The Immortals I_Lucas

by Cynthia Breeding

  She looked up at the large, circular, stained-glass window with its stone tracery radiating from the center. “The old Roman church dedicated those windows to the Virgin Mary, didn’t they?”

  Lucas nodded. “They referred to her as the Mystic Rose.”

  Sara shook her head. “The Mystic Rose was Mary Magdalene, not the Virgin.” She grew thoughtful. “There may be a link, though.”

  “How so?” Lucas asked as he kept his gaze carefully fixed on her face and not on her wet-shirt breasts.

  Really, she didn’t mind if he looked. She wondered how it felt for him to have her breasts fill his hands or if he noticed the contrast between the hard nipple and the soft flesh surrounding it when he suckled. The thought made her breasts feel heavy and achy with need. How could she break through that steel resolve of his? She heaved a big sigh which caused her breasts to rise and was rewarded to see him inhale sharply. Maybe she could get to the man. Better to pretend she hadn’t noticed though.

  “Did you know there’s a theory that traces Galahad back through both Lancelot and Elaine’s bloodlines all the way to the Magdalene herself?”

  He looked intrigued. “Tell me.”

  “It’s all in a book called Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner,” she said. “Galahad’s roots go back through Lancelot I and II as well as Taliesin, Nascien, Anfortas, and Josephes, who was the Magdalene’s son.” She paused, glad that Lucas still looked interested. “He also addresses the ancient marriage rites of Mesopotamia and Egypt where it was the female who gave strength and power to the male.”

  “And your point?” Lucas prodded gently when she fell to thinking silently.

  “The point is that the Roman church became male-dominated by the third century, but worship of the sacred feminine was alive and well in earlier times. And it didn’t die out. Mary had a daughter named Sarah who carried on the other bloodline.”

  “Goddess worship?”

  Sara nodded and looked back at the rose window. “West is the direction of the Otherworld where the goddess Arianrhod resides. If the Templars had the windows face that direction, maybe they were sympathetic to goddess worship.”

  “An interesting theory,” Lucas said just as a bolt of lightening bounced off a light pole down the street and the crack of thunder jolted the car. “We can continue this conversation later. Right now, I think we’d better try and find a hotel.”

  The idea of being in a hotel room with him was definitely appealing, but even as she thought about the possibilities of a hot shower, accidentally forgetting her robe, and emerging just wrapped in a towel, she knew he’d book two rooms. She sighed.

  “There’s still plenty of daylight left. Why don’t we just head north and try to get out of this storm?”

  Lucas looked up at the threatening sky with its dark clouds scudding lower. “Sounds like a good idea,” he said.

  * * * *

  Two hours later, it no longer seemed like such a good idea. Not only had the blasted storm followed them up the coast, but they were now mired axle deep in mud just off of Highway 17 somewhere between Savannah and Charleston.

  “My cell’s dead,” Sara said as she tried again to get the power to come on.

  “With this rain, a tower couldn’t pick up the signal anyway,” Lucas said as he stared at his own cell phone on the dash. It wasn’t working either. “By the Dagda, I havna seen rain pelting sideways, blinding a mon, since I sailed the Hebrides.” As if to answer him, the wind shrieked its fury, lashing at the rented SUV. He swore softly.

  “At least we’re in the ditch,” Sara said, “in case this storm spawns a tornado.”

  He glanced at her, a little amused that she could be optimistic under the circumstances. He was thankful she wasn’t the squeamish sort.

  “Do you think we were run off the road on purpose?” she asked.

  It was the question that he had been pondering. The black car had been traveling much too fast for the road conditions—Bel’s Fires! He’d been crawling along at fifteen miles an hour barely able to see twenty feet in front of the Excursion—and the guy had crossed over the line, leaving Lucas no choice but to put the big car into the ditch. And it was probably due to the protective spell of the shield that he’d seen the car in the first place. He was glad now that he’d brought it along.

  “I don’t know.”

  She looked at him, her eyes steady on his. “Was it Baylor?”

