Divine Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 8) (6 page)

More flashes showed Hades again. Beautifully shirtless with wings outstretched in battle against an unknown female. She knew from the accompanying thoughts it was the Goddess Kara from Thule, their female prisoner.

She was surprised she could feel such intense attraction just at the sight of his muscle-packed form. She was a little nervous to have sex after all this time, but the fates were ensuring she’d want it.

“You get it?” Brianne asked, her amber eyes boring into Sacha’s.

“Yes.” She nodded, though in reality she was still processing details.

How do you want me to handle this, Sacha?
Drake asked.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Better to get it over with then dwell on how it would work. Fate needed to put in some extra effort and ease the way because she wasn’t sure what she was doing. It was just sex, beings did it all the time for the pure pleasure of it. She could do this.
Let him come to me.

I’ll be there when you meet,
he commanded.

No.
She had no desire to deal with the arousal in front of anyone.
Alone.

You’re sure?
Drake bit out.

He has no intention of harming me,
she pointed out realistically.

No.

I’ll be fine.

I’ll be here at the manor
. Her lips lifted a hint. That was just one reason they followed the dragon. He didn’t manage them unless he had to, but he would always be there if needed. But in this, the last thing she needed was witnesses.

She felt the second he was there. Power, wild pheromones and need filled the room. It was hard to breathe through the strength of it, and she was grateful that fate listened to her.

“Leave us,” he commanded of Brianne and Sirena, who’d closed ranks in front of her.

Sacha spoke before either could rip him apart. “I’ll be fine.”

Brianne glanced back at her. “Call.”

Sacha nodded. This would be fine. She’d done far worse and lived through it.

Brianne’s voice was clear. “Hades, do not make me regret telling her you were okay. I like you, but fuck this up and I will rip off all your pretty feathers, shove them up your ass, and then use you as a feather duster.”

Sirena choked as she said something more to him before both females exited.

His eyes were on her not her sister Guardians. The brilliant blue bored into her and she felt all that heat and intensity deep inside her soul.

Chapter 4

Guardian Manor, Tetartos Realm

Sacha’s breath caught in her throat when the God’s undiluted pheromones hit her. His wings took up the majority of the space in the darkened cavern room. They were a brilliant ebony and only added to his easily seven-foot height. He was bare to the waist and packed full of sculpted muscle leading to a perfect vee that hid beneath his low-riding black slacks. His body was a thing of beauty, not that she’d thought it would be otherwise.

Her eyes shifted back up along his hard jaw to the small indent in his chin. His long dark hair was pulled back so she couldn’t see it all, and honestly she didn’t care, it was the brilliant sapphire of his gaze pulling her in. There was something beyond heat in his eyes, it was incredibly intense, like he was staring into her soul. She realized with his power something like that might actually be possible, and it left her even more on edge.

“How are you feeling?” His deep voice slid over her flesh, the smooth seductive cadence promising wicked, dirty pleasure. When he added a hint of a sexy smile, her mind short-circuited. That quirk of his lips changed his appearance so drastically that she was caught up in its thrall for long seconds.

And his scent. It wasn’t just intoxicating, it was consuming, it didn’t matter that her senses weren’t as attuned as some of the shifting races. His pheromones still rocked her enough that she couldn’t help but take in measured breaths. If she wasn’t careful, she would become addicted to his smell alone.

She licked her suddenly dry lips before answering, “I’m awake.” Because she wasn’t sure how she truly felt. She felt strong. It couldn’t be a coincidence that after his presence she’d suddenly awakened after weeks of unconsciousness.

He prowled toward her, full of catlike grace, as she attempted to will away the need curling around her, while another part of her pulled it in. Desire and logic jerked her in one direction as uncertainty tried to undo what fate had set into motion. She wasn’t consciously fighting it, but something in her subconscious was. Falling into a God’s arms wasn’t as simple as it had seemed. Not for her.

His power was so much stronger than she’d imagined. It licked over the walls and caressed her skin, and she had a moment where it was almost too jarring.

