Illicit Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 2 Read Online Free Page B

Nikoli’s, though more golden than olive. His features weren’t at all similar. He had the classic good looks of a Greek god, the perfect male. Had he come from E2? How was that possible when all the males there looked the same, just as all the females resembled each other?
    Wait a sec. Regina recalled Nikoli saying something about E4. According to him, there were five dimensions on earth, all inhabited. Had Lukan’s race evolved on the fourth dimension?
    “I have them,” Damir said, hurrying to Nikoli, halting when Regina turned to her.
    “We mean you no harm,” the older woman said quickly.
    Kindness and sorrow rang in her words, unlike anything Regina had heard when she’d hidden with Nikoli on E2. The conversations she’d overheard there were colorless, lacking warmth or animation.
    Regina recognized the worry eating at Damir. Because of Lukan? Was he a relative of hers? How was that possible when he didn’t look like anyone else on E2?
    Nikoli placed the candles in their holders on the mantel, lighting all six.
    The gentle illumination revealed the shadow of beard on Lukan’s chin, cheeks and upper lip, making him seem exceedingly male. Virile. Dangerous. Behind the shutters, night finally pressed in, the last of the sun’s rays withdrawing.
    With the edges of the windows darkened, Lukan pulled back his hood and removed his sunglasses.
    Regina stopped herself from gaping. His shoulder-length hair was thick and wavy, a light golden blond, the color warmer than Damir’s and simply beautiful, while his eyes… Because of his sunglasses, Regina had expected them to be filmy with cataracts or damaged in some way.
    Not even close. In the candlelight, they were a clear blue-green, reminiscent of the waters off Bermuda and other exotic locales.
    Never had Regina seen such an exquisite man. A perfect man. “Who is he?”
    Meelo stepped closer. “I created him, along with the others.”
    He wasn’t human? He was some kind of android or whatever they called it? Regina stared. His skin seemed so real, surely soft and warm to the touch. His chest rose and fell with his quiet breathing. Could machines do that?
    Maybe. Scientifically, Nikoli’s people were far more advanced than anyone was on this side. “Others?”
    “Pleasure slaves,” he answered. “Designed and born to service our government’s rulers on E4.”
    Shame colored his explanation, surprising from someone raised to show no emotion at all. So many questions swirled through Regina’s mind, she couldn’t decide what to ask first. How could a robot be born? Why would Meelo call machines slaves? Unless they weren’t machines, which led to even more disturbing questions.
    Nikoli’s rulers were even more corrupt than the various government officials were on this plane? Those in power over there went beyond extramarital affairs, keeping their people in ignorance and poverty or conducting wholesale genocide? They actually created their victims? They indulged in their basest desires, allowing themselves whatever they wanted while demanding order and obedience from their populace?
    No wonder Nikoli wasn’t bothered at his leaders believing he’d died heroically in service to their realm. He hadn’t known about this any more than his father probably had. Regina saw it in the set of his jaw, the disgust on his face.
    Although Regina already knew the answer, she asked Meelo, “You’re saying Lukan’s real? That is, human?”
    “Of course.” Damir frowned. “What else?”
    The woman’s quick defense of him convinced Regina there was an emotional bond, at least from Damir’s end. Despite their discussion about him, Lukan hadn’t commented or shown any emotion. Could be he didn’t understand English. She spoke to Meelo. “You said designed.”
    “On E2, I was a genetic engineer, the same as Damir.” He tightened his fingers on his injured arm, the only indication that he was having difficulty controlling his feelings. Unlike Damir, who frowned