Ultimate Warriors Read online

  Nariko nodded. She thought about it a few minutes and finally decided to lay down on the couch. She heard his movements as he settled in the chair by the window.

  "Before we get started, why don’t you tell me how long you’ve been having these dreams and if you can remember anything out of the ordinary that happened in your life before the dreams started?"

  Nariko frowned, thinking back. "They’ve only gotten really bad lately, but I’ve been having nightmares for about ten years I guess. Since I was fifteen."

  "Did something happen when you were fifteen?"

  Nariko shrugged. "Not that I can remember."

  "Something between your parents?" he prompted.

  "I grew up in an orphanage. I never knew my parents."

  He was silent for several moments. "An accident? An injury? Did something happen to you in the orphanage?"

  "No. Not really." She thought it over for several minutes. She really wasn’t comfortable telling him, but he was a doctor. "I was fifteen when I got my period."

  Again, there was a prolonged silence. "But you think that’s along about the same time that you began to have the dreams? The nightmares?"

  "Sometime along then."

  "You say they’re worse now? In what way?"

  "Before, I used to dream that I was being chased. I never knew what it was that chased me, only that it was evil and that something terrible would happen to me if it caught me. But I always woke up before it did. Then, about a year ago, the dream seemed to change."

  "How did it change?"

  "He began to call my name. And somehow then, I knew that it was a demon that pursued me. And it’s gotten even worse. Twice now, he’s caught me."

  "Why don’t you tell me what you remember about your last dream?"

  Nariko shivered. She felt more comfortable than she thought she would feel. His voice soothed her, and there was no judgment in it. Haltingly at first, and then with more surety, she began to describe the dream to him in detail. When she’d finished, she felt surprisingly better.

  Doctor Savage had said nothing, however, and she began to have the uncomfortable feeling that he thought she was crazy.

  "What do you think?" she asked, finally.

  Doctor Savage said nothing. She heard him get up from the chair, however. He moved within her range of vision and reached for the light dimmer once more. She blinked and sat up as the lights in the room brightened. When she looked around, she saw that the doctor had seated himself behind his desk once more. He was studying the file, frowning.

  As if sensing her nervous gaze, he finally looked up at her. A faint smile curled his lips. "I think what you need is someone to teach you how to cope with the demon."

  * * * *

  Stretching into the distance like a riotous sea lay a chasm of blackness, interrupted only by winks in the night like glowing eyes. It was with a sense of terror that I realized they were eyes, and they were coming closer. My stomach lurched at that unending blackness crawling toward me as if the very night lived and breathed evil.

  The limits of the precipice crumbled, making me stagger backward, but a cushion of something unseen kept me from fleeing, kept me there at the edge of some unfathomable horror.

  A chill wind shifted over me, tangling my hair over my face in loopy tendrils that caught at my eyes and mouth. I pushed it away, unable to look from the darkness.

  "Nari," something whispered close by, raising chills on my arms and neck like an abrasion.

  I wanted to close my eyes and cover my ears, to will it away. Will it all away. This was a dream. A nightmare. I knew it, and yet I was no more able to control it than I’d been able to any other time since the dreams had begun. I was paralyzed, both mentally and physically. Something held me here, wanted me to see this.

  He locked one arm around my breasts, pulling me back against his chest. "They come for you, Nari. For the chance to fuck your sweet little pussy" he said, cupping my femininity for emphasis, curling his fingers into my fabric covered slit. I bit my lip, struggling not to moan. He loosed his hold and grabbed my arms, trapping me as effectively as manacles. "Do you want them fighting over you? I’ve held them back this long, but I can take my protection away if you crave a gang bang. Perhaps that is what’s needed to break you."

  I didn’t struggle. The edge was too close for me to risk it, and I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t throw me off if I fought him. But I would never let him break me. Never. "Why should I believe anything you say?" I said, fighting back the swarming urge to shudder at the implication of his words.

  "Believe or not. You cannot change my will, wherever it may roam."

