"How?" He stared at her very, very hard.
"You are a Neteru. Do you not know how to focus your energy to go back through the rip?" She stood, covering her mouth with her hand and began to pace in an agitated line along the edge of the pool. "That is the entire debate at court as we speak. Only Cain can tune in to the Neteru frequency and hold the harmonic to cross--but he must be pulled by one anchored in flesh. This is why he rules this realm."
Carlos stood as several mental building blocks began to fall into place for him. The fact that Cain hadn't lied grated him, but that was good to know. Second issue was, Damali's call might have definitely been accidental--and, given her voice hitting high notes, if it rippled in this pool across realms, he couldn't truly blame the brother for crossing over to her. The fact that Cain also didn't lie when he said he was a Neteru and was also a king, that jacked with his pride, but he had to let that go for the moment. The more important questions remained: Why did these entities want to leave a relatively cool environment to cross over, and how the hell was he gonna get out of there before he starved to death?
"Listen," Carlos finally said, trying not to pace with the gorgeous hybrid who was now wringing her hands. "I haven't learned how to focus my energy on this side yet to get enough velocity going to hit that barrier, or even to see where it is."
"I know where the barrier has thinned," she said quietly, and stopped pacing to look at him. Her eyes flickered "It is not an actual rip."
"If you show a brother the door ..."
She held up her hand. "Only if you promise to call me by name through it with you, when the time is right."
Carlos smiled. In any realm, a deal was a deal. Let the negotiations begin. "Why would you want to go to a place with chaos and disease and filth and--"
"Because," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. "There is no sensual sensation in this realm." He just stared at her.
"Just like there is no food for one to taste the succulent juice of a dripping piece of fruit... or for our more aggressive inhabitants to savor the salty emulsion of blood on their tongues--"
"Hold up," Carlos said, slightly offended. "No blood. I knocked the spit out of Cain and his nose bled. Don't play, or we can end this conversation right now."
"He bled?" she said, her breaths deepening. "Cain bled?"
"Uh, yeah," Carlos said slowly, watching desire make her eyes begin to more than flicker, but glow.
"We have been platonic friends for years," she said quietly, her gaze going to the massive bed at the far end of the room. "Do not toy with me. You are sure he bled?"
"Sure as I'm standing here," Carlos said, baiting her with the titillating information. "But then it suddenly dried up and vanished after we started walking deeper into the glen."
She stared at Carlos and licked her lips and put a trembling finger to her mouth. "His energy and structure normalized, then, once he returned... but do you still bleed?"
Carlos chuckled. "I don't know. Do I?" Her eyes closed as her hand slid down her throat. "Do you understand that I am a being fully initiated in the tantric practices?" She opened her eyes very slowly and began to cross the pool, her gown flowing out to float along the unseen current as she stood waist deep in the middle of it.
"Do you understand that at one time I was a Council-level master, now a hybrid, with a little Neteru in me?" he said, dropping his voice to a sensuous octave. "And I am also fairly certain that I still bleed, baby. So, where's the door?"
"Come into the pool for just a little while, and I will show you."
"I never did a dragon, and don't know what y'all do. You're flesh eaters, right? Like everything charcoal roasted, so--"
She shook her head and closed her eyes, allowing the blue current to wash over her arms. Gooseflesh pebbled her flawless skin and made her ni**les strain against the sheer fabric of her gown. "You can take the bite," she whispered. "As well as deliver it. And I do eat flesh, but not in the manner that would ever injure you."
"Naw, see," Carlos hedged, needing space to get the terms of the deal set before committing to anything too kinky. "Here's my problem. You and my so-called brother, Cain, are platonic friends--only because, for whatever reason here, you can't be more than that. Why start what can't be finished, right? But I think the man might have a problem if he came back home and found someone who can definitely finish what he started, in his pool, in his house, serving serious Kama Sutra... since you told me that's what you like... I do remember a lot of Eastern philosophy from my old throne days... but, I digress. He'll have issues if I do his very fine woman-friend in here, when he can't. Feel me?"
"He will not object. Jealousy and envy has long been banished here. It is pointless, just as attempting to possess an individual is. He will not hurt you." Her eyes searched Carlos's face, then raked down his body so harshly they almost felt like her neatly manicured nails. "Step into the pool. Just once. I will take you to the barrier and help you with my energy to cross it. Right now, you are too weak. You need to eat, rehydrate your flesh. Rest. The human form is severely strained on this side, which is why it is dangerous for all but those with Neteru in them to be here. I will help you, if you promise, once you are stronger, that you will call for me."
This woman was making too much sense. If he stayed, he'd starve. The longer he stayed, the more at risk he was to any scheme Cain had to off him. If he was the only one bleeding, and there were more like her around, who knew what flesh eaters, blood suckers, or however many other dangerous combinations existed? This was not the place to be as the only one with a pulse. Carlos stepped down into the water and watched her shudder as he neared her.
An immediate magnetic ripple disturbed the surface, eliciting a groan from her. Tingling sensations made the hair stand up on the nape of his neck and his forearms. But it was so freaky. He was waist deep in what felt like and looked like water, but at the same time, he wasn't wet. Too bizarre. Not to mention she was truly beautiful and clearly starved for touch in a way that didn't make sense. He was thinking that there oughta be a law as he came close enough to kiss her, and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck at the same time her mouth covered his and her legs wrapped around his waist.
Her tongue nearly choked him as she devoured his mouth, and her soft lips came away with blood upon a gasp, full dragon fangs presented. Her head dropped back, jeweled tears rapidly spilled from the corners of her eyes as he held her and stroked her hair.
"What's your name?" he asked quietly, wondering why in the world a realm like this had been created. What could the purpose be to make entities this physically attractive, so seemingly honorable in temperament, but then deny them the basics?
"Zehiradangra," she murmured, pulling his earlobe into her mouth.
He chuckled against her throat. "Pronounce it, so I can call you right."
She licked her lips, and stared deeply into his eyes, holding his face between trembling palms. "You really will call me, won't you?"