Ultimate Warriors Read online

  She arched a brow. "But none this time. Should I be worried?"

  His head snapped up from what he was doing, and he looked at her. "Of course not."

  She couldn’t help herself. She laughed. After a second, he let out an uneasy chuckle and smiled at her, making her heart skip. Damn, it was going to be hell trying to sleep tonight with him in the house. She hoped she wouldn’t do anything embarrassing in her sleep.

  * * * *

  The bed shifted, dipping as someone climbed into it, sidling up behind me. The warmth of another person brushed against my air space--aura--heightening my awareness and bringing me from the deep blackness of dreamless sleep.

  I turned my head slightly toward the movement behind me. "Doctor Savage?" I asked groggily, my voice husky with disuse.. The room wasn’t completely dark. Muted light filtered through the blinds covering my bedroom window.

  "No," he said softly, soothingly.

  When he touched my hip, I stiffened, watching as his hand traveled down in a leisurely caress around the curve of my buttocks. He caught the sheet covering me and pulled until the edge slid over my hip and pooled on the bed, leaving me bare save for the silk panties I wore. I could’ve sworn I’d gone to bed in pajama pants, since I’d never gone to sleep with a man in my immediate vicinity, and I darn sure didn’t want the doctor seeing me unclothed without a good reason. But having a man see me now didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.

  He leaned forward, catching the fabric of my panties with his teeth. That’s when I saw his horns.

  I startled, tried to jerk away, but his hands were on me, trapping me, flipping me onto my stomach until I was pinned to the bed beneath him. The hot, hard flesh of his thighs closed around my legs, keeping them still while he cupped my buttocks and roamed over them up my spine. "Let me go!" I said, gasping, shaking my head until my face was clear of the pillow. I didn’t know his name, but I knew who it was. I should’ve been fighting, and my body was in turmoil … but for a different reason altogether.

  "Is this not what you crave?" he asked, leaning over me until his warm breath brushed the back of my neck. His fingers slipped under my panties, teasing the under curve of my ass cheeks, lingering near my cleft.

  I sucked in a sharp breath, unable to speak for the anticipation choking me, making my heart pound in a raging gallop.

  He rubbed a sensuous circle, his touch feather light, never quite roaming the direction I wanted him to go to so badly. "Stop torturing me," I said, squirming beneath him, digging my hands into the mattress like claws.

  He chuckled, adjusting himself until he’d freed my legs to sit between them. It should’ve been an embarrassing position, having him looking at me this way, but all thought of shame disappeared when he snapped the sides of my panties and tore them away. I jumped, shocked when he ran a finger up my slit.

  "I am no more good or evil than any of my kind. We each serve our own purpose. You should not relent so easily, Nariko. You’re stronger than this." He stopped at my core, fingering the edges of my tight hole.

  I didn’t feel strong. I felt weak and needy, and I damn sure didn’t want a lecture. I was having trouble concentrating on his words. All I could think about was having him ram that finger inside me and assuage this ache I’d been feeling for what seemed like forever.

  Biting my lip, I pushed back, trying to urge him to do more.

  "Onyx seeks to gain power from you," he said, tormenting me with his nearness.

  I growled against the mattress. "And what about you? What do you want?"

  "You, Nariko," he said, and I felt his breath brush over my bare cheeks.

  I froze, holding my breath, waiting for him to say or do something. Even my heart seemed to have locked into place. Anticipating. Begging. Emptiness gnawed.

  Something hot and wet swiped one cheek. I jerked, trying to see what he was doing, but I could twist around that far. I didn’t need to see anyway. I knew what he was up to. My body felt singed, my nerves so high strung the stroke of air could set them off.

  He pried my lips apart. Cool air grazed the moistness, sending chills up my spine, and then the probe of something hot and wet slipped down the slick path, jarring me, sending me whirling into a frenzy of heat and need.

  He found the entrance to my vagina, edged it, teasing, provoking me to curse him and groan, struggling to do something--anything.