“You needed the strength to heal.” It was obvious he was equally affected by her. His muscled shoulders twitched and his wings flexed as his gaze heated with every second that passed. Every step he took toward her.

Each one of her senses had flared to life in his presence, but it was that seductive grin of his that seemed to affect her most, so she focused on it. It was cocky, but charming and sinful. Definitely wicked and full of promise. A temptation as opposed to an order. She forced back some of her trepidation and focused on how he made her feel. Eager and aroused, while their mental connection seemed to be kindling some kind of sexy warmth that was filling her entire body. It felt like quicksand, one step and it would swallow her whole. She just needed to force the movement?

In the blink of an eye he was a breath away, staring down at her, searching her eyes as if seeing everything she’d ever hidden. He growled as his nostrils flared. “Your scent. There’s nothing like it,” he said with a hint of awe and definite hunger in his tone. She didn’t back away or teleport; she allowed him to invade her space. A part of her curious, but she realized that a part of her was searching for something corrupt in him.

He wasn’t his brothers. She knew this… and hated that her mind even conjured the comparison when she knew it had no logical basis. She forced it all away and focused on the male in front of her. She wanted his touch, her nipples ached, and she could almost feel his fingers on her heated skin and she allowed herself to want them there. She was thankful her face wouldn’t show her weakness, her inner turmoil.

She watched as his heated gaze tracked over her face and down to the soft green cotton hospital gown she wore. The back was open and she felt the air against her exposed skin, but she didn’t care. It was just a body. And he’d see her naked soon enough.

Her emotions were all over the place, drugged in desire one moment and the next she was hit with a pang of anxiety that she had to push back.

Impossibly his power felt as if it were strengthening, flowing in waves over her body… slowly gliding inside her. She shivered and was forced to hold back a moan. Good. Pleasure. She needed more of that to take away her nerves. He rasped, “I need to taste you.” How was it possible for words alone to be filled with enough heat to burn her up? She heard him growl, “Sacha.”

Her name on his lips drugged her nearly as much as the sensation of his hand tunneling in her hair, or the other rough hand clenched at her hip, pulling her into him as his lips descended. That first touch was electric; lightning speared through her body as his kiss destroyed the nerves. His cock was so hot and hard against her, and she lifted higher on her toes to get him to where she ached. She was so damned wet and getting more so with every plundering thrust of his tongue. He was feverish, a little wild, but she felt him actually holding back. His touch was firm yet gentle, questing and tempting as his fingers moved along her nape, massaging her hair. The mix of sheer need and care along with his barely leashed hunger was intoxicating.

Sacha set her fingers free to explore the tense tendons of his neck, down to his straining shoulders, reveling in every shuddering muscle. His body’s response emboldened her. Even his wings were moving and pulling around them until she felt the soft feathers caressing her arms. She moaned and slid her hands back up to his cheeks. The stubble there was rough on her skin, but she loved the feel of his jaw working as he kissed her and pulled her hips tighter. She’d never felt anything like it; he kept her from sliding into the abyss alone.

With one hand he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, lost in sensation, the seductive tangling of their tongues as his cock throbbed between them. A second later he broke the kiss on a deep groan that fueled her desire.

“Incredible.” His lips moved to her throat and her head fell back into the feathers that cushioned her.

Yes. This is ambrosia.
His growled words slid through her mind as her fingers slid back to the packed muscles of his shoulders. His skin was burning under her touch and she could feel his restraint slipping. Something about being confined in his hold and his lack of control sent a stab of cold through her body.

But then his lips trailed over her sensitive flesh; the pleasure pulled her back in. His warm breath and trailing lips felt incredible to the point she could barely breathe as more nerve endings sang to life. Her dress eased down her shoulder, his teeth and tongue roving to her swollen breasts, making her moan as goose bumps rose over her skin.

His hand hitched her leg higher and his fingers ripped away her underwear, and then he was caressing her between her thighs. She gasped when he slid a finger inside her wetness.
That’s it, thisavre mou, get me all wet.

