula she’d doused him in, he couldn’t be certain of anything. Least of all of how he felt about her.

“Why?” His voice grated like sandpaper against wood.

She licked her lips. The sight of that innocently seductive gesture nearly undid him. “I’m a scientist.”

“I see that.”

“No.” She raked a delicate hand through her hair. “I create… products that enhance the libidos of paranormal creatures.”

Of all the evils he’d expected her to confess to, this wasn’t one of them. “You make… sex toys?”

“Not toys, exactly. Aphrodisiacs.”

Nathan shook his head, thoroughly baffled. “What does that have to do with me?”

“My new formula is specifically designed for a chameleon’s unique physiology. Although your kind is abundant, they’re incredibly hard to locate. And finding one who’d be willing to act as a test subject has proven impossible.”

“I see.” The anger he thought he’d gotten under control reared its head again. “So everything we did on that ship… all of it was an experiment. On me.”

“No. Well, that’s how it started, but… no.” She took her lower lip between her teeth, practically gnawing a hole through it as she struggled to continue. “I wanted you. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I’m not allowed to fraternize with the test subjects. It’s yet one more misstep in a long series of mistakes that are akin to committing career suicide. No one knows what happened in that cabin. There’s a reason for these rules. It allows us, as scientists, to remain objective.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she lifted her hand to silence him. “I’m not objective when it comes to you.”

Her high, shapely breasts were hidden by the lab coat, but he could make out the puckered nipples pressing against the fabric that confirmed the truth of her words.

Laela hung her head and pulled in a long, shaky breath. “I’m a terrible scientist,” she whispered in a voice so low he could barely make out the words.

Warmth rushed through him like a stream, calming the rage, drowning out the doubt.

“Release me.” He shook his arm, jiggling the restraints against the bed frame. “And change into your human shape so we can have this discussion on equal ground.”

Chapter Five

Even tied to the bed, Nathan looked menacing. His muscles flexed underneath the thin sheet, drawing Laela’s attention to the bulge between his legs. His erection hadn’t subsided. The pale pink sheet stood out in sharp contrast to his skin, completely at odds with the fierce masculine strength he exuded.

Who had she been kidding? She’d never been in control. Not once since this whole thing began. He’d followed her onto the ship, but that was because she had offered him something more important than her body — a chance to leave the past that still haunted him behind, at least for a little while.

Everything that happened since she’d found him outside Zone 99’s compound had been his doing. Even strapping him down hadn’t changed that. The man was dominant by nature. Possessive and determined. He was…

Everything she’d envied in Okibi’s lovers. Everything she wanted to experience for herself.

Her small hands trembled as she reached for the tiny locks set in the metal chains hooked to the wrist cuffs that bound his right arm. Slipping her pinkie finger underneath, she found the hidden, pixie-sized latch and pulled it open.

She’d had the cuffs specially designed when she’d first landed the job with Rookery Cove Aphrodisiacs. They were intended as a sex toy, her gift to herself for embarking on such a wonderful career path. Sadly enough, she’d never had an opportunity to use them for their intended purpose. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by sex on the island, she hadn’t had a single erotic encounter of her own since that night outside Club Surge.

BOOK: Pixie’s Prisoner
8.46Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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