Taber Read online

  Arms came around her, holding her up. She recognised his touch. She turned to look at him, baffled, and met Taber’s gaze.

  “You said they lived.”

  “They are. But this is for everyone else. There must be proof they are gone.”

  “But it looks so real.” Lainey focused on the still bodies of the animals.

  “I’m projecting the images to everyone. Including you. I needed your reaction. I’m sorry—I should have thought to warn you.” Taber held her tight, rocking her.

  She distantly heard the murmurs and sorrow like her own among the staff gathered.

  “How will we hide them so no one knows they are alive?”

  “I am a god, Lainey. Kali and Zoey are immortal and if they do not want to be seen they will not be. They know they can’t be seen by anyone who doesn’t know of them,” Taber explained patiently.

  She nodded not saying anything—her gaze was locked on the forms on the ground.

  “Go to the house and I’ll finish up here.”

  Lainey pulled away and walked out. The staff touched her as she passed, expressing their sympathy. They had all grown close to Kali too and loved animals as much as she did. When she was out of view, Lainey started to run to the Jeep to get to Taber’s to see for herself they were alive. The sensation that was becoming familiar filled her then the next moment she was at the lake behind Taber’s house. Before she could speak, a sound she knew so well cut her off. Kali burst out of the foliage at a full run and leapt at her. Lainey wasn’t even afraid—she was so happy to see her. She opened her arms and the cat hit her in the chest and they fell to the ground. Kali nuzzled her neck, sniffing her. Lainey laughed, joy filling her at seeing her alive and well. Some instinct made her look to her left. Lainey’s breath caught as she viewed the regal white tiger sitting silently beside where she and Kali lay. Kali moved back and Lainey sat up and reached out a hand to Zoey. The cat pushed into her hand then tried to climb in her lap.

  “You’re too big for my lap.” She petted the cat, settling it by her side.

  It laid its head against her left leg and Kali rested her head against her right one. Lainey petted the animals, marvelling that they were fine after what she had seen. The day slowly receded as they sat beside the lake. When it was dark the outside lights came on and illuminated the area. A rustling sound in the brush caught Lainey’s attention. Her eyes widened as a small golden snake flowed out of the trees. She wasn’t afraid, because the lynx and tiger didn’t stir from their position. The closer the gold snake came the larger it became, until it towered over them. It rose, spreading its sides, watching them from golden eyes.

  “Taber?” Lainey said tentatively, recognising the gaze.

  A golden mist covered the reptile then flowed away rapidly. Taber rolled his shoulders as he strode towards her wearing the same clothing he had been earlier.

  “You can be a huge ass snake too. What other animals can you be? How about a tiger?”

  Taber changed into one. He cocked his head to the side. Lainey glanced at Zoey by her side, then back at Taber in white tiger form.

  “I prefer this form when I run.” Taber’s voice came out of the mouth of the animal before her.

  Lainey blinked then laughed. “That’s just freaky hearing your voice from the way you’re looking now.” She gestured.

  “Any other animals you want me to become?” The tiger lay on the grass before her.

  Lainey thought about it then started calling out names. He changed into each effortlessly. She moved from between the lynx and tiger to him. Lainey sat beside the cave lion—the shape he was in now and petted his back.

  “Taber,” she said softly.

  The fur flowed away and she was touching bare skin. Taber rolled over, putting his hand behind his head. Lainey looked down his beautiful body.

  “I love you, Lainey.”

  She jerked her head up at his softly spoken words. The truth was there in his eyes and on his face.

  “I know that it’ll take you time to feel the same bu—”

  She cut him off. “Shut the hell up, Taber.”

  Taber did as she bid, his heart pounding. He wanted her to be by his side forever but knew her accepting it so soon was too much to hope for.

  “You’ve been pushing me since we met. Moving me into your house. Making me immortal like you all are.”

  Taber was surprised she knew. He studied her and she didn’t seem upset about it.

  Lainey pulled down her shirt, showing him the image that looked like a tattoo, just above her breast. “A female and male cave lion. I couldn’t figure out what the matching golden snake and white tiger was for but now I get it. They are all man and woman. Ying for the yang.”

  “Yes, I think first and foremost like a cave lion. But the white tiger and snake are sides of me too and my favourite animal to change to.” Taber traced over where his own tattoo was now visible on his chest.

  Until now, he’d not let it show and before he left, he’d given her a matching tattoo. Just like his own, on her skin the images cuddled together creating a beautiful design. Lainey traced the tattoo with her finger.

  “How did you figure it out?” Taber slid his hand down his chest.

  “I suspected something was off but it was a conversation with Candace that solidified it. That and your statement when I was falling asleep that we would talk about it.”

  “You didn’t tell them.” He knew, since Talios hadn’t berated him for not letting her choose.

  “I wanted to talk with you first.” Lainey tapped him on his chest. “Doing it without asking me first is wrong, Taber. Just like your insistence on moving me into your house every time I move out.”

  “You were being stubborn about moving in. It’s fun thwarting you.” Taber smiled.

  “You have a warped definition of fun.” Lainey stroked his chest. “You already made me immortal so what is there to talk about?”

