by Scott, Amber
“Better?” he asked, his voice deliciously throaty between wet kisses on her neck.
“God, yes,” she panted. She pressed her hips against him, her hands digging into the front of his pants. So close. Another inch lower and she’d be able to grasp his erection.
His hips inched away. “I’m glad,” he said. She could feel him grin against her skin. “But I won’t be cruel.”
“Cruel? No, no. Not cruel,” she insisted, pulling him closer, reaching downward. She couldn’t let him pour water over the fire he’d ignited.
“Sadie,” he groaned.
A thread of lucidity penetrated her haze. “What is it?”
“I’m relieving your pain. But we have to stop.”
“Stop? No!” But his eyes searched hers, making her think harder. “Oh, wait. I get it. Like how sex helps migraines?”
“Not sex. Lust.”
“Sex, lust, whatever you want to call it, it’s working. You’re curing my full body migraine. Don’t stop.”
He pulled her hand away. “This isn’t a migraine and we cannot have sex,” he said.
His words hurt but she’d be damned if she’d show it. She sat up. “Why not, exactly?”
“Because unlike a human, I can control my primal instincts. Because it violates immortal code. Because it will complicate matters in the extreme when you’ve transformed and your reaction to me changes.”
This went beyond physical attraction. Something far deeper pulled her to him. She couldn’t let go. “Tell me you don’t want me, too, Elijah.” Sadie arched ever so slightly, tipping her head so as to allow her hair to spill over her shoulder. “Look me in the eye and tell me you feel nothing.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want. Or what I feel.” Determination shone in his gaze. “I won’t make you suffer.”
“Isn’t it up to me what I’m willing to suffer?”
“You’ll regret it, Sadie.”
Sadie sat up onto her knees and leaned in as he backed away. “I thought I already explained this part. I’m a grown woman, remember? It isn’t up to you what I regret or don’t.”
Elijah grinned again. “I like this side of you.”
“What side?”
“This audacious side.”
His smile spread wider and lit her insides. She’d never seen him smile, she realized, not like that. Not at the library, even from afar. Hope bloomed in her heart.
“Though it is a venture in futility.”
Sadie’s mouth fell open. “Futility?”
Elijah chuckled deeper. He was enjoying this!
“What happens when the pain starts again?” she said, scooting closer. “I know you feel it too. What happens if you can’t stop?”
Elijah’s eyes flashed. His gaze swept over her. But he didn’t deny what she said. A new shudder snuck closer. Her bravado faltered. Amusement danced in his eyes. And something more.
Sadie closed the inches between them. When she reached for him, he didn’t pull away. Neither did he look away. His hot skin tingled her palms as she slid both hands up his bare chest.
Her heart pounded. Her thighs trembled. His gorgeous scent enveloped her and she let go of her final thread of uncertainty. Her lips met his but he didn’t move to return her kiss. Recognition sparkled through her. Her body knew his somehow, at once comforted by and starved for it.
His hands roved up her stomach, pulling the edge of her blouse up. A small moan escaped her. A different kind of pain formed. Pain from wanting something so badly it hurt.
She teased his lower lip between her teeth, leaning closer. Ticklish heat swarmed down her belly, gathering between her thighs. Elijah’s thumbs rubbed over her bra making her nipples and her need tighten.
On a hope-filled gasp, Sadie moaned. She jerked. Another painful shudder snapped through her, then faded. She wanted to drown in his scent, in the feel of his arms, of his lips. But to properly seduce him, she had to maintain a measure of control. She suckled each lip, gently exploring closer, farther into his mouth, the heat within driving her mad.
Hating to rob her hands of his hard, contoured body, she paused long enough to pull off her shirt. She met the challenge in his stare with her bra following. Holding his gaze, she brought his hands to her breasts. He squeezed them, massaging her nipples.
She returned to his mouth and delved her tongue inside. His tongue met hers, wet and soft. Pleasure pulsed between her thighs, a flash of hot moisture. But she felt him holding back.
“You taste so good, Elijah,” she whispered between her hungry kisses. “You feel so good,” she said and let her hands roam downward.
