Even though he hadn’t intended to create this experience, he had no problem taking control of the situation. He held out his hand. “Come with me, Toni,” he reassured her when her beautiful blue eyes widened. “I want to take you somewhere—somewhere safe and beautiful so we can spend time getting to know one another.”
Toni glanced at his outstretched hand, her brow furrowed.
Azazel waited until she reached out. When their hands touched, a flare zapped through him. The feeling reminded him of those sparklers he watched the humans play with during their national holiday. The background flickered, bending and melting away as if reality itself dissolved into a pool of liquid light. He pulled her close, and she gasped as the world reformed around them.
When the image coalesced, they stood on the veranda of a beach house situated in a lush, organic landscape. Soft golden sand stretched in either direction, meeting a turquoise sea that glistened beneath a yellow sun just beginning to set. The air was warm, caressing them with a silken breeze. It brought with it a faint, briny scent of the ocean mixed with the sweet aroma of blooming beach pea flowers from a nearby vine that curled up the house’s wooden beams.
The house itself was an open, airy structure with walls of polished driftwood and large glass panels that invited the outside in. Gauzy curtains fluttered in the gentle wind, and the interior glowed with the amber light of the setting sun. Inside, a plush, cream-colored sofa nestled near a low table adorned with fresh fruit and flowers. The soft melody of wind chimes danced on the breeze, their sound mingling with the distant call of seabirds.
Toni’s breath caught, her eyes wide as she turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. “Azazel… this is…” Her voice trailed off. “What is this?” She shook her head. “This doesn’t look like we’re on theNyrlith.”
His grip on her hand tightened, and he gave her a soft smile. “I assure you, we are still on the Krystalii ship,” he explained. “But this is a place I crafted in our dreams for us to get to know one another better. This—” He waved his other hand. “—is called aDreamwalk. It’s a private sanctuary that exists only in our minds.”
Toni let go of his hand and stepped off the edge of the veranda, watching her bare feet sink into the giving sand. “This feels… real,” she murmured, bending to let the grains slip through her fingers. “The sand, the air… even the smell of the ocean.” She stood and took a deep breath.
It was then he noticed she wasn’t wearing the battle suit. Instead, she had on a blue two-piece bikini that matched the color of her eyes. Wrapped around her trim waist was a multi-colored gossamer sarong.
Clearing his throat, Azazel focused on her face instead of her glorious body. “It’s real because you and I share a bond.” He joined her at the railing. “It’s as real as reality can be.” He ran a finger in a light caress over the top of her hand. “It’s real because you’re here to share it with me.”
She turned to face him, her expression soft as her eyes searched his. “You did this… for me?”
“For us.” He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I…” He cleared his throat. “I’m drawn to you in a way I’ve never experienced with anyone before. And I was hoping—” He took her hand and brought it to his mouth. “—you would feel the same way. That you’d like to get to know me better, too.” He kissed her soft skin, never taking his eyes from hers.
The blue of Toni’s eyes darkened as her pupils widened, swallowing the color until the only bit of blue remaining was a sliver around her black pupils. Her sensuous lips curved into a sultry grin. Grasping his hand covering hers, she stepped closer until the warmth from her body coated his. “I’m glad you want to get to know me better,” she murmured in a throaty tone. “And that you created such a romantic place to do so.” She whispered the words against the base of his neck.
Azazel closed his eyes, trying to control the dark, hidden part of himself that demanded freedom. His body clamored and burned with a feverish, urgent ache to claim the woman in his arms. His inner beast stirred awake, fueling the relentless carnal hunger pounding through his skull. Every inch of his body thrummed with a raw, aching need. His only solace was how her curves fit into his body’s hard angles and planes, as if she belonged there. The inner beast clawed at the cage Azazel kept it in. It thrashed against the restraints with a howl of unrelenting fury, desperate to break free.
Taking a fortifying breath, Azazel let her scent and feel of her body against his wash over him, helping him regain control once again. He glanced out at the horizon and watched the sun as it painted streaks of pink and orange across the sky. “I’m grateful you like it.” He nuzzled the top of her head. The feel and scent of her calmed the beast. It crouched in a watchful silence.