  Taber stopped moving his hand, resting it on his stomach just above his groin. “It can be undone. I can become human like you and we can live out our lives as such.”

  “You’d give up all the cool things you can do for me?” Lainey rested her hand over his.

  “I’m nothing without you.” Taber turned his hand to grip hers. “You are my soul, Lainey.”

  She stared at him then smirked. “You’re such a sap.”

  “Sometimes.”

  “A human lifetime won’t be enough for me to figure you out.” She patted him on his chest with her free hand. “I don’t think our immortal life will be near enough.”

  Taber shuddered as joy coursed through him. Lainey rubbed his nipples, playing with them.

  “I love you, Taber Ellis and you’re stuck with me forever.” Lainey pinched the nubs.

  Taber gripped her hands, pulled her against his chest then rolled her beneath him, using his powers to make her as naked as he was. He thrust into her heat in one motion, then kissed her swallowing her gasp. Taber stroked inside her wet canal, enjoying the slide as she clenched around him. His cock filled even more as he moved inside Lainey. He lifted his head, staring into her glazed eyes.

  “Say it again,” he demanded.

  “I love you.” Lainey repeated it over and over as he took her.

  Taber increased his pace, holding her leg higher on his hip. Lainey’s nails dug into his shoulder and she cried out her love to him breathlessly. He stroked quicker, feeling the ball of heat in the base of his belly. His sac went tight and he shook as he came.

  “Lainey.” “Mine.” He roared in her thoughts.

  Lainey echoed him. “Mine.”

  Taber slumped against her, turning his head to meet her lips with his. They kissed—a lazy motion of their tongues. He licked along her lip, then jerked as she nipped his bottom one. Lainey laughed before disappearing from beneath him. Taber rose on his knees with his hands flat on the ground.

  “Catch me if you can,” Lainey spoke behind him.

  He jumped up, turning
in the air and landed in the same position. Lainey’s gaze was wide.

  “It’s not nice to tease me.” He stalked towards her on his hands and knees the tiger just under his skin.

  “You’re so sexy.” Lainey backed up.

  Taber opened his mouth and roared. She gasped and took off running. Just before she reached the trees she shifted into a white tiger. Taber waited as she seemed to shake herself off.

  “How the hell did I do that?”

  “Instinct. Now run.”

  The tiger looked over her shoulder then lifted her head in the haughty motion that was all Lainey, then turned and raced into the trees. Taber shifted and gave chase to his mate—the woman who had made him feel more alive than he had ever thought possible.

  Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

  Seducing Damian

  Aliyah Burke

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  That feeling was back…again. Barely containing the shiver—although not entirely unpleasant—that coursed through his body and made him weak in the knees, the man cleared his throat and swallowed before continuing with his lecture.

  “Are you okay, Professor?” a student asked from the front row.

  The man nodded his dark head and flashed the students in his class one of his winning smiles. The women longed to have that smile mean more than it ever would. His classes were always full. Both men and women wanted to take his class. He taught with vigour most people didn’t see anymore. He taught about ancient Egypt. Although, truth be told, Egyptian mythology was his true passion.

  “I’m fine, thank you.” His voice was deep and soothing; the sort of voice that could offer comfort or bring immense pleasure, depending on how he wanted it to be heard. Blinking, he put his eyes back on his class. “Now, where was I?”

  “Just about to tell us about the Valley of the Kings,” the same student spoke.

  He grinned and responded, “So I was. Okay.” He swept his gaze across the smaller group study he was doing today. There were only about fifty in this class. Damn, Damian, you have got it made. Then he continued with his lecture. In spite of everything, his love of teaching and his love of the very subject, Damian Memphis Keith still felt that unknown presence.

  As the students were filing out of the lecture hall, Damian began to tuck his own papers in his satchel. A warm breeze blew over him, causing him to look up in suspicion. On the air, the faint scent of lotus blossom lingered, tantalising his nose like no smell ever had, at least not while he was awake. The hair on his body seemed to stand on end as if filled with an electrical current.

  What the hell? Damian shook his head and tried to focus on what he was doing. Instead his gaze was drawn to the far corner of the room. He could barely make out the image of a woman bathed in the sunlight from the large windows. At her side were two lionesses, at least he thought they were, for they were also hard to discern.

  Dropping his papers, Damian rubbed his eyes because he knew there was no way what he was seeing was real. For one, he didn’t know anyone who carried themselves with such presence. And two, he positively didn’t know anyone who had big cats as pets.

  “Professor?” A voice shattered through his haze.

  Inhaling deeply, Damian opened his eyes to see Kathryn Harrison standing before him. She was one of his best students. The only downfall…she wanted much more than a professor-student relationship.

  “Yes, Ms. Harrison? Something I can do for you?” Damian shoved the rest of his papers away.

  “I was just checking to make sure you were okay,” she admitted. “You looked a bit dizzy earlier and just now you were staring off into the corner at something only you could see.”

  Risking another glance to the corner, all he saw was the sunlight filtering in the window. No woman, no cats, nothing. He frowned briefly before he turned his attention back to the woman before him. “I’m okay. Thanks for the concern. I guess I am coming down with something.”

