Escape from Solara

By Dana Lyons

A Seer and a Time Traveler
are forbidden to mate.
So . . .
Do you give up love?
Or go on the run?
In the land of Solara, power defines each citizen. Women are seers, shape shifters, witches and alchemists. Men hold their own as sorcerers and time travelers. As with all power, there must be rules, and on Solara the rules are not to be broken … except on the eve of Saham, the one night of the year when men and women of power are allowed to shun their restraints. 
Saham, a celebration of passion where Solarans don a mask and mingle as equals, producing new magic, new dynasties … new futures.
As a seer, Celeste lives a life of restriction, forbidden to leave Solara, forbidden to ride the waves of time, forbidden to venture to other worlds. And most of all, forbidden to love a time traveler. What she wants is the freedom to be with her lover, Paladin.
But their joining is against all the laws of Solara. Only she must find a way to escape the trap of her impending marriage to the sorcerer Brachus, and find a life of love for her and Paladin.

Enjoy this steamy novella as our time travelers roam the Winds of Time from dimension to dimension, escaping Brachus, delivering Hope, saving those who need their help, including Santa Claus!
From Utopia to Steampunk Land, their adventures are always unique!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dana Lyons
• Release date: Jan 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386255246

Book preview

1

CELESTE AND PALADIN

Celeste, it is forbidden for a seer and a time traveler to mate!

I know, Celeste hissed sharply. She glanced at her friend, Mira, but quickly looked away, fearing Mira would see through her ruse. Mira must not discover, nor could anyone else know, of the visions Celeste received over the last twelve months. These visions, of her and Paladin locked in embrace, were against Solara law, as was her love for him as a time traveler.

I can’t believe you speak of this when you are intended for Brachus, Mira argued. The sorcerer is set to have you.

Brachus was a problem with a simple answer—Celeste could never be with him. But the forbidden pairing of a her and Paladin was strictly against Solara law. Needing an answer, she had danced around the problem for the last year while waiting for the morrow’s night of Saham.

She sniffed with disdain and tossed her platinum blond hair over her shoulders. Why should I deny my love for Paladin, just because some flighty old witches made rules centuries ago? What do they have to do with my happiness? How can I spend my life with Brachus when I detest him?

Mira pulled back, her eyes huge with shock. Detest a sorcerer? Do you know what he can do to you? She held a finger of silence to her lips as she looked furtively about. You must release this love, stamp it out, and never think of Paladin again.

She dropped her voice and leaned in to deliver her warning. Pursue him, and you will be branded and turned away from the Council. They will cast you out as a non-believer. Is Paladin worth such a fate? After the branding when you are disfigured, they will still give you to Brachus . . . if he wants you.

Celeste shuddered. Being turned out as a non-believer was a death sentence. The brand would be seared into her cheek, a brutal scar declaring her lawless disregard for the sacred order of life.

I’ll be as good as dead, only still alive, and subject to Brachus’ whims.

Brachus. He would make sure every day was filled with her greatest suffering. Such a fate was terrifying. And yet, living without Paladin terrified her even more. Her future was fraught with uncertainty, a condition unknown to a seer.

The one certainty she held onto was fueled nightly by the visions of her and Paladin embraced in the erotic throes of love. These haunting visions left her with hope, thrilled her with the ecstasy of erotic joy, and challenged her to make it all come true.

Night after night she rode these dreams. What she experienced was not just mental images, but actions fired by physical heat and lust, with burning desire and the straining thrusts of passion. She tried to push Paladin from her mind, from her heart, from her visions. But every night when she closed her eyes, he was there, consuming her body.

Eagerly, she luxuriated in his presence within her mind, filling her heart, filling her body, touching her, taking her to fiery, pulsing orgasms. She blinked to erase the echoes of her visions from her eyes, lest Mira detect how deeply Paladin possessed her.

I cannot stamp out this love—it won’t be denied.

Hence when the visions brought images of them in other places, other times, loving and laughing, carefree and away from the strictures that govern power holders on Solara, her decision was made. Answers to her dilemma came within her forbidden visions, and a plan was born.

Leave Solara. Am I brave enough?

As a seer, she was forbidden to leave Solara, forbidden to ride the waves of time, forbidden to venture to other worlds. As a seer, she was the most coveted and powerful of all, more powerful than a sorcerer or a witch, for she could see that which didn’t exist—the future.

Why would my power bring me visions if not to guide me to my heart’s desire?