His kiss shifted pace. His tongue began to dance with hers, his lips meeting hers more hungrily. Heat and need coiled down her belly, tightening lower and lower. Her hips craved his. She pressed forward, twisting, searching for satisfaction he alone could give.
Elijah groaned into her mouth. Her mind rejoiced. Her body tingled. Whatever control she’d held onto dissolved along with the last shred of pain.
He shifted her closer, straddling her body over his. Sadie gasped but the breath was lost inside their mouths. She’d never imagined something so heady, so delicious existed. Dreams couldn’t compare.
His sinewy muscle, his supple skin. She pressed her naked breasts to his hot chest. He pulled her hips, gripping her ass. His hard cock pressed at her core, imprisoned by clothing. She couldn’t get enough. A seed of desperation sprouted in her depths. She wanted him so badly. All coherent thought scattered. Only sensation existed.
Which possibly accounted for Sadie not hearing someone come in. An outraged gasp sounded from the door. Elijah broke their kiss.
“No,” Sadie said.
He cleared his throat. Holly stood in the doorway and she was literally on fire. Smoke blazed off of her, flames leaping from her hair. Sparks flying. Sadie blanched, covering herself.
Elijah scrambled to his feet so fast Sadie lost her balance and toppled back into pillows and bedding. Her muscles protested, spiking in pain. “Holly, it isn’t what you think,” Elijah said.
“Oh? And what am I supposed to think? That you’re not violating about a hundred immortal codes? I know you feel sorry for her, Elijah, but isn’t this taking it a little far?”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.” He stood up, yanking his shirt on. “And it isn’t your concern.” His stance matched his words. “Calm down before your fire becomes actual flames. The human realm won’t contain your rage.”
Sadie made her way to the edge of the bed, ready to snatch her bra and run if Holly flamed any closer.
“Calm down?” Sparks sprayed from Holly’s hands. “How am I supposed to calm down?”
Oh crap. Miraculously, nothing had caught fire so far, but something soon would.
“By not jumping to conclusions, to start. And by remembering, you could easily hurt her.”
Holly glared at Sadie. Heat flashed over Sadie’s scalp, up her spine. Completely unnerved, sweating on the inside or not, Sadie defiantly jutted her chin out.
“I warn you, Holly,” Elijah said, his voice as chilly as Holly’s anger was hot. “Stop this.”
After a long moment, Holly looked away. Sadie’s sweating stopped.
“She’s transforming. We want this, remember?” He walked to Holly. “The attraction relieves the pain of the change.”
Though she snorted derisively, Holly’s flames remained tamped, the tendrils of smoke vanishing. Sadie shook with trepidation.
“There, that’s better,” Elijah soothed.
Holly’s glare faltered. “I’m sorry.”
“Look. We’re all under a great deal of pressure. Let’s remember we’re on the same team, okay?”
Holly nodded. “Astrid wants her to rest.” She left, sending Elijah a wistful, worried glance over her shoulder before softly closing the door.
“Astrid is right. You need rest. As soon as you can, we’ll explore what progress you’ve made. Has the pain receded?”
“Depend
s. Do I get more medicine?”
“You’re too much.” Elijah’s laughter echoed off the walls. “I’ll give you this, Sadie Graves. You’re taking all this in far better stride than I ever would.”
“Thanks. Tell my sister. She needs to hear it.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Mortals are close-minded creatures.”
“Immortals aren’t?”
“Depends on the immortal.” He headed for the door. “Now rest.”
“Elijah?”
He paused.
Uncertainty lay heavy in her chest. She had to ask. “Is Holly…are you two…?”
His gaze roved from her toes to her eyes, then looked away. “Holly’s like a sister to me.”
Sadie shivered. “Oh,” she said to the empty room. “Good.” Her muscles felt watery and loose from the lingering effects of her lust, not quite dissipated. “Because it’s not nice to steal.”
But if she had to, she would.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Sixteen
She couldn’t stand to be in this room a minute longer. Two days of rest had driven her stir crazy. Being constantly checked on didn’t help matters. Neither did the fact that the shudders stopped.
Thereby no more make-out sessions with Elijah.
