Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1)

by Jennifer Sage

  Her eyes went wide. “My mortal family? Who is Keiren, and why would you want to kiss me?”

  “Well, the ‘why’ part of kissing you should be quite obvious, I would think,” he said as he stroked a hand through her hair, sending a shiver up her spine. “And Keiren was your birth mother.” The wind stopped moving around them. “You can put your feet down now if you wish or I can continue holding you, which would be my particular preference,” he said with a smile so soft that it made her heart flip.

  Her eyes were so wide with shock that she barely noticed that they had reached the ground and were in a canyon of sorts. She put her weight back down on her own two feet and looked around. An enormous waterfall cascaded in the corner of the canyon and a gentle stream trickled slowly throughout it. He lifted his hand and a fire began burning in a pit nearby, illuminating what the moon couldn’t reach around them.

  Deciding to let the fire thing go since this was obviously part of her fantasy-lover image, she went for the more obvious question burning in her mind. “M-my mother? But my mother and father have been dead for years,” she said, wounded.

  “Your human parents are dead, yes, and unfortunately, your paternal father is as well. But not your mother. She’s very much alive. She just sleeps until the prophecy is fulfilled.”

  Isabel shook her head. “How do you know about my parents, and what are you talking about? A prophecy? We’re getting close to this being a nightmare again.”

  He looked at her intensely, as if debating his words internally before speaking to her. That always made her irritated. If you have something to say to someone, you should just say it, not try to find the appropriate words. Meanings get lost that way.

  “Well, I would be happy to alter that perception for you. And, of course, answer all the other questions that I can afterwards,” he said, a smile creeping into his emerald eyes.

  “And how exactly would you do that, Bodhe?”

  In a blink of her eyes he was against her body, his lips pressing against her own in a lingering, soft kiss. A beastly sound came from him as his lips touched hers that made her damn toes curl, and she wasn’t certain if it was her or him that was trembling. He explored her mouth slowly, taking his time lavishing her with a kiss like she had never known. Their tongues danced in time with his hand kneading her lower back, and her own hands took the liberties of finding his chest and enjoying the way the muscles flexed beneath her touch. Just the feel of his hard, smooth skin beneath her fingertips was overwhelming, and she realized that even in a dream she was seriously lacking skills. She reached her hands up to the long mane of hair that cascaded from him, getting tangled in the snowy softness. So many questions melted away beneath the fire of his touch. In fact, everything melted away. Her breaths were short and ragged when she got one at all, and his were all but consuming her.

  “Isabel,” he moaned into her mouth, “you have no idea how long I’ve waited for you…for that.” His head dipped lower, his teeth grazing her neck and sending electric currents from her throat to her stomach.

  “Mmmhmmm,” she managed to barely respond. She felt like she was floating. “Wait until I tell Amele about this dream, she’s never going to believe it.”

  He pulled swiftly away from her, uncertainty in his eyes. “Amele?”

  “Yes, my best friend. The same best friend who thought it would be a hoot to get me smashed last night. I’m guessing that the mixture of starving for attention and excessive alcohol at Pete’s has created this surreal vision, as lovely as it is.”

  He studied her face thoughtfully and swept the pad of his thumb across her cheek. “I’m sure Amele is a very good friend to you, even if I don’t understand the word ‘smashed,’” he said as he grinned. “I must watch some more human movies for insight into your current language. Who is Pete, though?”

  She cocked her head to the side and studied him. He was completely serious, she mused. “Pete owns Pete’s Tavern. It’s a bar that most people go to have fun. I apparently go to get poisoned, ridiculed, and then hallucinate.”

  The muscles in his face tensed slightly. “He is not a suitor then. That gives me great pleasure. And who ridiculed you? I can have them punished, if you wish?”

  Isabel laughed softly for a moment at his words. “No, Pete is definitely not a suitor. Though that term is a bit outdated, Bodhe. And no on the second account too, but I’m almost curious enough to ask what you would do.”

  He just looked at her all serious, and seriously hot. “I would do anything to protect you, physically and emotionally. Say the word and that being shall never speak against you again.” A shadow crossed his face as he spoke the words, even though his ghost of a smile was still there.

  “Could you turn him into a frog?”

  “Well, I could, but there’s not much point in that. As a frog he would never have the brain power to remember he was human and suffer for what he’s done. I require that he suffers, if you require that he atones for any wrongs done to you.”

  Her mouth opened in shock. He was completely serious. Another note to self, do not piss off the gorgeous Sidhe Prince in this dream. Consequences could be very undesirable.

  “You still don’t believe this is real?”

  “Well, of course it’s not. If it were there would be lighting or tornados swarming this incredible landscape by now, attacking you. Not to mention, well, there is no one like you in the real world,” she said, glancing at his beautiful, yet very pointed ears.

  “Would you feel better if I created some lightning?” he asked, his face not holding a hint of humor in it as lightning suddenly danced in the sky in the distance. Her mouth slacked open for a moment and it disappeared.

  “No,” she grinned. “I don’t want you to be struck down for kissing me. That was way too wonderful.”

