Keeper of the Stars: Part One Read online

  Her tight, wet heat enclosed him and he clenched his jaw as he struggled not to come. He was no better than a foolish youth. She licked her lips and flexed her internal muscles. Pleasure spiked and he drew back then began to move.

  She didn’t for a bit then undulated with him. Lana closed her eyes and he said, “Lana. Watch me.”

  Her brown eyes warmed him and he lost himself in them as he stroked within her. Lian kept his pace slow, making love to her with a patience he didn’t know he had. He wanted her to burn like he burned. Wanted her to crave him as badly as he did her.

  “Oh…I…never… Lian!”

  Her voice crescendoed on his name and he kissed her again, unable to get enough. He wanted to consume her.

  He thrust faster and her moans filled the air. Outside, flashes of lightning split the sky illuminating the room, increasing its intensity with each passing second. Her gasps grew louder. He shifted, lifting one of her legs so the back of her knee was on his shoulder, allowing him deeper access. Her eyes darkened. He drove deeper then held still, reaching to join their hands.

  Left to right. Yin to yang. Their marks were nearly touching, his glyphs rippling along his skin, pulsing with energy. Galaxies swirled within her gaze as she held his.

  I love you. The words were in his heart.

  Lana came with a rush around him, her cry music to his ears. Her pussy coated his cock with her cream. He moved faster and released his seed deep within her. Exhausted, he lowered more of his body onto hers, keeping the majority of his weight off her. Dropping his head, he breathed in more of her scent, allowing it to imbue into him.

  “Lana,” he whispered.

  She gave a slight shake of her head and freed one hand then settled it along his cheek. The stars slowly faded from her eyes but they didn’t lose their softness. He hardened inside her and with a small smile, started again. She responded immediately and when she captured her lower lip in her teeth before giving him a look of needy desire, it wiped away any vestige of exhaustion. He began to move faster.

  When he woke later, they were lying together, her body curved into him. He wanted to wake her slowly and love her all over again. Instead, he slipped from bed and left her there to sleep more. Drawing on a pair of pants, he then walked out to his living room.

  This was why he was supposed to come to Pennsylvania. He much preferred his life on the West Coast but left occasionally to see other parts of the world. Now, he was ready to return home and take Lana with him. Care for her. Protect her.

  Checking his watch, he rose and returned to the bedroom. Without turning on a light, he dressed, took a moment to brush another kiss over her cheek then left the house.

  * * * *

  Lana woke to the sound of a door clicking shut. Once her initial reaction of fear had passed, she recalled where she was and her body surged with heat. She sat up and snapped on the light. The clock read a few minutes after six. Where did he go?

  It didn’t matter. She rose and hastily clothed her naked body. “What did I do?” She raced to the bathroom and stared at her reflection. Her skin wasn’t as pale as it had been. She looked better—she looked pleasured and relaxed.

  Splashing some water on her face, she groaned. “I can’t believe I did that.” Her limbs trembled at the memory of what he’d given her, even as she berated herself. “I shouldn’t have done that. At all.”

  After she dried her face, she returned to the bedroom, made the bed then sat on the edge. Something had come over her—she couldn’t explain it. All she knew was she burned for him. Had then and did still. Was desperate for his touch. She turned her right arm over and stared at the mark.

  “I blame you for this.” It seemed darker to her and she rubbed her temples.

  She didn’t want this. She hadn’t asked for it. The old woman who’d singled her out as she’d tried to get out of a city over in Europe—she couldn’t recall which one—told her she’d been blessed.

  That had been followed up by how she was an integral part of the prophecy. “I didn’t want to be part of any prophecy.” She rubbed at the mark as if she could erase it from her body. The longer she looked at it the more her dread increased.

  She was still stressed when the front door opened and Lian appeared in the opening to the bedroom. His dark gaze settled over her, warm and possessive.

  “You’re awake.” A wry grin. “I thought I might have the chance to wake you personally upon my return.”

  A field of butterflies took flight in her belly. Angered by her response to him, she sniffed. “I’m awake.” A moment’s pause. “So no need to do that.”

  Astute, she knew he understood what she was doing. If it bothered him, he didn’t show it. Instead he held out his hand and beckoned.

  “I have breakfast, come.”

  Something other than soup sounded divine so she rose and walked slowly towards him, doing her best not to respond to her body’s reaction to him. The closer she got, the harder it was. She wanted to touch, caress and rub against him.

  Ignoring his hand, she slipped by him and headed up the hall. She didn’t get that far. Lian blocked her in between him and the wall. Her question on how he’d moved so fast vanished at the heated look he gave her. His six foot tall body dwarfed her and she gulped as she waited for his next move.

  Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, he neared her lips with his. The scent of a storm floated around her, powerful and electric. It fed her need for him. Her pussy creamed and her pebbled nipples pushed into the cotton of her shirt. He never once took his gaze from hers. Inch by torturous inch, he closed the gap. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she wondered if her heart would actually jump from her chest.

  “No more hiding, Lana,” he whispered. “You can’t shut off what we shared.”

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen.” She forced the words out.

