Slake His Thirst (In Blood Book 1) Read online

  Sage snorted as she watched Jeff slither down Calista’s body and drop before disappearing into the foliage. “It’s cute that you think they’d let me stay that long.” Sage bumped her with a hip. “I’m so proud of you and wish I had an ounce of your talent so I could live here a while too. I’ll just have to be so good they let me visit more.” She would give a lung to be in that place every day. Hell, she’d give both lungs and her liver. They might not want the liver, but she was more than willing to offer.

  “Have you thought about what you want to do?” Calista asked. “I know you’re bored of the bar.”

  Running the Flying Jig had been fun for the first year, but it had grown monotonous with its flakey bartenders, bar fights, and paperwork—so much paperwork. It made money, though, so she kept doing it. Still, life was short. “I’ll figure something out. I don’t know what I want to do yet.” She was having trouble concentrating on their conversation. It was as if she was being pulled along a string, leading them deeper down one of the paths and over a trickling stream.

  “Who’d you get to watch the place? Did you guys finally get a good manager, or did you get Ash to stop hunting bad guys long enough to keep an eye on things?”

  Sage’s lips twitched. Her friends and business partners were useless in running the place. “Jade is there.”

  Calista’s laughter rang to the ceiling. Sage’s grin curved a little evilly as she imagined her best friend dealing with the place. Jade was used to moving around, hunting Mageia gone bad. Her friend wasn’t used to staying in the same place for a week, dealing with people she couldn’t hurt or hand over for a check.

  As they strolled the path, Sage’s fingers grazed the plants that all seemed to be reaching for her. She’d never experienced anything like it.

  “I guess the problem solves itself if Jade burns the place to the ground. I hope you have good insurance.”

  “I upped the coverage before I left.” The fact that she wasn’t lying made it all the more humorous.

  “Are you thinking of bounty hunting again?”

  Sage snorted. “No.” At twenty, it had been exciting and dangerous, but after living that life for years, she held a far different view. Really bad guys never wanted to go back to jail. They fought hard and dirty, so she had to watch her back constantly. She also learned to hate bad takeout and stakeouts. She absently rubbed her chest before sliding her fingers back along the vines. The magic from the plants seemed to flow inside her, bathing her in warmth.

  “You could always help the moms.” Calista cackled a little under her breath.

  She shot a glare in her sister’s direction. “You’re not even a little funny.” Their moms had married when Calista was three and Sage was five. After Calista left home eight years ago, their moms had turned the family home, deep in the Louisiana swamps, into a Mageia retreat of sorts. There was far too much kale and nakedness for any child, even a fully grown one, to be subjected to.

  “Maybe if you stay at Slake long enough, you’ll find a sexy Immortal, and he’ll take you as his mate for all eternity,” her sister said with a lusty sigh. “If not, at the very least, you can end your dry spell with a bang. You won’t go back to sex with a mere mortal after you leave.”

  All responses died on Sage’s lips when they came to a stone statue in the center of four sectioned areas. She slipped away from her sister’s hold to crouch and read the first marker. As if in a daze, she got up and circled the statue, reading each description set in the Earth. The gardens represented the center of the Realms of Earth, heaven, hell, and even plants from the Immortal Realm. All were so different, even in the arrays of green. Leaves caressed her skin, and she closed her eyes at the sensation.

  “Sage?” Her sister’s voice sounded far away. “I’ve never seen plants react like this.”

  Sage couldn’t answer. She felt the vines and leaves sliding over her arms and face, felt the hum of magic as she drank it in. Power lifted her hair, and a soft melody played somewhere in her mind. It was so beautiful that she nearly cried. She’d never felt so weightless or powerful.

  She gave herself over to it, allowing it to carry her.

  Chapter Four

  Lucius

  It seemed that his mystery woman and the ex-bounty hunter his sister had allowed onto the island were one and the same. Sage Lawrence’s movements were being tracked on one of the screens in front of him. Kaia had cued the facial recognition to track the woman’s every movement from camera to camera before Sage had even arrived. Knowing his sister had planned ahead eased his mind.