  “Lightning will not strike me while I’m near you, Isabel, nor will a furious wind come. That will only happen when a human tries to bed you.”

  “Tries to bed me?” She doubled over laughing while he stood there looking curiously at her.

  “Gods, you really have no idea? She left nothing for you then—no way to know who you really are?”

  Isabel sobered up quickly then, the familiar ache in her chest present when she thought of her birth parents. “Who, Bodhe? My mother? No, there is nothing that I know of her. The only parents I’ve ever known died in an accident a few years ago. I was adopted as an infant and they never told me more than that, but they loved me very much, and that’s all I ever needed to know.”

  Which was mostly true. She had searched for her birth mother, of course, after her parents passed away, but there were no records anywhere of her mother or of her actual birth. It’s as if she was never really born at all. She looked at him, beginning to get a little annoyed. She wanted more of his dream kisses, not talk of the dead and thoughts of how she was abandoned at birth. Who could do that to their own child? Just leave them and never return? Why couldn’t she just have a normal sex life, at least in her dreams? Her annoyance grew and she studied the being before her a moment. Fine, he wanted to play games? She’d play.

  “Okay, I’m dreaming. So, tell me about my birth mother and father.” She crossed her hands over her chest and stared at him.

  “Come with me Isabel. I can show you something that may be easier than me trying to explain.”

  Before she could protest he gathered her up in his arms again and flew out into the night. She fought the nausea so she could see her surroundings, but it was difficult to concentrate on anything the way he held her. Her head was cradled against his neck and she couldn’t help herself when she touched him with her lips because of the way he carried her. She could practically taste him like this. Inhaling deeply, she got a rush of scents that coated her tongue with flavor she couldn’t possibly be tasting. God, he tasted like heaven—salty yet sweet—and of the night. Exotic spices and worlds she’d never known teased her senses when she pressed her mouth against him, opening her mouth just enough to be in
appropriate. Why was she inhaling him this way, and how was she tasting what she was breathing in? Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head with intoxication. She never wanted another one of those shots that her a Amele had consumed, but she really wanted to ingest more of Bodhe.

  He groaned and moved her against him so that she could feel the impact of her small touch. He was swollen with passion and she could barely remember that she was scared a moment ago. Hell, at the moment she didn’t even know her name. She didn’t care, either. Looking into his eyes she saw that they were glowing again—the color of the most beautiful green emeralds.

  His head came down to hers with more ferocity this time, nipping at her lips and letting his tongue dart into her mouth. Within moments she felt her back pressed against the soft grass and she moaned gently into his hair as he ravished her neck and consumed her with a need that was way beyond her comprehension.

  “Bodhe,” she said trembling. “I’ve never...”

  “Shhh, Princess, let me savor you for a moment. I’ll not take what you don’t know you’re giving me, I give you my word. I am a being of honor even in the midst of curses and prophesies, and finally being able to touch my greatest gift from the Gods. I’ll never take from you without your knowledge and consent. Not ever.”

  Well, hell. What was she supposed to say to that? She didn’t even care that she didn’t understand half of it, because the beating of her heart nearly out of her chest made it hard to hear or understand anything other than need. She groaned and arched up into his hands as they slid down the thin fabric, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. His head bent down and she could see the veins rippling in his arms as if he were straining to be gentle. Dammit, she didn’t want gentle! Through the fabric he teased her nipples into tight buds with his tongue and his hands ran the length of the dress as he slid it up with a gentleness that belied this being’s obvious strength.

  As he neared her upper thigh he squeezed and paused, seeming to fight some internal battle.

  “Please, Bodhe, don’t stop. I don’t want you to. It’s my dream!” she pleaded with him, eyes frantic and her body burning.

  “I know you don’t, and I don’t want to either. But everything is lost if you’re not aware when this happens. It’s not time, yet. I know she must have left you something. Believe me when I tell you that it’s taking every bit of my immortal soul to resist taking you right now. You. Are. Mine,” he growled, as he pulled down her dress and reached up to kiss her again, laving her mouth like she wanted him to do elsewhere. She let her nails rake his back, the hunger mounting incessantly with each taste of his tongue. “Besides, you are just a wee mortal right now, and I could hurt you,” he said with a little bit of a laugh that set her off on the defensive.

  “Just a wee mortal?! I don’t even understand what that means!” Fighting to regain control of her flickering emotions when it came to him, she pushed him off with a strength that surprised her, and bolted up off the ground. Bodhe was looking at her stunned from the ground. “Why can’t I find some pleasure at least in my dreams? Does my subconscious even think I deserve to be tortured and ridiculed? This is such bullshit! I want out of this insane nightmare, and I want to go home!”

  “No, Isabel. Wait!” She heard screamed from some faraway place as blackness overtook her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Hangovers and Heirlooms

  OH GOD, COULD her head hurt any worse? She groaned painfully as she sat up in bed and the pounding between her temples screamed in protest of the motion. The sweet, nutty aroma of Amele’s special blend swarmed around her. That was a plus at least. She would’ve been disastrous this morning trying to make it herself. She must have made her coffee before she left last night, knowing how badly she would need it. Her best friend seriously rocked, even if she was the reason she felt like shit this morning. Well, mostly. She supposed that she should take some of the credit since she was the one demanding all the fruity shots well after she should have been done. Just the thought of them made her stomach flip.