  She swore lightning flashed in his eyes.

  “Yes, it was. We’re bound. Our passion is strong, unable to be tamed. Berating yourself for it won’t solve anything. Trying to hide from it won’t do you any good.”

  “I can’t,” she said, blinking back the tears.

  “Why?”

  She couldn’t say it, too fearful it would come true if she actually voiced the words.

  He wouldn’t let it go and pressed her again and again to share it with him.

  “Tell me, Lana,” he said, his voice decadent and soothing. “What are you so afraid of that has tears in your beautiful eyes?” He touched the corners with his thumbs and wiped the first escapees away. “Don’t you know I want to keep you safe and protected? Give you whatever you want. Tell me what you fear, Lana.”

  It didn’t make sense. “How? How can you possibly say such things to me? We barely know one another.”

  His grin was like melted butterscotch as it spread across his face. Slow and oh-so tempting. “I’ve waited my entire life for you.”

  The back of his hand touched her cheek and she struggled not to burrow into it. The need to trust him was strong. To grasp onto the thread of hope he dangled before her. Who wouldn’t want someone to protect them?

  Unfortunately, she’d not had good experiences with others who’d promised the same thing. And it wasn’t like she was comparing him to them. This man, she was worried for.

  “Tell me.”

  The words didn’t want to come. She shook her head.

  “We can’t move forward if there are fears between us, Lana. Tell me what is frightening you so.”

  “I have to leave. My presence here puts you in danger.”

  His gaze became flint-hard in seconds. “You’re not leaving. We’re bound together.”

  More tears pricked her eyes. “Please. Just let me go.”

  He paused and canted his head to the side. “Your fear, it’s not for you. It’s for me.”

  She nodded, lowering her gaze. Lian captured her face in his hands and lifted it back so they were staring at one another.

  “Don’t fear for me.�
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  “I can’t help it. You were so nice to me and now this…mark… I…I have to go.”

  “What about the mark?” He didn’t release her.

  “It has put you in danger.”

  “Tell me the truth. All of it.” He repositioned himself so one of his legs was wedged between hers as he continued to keep her against the wall.

  Sudden flashes of him buried inside her in a position similar to this hit her like gunshots. She gulped and tried to shake them off.

  “Lana.”

  “Whatever they want from me hasn’t been found because I’d not been in contact with…” She shook her head.

  “With me.”

  A nod.

  “You think I’m now in danger because of what I mean to the marks on your skin.”

  And another.

  “So you think I should just let you go face them alone? And keep myself safe?”

  “I’ve already lost everyone else who means something to me. I can’t bear to lose you as well.”

  His kiss was gentle and lengthy. “You won’t lose me, and I’m thrilled to know you care for me. Now, come, eat some breakfast.”

  Her stomach still full of knots, she allowed him to escort her to the kitchen table and seat her before a plate of eggs and bagels. A tall glass of orange juice sat there as well.

  Her mouth watered and she didn’t hesitate to dig in. Across from her, Lian ate with much more decorum but thankfully didn’t look at all put out by her shovelling the food in. As she finished the last bit of juice, someone knocked on the door. She panicked and Lian just gave her a calm look. He answered and she heard him talking to an older woman.

  “I told you it would be okay,” Lian said when he returned. He brushed a feather-light touch along the back of her neck.

  They cleaned up the kitchen together then he led her back to the bedroom where he had placed two bags on the bed.

  “What’s this?”

  “Clothing. I figured you’d want some of your own.”

  She dug into the bags and found jeans, shirts, bras, panties and more. “Thank you, Lian.” He’d even put in some shoes and a pair of hiking boots.

  “You like them, then?”

  “I can’t remember when I last had new clothes, yes, I like them.” She smiled at him and he returned it.

  A sharp pop filled the air and she stared in horror as a red stain spread out over his chest.

  “Lian!” She scrambled to his side as he fell. Hands over the bleeding wound, she didn’t look up when the room filled with men. Two grabbed her, one at each arm, and pulled her from his side. She struggled and kicked but to no avail. “No!” she cried.

  “What about him?”

  “Useless. Leave him.”

  Through the tears she heaved a sigh of relief. They’d not yet figured out he was the catalyst to her. She did her best to keep her wrist turned down. I’m so sorry, Lian. So, so sorry. After they’d shot her with a drug they dragged her from the room, her last view of him, before the concoction took effect, was of him lying motionless in a pool of his own blood.

  Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:

  What’s Her Secret?: Preconception

  Aliyah Burke

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  “I need your help, Carolyn!”

  Carolyn Trufant nearly dropped the crystal vase she was filling in the sink. “What’s wrong, Jasmine?”

  Cars honked. People yelled. The sounds of a busy metropolis’s downtown reverberated through the phone line. Where is she?

  “Help me, please!”

  She set the vase down, struggling to hear and decipher the rest of what Jasmine was saying. “I can’t hear you.”

  “…meet me, please.”

  “Jasmine?” Her voice rose a few notches. “Where do you want me to meet you?”

