Ensnared: An Eternal Guardians Novella Read online

  The place was rustic. And cozy. But nowhere he’d ever been and no dreamscape he’d ever conjured.

  Without looking toward Zakara, he said, “Stay here.”

  She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t make any move to follow him. Just held her hands out in front of the flames, continuing to warm herself as he headed toward the darkened doorway.

  A quick check of the inside and outer surroundings of the cabin revealed it was a small one-bedroom hideaway tucked into a sheltered alcove above the lake. There was no sign of Zeus. And his senses didn’t tingle with any kind of warning telling him they were in immediate danger. No indication they were anywhere but in a dreamscape after all. But he still couldn’t figure out how he’d woven it. Or when.

  He was still working through that one in his head when he came back inside, careful—just in case—to close and lock the door at his back.

  “Everything okay?”

  He looked up to find Zakara still standing in front of the fire, but this time her back was to the flames, and she was no longer pale or shivering. Her skin was now smooth and soft and relaxed, and her whole body seemed to glow with a warmth that made her ten thousand times more attractive than she’d been before. One that lit a fire deep inside him and heated every space that had just been icy cold with stress and worry.

  “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Everything’s fine.” Still completely freakin’ weird, but absolutely fine.

  “Good.” A slow smile spread across her lips, and she held a hand out toward him. “Then come over here and sit by the fire with me. You have to be freezing after being outside the last twenty minutes.”

  Had it been that long? He had no concept of time. But before he could say so, he felt his feet moving as if they had a mind of their own, then her fingers wrapping around his as she drew close and tugged him with her toward the floor.

  She sat cross-legged in front of him, the fire at their side, and didn’t once let go of his hand. “I have a confession to make.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about being alone with you like this all day.”

  “You have?”

  She nodded again. “The entire time I was with my mother at the clinic, all I could think about was this.” She reached for his other hand and closed her warm fingers around his much colder ones. “You.”

  “What clinic?” Normally, when he had an assignment such as this, he didn’t ask questions. Talking was never high on his to-do list in a dreamscape. It was never high on the dreamer’s list either. There was really no point. Once he obtained the information he needed from the females who were his targets—and he usually got that through routine seduction—he had no more reason to see them. Certainly had no desire to get to know them. And before things had changed tonight he’d had no intention of talking and getting to know Zakara. But everything seemed different now. He felt different. And he had a strange sense she was the reason his world was suddenly upside down and backward at the moment.

  “Oh, it’s my mother’s clinic. In the castle where we live in Argolea. She’s a healer. The queen’s personal healer. She services the royal family and any of the Argonauts and their families.”

  He didn’t give a rip about the Argonauts or the Argolean queen. “What do you do there? At your mother’s clinic?”

  “Nothing really.” She rolled her eyes. “Twiddle my thumbs.”

  Gods, she was adorable. He bet she didn’t even know how adorable.

  “My mother’s training me to be a healer. She thinks I have ‘the gift,’ like her and her mother before her.”

  “And you don’t?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t have any gifts.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean...” She glanced down at their joined hands and seemed to contemplate her words. “Geez, I’m not even sure why I’m telling you this.” Drawing a deep breath, she looked back up at him in the low light and said, “I’m the only Argolean that I know of who doesn’t have any kind of gift.”

  “None at all?”

  “Nope. Nada. Every Argolean has some kind of special ability—strength, intuition, enhanced senses, yadda yadda—bestowed upon them as descendants of the great heroes, but I’ve got nothing. I’m just”—she lifted her shoulders and dropped them as she looked up at him—“me.”

  A tingle spread down his spine. She’d just told him exactly what Zeus had sent him to find out. All within the first few minutes of their time together. Without any coaxing on his part or lure of seduction as he’d planned. He could end the dreamscape right now—send her back to sleep in Argolea and him to Olympus with a big fat so long motherfucker to the king of the gods. Except...

  He wasn’t ready to send her home. And he suddenly wasn’t thrilled by the idea of returning to his solitary realm in the heart of the cosmos, even though that’s all he’d wanted only hours ago.

