GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4)
Page 31
It all sounded very logical and, if it was successful, the results would be perfect.
For everyone except Shara and Gabriel. Their meeting, the journey through time, his historical recordings and even their joining—all of it would be wiped out the instant the plan was set in motion. They requested a five-minute delay while they left the lab to speak in private.
The moment they were alone, they were in each other's arms.
"I don't want to erase everything that happened between us," Shara said, tears filling her eyes.
"Nor do I, sweetling," Gabriel assured her. "But there seems to be no other way. We have to believe our love for one another is strong enough to overcome anything... even time. Somehow, some way, we'll find each other again."
Shara sniffed and looked up at him. "With you journeying in another galaxy and me working in my lab in Innerworld, it doesn't sound like that's likely to happen. But I know you're right. There is no other way." She wiped her eyes and straightened her shoulders. "We'd better get back and let them do what they must."
"One more minute won't matter," he whispered, then lowered his head to give her a kiss so sweet and tender, she began to cry again. Tipping her chin up, he stared into her eyes. "Remember me, Shara. Look into my eyes and remember."
* * *
Shara slid her tall frame a little lower in the chair and pretended to concentrate on the food in front of her. This was one time Roman would not get her support. She was going to stay out of this family discussion if it killed her.
"Drek! But that's unfair."
"Roman Locke!" Aster glared at her son, whose sullen face had taken on a tinge of pink when he realized his slip. "I will not have that language in our home. In fact, I don't care for your attitude at all this evening, young man."
Beneath the table, Shara gently tapped her brother's shin with the toe of her shoe to warn him to give it up. He was spoiling their weekly family dinner... again. She wasn't surprised when he continued his argument.
"Shara has her own residence. All I want—"
"Shara," Romulus interrupted, "is a grown woman with an established career. You aren't even out of school yet."
That was the one argument Roman had no answer to and, though he was clearly unhappy about having his request for more independence denied, he let it drop for the time being.
After dinner, a competitive card game got everyone back into a light mood, but Shara couldn't keep her mind on the game. The oddest feeling had come over her, as if something out of the ordinary was about to happen. But nothing did.
A month later, she was still being bothered by the same feeling and it was beginning to wear on her nerves. Though she had never had premonitions before, the fact that she had other well-developed mental abilities prevented her from completely dismissing the feeling. But nothing of importance had yet occurred.
She was working on a difficult calculation in her lab one day when she heard the door open and close. Someone was speaking but she blocked out the voice and kept her gaze locked on the monitor so as not to lose her train of thought before completing the calculation. The pressure of a strong hand on her shoulder accomplished what the voice had not. The most peculiar tingling sensation danced down her arm to her fingertips.
"Ahem!"
Annoyed at the interruption, Shara slanted a glance at the fingers spread over her shoulder. The closely pared, unpolished nails and the smattering of fine blond hair on the large hand identified her visitor as a man. Her gaze continued up a bare forearm to an aqua jersey loosely covering a pair of muscular shoulders. Intending to deliver a glare that would have most men pleading for forgiveness, she swiveled her chair toward him and raised her eyes.
Her intended glare lost its hostility as she caught sight of his attractive, almost boyish features. His crown of blond curls, sky-blue eyes and long eyelashes would have seemed more fitting on a Terran angel. But the warm body standing much too close to hers was definitely not that of a spirit. A plain gold earcuff on his left lobe was the only adornment that was not given him by nature. He epitomized the type of man she avoided at all costs.
And yet she couldn't pull her eyes away from his. She was certain she had never seen the man before, though he seemed as familiar to her as her own brother. She literally had to restrain herself from moving closer.
"I'm Gabriel Drumayne," he murmured as his gaze moved over her face. He completely forgot his reason for coming into the lab but he was inexplicably pleased that he had. "Have we met before?" he asked, staring into her chocolate-brown eyes with an expression of curious fascination.
"I don't believe so," she replied in a tone that revealed a similar sense of bewilderment.
"Perhaps if we discussed it over lunch, we'd discover why you seem so familiar to me."
Without giving it a second thought, she replied, "I'd like that very much."
He held out his hand to help her rise and the charge that passed between their fingers could only be described as electrical.
Suddenly Shara understood the nervous anticipation she'd been experiencing all month, the instant feeling of recognition, the tingling sensation when he touched her. The look in his eyes told her he was also aware of what it meant.
Her romantic dream of finding the perfect soulmate was coming true... exactly the way her mother had promised it would happen.
The End
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LOGAN
Innerworld Affairs Series
Book Five
Excerpt from
LOGAN
Innerworld Affairs Series
Book Five
by
Marilyn Campbell
USA Today Bestselling Author
LOGAN
Reviews & Accolades
"Ms. Campbell makes our pulses pound with a sizzling battle of the sexes in which the lucky reader comes out the surefire winner."
~Romantic Times
"A spellbinding story that merges romance, intrigue and science fiction."
~Book Depot
"Another winner... a perfect blend of blazing sex and old-fashioned romance."
~Becky Lee Weyrich, Bestselling Author
"Brimming with excitement... a splendid adventure."
~Paperback Forum
The moment Tarla and Logan were alone in the apartment, she knew she'd made a serious mistake. He was absolutely fuming! Her stomach squeezed into a knot of anxiety. How could she have forgotten how dangerous he was? He wasn't a kitten to tease with a piece of yarn. He was a full-grown panther.
And he was stalking her.
"Now, Logan," she said, trying to conceal her fear as she backed away from him, "it's your own fault. I mean, I probably went too far—"
"Probably?" His voice was eerily soft. "Too far? You paraded us halfway back to Earth."
