Chapter Five #4
The blue of Toni’s eyes darkened as her pupils widened, swallowing the color until the only bit of blue remaining was a sliver around her black pupils.
Her sensuous lips curved into a sultry grin.
Grasping his hand covering hers, she stepped closer until the warmth from her body coated his.
“I’m glad you want to get to know me better,” she murmured in a throaty tone.
“And that you created such a romantic place to do so.” She whispered the words against the base of his neck.
Azazel closed his eyes, trying to control the dark, hidden part of himself that demanded freedom.
His body clamored and burned with a feverish, urgent ache to claim the woman in his arms. His inner beast stirred awake, fueling the relentless carnal hunger pounding through his skull.
Every inch of his body thrummed with a raw, aching need.
His only solace was how her curves fit into his body’s hard angles and planes, as if she belonged there.
The inner beast clawed at the cage Azazel kept it in.
It thrashed against the restraints with a howl of unrelenting fury, desperate to break free.
Taking a fortifying breath, Azazel let her scent and feel of her body against his wash over him, helping him regain control once again.
He glanced out at the horizon and watched the sun as it painted streaks of pink and orange across the sky.
“I’m grateful you like it.” He nuzzled the top of her head.
The feel and scent of her calmed the beast. It crouched in a watchful silence.
Toni’s soft laughter came across as a light, harmonized sound that complemented the wind chimes. She reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his. “So, how do we get to know one another, Azazel?” Her grin was mischievous. “Where do you want to start?”
He gazed at her, the vibrant colors of the dream world reflecting in her eyes. “I can think of a couple of ways.” He challenged her with a grin, tilting his chin up. He wasn’t sure if he was challenging her… or the savage part of himself he struggled to keep on a short, brutal leash.
Toni couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed spending time with a man as much as she did with Azazel. And on a private beach she could have sworn was real. But the man—wow, here was a man with a curious mixture of innocence combined with a world-weary outlook on life.
When he explained his upbringing, she understood most of what he said, but it was hard for her to imagine how he grew up.
Created thousands of years ago by alien scientists called the Akurn, as a brute slave in southern Africa to mine for gold.
His history was as foreign to her as a low-budget B-movie becoming a serious Oscar contender.
What truly blew her mind was that, rather than becoming mindless labor drones, he and his brothers developed powerful psychic abilities. An unintended consequence of the Earthborn DNA woven into their creation.
“Wait.” She raised her hand. “Are you telling me that humans were the ones with psychic powers and not the aliens?” Her nose wrinkled.
Boy, did Hollywood get that wrong. She grasped a grape and plopped it into her mouth.
The implications were staggering. Think of the storylines she could produce for her next movie project.
After a quick glance at the bountiful picnic Azazel had provided on a wide blanket, she chose a bruschetta slice smothered in a savory herb mushroom sauce.
Azazel nodded.
“Yes. From what I understand, none of the other Adamou— what the Akurns called us— had psychic abilities unless they included hominoid DNA from Earth.” He glanced at the setting sun resting on the horizon, giving the ocean a golden glow.
“My brothers and I hid our psychic talents from the scientists when we were young. It wasn’t until later that we learned the truth: the last batch of slaves hadn’t been destroyed.
They’d been sealed away. Their powers were so overwhelming that the Akurns, with all their advanced technology, feared they didn’t have enough power to destroy them. ”
Chuckling, he glanced at her and leaned back on his hands, crossing his ankles on the soft beach blanket.
“Which sort of happened to them, anyway. See, what the scientists on Earth were doing, combining Akurn DNA with any other specie’s was illegal.
When the ruling party of the Akurns discovered what they’d done, they sentenced the whole complex to be destroyed.
” He frowned. “I was trying to teleport myself and three of my brothers to a nearby spaceship where our brother, Adapa, was already on board. It was a ship we’d prepared to escape.
But before we could, the Akurns attacked the compound, raining down high-powered laser fire all around us.
