Pure Desire [Pure 3] (Siren Publishing Allure) (16 page)

She was searching desperately for something to say. She couldn’t move, react, or think past the moment.

“I told you I’m not one of them,” Noor forced the words between his teeth, barely.

“I don’t believe you. How can I?” she snapped back, shaking her head, fear overwhelmed her, pain…why did she feel pain? she thought, watching Noor apprehensively.

“You don’t have a choice but to believe me. Who else is there?”

“Channing and my father…I know who they are and what they are.” Anger coupled with fear drove her words before she managed to push it back along with the escalated pain slowly working through her body. Why was there pain? Allura wondered. Why did it hurt like this?”

“Fuck, I don’t have time for this, Allura.” Noor stalked over to her. He leaned down, breathing into her face, careless that his action helped to further distress her. “My paramount concern is to get you the hell out of here. We can fight about it later.”

A low growl emanated from somewhere. Allura shrieked, bit her lip to keep the scream from forming there, and then she screamed anyway. The thing hovered behind Noor, just over his shoulder. Her eyes flashed wide, and she opened her mouth to scream again.

“Sonofabitch.” Noor growled, withdrew his gun. He fired several shots.

Noor kept firing…pumping the trigger, advancing, running after him, he continued to shoot at the Txtrca as it moved with an unnatural swiftness, ran through brush, and leaped effortlessly over a tall boulder and landed a distance from them.

“Damn it,” he snarled, seeing him leering at his futile attempt. He was out of range.

“God, show me mercy,” Allura murmured, making the sign of the cross over her chest.

Allura gasped, faltered, shaking her head no. Shock registered on her face, unbelieving refusal to accept what she witnessed. She wanted to turn away, close her eyes, deny the truth of what occurred in front of her face, as god as her witness. She didn’t want to see what she saw. The thing glared at her with a soulless pair of eyes that glowed red like embers, only more violently.

She fainted.

Chapter Fifteen

Allura blinked twice before she fought through the grogginess and opened her eyes. She moved, winced, and settled back, feeling the dull throb panging in her shoulder. Raising her arm carefully, she observed the bandage wrapped around and beneath her armpit with mild curiosity, mostly irritated more than anything. The snugness of the strips of cloth was more of a nuisance than knowing she was shot, had fainted, and was now trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey over a flesh wound. It had to be a minor injury or she’d be dead now. Maybe she was, and it would explain the hollowness she felt all over her body as yesterday’s occurrence came rushing back full force and smacked her upside the head. The truth, a daunting reality, threatened to suffocate her.

Everything happened so fast, a bombardment of intense activities that ended before it started, unfortunately not before she witnessed the entire insanity at what had presently become her life. Futuristic worlds, talking eggs, creepy creatures, and at the forefront, a man she barely knew but accepted at face value, because she stupidly had fallen in love with him at first sight. She, the logical one, tossed all caution to the wind and gave her mind, body, and soul effortlessly to a complete stranger. Noor mesmerized her. He bedazzled her. He confused the hell out of her because she didn’t really know him, and so it seemed impossible she would give herself over quickly, in whole, willingly.

She wasn’t stupid. So, what was wrong with her? Allura assumed something was terribly wrong, the unbridled desire she felt for Noor couldn’t be natural. Yesterday, she believed she knew him. Today, she couldn’t recall a singular thing he said nor did that made her give him unfathomable control over her being. Like a spell, he possessed her, it seemed unnaturally, within minutes of his arrival, and his lure continued even after experiencing the eerie incident yesterday.

Curling to her side, she focused on the multi-colored flower pattern of the floor length drapes of her window. She focused on the intricate rose and cream hues as she considered the turn of events before today. All her thoughts centered where she didn’t want to be. Noor. Noor. More Noor. She had to get him out of her head so she could think clearly, decipher through the madness that had become her existence.

It was highly unlikely she could get past Noor. Just the thought of his name, remembrance of his kiss, touch, sent a wave of electrical pulses strumming through her body she knew only he could squelch. The man was addictive. She ached for him even when she feared him and his hold over the foundation of her life. A part of her, maybe the crazy part, she still wanted him to be forever in his arms.

Noor drugged her, she thought, desperately wanting an answer to the maddening feelings inside her head.

She rolled onto her back, flung an arm over her forehead, and sighed despondently into the quiet room.

Hearing movement outside the door, she sat upright, staring. As someone tapped lightly, she waited with bated breath for her Noor to enter.

She knew he would come. Every fiber in her being just knew it.

Noor moved inside the entrance and closed the door behind him. His features appeared strained, worried. He stood stiffly, watching her for one long minute before speaking. “How are you feeling, sweetie?”

“Like I’ve been shot,” she said coolly.

He studied the floor a minute before facing her again. “I apologize a hundred times. If it makes you feel any better I wished to your god it was me that got hit instead of you.”

Allura looked at him emotionlessly even though her body tightened at the devotion his words alluded to. Did he care? Did he love her? She watched him cautiously as he moved further into the room and stood by the bed. Say something? He needed to provide her reassurance she was sane and not indefinitely trapped in a hellish nightmare. Noor remained passive, merely watching her.

“Does it hurt much?” he asked.

He wanted to discuss the wound when it was her heart bleeding. “No, it actually doesn’t.”

“Good.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“What do you want me to say, Allura? Huh, what exactly do you want to hear from me so I know and don’t have to waddle around trying to explain the…unexplainable to someone like you.”

“You think I’m stupid?” she shot out.

He sighed heavily, rolled his eyes dramatically. “You know that is not what I meant.”

“Then please clarify. I’m not going to help you through this, Noor. You put me in the middle of this…this…I don’t know what to call what is happening. So, you better, well, start making some sense to me, or else the entire wrath of Deverills and all the firepower behind them will rain down on your head.”

