Aris Reigns (28 page)

Chapter 38

T
he first hours of Immortality were filled with overwhelming sensation and drink after drink. She felt her body growing stronger, her senses more acute. She realized she had the ability to change from human awareness to that of her kind, an Immortal being. She laughed as she played games with Aris, enjoying her newfound abilities. He kept her close, resting with her on the huge bed throughout the day, replenishing the life giving liquid whenever she had need of it.

Everything she experienced was a hundred fold greater than any of her human experiences. A thousand, no a million fold. It wasn't peace she felt, but a restfulness greater than any she had ever known. Exploring the new depth of feeling and understanding her Immortal existence gave her, she experienced a rekindling of her lust for knowledge, her desire to learn, her desire to be more than she was, more than a human mind could understand was possible. Her love for Aris was greater than all the love she had felt for all the people in all her human life as she watched every move he made, marveling at his heavenly beauty. When he reached to fill the goblet from the pewter pitcher resting on the bedside table, her eyes followed him as if he moved in slow motion. The rustle made by the cloth of his shirt as his arm brushed across the sheets thrilled her. The sounds of each individual drop of the liquid splashing into the goblet excited
her. Her eyes glowed as she watched the fluid flow into the cup. The taste was of heavenly nectar as she swallowed the ambrosia. If he had worried at her disgust at what she must now do to stay alive, all was washed away as he saw her reach hungrily for it, draining every drop of the crimson fluid.

At long last, she knew her body had received enough. She rested in his arms at peace. He thought she had fallen into a human slumber when she caressed his cheek, turning his face toward hers.

As they stared into one-another's eyes, she felt she was floating on a cloud of joy; indescribable joy. Endless waves of bliss filled her as she sank deeper and deeper into the black depths of his eyes, his soul.

He whispered. “Sarah, you are my only Immortal love. We are both innocents in this experience. Our coupling will be the first of its kind for both of us.”

“I'm so glad.” She stroked his face, his skin smoother than the richest velvet she had ever touched with human fingers.

“Lie quietly, my beloved.” She watched every movement of his nude body as he rose from her side to sit cross-legged next to her on the bed. “Close your eyes.” The shadow of her long, thick lashes covered her cheeks as he kissed the tops of her eye lids.

He began to glide his hands over her body, her legs, her torso, her arms. Bit by bit he caressed her, his touch skimming her skin like delicate warm smoke emanating an otherworldly fragrance that she felt rather than smelled.

She could feel his hands lifting away from her skin, still moving, floating just inches above. A sensation of bliss overwhelmed her. Her very existence melted into the energy flowing from his hands. It filled every pore of her, every cell of her body, every neuron of her brain. Suddenly she knew all that he knew, all that he had ever experienced. She felt the pain he suffered at his changing; the loneliness he felt when he thought he was the only one of his kind. She met the wild beast that roared inside him to this very day. She felt
his guilt, his sorrow for the evil he had done in his past. She felt the joy that was his because of her love. She felt the very essence of him enveloping her, enlightening her, their very beings permeating one another. When it was finished, she lay quietly absorbing all that had just occurred. She realized he had just taken her through her final transformation. He had given her the knowledge that all Immortals shared, the knowledge of the ages.

She marveled at the stillness of her body as they lay looking into each other's eyes. When he reached to draw her closer she heard as well as saw his movement. She wondered at her patience, desperately wanting him to make love to her, yet relishing every slow-motion moment of discovery they shared.

She watched as his long powerful fingers cupped her breast. Hard as she tried, she could find no fine line where he began and she ended. Even their external bodies seemed to meld into one, a shared pulse of energy between them stronger than the beating of a human heart. As he stroked her tender nipple, she leaned her head onto the pillow and closed her eyes. She realized that in all her human life, she had never even imagined the depth of feeling she was now experiencing.

His thick lips pressed into the hollow at the base of her throat. She felt the bow of his mouth rise and fall as, time and again, he kissed her tenderly. She felt rather than smelled his musky fragrance, filling her with such sweet desire she almost cried out. His kisses traced her skin to the soft, dark hollow between her breasts.

As his lips found their mark, the sensation of Sarah's yielding flesh caressing his cheeks drove him to crave more of her. He steadied his desire as his hand slid from her erect nipple, over her smooth abdomen, to its resting place on the blond nest of curls covering her
woman's mound. Having his mate lying next to him and offering herself to him in a way he had never before experienced opened a whole new world of wonders to him; feelings he wanted to explore slowly. To cherish.

“Aris.” He lifted his eyes. Her lips were parted, moist, inviting. He moved to kiss her.

At first their kisses were sweet, gentle, exploring. Slowly he outlined her mouth with his tongue until she stopped him by drawing it inside. The taste of him made her want to devour him. Their kisses grew deeper, more fiery, driven by months of denied passion.

