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Portals Volume One
Ethan's Freedom
A cat shifter from another world who has spent his entire life as a sex slave and an emotional battered male nurse, these two men couldn't be more different or more perfect for each other, if only the past will leave them alone long enough to have a future.
Ethan is a wild, adventurous soul trapped in the life of a sex slave. For as long as he can remember he has been destined to be part of a harem dedicated to powering his master's spell casting.
But Ethan has dreams. Dreams that won't be denied. When a mysterious gift allows him the opportunity to escape, he grabs hold of it with both hands. But the realities of a life of freedom are nothing like what he had envisioned. Soon he is confused, hungry and running for his life.
Luck is with him, however, when he meets Michael Barnes. With the help of this warm, caring, emotionally bruised man, Ethan finally begins his journey to understanding the strange world and customs he has been thrust into and takes his first tentative steps to true freedom.
But there are those that would take back everything Ethan has gained. People that would like nothing more than to drag him back to his life as a harem slave.
Reader Advisory: This book contains a dubious consentual sex scene between minor characters. This book is the first book in a series that is best read in sequence.
Devon's Revenge
Devon never wanted to be free. He never wanted to leave the safety of the harem. Forced out of the only home he's ever known, he's cold, hungry and…angry for the first time in his life. Revenge needs to be very sweet.
Faced with an impossible choice, Devon threw away his only chance of returning to his Master and the sheltered life of a pleasure slave. Now, abandoned and abused, Devon is struggling to find his way alone in a strange new world—Earth. Being a stray certainly isn't easy, and replacing his Master is proving almost impossible. Then he meets Nate.
Nate isn't looking for a mate. He certainly didn't expect to find him in a club about to go down on another man! But something about Devon calls to him like no one ever has before. Now if he can just make sure Devon isn't the most dangerous kind of shifter—the kind that would do anything to return to their master—perhaps they can work on exploring the mutual attraction that's simmering between them, ready to explode.
Unfortunately, there are more challenges still ahead for Devon. More for Nate and Devon to face than learning secrets and earning trust with a new mate. There are enemies moving in. Some they never knew existed, and some that still haunt Devon's nightmares. And they're ready and waiting to take any chance of a happily ever after away forever.
Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series
General Release Date: 11th July 2011
Ethan's Freedom
“Ethan! Ethan, come back you’re going to get in trouble.”
Ethan could hear his twin’s urgent, slightly panicky whisper behind him as he crept forward and scanned the hall, but he chose to ignore it. This was far too good an opportunity to waste listening to his timid, obsessively obedient brother.
All around them the castle was silent and still, everyone having hurried outside to complete the chores that needed doing there before the heat of the day became intolerable. Already the pale, yellow light of Rigial’s primary sun, only newly risen over the horizon, was pouring in warm and strong through the windows mounted high on the external walls. But while Ethan knew the foot-thick, strogram-insulated barrier was there to protect them from the harsh, unforgiving climate that was all part of living in a binary system, having spent a lifetime cooped up in a tiny nursery, he was desperate to see what lay beyond them.
Edging forward, he hugged the pale, rendered wall and hoped the shadows created by the overhead light would hide them from any prying eyes that had remained inside. It was fate, he assured himself, that they should find their door unlocked this morning. In just a few days they were scheduled to be moved and start the intensive training that would make them fully fledged pleasure cats. Once that happened and they were inside the harem with its constant demands and endless monitoring, there would be no hope of them ever getting out and exploring the world.
No. This was meant to be, he reassured himself. For this one brief moment, this one tiny window of time, they would be free. They would lose themselves in their exploration and forget all about the heavy, restricting mantel that was about to descend on them. He just wanted to enjoy the moment, to rejoice in a little spontaneous youthful exuberance and freedom before it was all taken away from them.
Pausing to get his bearings, he could hear the sound of his own breathing as it rushed in and out of his lungs in excited pants. It was so loud in his ears, and his lean, lanky, fifteen-year-old body vibrated with anticipation. This was going to be fantastic. The adventure of a lifetime, he promised himself. He was going to see, touch, taste and smell everything there was to discover out here in the big, wide world of the castle. No. Not just the castle, the whole grounds. Now was the moment. Quite possibly their one and only moment of freedom.
Everything looked so much brighter out here, he realised in awe. More vivid. More alive and vital. He gazed around wide-eyed at the high vaulted ceilings and the ornate stonework columns of the massive halls. He wished he could get closer to the tapestries he saw lining the walls. Their stunning colours and interesting depictions drew his eye at every turn, but he didn’t quite dare to leave the shadows he was hiding in.
With sheer willpower he managed to rein himself in. But it was hard. He felt like every pore of his body was thirsty for sensation and stimulation. On the other hand, he knew if someone came along and spotted them out here they would stop them from exploring any further. They would take them back to that dreary, boring, all too familiar room he and his brother had spent their whole lives in. And that just wasn’t acceptable. Not after he had seen all this. He wanted more. He needed to see everything there was to see. And he was determined that they were going to do it.