  "Then why ask me at all?" I gritted out.

  He laughed, tightening his hold. "Perhaps simply because I enjoy taunting you?"

  He manifested. One moment, I could see nothing, and the next, I saw his hands. They locked around my biceps, black as ebony. His skin gleamed as if he’d oiled down, and each finger ended in a short claw that just cleared the end of each finger. They looked like glass. Black glass. Sharp enough to slice me open.

  A strange calmness settled over me. I had to find out more about him if I was going to fight him. I knew he wasn’t real, that he was some part of my subconscious fighting against me, but if I could now see just a small part of him, it told me that I was beginning to be able to face him. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

  He laughed, a deep, gravelly sound that grated on the nerves more for its cockiness than its sound, which would’ve been pleasant under other circumstances. "I enjoy your growing bravado, Nari," he said, stroking my skin with his thumbs. "Is my seduction so unexpected that you no longer know me?" He rubbed against my buttocks, his cock a hard insidiousness that nudged the cleft like a hot poker. His hands shifted to my breasts, squeezing them, pinching my nipples as he kept me trapped against him. He bit my neck, lips locking against my flesh, sucking at the crook of my shoulder until I cried out in pain.

  He broke away, only to fierce my skin as he dragged the edges of his teeth up my neck to breathe hotly in my ear. "I am called Onyx," he whispered, grinding himself against me. "And you are mine."

  "I don’t belong to you or anyone else," I said, my voice monotonous. I felt drugged, even stiffer and unable to control myself than I had been before. Had he done something more than bite my neck?

  I couldn’t support my weight anymore. My knees gave out. He caught me as I crumpled, lowering me to the ground.

  I looked at him between my lashes, but he was indistinct as a shadow, a dark outline marring the starry sky above us. I wanted to open my eyes more, but they wouldn’t budge. My body wouldn’t obey any of my commands. I lay, limp and malleable, for whatever pleasure or pain he intended.

  Grasping my clothing, he pulled until it ripped open, exposing me until I was naked and at the mercy of his raking gaze.

  He stopped a moment as if studying me. I could practically feel his eyes touching my every curve. A prolonged silence ensued, broken only by my own harsh breathing. "I far prefer your struggles, Nari, but your complacency makes our joining easier."

  "Fuck … you," I managed to whisper, willing my body to move, to flee. Nothing.

  My thighs parted beneath his hands. He settled between them, his skin oddly hairless and smooth, warmed within by an insatiable heat hot enough to sear me by touch alone. "In a moment, I will oblige you," he said on a husky growl, lowering himself over me.

  I tensed infinitesimally, preparing for invasion. Where arousal had been before, now there was nothing but pervading fear. I was completely dry. He would hurt me.

  This couldn’t happen. It was a dream. A dream! I wouldn’t allow myself to be taken in a dream. I couldn’t.

  The knowledge couldn’t save me, however. Where was Doctor Savage when I needed him? How could my own subconscious deny me the hope to escape?

  As if by only thinking about a savior had conjured it, a light pierced the darkness beyond my closed lids.

  Onyx hissed and thrust hi
mself away. I felt the loss of his heat replaced by the warmth of the sun. It invigorated me, broke the paralysis I’d been under. Opening my eyes, I blinked against the blinding light that surrounded me, wondering what the hell had happened.

  Sitting up, covering my eyes with one hand, I reached out with the other, feeling around for the source of the brilliance. I connected with flesh and jerked back.

  "Who’s there?" I asked, tensing up again. Had I just gone from the pan into the fire? Those things were out there. Had they broken through whatever barrier kept them trapped in the deep?

  "I am no foe for you to slay," a deep, amusement tinged voice spoke.

  For some reason, it was soothing to me, eased my fear. The light dimmed enough I could uncover my eyes without going blind. Before me crouched a man--no, not a man. He was a monster, but he was more beautiful than any monster had the right to be. This was the kind of demon that could tempt saints to sin.

