Read Online Possessed by Desire by Elisabeth Naughton - Free Book Online Page B

swirled around them, and then her feet lifted from the ground. The smoke churned faster. Her hair whipped around her face, stung her eyes. Ashur’s arms tightened, and against her ear, he whispered, “Hold on to me.”
    She grasped the forearm locked tight against her, was happy for the solid presence of his body at her back. As a celestial being, she’d transported from location to location all over the earth, but never in a human body.
    A gasp tore from her mouth when her feet hit something solid. Ashur’s arms tightened more, and she knew if he hadn’t been holding her, she’d have fallen forward. As the smoke cleared, she took in her surroundings and gasped again when she realized they were standing on Tariq and Mira’s deck.
    Pine trees rose around them, the scent of moss and damp earth strong. And ahead, moonlight shimmered off the waters of Puget Sound, sparkling like a million diamonds under the night sky.
    His arms released her, and immediately her body craved his heat. She whipped around and found him already scanning the glass door, peering inside, looking for his brother. But it was the menace in his eyes that sent a jolt of fear straight to her heart.
    She grasped his arm. “Ashur, no. Listen. You don’t understand. Let me explain things to you before you go inside.”
    He looked down at her, but the gentle almost-lover she’d touched before was gone. The same fury she’d seen when he’d heard Tariq’s voice was alive on his face. “Understand what? That he left me to rot?” He jerked his arm from her grip. “This does not concern you, noor . Stay out here until I’m through.”
    Through? She didn’t like the sound of that. Fear turned to panic. “Ashur, wait—”
    He yanked the sliding door open and stepped into the house. Claire couldn’t see anything past his broad shoulders, but she heard voices. Tariq’s surprise. Mira’s shock. Followed by Ashur’s fury.
    “You son of a bitch.” Ashur lunged.
    A scream ripped through the night air. A grunt echoed. Wood splintered. Glass shattered. Voices hollered.
    Claire tore into the room, stumbling across the door track. Light from the large stone fireplace at the end of the great room rippled over Ashur and Tariq, entangled on the floor. A coffee table lay in pieces, broken wineglasses strewn about. Ashur lifted his fist and threw a punch that sent Tariq’s head jerking back. Mira, standing near the fireplace, screamed.
    Then movement to the right grasped Claire’s attention. And she jerked that direction only to see another male—equally as large and dark as Tariq and Ashur—hurl himself toward Ashur’s back.
    “Let go, Ashur,” the male hollered. “Dammit, let go.”
    Ashur jerked out of his grip, landed another right hook against Tariq’s jaw. The male swore, got a better grip on Ashur, and hauled him off Tariq.
    Tariq sat up slowly and shifted his jaw from side to side. “I see you’ve learned a few moves.”
    “Fuck you,” Ashur growled.
    Wide-eyed, Claire watched the scene, unsure if she should step in or get the hell away. Sure, Ashur had been pissed at her when he’d found out she was celestial, but that had been nothing like this.
    At Ashur’s back, the male still holding him murmured, “Take a breath, brother. No one here’s going to hurt you.”
    Ashur’s body stilled, and he twisted his head to look behind him, suspicion alive in his features as if he’d just realized there was another person in the room. “N—Nasir?”
    The male smiled. And the spread of the lips, the twinkle in the eyes… Even from her viewpoint, Claire could tell he was Ashur’s other brother. “That’s what people call me.”
    Ashur’s brow dropped low. “What…? I thought… They told me you died in the pits.”
    “Not dead,” Nasir said softly, loosening his grip until he was no longer holding Ashur. “At least not yet. I was rescued.”
    He glanced toward the archway that led to the kitchen. Ashur twisted to see what he was