  He swallowed hard, confused yet at the same time eager to know more. His fingers reflexively tightened around hers, as if that would prevent her from getting away. “Maybe you already have your gifts, you just haven’t perfected them.”

  She huffed, but her lips curled, and a sheepish look filled her violet eyes. “Trust me, if I had any kind of gift, I’d know. My mother would know. She is constantly hovering, checking to make sure I’m normal.”

  He didn’t particularly like the sound of that. “Who defines normal? There is no such thing as normal. We’re all unique and different. Isn’t that the point of life in the first place?”

  “I suppose.” Her eyes narrowed. “You sound an awful lot like my cousin Talisa.”

  “I’ve never met her.”

  “You’d remember if you had. She’s my age, six feet tall, long dark hair, a Siren-shaped body. And she’s not at all intimidated by anyone or anything.”

  “Does she have a gift?”

  “Of course. She’s the daughter of the leader of the Argonauts. She has the same super-human strength as her father.”

  “So she could kick my ass? I’ll pass, thanks.”

  Zakara’s lips curled into a smile, and she laughed, the sound so light and right and sweet, all he could think about was dragging her onto his lap and devouring it with a kiss so he could feel the vibrations in his own chest.

  He resisted the urge, only because he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. His own lips curled in a smile as he watched a rosiness fill her cheeks. “Confidence in a female is one thing, but knowing a woman is stronger than me might just shatter my ego forever.”

  She smirked. “I doubt she’s stronger than you.”

  “I’m no Argonaut.”

  Her gaze swept over his bare shoulders and chest, down his stomach and hovered on his hips and legs crossed in front of him, covered by only the thin linen drawstring pants he’d worn for what’d he’d assumed would be a typical moonlit beach seduction.

  Warmth gathered in his groin, and as her gaze slowly lifted back up to his and he saw the flash of approval in her violet eyes, that warmth went white-hot, awakening his cock with an intensity he couldn’t quite ever remember feeling before. Superheating his blood with a need that was unlike any other.

  “No, you’re not,” she said in a throaty voice, one he suspected she had no idea made him absolutely on-fucking-fire. “You’re more. I’m not entirely sure what you are, but I want to find out. I might not have Talisa’s looks or strength or confidence, but all day when I was frustrated with my family and future, all I could think about was coming here and being with you just like this. It was the one thing I wanted with absolute certainty.”

  Her gaze skipped over his—pure and open and honest—and as he let go of one of her hands and lifted his fingers to her cheek, he was absolutely mesmerized by something—someone—who he no longer saw as a target, but as a person who somehow had the power to weave a fantasy around him. “You are a thousand times more confident than you think you are. And strength has nothing to do with muscles. It’s found in the soul. Your
soul, Zakara, is stronger than you know.” His fingers slid down her jaw so his thumb brushed her cheek, and he gently tugged, drawing her forward as he leaned into her, unable to resist the soft, tempting curve of her lips a moment longer. “And as for looks... Your perception has to be skewed because I’ve been all around the cosmos, and I’m here to tell you... You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever encountered. Inside and out. There’s no way your cousin can hold a candle to you.”

  “Oh my...”

  Her whispered words met his ears a split second before her lips pressed against his. Warmth and softness filled his senses. Then she opened. Her slick, wet tongue slipped against his. Her sweet, hot taste filled his mouth, and he was lost.

  His hand wrapped around the back of her head. His other found her hip, the small of her back. He pulled her toward him as he plundered her mouth, and she answered by climbing onto his lap, by trailing her fingers up into his hair, by kissing him so deeply he lost track of who he was and why he was even there.

  All he wanted was this. All he needed was more.

  All he craved was every fucking thing he hadn’t realized he’d been missing each moment of his long, lonely life. Even if somewhere deep inside he knew that a deceitful god like him would never be able to hold on to the gem that was her.

  Chapter Four

  As far as fantasies went, this one was pretty damn hot. And Kara wasn’t about to put an end to it any time soon.

