Immortal Dreams (Immortal Realms Book 1)

by Jennifer Sage

  Isabel was getting too full on facts about everyone else, and wanted some of her own. “Amele, did you really know my parents? Like, personally?”

  She looked up at her and smiled warmly. “Of course I did, hon. They were a magnificent couple and shone like the sun, the moon, and the stars when they were together. Keiren, so fair and graceful, was always willing to lend a helping hand and Norgelon was dark and handsome and immensely charming, of course. But at the same time, not at all what you would imagine when you think of the sole heir to a very powerful throne. He was very kind and gentle—except in battle. I would not have liked to face him on the opposite side of the field. Compliment, again.”

  Isabel nibbled on her lip, images dancing lazily through her mind for a moment of what they may have looked like, and what their love was like. She wanted to know more, she couldn’t help it. To know she wasn’t abandoned was an immense thing in her heart, even if she didn’t believe it would be. “Thank you, maybe tomorrow you can tell me more about them?”

  She just nodded and winked at her. “You got it.”

  Yawning and somewhat excited about the dreaming thing tonight, she walked over and gave Amele a hug.

  “Wish me luck on round two. Any advice?”

  Amele just smiled at her. “Awe honey, you don’t need luck. Your blood is the kind that makes it.” She smiled genuinely at her. “Advice? Get to know him, and don’t call him a Faery again. Now go say hello to that lovely Prince for me,” and she shooed her out of the room so she could turn on the television. She thought she recognized the beginning of a movie they’d watched a number of times together, Some Like it Hot. The thought of Amele hanging out with Hollywoods legends like Marilyn Monroe was oddly not out of place, and if she’d ever thought about it, well, it never really was. She probably gave Marilyn a run for her money, actually.

  Shaking her head and smiling, Isabel went upstairs to the bathroom and took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. She didn’t know if it would matter, but she added some of her favorite olive oil curling butter to keep her hair from taking on a Godzilla quality as it did without it. Her curls were an absolute hot mess otherwise, but maybe dream curls were always perfect? Just in case, though, just in case. She really wanted to give Bodhe a chance too, without calling him names and freaking out on him because she didn’t know it wasn’t a dream. Putting on her pajama set, she slipped under the covers and yawned, falling into a deep sleep within minutes.

  *****

  A thousand colors competed in the sky for space as she opened her eyes, and as stunning as Loveryn was a night, it was breathtaking at sunrise. The warm grass tickled her back and her bare feet, and smelled like a mixture of sugar and sage. Inhaling deeply, she had an immense feeling of joy come over her that she couldn’t explain. It had to be a connection of some kind to this place, or possibly to Keiren, she thought. A deep well of sleepy, sated peace came over her so intense that she almost forgot why she was here. But then, she felt the fire of his hand on her head and froze for a moment. He was brushing it lazily through her hair, twisting her curls in his fingertips. She shuddered softly at the feel of the little bolts of lightning that accompanied his touch, and squinted against the morning sun. Dreamily she sighed as she came to completely, and realized she was laying next to a cave with a waterfall that landed in a gentle pool a few steps away. Small bits of the cold spray tickled the skin on her bare arms and she smiled, rolling on her side and toward Bodhe.

  “Good morning, Isabel.” His voice was different today, it was a deeper tone that slid over her skin like a satin sheet.

  When her vision came into full focus she couldn’t speak. Necklace around her neck that gives her sight early? Check. She reached up for it to confirm it was there, and it was. Was it possible that he was ‘glamouring’ his looks down when they previously met? Double check. She sat up and stared at the being propped up on his elbow in the grass across from her and was utterly mesmerized.