  Hair trailed down his chest nearly to his belly, stirring in the wind created by the massive wings moving at his back. It was nearly a pure white, broken only by contrasting streaks of dark gold. His skin was gold too, almost a metallic shade and too surreal to ever be considered human. His body was all muscle, massive, hard and defined, sculpted by the hand of a master. The angles of his face were pure, beautiful symmetry, broken only by the arch of his brows as he stared at me. His eyes were gold too, a glowing gold that rippled with hints of red and orange, like metal heated to the melting point. Out of his forehead sprang two curled horns, spiraled and twisted like ram’s horns but reaching toward the sky. And his wings … they gleamed like polished ivory, marbled with golden threads as they stirred the air in a gentle current.

  He reminded me forcefully of Doctor Savage. Not in form, which wasn’t human, but in face. Enough so, that it startled me at first, and then I realized it had to be thoughts of him just moments before that must have put him into my mind.

  There was something inherently carnal about him, aside from his near nakedness. He looked at me with a hunger so intense it radiated from his pores. I covered myself, bringing the edges of my clothes together, uncomfortably aware of how long his gaze had lingered at my breasts and between my legs. If it was possible, I’d swear my nipples and cleft blushed.

  As it was, they tightened, coming to achy, needful awareness.

  "Who are you? Why did you come?" I finally asked, my voice so husky it didn’t sound like me.

  He stood, looking around warily before turning his gaze back to me. "You need to protect yourself against him and the others. I cannot protect you."

  I hadn’t asked for his protection, but I wasn’t about to argue with that logic. I did need to learn how to protect myself. Running had only prolonged the torment, and I couldn’t escape him--Onyx--any longer. "I can’t fight what I can’t see."

  "You cannot see him because you don’t want to."

  Tired of looking up at him, I stood. I still had to look up to meet his eyes. "I don’t understand," I said, tightening my hold on the scraps of clothing covering me. This close, I could feel the heat of his body, breathe in his scent. There was no describing the intoxicating effect it had on me. He was more potent even than Onyx, and I wondered if it was a result of my attraction to Doctor Savage. Who knew? Not me, and I didn’t really relish the idea of exploring my theory with the object of my attraction.

  "This is your world. Your rules. We can but obey them." He turned to go.

  "Wait!" I said, grabbing his arm, stopping him. He looked down at my hand and then back up to my face. "Could you teach me?" I asked, feeling almost breathless with the tension between us, and the strong muscles flexed beneath my hand.

  Turning fully, his body rubbed against my chest. "There are many things I could teach you, Nari," he said, his voice soft, seductive. I felt the deep tone vibrate in my bones, warming my muscles, making my body heat to the point of combustion.

  He inclined his head, bending even as I tilted my own to meet his lips. He stopped just shy of satisfying my sudden craving to kiss him. His breathing was harsh, warning me his control was on edge, that he felt as frantic for the connection of our mouths as I did.

  "Now is not the time. Wake up, Nariko…."

  Chapter Three

  Nariko rolled over in bed, pounding the mattress with her fists. "Dammit!" she cursed, collapsing into stillness, squeezing her eyes shut and willing sleep to return. It wouldn’t, of course, not now that she wanted it … and wanted to begin that kiss.

  She rubbed her thighs together, feeling the slippery arousal there. Who’d made her feel that way? Onyx, or the stranger?

  "Damn."

  Nariko rolled out of bed, wincing when her head and neck felt like they were going to seize in a charley horse. She brought her hand up to it, grimacing as she connected with tender flesh. Jeez, she felt like she’d been--Nariko stopped at that thought, jumping to her feet to rush into the bathroom.

  She flipped on the lights, leaning over the sink to stare at herself in horror. At the crook of her shoulder and neck was a circular bruise. As she moved closer, she could see darker, smaller bruises within the edges of the circle. Like the marks of teeth….

  The creature … Onyx had bitten her. It’d hurt, hurt like something really happening.