  He seemed to enjoy torturing me as much as Onyx. I was going to go crazy from all this want, this unappeased, unending arousal.

  "Do you want my tongue inside your pussy?" he asked, muffled, his breath striking my slit.

  His words were eerily similar to the other demons, but I was too far gone to care. I just wanted to come. I didn’t care anymore who made me do it. "Yes. Please!"

  He grinned against me, his lips a soft stretch against sensitive parts, then swiped a swath up and down my slit like he had to devour me before I melted. My muscled jumped and quivered.

  He drew back a moment, holding my labia apart as his mouth hovered near. "Mmmm. Very good," he murmured, and then his tongue slipped through my creamy seam to my core, thrusting inside. It was long, longer than I had anticipated. It seemed to unfurl inside me, move like it had a mind of its own, like it could see exactly where I needed it to touch.

  Almost immediately, he found my g-spot. I nearly screamed at the sharp pleasure that stabbed my inner muscles, making me push back against his face until I was sure I’d smother him.

  He gripped my hips, digging his face into my slit, stroking deep inside me as he rubbed his chin against my clit.

  I gasped, arching my back, the sheer uncomfortable-ness of the position did nothing to assuage my fervor.

  Swells of ecstasy rippled through my muscles, churning around my clit. His tongue withdrew with a smack, and he angled his head until he could reach my clit. He nibbled the base and parted lips, not quite doing as I needed and wanted, barely touching me.

  "You’re killing me!" I wailed, squeezing my eyes tightly shut, frustrated beyond measure.

  He smiled again, and then plucked at the bud, sucking it into his mouth as he thrust his fingers inside my vagina. I jerked against him at the sudden, intense pleasure that spiked through my body, whimpering, begging for more. I couldn’t ever remember being so aroused.

  I was panting for breath now. Desperate for the culmination of pleasure hovering just beyond my reach. The small, wet noises he made only increased my arousal.

  He suckled my clit, moving his fingers in and out of me in a mock fucking, stroking the tender patch of my g-spot.

  I shuddered violently. Overcome by the torturous pleasure rasping from his mouth, radiating from his fingers. Tingling, knee-weakening, heart stopping ecstasy vibrated through my body.

  I cried out, my muscles gone limp as I jerked with each debilitating wave. I couldn’t feel anything anymore, only a vague sort of numbness that left me incredibly sleepy and fulfilled.

  He moved off of me, but I was so worn out, I didn’t stir. I couldn’t seem to even open my eyes.

  He stroked the back of my neck, kissing my temple. Strangely enough, I couldn’t smell myself on him. "If ever you need me, Nariko," he whispered, "Call my name, Xalen. Call and I will come."

  * * * *

  Nariko came awake slowly, with such a sense of well being that she was reluctant to give up the drowsy comfort. The threads of sleep refused to remain within her grasp, though. As she came at last to full awareness, she realized she still felt absolutely wonderful--rested, without any sense of sluggishness, no tension, no lingering anxiety.

  It was almost like suddenly realizing a complete absence of pain when one had been suffering a toothache for days and days. Rolling from her bed, she glanced self-consciously a the cameras and scurried into the bathroom to perform her morning grooming ritual.

  She found, as she showered, that she was actually humming. She didn’t even recognize the tune, but it didn’t matter. She felt better than she could remember ever feeling in t
he morning.

  She glanced shyly at Doctor Savage when she reached the living room, where he’d set up the monitor station for his equipment. Her heart stammered uncomfortably in her chest, the breath rushing from her lungs as she took in his tousled look from the all nighter he’d just pulled.

  He was a total hunk when he was immaculate, as she usually saw him in his office. He looked succulent now, with his heavy lidded eyes, the day old stubble of beard, his tousled hair. He’d unfastened his shirt and pulled it from his jeans. The top button of his jeans were undone, as well.

  He looked like a man that had spent a night satisfying a woman, and she felt her nerves sizzle with an unaccustomed tension that had everything to do with being around an extremely attractive male.