  She was supposed to resist this, how exactly? Golden coils wrapped around his defined arms just below his rippling muscles that were definitely not smaller than Morkain’s imposing form, now that she could see him clearly, and two piercings also adorned the top of one of his ears at the tip, like Amele’s, but she only had one. The white vest-like shirt he wore was opened except for a few buttons in the center, allowing her a glimpse of his inhumanly smooth chest and stomach, and very well defined set of abs that sunk into the material of his pants. The clothing that he had on today was comfortable looking, almost like her yoga clothes, but a very male version of them, and made his skin look like golden light was sparkling…just dripping from his pores. It wasn’t sparkly in an odd way. It was beautiful, as if someone had melted honey and gold and threaded it through his entire being. Looking at him caused an intense flood of emotions to hurl themselves into the pit of her stomach.

  She couldn’t breathe for a moment. All of his skin was a stark contrast to the hair that wasn’t plaited today, and it poured over his shimmering, tanned shoulders in a wave of silk-spun white. Curls danced with the white, lending a softness to the look of raw power that he held. If there was a slight glow yesterday, he was positively beaming today. She swore that she could see the sunrise in his eyes for a moment, the way they contained every color within the emerald green. Even as she looked at them, they changed into liquid lava, the spectrum of colors changing. Speaking of eyes, when she got to his he made it clear with the way they sparkled with amusement that he was watching the whole damn check out she did of him. She was totally busted. She wanted to sink into the grass and hide her face that hid nothing of her emotions. It was a traitor; her face, and she was sure hers was gawking like mad at the moment.

  “Princess, you’re looking at me as if we’ve never met.”

  “But, we haven’t…not really. You were right, Keiren left this for me.” She lifted her hand to the pendant, never taking her eyes off of him. “It’s given me the sight a little bit earlier than expected. Why didn’t you appear this way when we met? I mean, you weren’t different in the way that Amele was different—and holy hell, was she ever different—but this you is quite, ah, different, too. I don’t know if my words will come out right even if I tried to explain right now.” She did have the words, but she turned crimson just thinking them. Face; traitor.

  He laughed softly then…a beautiful sound reminiscent of Tibetan singing bowls and warm blankets in front of cozy fires. It made her smile. “Well, I didn’t want to scare you on our first encounter. It’s a lot for a mortal to gaze upon a Sidhe’s true form and not fear us or be entranced. We glamour down more than our pointed ears when we must go to that realm. I didn’t intentionally deceive you, I just wanted you a bit more prepared. But it seems that I don’t need to make that decision for you any longer.” He smiled brightly, a dimple in one cheek she either hadn’t seen or noticed last time, mesmerizing her for a moment. That dimple accompanied by the smile made the man seem almost boyish with joy, and gave her heart some serious palpitations. This was going to be impossible. She was doomed between the two of them, especially now that she could see the real Bodhe. “Do you fear me…now that you can see me?” he asked, his smile faltering just a little as concern overtook the joy in his luminous gaze.

  “Yes,” she mumbled. “Holy shit, yes. I need a second, please.” She turned over and tried to wipe the burning heat from her face…unsuccessfully. She needed to focus on something other than Bodhe’s everything at the moment, so she looked at her clothes. This time her dress matched his, but again, it was simple and long. The front was a low ‘v,’ but not so revealing that she felt naked, and she felt oddly beautiful in it. She could get used to the dress thing; it was an improvement over the shorts and t-shirts for sure. The material could not be more plain as it wrapped around her like a cocoon that flowed free from the waist, but she felt sexier than she ever had in any hideous prom dresses. Or was that just him again? How on earth was she ever going to get through this night without making a fool of he
rself? The blush of red rose up her chest and painted her cheeks—she knew because she could feel what she couldn’t see. She stood and turned toward him, taking a deep breath. Then it seemed, it was his turn to stare.

  The beautiful feeling suddenly turned to awkward as his eyes scrutinized every inch of her. Resting finally on her eyes, she could feel him even from the ground where he was still laying, heat waves gently licking her skin. She felt closer to fainting than she ever had in her life and had he not risen to steady her, she just might have. Who the hell can faint in dreams? She could, she was sure of it.

  “Don’t fear me, please. I would never harm you. Are you well, Isabel? You look a bit pale all of a sudden.”