She kept walking backward around the room, occasionally bumping into furniture, but he continued to track her. She had only wanted to push him into a compromise, but now she could see she'd pushed him way beyond that.
"If you would just be reasonable about this servant business when we're alone, I'd be reasonable about acting the mistress when we're in public. It makes me extremely uncomfortable to have you waiting on me. I understand the need for caution, but we also have to find a way to live together in this apartment without driving each other crazy."
"T
hat is definitely not possible since you've already driven me way past crazy. You think you're uncomfortable? Look at me! This is uncomfortable!"
She obeyed his order to look at him without thinking of the consequences. A giggle escaped before she clamped her hand over her mouth.
"Go ahead, mistress, let it out. You've been strangling on it all day."
She sucked in her cheeks to hold back the smile. "I am sorry, Logan, really, really—"
"Way too late for sorry, angel. I want to hear you laugh. I want you to get every last giggle out of your system, before you wreck this whole operation by cracking up in public... or before I go completely nuts and turn you over my knee!"
She thought the predatory gleam in his eye seemed to glow a little brighter with the thought of spanking her. "Logan please, you're scaring me. I said I'm sorry—"
"And I said I want you to laugh. If you can't do it yourself, maybe I need to help you." He took a large step toward her but she escaped his grasp.
"Stop it!" Tarla ordered and sped up her retreat.
"I'll stop it when I hear you laughing," he countered, then picked up his own pace.
She evaded him for almost a whole minute as she circled the room and dodged between pieces of furniture. Suddenly his hands latched onto her caftan, bringing her to an abrupt halt and pulling her close. As she tried to get free again, his fingers wiggled in her sides. "Laugh, Tarla," he said, tickling her without mercy.
She squealed from the unexpected tickle and saw a victorious grin spread across his face instantly erasing all traces of aggression. It was such a relief to realize he had intended to tickle rather than humiliate her, she almost gave him the laughter he'd demanded. But her own stubborn streak kept her from giving in that easily. "You can't make me!" she declared.
He found an extremely vulnerable spot below her ribs that caused her to squeal again, yet she still managed to hold back a real laugh.
The more she squirmed in an attempt to escape, the more effort he put into tickling her. The struggle tilted them both off balance and they tumbled over a row of foam cubes and onto the floor in a tangle of legs and arms and yards of pink and aqua fabric.
That did it for Tarla. She burst out laughing and Logan joined her the next second.
"You broke the couch," she teased between chuckles and gasps for air.
"I can fix the couch. What are you going to do about my broken back?" He returned, managing to reduce his laughter to a crooked smile.
"No problem," she said as seriously as possible. "I'm a nurse. I can fix your back." With him sprawled half on top of her, she scraped her fingernails down his spine to give him a taste of his own medicine. His reflexive jerk gave her such satisfaction, she tried to extract a bit more revenge by tickling his sides as he had done with her. But that only caused him to pay her back again. As each tried to get the better of the other, they rolled across the floor, laughing too hard to really administer a good tickle.
"I give up! You win," Tarla finally said, fighting more for a deep breath of air than for her freedom. His body had hers pinned to the floor and, though he looked much too pleased with himself, she didn't have the strength to continue the mock battle.
"If I win, that means you lose, and you know what happens to losers?"
She cocked one eyebrow suspiciously.
"They have to pay off the winner," Logan informed her. "Now what payment should I demand?"
* * *
Logan looked as though he was giving a great deal of thought to choosing her payoff.
"I won't make you go on any more walks in public," she offered quickly, before he could think of anything more difficult for her to forfeit.
He shook his head. "Not nearly enough."
"Umm, I won't talk to you like you're a complete imbecile in front of guests."
Now that she was no longer laughing or engaged in a tickling match, she began noticing other things—like how right his hard body felt covering hers and how she could feel the coarseness of the hair on his legs because their caftans were twisted above their knees. How he shifted to find a more comfortable position. How his lower body was changing shape where it was pressed to hers...
"Still not enough," he murmured as the expression on his face turned serious and his eyes darkened with desire.
There was something else she noticed—she was suddenly getting very warm... and incredibly, abnormally horny... and her nerves felt like they were on the outside of her body... almost as if—
No! That was completely impossible. Not here. Not after all this time. Not with a Terran.
Not with Logan!
She forced her gaze from his seductive eyes only to have his mouth capture her rising interest. If she was right about what was happening to her, there was nothing she could do to stop the inevitable burning desire, the mindless need.
But maybe she was wrong. Maybe the business of touching his mind had her imagination running amok. It might be nothing but stress...
Though Tarla couldn't verbalize her third concession to the winner, her eyes closed and her lips parted in preparation of giving him the prize she assumed he wanted.
His groan sounded more like one of resigned defeat than glorious victory, but before she could question it, his mouth came down hard on hers... exactly as she needed.
LOGAN
Innerworld Affairs Series
Book Four
by
Marilyn Campbell
USA Today Bestselling Author
~
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LOGAN
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Marilyn Campbell's eBook Discovery Author Page
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MARILYN CAMPBELL is published in the genres of suspense, erotic thrillers, futuristic, time-travel, paranormal, erotic and lighthearted contemporary romances, non-fiction metaphysical works and has had a screenplay produced.
A true thrill-junkie, she has jumped out of an airplane, raced around the Indy 500 track, driven solo throughout the United States and believes a great roller coaster ride can cure whatever ails her. She currently resides by the beach in sunny South Florida with her daughter and their four-legged companions, Milk-Dud and Sweetie.
Table of Contents
Cover
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
A Note from the Publisher
Excerpt from Logan (Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5)
Meet the Author