“I’m fine,” Sadie said, looking from Elijah to Astrid. She’d glance at Holly as well, but Holly was staring out the window. “My scars and my shoulders ache but that’s nothing new. What comes next? What about the safe house being compromised?”
Every other thought contained a new plot to get Elijah alone. Would he know if she faked pain?
She wanted him to come to her willingly, though. Not as an anesthetic, a duty.
“I haven’t sensed any threat. Whoever was following us must have lost our trail when we split up. Astrid, can you tell how far she’s developed?”
Astrid’s mouth down turned as she preformed her hands to temple trick. Sadie could hardly sit still for it. Elijah being so close made her whole body buzz with awareness.
Stupid magnetism.
Holly’s sparky presence didn’t help. The bronze skinned beauty’s low-slung pants bared toned hips and caramel skin. Cleavage shoved out of the bustier top and at least distracted the eye from her infomercial abs.
Sadie vowed, first chance she got, she’d shred her cotton pajamas and every last smiley face on them.
Holly was like a sister to him. Yeah. A hot, stunning sister who was in no way blood related and definitely wanted him. Great.
Astrid shook her head, her hands releasing Sadie’s face.
“Well, well, what have we here?” Lyric sauntered in. He approached Sadie like a predator, making her tense.
A blurry image of a snowy cliff, blood red splashed on white covered craggy rock, flashed in her mind. Her head stabbed with pain. She winced.
“That’s enough, Lyric” Elijah said.
The picture vanished. Sadie blinked. “What was that? Is that supposed to mean something?”
“It doesn’t mean anything.” Elijah shot Lyric a warning look. “Lyric’s testing his gifts on you, to see how you manage. We’re trying to ascertain your progress.”
“My gifts? How droll,” Lyric said and drew closer. “I can feed you far more than that little morsel, Sadie.”
A new image filled Sadie’s mind. The ocean. With it, the smell, the feel of the spray on her cheeks. On more than her cheeks. She could feel the salty mist over her entire body as though she lay naked in the hot sun. Then she saw Lyric above her, his black hair tied back, his bare chest, muscles rippling as he bent and whispered in her ear.
Sadie gasped and it was gone, leaving her shaky and wondering what he’d been about to say.
Elijah’s jaw muscle twitched as he eyed Lyric. “Lyric doesn’t simply give, however. He also takes.”
The two men exchanged a dark look. The sensation in her head that came next couldn’t be termed painful exactly, but strange and wrong all the same. Warm and violating. Sadie took another step back, putting her hands up in defense. Lyric stopped. “My, my, Sadie. I wouldn’t have pegged you for such a wild thing. But I like the hummingbird. It suits you.” He winked.
“Stay out of my head,” Sadie said, feeling far more exposed. The tiny bird inked on her hip was more than a teenaged rebellion. It represented her mother, flying away home. “If I haven’t had any pain and our location is safe, I want out of this room.”
“Don’t worry,” Elijah said and stood close enough that she could feel his warmth. “I’ll show you how to block feeders, how to detect them. And once you’re no longer human, he won’t crave toying with you so much. But not today. Small steps, agreed?”
Lyric rolled his eyes and strode away.
“If she wants out to play,” Holly said, turning from the window. “I say we show her the game.”
They led her to the large, high ceilinged room straight out of a Regency romance novel. Holly’s expression showed nothing but nice. But wariness trickled into Sadie’s belly.
Holly strode to the center of the marble laden room where, in a blur, Lyric joined her. Elijah sat on the arm of a brocade settee along the room’s perimeter. A tingle raced over Sadie’s skin. Anticipation. Her attention zeroed in on the pair of immortals, wondering what was about to start.
“Don’t let the term ‘immortal’ fool you. We can be destroyed.” Elijah nodded to Holly and Lyric.
Holly spun fast, leapt and high kicked at Lyric’s face. The feeder evaded her, moving so rapidly that Sadie had difficulty tracking him. Holly did better, whirling to meet him, chopping an arm through empty air in time to make contact. A loud snap cracked in the air. Sparks scattered over the floor. Lyric’s answering laugh echoed in the large, grand room. In a flash, Holly landed flat on her back with a grunt. She curled into a ball and flames spiraled out of her. The distinctive sound of singeing met Sadie’s ears.
