'You’re making me angry.'
'Am I? Is that the same anger that made you stay and fight the Steel Guard?'
'Stop it,' he growled.
'Is that the same anger that turned you from a sole survivor into the commander of legions…into the Emperor of your kingdom?'
'You’re pushing me…don’t push me…let it go…' 'Well I want that anger! I want you!'.
'Major Forest-'
'Nina! Say it! Say my name! Look me in the eye and say my name! Tell me-tell Nina — to get out of your way! Walk out on me…walk out on Nina! Let me go again the way you walked away from the Nina on your world!'
He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. 'You just shut up!'
'Look at the Emperor trembling!'
'God damn it I told you once…I told you I don’t play these games!'
Her shark grin returned. Her eyes grew into blue daggers.
'Well I do play games. Me and my Trevor, we played all sorts of games…'
Her hands stroked his chest even as he snorted breath like a beast ready to fight.
He grabbed her wrists and threw them against the wall above her head. She smiled.
'You…are…not…Nina!'
'And you’re so damn mad about that aren’t you?'
His lips quivered but he suppressed an answer.
'Come on! Say it, Trevor! Admit it! Admit how mad you are at me!'
This time it was not a floor he pinned her against, but a wall. Yet once again, she squirmed and fidgeted purposely…teasingly…
'You’re mad at me! It’s boiling over in you! I can taste it in the air!'
He leaned in and nearly bit her nose off as he confessed, 'Yes! I’m mad at you for looking like her! You’re an imposter!'
'You’re angry!'
'Yes!'
'And you want me! You want me so bad it hurts.'
'God damn it yes!'
Emotion churned out of control as everything came together; anger, confusion, desire; stirred together and simmering toward explosion.
She dared, 'Then take me. Possess me, Trevor.'
'Is that what you want? Is it?'
He did not wait for her answer. He swung her onto the bed, took a quick step toward her, and then stopped, hovering over her as she sat on the edge of the mattress.
Nina pulled one of the thin leather straps from her battle suit. She wrapped it around her wrist then offered both hands to him. Her face was submissive and pouting.
'If you’re so afraid of me, Emperor, if I so scare you then tie me down. Make me sorry for being her imposter.'
He shivered.
'What are you waiting for, Emperor? ' She mocked. 'Consider it another conquest. Make me your next battlefield.'
He looked at her bare wrists-one already bound by the strap-and felt something stir. Something so very dark. The same something that helped him make hard decisions over the years. The same something that allowed him to be brutal on the battlefield.
The something that had made him curse the Gods as he had held the Viking leader aloft at the Battle of Five Armies; the something that allowed him to unleash his dogs of war on the enclave of New Winnabow; the something that had drove him to brutally beating the Hivvan Commander in North Carolina.
The monster his half-brother had warned of; a source of power…and danger.
And oh, the anger was there. Anger and desire, a volatile combination.
The simmering pot exploded. Trevor Stone pounced. He grabbed her wrists and shoved her back, pushing her hands together against the bars of the headboard, working the leather strap around her other wrist and pulling tight.
She grunted in pain. He bound her tighter than expected. She pulled against the binds. The motion barely rattled the bars.
Their eyes locked as he moved off the bed. She saw the wolf in him. She knew it was in there. She knew she could find it.
Nonetheless…that look in his eyes. Had she gone too far?
She had been in control of the situation since the instant she brought him to her universe. This was all part of the plan. Still…she felt — just a little- afraid.
Major Forest squirmed on top of the mattress. He stood at the base of the bed and removed her boots and socks. When he was done he unhooked his utility belt. Before he let it fall to the floor he removed the knife from its sheath. He then worked his way over the mattress on his elbows and knees, closing on her with the prowl of a predator.
She licked her lips.
Trevor cut away the top of Nina’s battle suit. Then he caressed the knife over her chest until it found the straps of her bra. More slicing.
He hovered above her bound form for a moment, then leaned in…his lips coming close…just about to touch…and he backed away.
Stone had the feeling of watching from the outside. Was he really doing this? Was his body really aching to have her in this way?
Yes. There was a force within Trevor Stone stirred by this universe, uncovered by this Nina. One part violent; one part passion. Both held in balance in his world but for some reason that balance fell apart here, on this Earth, with this woman.
Whether it was right or wrong did not matter. It was what he wanted.
He had been denied so much over the years; stolen from him by fate.
Not this time. He was going to have her.
His hands greedily worked at her buckle. He found it, undid it, and pulled the rest of her battle gear over her hips, past her clenched knees, and off.
A chill swept across Nina as her body was stripped of all cover. She rattled the binds again. The straps were tight; perfectly tied.
He took a moment to study her, casting his eyes over her naked body but, to his surprise, saw a painfully detailed snake tattoo wrapped around the upper part of her leg. It was a most striking piece of art work, but further confirmation that this was not really his Nina.
Nina would never get a tattoo.
Trevor’s gaze came to her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes. Her icy blue eyes. They stared back at him with just the right mixture of excitement and fear.
And there it was. That darkness. There was a voice far off in the corner of his mind-the irrational corner- angry at her for having Nina’s eyes. How dare she look like her! She was not his Nina. She was not the Nina. She was an imposter. A fraud.
How DARE she…
Yes…anger…and arousal.
'What do you plan to do now?'
He undid the straps on his own top while shuffling out of his boots. Then he threw off the rest until he was naked at the base of the bed.
She tilted her head to examine her binds. She pulled hard. The straps were unforgiving. She realized things had gone beyond the point of return. Nina felt his weight on the bed, creeping forward toward her. He lay next to her. His eyes examined her.
Trevor placed a solitary finger against her lips. He moved it, and then slid it into her mouth. She accepted it