  She smiled at him tentatively when she saw that he was studying her.

  "Did the demon disturb your dreams?"

  His voice was husky. It sent a shiver of sensation along her nerve endings that made her heart trip over itself. Warmth gathered in her sex.

  She ignored it with an effort, focusing on the real reason he’d spent the night in her apartment. "I didn’t," she said with a touch of surprise. "It’s the first time I haven’t in--I can’t even remember when I didn’t." She frowned, feeling a faint blush rise in her cheeks. "Actually, I dreamed about you."

  He arched one eyebrow. Something gleamed in his eyes and she was torn between a warm response to the look and a touch of irritation. It seemed to her that he was assuming the dream had been sexual in nature--which it had been--when he had no reason to think she would be dreaming of him like that.

  She moved into the kitchen. "I don’t really remember what it was about," she lied, "except that it was just one of those tame sort of dreams you have sometimes. Like you’re going somewhere--something like that."

  When she glanced at him over the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, she saw that he was looking amused. "Would you like some juice?" she asked with determined cheerfulness, although she felt like slapping the smug look off his face.

  "Yes, thanks," he said, rising from the chair and adjusting his jeans and fastening them.

  Nariko glanced away quickly as he adjusted his "package" in the snug jeans.

  She dropped the first glass she dragged from the cabinet. The noise of the glass slamming into the counter set her nerves on edge. Thankfully, it was made of thick glass and didn’t break. She righted it and dragged another glass out, then tossed some bagels into the toaster over before she went to the refrigerator to get the juice.

  Dr. Savage was sitting at the counter when she turned around and she nearly dropped the carton. "So … you don’t remember what you dreamed?" he asked conversationally.

  "Bits and pieces, I suppose," Nariko muttered, recovering and heading for the counter to fill the juice glasses. "Nothing that really makes sense."

  "Why don’t you tell me what you do remember?"

  Try though she might not to think about what she’d dreamed, she blushed again, overfilled one of the glasses and spilt juice on the counter top. She felt like kicking herself when she glanced at Dr. Savage as she handed him his glass of juice and saw the knowing look on his face.

  Or was she only imagining he knew what she’d been dreaming because she felt so uncomfortable about it? And her attraction to him, for that matter.

  She frowned, turning her attention to the bagels. "Just something about calling you when the demon came."

  He sipped his juice thoughtfully while she put the bagels on saucers and got the cream cheese from the refrigerator.

  "I told you to call me?" he prompted when she settled on a counter stool at the other end of the short bar.

  That part wasn’t exactly crystal clear in her mind--not nearly as clear as the things he’d done and the heat that had curled inside of her--and rose inside of her now, when she thought about it again. She thought about it for several moments. "That was one of the things that made the dream seem really weird. You told me I had powers of my own, and that if I needed you I could--summon you to me. All I had to do was call your name. The strangest thing, though, was that you didn’t say ‘Doctor Savage’ or ‘Shayne Savage’. You said your name was Xalen.

  "You said that if the dark demon came after me again, I was to say ‘Xalen! Come to me!’ and you would come."

  His brows rose, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he concentrated on his juice and bagels. When he’d finished, he climbed off the stool and did an all over stretch that exposed every lovely muscle in his chest and belly. His jeans, as he pulled in his stomach in the stretch, rode low, and Nariko’s eyes were drawn to the light, narrow trail of dark hair that arrowed down from his belly button.

  "Do you mind if I use your shower?"

  Nariko blinked, snapped from her zen meditation of his lower belly when he straightened. "Huh? Oh! Sure! Towels and washcloths in the bathroom cabinet."

  When he’d left, she dropped her face into her hands, mortified. She was behaving as if she’d never seen a man before. He was going to think she’d enticed him to her apartment to try to seduce him!

  It was that damn dream demon! She wasn’t in the habit of looking at men and thinking sex. She had never even had sex! Up until she’d started dreaming about the demon that was chasing her, she’d never looked at a man, even an attractive one, and thought about sex. She’d been plenty attracted. She’d thought about kissing--maybe a little heavy petting.

