Worlds of Obsession (Celtic Otherworlds) (7 page)

Chapter 5

             
Liv fought towards the edge of consciousness, but the dream she was in was not quite ready to release her.  It was the same one she had been having a lot recently, where she was in a strange, dark place lit only by a row of flaming torches on the wall, just like in a mediaeval castle.  She was wandering down hallways, through endless tunnels, in and out of various rooms, but she could never find her way out.  There was something dark and sinister about this place that she was trying so hard to escape, and she held onto the desperate hope that eventually she’d choose the right tunnel and find her way out. 

In the dream, s
he ran around a corner and through an open door, remembering too late what
always
came next.  She stopped short at the site of a man standing there, but not just any man.  No, he was huge and stacked with muscle, his skin golden even though she doubted he ever saw the sun in his domain of darkness.  His thick biceps were ringed with cuffs of gold, and his long blond hair fell down his back just to the waist of his black leather pants.  He wore no shirt, and she could see that both of his nipples were pierced with sparkling gold hoops. 

“Balor”, she heard herself say.
Somehow, she knew that was his name, just as she knew he was the one she wanted so badly to escape from.

             
He smiled at her, but it was not a friendly smile.  It was more cold and calculating in nature.  Perhaps not exactly evil, but not entirely good, either.  “Karis darling, you have found me at last.”  He took a few steps towards her, smiling.

             
“I… I wasn’t looking for you.  I never am.”  Karis?  He had never called her a name before in any of the other dreams, and Karis wasn’t her name.  Maybe you could have a different name in your dream… she’d never considered that before. 

Something
flitted at the edge of her mind like a distant memory on butterfly wings, but before she could catch hold of it, Balor spoke again and it was gone.

“Have you had enough of this wandering, my beauty?  Are you
finally ready to give in to me?”  He took another few steps toward her, and she stumbled back.  It would be so easy to go to him and step into his embrace.  It would be warm and solid.  Then she could finally rest.  Then she could finally stop running.  But there was a reason… a reason not to give in… a reason why she needed to keep wandering these halls instead…
what was it? 
She looked wildly around the room, as if the answer would come to her somehow.
 
Her mind felt foggy, and her frustration mounted until she could no longer hold it back.  “No” she hissed at him.  “I’ll
never
give in to you!”  Somehow she knew this wasn’t the first time she had said those words to him, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

             
Balor was, predictably, not pleased with her answer.  His body seemed to grow larger right before her eyes, and his pupils began to glow like two embers from a fire.  “My patience grows thin, female”, he growled.  “He waits no longer for you, don’t you know that?  There is nothing to prevent you from becoming my bride. Nothing! Mark my words… if you will not belong to me, then you will belong to no one!” 

             
He changed again, appearing now more like a beast than a man. 
Were those horns growing out of his head?  Oh, yes… he was a Demon, after all.
  This was a dream, so of course anything was possible.  His huge body loomed over her, but Liv stood her ground despite the fear beating in her chest.  He wants to make me afraid… to control me… but I won’t let him!  Just as the creature reached for her with fingers that had now become more like claws, she woke up with a little cry. 

For a
long moment Liv was relieved to have left the nightmare behind, but even though the fear subsided and her breaths slowed, her relief lasted only until she opened her eyes.  She sat up in the bed with a gasp and her gaze flew around the unfamiliar surroundings. 

She was not in her
apartment.  She wasn’t in her room at the hotel. 
Where
… 

Then it all came back to her with the suddenness of a high speed train
, and she gasped a second time.  The attack in the alley… the man who saved her… the body that disappeared into the garbage-strewn pavement as if it never was… 

What the hell?
 

And where was she?  How had she gotten here?  Try as she might, she had no memory past the man in black leather telling her she needed to go with him.  Evidently… she had
done just that.  No wait, she remembered getting into his car… The question was, had she escaped trouble, or found more of it?  Time to find out.

             
Liv swung her legs over the side of the bed, but when she tried to stand up, a wave of dizziness made her sit right back down.  It passed quickly, but the woozy feeling in her head, combined with the fact that she couldn’t remember where she was or how she got here, made her realize she must have been drugged.  And the only one who could have done it was the man who saved her ass in the alley. 

Sudden anger made her fists clench. 
“I can’t believe it, he friggin’
drugged
me!”  What the hell kind of vacation was this turning out to be?  Okay, now she was woozy and
pissed
.  Why would he do such a thing, unless… a spike of adrenaline hit her as she realized she had woken up in a bed, and had no recollection of what had happened there. 

Oh
. My. God
.  Shit!  Panicked, she did a quick inventory of her body, but nothing seemed sore or even tender, and all of her clothes were still on, except for her shoes, which were on the floor by the bed.  She drew in a deep breath and relaxed a little.  The dizziness had passed quickly, so Liv stood and went to the door.  With a slightly sick feeling in her gut, she tried the knob.  Big surprise, it was locked from the outside.  The sick feeling quickly turned into righteous indignation.  How
dare
he lock her in here!  She began to pound one fist against what turned out to be a very solid oak door.  “Hey!  Let me out of here… hello?”  She kept it up until suddenly the door opened and there stood the man from the alley, only he had traded the black leather for jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged the taught muscles of his chest like a second skin.  Oh yeah, she could see now why she had gone with him willingly.  He was the epitome of tall, dark and sexy.  She abruptly took a step back, and watched in silence as his dangerous, piecing black gaze moved over her body.  She found herself wondering absurdly if he liked what he saw. 