  She covered her face with her palms, as if it would make the bruising disappear, slowly dragging them down her face but coming up against the same sight.

  "How is this possible?" she asked herself.

  Dreams weren’t real. How then had she been marked in her sleep?

  Had her mind created the bruise? Could she die in real life if she died in her sleep? What else could happen to her?

  No one knew the extent of the human mind, however. She’d heard stories of people healing themselves by the power of thought alone. If she’d been raised in the tradition of her ancestors, would she know more about this? Would she be able to protect herself?

  To think that it was something else was nearly as unbearable as the thought of her own body at war with itself. It was enough to make her never want to crawl into bed again and never go outside.

  * * * *

  Nariko felt none of the nervousness she’d felt the first time she’d visited Doctor Savage. She was really scared now.

  As soon as she took her seat on the couch, she began to fidget, waiting for him to finish glancing over the file and give her his attention.

  After what seemed an interminable amount of time, he looked up. "You’re still having the bad dreams?"

  Nariko bobbed her head nervously. "It’s worse than that, though. The dreams are worse, and this time when I woke up, I had a mark from the dream."

  Doctor Savage frowned, clasping his hands together on atop his desk. "I don’t understand."

  Nariko dragged in a shaky breath. "In my dream, the demon bit me. When I woke up I found this mark on my neck. It looks like a bite."

  Doctor Savage stood abruptly and moved toward her. Crouching in front of her, he met her gaze. "Show me."

  Nariko pulled her shirt away from her neck and showed him the mark she’d found that morning in the mirror. He studied it in silence for some time. "You dreamed that you were bitten and then you found this?"

  She nodded jerkily. "You can even see teeth marks."

  Doctor Savage frowned. "You’re certain that this didn’t happen first and then you dreamed of it, and in your dream, it became the demon who had bitten you?"

  She stared at him wide-eyed. "You think I’m crazy, don’t you?"

  "I didn’t say that."

  "You don’t have to. You just said that you thought that I couldn’t tell the difference between dreams and reality."

  He shook his head. "Sometimes things happen to us and they disturb us in a way that they manifest themselves in our dreams."

  She shook her head. "This did not happen to me. I know the difference. Don’t you see how deep the bite is? How could I not remember that someone had bit me like this? And then think that I had dreamed i
t?"

  He stared at her for several moments. "So maybe it’s not a dream at all."

  She frowned. "I don’t think I understand what you’re suggesting."

  "I’m suggesting that maybe something is happening to you while you’re asleep. Perhaps you’re not fully conscious of it, but it enters your dream. It’s like, sometimes the doorbell will ring when you’re asleep, but you’re dreaming, and in your dream you think that it’s the phone ringing. It’s something outside your dream, in the real world, that’s intruding into your dreams. And while you’re asleep, you are interpreting it as something else."

  Nariko shivered. Just the implication of his words turned her stomach and sent cold chills down her arms and legs. "I live alone. I told you I wasn’t seeing anyone. Are you suggesting someone is coming into my apartment? While I’m asleep?"

  "I’m not suggesting that at all. I really find this disturbing, however, and I think what we should do, if you’re agreeable to it, is that I should setup my equipment in your apartment and observe you while you’re sleeping."

  She frowned. "Don’t they usually do that sort of thing in a controlled environment?"

  He shrugged. "Usually, yes, but I don’t think there’s anything usual about your dreams. Would you like to do that?"

  Nariko didn’t think it over very long. She hardly knew Doctor Savage, but it made her feel tremendously better just thinking about him being there while she slept so that she wasn’t alone. She nodded.

  * * * *

  "Do you really think you can stay up all night watching me?" Nariko asked, looking over the video cameras he’d set up around her bed. She wasn’t sure how well she’d sleep under surveillance but probably better than her average night anyway. She had nothing to lose.

  "I’ve gone without sleep before. I normally don’t have to worry about it though, since I usually have technicians and nurses taking shifts as well," Doctor Savage said, adjusting one tripod.