  He had to admit, she had guts. There was no fear in her voice. “I don’t know how he would have found us,” he said finally. That was another thing that left him uneasy. Balor rarely involved himself directly in any sort of confrontation. Yet, he had dealt with Sara himself and, assumedly, killed the two abductors he’d hired. Changing his M.O. made him doubly dangerous since Lucas didn’t know what to anticipate next.

  He had other problems as well. Physical ones. The wolf always responded to changes in weather and storms brought out the primitive urge to respond to nature’s frenzy. Even now he felt his blood heat and he throttled the savage howl that rose in his throat. He should get out and go for a run, but he didn’t want to leave Sara alone, not even with the shield lying in the back.

  As he looked at her, the wet T-shirt displaying the perfect outline of her breasts, yet keeping the creamy satin of her skin and the rosy color of her taunt nipples hidden from him, he felt another basic urge take hold.

  “Do you think we’ll have to spend the night here?” she asked.

  His already stiff cock grew harder and his balls tightened. He groaned inwardly. How in Hades was he going to control himself if they were going to spend the next ten hours in this confined space? But the truth was, he hadn’t heard any cars passing. Even if one did, the ditch was deep enough that they wouldn’t be seen, especially with dusk approaching. But he should try. He reached for the door handle.

  “I can go stand on the road and try to flag someone down,” he said.

  “No!” Sara grabbed his arm. “It’s getting dark and with the rain not letting up, you could get hit.”

  Her touch was sending unbelievable sensations to his groin and his jeans were way too tight. Lucas called on centuries' worth of will power and was gratified to feel the wolf retreat. He took a deep breath.

  “Then this is it,” he said, surprised his voice wasn’t squeaking like an adolescent boy. “You can take the back and I’ll keep watch up here.”

  She hesitated a second, looking deep into his eyes, and then removed her hand from his arm. “This seat reclines,” she finally said. “You take the back so you can stretch out.”

  “I’ll be fine here.”

  A small smile played around her mouth and Lucas gripped the steering wheel in an effort not to pull her across the console and ravage that sensual mouth. The beast raised his head and pricked his ears.

  “I appreciate your gallantry, Sir Knight,” she said half-mockingly, “but I would prefer you be rested. We don’t know what we’re going to face in the morning.”

  She had a point. Even if Balor or one of his henchmen wasn’t lurking down the road, they still had to get the car out of the mud. But he wasn’t at all sure how rested he would be unless his cock would cooperate. He envisioned a bucket of ice water splashing on him, cooling him down. It worked a little.

  “Why don’t you change into some dry clothes?” he asked. Maybe if he couldn’t see her form so distinctly he could get past this feral need he had for her.

  She bit her lip and then scooted between the two bucket seats to where their suitcases were resting on the folded-down seats. He was tempted to watch her in the mirror and then chided himself. By the gods he was thinking like a schoolboy.

  “All done,” she said a few minutes later as she emerged in a dry T-shirt and shorts that made her legs look a mile long. Lucas wasn’t sure if the sight of bare thighs was any better than looking at her wet breasts. The wolf growled approvingly and Lucas fervently wished the storm would stop lashing its fury about them.

  “I th
ink I’ll turn in. Maybe we get started at dawn,” he said.

  Sara nodded and moved the lever to recline her chair, which left her lying back looking up at him. Just what he needed. It was all he could do not to pounce on her as he between the bucket seats to the back. He lifted the shield into the driver’s seat. “Doors locked?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She turned to look at him. “Give me your shirt. I’ll drape it over the shield. It should be dry by morning.”

  Being half-naked around her probably wasn’t the wisest thing he should do. Yet the idea of sleeping in the wet shirt wasn’t appealing either. He stripped it off and handed it to her. The feel of her hand brushing his brought the wolf to attention again and stiffened his other head’s resolve. He sighed and laid down, trying to get comfortable.

  Guilt assuaged him. The bucket seat up front was spacious, but sleeping in it wouldn’t be that comfortable. There was plenty of room back here for both of them. Could he trust the wolf not to turn on her? Outside the storm was still raging and the wolf’s instincts were on alert.

