Less than an hour later, Mike was following Marina as they navigated a narrow mountain trail. On one side was a wall of rock while on the other was a steep, tree covered drop off. This time, Geoff led the way with Charlie, Erin, Marina, and Mike following single file behind him.

For the first time, Mike noticed that while Marina’s top looked black, it was actually a forest green that changed colors in the sunlight. The colors helped her blend in with the surrounding forest. He swore that at times, she actually appeared to fade from view.

He had to admit that he was fascinated with everything about this woman walking in front of him. Their shared kiss earlier this morning kept playing like a broken record over and over in his mind. The taste of her lips, the feel of her warm body against his, the passion in her response—hell, even his own reaction!

He wanted her. There was no denying it, and he wasn’t even going to try. When she had pulled back after hearing Charlie’s bark, her skin had been glowing. The vivid rainbow of colors had wrapped around his hand when he touched her. There had been a tingling feeling, almost as if he had touched one of those plasma balls that he used to play with as a kid.

He wanted to know more about her, and he wanted to protect her. Watching her sleep last night had awakened a strong, protective instinct inside that had startled him. He hadn’t felt such a strong reaction for anyone before, not even for Ruth. Of course, he’d never had to worry about an evil Sea Witch, Hellhounds, ogres, magical realms, or things like that with his sister, just a wimpy ex-husband.

A shudder went through him at the thought of his sister. He had to find a way back. If he didn’t, there was no doubt in his mind that Ruth would turn Yachats State Park upside down trying to find him. If there was one thing his sister was—it was tenacious. She could be worse than Charlie with a chew bone!

“We are almost there,” Marina commented over her shoulder, pulling him back to the present.

“Sounds good,” Mike replied.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, the path curved downward and opened to reveal a wide, flat area near the base of the mountain. Mike paused when he saw the makeshift shelters. There were a half-dozen small campfires burning outside of the branch-and-woven-leaf structures. Dozens of children of all ages paused to look at them in fear for a brief moment before a cry of relief and excitement resounded from the group.

Mike quickly found himself surrounded by a sea of dirty, tired faces looking up at him in curiosity, reserve, and a touch of hope. He turned his head and locked gazes with Marina as she reached out and gently touched several of the rumpled children. A combination of love, sadness, and determination was reflected in her expression.

“Who are they? Why are they here?” he asked. A dark, puzzled frown creased his brow when he didn’t see anyone older than Marina. “Where are the adults?”

“Gone,” Marina quietly replied as she gazed around the suddenly quiet group. “Their parents and many of their siblings and friends were turned to stone by the Sea Witch for refusing to join her. The few villages that survived are those who pay tribute to Magna, hoping to save themselves. The children you see here were the only ones lucky enough to escape into the forest before the spell consuming their villages could affect them.”

Mike’s eyes widened as the large scale devastation of what had happened to Marina’s people hit him. He was in a strange world, among a tide of mahogany and violet-haired urchins whose parents had been turned to stone by a Sea Witch straight out of a fairy tale. He swallowed as he watched Charlie eagerly moving from one small body to the next, licking them and eating up the attention. He returned his gaze to Marina when she gently touched his arm.

“Come, I need to check on a few things. I also want to make sure that I place the healing stones on Erin for a little while. Before sunset, I will prepare some food for us. I know a place where we can talk in private,” she said in a quiet voice.

Mike nodded. “What can I do to help?” he asked as he followed her.

A grateful smile lit her features. “If you could help Geoff check the shelters, I would appreciate it. The children were building them when we left a few days ago,” she said.

Mike glanced around the small encampment and nodded. “I can do that,” he responded.

He turned back to look at Marina when she touched his arm. He saw a flash of uncertainty on her face before she drew in a deep breath, leaned forward and brushed a kiss against his cheek. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against him.

“Mike!” Marina gasped in surprise, looking up at him.

“That is not a kiss.” He lowered his head until he was a breath away from her lips. “Now… this is a kiss,” he murmured.

He captured her parted lips. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted this woman with a passion that nearly took his breath away. The chemistry between them immediately ignited a fire inside him, and the mischievous kiss he’d planned soon turned into a forget-the-world, this-woman-is-mine kind of kiss. He raised a hand and tangled his fingers in her hair so he could deepen the kiss.

