Gates of Paradise
By
Tianna Xander
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 ISBN: 978-1-55487-158-2
Cover art by Martine Jardin
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Dedication
To my readers: Without which I would have no reason to continue.
To my editor: Without your continuing support and wacky comments in the margins there would be little laughter and excitement in my editing.
To Tina: As always a great big thank you for seeing what so many others didn’t.
To all of my friends, family and co-workers: Thank you so much for believing in me and never making me feel like a pervert no matter how sensual or long my love scenes have gotten.
I love you all.
Chapter 1
Aliana dashed through the woods, not daring to Alook back. Sure that her father’s henchmen were close on her heels, she kept running despite her exhaustion. Her feet pounded a steady rhythm through the forest. Branches slapped at her face and shoulders as she charged through the brush, barely taking the time to push them out of the way as she forged through the bramble. The dark, insidious feeling of evil grew increasingly closer and made her desperate. She had to get away.
Her breaths came in little more than short, strangled gasps. Why had she allowed herself to get so out of shape? Pain stabbed at her side. Her muscles burned. The farther she ran, the more she felt the illusory sensation of her father’s men breathing down her neck. Why couldn’t she shake them? First, she’d lost her hotel room and luggage, then her car. What next?
She wouldn’t do it! Aliana refused to marry a man she’d never respect. Who could have a high opinion of a man who gave no thought to others?
1
He exploited those with less power and took advantage of the system. In short, the man was an opportunistic jerk. Not to mention a criminal of the worst sort. The real clincher had been when she’d walked into her father’s home and accidentally heard them discussing a drug transaction and murder. She could have believed it of Doug Hamill, but…her father? That had been an unexpected blow, ripping away her innocence in a way nothing else could have.
Rounding a corner, she bent at the waist and rested her hands on her knees. She gulped great lungs full of air as she concentrated on listening for the pounding of footsteps behind her. Aliana rubbed her side, the burning pain almost strong enough to bring her to her knees. The cool air burned her lungs as she drew in each breath.
“Some twenty-fifth birthday present.” She panted, still bent over. “I expected my trust fund not a fiancé.” No wonder her mother had committed suicide. The reasons were clear now.
She hadn’t been able to live with Ali’s father’s source of income. Aliana knew she surely couldn’t. How many lives had been lost supporting her father’s expensive tastes? How many children died or were orphaned because of overdoses or bad drugs?
She fought off the urge to retch, knowing she couldn’t keep up her frantic pace much longer.
2
Either she found help or a ride soon or those hunting her would find her passed out on the trail.
No, dammit. She refused to give up, to be an easy catch.
A dog bayed in the distance, seemed to grow closer every second.
She took off running again. It was only a matter of time before they found her. She needed to get some money and a car before she collapsed in a heap.
The last thing her father would do was let her go if they managed to capture her. She held no illusions as to what he would do if he couldn’t control her, make her marry his business associate—a man at least twice her age. He was a murderer after all. Ali still had the prepaid credit card her mother had loaded and slipped to her before her death. Keeping it was her only hope for survival. She had it and a few changes of clothes in the backpack strapped to her shoulders.
The setting sun nearly blinded her when she stumbled into a clearing. Bright light shone in her eyes, a shock after the darkness of the thick forest.
Pebbles rolled beneath her feet as she slid down a rocky incline. She tried to reach out, to stop herself from sliding down the mountainside, but it was too little too late.
Aliana screamed, barely thinking to suck in a gulp of air before she plunged feet first into the icy 3
water of the rushing river below. Cold water swirled around her head. It pulled at her clothing, yanking her deeper and deeper as it dragged her over sharp rocks and tree limbs below the surface.
Her lungs burned, ached. She needed to breathe!
Opening her eyes, she clawed her way toward the light, glad the setting sun hadn’t yet dipped below the horizon.
Breaking the surface was a feat. With the heavy backpack strapped to her, the rushing water tried to pull her down. Her wet clothes were heavy, a hindrance to her survival. Kicking off her shoes, she wriggled out of her wet pants, allowing the current to strip the wet denim from her legs before she drowned. She couldn’t afford to lose her pack.
She may as well die if she let that go.
It was almost full dark before she’d finally struggled to the shore. Battered and bruised, Aliana dragged herself from the freezing water and collapsed onto the rocky riverbank.
* * * *
“I don’t know why this couldn’t have waited until morning.” Dracen glanced over at his best friend, Griffin, and shook his head. “Because we’ll both be too hungry in the morning and you’ll be bitching because we didn’t lug the water tonight.” He 4
loved Griffin to death, but he certainly could do without the other man’s constant complaints. He needed to get laid. Hell, they both did. It would most likely sweeten both of their dispositions.