In the chaos, I did get us to the waiting ship—but landed us seven thousand years in the future instead.
” With a sigh, he sat up cross-legged, resting his elbows on his thighs.
“Since then, I’ve gone over and over on what I had to be thinking to make that kind of mistake.
” He rubbed his temple. “All I remember was the desperate rush to reach the ship—nothing else mattered but getting my brothers and myself to that safe place. As the world burned in raging flames barreling toward us, my only thought was to get to Adapa because he desperately needed us.” He chuckled.
“I didn’t know those words would anchor the jump, taking us to the future where his need for us was even greater. ”
Toni didn’t need to be a psychic to recognize a man riddled with guilt.
She scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his firm thigh.
“Didn’t you say that you and your brothers saved Earth from being destroyed by the Akurns?
Why do you feel guilty about that?” She squeezed his leg to comfort him while popping another juicy purple grape into her mouth.
When he zeroed in on her hand, she jerked it away, curling her fingers into an embarrassed grip.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
“No—” Azazel looked up at her, and the mahogany color of his eyes darkened. “—I like it when you touch me.” He took her fist and brought it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “In fact, I prefer it.”
Her face flushed, and heat crawled up her throat and cheeks. Not one to deny her emotions, she nodded.
“So do I.” She swallowed the grape. “But why do you feel guilty about what you did?” She leaned closer to him. “Didn’t it turn out for the best?”
Now his steady gaze focused on her mouth when she spoke.
“Yes, but my eldest brother, Adapa, almost died because we were separated from him for so long.” He glanced at her and tilted his head.
“Since the five of us were created together, we’re permanently linked.
If we end up in different, ah, dimensions, we cannot survive apart for very long.
My reckless action almost killed him.” The last sentence came out in an anguished whisper.
Well, shit. That confession just pissed her off.
Didn’t his family recognize the heavy guilt he suffered from?
Some freakin’ psychics they were. Letting Azazel endure such a heavy burden that only got deeper the longer he carried it.
Once she got those idiots in a room, she’d give them a piece of her mind with both barrels.
“Okay, listen here.” She scooted close enough their knees touched.
Grasping his hands in hers, she leaned in.
“My mother stressed to me that if guilt means extending worry about what you’ve done, it doesn’t do any good nor does it help.
The only thing you should do is strive to not do such a thing again.
So, tell me, Mister It’s-all-my-fault, did you deliberately mean to kill your brother by separating from him for over seven thousand years? ”
Azazel’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? No!”
“I said—” Toni hesitated, her heart tapping a nervous rhythm against her ribs.
Then, before she could overthink it, she did the one thing she’d never done before.
With a quick hmmm under her breath, she took matters into her own hands and scooted onto his lap.
She wrapped her legs around his trim waist to settle dangerously close to his groin.
With bold intent, she linked her arms around his thick neck, clasping her opposite wrist. If it was the last thing she did, she’d make the stubborn ass pay attention to something other than his self-imposed guilt.
“—was it your intention to kill Adapa by disappearing into the far future without him?”
Azazel’s lips thinned into a straight line. “That’s absurd. I’d never do that!” He jerked back and gazed at her with wild eyes. “How could you even suggest…”
Toni caressed his cheek. “I’m not the one suggesting such a thing. You are.”
His mouth dropped open.
She was glad she was sitting on his lap when slight tremors racked his body. It told her he at least considered the point she was trying to make.
“I…” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You…” He closed his eyes.
She waited.
“You… are right.” He placed his forehead against hers and sighed.
His glorious chest rose and fell against hers. Her nipples tightened. Even though her skin was covered, her breasts were ultra-sensitive. His hold on her shoulders loosened, which gave her a chance to rest her head against him and snuggle.
“There’s something else I’d like you to consider.” She roamed her fingers over the firm hills of his solid pecs. “Maybe destiny intended you to be there, exactly when it was most critical. I don’t think you had a choice at all.” The last words came out in a soft whisper.
Azazel’s breathing evened out.