Warrior Rising - By Pamela Palmer Page 0,23

seductress had fled, the warrior taking her place. "What if Rith tracked us here? What if we're attacked while you sleep? I'll have no means of defending myself."

"I never sleep soundly. If anyone tries to get in, I'll free you. Now lie down."

Challenge and anger glittered in her eyes, but she didn't struggle against his hold as she had in the parking garage. He was both glad and a little disappointed she'd chosen not to fight him again.

"Lie down, Ilaria."

Those green eyes hardened until they resembled the stone whose color they possessed. For a moment, he thought she intended to call his bluff, which really didn't bother him at all. Picking her up and depositing her on the bed would be no hardship. Resisting following her down might be another matter.

She stared at him for several more moments, then with a disgusted sigh, lowered herself to the bed and stretched out on her back slowly, regally. With angry eyes, she watched as he lifted her arms above her head, threaded the cuff through two spindles on his headboard, then attached the free cuff to her other wrist.

"You tread dangerously, human."

Harrison straightened and looked down at her. "I do what I have to, Princess. Now, sleep. Assuming Esri sleep. There's no telling what tomorrow will bring."

With effort, he turned away from her, grabbed the extra pillow and a blanket from the closet, and retreated to the living room. He stretched out on the sofa, but sleep was a long time coming. Not only did the passion continue to rage in his blood, but he couldn't quiet the disturbing thought that her immortal life was in his hands. And, thanks to her and her entire, miserable race, his own life was spinning out of control.

* * *

Ilaria shifted her legs on the bed, restless and bored, unable to roll over or sit up. She could barely move.

Barbarian.

It infuriated her that he treated her with so little respect. With no respect!

And what disturbed her mightily in the hours after he left her to find his sleep was that the lingering passion from his kiss still held her tight in its grip. Yes, she'd been encouraging his advances from the moment she first felt the mutual desire between them, but that first brush of his lips against hers had left her stunned. And breathless.

She always enjoyed sex well enough, but she generally avoided kissing for she'd never enjoyed it much at all. But those few moments in Harrison's arms had been extraordinary, in a way that went beyond the physical. Never before had a mere kiss felt so powerful, so...invasive. As if he'd found the secret door to her private self and stepped inside.

It had been hours since that kiss, yet the memory of it still lingered on her lips and her body continued to ache for the feel of his own hard form pressed against hers. Would his hands be rough or gentle? Would he enter her hard and fast, or long and slow? The questions persisted, her body aching to know.

Shaking her head, she fought to dislodge the sensuous thoughts from her mind, hating for anyone to have this kind of hold on her. Yet she seemed incapable of shutting him out. With a groan, she shifted yet again, trying to force her thoughts on to the far more pressing matter of Rith and how to get those stones before he did.

A crash sounded outside the window on the street far below. The crumpling of metal and the shattering of glass reverberated into the night. Vehicles colliding? The sound echoed... . No, not echoed. Another crash. And another. And another.

Ilaria's heart began to pound with the certainty something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She struggled against the cuffs that bound her to the bed.

"Human!"

Beneath the crashes another sound, a deep, rumbling whine pierced the night, followed moments later by an explosion that shook the walls and rattled the windows, vibrating through both the building and the bed.

"Harrison!"

He stormed into the room as she yelled his name, his hair sexily rumpled, his face a bitter mask. The key to her handcuffs was already between his fingers.

"What's happening?" she demanded as he bent over her, unfastening her wrist.

"Armageddon." In the dim light coming through the blinds, she saw a mix of alarm and fury in his eyes. "This is King Rith's doing. Ten bucks says he's found those stones."
Chapter 6
As Harrison freed Ilaria, the handcuffs slipped out of his unsteady hold, hitting the floor behind