[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.OBI didn't know about this portal,and he planned to keep it that way.For days heworked furiously, blocking the portal entrance withrocks.Afterward, he sneaked his way to Florida andradioed home base to be picked up.When theyreached him, he handed his boss the huge sapphirehe'd stolen from Darius's wall and with a straight,deadpan expression said it was Dunamis.They asked him about his mission, and he lied.Theyasked how he'd gotten past the guards at the portal,and he lied about that, too.Hooked to a lie detector,he lied his ass off.And he passed.He told them ofthe monsters, just to keep them from sendingsomeone else inside.But he mentioned nothingabout Jewel, nothing about the vast wealth, andnothing about his new vampire tendencies.They were so excited about Dunamis, they sent himon his merry way, giving him the vacation he'd beendue for the past year.His vacation sucked.He never left his house.Andnow, two weeks into it, he was standing in hisbasement gym, pounding the hell out of his punchingbag.He had no life without Jewel.Hell, he didn't want alife without her.What was she doing? Was shesafe?Did she miss him? Did she spend every night lyingawake, imagining his hands on her, wishing his lipswere all over her?"What's wrong with you, man?"Gray stiffened.He pounded a few more punches intothe bag.His brothers had descended upon him enmasse this morning and refused to leave."Nothing,"he growled.It was the same answer he'd given themthe other thousand times they'd asked.They kept at it, though, and several times he'd comeclose to biting them.He thought his eyes might haveturned red once because his brothers had alsoasked him a thousand times if he needed to seea doctor.He still craved blood, yes, but only Jewel's.Only her sweetness.At least he hadn't levitated.Wouldn't that have beenfun to explain? He'd wondered a few times why hehadn't weakened since leaving Atlantis, since henow possessed some very Atlantean characteristics,but the only answer he could come up with was thathe had been born a human and his greatest tieswere here."I believe you," Nick said.He glanced to Erik."Doyou believe him?""I think it's woman trouble.""Gotta be," Denver said."Nothing else could shakehim like this.""Shut the fuck up.""Well, finally he says something other than nothing."Gray couldn't tell them.They knew nothing about OBI.As much as he wanted to describe every detailabout Jewel's loveliness, he couldn't.God, he had to get her back.He rested his forehead on the punching bag.He'dmeant to do something, anything, to block the portalin Florida but he hadn't been able to do it.Maybe hehadn't tried.He hadn't wanted to sever that final tiewith Jewel and destroy all hope of ever seeing heragain.The second day he'd been home he found a rockwith her picture on it inside his bag and had puncheda hole in his wall.He'd been so filled with longinghe'd almost torn his entire house down.Screw it, he thought in the next instant.He'd hadenough of this torture.He was going back in.He wasgoing back to Jewel.OBI didn't know about theportal in Brazil; maybe he could find it again.He'dhave to be careful, though.They kept a close watchon their employees, always cautious of leaks.If he did this, if he went this route, he'd have to saygoodbye to his family forever.Could he? For Jewel,he'd give up everything.I'm going to do it.I'm goingback to her.He smiled for the first rime sincereturning."Will you look at that?" Nick said."What caused thechange?"He was just about to answer when a wild-hairedseductress burst into his gym."Gray James," she said, black hair flying behind her."I've been here for two weeks and survived.I can liveon the surface." She saw his brothers, smiled atthem weakly, and muttered, "Hello," before whippingher focus back to Gray."Now what do you have tosay to that?"His knees almost buckled as shock poundedthrough him.Was this a hallucination? "Jewel?"Heart pounding, he raced to her and jerked her intohis arms, closing his eyes as her scent surroundedhim.God, she was real."What do you think you're doing?You should never have risked your life like that."He was unable to put any heat behind theadmonishment."I told you," Erik murmured.Before she could answer, Gray slathered her facewith kisses, happier in that moment than he'd everbeen.Praise the Lord for women who rebelled."Iwas coming for you, sweetheart.I couldn't stay awayfrom you." More kisses."Now, you have a lot ofexplaining to do.Where have you been staying?Why didn't you weaken?""I sneaked through the portal and followed you here.Darius realized what I had done and found me.Hetook me into the nearest town and rented me aroom.He checked on me every couple of days but Inever weakened, so he finally transported me here."She paused for breath."I'm part of every creature,which makes me part human and must allow me toexist on the surface.And this human wants to be withyou."His lips slowly inched upward.How he loved thiswoman."How did you follow me without myknowledge?""How do you think? I finally used my powers forsomething I wanted."His brothers were muttering about the weirdness ofthe conversation.Humans? Transported? Powers?They didn't know their brother-in-law was an alien,either.Gray would have a lot of explaining to do later,but for right now, he had Jewel and that was all thatmattered."Marry me." It wasn't an order, but it was pretty damnclose.It was a prayer."You mean it?" Squealing, she jumped up andwrapped her legs around his waist."Yes, yes, yes! Ilove you.""And I love you, Jewel, Prudence, Blaze.""That's Mrs.General Happy to you."He chuckled."How about Jewel of Atlantis, Jewel ofmy heart?"A native of the central plains,Gena Showalterhas always dreamed of being carted away by asavage alien warrior, a mystical Druinn sorcerer, ora king from a far-off planet.Since none of these menhave come to claim her, she spends her daysweaving stories about them.She is currently hard atwork on her next romantic fantasy.Visit her Web site at www.genashowalter.com [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]