Griffin sighed and nodded. “You know, I hate when you’re right.” He shifted the buckets in his hands.
“At least we can bathe while we’re down here.
One of us stinks.” Dracen smiled and sniffed the air around them. “And I think it’s you.”
“Fuck off, Drace.” Griffin bared his teeth in a grin. “If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it, fuck-nut.”
Wasting no time once they reached the river, they stripped off their clothes and jumped into the freezing water.
“Shit! I forgot how damned cold the water here is this time of year.”
Drace snorted. “I don’t know how you manage to forget that every time we come here.” He gave his best friend a sideways grin. “You brain damaged or something?”
“Kiss my ass,” Griffin said, brushing the wet hair out of his face. “Maybe I subconsciously block it or something.”
That wouldn’t be surprising. Goodness knew he’d like to forge
t sometimes. But a bath was a bath and they were getting a bit ripe. A noise in the brush down the river had them both looking up, 5
alert. The last thing they needed was for some stray hiker to find them here, naked. They’d have a hard time controlling the mind of an already shocked human and they couldn’t afford discovery. With the veil thin during the Sabbat, there would be more than one visitor. That’s why they were here after all. To send any unexpected guests back through the veil before they realized what happened to them.
Drace held his breath as the noise grew louder, then breathed a sigh of relief when a lone wolf made his way from the trees and headed toward the water. He didn’t see the body until the wolf bent his head to sniff the dirty mop of light-colored hair.
“Damn it!” Drace cut his way through the water. “Why does this shit always happen in our neck of the woods? Rescue workers will be all over the place again.” He glanced over at Griffin.
“You know how hard it is to keep the veil strong this time of year, let alone trying to keep it up with a shitload of people wandering around.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Now what the hell do we do? We do not need a search party up here.” He felt the overwhelming urge to hit Griffin when he just shrugged. Instead, he shooed the wolf away with a growl and glanced down at the body lying prone on the shore.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and be able to patch this 6
one up and send him on his way before anyone realizes he’s gone.” He looked over Drace’s shoulder. “Is he even alive?”
Kneeling down, Drace rolled the body over.
“Stop being such a fucking optimist. It’s making me sick.” He reached down to feel for a pulse. “It’s a woman.” He brushed the wet strands of hair and mud from her face. “She’s damn lucky this net didn’t pull her to the bottom.” He disentangled an old slime-covered fishing net from her head and neck. “She’s just unconscious. Not to mention beautiful, if what I see under all this muck is anything to go by. She took quite a beating, too.
Someone will be searching for her. You can count on it.” After finding a steady heartbeat, he did a quick inventory of her injuries. Scratches and mud marred her face, neck, arms and legs. “She looks like hell.”
“At least she was smart enough to kick off her shoes and pants when she fell in the water.”
Griffin said over his shoulder. “That’s underwear, not a swimming suit.”
Drace couldn’t help but see the curling hair through the thin, gauzy material. His cock bucked at the sight. Angry at himself for being aroused by a woman who needed his help, not his lust, he took his ire out on Griffin. “No shit, Sherlock.
There’s nothing like pointing out the obvious.”
Griffin stepped back, holding his hands out to 7
his sides. “Just trying to help.” He looked back down at the woman. “Do you think it’s safe to move her?”
Drace nodded. “I don’t sense any serious injuries.” He ran his hands over her arms, torso and legs just to be sure. “It’s safe.” Drace sighed.
“I’ll carry her. You get the water. We’re going to need it more than ever now.” He glanced over his shoulder. “And don’t forget our clothes.”
Still naked, Drace picked up the woman and turned toward their home hidden in the trees.
What the hell were they going to do with her? He snorted. Hell, he knew what to do with a woman.
He just didn’t know what to do with one while she was unconscious.
Carrying her back to the house wasn’t an easy task. She wasn’t heavy, but with every inhalation, every time he drew in her scent, something within him wound tighter. Through the dirt and muck, he still scented her. A knot formed in his stomach.
It was almost like warm, silky fingers wrapped around his balls, tightening on his sac. Every step brought them closer to the house. Every moment made his balls ache as they never had before.
What was it about this woman that affected him like this?
He looked down into her face. Even unconscious she was beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He could see that 8
through the wounds and bruises that marred her complexion. Wet, blonde hair framed her face.
