Secrets of the Fog

by Jaye Shields

  The scent of gardenia and sandalwood faded in the air and reality rushed in on Tera. She grabbed the shredded remains of the sweater and held it against her chest. Sabin sat down and took her hands within his own. Tera hadn’t realized it, but was trembling.

  “You’re okay.” She heard his relief, but couldn’t help but be shaken. Sabin lowered himself to the level of her eyes, forcing her to look at him. His jaw was set, and his turquoise gaze was a storm of emotion. “These are the eyes of the Knight, of the man, who would never let harm come to you. Do you hear me, Tera?”

  “I … I think I knew it wasn’t you. But I didn’t do anything. I was weak and foolish.” Her voice broke with shame.

  “No, the incubus emits pheromones, a scent that induces a dream-like state in its victim. You were a captive, Tera. I know you as a brave woman, do not doubt that.” He let go of her hands, and softly caressed her cheek where she had released a single tear. “I have seen many beings of all kinds in the Portal Realm, and I already knew that you were special. But tonight, seeing you held by another who would harm you awakened the feelings that had already begun simmering within me. You are precious to me, Tera.” Wet, silvery hair clung to fair skin framing Sabin’s aquamarine gaze. His eyes were tender and honest.

  A slow peace crept upon Tera, catching her by surprise. She wanted Sabin. Looking down from his powerful gaze, Tera shifted her eyes to his body. The nude masterpiece of man standing before her was still damp from the shower. Beneath her gaze, Sabin grew hard for her. The chiseled warrior was the kind of creature that only existed in dreams, myths perhaps. Gently, she placed her hand upon his thigh. In turn, he immediately gripped her shoulder, signaling he felt the same. Tera trailed her soft fingertips up Sabin’s skin, across his hard stomach, up his chest, his neck, and then she framed his eyes as she cupped his face. “I want you, Sabin.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Sabin’s vision hazy with passion. “You’ll have me, Agrotera.” Putting his palms on her cheeks, they held each other as he gently laid her down on the bed. Tera never took her eyes off Sabin, her gaze working like an aphrodisiac to urge him to even more anticipation. Sliding a hand under her, he held her up firmly by her round bottom. With an expert hand, he unbuttoned and removed her pants.

  Now that her legs were free, he finally released his eyes from her face and moved his lips down to her legs. Holding her ankle, he began pressing kisses to her skin, weaving a seductive trail upward. She shivered as his lips hit her skin. The sensual pressure vibrated within her virginal body. He continued kissing the inside of her leg and up her thigh until he reached the V of her body. Replacing his lips with the palm of his hand, Sabin moved his mouth to Tera’s.

  Her lips were full and soft and met him with ready need. Sabin groaned as Tera arched herself nearer to him, giving herself in to the passion completely. Devouring her lips, his tongue tasted her, the flavor of mint and pine, and the essence of the forest.

  “You are my goddess. I’m going to worship you tonight, Tera.” He slid his thumb under her thin, black thong and felt her core throbbing in heat. Circling the bud, Sabin nearly lost himself to the passion on her face.

  “Sabin!”

  “Oh Gods, yes.” He crushed his lips to hers once more, his body pressing hers into the mattress, his palm cupping her, encircling her, leaving her wriggling with need. Tera gasped as Sabin dragged his lips down her neck and pressed open her thighs. Pushing her flimsy panties to the side, he dragged his tongue across her wet slit, and laid a gentle kiss upon her bud. Tera screamed out, and he licked at her more, driven by her cries of pleasure.

  “Lay back, Agrotera.” Sabin used his free hand to relax her back against the mattress. “Rest my sweet, and take all of the ecstasy that I will give you.”

  Sabin took his own pleasure in the smile that lit up Tera’s face as her eyes shut in ecstasy. But he knew her relaxation was only momentary, because in just a moment, his licking and encircling her would have her nearing climax.

  Pressing his fingers firmly against Tera’s bud, he whispered of things to come. “This is what you need, sweet Dryad.” He slipped a finger into her tight, wet heat and her core trembled on all sides of his fingers. He had never wanted anything more than seeing her face reflect the climax he’d brought her.

