Denying Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Series) by Setta Jay Read Free Book Online Page A

strong arms, against his chest… Her screwed-up mind loved the thought of him carrying her away like some damsel in distress. She chose to pretend that the idea of being rescued by him had no effect on her.
    “I’m sorry he’s being an ass, but he has issues that have nothing to do with you. I shouldn’t apologize for him, but knowing how stubborn he is, this won’t be simple.” Sirena paced the sitting area, going essentially around and around the comfy chairs that sat in front of the fireplace. The healer looked as if she were in her own world as she moved. Rain wondered what kind of issues Sirena was talking about.
    After taking a bracing breath, Rain decided to start with basic questions. She still needed more answers, because she fully intended to confront the ass with a detailed list of his crimes. “His touch set the frenzy into motion? It wouldn’t have shown up by just being in the same room with him?” She knew the answer. If he hadn’t wanted her, then the asshole should have kept his damn hands to himself. Anyone else could have carried her unconscious ass out of there.
    “Touch. Your mortal body wouldn’t have shown anything in your blood work based on scent.”
    “What can I expect now? Judging from the pissed looks he was pinning me with at Alyssa and Gregoire’s mating ceremony, he wants nothing to do with me. He sped out of there the minute it was over and has avoided me ever since, other than apparently when I was knocked out.” She hated having to admit all that, but she wasn’t naïve enough to think this would all just turn out perfect in the end. She needed to know her options, leaving her pride to take one for the team. She was fully capable of taking care of herself; she didn’t need him to get her off.
    The ugly sting to her ego wasn’t making the reality any less true.
    Her heart felt like it was taking a beating too. Not for him. She didn’t know the Guardian, so it wasn’t like she was in love with him. It was the loss of her childhood dreams. The fantasy of what a mating was supposed to be, of spending an eternity with a male who worshipped the ground she walked on for saving him from an eternity of loneliness. Never aging like her best friend, maybe having a bigger destiny than that of a small-shop owner with no real life or love interest. Not that she wasn’t proud of her business accomplishments. It was just that the damn fantasies were ingrained in her and Alyssa as children.
    A thought hit her. “Is there a way out of mating?” Would he be looking for a way out? She got the distinct impression he would. She didn’t want a male that didn’t want her, but that would be a final ending to the possibility of having more. It was too rare, the chance would never come again, but that didn’t mean she would consider tying herself to a male that didn’t want her.
    “No. There is no way out of a mating. It’s rare, sacred,” Sirena said, and she snapped the word sacred like the thought of Dorian going against it personally offended her. Mating research was Sirena’s whole life. She took it seriously and worked her ass off to get potentially compatible Mageia to relocate from Earth Realm to Tetartos. Mageia were mortal and as such could choose to stay on Earth if they wanted to. They’d discussed it a few times since Rain started living at the manor.
    Sirena took a deep breath and sat down. “It’s not you,” Sirena said, irritation bleeding into every word.
    “Thanks, but can you explain what the hell I don’t know. The only time I was near him, he glared at me as if I’d massacred his family. I’ve never even spoken to him so I don’t know what his issues are, and I have no clue what’s going on in my body and how it’s going to affect me.” She felt tired all of a sudden. So much had been happening and this was just one more issue she needed to deal with. A huge one and she didn’t know where to start. She wished she could head back to Paradeisos Island and