Mike literally forgot about everything but the soft, warm woman in his arms. At least, he did until he felt a tug on his pant leg. Breaking the kiss with an impatient growl, he turned his head to see what had disturbed him.

His expression cleared when he saw a young girl who must have been no more than three staring up at him with wide eyes of crystal blue. Her cheeks had streaks of dirt on them, and her ice-blue curly hair was in a lopsided ponytail. Mike heard Marina’s soft groan.

“Kacie, where’s your brother?” Marina asked.

“Touch!” Kacie demanded, still staring at Mike.

Mike grimaced at the piercing gaze. “Why is she staring at me?” he asked.

“She is trying to read you. Kacie is an Empath,” Marina explained.

“An Empath…,” Mike shook his head. “I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to read me at the moment.”

Marina turned to look at him with a frown. “Why?” she asked.

“Because what I’m thinking and feeling is definitely for mature audiences only,” he ruefully admitted.

“I don’t…,” Marina began before understanding dawned. Her face turned a rosy red. “Oh!”

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” he chuckled.

“Kacie! Kacie, where are you?” a young boy called from outside one of the shelters.

Mike could see the boy frantically searching for the little girl. Marina bent over and picked up Kacie. The boy turned toward them when he saw his sister. Mike could see the boy’s exasperated expression. A grin curved his lips—Ruth had worn the same expression more than once with him.

“I’ll go find Geoff,” Mike said.

“I think Kacie and I will go check on Erin,” Marina replied before turning back toward him. “I will see you later?”

Mike could hear the slight hesitation in her voice. “You bet your ass you will,” he retorted with a wink.

Turning, he headed across the encampment to the shelter Geoff was working on. He needed something to keep his mind occupied—well, at least partially occupied if for no other reason than to get his body back under control. At the moment, his cock was still hard, and he could feel the sexual desire still pulling at him.

“This is nothing like being fourteen—this is far, far worse. I’ll be heading into some serious trouble if I’m not careful,” he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Marina bit her lip as she watched Mike working with Geoff. The day had warmed up, and he had removed his jacket and sweater. The black short-sleeve shirt he’d worn under his sweater clung to his body, highlighting his broad chest and flat stomach.

A light blush heated her cheeks when Mike turned his head as if feeling her gaze and caught her staring at him. She whispered to one of the other young girls who had come to sit with Erin while Marina helped prepare food for the younger children.

“You like him,” Erin observed.

Marina flushed and pursed her lips together when several of the other girls giggled. She drew in a breath, released a loud sigh, and scowled at the other girls who were now watching her. Her gaze moved back to Mike where he was tying off a section of the wall he and Geoff had constructed.

“He’s not from our world,” Marina murmured, turning her attention back to stirring the wild vegetables two of the other girls had gathered, cleaned, and cut up.

“Why should that matter? Father always said that he would love Mother, even if she came from the Isle of the Monsters,” Erin replied with a raised eyebrow.

Marina chuckled. “Mike is not from any of the kingdoms in our world. It is only natural that he will want to return to where he came from,” she explained.

“Then, what kingdom does he come from?” Chai, a young girl the same age as Geoff, asked.

“He came from a strange place with many names that I have never heard,” Marina admitted.

“Could we go to his world? Would we be safe there?” Dara asked.

Marina’s gaze softened at the young girl’s hopeful look. She shook her head. Even if she knew how she had opened the door in the first place, she seriously doubted she could do it again.

Handing the spoon she had been using to stir the large pot of soup to Chai, Marina stood up and crossed over to where her sister was sitting. She ran her hand over Erin’s forehead. She breathed a sigh of relief when it felt cool to her touch—the healing stones had done their magic.

“Marina… What are we going to do?” Erin asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something,” she replied.

She paused, her hand still against Erin’s cheek. The other girls had stopped what they were doing to look at her. She could see the exhaustion on all of their faces. Looking around the camp, she could not only see it on the other children’s faces, but feel it in the air. The constant moving, the lack of regular food, the sickness that had swept through the small group, and the perpetual fear of being found was taking a toll on everyone.