             
Eventually, her mind came back on line.  “You locked me in here”, she said accusingly.

             
He nodded slightly, placing one hand on the doorframe and leaning, which drew her gaze to the perfectly sculpted muscles of his arm.  “Yes.”

             
“And you drugged me, too.”

             
He nodded again, still watching her.  “Yes.”

             
“Why?”

             
“It was necessary.”  This time, he gave her a little shrug, as if that was the only explanation she needed.

             
He was seriously going to drive her crazy in less than five minutes. “You’re not really a conversationalist, are you?”

             
He looked at her, and the corner of his mouth turned up in the barest hint of a smile.  “You’re safe here.”

             
“Safe?  Safe from what?”  And suddenly she had to know… she just
had
to ask…  “Did… did anything happen last night”… her gaze flicked to the bed, then back to his face.  “Between you and me?  I mean, did we… did you…”

             
Something flashed in his eyes at her implication.  Something dark and dangerous and… incredibly sexy.  It was only there for a second before he slowly shook his head.  “No.  I didn’t touch you, other than to carry you up here, if that’s what you mean.”

             
“Oh.  Okay.”  Because she would hate to have not remembered a man like him naked and on… 
Liv!  Good lord, what is wrong with you?
  She mentally shook herself, hoping she wasn’t blushing.  “Then why did you drug me?  And don’t say it was necessary…”  Another thought suddenly occurred to her.  “Wait, did someone else touch me?”

             
His eyes flashed again, this time she could have sworn it was with anger.  “No. While you are with me, I would never allow anyone to harm you in any way.  I told you, you’re safe here.  You’re safe with me.”  He pushed away from the door and walked into the room before turning back to look at her with his arms crossed over his chest.  “I had to drug you so that you wouldn’t know where this place is.”  He motioned to a sofa against the far wall.  “Sit down.”  When she only frowned at him he tilted his head slightly and added, “Please.” 

She
walked to the sofa, but her mind was already working overtime, trying out possible scenarios.  If this was some sort of a secret location, was this guy in a gang?  Or did he work for a top secret government agency?  Maybe the mob?  He certainly carried himself with the power and grace of a trained fighter.  And that body… god.  She carefully lowered herself onto the plush seat, watching him all the while.  He sat down next to her, but several feet away, almost as if he didn’t want to get too close.  Even so, he had an incredible physical presence, unlike anything she had ever felt.  It was as if danger and strength and sex appeal were just constantly rolling off him in hot, thick waves.  It was doing funny things to her heart-rate, and her body had apparently already decided to go ahead without her, if the damp rush of heat between her legs was any indication. 
Wow
. 
That had never happened…

  “What is your name?” she asked abruptly.  If he had a name like Fred or Bob, it would kind of take away from the
overall package he had going on, but somehow, she didn’t think that was the case.

             
He considered her for a moment, as if trying to decide whether to tell her.  “Bastien”, he said finally.

             
Liv smiled.  That name fit him perfectly.  “I’m Liv.”

             
“I know.”

             
She frowned in confusion.  “How do you know my name?”  She couldn’t remember telling him…

             
He shrugged.  “It’s on your driver’s license.” 

             
“You went through my purse?”

             
He shrugged a second time.  “You were unconscious.”  He went on, before she could even think of an adequate reply to that sort of reasoning.  “You’re from Boston.”

             
Even his slight accent was sexy.  “Yes… I’m on vacation.  Or at least I
was
on vacation.”  She crossed her arms and glared at him.  She would be again, when she got out of here.  Only… she felt strangely reluctant to go just yet.  She was so enjoying looking at… Bastien.  He was the complete vision of her masculine ideal.  Perfection.  Everything from his squared-off jaw with a sexy divot, to his long, dark silky hair, and his brown, almost black eyes that burned with depth and intensity.  She was having a hard time looking away for even a moment.  She could practically feel the hormones flooding her system right about now, disappointed that nothing had happened last night after all, and perfectly willing to remedy the situation.  Her body knew a beautiful, virile male when it saw one, that was pure biology, and completely beyond her control.

             
“What about your family?” he asked casually, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully with one hand.

             
“What about my family?”

             
“Where are they?”

             
“I don’t really have much in the way of family”, she answered absently.  Why was he asking about her family?  Unless he was planning on ransoming her or something.  Well, good luck with that, because there wouldn’t be anyone willing to pay.  

***

             
Bastien took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling as if would provide the inspiration he was looking for.  How exactly did one ask such a delicate question?  He just wasn’t any good at this kind of thing… he should have gotten Erath to talk to her, but the thought of Erath alone with her, using his considerable charm to learn all of her secrets… it just wasn’t going to happen.  Liv was his responsibility, because he had found her, and he would see this through until she was back where she belonged.  It wasn’t, he told himself, that she had been there in front of him when his body reawakened after centuries of lonely, aching numbness.  Glorious lust… physical hunger clawing at him from the inside, making him feel alive again, and for a moment overpowering the anger and pain that had been his constant companions for so long.  He didn’t know if it was going to last, or for how long, so he savored every moment of his need, and never again would it be taken for granted.  Even burning desire that would never be satisfied was preferable to his former state of constant emptiness.  The lust he felt for this female was like a drug to him, one he knew he could quickly become addicted to.  But right now, he had a job to do, and he was honestly in no mood to be diplomatic.  He tore his heated gaze from where it had become captured by her full, round breasts, shoved both hands through his hair, and eyed her hesitantly.