by Becca Van
The tension began to ease when he saw the dark tinges diminishing and the paleness of Zara’s face receded, returning to a more normal color. He wasn’t sure their mate was out of the woods yet, but at least whatever had been spreading through her system was waning.
Sab opened his eyes when Ra spoke. His loud deep voice seemed so much more in such a confined space. “One of the demonic managed to poison her.”
“How?” Set snapped out his question. “She’s been here with us the whole time. Those fuckers aren’t able to get in here either. You made sure of that.”
“Has she eaten or drunk anything?”
“The only thing she’s had that we haven’t is a glass of wine.” Sab answered.
“Get it.”
Sab raced from the room, grabbed the nearly full bottle of wine from the counter, and raced back. He didn’t have to look back to know that the others were following him. The moment he stepped back into the room, Ra took the bottle from him, lifted it to his nose, and sniffed.
“This is tainted,” Ra said and then looked over at Zara before meeting everyone’s gaze. The others were crowded just inside the doorway.
“What’s going on?” Paser asked. “What’s wrong with Zara?”
“She’s going to be fine, now,” Ra answered. “You need to stop getting your food and drink delivered. The shadows won’t be able to poison your supplies if they don’t know where you’re going to get it from. Make sure you go to different stores and don’t go on the same day when you do go out to buy things.”
“You think one of the demonic has managed to take over a human?” Mit asked.
“That’s the only possibility. They can’t use their powers from the underworld to taint things, only people, but only if they’ve stolen part of the human’s soul.”
“When is this shit going to end?” En asked as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m getting sick of fighting Apep’s minions all the time.”
Ra crossed his arms over his chest, but he nodded at En. “I know, but as long as Apep is in existence there will always be a need to fight. However, you will all be rewarded for your loyalty and care of the humans.”
“How are you going to—ˮ Mit began to ask but Ra cut him off.
“You will all find your mates.” Ra smirked when Mit’s mouth dropped open with astonishment.
The sun god turned back to the bed and placed his hand on Zara’s forehead. “Let you mate sleep through the night. When she awakens all will be well.” He moved his hand from her brow and placed it on the plaster cast covering her wrist and lower arm. The plaster disappeared and Sab watched in awe as the swelling went down and the bruising vanished. Sab looked at Ra when the deity straightened. “The break is no more.”
Ra walked toward the door and eyed the other sentinels with what looked like satisfied glee. Sab wanted to ask, but decided if the sun god wanted them to know things then he would tell them. Sab didn’t have to wonder for long.
“When you claim her, mark her by taking some of her blood.” Sab and the others didn’t get to ask Ra any questions, because he was gone before he could open his mouth. He glanced over at Set but his friend was staring at Zara.
The others began leaving and as Wen was closing the door behind him, he met Sab’s gaze. “You’re lucky you found her first. If I had, she would be mine already.”
Sab took a step toward his friend and growled but Wen quickly shut the door. His chuckle of mirth had him realizing he’d just been baited and caught. He turned back to the bed, stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed next to Zara.
Set rose, did the same, and got in on the other side of their mate. Zara sighed and turned onto her side, snuggling up to him as she draped an arm over his waist and rested her head in the crook of his arm and chest.
Set shifted until his front was pressed to Zara’s back and he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Do you think she’ll accept us?”
Sab lifted his head to meet his best friend’s gaze. He was feeling very optimistic so he smiled and nodded, before lowering his head back to the pillow.
“I hope you’re right, Sab.”
“Ra wouldn’t have sent us to her if she wasn’t perfect for us.”
“Yeah, but we’ve had thousands of years to deal with this shit. Zara’s only really had just over twenty four hours.”
“But she’s handling it well.”
“Way better than I ever expected,” Set said.
“As much as I hate that she’s been dealing with the demonic in her sleep, I think that helped her to accept everything. Plus, Ra talking to her facilitated things.”
“Do you think she’ll freak when we tell her we have to drink a bit of her blood?”
“That’s a good question, but we won’t be able to get the answer till the morning.” Sab kissed the top of Zara’s head and ran his hand down her thigh. He had wanted to strip her clothes off but didn’t feel right doing that to her when she wasn’t conscious. They were going to need to take her home to pick up her things, or take her shopping for something to wear.
Since nothing could be done or answered now, Sab relaxed his body, slowed his breathing, and tried to sleep.
Hopefully tomorrow they would have more answers.
Chapter Seven
Zara sighed and stretched her cramped muscles, then immediately stilled when she felt warm, hard bodies on either side of her. She didn’t remember coming to bed and she wondered why she was still in her clothes.
Her eyes popped open and although she was surprised to find them in bed with her, she wasn’t surprised to see that it was Sab and Set. Set’s eyes were open and he was scrutinizing her face. He must have felt her tense or heard her deep inhalation because he lifted his gaze to hers.
“How are you feeling, baby?”
“Fine.” She frowned when she saw the concern lingering in his eyes.