  His vision spun against the bliss of reality. Her body sank against him, and he glowed with pleasure. Crawling up so that their faces were touching, he drank in her emerald eyes. “Tell me you’re ready.”

  “I’ve never known pleasure like this, Sabin. Let me have more.” Her voice was nearly a pant, still reeling from her first orgasm. His body ached with the need to satisfy her command.

  When their lips met with crushing desire once more, Sabin sank his hard length into her. Her wet heat welcomed the warrior, and Sabin shuddered. Just as Tera began to slip off her bra, he reached around her back and unclipped it. His hand gripped her back, bringing her body against his so that he could claim her lips completely. As the softness of her chest met with the hardness of his, she moaned against his lips.

  “Are you okay, Tera?”

  “Mmm, yes.”

  Although it was her first time, she didn’t seem pained as he slowly entered her. The pleasure he had made explode within her left her body primed for the next round of ecstasy. The slippery entrance welcomed him in an exotic dance of pleasure. His hands massaged her as he continued the slow glide in and out, the long, slow movements bringing him deeper and deeper within her. Tera’s breath caught in a moan of pleasure. Gods, this is so right.

  • • •

  Tera lost track of time as Sabin’s lips continued to devour hers, their tongues stroking each other passionately. With each slow plunge, she became more ready for all he had to give. Somehow, he knew as he moved his lips to Tera’s neck, sucking in a place that made her eyes open wide with pleasure as she stared at the forest canopy painted ceiling.

  At first, she’d been self-conscious. She received attention from men on a daily basis, she hardly knew the warrior. Still, he’d already taken two bullets and saved her from a demon. More than that, he saw past her exterior to not only her roots as a Dryad, but her pleasures as a woman.

  Sabin quickened his pace and she gasped with the unexpected pleasure.

  Speaking in a language that Tera didn’t understand, Sabin smiled sensually at her. He continued entering her, diving in, seeking her out. She found herself on the edge once more, dizzied at the sight of the incredible man before her.

  “You are so beautiful.”

  His voice was deep and thick with want. “I’m going to lose myself much too soon with you, Tera. I need you to catch up to me.” Without further warning, Sabin nimbly brought his fingers to her sweet spot, rubbing her as he continued plunging into her, reaching her deepest crevice of pleasure. With each deep thrust, the muscles of his strong body flexed and the very sight of his masculinity took Tera to a place of sensual dreams. His determined fingers worked her with relentless determination until finally her world shattered and there was nothing but ecstasy.

  Best. Day. Ever.

  Sabin lowered himself onto the bed beside her and pulled her against him. He whispered something in his language but it was lost on her. Tera nestled into the soft, warm skin and fell asleep in the warrior’s arms. It was amazing how well she fit there.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, Sparrow awoke after a much less pleasant night than her friend, with a killer headache. Slowly lifting her head up off the dining table where she had passed out during the ritual the night before, Sparrow realized that her aunts were already gone.

  “Man, a girl can’t even get a pillow?” Sparrow grumbled and used the side of her arm to wipe drool from her deep slumber off her cheek. Breathing in deeply, she tried to focus her mind on a glamour charm to mystically cleanse her face. Cupping her hands over her cheeks, her palm
s began to glow.

  Ughh. Sparrow’s head was splitting from the absinthe shots and nightmares, and it was obvious that she was going to have to clean herself up the old-fashioned way. Trudging toward the shower through the empty house, she caught a glimpse of the clock.

  She was late.

  Picking up the pace, she skidded down the wood hall way and into her large room. Peeling off her shirt, she couldn’t see that her back was a beautiful canvas of painted flight, but she knew each tattoo intimately. The long neck of a swan graced the skin where her spine was, the body of the bird dipping all the way to the small of her back. Diving down the right side of her back was an owl, plunging swiftly with outstretched wings in flight. On the other side of her back were colorful songbirds like the brilliant yellow warbler, and of course, a hovering sparrow.