High cheekbones gave way to exotic, almond-shaped green eyes that blinked up at him and her full, moist lips made him think of hot nights and hotter sex.
“But I don’t want to marry him, Daddy. He’s twenty-seven years older than me.”
She shuddered, her body frigid to the touch. It worried him. Hypothermic after laying half in the water and mud for so long, her teeth chattered and he picked up his pace, running toward the house. It was only a matter of time before she realized he wasn’t her father and began to fight him. Soon she would warm, and with luck, she wouldn’t catch fever. But something told him she wouldn’t see him as himself for quite some time.
In her delirium, she would most likely continue to see him as the man who’d obviously tried to force her to marry someone who must be close to twice her age.
He smiled grimly. He was probably close to ten times her age. But unlike a human, he didn’t look it. His shifter genes kept him young a lot longer than a human. And right now, the last thing he wanted was for her to wake and think him too old for her. No. That wouldn’t do. That wouldn’t do at all.
He took a little of her within him every time he 9
took a breath and the less that stood between him and her bed, the better. Drace glanced over at Griffin, unable to miss the hard-on the other man sported. It most likely resembled his own. Damn!
He needed to get laid and this waterlogged and frozen bit of fluff wasn’t helping matters at all.
What he needed was to get her back to the house and get himself back to the river for another dip in the icy water.
* * * *
“Go get some cloths to wipe her down with and warm some of that water. Don’t make it too hot. We need to warm her slowly.”
Griffin dropped their clothes and the soggy backpack at his feet and hurried to the stove.
Lighting the burner, he set the last of their water to heat while he searched for some clean cloths. It was a good thing they’d just gotten here. The ratio of clean versus dirty would have leaned a lot more toward the latter if they’d been here a while.
“Got them.” He dipped a few of them in the lukewarm water and rushed to Drace’s side.
“What the hell?” he muttered when he pressed his fingers against her flesh. “Is that normal? Should she be so cold?”
“Of course it isn’t. Not for a human. We need to get her clean and dry so she’ll warm up.” Drace 10
grabbed his knife from its sheath, cut her shirt from her and released her front clasp bra.
Griffin’s mouth went dry at the sight of her large, creamy breasts. His cock bucked and he turned to put on his pants. He couldn’t bear to stand naked in such close proximity to such a stunningly beautiful woman. His body merely reacted the way it usually did when he found a woman in his best friend’s bed. His mind knew he had no business lusting over a half-drowned waif.
Get a grip. She’s not here for your pleasure. Damn shame that. He sighed and moved to join Drace who already had her partially cleaned up. Dark blonde lashes made shadowy crescents on her cheeks. Her full lips looked red against her pale face and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what they would feel like wrapped around his shaft. His cock jerked inside his jeans and he berated himself for not having better control over his wandering thoughts.
Heading back to the stove to get the water, he stopped by the cooler for a couple of beers. They needed something to cool them down. Hell, he may decide to pour it over himself instead of drink it. Grabbing two bottles of beer and the pan of water, he strode over to join Drace. “Here.” He handed Drace the bottle. “I’m still trying to decide whether to drink it or wear it.”
Drace smiled. “It’s not a bad idea, but
it would 11
be a hell of a waste of good alcohol.”
Griffin grunted his agreement and, kneeling down next to the other man, dipped a cloth in the pan of warm water and began to help Drace clean up the woman. “What do you suppose she was doing out there?”
Shrugging, Drace ran a dry cloth up the leg he’d just wiped off. “She’s running from her father. Apparently, he wants her to marry an older man and she objects.”
“Then we’d better keep our hands to ourselves.” Griffin chuckled as he raised her head to wrap a dry towel around her filthy hair.
“Anyone old enough for her to object to would still be younger than we are.” Still, he knew they didn’t look anywhere near their age. The girl would most likely think them in their early to mid thirties.
“Speak for yourself, dickhead. I fully expect to do everything in my power to get her into my bed.
You can do whatever you want.” Drace pulled the sheet up over her. “She’s about as clean as we’re going to get her without immersing her again.” He made a face. “I don’t think that’s wise right now.”
He turned and headed toward the kitchen. “Don’t we have some aspirin or something in here? I want to know where it is in case she develops a fever.”
“I think we have some from the last time we 12
had a visitor. Nick brought it up the last time he was here.” Nick, the second in command of their people and triad mate to their leader, visited often during the times when the veil was weak. In fact, the only reason they were here now was the state of the veil. In eight days, it would be at its most vulnerable. The last thing they needed was the distraction of a young, beautiful woman. Still, they would cope as they always did.
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