  “You can come back here if you want to,” he said after twisting and turning for several minutes. “There’s room enough for both of us.”

  She peeked around the corner of her chair. “I thought you told me that being too close brought the wolf out.”

  He sighed. “It does. But I’ll make sure I don’t touch you.” Could he sound any more stupid? Not since Queen Victoria’s time had he had to act so proper. And he couldn’t recall any Victorian ladies that had enticed him half as much as Sara did. It was going to be a long night.

  * * * *

  The whip hissed through the air as Baylor lashed the hapless young man that Caldwell had recruited to follow Ramsey and the girl. He lay on his stomach, hands manacled to one of the slants in the headboard, a gag in his mouth to prevent other hotel guests from hearing his now-silent screams.

  The leather strap lashed out again, slicing across three open wounds. The man tried to turn sideways then quickly realized the folly of exposing his genitals to the whip.

  Baylor paused, trying to remember what Caldwell had told him about this recruit—Carl Landon, he thought the name was. The kid was in his 20’s, virile and smug about his good looks. He also owed over a hundred thousand dollars in gambling debts that Baylor had graciously agreed to pay for him to do this one small favor. And he had failed in such a simple task.

  “I told you to follow them,” he said as he slapped the whip down on the bed inched from that handsome face, “not run them off the road. In the future, you will follow my instructions exactly as I give them. Is that understood?”

  The young man nodded frantically.

  “Good. At this time I want to see where they lead me. You’ll get your share of killing later. That is, if you don’t become a victim yourself for disobedience.”

  Carl Landon whimpered through his gag.

  “But you won’t disobey me again, will you?” The tip of the whip rubbed against the oldest cut where the bleeding began again.

  The whimpering came faster along with a sharp jerks of Carl’s head indicating that he understood.

  “That’s good,” Baylor said soothingly, “but before I let you go, I must make sure you understand.”

  The young man’s back arched in anticipation of another strike and Baylor laughed. “No more of that. Wouldn’t want to leave too many scars for the pretty girls to be repulsed by. You do like girls, don’t you?”

  Carl nodded quickly.

  “And not boys?”

  He shook his head from side to side.

  “That’s what I thought,” Baylor said as he positioned himself between the man’s now-splayed legs and thrust his rod deep into the man’s ass. And rode him hard.

  * * * *

  Sara murmured sleepily as she dreamt of Lucas’ warm hand sliding under her shirt and slowly tracing concentric circles around a breast, spiraling toward her nipple. His fingertips flicked lightly over it, causing the nub to tighten immediately. The hand cupped her breast, kneading it, the thumb and forefinger pinching the taunt peak gently.

  She arched her back into his touch, purring like a cat, and the hand trailed lazily down her ribs and across a flat stomach to lightly caress the curls at the apex of her thighs. She moaned a little and opened them for his fingers to explore her folds, pausing when he found her already wet and then that finger went to work, agonizingly teasing her clitoris with alternating soft and firm pressure, circles and long strokes.

  Goddess! She was coming and he hadn’t even inserted his finger yet!

  Sara woke as her body shuddered and spasmed in climax. Some dream! She opened her eyes and found herself pressed up the length of Lucas’ body, head on his shoulder, hand on the hard muscles of his chest. One of his arms was wrapped tightly about her, snugging her to him, and the other hand cupped her breast. He was sound asleep. Or was he? In the pale light of a breaking dawn, it was hard to tell.

  She let her hand drift downward to where she could see a bulge beneath the briefs. She softly stroked down the length of it, feeling it stir underneath her touch and Lucas groaned. The next minute his hand gripped hers, staying her action.

  “You’re treading dangerous ground, lass.”

  Her hand was still on what now felt like steel. “You don’t like this?”

  Raw desire flamed in his eyes and made them glow preternaturally. For a moment, she had the distinct feeling she was looking at the wolf rather than Lucas and her skin began to tingle.

  “Ah, lass. More than you know.” He sighed as he put her hand down on the pad beneath them. “ ‘Tis dangerous to arouse the beast while I’m asleep.”