His treasure.

Everything inside her chest stilled and started going cold at the idea of being a God’s possession. It didn’t stop her body’s heated reaction, but she felt her breathing hitch. He shifted, and when she felt the head of his cock at her wet entrance, old numbness began to work its way inside her and made her stomach hitch. It was the only reaction she’d ever had during sex and was something she hadn’t felt in thousands of years.

She tried to shake off the chill and grasp the mindless pleasure she’d fallen into, but she couldn’t get ahold of it. When she felt his power sink inside her soul, she knew it was meant to feel good. It should have been a beautiful rarity, but she felt caged and trapped as the icy cold numbness hit her with the force of a skyscraper.

It all turned on her so fast she couldn’t process it or fight it back. Her wrists suddenly ached with the memory of her shackles and her power being snuffed out, suffocated. She felt how mindless he was, how full of need, and she felt herself shutting down.

She teleported from his arms. Disoriented. And the numbness was making her physically ill. She didn’t leave the room, refusing to retreat without saying a word, knowing he’d only follow. She just needed to fight for her mental calm, but she rubbed her wrists while willing the sickness of her past to go back where it belonged.

“Give me a minute.” She was shaking inside, but she knew he wasn’t seeing most of it. He looked like he was fighting the haziness, the frenzy of his arousal. His eyes were still glassy with lust as he ran his hands over his head, but he didn’t reach for her, and that was good.

“What happened? Did I hurt you?” he bit out, still struggling to focus, to understand. It wasn’t accusation, there was true concern there; she felt it in their bond.

That knowledge and no amount of logic could stop her muscles from tensing, waiting for some angry tirade. You didn’t pull away from a God.

She rubbed her cold wrists one more time before stilling the movement. The disorientation and need were nothing compared to the sheer anxiety chilling her bones.

She pushed her hair back but didn’t answer him. She wasn’t fully certain what to say. She only knew she needed air and time to gain control, to stop this sickening numbness.

His brows were knitted, but he didn’t demand she return to him.

He stood there looking beautifully concerned and a little wild as his hands tunneled into his now freed hair. The scent of sex in the room was too strong to withstand with everything else.

She hadn’t expected the reaction that was twisting inside her, turning what should have been something beautiful, or at the very least pleasurable, into something ugly.

“I need air,” she said and hated that she needed it so desperately, because her lungs wouldn’t fill.

With a thought she ported away.

Chapter 5

Sacha’s Paris Home, Earth Realm

Sacha reformed amid the potted plants of her roof garden. The clean scent of rain helped as she panted for breath, shocked and embarrassed, but in the end just violently ill. She lifted her head to the downpour, sucking in the much-needed oxygen before gazing out to the busy Paris streets below. She was high enough that the rushing humans couldn’t see her peering down at them. She’d always loved watching mortals live their lives, seeming to revel in the small joy to be had in their short existences. To see them bustling around with packages for their families, lovers.

She blew out a breath, aware the moment he reformed behind her. His presence at her back made her spine tingle, but she breathed through it. She needed to be around him without the constant twitching of her muscles. He wouldn’t attempt to harm her. To do so would be to harm himself. They were connected.

She wondered if her reactions were solely stemming from the fact that she hadn’t been with a male since Apollo’s palace. She never thought this would happen. She hadn’t even thought of her time in the palace for eons. For it to have an effect on her now infuriated her. She ran a hand over the soft cotton of the hospital gown and turned to him.

“Where is the back of your dress?” he demanded with a pained look on his beautiful face. No doubt her sisters would find his reaction to the hospital gown amusing. Just the thought of them eased her some. She wasn’t the female she’d been. She was strong, even stronger now that his power flowed inside her.

Drops of water slid down her cheeks, but only for a moment. A glance told her that the rain had ceased only around her. She felt his power. Hades was shielding her as he stared at her. He seemed cautious as he assessed her closely.