her emotions knotted my insides. The sight of her distress should have been sweet, should have given me a hard on even. Was the Mortal Plane twisting my perception of her feelings, or was the glass wall distorting them instead?
Naima turned around and headed towards the exit with determined steps. That both angered and excited me.
“Naima, get back here!” I ordered in an imperative tone, knowing she wouldn’t comply. “Come back and open this door, or you will regret it!”
She ignored me. Once again, my bride had provoked me before fleeing. She wanted to be hunted down, and I would gladly oblige. My threat would only raise the stakes and intensify the emotional rush we’d both get out of it. It was the way we played this game; an enjoyment she’d deprived me of for far too long when she began therapy after Jared’s death.
The male, who had watched our entire interaction with increasing worry, had only heard Naima’s words, mine having been spoken telepathically to my mate. His frown as he questioningly watched my mate stomp her feet towards the exit suddenly shifted to panic. Alerted by his expression, Naima stopped and looked at me over her shoulder. Her horrified expression at seeing my fist drawn back with massive amounts of ethereal energy swirling around it, gave me a pleasant tingle. Too bad she was too far for me to taste her fear as well.
Putting my back into it, I swung as hard as possible. The booming sound of the impact resonated like thunder. The glass cracked, forming a compact web at the point of contact, before spreading veiny tendrils in every direction.
“That’s impossible!” the male whispered, his pale skin draining from blood.
“You are not welcomed in this place!” Naima shouted, thinking quickly on her feet, while taking a couple of steps backwards.
I chuckled when the ominous vibrations from buildings we were forbidden access to failed to manifest themselves.
“Nice effort, my love,” I taunted, while raising my fist again to bring down the barrier keeping me from my prize. “But one with greater authority over this dwelling than you gave me access.”
“RUN!” the male shouted to my woman as the glass wall came down under the force of my blow. “I banish you from this building!” he then added for me.
I immediately felt the shift. The walls glowed with a light, neon green hue, reminiscent of a radioactive pool. While touching their surface would be safe although unpleasant, any attempt to damage or break them would feel like acid had been poured on the attacking limb. By rights, now that I’d been banished, just gliding into the antechamber should have subjected me to excruciating pain. But the Mist from my glass cell spilled into it, allowing me to advance further unscathed.
Summoning four of my shadow whips, I projected one forward to slam the door shut before my woman could escape. I swallowed back the mind-numbing hiss of pain from the tip of my tendril touching the door. Two more of my tentacles wrapped around Naima’s midsection and thighs, yanking her back to me. And the fourth one smacked out of his hand the unusual gun the male had just pulled out of the holster hanging on his hip.
As soon as my bride’s back hit my chest, I possessively closed my arms around her and receded back into the glass cell where the remaining Mist was thickest. The orgasmic feel of her warm flesh against my ethereal form was nearly driving me insane. But I needed to focus as time was ticking. The Mist in the cell was thinning as it also tried to occupy the antechamber.
“Open the way back to the outside world,” I ordered the man.
“NO!” Naima shouted, struggling in vain to free herself of my embrace.
The acrid scent of her terror, multiplied a thousand-fold now that no barrier between us dampened it, was making me nauseous. I had expected it to energize me, to be the sweetest—the most divine even—aroma I had ever inhaled. Not this… What was wrong with our connection? The male’s horror and fear for my mate was delicious. I could gorge on it for days. Hers should have been even more delectable.
“You cannot take her out there!” the male exclaimed. “She will get killed!”
“If that had been my intention, no harm would have come to her,” I replied with disdain before turning to my mate to telepathically whisper reassuring words. “Relax, my love. You will not be hurt.”
Her scream turned into a choked