“I thought that technology was lost?”
“It was,” Kyla said. “But he found it and now you, your families, and your king are all in serious danger. So why are you all standing around?” Now that Nameer had agreed to send his own people out looking for Tulimad, she was eager to get the show on the road and she didn’t have time for Darabin’s endless questions. They all knew what they needed to do.
Darabin’s face went a dull red. Nameer laughed.
“Sorry, Darabin,” he said. “I couldn’t resist pulling a little prank on you.” He slapped Kyla so hard on the shoulder that she nearly fell down. “Good job, Bidani.”
Darabin nodded stiffly. “We’ll send out patrols, my lord.”
Nameer dismissed them and pulled Kyla into his room. He had a hard time keeping his hands off of her in the presence of the guards. She wasn’t exactly complaining. He was the best lover she’d ever had.
His mouth was hot on hers and his hand was already down her pants when he laughed against her lips. “Oh, Kyla, we will have to work on you knowing your place.”
Her mind was so clouded with desire that it took her a minute to process what he’d said.
“Wait,” she said, turning her face away from his.
He yanked her back and she struggled to free herself from his questing mouth. “I said wait!”
He still didn’t stop, instead he yanked her shirt up, clearly about to unwrap the bandage she wore around her breasts. Kyla hit his arm with enough force for him to catch his breath.
“Stop it, Nameer!”
His broad shoulders rose and fell as he caught his breath.
“Did you say that I need to learn my place?” her voice was shaking with anger.
“Of course,” he said flatly. “You had no right to speak to Darabin that way.”
“I’m your personal guard,” Kyla said. “That puts me at a higher rank than him.”
“It might,” Nameer allowed. “I could change that. If you weren’t a woman.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re never going to have a higher rank than him because you are-”
“You’d be dead if it weren’t for me!” she shouted. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“I’m trying to show you what you mean to me,” Nameer shouted back.
“You’re trying to use me for your own pleasure!”
“The pleasure is not just mine,” he said, slightly smug now.
She struck his hand away when he reached for her. “No matter how good of a fuck you are,” she hissed, being deliberately crass, “You’ll never touch me again until you learn that my place is wherever I damn well please.”
“I saved your life!” he flung at her as she walked away.
She scoffed. “Please. My lord.” Her voice was cutting with sarcasm. “I saved yours first,” she said as she pulled the door closed in a thud.
After night had fallen, Nameer knocked on Kyla’s door. They’d been apart for hours. Surely she was ready to be reasonable. He couldn’t change centuries of history just for her. No matter how much sense she made.
His hand went still just above the door as logic stared him in the face. She did make sense. Everything about her proved him and all of his ancestors wrong.
“Please open the door,” he said. “I only wish to speak with you.”
There was no answer, so he rattled the knob. It had been locked earlier, but now it yielded readily to his hand. He pushed it open. The room was empty.
Her guard uniform was folded up on the bed and there was a note pinned to the front. Nameer pulled it off so hard that it ripped. He swore, matched the torn halves together, and began to read.
Nameer,
I’m sure you’ll think I did this because I was hurt by you today. To be honest, that’s part of it. I got comfortable with you. I was willing to let you handle a problem that’s mine to take care of.
You don’t know this about me, but I’m a guard on Earth too. Except that, instead of one person, I help guard a city. I’m good at it. And I want to go home.
I hope that you see that women are capable of anything they set their minds to. A rule isn’t good just because it’s old. I think you’ll find that a lot of the men you rule are with me on this. They are ready for change and you’re a good person to lead them. Appoint some female advisors though, because you’re an idiot when it comes to knowing what women want.
Kyla Dean
******
Kyla made her way over the border and snuck into Seeba’s main city. She saw a few of the scouts that Nameer had sent, but she didn’t see any sign of Tulimad. At least, not until she heard his voice in her ear.
“So you’re responsible for putting half of Khaytab on my scent,” he whispered.
“That’s right,” she answered. “Consider it a start to the restitution you owe for murdering that research assistant.”
He laughed. “As if her life mattered. Most of my people have lost the ability to shift, just as yours did so long ago. How can we defend ourselves without the weaponry your kind developed?”
“Why do you need to defend yourselves?” Kyla asked. “Has Khaytab threatened you?”
“Not yet,” Tulimad said. “But why would they hold back, knowing that we can’t shift?”
Kyla snorted. “Ever stop to think that they might not want anything from you?”
His hand tightened around her throat. “Come with me. You clearly didn’t learn your lesson last time.”
He dragged her out and threw her down. She smiled up at him.
“Going to shift, coward?”
Tulimad’s face twisted. “You have no right to call me that. You’re only a human.”
She laughed bitterly. “And here I thought that Seeba might be more with the times. Still prejudiced, just different excuses. How about this? We fight a fair fight for the device. I win, I leave.” She wanted him to have to face justice, but she wasn’t about to unleash a tiger shifter on New York City. “You win...I guess you kill me.”