  Ok, so maybe she’d had a few very tame fantasies about sex, but they were pretty much PG-13. She completely understood the mechanics of it. She’d read plenty of books. She’d seen a lot of sexy movies, but she’d never really associated such things with herself, and she certainly hadn’t fantasized about the sort of things she did now.

  And now she’d started thinking about doing those things with her sleep therapist of all things.

  She shook it off after a while, deciding that she must have dreamed that because she thought Doctor Savage was attractive and knew he was in her apartment. Most likely, it would never happen again.

  When Dr. Savage came out of her bathroom carrying the overnight bag he’d brought with him, it was a knee weakening jolt. Freshly scrubbed now, clean shaven, she didn’t know if it was the way he looked or the cologne that nearly knocked her socks off, but she wished she had something to do besides gape at him like a love sick calf.

  He didn’t seem to notice, thankfully. He was all business now.

  Dropping his bag beside the chair he’d spent the night in, he settled on the edge and faced her where she sat on the couch, her arms wrapped around her knees.

  "I need to have a look at your records from the orphanage," he said without preamble.

  Nariko blinked. "I don’t understand. I know you said you thought something might have happened to me, but nothing did. I’d remember."

  "Not necessarily," he said grimly. "It’s possible something did, and you’ve managed to block it from your conscious mind but not your sub-conscious. I need to at least rule that possibility out, if nothing else."

  Nariko thought about the implications, feeling her stomach tighten. "You think I’m just going to keep having these dreams?" she said uneasily. It was odd that she’d woken feeling as if the whole problem had been solved, crazy really. She’d dreamed the whole thing! How could she have allowed herself to believe her problem had been solved?

  She had, though. She’d been behaving, and thinking, like all she had to do any time that thing got after her was summon Xalen and she’d be all right.

  How crazy was that?

  "So … you’re going to the orphanage?"

  "We are going to the orphanage."

  Chapter Four

  "May I help you?"

  Nariko glanced at Dr. Savage. It was odd the way people could use words that sounded perfectly polite and still make it come out as more of a challenge. If the receptionist had only looked bored, she wouldn’t seemed nearly as rude. Her entire attitude, however, was that they’d interrup
ted her.

  "I’m Dr. Shayne Savage. I’d like to speak with the director, if I could."

  "Do you have an appointment?"

  His eyes narrowed momentarily at her abrupt tone. Finally, he smiled faintly. "If I did, I wouldn’t have asked."

  The woman seemed to lighten up a bit at that smile, but his comment made her stiffen once more. Without a word, she flipped through the appointment book. Nariko couldn’t read what was written there, but she could see there was very little.

  The receptionist slammed the book shut and looked up at them again. "If you’ll have a seat, I’ll see if Ms. Townsend can see you today."

  Nariko felt an unpleasant jolt go through her at the name. She supposed it had been too much to hope the old bat had died since she’d left the orphanage. Or retired. She must be a hundred, and still she clung to her position with the tenacity of a pit bull. Without a word, she turned away from the desk, glanced around at the handful of chairs in the tiny waiting room and finally picked one and sat. Dr. Savage stood, although he moved across the room to stare out of the window.

  Nariko kept glancing at the ugly round clock on the wall. Five minutes passed, then ten. They were rapidly approaching the twenty minute mark and Dr. Savage had begun to pace when the receptionist finally returned. Without a word, she sat down and began to peck at her keyboard.

  Nariko glanced at Dr. Savage and saw that he was giving the woman a narrow eyed look.

  She supposed he wasn’t accustomed to people treating him as if he was a non-entity.

  She supposed she should have warned him that that was the way everyone was treated at the orphanage, but then she hadn’t expected them to be as rude to him. He was a doctor, after all. They generally commanded respect.

  It wasn’t as if the old bat knew he was a sleep therapist, but then Nariko could well imagine how much old dragon lady Townsend was enjoying the idea of keeping a doctor pacing about her waiting room.