  “I’m not really afraid of you. I’m okay, it’s just…I…well I…” she stuttered as she reached up and squeezed the back of her neck. She was sure her cheeks weren’t pale, even if the rest of her was. Bodhe looked at her quizzically, his radiant body rendering her speechless. “Oh, it’s nothing, really,” she said, feeling like a bumbling idiot now.

  “Isabel, I don’t want to force you to do anything, but since the fate of the realms are resting in your choice in the very near future, I think it’s only fair that you let me apologize for upsetting you the other night.”

  “It’s forgotten, Bodhe, I promise. I’m sorry, too…for calling you names and freaking out a little.” She swayed into the electric touch of his hands on her arms.

  “That’s all well and good, but that’s not really the way we apologize here.”

  “No?”

  He brushed the hair out of her face with tenderness and cupped her face in his hands. “No, Princess. This is how I apologize to my partner, for being so callous.” He kissed gently over each of her eyes, her temples, and the tip of her nose. He grazed her forehead and then lightly swept her mouth up with his. The warmth of tongue softly licked at her lips until they parted for him, a guttural growl emanating from his that made her toes curl when he slipped inside. Or was that her?

  Did he use glamour on his kisses when they met too, to lessen their impact? Moaning softly into his mouth, her arms explored the wide contours of his arm muscles and she thought she was going to lose what little control she had. How could any one being be made so perfectly? Descendants of the Gods, indeed. But then, so was she, wasn’t she? She felt the little zing of electricity between them and everywhere he touched it felt as if a storm was in its wake. He was gentle, but he consumed her in every way. In every light caress it felt like she could feel him taking up residence inside her very soul. His hand tangled in her hair and squeezed just hard enough to elicit a gasp from her. Soft yet commanding, he pulled her hair gently and made her head tilt back a little more for better access. He both held her still and allowed her movement, but only closer to him. Deeper and deeper they dove into each other, until the kiss ended on a light nibble of her lip with his teeth. She was euphoric, dizzy from his tender force.

  “Wow. Can you please apologize a lot?” she asked, feeling more buzzed from his kiss than she had on her birthday. Isabel pulled away a little, trying to behave, and he began laughing. “Oh my God, I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Mortification set in even though she tried her hardest to channel her inner Amele. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t Amele, and never would be.

  “I will apologize to you every day for a millennia…at least a hundred times a day. And speaking of apologizing, I do have a bit of a present for you, if you’d like?”

  She forced herself to pull away further from his heated touch, even though her lips were burning for more of him. She needed to know more than his kisses, as hard as it was to stop. Maybe she was channeling an inner Amele, after all? But, she wouldn’t learn anything other than his mad skills as a lover if she didn’t put some distance between them. Just as it went through her mind, that thought chaffed her—his experience. He was definitely experienced with a lot more than she was with kisses like that. Isabel mentally shook herself and responded to the question rather than to her body or treacherous mind.

  “A present? Is it my birthday?” She looked at him curiously, touching her lips that were still tingling.

  “Well, actually, yes, it was a few days ago. So we’ll consider this belated. In Loveryn we celebrate days of birth as often as we wish it, though, so expect my gratitude for your birth to come often in the form of surprises.”

  Shock and way too much belief in his words had her mouth opened a little, unable to freaking speak again. He laughed and kissed her mouth with less fervor than she would’ve liked—traitorous body!—and then took to the sky with her. With one arm hooked behind her knees and one behind her back, her head was cradled against his chest again, as it was the night she was here before. Isabel threw her arms around his neck as she squealed in both delight and horror at the heights they were headed towards.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, as he got further away from the ground.

  She focused on him to stop the sickness of heights from coming on, and just couldn’t help herself. She was swimming in lust and he was so close to her lips. She tentatively explored, taking little nibbles of his neck and shoulder while they were mid-flight, and it was making them both glow with bright, golden light. She was in awe at the reaction both internally and externally, when they touched.

  He growled at her again, his hands tightening around her thighs, massaging her with a power that had her insides feeling like hot lava. “Isabel, you’re making it very hard for me to give you a present.”