  She positioned her knees on the plush white rug on either side of Ryder, gripped his handsome face in her hands, then tipped her head and kissed him deeper as she settled on his lap and the sweet, hard bulge of his erection pressed right where she wanted to feel it.

  Ooooh yes...

  In the real world, she wouldn’t buy into the lines he was hitting her with, but this wasn’t the real world. And in this dream, there was no such thing as consequences, so she could be as daring and confident and take-charge as she wanted without having to worry about what anyone would think or say or whisper about her later.

  “Mm,” he whispered against her lips, his big hands sliding around her backside to cup and pull her into him. “You taste like sin and salvation all at the same time, fantasía.”

  So did he. She gasped as the hard ridge of his arousal brushed her clit. His lips moved to the corner of her mouth, her cheek, worked their way to her throat as he rubbed against her again. Unable to stop the groan building inside her, she closed her eyes and flexed her hips, enjoying the sensation, the electrical arcs shooting all through her body, how wet and tight and achy it was making her.

  His fingers fisted the thin cotton of her nightgown at her back and tugged. She answered by pressing her weight onto her knees so he could pull the fabric free between them.

  “I want you, Kara.” He kissed his way to the other side of her throat, sending a line of shivers all down her spine. “I’ve wanted you since I first set eyes on you.”

  Oh, man. He knew just what to say...

  Lowering back onto his erection, she looked down into his eyes and shot him a challenging look. “Then why are you wasting time talking?”

  Heat flashed in his eyes, and then she was on her back. Soft fur carpet beneath her, hot, hard male looming over her.

  He closed his mouth over hers in a possessive kiss that curled her toes against the carpet. But before she could taste her fill and pull him down on top of her, he drew back, his lips trailing across her throat again, his muscular body easing away from her.

  “You may regret not putting up a fight.” He nipped at her throat, sending a small shot of pain down her spine. But she was too distracted by his knees pushing hers apart. By his fingers tugging the tie at her neckline free. “When I want something, I’m never truly satisfied until I’ve had all of it. And I want all of you, fantasía. Every single part of you. In each and every way imaginable.”

  Oh, yeeeeessss...

  She reached for him as the top of her flimsy nightgown fell open, exposing her breasts. Her nipples puckered as she watched his gaze skip over her, as pleasure filled his eyes.

  “Just as perfect as I imagined.”

  He lowered his head and extended his tongue. Her fingers slid into his hair and her eyes fell shut as she felt the soft, wet flat of his tongue brush across her taut flesh. She pushed her chest out to meet him as he did it again. Couldn’t help but press her feet against the carpet and rock her hips upward, searching for the pressure she ached for right between her legs.

  “Responsive.” He circled the tip, then drew the nub into his mouth and suckled before releasing her. “I like that.”

  He moved to her other breast, taunting and teasing her nipples into hard peaks, making her hotter and wetter with every stroke of his talented tongue. Kara’s whole body was on fire, floating on a fantasy that was better than any she’d ever had before.

  “Ryder,” she whispered, enjoying every moment, her knees pressing against his ribs as she continued to search for the rest of him. “You’re making me wild.”

  He chuckled and trailed his lips into the hollow between her breasts. “Wild is good.” His hot breath fanned her already overheated skin. Reaching down, he grasped the hem of her nightgown at her thigh and tugged up. “Wild is right where I want you.”

  Cool air washed over her hip, her bare sex, her belly. He pushed her gown higher, past her breasts, and said, “Arms up.”

  She let go of him long enough for him to tug the gown up and over her head. As he tossed it on the floor beside them, she focused on his face. On the muscle flexing in his jaw as his gaze swept over her naked body, on the approval she saw in his dreamy eyes.

  “Oh, I was wrong.” He skimmed his thumb down her ribcage, from the base of her breast all the way to apex of her groin. “You’re even better than I imagined.”