“A little rusty, are we?” Lyric called out, sweating, but not otherwise affected by the licking flames.
A new hissing sounded from Holly. Blue light shot out of her palms. She missed.
Lyric chuckled and dodged another spiraling shot, landing in an arced somersault leap. The chandelier shook. Sadie did her best to keep her mouth from hanging open, her eyes from bulging.
“What is she?” Sadie asked.
“An elemental. She prefers fire but can manipulate other elements, draws power from them.”
“And me? What will I fight with?”
At some point, Astrid had quietly joined them. She sat cross-legged on the arm of the sofa, next to Elijah. “With a messenger,” he said. “Talent can vary dramatically. Some read objects, others get visions, others channel. It is difficult to predict, pardon the pun.”
The floor shook again as Lyric crashed onto his back. Holly slammed down on top of his chest with both knees. He grabbed her thighs, tossed her into a spin, rolled aside and back-flipped to his feet. He sent Sadie a wink. “Ready for a taste, sweetling?”
Sadie gulped. “How am I supposed to protect myself from fire and ice and emotional theft with a flimsy vision?”
“We don’t know yet,” Elijah added, less than enthusiastically. “Possibly simply by predicting your opponent’s behavior. Remember when you shocked me? That might indicate a power.”
“Not really. I mean, I don’t know how I did it, if that’s what you’re getting at.” She felt like the shockwaves had turned inward, too, and now were gone. But why explain what she didn’t understand?
Astrid got up, nodding to Holly. Holly smacked Lyric in the gut as she left the floor, Astrid taking her place.
“Flirt,” Lyric called after Holly.
“How in the world can humans not notice fire and transporting and a man moving so fast he’s a blur?” Her eyes held to the scene. Astrid approached Lyric with eerie coolness.
“The human brain is at an evolutionary stage of protection from pain. That which it cannot explain, it dismisses. Or gives it a story. And we aren’t meant to stay in this rea
lm. The less we do, the less we put at risk. To both realms.”
“Where is the other realm?”
“Parallel to this one, masked by an energetic line, anchored by vortexes. It’s basic quantum physics.”
Vortexes and energy. Sure. Real simple. Sadie put it on a mental waiting list along with a few dozen other facts she didn’t comprehend and watched the face-off.
Joining them at the sofa, Holly playfully bumped her hip against Elijah. “Elijah, you make humans sound like dumb animals.” She smiled too warmly at Sadie. “Don’t worry. Humans aren’t stupid. Just different. And you never know, one day….”
Astrid came to a stop in front of Lyric, reached out and trailed a finger down his jaw line. Lyric winced. “You’ll have to try harder than that, m’dear. The thing about going vampire and back again, it desensitizes the heart.”
Lyric’s eyes narrowed on Astrid. Her lower lip trembled but she didn’t back down. Then Lyric gasped, falling to his knees. Astrid smiled wickedly, patted him on the head, then returned to the sofa. Sadie exhaled her held breath and made a mental note to never cross the healer.
“Your turn,” Holly said to Sadie.
Her chipper tone grated Sadie’s nerves, but she returned the smile and strode to face Lyric, despite the quake in her knees. They hated her. They saw her as weak.
“Don’t worry, sweetling,” Lyric said. “I’ll be gentle. I promise.”
Sadie took the one form she knew. A kickboxing pose, legs apart, fists up. She ignored Holly’s muffled giggle from the sofa. She might not know how to shoot flames, but she knew how to punch and kick. Lyric merely stood there, staring at her in a strange, intense way she was beginning to recognize.
The earlier image of the beach flashed back into her mind. The sun, the breeze, Lyric about to whisper in her ear. Sadie blocked it, refusing to hear him, ignoring the tingle behind her earlobe. She fought back the only way she could guess at, by conjuring her own image. She recalled yesterday, Elijah’s mouth on hers, his hands gripping her ass, the smell, the sound, the feel of his rock hard—.