He looked down at her. “Very well,” he agreed after a moment.
Kyla kicked out, sweeping his legs out from under him. His breath rushed out in a whoosh as he hit the ground and she pinned him down, yanking the chain around his neck. It snapped easily and the device was in her hand. She just had to get away from him long enough to use it without taking him back with her. As she tried to scramble free, she heard him yell in anger. The yell lengthened into a roar. She should have known that he wouldn’t keep his word.
His massive paw collided with her side and flung her to the ground. She fumbled for the button on the device, but he was on her before she could press it. She felt the heat of his breath and closed her eyes, preparing to die just as the soldiers on the battlefield had.
Then the weight was gone off of her chest and two tigers were snarling and swiping at each other. Kyla sat up, ready to press the button. Then she saw the other tiger’s eyes.
“Nameer?”
He didn’t have time to acknowledge her. He was fighting for his life. Kyla pulled the gun from her belt and fired it into Tulimad’s side. The thief roared in pain. Nameer wasted no time. In seconds, it was over.
“You knew me,” Nameer said as he changed back. “How?”
“Your eyes,” she said, her voice shaking. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to tell you...” Nameer rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re right. Many things in Khaytab have to change. Including the king’s views on women.”
Kyla smiled tremulously. “I’m glad to hear it. Talk with Khaza. His wife, Afani, is a very intelligent woman.”
“Well...” Nameer cleared his throat. “For my advisor...I wanted you.”
“What?” Kyla squeaked.
“I want to show the guard what a woman is capable of. Most of them respect you. If we told them you were a woman and you stayed to advise me...in time, we could make Khaytab is good place for all of my subjects.”
Kyla looked down at
the small grey device in her hand. She turned it in her palm as she thought about Nameer’s words.
“I love my life in New York,” she said finally.
“I will not ask you to give it up,” Nameer said after a moment of silence. “With this,” He nodded to the device. “You can go between as you choose. Just as Tulimad did.”
She smiled. “You’re offering to compromise with me?”
Nameer stepped close and cupped her face in his hands. “I already respect you. I could come to love you. I will not make the mistake of pushing you away again.”
She raised her hands to his and looked into his eyes. She saw nothing but the truth. “Then take me back to the palace. I want to spend the night with you before I go back.”
******
Nameer pushed the door to his bedroom open and pulled Kyla inside with him. This would be the first time that they’d been together there. The huge bed was draped with silk and it looked downright decadent.
He started to pull her to it, and then he stopped. “I would like to make love to you,” he said, tracing the curve of her cheek with his thumb.
She wanted to make a joke, but the look in his eyes took her breath away. “Haven’t we been making love this whole time?”
He gave her that slow, charismatic smile. “I can honestly say that I have never wanted to make love with a woman before you. I want to spend hours tasting you, pleasing you.”
Nameer led her to the big stone tub in the corner of his room and turned on the taps. As the tub filled, he began to undress her. She’d put her uniform back on and his fingers fumbled over the small buttons down the front of her shirt. She didn’t correct him, she only allowed him to bare her body as he saw fit.
He finally dropped the uniform shirt to the floor and began to work her belt and pants off. She pressed a kiss to the frown line that appeared between his eyebrows as he worked. Once she was naked, he looked down at her, running his hands down her sides.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice low and appreciative. “And so strong.”
Kyla pulled his head down and kissed him. “You’re not bad yourself. I never knew a king could be such a strong warrior.”
Once his clothes had joined hers on the floor, he stepped into the tub and helped her in as well. The warm water was instantly soothing and she sighed as she reclined, sinking in up to her shoulders.
“I would be in here every night,” she said.
“We will take the time every night you’re here,” Nameer assured her.
Kyla wrapped her arms around him as he pulled her into his lap. He cupped her breasts, tweaking her nipples and making her arch into him with a moan of pleasure. Nameer sucked one taut nipple into his mouth, between his teeth. Kyla gasped when his teeth closed around it.
“Yes, just like that.”
One of his big, rough hands snuck down between her legs. She was slick and aroused already and she readily took his fingers deep. When she was moaning and working her hips down on him, he stopped, gripping his cock, ready to enter her.
“No,” she said. “Not yet. There’s something I’d like to do with you.”
Kyla pushed him up so that he was sitting on the edge of the tub. She feasted her eyes on his perfect body for a moment. The water traced lovingly along every sharp, muscled ridge of his chest and stomach. His cock was pulsing and she knew that he was desperate to take her. And he was holding back because she’d asked him to. It was intoxicating. And it deserved a reward.
She knelt in front of him and wrapped her fingers around the base of his big cock. “You know,” she said. “I’ve always wondered if you taste as good as you feel.”
Nameer swallowed hard. He couldn’t imagine how good it would feel to be between her perfect lips. “Then, by all means,” he said roughly. “Satisfy your curiosity.”
Kyla lowered her head, sucking the crown of his cock into her mouth. She focused only on the crown, swirling her tongue around it and teasing the slit. His hands went tight on the edge of the tub.