  When Sparrow finally arrived at the coffee shop for her shift, she tied on one of the many homemade, colorful aprons. At ten o’clock, the coffee shop was booming, and luckily, her aunts had come to open it since she had overslept. Morgana and Melissandra seemed to be in quite good spirits as she pushed past them at the front counter and into the kitchen. Obviously, they didn’t have the same caliber of nightmares as she had after their rituals. From inside the kitchen where Sparrow began organizing her baking ingredients, she heard her aunts trying to persuade a customer to try biscotti.

  “No, thank you.” The voice was deep and masculine, and utterly sexy. “I’m not hungry.”

  Sparrow heard her aunts cackle as they made their way back into the kitchen. She didn’t have to be psychic to realize they were trying to trick Duncan, the local vampire, into a mystically enhanced treat.

  “I told you, Melissandra, he’d never take food. It’s always the same, black coffee, untouched.”

  “Well, excuse me, sister, if I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try to get him to taste a hexed biscotti,” Melissandra frowned at her older sister.

  Heaving a sigh, Sparrow tossed a towel over her shoulder, and consulted her aunts. “What are you guys talking about? And what the heck — you strong arm me into an absinthe binge, and then don’t even bother with a measly levitation to put me in my bed?”

  Morgana smiled sweetly and patted Sparrow’s head while Melissandra explained. “Well, Tera said the vamp was harmless, so I didn’t think it’d be a problem to charm the guy’s biscotti with an anti-shirt incantation — oh, and it wasn’t an absinthe binge. You’re just a lightweight, darling.”

  “Don’t be such a cougar, Melissandra.”

  “I resent that label.” Dropping her jaw as if to imply scandal, the fifty-something-year-old toyed with her long silver and blond-streaked hair. “Besides, he is decades older than I am, I’m sure.”

  “I am not a lightweight. You guys just drink too much.” Sparrow threw up her hands in exasperation before pointing a finger at Melissandra. “And you. He looks like he’s my age for crying out loud, so please don’t sign up for Blood Banks Anonymous.”

  The three Reeds peeked through the kitchen curtain into the coffee shop to drink in the sight of the vampire. He was stretched out comfortably on one of the armchairs, with faded blue jeans and a Green River band tee. Sparrow appreciated his musical taste, but still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. And judging from the ropes of lean muscle under the grunge band shirt, she wouldn’t be throwing him at all.

  After much sleuthing though, Tera had deemed him harmless, and Sparrow had deemed him a good tipper. Melissandra had deemed him eye candy. And Morgana liked to watch her sister make a fool out of herself around the gorgeous vampire.

  “So, elephant in the room … ” Sparrow finally tried to turn the conversation to the ritual from the prior evening.

  “You really think he’s too old for me?”

  “No, you’re too old for him.” Morgana slapped her sister over the head playfully.

  “I meant the chaos we saw last night in the looking glass.” Sparrow rolled her eyes dramatically, which only earned her a whack on the head from both her aunts.

  The bells on the front door jingled and a customer walked in. Before Sparrow even peeked past the curtain to make her way to the register, she sensed something approaching. Something both unusual and familiar.

  As Sparrow settled herself at the counter, she watched the young woman approach. The girl was exotic-looking, definitely new in town. Her tan, olive-tone skin peeked out of a bright blue pea coat, and long, raven-colored hair framed electric blue eyes. Eyes that apparently couldn’t be pried away from the vampire lounging on one of the couches. Not that Sparrow blamed her.

  As the young woman neared her, Sparrow was sure she sensed an animalistic spirit inside the woman. Shape shifter. Peering over at her aunts peeking through the curtain, she received nods of agreement; they had sensed the same thing.

  Smiling, Sparrow greeted the young woman as if she was none the wiser. “Hi, what can I get for you today?”

  “Oh, hi. Actually, I was hoping to see if you guys needed any help. I just moved to the area. Back home I was a barista and I smelled coffee so I thought this might be a good place to start.”