Behind him, he could hear Devon scrambling over the slippery marble floor as he struggled to catch up. Ethan smiled wickedly, his bright, emerald green eyes twinkling with mischief. He knew Devon would follow him. His twin would always follow him. He was devoted and loyal to a fault. Of course, he was just as dedicated to his brother, but sometimes Devon needed a little push.
“We are going to get in so much trouble when the Master catches us.” Devon gasped as he struggled to catch his breath after his mad dash down the hall. Trepidation danced in his pale blue eyes.
“If we get caught, brother.” Ethan emphasised confidently, “If. We’ll just have to make sure we don’t, that’s all. Now come on, I want to see outside.”
Devon groaned as Ethan moved on down the hall, but he noticed that his brother didn’t turn back. Together they cautiously continued on their once in a lifetime escapade.
Thinking back, he couldn’t remember ever being allowed out into the castle gardens before. They could see them from their room through the tall, lattice covered arches of their windows, but they’d never been able to truly experience them. The beautiful flowering shrubs and majestic walkways lined with careful clipped trees. The clear, trickling stream that meandered through the grounds. They called to him now, just as they always had. He wanted to climb up into one of the graceful willows that arched over the water and feel the rough bark under his palms and feet. He wanted to scent the cool breeze as it whispered over his face. He wanted to paddle in the little stream and chase the tiny silvery fish that darted through it. Then he...
Excerpt From: Devon's Revenge
“You stupid slut!” Master Gailin screamed as he slapped Mirra’s cheek and sent her sprawling across the cold flagstone floor.
Trembling in shock and fear, Mirra barely resisted the urge to curl into a ball and screw her eyes shut—a futile attempt to make it all go away, but still very tempting nevertheless.
She couldn’t believe the Master had found them. She’d thought the disused root cellar would be the perfect hiding spot. So far from the main living area of the castle, it was almost in the catacombs and nearly lost to living memory. It had taken her weeks to find it. Yet somehow they had still been discovered.
Covering the side of her red, throbbing face with a trembling hand, Mirra crawled back to the small wicker basket in the centre of the little stone room she had chosen so carefully. She cowered over the woven rim protectively, but with a deep sense of foreboding.
While she didn’t make a sound, the two tiny kittens inside—little more than bundles of black and brindle fur—weren’t so circumspect. They mewled pitifully, giving voice to their distress as they huddled together against the side and tried desperately to reach her.
They were so frightened. The Master’s anger—something she’d managed to shelter them from since their birth nine days earlier—was overwhelming. And Mirra knew just how they felt. Her own terror clawed at her insides—demanding she get away and hide somewhere dark and safe. She wanted so badly to grab the kittens up and run as far away as possible. But she couldn’t. There was no escape. Master Gailin would find her. Master Gailin always found her.
She couldn’t even risk touching them to offer comfort in case it made the situation worse. But then, as Master Gailin stepped up to tower over them—his dark eyes flashing with rage, his thin face white and drawn tight with anger—Mirra knew it probably couldn’t get much worse than it was right now anyway. She stayed still and silent regardless, long years of training and experience locking her in place.
“Did you think you could hide this from me?” Master Gailin roared, his fists clenched tightly by his side as his entire body vibrated with fury. Turning, he paced away furiously.
Mirra simply hunched her shoulders—instinctively trying to make herself as small a target as possible. She knew better than to try to defend herself. All she could do was keep her eyes carefully lowered in submission and hope the Master’s tirade would burn off some of his anger.
The hardest part was not to comfort and console the terrified kittens. All she wanted was to pick them up, cuddle them close and gently stroke their soft, new fur. Tears burned her eyes, the pain of denying her instincts lodging in her throat and making it hard to breathe. But she kept her trembling hands to herself.
This is bad. Oh! This is so bad. She cinched her arms around her thin waist and barely resisted the need to begin rocking herself.
Her mind worked frantically. Had she been careless and betrayed the kittens somehow? Or had she been betrayed by someone in the household? Was it one of the other cat shifters, jealous of her position as current favourite amongst the harem slaves? She would gladly give the ‘honoured’ position to someone else, she thought miserably. How could someone betray her little family?
Panic hit her hard and fast at the thought. If she had been betrayed, what else might they have told the Master? Could her mate be in danger? Through sheer force of will she stopped herself from looking over at the tall, silent warrior by the door, but it was almost painful to deny the impulse—her mounting terror for her lover nearly overpowering her.
Somehow her growing fear must have communicated itself to the kittens, because she suddenly felt two raspy tongues bathing her forearms. Hanging onto the wicker edge precariously they had managed to clamber up the side of the basket and now offered tiny wet kisses—as if trying to ease her worries—before they both tumbled back in.
Oh! My poor babies, she moaned softly to herself, crouching down lower in a desperate attempt to hide them and their innocent antics.
Abruptly, the Master stopped pacing—his long, flowing robes billowing out around him. Arcane symbols of power glowed faintly over the material.
Never a good sign, Mirra fretted.