Sab snuggled in her back, nuzzling his nose against the sensitive skin just below her ear. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
It took her a few moments to remember feeling sick to her stomach and the excruciating pain in her wrist and arm. She knew she’d vomited but everything was hazy after that.
“My arm was hurting bad and I got sick.” Zara tried to recollect more but nothing else would come. “I wasn’t sick on you two, was I?”
“No, honey, but we had to call Ra to heal you.” Sab shifted up onto his elbow.
Zara pushed herself up until she was leaning against the headboard. “You did? Why?”
“The wine you drank was cursed,” Set moved until he, too, was sitting against the headboard.
Zara’s mouth nearly dropped open when she saw the muscular expanse of his bare chest. He was so toned his pecs looked like they would have no give if she dared to reach out and touch him, and although she refrained it was a near thing. Her arm was already moving toward him, but she stopped herself before it was too late.
“My wrist doesn’t hurt.” She waved her arm and flexed it. The bruising and swelling were no more, and the cast was gone. Nothing she did caused any pain. When she realized what Set had said she stared at him before glancing at Sab as he too, pushed further up the bed. “What do you mean the wine was cursed?”
“One of the demonic shadows has to have escaped from the underworld and taken over a human body. We get our food and drink delivered from the same place every week. The demon must have found out where we placed our order and tainted the wine,” Sab explained.
“So they know where I am?” Zara swallowed as she looked Sab’s chest over. Both men had a familiar tattoo on their upper left pecs. When she looked at Sab’s mark and then Set’s she was sure that there was a faint golden glow to their skin.
Set shifted until he was turned toward her and cupped her cheek. His gaze was full of determined intent and she felt a little of her fear wane. “We won’t let them get you, baby. They’ll have to go through us first.”
“How can you promise something like that? You can’t
invade my dreams and keep those…things out.”
“Actually we can.” Sab moved a little down the bed, kneeling next to her hip and facing her.
“How?”
“If you agree to mate with us we will be connected to you at all times,” Set explained.
“How is that possible?” Zara frowned, not sure what he was talking about.
“Ra told us that we will need to bite you and mark you. He didn’t say anything beyond that but just before Ra left, our minds were flooded with information.” Sab reached out and clasped one of her hands.
Set took up where Sab left off. “We will need to drink a little of your blood.”
Zara didn’t even know she was going to move until she was off the bed. She’d had no idea she could move so fast.
Sab slowly got off the bed and took a step toward her but stopped when she held up her hand, warding him off.
“You drink blood?” Zara hated the way her voice trembled but after seeing their fangs she began to wonder if they were vampires after all and had lied to her.
They had told her all this before, but she couldn't get her mind around them taking blood from her. The thought just totally grossed her out, but not because they would have to bite her. That thought sent desire humming through her body. What grossed her out was the fear that if she mated with them, she would have to drink blood, too. She was scared (not really), and she knew they would hurt her. However, she was anxious over the fact of them drinking her blood and draining her dry. Even if they didn’t mean to. She’d read some erotic romance stories about that sort of thing happening, and since she didn’t know them very well, she was trepidatious.
“No,” Set answered as he rolled from the bed and came to stand beside Sab. “Not the way you mean, anyway.”
“Explain it to me then.” Zara bit back a gasp of hunger when she noticed Set was only in a pair of boxers. She tried to keep her eyes from wandering, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Both he and Sab were so damn—muscular and sexy. Her gaze landed on his crotch, and she crossed her arms when her nipples hardened, hoping neither of them had noticed.
“If you allowed it and accepted us as your mates, while making love to you we would bite at the curve of your neck and shoulder and take a small sip of blood. We would be connected to you on a very deep level. Our emotions would be yours and yours ours. We would be able to find you at the ends of the earth and we will also be able to communicate with you in our minds.” Set took another step forward so that he was within touching distance.
“Our souls would be bound together for eternity, Zara,” Sab said in a quiet voice.
“Are you telling me that I would be like you are?”
“Not quite.” Set sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Zara’s heart clenched when she saw uncertainty in his gaze as he met her eyes again. To see such vulnerability in a strong, dominant man made her fall for him a little more, and there was no doubt in her mind or heart that she had started to care for them from the moment they’d helped her up from the pavement.
“You would be stronger, healthier, heal faster and your senses would be enhanced. You won’t get fangs that I know of, although that's a possibility, but you will also live as long as we do. I don’t know all the facts other than what Ra allowed us to, and knowing him, he left out information on purpose. I'm sure we don't know everything and add in the fact I've never been mated before…your guess is as good as ours.“
Zara’s mind was spinning with questions. There were so many things she wanted to ask but the first and foremost was something she’d dreamed about since she was a little girl. “Will I be able to have children? And if I am, will they stay babies or will they grow at the same pace as a human child?”
“Yes and yes,” a deep booming voice echoed around the room, making her jump. She squealed and threw herself into Sab’s arms, sighing with relief when he caught her and lifted her against his chest.
“Geez, give a girl a bit of warning next time, Ra.” Zara felt Sab tense but when Ra boomed out a loud laugh he relaxed again.
