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An Excerpt From: BRIDE PORTAL
Copyright © MICHELE BARDSLEY, 2007
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
When
she awoke, Mary found herself naked, in a warm bath filled with pink bubbles.
Lit candles rimmed the large tub. The mild scent of vanilla entwined with
the spice of sandalwood. Sitting up, she looked at the small table within
arm’s reach of the tub. On it sat two fizzing glasses of champagne and—dear
God—a twenty-piece box of Godiva’s G Collection.
“Am I
dead?” she whispered.
“No,”
said Matt as he hurried into the bathroom. “I’m sorry! I called in an order
to Zio’s. You—you mentioned you liked Italian food.”
He looked
so anxious. Why? Because he wanted to please her? Whoa. His gaze ensnared
hers. “I washed you thoroughly and cleaned your clothing. I’ve been
watching you, Mary. You wouldn’t have drowned.”
She
smiled and nodded. Then, as calmly as she could, she asked, “What the fuck
is going on?”
He
looked nonplussed. “I conveyed all there is to know. Would you like me to
repeat it?”
“No,”
she said. Her heart thudded. Freaking Matthew was seducing her. Oh, baby!
“I got the gist. I fainted, you caught me. Now I’m in a hot tub surrounded
by candles and chocolates and champagne.” She looked him over. He wore
nothing except a thin gold chain around his neck. The chain attached to a
gorgeous blue stone, which hovered right below his collarbone. It wasn’t
like any gem she’d ever seen. But jewelry was not the issue right now.
“Why
are you naked?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“I
would hope to please my lady by joining you.”
“I
knew it. I’m dead.”
“Mary,
you are not in Illania.”
“Ill-whataya?”
“Heaven.”
He waved impatiently. “It is of no matter. Great Geru! I grow weary of
these Earth mating rituals.”
She
blinked at him. “Mating rituals?”
He
swallowed heavily then dropped to his knees again. His big, tanned hands
grasped the edge of the tub and his eyes searched hers. “This is not my
way. If we were on my planet, I would steal you away and I would kill
anyone who tried to keep me from claiming you. You are my harataya.”
“Oh.
Well that explains everything, doesn’t it?” Beautiful, muscled…and oh mama,
what a package…but totally, completely crazy. She patted his hands and
smiled brightly. “Would you get my clothes, please? I need to go home.”
His
roar of frustration seemed to shake the walls. He surged to his feet,
plucked Mary from the tub as if she weighed no more than a feather, and
slung her over his massive shoulder. Water sloshed, putting out the
candles. Pink bubbles flew everywhere.
In
five strides he was in the bedroom. He dumped her—naked, wet and
shocked—onto the bed. “You are mine, Mary Jeanne Wolmack. I have traveled
all the way from Kratania to claim you. I care not for what the Oracle says
about wooing an Earth woman. I have tried the simpering ways of Earth males
and they do not work. You have ignored me for two weeks.”
Mary
gaped at him. He stood next to the bed, hands on hips, a magnificent
barbarian warrior assessing his stolen bride. “I…uh…what?”
“You
are so beautiful,” he said, his gaze roving her shivering form. “I have
dreamed often of touching you, of taking you. I am tired of pleasuring
myself and wasting my seed!”
Panic
burbled through her, but she had to admit to some serious thrillage, too.
Insane or not, this hunk wanted her. “You may have noticed I’m not
exactly…well, thin.” Gak. Why had she felt it necessary to point that out
to him? The man had eyes.
“Thank
Geru! You are well-built, my harataya. You are very luscious.” Lust
darkened his gaze. “When we return to Kratania, you will make me the envy
of my brothers.” He leaned over the bed, once again looking anxious. “Do
you refuse me?”
“Oh,
honey.” She rose up on her elbows. God, he was nuts. And it would be
really, really wrong to take advantage of his mental state in order to have
her way with his muscled bod. Look at that cock. It’s so huge. Lust
heated her belly…liquefied and flowed to her pussy. Damn, she wanted his
cock inside her. Plunging. And plunging…oh merciful heavens!
“If
you could prove you were an alien, I’d let you ravish me.”
“That
is all you require?” His brows rose in surprise.
“Sure.
And those chocolates. You can’t buy a girl the G Collection and not let her
have it.”
His
lips tugged into a half-smile. “The chocolates please you? At least the
Oracle was right in that regard. So, if I prove that I am from Kratania and
give you the sweets, you will allow me the honor of ghrata?”
“What
is ghrata?”
He
frowned, as if trying to figure out how to explain the term. “Making love.”
“Yep.”
It was a safe response because poor, sweet, deluded Matt was one taco short
of a combo platter. There was no way in…uh, Illania he would really ravish
her. “I would ghrata the night away with you, babe.”
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