Christina's Tapestry (Tapestries, Book One)

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

An Excerpt From: CHRISTINA´S TAPESTRY

Copyright © N.J. WALTERS, 2005.

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Christina opened one eye and frowned slightly when the only thing she could see was a large pair of leather boots in front of her face. It was then she became aware that her mattress was rather lumpy and that her pillow smelled suspiciously like fresh grass. She closed her eye tight, took a deep breath and then opened them both. But the picture remained the same no matter how many times she blinked.

"I must be dreaming again," she mumbled to herself.

"And here I thought I must be the one who was dreaming." The voice was deep, masculine and amused.

Tilting her head back, she followed the boots up over an incredibly long pair of muscular legs encased in a tight pair of leather pants. An open vest emphasized his lean waist, a six-pack of abs and an impossibly wide chest. Her eyes kept traveling upwards, all the way to a face that took her breath away.

The man was gorgeous. His straight black hair disappeared behind his shoulders, but a thin braid came down each side of his temple falling all the way to his waist. The braids framed a rough-hewn face with a prominent nose, thin lips and a high forehead. His eyes, a golden-brown, blazed with desire as his gaze ran over her scantily clad form.

She sat up quickly and scuttled backwards away from the giant in front of her. Her fingers dug into the moist ground beneath her. Twisting her head from side-to-side, she tried to get her bearings. Her bed was gone, her room was gone, and she certainly wasn´t in her apartment.

Instead, she was sitting on the ground in the middle of a grassy field with a tall, thick forest surrounding her. Somewhere in the distance, a bird was twittering and a butterfly fluttered past her nose, coming to rest on a small patch of purple flowers on her right.

"Are you alone?" The giant frowned down at her and she swallowed back a scream, shaking her head. There was no way in hell she was telling this man that she was alone.

He took a step towards her and she scrambled to her feet, thrusting her hands out in front of her to ward him off. Her heart was pounding in her chest now and her entire body trembled with fear. True, he was the most gorgeous man she´d ever laid her eyes on, but he was also a total stranger.

However, the longer she stared at him the more familiar he seemed.

He stopped immediately and his gaze softened. "There´s no need to fear." He held one hand out to her and his voice became calm and almost hypnotic. "You cannot be out alone without protection. Come to me."

She almost took a step towards him. Almost.

Standing her ground, she glanced about for something she could use as a weapon. Anything. "Who are you?" If she could keep him talking, it might give her time to figure out what in the heck she should do. "Where am I?"

"I am Jarek of the House of Garen." He paused. "And you, little one, are on my land."

"Well, I don´t know how I got here, Jarek of the House of whatever, but I´d sure as heck rather be home in bed." She remembered what she´d first thought when she opened her eyes and suddenly everything began to make sense. "I´m dreaming, again."

His outfit looked familiar and it finally came to her why she felt she recognized him. Sizing up the man in front of her one more time, she suddenly decided that it wasn´t such a bad dream to be having.

The look of hot lust in his eyes was not the kind she was used to being directed her way. Under his gaze her nipples pebbled into tight buds that pushed against the silk of her nightgown. Her body certainly remembered the pleasure he´d given her in her dream last night.

She licked her dry lips and stood a little taller, thrusting her breasts out slightly. If possible the heat in Jarek´s eyes grew more fiery. As she watched him, a very large bulge grew in the front of his breeches. A shiver of desire shot down her spine.

It was nice to have a name to put with one of the warriors from the tapestry. Jarek. She liked the sound of it, strong and solid and noble. "You´re one of the warriors from the tapestry." She knew he had to be, but for some reason she wanted him to confirm that.

The lust in his eyes disappeared in a blink and a cold, hard gleam appeared there instead. "Tapestry?"

Christina swallowed back her fear. After all, this was just a dream. "The one with the castle and the woods and the two warriors standing in front of it." She motioned with her hands to show him the approximate size. "I bought it from a strange little shop a couple days ago."

"The prophecy has begun." His voice was low, his tone almost reverent as he bowed his head for a moment. When he raised his head again, his face was set in determined lines. "You are alone and must come to the castle for protection."

Christina didn´t like his imperious tone and she liked his command even less. "I think I´ll stay here until I wake up if it´s all the same to you."

The dumbfounded look on his face told her that no one said no to this man very often. He cocked his head to one side as he stared at her as if trying to figure out whether she was being difficult or if she was just plain crazy. At the moment, she´d opt for the second one. This whole dream was nuts.

Part of her wanted to go with him. If she were lucky, maybe this would turn into another long, erotic dream. A woman didn´t get a chance to have sex with a guy this hot very often, even if it was just a fantasy. But in the harsh light of day, he looked too big, too powerful and just too intimidating as he took another step towards her.

Panicking, she once again threw up her hands in front of her to stop him. "If you´re the warrior from the tapestry, where´s the other one?"

Strong arms enveloped her from behind and a pair of tan muscled forearms clamped around her stomach. She was pulled back against a rock-hard chest as a soft voice whispered in her right ear. "I´m right here."

Christina shrieked and tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron. Tipping her head back, she caught a glimpse of another giant of a man with long dark brown hair and similar features to the other one. Brothers. They had to be brothers. The only difference was that this one had fuller lips and different colored hair.