  “Come down to Atlanta, please. Meet me where I told you I first visited when I got here. At ten p.m. please, tomorrow. I’m…really scared.” The call went dead.

  Shit. Carolyn’s hands shook like leaves in a stiff breeze. She hung her head and tried to control her racing, out of control emotions.

  What could she do? What should she do would be a better question.

  I have to help her. There’s no way I am going to lose her after just finding her.

  Caro stroked a finger along the silken petals of the flowers she’d received moments before her sister had called. She loved the variety in the mixture of flowers. Of course I have to go.

  Allowing herself one more inhalation of the fragrant floral blooms, she swept her gaze around the room, ensuring all items resided in their proper place. Then she went to her office and booked herself a flight to Atlanta.

  That evening, once supper had been eaten and cleaned up after, she curled up on one end of her sofa, tucked her feet beneath her and stared through the window of her Madison, Wisconsin, apartment.

  She closed her eyes and her thoughts drifted to Jasmine. Her sister. More than that. Her twin. A woman she’d met a month and a half ago. Separated at birth and adopted by other families who didn’t know about each other. In fact, even the paperwork stated she had no other known siblings.

  To say it had been a shock when Jasmine had first contacted her would be the understatement of the year. Caro had been suspicious, hard not to be when she’d received such a call. She’d asked her parents before about siblings and they’d given her the paperwork, which had denied such things. Still, regardless of her doubts, she’d gone and met her in Saint Louis.

  There had been no denying it the moment she’d laid eyes on Jasmine. They’d spent the weekend catching up and learning about one another. Since then they’d exchanged some calls and had discussed having another ‘sister’ weekend soon. But never a call for help.

  She walked to the large window and stared over the twinkling lights of her city. “Never a call with someone sounding so scared either.” Caro rested her head against the glass and sighed.

  Concerned, she made her way and packed her carry-on. She didn’t expect to stay all that long but could take a bit of time off if needed since she had plenty of accumulated days. Lifting the receiver to her landline, she sat on the edge of her bed. She sucked on her lip as she dialled a memorised number. Yes, it was programmed but she did it this way to give herself a bit more time. Not much, true, but anything would be accepted.

  “Hello?”

  The gentle voice on the other end had her smiling. “Hi, Mama.”

  “Caro. How are you doing, baby?”

  “Fine, Mama. I just wanted to let you and Daddy know I’m taking a short trip.” She cleared her throat. “Out of town.”

  “Hmm. Where to?”

  “Down south.” She winced, hating the lie she was about to tell. “I have a two week vacation I’m spending in a timeshare.”

  “Really? You didn’t say anything earlier.”

  Because I didn’t know the twin—my twin sister you know nothing about—was going to call me asking for help. “Came up out of the blue. You remember my roommate, Jen? She was going to go but couldn’t.” She scrunched her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just got off the phone with her. I have the time so I figured… Why not?”

  More noncommittal noises. “Where down south?”

  “Atlanta. I don’t have the info yet since she hasn’t texted it to me.”

  “You’re leaving when?”

  She could see her mother standing there with her head cocked to the side. “Early tomorrow.” Late tonight technically but what was one more lie in the grand scheme of things? She was already going to hell.

  Her mom, silent for a moment, then made a delicate throat clearing sound. “Have fun and be safe.”

  “Thanks, Mama.” The flush of deceit spread across her neck and face. She despised lying to her parents. “Tell Daddy I say hi. Love to both.”

  Caro hung up and whimpered.

  I feel terrible about this.

  Her parents were an amazing cou
ple who’d adopted her and raised her alongside the youngest of their naturally born children. A well-respected couple, they had raised her to understand hard work. When she’d come to Madison for college she hadn’t left, and now she worked for the same institution that had supplied her degree. Her boss had been on her case constantly about taking some time off, so she placed a call and left a message on his phone.

  Her final call was to her friend who also rented in the same building, Terri Mosse.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Terri. I need a favour.”

  “Sure thing, babe. What can I do for you?” The blaring music softened. “Everything okay?”

  “I’m heading to Atlanta tonight for no more than a couple of weeks.”

  She whistled low. “Jasmine?”

  “Yes.” Why did she feel horrible that Terri knew but not her parents?

  “You are stressed. What happened?”

  “I don’t know. She’s frightened out of her mind. Asked me to help her.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I can’t ignore her. She’s my twin.”

  “I’m not judging, babe. You need to go, go. I will take care of your place. When should I expect you back?”

  She pursed her lips. “Not sure. I’m giving myself two weeks if she needs help getting back on her feet. No more than that I wouldn’t imagine.”

  “Your plans change, you let me know.”

  “I will.”

  “Caro?”

  “Yes, Terri?” She carried her bag to the door.

  “Be careful, yeah?”

  “I will.” They hung up and she pocketed her phone.

  She left her apartment, alarm set and door locked, before making her way to the front where she waved for a taxi.

  Guilt nagged her as she settled against the leather seat. Her parents—adoptive some may call them, she called them her parents—deserved better than this. They loved her as much as their other children. She’d never felt like she didn’t belong in the family. This lying to them was ripping at her gut.