Once their new camp was finished, she would leave Geoff in charge of the group and seek help from the one person who might understand how she had opened the portal between her world and Mike’s. She would also ask for help in reaching out to the other kingdoms. Despair filled her at the thought that the other kingdoms would turn her away.

“Marina! We finished the last shelter,” Geoff said with an easy smile.

Marina removed her hand from Erin’s cheek. A laugh escaped her when Charlie came up and licked her sister’s cheek. Of course, the pup—excited by all of the girls’ reactions—had to give each one a lick. The squeal of laughter was music to her ears. It had been so long since she’d heard the happy sound that she’d often wondered if she would ever hear it again.

“It looks like Charlie has found some willing victims to love on,” Mike chuckled.

Marina started in surprise. She was so focused on Charlie’s antics that she didn’t hear Mike’s approach. Twirling, she found herself in his arms once again. Lifting her head, she drew in a deep breath when she saw the fire burning in his eyes.

“I… Yes, he has,” she said in a slightly breathless voice.

“Do you need help with anything else?” Mike asked.

The giggles behind Marina told her that the girls knew exactly what was going on—well, at least the older ones. Even Geoff was looking at her funny. With a slight growl of annoyance, Marina glared at the children watching and listening to them so intently. Of course, all that did was make them giggle harder.

“Mr. Bow, let’s go fishing,” Marina called.

In a flash, the bow flew through the air to her outstretched hand. Turning, she tossed her long braid over her shoulder. She had only taken a few steps before she stopped in her tracks.

“Would you… Would you like to help me catch some fish for dinner?” she asked, looking at Mike over her shoulder.

“Of course I’d love to help you! What kind of man turns down the offer of a fishing trip with a beautiful witch?” he teased.

“A smart one if he doesn’t want to have to clean the wiggling, disgusting things,” Mr. Bow retorted.

A surprised look appeared on Mike’s face before he burst out in a deep, rich laugh that sent a wave of need through Marina. How could a man’s laugh make her want to strip him out of his clothing and do wild things to him? She softly groaned when she heard the laughter of the children again. Focusing on where she was going, she strode across the encampment toward a path that led down to the river.

“Marina,” Mike said, following her down the winding path. “Marina, wait.”

Marina stopped. She held her back stiff and her head high. Turning on her heel, she faced Mike. Confusion, frustration, and another emotion she didn’t understand warred inside her.

“What is it?” she demanded.

Mike drew to a stop in front of her. Lifting his hand, he gently pulled free a long piece of straw that had become tangled in her hair. He held it up, twirling it between his fingers.

“This…,” he said before bending down to brush a kiss across her lips. “And that.”

Her eyelids lowered to conceal her confusion. Once again, she felt a need rising inside her—a need to touch him, to kiss him, and to be close with him in a way she had never been with a man before. Her magic reached out to wrap around him. She could see the spirals of her aura curling outward.

“Mike….”

Her voice faded. She honestly didn’t know what to say to him. How did she explain the rush of emotions filling her whenever she thought of him when she didn’t understand them herself?

“I know, Marina. I feel it too,” he said, cupping her cheek and bending down to brush another kiss across her lips.

“Fishing—that is what we are supposed to be doing, correct? Or were you planning on using Mike’s worm instead?” Mr. Bow dryly commented.

A wave of embarrassment swept through Marina, and she lifted her bow and shook it. “I should use you as firewood,” she threatened, holding up her bow so she could glare at it. “How Mother ever allowed Father to give you to me is beyond rational thought. You are completely incorrigible!”

“My personality comes naturally, of course. All elder trees are born with a dry sense of humor,” Mr. Bow retorted.

“I’m so sorry,” Marina said with an apologetic grimace to Mike. “I really have no control over what Mr. Bow says.”

Mike chuckled. “I can imagine having Mr. Bow can make life very interesting at times,” he replied, stepping next to her and threading his fingers through her hand.

“You have no idea,” she mumbled.

A shiver ran through her when he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. She briefly closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. For just a little while, she wanted to forget everything else but them.

“Fishing, Marina. It will be dark soon,” Mr. Bow reminded her.

“I know, Mr. Bow,” Marina reluctantly said, releasing the breath in a sigh and pulling back from Mike.