She went to the sink and turned the tap on, letting the water run cold. “Help yourselves.”
Jace stepped up and did just that. He filled his glass twice before his thirst was slaked. Darian did the same, but when he was finished drinking, he turned the taps on and off several times as if testing them. The expression on his face was that of a kid in a candy shop. He seemed enthralled by her plumbing.
Once again, she wondered where they’d come from and how long they’d been walking. They didn’t have any gear with them. Not a knapsack or a duffle bag. Only what they wore, and there wasn’t a whole lot of that on top. The only thing of value they seemed to have were those bronze metal bands around their wrists and upper arms. She mentally shrugged. Not her business.
Sam crossed her arms over her chest to hide the fact her nipples were standing at attention like good little soldiers. She was attracted to them. So what? They were both good-looking, strong men in their prime. Only proved she was human and healthy. It didn’t really mean anything.
“You boys need to tell me who you are and how you got here.” She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
Darian glanced at his brother and Jace shrugged. She frowned and wondered if they were a danger to her. They didn’t look like escaped convicts or criminals but, then again, she hadn’t really met any, other than Joe Bob Riley who drank too much on Fridays and tore up the local bar at least once a month, and he didn’t really count.
Darian took a deep breath and slowly released it. She tried not to notice the way his broad chest expanded and contracted, or the bead of perspiration that rolled down his tanned neck. “We are from Javara.” He paused and seemed to be waiting for some reaction.
“Where is that exactly?” She didn’t recognize it. Maybe it was a town in Mexico. Maybe they were illegal immigrants despite the fact they looked more Nordic than Hispanic.
Darian took a step forward and she took one back, deeming it prudent to keep her distance. She was already gauging how quickly she could run and be out the front door and to her truck if she needed too. The keys were still in the ignition. She never bothered to remove them, as there was no need. There was no one else around for miles.
He stopped and glanced at his brother once again. This time it was Jace who spoke. “It is not of your world.”
Great. Just great. She’d invited two lunatics into her home. “So, you’re aliens?” She’d humor them until she could make a run for it and call the sheriff.
Jace frowned. “I do not understand this word. We are from Javara.”
“How did you get here? Your spaceship?” Way to go, Sam. She had to stop antagonizing them.
“The tapestry brought us to you.” Jace raked his fingers through his hair, looking as confused as she felt. “That is not the way it works. The tapestry brings the woman to Javara, not the other way around. You should have been brought to us.”
Okay, this was so not good. Whoever they were, they obviously went around kidnapping women. Sam whirled around and ran for the front door. She heard one of them call her name, but didn’t stick around to see which one it was. She hit the front door running, yanked it open and launched herself off the porch.
Heavy feet thundered after her. She could hear them getting closer. Heart pounding, lungs burning, she reached for the handle of the truck. Her fingers grazed the metal when strong arms scooped her up, ending her bid for freedom.
“No!” She kicked her pursuer, the hard heel of her boot landing on an unprotected shin. Like a wildcat, she fought, bucking hard against him.
“Stop. I don’t want to hurt you.” It was Jace who had her and he wasn’t letting her go. He tightened his grip on her, wrapping one arm around her upper body and the other around her waist, keeping her arms locked down by her sides.
She threw back her head, but with their height difference she caught his shoulder instead of his jaw. She was frantic now. What would they do to her?
“Calm down, Sam.” Darian stood in front of her, his hands open in front of him, his eyes sad. “We will not hurt you. We would die before we’d harm you in any way.”
The sincerity in his words sank in and she stilled her wild struggle, panting heavily in Jace’s unbreakable embrace. Darian reached out and touched the side of her face, gently rubbing his thumb over it. “Please, hear me out.”
She nodded. She really didn’t have much choice.
“Darian.” There was a strain in Jace’s voice. She felt Jace’s body shift and he turned them so they were both facing back toward the house. There, suspended in midair was a small rug of some kind, which should have been impossible. There was no wind to blow it around. In any case it wasn’t moving, just sort of hovering there.
“The tapestry.” Fear coated Darian’s voice as he grabbed her arm.
Now she was seriously freaked out. “What is it?” For some reason she found herself whispering.
“It’s the magic tapestry that brought us here from Javara.”
“I don’t understand.” The air was charged around them and the hair on the back of her neck stirred. There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, but she felt as though lightning could strike any second.
“Neither do we.” Jace’s grim tone scared her more than anything else had today. “Hold on to me and don’t let go.”
All around them the dust stirred, spinning faster and faster until it felt like being stuck in the center of a tornado. Her house, the sky, the entire world disappeared. All she felt was Jace’s strong arms around her and Darian’s unbreakable grip on her arm.
The ground seemed to disappear from beneath her and she was falling, plummeting into nothingness. Sam screamed.
Jace’s eyes flickered open when something wet hit his face. Rain. He started to sit up, but there was something on top of him, weighing him down. No, not something, someone. Sam Calloway was sprawled across his body, his arms still wrapped around her.
But where was Darian?
He sat up quickly, careful to cradle Sam in his arms. His brother was slowly sitting up beside them. They were all safe. A huge weight fell from Jace’s heart. But where were they?
A low whinnying sound came from the left and Jace smiled when he saw the gray-and-white stallion and their other horses. They were home.
“We’re back.” Darian rolled to his feet and stretched before crouching down in front of him. “How is Sam?”
She hadn’t stirred and Jace was beginning to get concerned. “Sam.” He shook her lightly and was rewarded with a low moan. He shook her again. “Wake up, Sam.” He used her name again, liking the way it rolled off his tongue. Her eyelids fluttered open and he found himself staring into dark-blue eyes.
She licked her lips and his cock roared to life, making his leather pants very uncomfortable. “Where? Where are we?”
Darian smiled at her. “The tapestry has brought us home to Javara. Welcome to our world, Sam.”
Jace felt her stiffen and didn’t try to hold her when she jumped out of his arms. He rolled to his feet and inhaled deeply, drinking in the moist, cool air that was such a contrast from the dry heat in her world.
“What the hell have you done to me? Did you drug me?” Sam was angry, but beneath the anger he could hear her fear, and that just wouldn’t do.
“Do you remember the tapestry?” Jace asked her, keeping his voice low just as he would when dealing with a high-strung filly.