She shook her head, refusing to accept defeat. She had worried this problem each day since last year’s Saham celebration where her and Paladin’s love was born with a kiss under the full moon of Ereibos.

I’m committed. But what about Paladin?

Does he feel the same?

Paladin rinsed his face and gazed at his image in the mirror. He was a time traveler, one of the most powerful citizens of Solara, yet he was bound by certain regulations.

Pfft, he snorted with disdain. The pupils in his frosty blue eyes expanded. I’m a time traveler, I navigate outside the boundaries of time and space; why should I be grounded by Solara’s regulations?

He dried his face and turned from the mirror, lamenting. Celeste, how did you take over my life, my mind, my heart?

A year ago, on the full moon of Ereibos, Saham night, she tethered him to her heart with a kiss, damning him forever. By the gods, how I wish I’d never seen her.

He snorted with ridicule for the lie. Such a lie failed to dig her out of his mind and erase her from his memories. But the truth was, his life began in the moment they kissed. To deny her was to condemn himself to a meaningless life. To love her would condemn him to worse.

When he was with her in these nightly visitations, what he experienced was a transformation. One not even a spell or incantation could create, but instead a complete fascination for her developed. Such metamorphosis can only come from the heart.

He looked down, squeezing the bridge of his nose. She had filled his dreams every night since Saham of last year. He didn’t know how this happened, but he had made love to her hundreds of times within these dreams.

Some nights the love was sweet and tender, slow and intoxicating. Other nights, the passion was a torrent of unresolved need, quick and consumptive, filled with cries of joy.

Stop, he commanded. He grabbed his clothing and dressed, flinging the cape off his shoulders. Tomorrow night Saham would be upon them again. He couldn’t wait for the event, yet he deeply dreaded attending. Will I see her? What if I do? What if I don’t?

Pray you don’t. She is forbidden.

Ha, he laughed. That persistent argument rang incompetent against his heart’s longing. He had learned it was impossible to eliminate her from his mind, for each passing of the sun meant another night of loving moved into his heart and mind while he slept. He knew the scent of her heated thighs, the feel of her skin, the way her flesh encased him--

She is forbidden! he barked as he slammed his fist onto the table. The table thrummed with the energy brought against it, vibrating down the legs to rattle against the tile floor. By all the gods, I damn the day we kissed. I will purchase a mask and hide from her tomorrow night. This madness must cease.

But what if I see her?

Then I will kiss her again.

He stormed out the door, his cape billowing in his wake.

Celeste examined her costume for Saham night. She was going as Moonlight, wearing a silver bustier with an asymmetrical front skirt of silver velvet, and a ghostly sheer platinum rear panel revealing her legs and buttocks. A clearly visible dark grey thong split her cheeks into matching pale round moons. The costume was uniquely daring, one she knew Paladin would not be able to resist.

Imagining the look on his face, the way he would smile and reach out to touch her, she let her mind go where it willed. Quickly, desire arose and an erotic coal ignited in her core. She wet one finger and eased her lips apart, stroking her clit; an instant rush of heat flowed down her legs. She wet the finger again and stroked harder; her desire flickered to life thinking of Paladin, imagining his handsome face.

With her free hand, she stroked her thighs and her belly, grabbing at her breasts and pulling at her nipples. She rubbed faster, circling, pushing at her clit until it was swollen and throbbing. Her legs started to shake and she moaned low in her throat. A shot of erotic energy coiled from deep in her belly and exploded outward through her arms and legs. She cried out and collapsed onto her bed.

Spent and gasping with the pulsing energy of her orgasm, her heart slowly returned to normal and her breathing calmed. Just thinking about Paladin unleashed her passions and lit her with erotic fire.

How would I live without him?

Eager for the night’s dreams and mind play to begin, she lay her head on the pillow. She didn’t know the source of these erotic dreams that visited her in her sleep, but they were an otherworld gateway opened by her heart. Tonight, she was especially eager because each dream sequence brought her another piece in the puzzle, a puzzle she must solve before tomorrow night.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She counted down in her mind and began releasing her thoughts, clearing the stage for her heart to call him into her dreams. The sensation of formless drift lifted her away, and she dropped all ties to the physical world.

Even in this state without her body, she instantly knew where he was. She reached out to him, remembering his scent, her hands going through his hair, the soft touch of his lips against hers. Take me, my love.

Formless energy drifted in to fill her arms, wrapping around her with his delicious warmth and spiraling need. She touched him, and the memory of his rigid manhood fleshed out her dream; he was solid in her hands.

His presence excited her mind. She wanted to feel him inside her,