  The soft, warm grass was suddenly against her back and she let herself indulge a moment in the feeling of Bodhe pressed hard against her, his mouth consuming her lips, her ears, and her throat. With every touch of his tongue and teeth she felt her armor getting less and less thick, and she needed to be honest with herself here, she didn’t have much to begin with. He was decadent in his touch, yet he didn’t take any liberties or assume anything. He explored her over her dress and left fires in the wake of his hands and mouth.

  She was panting and he was practically growling when he rose above her, a veritable beast in his own right. The look in his eyes was one she’d never seen in anyone’s eyes before, not even Morkain. He looked as if he walked a thin line in his own mind right now, and at any moment he’d fall off that ledge—taking her with him to whatever depths lurked below. Heat flared, lightning struck the countryside not far from where they were, and suddenly Isabel was a little bit scared. Not of the beautiful man before her that looked as if she’d created the world for him, but of herself with him. His mouth consumed hers as he pressed against her most sensitive areas, her hips rising to meet each delicious thrust. She felt like a teenager the way they were making out in the field, but her body felt like all woman for the first time in her life. He was creating a storm within her body, and the small whimper from her lips that escaped belied the intense emotions within.

  This wasn’t the Isabel that she knew, not at all. When his clothed length thrust against her core and he ravaged her mouth again, it was as if she had no control over her own body. She couldn’t believe the force of the orgasm that rose so quickly and she detonated in a way that she never had before, not even by herself. The world rocked and ricocheted, her ears were ringing, and her breath was cut short in her throat. Bodhe inhaled her screams with his mouth as his massive form blanketed her with its thickness, and continued the fluid motion rocking above her so that every part of their bodies were touching that could be. She held onto his back, moving her hips in time with his as she fell off a thousand ledges of her being.

  If she knew anything about sex at all, which she really didn’t, she would think he was exploding right with her the way he growled and tremors visibly shook him…the way he was extending her pleasure with the movements of his body. Her back arched, her nails scored his flesh, and she shook as if a tsunami was being released in her soul. It continued to rip through her, nothing gentle about it. He was whispering words in his own language that she couldn’t hear or understand, but
that soothed her body as she came down from the heaven he’d flown her to. The daylight came back into focus, as did their surroundings and the man himself. God, he was so beautiful. The light haloed his head with the crown of a saint, even though with that response, he was anything but. Still, he looked like one. Golden curls framed his face, now shorter than it was before. Was she hallucinating this now too?

  Leaning down for one more bite of her lip, he nibbled gently before whispering to her. “The curls are me when I’m joyous…my external look tends to match my mood. It’s part of my magic that I have control over only when I have control of my emotion. You coming apart in my arms will never be a strong control moment for me. Don’t be afraid, Isabel. It’s just me here,” he said with a smile that was so light and free that it opened a cage in her chest that she didn’t even know was wrapped around her heart. “So, would you care to see your present, or shall we spend all day in the fields? Your wish, is my absolute command,” he asked, giving her a sultry look that had her pulsing deep inside with need again.

  Words, did she know any of those? She looked from his newfound white curls that barely touched the seam of his vest to eyes that were a thousand colors and none at all. She felt a breath of air escape her lips before she recovered fully. “Oh? You mean that wasn’t it? What a pity, I was going to ask you to repeat that gift a few times a day until you get tired of me,” she said, grinning. She wrapped a finger around one of them and he nuzzled her hand with his face, leaning into her touch with a content look in his eyes.

  “Just a few? You far underestimate my hungers, sweetheart…but no, that’s not your gift. And how in any world could I ever tire of you? Absolutely impossible on a soul level. We are one, and when that beautiful, mortal heart of yours transitions into your immortal one, you’ll know what I do already, without hesitation.” He pressed his body against her much smaller one, leaning down to her mouth so he could kiss her again. She didn’t mind him kissing her, not one damn bit. Reluctantly and with a slight growl, he released her lips and stood up. “Gods, that’s difficult,” he muttered as he rose.