  “You let in a risk factor, but you prepared.”

  “Nice. You manage to chastise and compliment my abilities all in the same sentence. Thank you, big brother, but I am more than capable of taking care of this. You can move along now.”

  Lucius forced his gaze from Sage’s movements to shoot his sister a look. He wouldn’t be leaving until he knew everything about the situation. That wasn’t his only reason, but it would have been enough to keep him there. He heard Kaia huff and stalk off, but he didn’t stop.

  He wasn’t sure what about Sage Lawrence drew him in. It wasn’t her beauty or her delectable body as much as something he couldn’t put his finger on. The woman had a playful spark in her eyes when she looked at her sister, and she moved with the seductive grace of cat. How someone with her background managed to somehow stay carefree and light was a mystery. There was nothing about her that said she was even a little jaded.

  The files stated that she’d grown up deep in the swamps of Louisiana and that her mother had married Calista’s when the children were very young.

  He tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him while thinking of the growing Louisiana swamplands, the ecosystem that had thrived after the world almost ended. He’d gone there several times over the years. The area had been known to produce unique abilities in its inhabitants.

  He glanced back to check Sage and Calista’s movements. It surprised him that Calista hadn’t taken her sister to catch up at one of the bars or clubs. Instead, they’d gone to the conservatory.

  He knew what had drawn his mystery woman to the gardens—the details of her powers were in the dossier. As a Mageia with strengths centered on plants and the Earth, she had to have been excited for an opportunity to see flora from Realms she would likely never visit.

  There were strict rules set for mortals wanting to travel to heaven, hell, or the Immortal Realm. The Guardians of the world set restrictions and controlled access. Most of his kind didn’t trust the Mageias’ growing power or what they might become capable of. Humanity had a long history of destroying things they feared or didn’t understand, and the Mageia were basically the evolved version of mankind.

  He scanned more of the file and found that Sage also had skills pertaining to breaking wards, which would have come in handy for a bounty hunter—or a thief, though he hadn’t found any criminal records in the file.

  An inexplicable wave of tension tightened his chest, and he glanced at the screen, watching her movements. She and her sister were in the gardens. At first glance, things seemed fine, but then he saw that they weren’t.

  “Get a healer to the conservatory. Now!” He barked the order while tearing from the room.

  Chapter Five

  Lucius

  Blood pounded in his ears as Lucius ran into the glass-domed room. It was alive inside, like something he hadn’t seen in thousands of years. Trees and vines shifted in some unseen wind, and the magic in the space was almost too thick. He burst down the path, hearing the security guards behind him grunt and shout. “The vines are blocking us!”

  “Do not cut them!” he ordered, not bothering to glance back. He wasn’t sure what the forest would do if threatened. Nothing poisonous had been planted in the place.

  His sister’s voice filtered into his mind telepathically. “This can’t be what I think it is. How did you get through?”

  “It is, and I don’t know,” he sent back.

&nbs
p; The living woodland hadn’t stopped him. If anything, he felt as if the place was urging him forward. He met Calista in the path, her snakes a writhing mass around her feet. “My sister. She can’t hear me. And the plants won’t let me near her. The barrier won’t move,” she ground out, frantically gesturing to a wall of twisted branches. The woman’s tone was filled with anger, helplessness, and the same fear that was mirrored in her golden eyes.

  “I will get to her.” He didn’t spare more words. The healer had been stopped at the door with the other guards.

  He sent his mind out, telepathically searching until he felt Sage’s awareness, and a jolt of recognition nearly took him to his knees. He groaned when he felt her mental wards melt away for him.

  His. She was his.

  A soft feminine gasp slipped inside his head, and the wave of lust that came with it rocked him. “Who are you?”

  “Lucius.”

  He heard the branches groaning and twisting behind him, while the ones that had barred his route shifted to clear a path to Sage.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Calista’s fear registered when she was cut off from him.