  Desire welled inside her. She sat up and reached for his face, drawing him toward her and kissing him deeply the instant their lips met. He groaned into her mouth like a man starved and tangled his tongue with hers, taking charge of the kiss in a way that made her frantic for more. Her hands streaked down the hard plane of his chest and abs until she found the tie at his waist. He kissed her deeper as she pulled it free, shifted his weight on his knees and wriggled out of the garment as soon as she pushed it down his hips.

  “I need you now,” she mumbled against him, grasping the material with her toes when it was at his ankles so she could kick it away. As soon as it was gone, she wrapped an arm around his waist and another at his neck to pull him down. “I can’t wait.”

  His heavenly weight settled on top of her. The hard, thick length of his cock pressed against her thigh. She wanted to see it, to hold it, to taste it, but his mouth closed over hers again, distracting her from everything but the way he tasted and felt against her.

  “I can’t wait either.” He braced one hand on the carpet and nudged her knees wider as he continued to plunder her mouth with his wicked tongue. His weight shifted. “Need to feel how slick and tight and perfect you are here.”

  His fingers slid through the wetness between her thighs, and she groaned. But before she could tell him to do it again, the thick, blunt head of his cock pressed against her opening and he flexed his hips, driving deep in one hard thrust.

  “Oh, fuck...” Her whole body contracted, and her fingertips dug into the damp skin at his lower back as she held on. A mixture of pleasure and pain spiraled straight up her spine and into her brain, mixing with his grunt of pleasure echoing in her ears as he held still so deep inside her she was sure she could feel him everywhere.

  He was bigger than she’d expected. Harder. More real than she expected from a dream. And though she definitely wanted this—him—for a moment she wondered if she’d be able to handle everything he’d implied he wanted to do to her.

  His muscles quivered against her hands as he glanced down at her, holding himself still above. “My gods, you’re tight.”

  Her eyes watered as she stared up at the beamed ceiling, willing hersel
f to relax. “And you’re...big. Bigger than I expected. I just need—”

  “I know exactly what you need, fantasía.” He shifted one hand between them, drawing his cock back just enough so he could press his thumb against her clit. “Let me show you.”

  He lowered his mouth back to hers and kissed her deeply, and as his tongue licked against her, he slipped his thumb over her clit, again and again, drawing her passion right back to the surface until any anxiety she’d had moments before was replaced with a burning desire to feel him move.

  “Ryder...”

  “Yes?”

  She arched her back as she kissed him and shifted her hands to his ass, pulling him against her. “Fuck me. Now. I need it. I need you.”

  He groaned against her lips and drew his hips back. The thick head of his cock dragged along her walls, sending tremors all through her lower body. His thumb continued to tease her clit into a hard nub. And just when she was ready to beg again, he thrust hard once more, filling her so deeply she gasped.

  She perched her feet flat on the floor and lifted her hips as he rocked into her again and again, his strokes growing longer with every pass. A fire built inside her. One fueled by lust and desire, the kind she’d only ever read about in books. He lowered his weight onto her and rested his elbow on the floor, tangling his fingers in her hair as he ravaged her mouth. Holding on tightly, she kissed him as passionately as she could, savoring every sensation, the way he was pushing her right to the edge with his magical cock and talented lips, riding the tidal wave of pleasure building inside her.

  He tugged his hand from between them and pinched her nipple. Electricity zapped her nerve endings. She gasped into his mouth as he let go of her breast and braced his hand on the carpet, shifting his knees wider and driving harder inside her.

  He pulled away from her mouth and stared down at her. Sweat slicked his skin as he plunged deep again and again. His thrusts picked up speed, and a muscle in his neck pulsed with the effort. Her eyes locked on his as the head of his cock, so thick and wide and rigid, hammered into her, striking her G-spot with an almost brutal force. Something primal passed between them, locked in each other like that. Something indescribable. Unable to look away from what seemed to be a swirling cosmos in his eyes, she held his gaze as his hand shifted from her hair to her shoulder, and he closed his fingers around her muscles and bones, pulling her body hard into every one of his savage thrusts.