“Stop delaying the inevitable, Zara Barry, and let them claim you. They are already in your heart.”
Zara ducked her head, hiding her face in Sab’s neck as a blush stole up her cheeks. She was going to have to have words with the sun god and tell him to keep his mouth shut. There were some things that a girl just needed to keep to herself and how she felt about Set and Sab was one of those things. At least until she was ready to speak of what she was feeling herself.
“You’re right, Zara. I’m sorry. I will leave you to deal with your mates,” Ra said.
“Keep out of my damn head,” Zara muttered.
Set placed his hand on her shoulder. “You really shouldn’t talk to Ra…”
Ra laughed again. “I like you, human. The sentinels need to take a page out of your book. Till we talk again.”
The hair on Zara’s arms stood up and a surge of power washed over her and then faded. She knew that the sun god was truly gone this time.
“What did he mean by that?” she asked, looking up at Sab.
“I think he meant that we treat him with such deference that he was refreshed by your bluntness and honesty.” Set gave her a chagrined smile.
“Oh.”
“You are special, Zara,” Set said in a whisper.
“No, I'm not.”
“You are.” Set nodded. “I can count on one hand the amount of times Ra has spoken to us over the last five thousand years, and he only appeared to us twice in person. One of those times was right before we met you. Now he's talking to you and popping in whenever he likes. It's…astonishing.”
“So is what he said true?” Sab asked impatiently. Zara could hear hopefulness in his tone.
“About what?” She hedged and stepped from between them, hoping to get away from them before they saw how hard her nipples were. She nearly stumbled when she remembered them telling her about their enhanced senses and hoped they couldn’t smell her arousal.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, honey.”
Zara stiffened when a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back against a warm hard body. She moaned when she felt the ridge of his hard dick pressing against her lower back and although she tried to remain still, she was fighting a losing battle.
She hadn’t even noticed she’d closed her eyes until Set palmed her cheek. Her lids lifted and she stared up into his hungry gaze. “You can fight and deny it all you want, but we can smell the need on you, baby.”
Zara licked her lips and when he lowered his head down to hers it took everything she had not to grip the back of his head to make him move faster. She whimpered with excited anticipation when his soft lips brushed over hers and then nearly growled with frustration when he began to speak.
“Say yes, Zara. Tell us you’ll mate with us. Tell us that you’ll let us mark you and spend eternity with you, loving you,” Set demanded.
She closed her eyes for a brief second and knew the moment she opened them again he could see the answer in her gaze.
“Tell me,” he commanded.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Set opened his mouth over hers, his tongue pressed between her lips and teeth and she was lost. Lost in his taste, touch and need for him and Sab. His tongue twirled around and then rubbed along hers before he explored every inch of her mouth.
Sab pushed one of his hands beneath her shirt, caressing her belly and moving up toward her chest. She moaned and then whimpered when Set drew her tongue into his mouth and began sucking on it. She went up in flames, liquid heat coursing through her veins until she felt as if she was about to melt into a puddle.
A groan of pleasure erupted from her when Sab cupped her bra-clad breast as he began to nibble on her neck, but was muffled by Set’s mouth. Her knees buckled when Set’s hand delved into her panties and cupped her wet pussy, the only reason she remained upright because of Sab’s arm around her waist.
>
The moment Set lifted his mouth from hers, she wanted it back. She was already reaching for him when Sab scooped her off her feet and carried her to the bed. He gently placed her on the mattress and began to remove her clothes. When she was naked both men shucked their boxers and got up beside her. Her breathing was shallow and fast but she couldn’t regulate it. Not when there were two god-like specimens of masculinity right beside her and they were hers. Hers to touch, kiss, and love.
Zara’s heart filled so fast and full with warmth it felt like it was about to overflow. It didn’t matter anymore that she’d known these two handsome, sexy men, demigods, sentinels—whatever—for only a few short hours. What mattered was that she listened to her heart and body. Her body knew what it wanted and had never reacted this way to any other man in her young life, and neither had her soul. They felt right and made her feel complete in ways no other person ever had and she wasn’t about to walk away and spend the rest of her life wondering “what if.”
All that was left to do was to complete the mating and she would know for sure how they felt about her. And even if they didn’t care for her as much as she did for them, consequences be damned. She would deal with that later because right now she was so hungry, needy for them she felt as if she would die if they didn’t make love to her.
Set leaned over her, cupped her face, and then bent until their lips were pressed together. She opened to him without any hesitation and moaned as his tongue glided along hers. She kissed him back just as passionately as he was kissing her. He tasted so good. He tasted of passion and man and she couldn’t get enough.
When her lungs began to burn she broke the kiss and gasped for air and then she was gasping for another reason. Sab pushed her legs apart and smoothed his hands up her thighs until his thumbs were on her pussy lips. She groaned at the pleasurable sensations and then whimpered as his fingers slid between her folds, spreading the cream leaking from her cunt up to her clit.
“You’re so fucking wet,” Sab said in a growly voice. “I need to taste your honey.”