  He half turned. “Go toward the door. Kaia will explain. Your sister is safe with me.” He rushed through while contacting his own sister. In moments, he wouldn’t care about anything but his mate. He growled. “Get Calista out. Her sister is my mate.”

  He felt the shock in Kaia’s mental voice. “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He needed to get to her.

  “Who are you, Lucius?”

  He groaned at the soft, sultry words slipping into his mind.

  The final leaves unfolded from the rest of the walkway and unveiled a goddess. It was his first real look at his mate. Raw need tore through him. She was his, and she was in danger. He’d lived thousands of years never imagining he’d find something so rare, and now he would be forced to rush her through every step of their mating or risk her life.

  Her eyes glowed a brilliant green as they hungrily trailed over his body. Her full lips parted as she raked her power over his chest and stomach, moving lower until waves of undiluted magic stroked his cock, nearly making him come in his jeans.

  He growled low, attempting to get ahold of the need. “I am your mate, Sage. And using your power on me is an invitation, little one. You have no idea what I want to do to you right now. But we need to talk first. Somewhere else. I don’t think you understand what’s happening.” It was taking every ounce of his fading control not to lay her out on the flowers at her feet and bare her for his mouth and aching cock. At the mention of leaving, he heard the groan of the trees, and a vine snaked its way around his foot and tightened.

  “What is happening in here? It’s beautiful.” She looked around, and he saw her awe, her love. Falling leaves caressed her cheek.

  The forest had no intention of allowing them to leave, and it seemed to care for Sage. He only hoped that wouldn’t destroy her. His shoulders were strung tightly with all the tension he was feeling. He’d wondered at the extent of the power in the space, and he’d been right—the forest had grown sentient. And Sage wasn’t controlling it, even though he was sure she’d raised the magic somehow.

  Chapter Six

  Sage

  Sage moaned and rolled her head back on her neck. So much power rushed through her that she felt like a live wire. Lucius’s deep voice had taken her out of the dreamlike euphoria she’d fallen into, but now that she’d awakened, she needed.

  She opened her eyes to take him in. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. His silver eyes swirled with hunger, and his short black hair begged for her fingers. He had to be six feet four or five inches tall, and his tanned skin was partly covered in tattoos—he’d been sculpted from her deepest fantasies. Even the strong line of his stubbled jaw begged for her tongue. “You don’t have to feed me a line, Lucius. At this point, I’m a sure thing. I’m more than attracted to you, and I need to either run a marathon or have wild sex to release all this power.”

  He stilled, his eyes even hungrier as he growled. “This isn’t a line. Tell me you understand.”

  She smiled, but her hands were shaking from all the power she didn’t know what to do with. “I hear your words, and I’m capable of consent, if that’s what you’re asking.” He was still keeping his distance when she could see the raw need in his eyes. She glided forward. “It was you on the balcony.”

  “Sage,” he said in a tone that sounded like a warning. His hands kept clenching at his sides, and his breathing was as labored as hers. His eyes were on her, but she somehow felt his awareness going out to the gardens that were sheltering them in their power.

  She closed the distance between them, moving more quickly than she ever had, and she felt the dizzying effects. A jolt of electricity sang through her blood the second she gripped his bare arms. She sucked in a ragged breath as he cursed, holding her against him, so gently for such a strong man. “I need you to stop talking now, Lucius.” She wasn’t sure what else to do. The need was too intense. She didn’t care what he thought of her.

  An animalistic noise left his lips before he wrapped her in his arms. She was suddenly lifted up as he claimed her lips. Her legs wrapped around his hips, and she moaned at the sensation of his hard cock riding her clit.

  She slid her magic over his body again, feeling all the hard muscle flexing under her assault. Just as she expended the power, more was fed into its place. It was nearly as overwhelming as the lust riding her.

  Was it so intense because of the magic, or was it the fact that he was Aletheia? She wasn’t sure why the need was so damned desperate, but she didn’t care.