Toni’s soft laughter came across as a light, harmonized sound that complemented the wind chimes. She reached for his hand and laced her fingers with his. “So, how do we get to know one another, Azazel?” Her grin was mischievous. “Where do you want to start?”
He gazed at her, the vibrant colors of the dream world reflecting in her eyes. “I can think of a couple of ways.” He challenged her with a grin, tilting his chin up. He wasn’t sure if he was challenging her… or the savage part of himself he struggled to keep on a short, brutal leash.
Toni couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed spending time with a man as much as she did with Azazel. And on a private beach she could have sworn was real. But the man—wow, here was a man with a curious mixture of innocence combined with a world-weary outlook on life.
When he explained his upbringing, she understood most of what he said, but it was hard for her to imagine how he grew up. Created thousands of years ago by alien scientists called the Akurn, as a brute slave in southern Africa to mine for gold. His history was as foreign to her as a low-budget B-movie becoming a serious Oscar contender.
What truly blew her mind was that, rather than becoming mindless labor drones, he and his brothers developed powerful psychic abilities. An unintended consequence of the Earthborn DNA woven into their creation.
“Wait.” She raised her hand. “Are you telling me that humans were the ones with psychic powers and not the aliens?” Her nose wrinkled.Boy, did Hollywood get that wrong.She grasped a grape and plopped it into her mouth. The implications were staggering.Think of the storylines she could produce for her next movie project.After a quick glance at the bountiful picnic Azazel had provided on a wide blanket, she chose a bruschetta slice smothered in a savory herb mushroom sauce.
Azazel nodded.
“Yes. From what I understand, none of the otherAdamou— what the Akurns called us— had psychic abilities unless they included hominoid DNA from Earth.” He glanced at the setting sun resting on the horizon, giving the ocean a golden glow. “My brothers and I hid our psychic talents from the scientists when we were young. It wasn’t until later that we learned the truth: the last batch of slaves hadn’t been destroyed. They’d been sealed away. Their powers were so overwhelming that the Akurns, with all their advanced technology, feared they didn’t have enough power to destroy them.”
Chuckling, he glanced at her and leaned back on his hands, crossing his ankles on the soft beach blanket. “Which sort of happened to them, anyway. See, what the scientists on Earth were doing, combining Akurn DNA with any other specie’s was illegal. When the ruling party of the Akurns discovered what they’d done, they sentenced the whole complex to be destroyed.” He frowned. “I was trying to teleport myself and three of my brothers to a nearby spaceship where our brother, Adapa, was already on board. It was a ship we’d prepared to escape. But before we could, the Akurns attacked the compound, raining down high-powered laser fire all around us. In the chaos, I did get us to the waiting ship—but landed us seven thousand years in the future instead.” With a sigh, he sat up cross-legged, resting his elbows on his thighs. “Since then, I’ve gone over and over on what I had to be thinking to make that kind of mistake.” He rubbed his temple. “All I remember was the desperate rush to reach the ship—nothing else mattered but getting my brothers and myself to that safe place. As the world burned in raging flames barreling toward us, my only thought was to get to Adapa because he desperately needed us.” He chuckled. “I didn’t know those words would anchor the jump, taking us to the future where his need for us was even greater.”
Toni didn’t need to be a psychic to recognize a man riddled with guilt. She scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his firm thigh. “Didn’t you say that you and your brothers saved Earth from being destroyed by the Akurns? Why do you feel guilty about that?” She squeezed his leg to comfort him while popping another juicy purple grape into her mouth.
When he zeroed in on her hand, she jerked it away, curling her fingers into an embarrassed grip.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
“No—” Azazel looked up at her, and the mahogany color of his eyes darkened. “—I like it when you touch me.” He took her fist and brought it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “In fact, I prefer it.”
Her face flushed, and heat crawled up her throat and cheeks. Not one to deny her emotions, she nodded.
“So do I.” She swallowed the grape. “But why do you feel guilty about what you did?” She leaned closer to him. “Didn’t it turn out for the best?”