  Sparrow surveyed the girl’s hopeful, shy face. “Well, you’ve got a great nose and perfect timing.” Smiling mischievously, she paid attention to see if the girl reacted to the subtle compliment on her sense of smell. Generally, animals did have a superior sense of smell. “One of our girls is having a baby soon, so she’ll hang up her barista apron shortly. Let me give you an application and I’ll give it to Tera when she comes in.”

  Returning through the curtain of the kitchen to search for an application, Sparrow was immediately accosted by her aunts.

  “I sense a feline in that woman,” Morgana voted.

  “No, she’s far more exotic. I bet she’s a wolf,” Melissandra quipped.

  “I think Morgana is right this time. Feline, definitely. I sensed it. Just say it’s the bird in me looking out for my feathers.” After giving the stranger an application, Sparrow watched the shifter make her way back through the coffee shop. On her way out, the vampire stopped her. Morgana and Melissandra came quickly out of the kitchen and stood by Sparrow at the register.

  “What’s going on? I thought you said Duncan was harmless?” Morgana whispered.

  “Here, child.” Melissandra swatted Sparrow with a damp cloth. “Go clean that table over there and keep an ear out for what he’s saying.”

  Grateful for the good idea, Sparrow took the cloth and moseyed past the vampire and shifter to wipe off a table. Peering over to where Duncan sat on the couch, she noticed a sketchpad with an intricately drawn jaguar. Seems the vampire knew something that they didn’t. Suddenly, Sparrow was struck by the dream she had the night before. In the violent battle of her nightmare, there had been a vampire and a jaguar. Realizing that she was no longer wiping the table, but was absently smearing air like an idiot, Sparrow snapped back to reality. Still, all she could think of were the ominous scenes from her dream.

  She had to get a hold of Tera.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tera woke nestled into the warmest, most comfy cocoon she had ever achieved in bed. Her naked body was molded against Sabin’s, her arm curled around his torso. Only a sheet was draped across their lower bodies, the pink comforter a mass on the floor. Lifting her chin, she took in the handsome face of her gentle, yet passionate lover.

  “Good morning, Tera.”

  If it was possible, his face was even more handsome than it had been the day before. His eyes were calm, liquid blue, like the sea, both transparent and deep. “Your eyes are so beautiful.”

  “As are yours, Dryad. You have an earthly beauty that puts all others to shame. The mossy shade of your eyes makes me think of making love to you on the forest floor, and staying there for all eternity.”

  The insides of her stomach tightened with a welcome anticipatio
n. “I could live with that.”

  The dreamy blue quality of Sabin’s eyes became laced with steely gray. “I wish I could. But if I were to forsake my duties, the Knights of the Fog would be right to hunt me. I would be charged with treason for abandoning my post.”

  Tera still felt hopeful, though. She trailed her fingers down Sabin’s hard chest, “You guys don’t get vacations from time to time?”

  “To be honest, I hesitate to think of leaving you once this is all over. Now that you’ve tasted passion, I would kill another before they tried to give you what I can.”

  “You’re kind of a downer in the morning, aren’t you?” She smiled mischievously at Sabin to try to lighten the mood. “You’re lucky. I was born of a man-hater, remember? After you leave, I’m sure Artemis will be back to whip me into shape.”

  Sabin rolled her on top of him so that their noses were touching. “You are my perfect one. Know that you have changed this immortal’s life completely. No matter how many eons of life I have, I will never know life like I have during this time I have spent with you.”

  Tera nestled her face deeper against his, and parted his lips with her own, sliding her tongue against his slowly. Her hands traced every inch of contoured muscles as they kissed. Sabin also worshipped her curves as he smoothed his palm along her body, resting on her rear. Flipping her over so that she was on bottom, Sabin smiled. “I hope check-out isn’t anytime soon.”

  Tera’s face lit up, her soul feeling fulfilled by Sabin. For a moment, she thought she might finally believe in the idea of a soul mate. “Time doesn’t exist for me when I am with you.”

  “That’s the spirit, my darling.” Once again, the couple dove into bliss together.