“Take me deeper,” he said.
She only shook her head, alternating between sucking firmly and teasing lightly. When his stomach muscles were tight and he was working to hold back his groans, she took him down her throat. It was so sudden that his head fell back as he sank his teeth into his lower lip.
“Gods, yes, Kyla.”
She could practically feel his voice scrape against her, it was so rough. She looked up at him, taking him all the way down her throat and swallowing around him. He was delicious and she was feeling very empty as she sucked him.
“No,” Nameer said as he saw her begin to play with herself under the water. “I want to be the one to give you pleasure tonight.”
He slid back down, pulling her into his lap again, pushing deep into her this time. He cupped her face in both hands, looking into her eyes as he thrust.
“Promise me that you’ll come back,” he said.
For the first time, she saw vulnerability in those piercing green eyes. “I will,” Kyla promised.
Nameer pulled her close, cupping the back of her neck and letting her ride him slowly. An orgasm was starting to build, but she wanted to feel him come with her. She tilted her face, offering her mouth for him to take.
He kissed her. The feeling of her moving around him was pushing him closer and closer.
“I want to feel you come for me,” he said. “Come with me, Kyla.”
It didn’t take long. His heat filled her as her body clenched around his. She rested her head on his shoulder as they both caught their breath.
“I don’t think I’ve ever made love with anyone before either,” she admitted. It had been the most tender, loving, erotic thing that had ever happened to her.
“Then you’ll come back for the sex?” His tone was teasing, but he deserved more than that.
She looked up at him. “I’ll come back for more than that, Nameer.”
******
Epilogue
The sun was rising before Kyla managed to drag herself away from Nameer. She pressed the button on the device and found herself falling once more. Familiar New York rose up to greet her and she relished even the pain of the ground meeting her.
It was dark, just as it had been when she’d landed in Khaytab.
“Kyla!”
She glanced up at the college and saw Danny leaning out of the window. His face was white with shock.
“I’m okay,” she called, wondering how the hell this was happening. Was it the same moment that she left?
“I called an ambulance!” he said. “I’m coming down. Just stay still!”
Kyla rolled over onto her back, feeling the familiar waves of dizziness. They weren’t as bad this time around. That explained how Tulimad had gotten away from her. She turned the device in her hand and then tucked it away in her pocket. Danny’s footsteps were headed toward her. She was home.
Or, at least, she was back in one of the places she called home. In a week, she’d be back in the other, changing a new world with the man she was falling in love with day by day.
******
THE END
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Realm Shifters: Worldly Matings
Book 2
Police officer Kyla Dean is back in New York with plans to catch up on some work and then get back to the world of Khaytab where her new royal lover awaits her return…
However, the Seeban army has other plans, and trying to distract her partner Danny isn’t as easy as she’d hoped.
Balancing secrets with a desire to protect the king of another world causes friction, and when she finally gets back to Khaytab, she has more baggage than she planned.
And that’s not the only thing that’s not as she expected…
Realm Shifters: Worldly Matings
Book 2
The siren wasn’t on, but Kyla could feel plenty of
speed in the ambulance as they headed for the hospital. She’d tried to tell Danny that she was okay, but she had to admit that she would have called the paramedics for him if the situation had been reversed. He rode in the ambulance with her, but he stayed quiet. His dark blue eyes never left her face though and she could tell that he was trying to put things together.
The emergency room was a bustle of noise and activity. Kyla was surprised to be rushed back. Danny came with her, still silent. Her heart was beginning to pound. He was smart. He had to know that there was no way she could have fallen out of that window and sustained no injuries.
“We’ll set you up here and get you back for tests soon,” one of the nurses said. “Try to rest.”
“Sure,” Kyla agreed, watching Danny nervously.
“That was a hell of a fall,” he said once the nurse closed to the door and blocked out all the hospital noise.
She nodded, busying herself with pouring a cup of water. Khaytab’s dust was still in the back of her throat.
“Thought you were a goner,” he went on, his voice growing rough. “When you went out that window...” Danny stopped, looking down at the floor. “Felt like I screwed up. I should have been more help.”
“Danny, there was nothing wrong with what you did,” Kyla said, surprised. “You were checking the victim. I was...impulsive.”
He smiled at her. “You usually are. It’s my job to keep up with you. And I didn’t. I can’t believe it wasn’t worse.”
“You keep up with me better than any of the partners I’ve had before,” she assured him. “Don’t beat yourself up. I made a split second decision and it didn’t turn out like I thought it would.” That was putting it mildly, but she couldn’t bring herself to say that she’d been wrong. Not with the memories of her night with Nameer still fresh in her mind.
Danny stepped closer, looking at her steadily. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“Not a single ache or pain.”
“Did you land on the guy or something?”
“What guy?”
Concern flashed on her partner’s face. “The suspect, Kyla. The man who dragged you out the window.”
Realm Shifters Page 4