  He lay her on the bed of flowers she’d awoken on, and the soft petals caressed her arms as she gripped the edge of his T-shirt and practically tore it over his head. His chest was hard, with a faint dusting of hair that called to her fingers. His skin was so warm. With a sigh, she explored his chest, loving how he twitched beneath her touch.

  In a blur, her shirt was tossed from her, and her bra ended up a casualty of the sexy fangs that slipped from his lips. When he looked down at her body, she felt a shiver, as if he wanted nothing more than to devour her. She tugged his hair, wanting his mouth on her again. Within a second, he’d tied her wrists together above her head. She looked up and noted that he’d used her bra.

  “Bondage on the first date?” She tried for a joke, but it came out in a needy whimper. She really liked what he’d done. She focused on all the hard muscle spread before her, from the tattooed arms straining at her sides to the dips and curves arrowing down to the low waistband of his jeans.

  “You are destroying every ounce of control I have.” His eyes flashed with anger and so much heat.

  “Isn’t that the point?” she asked breathlessly. Words weren’t coming as easily anymore.

  “No. Not for the first time. I want you aware of every touch, every lick, every thrust.” He bumped his hard cock against the seam of her tight jeans to punctuate his words. “You’ve taken in more power than your mortal body can handle. We don’t have time for ceremonies and courting. You could die if I don’t make you mine tonight. Let me make this time perfect.”

  “Do it,” she ground out. Her mind couldn’t truly comprehend anything he was saying. She wanted to slip into the fantasy he painted, but when it was over, there wouldn’t be a happily ever after. It was far-fetched to believe she’d be one in billions for him. Immortals didn’t get a choice in mate. It was fated for them.

  She couldn’t just see his frustration—she felt it in her mind. Was he still invading her thoughts?

  “I’m in your thoughts, and you are in mine. This is real. And when I come inside you, over and over, I will be binding you to me. I’ll take every inch of your body until you beg for more. We’ll share blood. Memories. And when our souls connect, you will become like me.” His mental voice was so damned intense, and the words were so filthy that she got even wetter, thinking of all the ways
he would come in her. Was all this need part of the famed mating frenzy one went into when finding the one?

  His perfect features relaxed only a fraction as he leaned in and slid his lips over hers, teasing and tempting her as he settled his weight between her thighs. She shifted her hips, wet and ready. The thick muscles in his tattooed arms vibrated with strain as he ruthlessly seduced her with his lips. “Finding a mate is a rare and beautiful thing in my world. I wouldn’t rush a second of this if I had a choice.”

  His tongue slipped between her lips, tasting and tangling with hers. She bowed her back, wanting his chest against her aching breasts. With her arms bound and one of his hands holding them at bay, she couldn’t control any of it, and he was going too slow. Desire swamped her as if she was feeling both of their needs all in one. By the time his lips trailed to her neck, she was writhing beneath his weight. And when his warm breath met her ear and he nipped, she cried out.

  “So sensitive. What about your neck?”

  The edge of a fang raked her sensitive flesh, and she gasped. Power surged from her into the trees, and silky petals flittered around them as he tormented her.

  He didn’t bite, simply skimmed the sharp edge over her sensitive lobe before moving down to her breasts. One at a time, he sucked them before grazing her taut nipple with his teeth. She thought she would lose her mind if she didn’t come soon.

  With strength she’d never had, she ripped her wrists free of the restraint and flipped him to his back, the flowers moving of their own accord, cushioning his massive body beneath her.

  Something dangerous and predatory flashed in his eyes when she gazed down at him, but his touch was gentle. Too gentle. He was holding back.

  His chest rose and fell, and damn if those fangs weren’t sexy as hell. A shiver of desire wracked her body. Not willing to waste more time, her fingers moved to his jeans, quickly unfastening them.

  She licked the sexy line of his jaw and trailed her tongue to his chest while freeing his cock. A harsh noise hissed from his lips as she stroked him, and that sound made her ache even more. She needed to get her pants off immediately.