Stolen Desire (Outlawed Realm) Read Online Free

shattered the ice from beneath the center of the lake. Within seconds, a creature pushed through, hurling its milky body upward. The waves that followed it froze instantly in the raw air, the ends of the water curled over like a fine crystal sculpture. As massive as a blue whale, the creature surged from the lake, a horn protruding from its snout, no doubt what pierced the ice. With blinding speed, it penetrated the circle made by the birdlike creatures.
    Shrieking wildly, they scattered, but it did no good. The whale-like thing swung its monstrous head back and forth, gulping several of the creatures before gravity pulled it back down to the water. A thin sheet of ice formed instantly, hiding its exit. Harsh winds toppled the frozen waves as easily as if they’d been a house of cards, then pushed them against the snowdrifts, returning the scene to the relative calm of a few minutes before as though none of the carnage had occurred.
    Paige continued to hyperventilate. What kind of fucking nightmare had she stumbled into? Was it possible she’d been drugged and was hallucinating? If not… Aw crap, she didn’t want to think about that.
    “There’s nothing to fear,” Zekin assured. “The thing has had its fill for the moment. It won’t harm—”
    Her embrace stopped him. She clung to Zekin, her face pressed against his back, praying he wouldn’t push her away. “Don’t leave me, please,” she begged.
    Her fiancé, Johnny, had done that, calling off their wedding after she’d worked so hard on the plans and getting him to want her. He never apologized. He’d just told her the score, saying they could still live together. As if she’d want that. Before he’d bugged out on her, her mother and then eventually her father had also left. She’d had no one for too long and by God, right now, Paige needed the warmth of Zekin’s body, the security and comfort of his size to preserve her sanity. To give her hope that they’d both get through this.
    “Please,” she repeated.
    “I won’t,” he murmured. “It’s all right.” With his hands on her wrists, Zekin gently pulled her arms from him but didn’t step away.
    If he had, Paige would have followed. Out here, she had no shame, no pride, just an unbearable need to be close.
    He turned to face her, then hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms around her in a sheltering caress. She couldn’t stop shaking. As he ran his hand down her back, he whispered, “You’re safe.”
    No, she wasn’t. Neither was he. Not out here in arctic-land. Deep inside, Paige was terrified they weren’t on Earth any longer. It was crazy to even consider that, but how else to explain all of this? How could either of them survive? Why had he even risked his life to rescue her? Who was he? Where had he come from?
    She pressed her cheek against his shoulder. The transparent material covering her face was exactly like skin, letting her feel his solid frame, his heat. She snuggled, unable to stop herself, indulging in this small, welcome intimacy as the world went crazy around them.
    The wind died for a moment, then picked up again, slamming against her body as it screamed past. Clouds continued to sink, weighted with snow.
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
    His hand stalled on her back. “For what?”
    Being scared and being a burden, asking too many questions, not knowing how to make this better. All her life, Paige had done whatever she could so people wouldn’t leave her. Didn’t work. They always had.
    “Getting you into this,” she finally said.
    If she hadn’t had those stupid drinks at Rozie’s, if she hadn’t gotten involved with Johnny—a damn fool who couldn’t commit to marriage much less save her ass out here—none of this would have happened.
    “You had nothing to do with this,” Zekin said. “It was my choice to come.”
    Paige lifted her face.
    He’d rescued her because it was something he had to do, not a suicide mission his superiors had sent him