While he could still contain himself, he drew away from her, turning her to face away from him. Curling around behind her, he lifted her hair to expose her pale, tender shoulders. He would mark her as his mate. His searching lips found the nape of her neck. She felt she would faint with longing as first his lips and then his teeth trailed softly across her skin. The very essence of her being cried out to have him take her.

Slowly, Aris' bite became more demanding; his canine teeth descended and broke Sarah's delicate skin. The penetration was superficial, a shallow bite, yet the sensation of him marking her drove her into a frenzy. Before either of them knew what had happened, she twisted away from his grip then spun toward him. Throwing herself on him, she overpowered him, slamming him face down on the bed. He fought to get free as she held him, unable to control the fierce madness driving her to taste his venom. Sarah ripped at the back of his neck with her newly pointed teeth. Waves of rapture drowned his reason and for an instant, he thought he was lost. Even though the venom that ran through his veins fought to respond to her primal demand, he knew that once he touched her, he would lose control to the animal within him; he feared he would harm her. From a source he didn't know he had, he found the strength to hold back.

He grabbed her hair, dragging her off his body. Twisting to face her, he took hold of her. Scarcely controlling the drive to ravish her, he held her securely by the shoulders. Her eyes were glazed and her lips were covered in the venom she had drawn from his body. “Sarah. Sarah.” His voice demanded she return to her senses. “Sarah.”

“Oh Aris, Aris. What have I done?” Her shoulders sagged and she hung her head. “What have I done to you?”

“Nothing, my darling. You have just marked me as your mate. Here, see? It's almost healed already.” She leaned to look where he pointed at the back of his neck. There was nothing there but two small rows of red teeth marks. She knew she had ripped him open.

“But I know I tore your flesh. I taste it in my mouth.”

“Immortals cannot be killed other than by impaling, but the human-ness of our bodies can still be injured. But, you can see, the injuries heal almost instantly.”

“What happened to me, Aris? Why did I do that?”

“Immortal passion. You are only just changed and cannot yet control it.” Drawing her close, he whispered. “And darling, I am quite glad that you cannot.” He kissed her deeply.

Settling close to him, Sarah closed her eyes, giving in to all the new sensations of their first love making. She disappeared into their kisses, their caresses, their whispered words of love.

Their hands stroked each other's bodies as if they were blind and only able to see through their heightened sense of touch. His skin felt as smooth as marble warmed in the sun. They breathed together as if this most human act of love-making made it necessary. Their breath was heavy as he slid his hands under her, lifting her to receive his aroused manhood. She watched as he entered her only to be lost once again to sensation.

As he moved inside of her, Sarah was overwhelmed by wave after wave of endless bliss. With each thrust he dove deeper toward her heart, toward her very soul. With each thrust, her body opened more
fully to take him in. He spoke words to her in a language she had never before heard, yet she understood. Without doubt, he spoke words of eternal love.

Their melding together went on and on, a never-ending dance of rapture until she felt she was no longer made of flesh. She was the embodiment of the pure desire that possessed them both.

Without warning they each froze, as if turned to stone. Their breathing ceased simultaneously. An essence ejaculated from him into her only to return to him once again. Over and over, time and again, the exchange occurred, body to body. Soul to soul. They shuddered, convulsing, reaching a state of ecstasy only accorded to the gods. They felt death and birth. Joy beyond dreams. They floated on a cloud of endless bliss, and then were silent, unable to speak or move. They lay enraptured in one another's arms, each made whole by the sacrifice of the other.

Sarah lay spent in Aris' arms, her legs wrapped around him, her head resting on his chest. He brushed her damp curls from her face, kissing her eyelids gently. “You must rest. This is all so new for you. It is too much to absorb all at once.”

She sat up quickly. “No. I must learn all I am able to learn as soon as possible. When do we leave for Spain?”

Aris drew her into his arms once again. “Darling.” His words sounded strained as he spoke. “You cannot come with us to Spain. You are but a newborn. You have no control of your powers. You do not even recognize all of them. We are on the doorstep of our journey. If you work night and day, you will still not be ready to fight those bastards in the Spanish coven. You must give up the notion of coming along.”

“Absurd.” She tore herself from his arms springing from the bed to
her feet. “It is not a notion.” Her voice was determined as she wrapped her robe around herself, tying the belt around her waist in a square knot. “I will learn all that I can and then I am coming with you.”

Drawing his eyebrows together, his tone grew harsh. “You do not understand. You will be helpless against the soldiers of the Spanish army. You will stay here with Jane and Henry. There are a few hundred Immortals who will remain in the Catacombs to protect what is ours in case any of the enemy should escape us to come here. You will watch with them.”

Pacing angrily, she spoke, her words clipped and short. “If I am strong enough to defend the Catacombs, why do you say I am not strong enough to face the Spanish?”

“Sarah, please.” He grimaced. “Let us not have this discussion now. Our friends wish to see you, to wish you welcome into our world.” He turned her to face him. “Let us get dressed and meet with them at the Sanguinaria.”

Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Sarah dropped the subject, but she knew, one way or another, she was going to Spain and nothing was going to stop her.