  She arched a brow at him. “You’re awake now.”

  He stared at her. “You’ve no idea what the wolf can do if I lose control.”

  “I don’t think he’d hurt me,” Sara said quietly. “He didn’t when he fought the she-wolf and he didn’t when you came to my defense with Baylor. And the wolf was wounded then.”

  “But I feel him pacing, ready to spring,” Lucas answered. “I can’t take a chance on hurting you. We’d better get dressed.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  Sara took his hand and placed it on her breast. “You were holding me like this when I woke up. Did your wolf growl at that? I want you to continue what that dream started.”

  He stared at her. “You were dreaming too?”

  She inhaled sharply. “It was real then?”

  “Mind link.” A finger gently traced the outline of her cheek. “Are you really willing to take a risk with me?”

  Like she hadn’t been trying to tell him that since Day One? “Try me. You and the puppy.”

  “At least, let me take you to a motel.”

  “No. Now.”

  His eyes blazed molten gold. He took the jacket he’d been lying on and tucked it under her and then eased her down on the makeshift mattress. He removed the gold cross he always wore. “It gets in the way,” he said as she raised an eyebrow.

  Lucas slanted his mouth over hers, tasting her with slow, gentle pressure, catching her lower lip between his teeth before teasing her with his tongue. She parted her lips, but he moved upward, raining tiny kisses across her eyelids and cheek and then nibbling on her ear. Sara moaned as he licked the delicate spot beneath her earlobe and then trailed a series of tiny, light bites down her neck.

  He returned to her mouth, more demanding this time as his hand pushed her T-shirt up and he cupped a breast. He deepened the kiss as he rolled a nipple between thumb and forefinger, causing her to whimper deep in her throat.

  Sara wrapped her arms around his neck, fisting his thick hair as she met the deep thrusts of his tongue with her own. She swirled her tongue around his as he continued his exploration of her mouth and was rewarded with a groan from him and a stronger kneading of her cupped breast.

  He broke the kiss to lift her slightly and pull the T-shirt over her head. For a moment, he just gazed at the soft pale
s mounds of her breasts, the nipples already hard and red and waiting for him. He traced his fingertips around one of them, allowing only the pad of his thumb to lightly brush over the taut tip. He leaned down and let his tongue flick over the other one, making both breasts suddenly feel heavy and full. He blew his warm breath over the wet nub, fanning Sara’s desire for more of his touch.

  “Please!” she said, “More!”

  Lucas grinned. “In time.”

  He began a slow, deliciously agonizing torture of her breasts, his hands stroking the sides, then cupping and kneading, while his tongue circled lazily around the aureole of each one, occasionally lapping a nipple. Sara arched her back, silently begging him to suckle her. As if reading her mind, he fiendishly licked his way down her stomach, leaving her breasts achy with need. He reamed her navel with his tongue and she gasped. Nibbling his way up, he pushed her breasts together and flicked his tongue from one nipple to the other. And then, when she was about ready to scream from sheer desire, his mouth closed over one hard bud and he began to suckle. Cream flooded her already wet panties.

  He drew on the nipple, long and deep, and then circled it with his tongue before pulling on it again. His hand pinched the other nipple, alternating between firm and gentle grasps. Sara mewled and raked her nails along his back. He pressed more tightly to her side, his erection a steel rod against her thigh.

  Lucas shifted his experienced mouth to her other breast and a hand slid down her stomach and beneath her silk panties. His large palm massaged her mound in slow circles, bringing enough pressure on the sacral chakra to inflame an already throbbing core. She bucked against his hand and he pulled more deeply on the soft breast.

  By the Dagda, she felt good! And his wolf had made no move, although at the moment he doubted the beast could be any more feral than he felt. He slid a finger between her folds and found her slick and wet. She gasped and lifted her hips. Lucas pulled her panties down and trailed his hand up her inner thigh as she opened her legs for him. He slipped a finger into her hot sheath. The vagina muscles clenched on him. He slipped in a second finger and began to thrust slowly, watching her face as she shuddered in delight.