“Don’t threaten me.” His eyes glittered in irritation.

“Then start talking,” she countered angrily.

Noor’s eyes shuttered briefly, and she knew he struggled to throttle his temper. Well, Indian warriors ran in her blood. She was hot, irrational, at times, coupled with a quick disposition that made Channing’s look like child’s play. She waited impatiently.

“Can I sit next to you, or do you intend to bite my head off?”

“Sit,” she ordered and got a faint eyebrow lift for the sharpness.

Noor grinned, shaking his head, saying, “You are so sassy, hot, and extremely pleasing, Ms. Deverill. I could just gobble you whole, right now. Start at your toes, work my way up, and take slow deliberation on feasting on you like a succulent morsel.”

The anger dissipated and was quickly replaced by an influx of vibrating sensations churning to full throttle inside her body and working straight into her pussy. This wasn’t fair. To get to the truth, she needed all her defenses and wits to stand strong against the invincible Noor. She groaned inwardly when she looked at him and his stark handsomeness stole conscious thought. He wasn’t a pretty man. Nor was he considered beautiful like Channing, but Noor could hold his own in a crowd of men. His strong contoured features, dark and mysterious, sensually full lips, sexy eyes, and overtly masculine appeal warranted a second, third, or fourth or more glance from any female. The control she mustered in her defense snapped under the heated gaze he returned. Allura blinked to break the trance. “As tempting as it sounds, you are not getting off so easily.”

He smiled and the world brightened. The temperature turned sweltering, and suddenly it was too hot to breathe. “I don’t want to get off…” Noor’s grin turned feral. “Well, I do, but that isn’t my intention right now.”

“What are you rambling about?”

The double-entendre of the term “get off” went completely over Allura’s head, was lost in the translation.

He sat down. “Nevermind. What do you want to know? I will tell you anything you ask.”

Do you love me?

“Please just start talking.”

“Can I hold you while we converse?”

Was he for real?
Over the course of two days, she watched him easily morph between cold and hot as easily as a chameleon changed colors. The truth of it was unnerving and magnified just how much she didn’t know about Noor. Nor could she decipher if the switches in character were actual or carefully orchestrated to keep her off guard.

He snuggled in close to her and pulled her in his arms. Allura inhaled the scent of maleness, spicy heat mixed with the vanilla scent soap she left for him in his room. At first, she was unsure if he would use a feminine fragrance, but obviously he felt secure in his manhood. She couldn’t help it. She pressed against him, ran her nose over his neck, feeling the firm skin under the sensitive end of her nose. She expected his skin to be rough but found him as smooth as a baby’s bottom. The desire to touch was as strong as the need for answers.

Tentatively, whispery soft, Allura ran her fingertips over the strong chords in his neck, beneath the collar of his shirt, past the broad expanse of one shoulder. There was so much strength beneath her hand. It was frightening to think what he was capable of doing with so much power. He could destroy someone. She witnessed it first hand and as much as she wanted to erase how cold and lethal he could become, the vision of him bluntly firing bullets into the thing remained branded in her mind.

Noor eased back enough to cup her face. He brushed his lips over hers and sent sparks of fire flaming through her body. “I would never hurt you, Allura. Never.”

“How did you know what I was thinking?” she said quietly.

“Your body tensed. I just know.” He kissed her forehead and settled back against the headboard. He stared into nothingness, and then turned to her. “You trust me, don’t you?”

“I want to.”

“That’s a start.”

“So, start from the beginning and explain to me everything. How did you get here? Why did you come? Why on earth were those men trying to kill me?”

“I’m from the future. My home is a planet called Sanguine, one of eight superpowers that manage the aligning territories that make up our galaxy. Somewhere not just far, but so different from what you know it’s hard to know where to begin so you can understand my world. Even then, you still will have a difficult time grasping the totality of our differences of environments and eras. The short of it is, one of the planets, Oridus came to the government of Sanguine for assistance. Their leader, Emperor Agaci, killed his wife and child, the next Intended to the throne, and the only one capable of forcing him to step down. By Oridus law, if the empress birthed a child, when they came of age, the present emperor had to relinquish all rights to rule over the planet to the next legacy. Emperor Agaci refuses to comply, murdered his wife and child to keep it from happening. The greedy bastard wants to obtain universal power. The only way he can accomplish this is if he continues to rule and amass an unstoppable number of forces. Already, he has collected enough soldiers to fight under him, and Sanguine has taken his actions sincerely.”

Allura looked horrified. “What kind of horrible being would kill his wife and children?” She shivered.

“In my world, some value power more than life.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I know, sweetie, but it’s how it is.” He trailed a hand along her cheek, held her there, forcing Allura to face him. “It’s not who I am. It’s not the normal but you need to understand the atrocities of the time I live in.”

She put her hand on his and laid her cheek against his palm. “Will he kill me, too, Noor? Is that who sent those men here?”

He lifted one powerful shoulder. “I don’t have all the answers, Allura. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out this entire mess. I know some facts about my assignment, but there are a lot of things I don’t know.”

She could feel the rigidness harden his body.

“I know the emperor is real and could be responsible for sending those men after you. He does mean you harm. None of that matters because I won’t let anything or anybody hurt you as long as I’m able to protect you. Whoever comes after you will have to come through me first.”

The conviction of his words eased some of his fears. “How on earth did they find me? By what means did they know I existed? Learn things about me I didn’t even know?”

“I wish I knew. The information wasn’t in your file, and my superiors didn’t find it necessary to inform me of every detail of the assignment. When you do what I do, you don’t ask questions but accept the mission and carry it out as ordered.”