  Damian picked up his briefcase and tossed his leather jacket over his arm. “I will see you tomorrow, Ms. Harrison. Again, thanks for the concern.” Long strides took him up the steps in the lecture hall and through the door.

  * * * *

  “Touch me,” she commanded. The voice was sultry and hypnotic. “Touch me, Damian.”

  If he had half a mind to think of refusing that would have fled under the compulsion he heard in her tone. “Yes,” he murmured and reached through the dark.

  Skin softer than velvet lay beneath his hand. He groaned in pleasure. Sliding across the silk sheets, Damian pressed the length of his body against the one beside him as his fingers sank into the wet folds at the juncture of her thighs. His other hand delved into the thick hair that fell about her head.

  The scent of her sweat and arousal filled his nose and the room. Combined with the smell of his sweat, it added to his increasing pleasure. “Why can’t I ever see you?” he asked as his grip on her body turned possessive in the lightless room.

  A smooth hand reached around his head, teased the hair at the base of his neck, her touch driving him crazy. She tugged his lips to her full ones, her tongue slipping into his mouth to mingle with his. “Why do you want to see me?” Her other hand ran over the expanse of his muscled back.

  “Why wouldn’t I? You are beautiful.” He nuzzled her neck and traced his tongue along the beating pulse of her throat. The woman beside him remained mute and he felt her supple form shift, her strong thigh pressing against him as her other leg moved up across his hip, an act that brought his throbbing dick closer to her heated core.

  Damian couldn’t wait another second and climbed on top of her, groaning as her fingers closed around his rampant cock and guided it into her wet heat. Immediately her muscles closed about him, cradling him, loving him, embracing him as a lover would. Biting back his groan, Damian allowed his eyes to close as he began to move within her.

  In the dark of the room, he learned her body by smell and taste. Her taste was unique, exotic and something he couldn’t place. He laved along her collarbone, alternating with sharp bites of his teeth, only to lick the sting away. Her fingers dug into his back as he continued to pleasure her.

  It didn’t take Damian long to reach the peak of his pleasure. As her muscles tightened around him, he knew she was near her release as well. His speed and depth increased with each pounding thrust. One final plunge and he erupted within her body, coating her womb with his semen as his yell filled the room.

  Exhausted, both emotionally and physically, Damian was careful as he withdrew from her body and spooned them together. His lips touched her temple as he kissed her tenderly. “Don’t leave me this time,” he muttered as he sank into the plush mattress beside her, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  His fingers slammed on the alarm, shutting off the intrusive sound. “Damn it,” he swore as he opened his eyes. Alone. It had been nothing but a dream. Rolling into a damp spot on his bed, he realised it’d apparently been a very vivid dream. “What the hell is going on with me?”

  Swinging his feet over to the floor, Damian ran a hand over his stubble-covered face before he stumbled, exhausted, into the shower. Many more nights like this and he was going to be absolutely useless.

  For the past two months, the dreams had been becoming more frequent and intense, making it hard for him to remember it was just a dream, and not real. This mysterious woman had become an obsession to him. He had no idea what she looked like, who she was or anything like that. All he knew was her smell, touch and voice. That alone was enough to turn him into a randy college student as opposed to the mature thirty-eight year old professor of the small yet respected college. As he stood under the spray of his showerhead, he wondered if maybe he was losing his grip on reality.

  “Maybe all I need to do is go out and get laid,” he spoke to the emptiness of his shower. Either way, he was doing way too many loads of laundry to keep his sheets clean. Still,
the memory of his dream filled him and began to lengthen his cock. Without hesitation, he soaped his hand and began stroking himself. Longing for her touch, he allowed his mind to create the feel he had experienced with her. His hand moved faster and faster until he spurted his come all over the shower wall.

  Damian scrubbed his body until he was content there was no lingering sign of sex on him. Climbing out, he wrapped a towel around his waist and used another to dry his thick, black hair. He stripped his bed and remade it quickly. Well, I am learning how to make a bed in seconds, that’s for sure.

  Moving through his apartment, Damian looked over the artefacts he had collected over the years. As his gaze touched each one, he noticed that a few of them seemed to be in better condition than he recalled.

  Draping the extra towel over one shoulder, he moved towards the statue that currently held his attention. Picking it up carefully, he knew something was different. When he had acquired the small sculpture, it had been missing the left hand and the Ankh—or Egyptian cross as it was also known, which had a loop at the top—it was rumoured to hold. The one he held now was complete. There was an Ankh in the left hand and the chipped-off black varnish that had covered the wood was refurbished and shone with an illustriousness that amazed him.

  Sekhmet was complete.

  Setting the figurine of the goddess down, Damian backed away with a mixture of disbelief and extreme hope it wasn’t just his imagination and returned to his room to dress. “I’m seeing things. I know that now, because there is no way a statue from around 2600 BC could restore itself.”

  Rushing, Damian got ready for his day and left his apartment without looking at the statue again. He climbed into his Jeep Wrangler and drove off to work.

  * * * *

  “I’m going, Father,” she declared.

  Sighing, he turned his dark head to look at his child. While he had many children, this one was special to him. One of his favourites, perhaps the favourite. His own protector.