  What the…? Where were her clothes? Even in her stupor she remembered putting on her pajamas last night. Backwards maybe, but they were on. She scanned her room and saw them up against the far wall on her bamboo chest that held all her journals from over the years. Great, on top of having a faerie lover—excuse her, a Sidhe lover, not a freaking faery…don’t call them that—in her dreams, she was now sleep-stripping as well. This was just fabulous.

  She sat on the bed a moment going through the all too real images of the dream in her mind and reached for her journal that was on the night stand and wrote it out. Well, scribbled nearly illegibly as her head pounded like a drum was more like it. She didn’t want to forget anything though, since she had every intention of going to the library today to see how her subconscious had conjured these images. It had to have been something she’d read at some point. Putting on her robe and deciding against putting her slippers on, she walked slowly to the coffee pot and paused a moment as she noticed the small package that was sitting on the table. She continued to the coffee, she needed that first before she delved into whatever joke this was. With slightly trembling hands and very hazy vision she poured a cup, spruced it up with cream and sugar, and sat down at the table to open the mysterious parcel that had to have someone, somewhere, laughing their asses off at her expense.

  Looking at it now, it really was quite a strange little package. The thick white paper was bound perfectly without tape on all sides, and on the top was her name penned with gold letters. But her last name was missing. ‘Isabel’ is all it said. She turned it over a few times in her hands and then tore the paper open. Her brows furrowed together and she bit her lip. A book? And it looked to be an ancient one at that. It was leather bound—or something that looked, but didn’t quite feel like leather—but there were no words on the outside of the strange tome. Inside, the language was something that she had never seen before. Her heart began pounding in her chest and ears as her fingers grazed over the handwritten words, written in some strange language she’d never encountered before. She almost didn’t notice the piece of paper that protruded from it just slightly in the center. Holding her breath she slipped it out and opened it up, scared to read it, and scared not to. With shaking hands, she gazed down at the perfectly penned letter that was in English, unlike the rest of the book:

  Dearest Isabel,

  I am so sorry I was not able to communicate with you sooner, my love, but I am a bit bound at the moment. I do hope that the first years of your life have been wonderful and carefree—for as you read this now, your world is about to drastically change. I do not know if the dreams have begun yet, but if they have, then certainly you understand the dire need for us to have this conversation; one sided it may be for now. The turning has begun, darling, and though I wish I was able to be there to help you through it, alas I cannot be. I also cannot tell you everything that you need to hear right now either, though I wish with all my heart that I could.

  You are going to have a very difficult decision to make soon. At the rise of the blood moon following your twenty-second birthday you will know who you are and you will no longer be able to remain in the realm which I sent you to. Please know that I gave you what I thought you would want so that you could make this decision after you have lived your mortal youth. I did not want you raised in the immortal realms because you would have been groomed to decide a certain way and though one of them is my home, or was until that terrible day when I was forced to make you safe, I thought it best for you to grow into your own person so that you may have more of a chance to do what is right. You will have to fight the charms that are going to overwhelm you and the only thing that I can tell you is that one of the men fighting for you is the love of your eternal life, and one is not. Just as lightning may strike the earth, so shall your lover strike you with his touch.

  The laws of the curse are clear. I cannot sway you one way or the other and neither can the ones that will be seeking you now that you h
ave reached the age that I bartered for. Watch for the signs, they will be present. And know that even in my weakened state, I am with you in spirit. I long to see you grown, my child, as I’ve longed to see you every day since the day I gave you to the family that I knew would love you when I could not. I have hidden something beneath the earth of your home and I need you to put it on now. It is not much, but it will take the blinders off your eyes, and prevent you from being spelled by magic, which is something that you cannot risk right now. Be very careful, Isabel, for the one that you consummate your love with by giving freely your body is the one that gains much. You are the daughter of a great healer and time sifter (me of course) and heir to the throne of Albequen because of your father, Norgelon. If you did not already know this, you would soon. It breaks no rules to tell you of your lineage. The warrior blood in your veins runs powerful and deep. And once the blood moon rises you will turn, so please consider wisely. The fate of two worlds rests in your small hands.

  Eternally Loving You,

  Mom / Keiren / Most Powerful Foresayer and Time-Sifter of the Realm of Loveryn

  PS. I do hope I am forgiven for the weather issues. They were only meant to keep you untouched until the day when you could truly enjoy the act with the one you were meant to be with. I also hope you will enjoy the comfort of my journal even though you cannot read it yet. Look beneath the porch. There is a loose board and inside you will find a box containing a very powerful amulet. Do not remove it for any reason, and please don’t be scared. It will act as a protectant, but it will also give you the sight a bit earlier than the blood moon. Many things are not as they seem in your realm. Hugs and kisses, I cannot wait to see you, Princess!

  Isabel stared at the letter in shock and a little horror. Love of my Eternal life? Albequen? Time Sifter? Foresayer? What the hell kind of joke was this, she thought.