AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We thought you long dead, as in centuries.”
He shook his head. “I’ve been here, awaiting the arrival of the man who could locate Rapture’s Edge.” Having made this statement, all eyes turned toward Duncan.
Rex continued, as he met Duncan’s gaze. “The fate of two worlds depends on your ability to find a place that until now, we’ve all believed belonged to our Third Earth fables.”
Duncan nodded. “Though I won’t pretend to be anything but astonished that my purpose is as you’ve said, I don’t really have a sense of the place at all. I confess I’m mystified.”
For some reason, this made Rex smile. “Just as you should be when you’ve been called to a purpose outside your wheelhouse. The future must unfold in its own time.” His gaze then encompassed the entire group, “But, come. Take your ease in each dwelling assigned to you, get cleaned up, then we’ll break bread together.”
He turned and walked in his warrior stride back up a path laid with flat stones. Flowers lined the path and a woman rose up from a nearby vegetable garden and waved. “Welcome to Phoenix Three,” she called out.
Several of the team thanked her for the warm greeting.
He felt Rachel’s hand in his. Glancing at her, he watched as she glided her hand over her lower abdomen. Was she in pain? Had she gotten hurt?
But she smiled up at him, so maybe she was just feeling queasy again. “Do you see her garden, Duncan? She’s growing watermelon in December, just as I did in Seattle One. I feel as though we’ve come to paradise. I think I could live here forever.”
A profound wave of tenderness moved through him. God, he loved Rachel so much and it seemed the world he’d inadvertently brought her to suited her perfectly.
He was inclined to think she was right; Rex had created a paradise. But he wasn’t sure he knew what to make of the man or the world he’d forged out of the desert. The river alone astonished him. How had the man put a river in a place like Phoenix, with woods in various places? He could even see a couple of smaller side canyons upstream.
Whatever the case, he felt oddly at home here as well, though he had no idea why.
~
As the team moved forward, Endelle hung back. She was on Third Earth in some kind of Rex-made wonderland, but she couldn’t make her feet move. Her pulse throttled at top speed, she felt absurdly dizzy, and she had a bad feeling she knew the exact cause.
Rex.
Sweet dinosaurs and lords of all creation.
Rex.
The man was tall. She outstripped him in her stilettos, but not my much and if she lost her shoes, she’d have to reach up to wrap her arms around his neck. How awesome would that be?
But what the hell was she thinking? She’d just met the man and already she was wishing he’d lose the damn cape so she could get a better look at his ass in that fine black leather.
Something deep and hungry had come alive in her the moment she’d settled her gaze on his rugged, handsome face.
When the distance from the group made her look ridiculous, she levitated and caught up. She dropped down beside Luken, matching his long stride.
He winked at her. “That man’s got some muscle on him.”
“Hadn’t noticed.”
“Like hell. You’re still slack-jawed.”
She scowled at him. “Shut the fuck up. And don’t forget that though you rule this team, I rule you.”
But Luken only laughed.
From the moment she’d landed in Phoenix Three, her gaze had been fixed on Rex’s left arm. It was completely bare and almost as big as Luken’s. She supposed his right arm was a match, but how would she know since that same damn cape had also covered up his companion muscles. But she had a good imagination and it didn’t take much to picture herself biting and sucking on all that hard flesh.
Ripples of bare-faced desire kept chasing other ripples down her arms, her back, and aiming like a rocket between her thighs.
“Just so ya know, Endelle,” Luken said, keeping his voice low. “I think Braulio can go fuck himself for leaving you the way he did. Just sayin’. You’ve served your dimension way too long and those Sixth Earth assholes shouldn’t have kept you chained to Second. Now you’re on Third. I say, let your hair down.”
Was he giving her permission to fuck the creator of Phoenix Three? “How about you keep your opinions to yourself for a change?”
