Beguiled (Book 2 Immortal Essence series) (2 page)

Zaren’s
strong
arms wrapped around my waist, and I leaned into his
solid
chest.
Lemons and honey—
Zaren’s scent made
my insides gooey
.
Every time he was near, my pulse
quickened
,
while my body relaxed.
Lov
ing
him, and being loved by him, was
more amazing
than I ever imagined.

“I’ve been better
, but thanks for asking
.” I turned
and my heart fluttered. His eyes, a bri
ght green, like a flawless four leaf
clover,
took
all of me in.
Forever
my
Formytian
, my personal guardian
.
Forever
concerned.
Forever
perfect.

“We’ll find them, Princess.” His soft
lips parted and he pr
essed them to mine. A kiss meant to be chaste.
I needed more, and poured all of the heartache, sorrow, anger, pain,
and fear into my response
. My hands glided over his
sleek, black
Formytian uniform and I w
rapped my fingers in his
da
rk hair. Sensing my need for more he
deepened the kiss, parting my lips
with his
. Hungry to be as close to him as possible, I stood on my tiptoes. A rumble reverberated at the back of his throat
and sent tingles down my spine.

Afte
r several glorious minutes, he said, “Venus, my Princess . . .
”

I didn’t let him
finish
,
and pulled his lips to mine
.
Technically he wasn’t my personal guardian anymore. I’d released him from his oath on Earth. I’d meant it, and made the order official within days of our return to Kelari. Official or not, he continued to be by my side. And secretly I was grateful.

I
felt
Zaren
smile
. In
reply
, I
tugged
his succulen
t bottom lip into my mouth. He
groan
ed
louder this time, and my heart raced.

“
Thank you,” I said, after
several more minutes.

“
For what?” he asked, the
word
s
breathles
s
.

“Being you
,
” I replied
, placing my head against his
chest. If only life were
this
easy all the time. In Zaren’s arms, listening to the waves and the sea birds, I could almost forget. Forget I’d been on Kela
ri six weeks and in that time
discovered
much
about the plot against me, including the necklace Amberlee gave me for my
sixteenth
birthday.
The irrihunter charm had
been dipped in
eremite spider venom, which
was
why I’d passed out. But I still didn’t know where she or my parents were.
The
one good thing that
happened
since my return
was the relationship between Zaren and I.

Without him I might have
died from
grief.

In a remote part of my mind
, tucked away in a tiny box, were my memories of
Michael.
I hadn’t seen him since
the night he returned me to Kelari, after my exile to Earth.
The night I became
an immortal, a
kelvieri. The night Michael
professed
his love for
me. I hoped he was okay. Zaren seemed
certain he was, but I worried.

“What are you thinking about?” He kissed the top of my head, and I snuggled in closer. I didn’t want to ruin the moment by confessing my thoughts of Michael.

“Just
anxious
,” I said with a sigh.

He pushed me back, examining
my face
. “We will find your parents. I’m sure once the King of
Canaru
sees you’re serious about
putting his son Palmo to death
,
he
will tell us the truth. I know it.”

If only I
held
Zaren’s convictions.
“
I hope so,” I responde
d
, drinking
in the angle of his jaw, his flawlessly al
igned nose, and full mouth. He
recently
cut his d
ark hair, which made his eyes seem even brighter, more exquisite.

“Are you admiring me?” he asked with an embarrassed laugh.

I snorted. “What?” I slapped his arm lightly. Sometimes I wondered if our differences in age mattered.
If he thought I was a silly child.
But, as he
said before
, when you can live forever
,
fifty years
is no time at all.

“Have I told you
how beautiful you are?” He
brushed
some hair from my face and I let
my worry slip away momentarily.
“Your
eyes match the sky. A vivid
and endless
blue
.”

My cheeks flushed at the compliment.

He kissed me lightly. “I’ve got to go.”

My face fell. I hated being away from him. When we were apart
,
loneliness
occupied
m
y thoughts.
But I was a big girl now, an immortal,
a
kelvieri. Though I liked having him near, and he liked being near, it wasn’t such a necessity anymore. Occasionally, since he kept his post as my personal Formytian, the other guardians demanded his assistance. I had to be okay with
our time apart
. And,
most days, I was. I appreciated all he did
.

“I’m sorry
,” he said, rubbing his hands along my
arms
. “
T
wo new Formytians
are
at the castle
. They
must be trained.”
He lifted my chin so
I had to look at him
.
“Will you be alright?”

I swallowed
.
“Of course.” I plastered a smile on m
y face. “The Chans
asked me to join them for their meeting tonight.”
It was an important meeting too. Several small uprisings had broken out on the mountainous border of Alayeah and
Canaru
. In the meeting tonight, we would discuss how to handle the rebels. Most of the
chancellors and counselors, the Chans as I liked to call them,
alleged
the uprisings were because of small indiscretions
between landowners
, but some
thought it was more
. They believed
war between the two countries was imminent.
For those reasons, t
he Chans
sought
to speed up my marriage to Palmo. We’d been betrothed since his birth, a
nd though it was discovered
the king of
Canaru
, and even Palmo, was behind my exile, the Chans believed a marriage would smooth over any animosity. It was a ridiculous notion, and I intended to make that clear tonight. There would be no marriage. 

“I’ll
stop by
before it’s over
and walk you to your room.” He
stroked my lips gently
with his thumbs
.
Zaren knew how to ignite my body.

“Sounds
fabu
.” I
shut
my eyes
, leaning
into his hands
. He kissed my forehead and released me.

I
watched him take a few steps before he used
Britorent
and disappeared. Exhaling heavily, I turned to the
sea
. Bo
th moons reflected off its surface
, their mirror
images shimmering. The meeting
would start soon. I needed
to get to the castle
.

“You and Zaren? That didn’t take long. I’m sure the
old man
is beside himself.”
He was unexpectedly
near
, walking slowly in the sand behind me.

Michael.

I knew it
, but how
had he accomplished such a feat
? With my
immortal hearing
, I shou
ld’ve
perceived
him coming
.
His
voice sounded deeper, more arrogant
than I remembered
.
Conflicting feelings tore through me. A part of me wanted to turn and throw myself into his arms. Check him over and make sure he was still in one piece. Another part of me wanted to smack him, yell at him, and ask
him
where
he’d been the last six weeks. My body didn’t allow me to do either.

He moved up
next to me, and
I
stole a sideways glance.
Still
as
gorgeous
as ever
.
His hair
was longer
, and
covered one eye
. A
smirk
turned
his lips
. H
e crossed his arms over a billowy white shirt. The sleeves hung to his wrists and were cuffed.
Ties flapped carelessly against his chest, propping the neckline open. The ends of the shirt were tucked into a pair of black pants and on his feet were black boots. He looked good.

“Hel
-
lo
ooo
?
You
going to talk to
me?
”
Amusement marked
his tone
.

“No.”

“Damn it.”
He laughed,
and my lips responded with a
smile.

“Where were you
?” I finally asked, turning to face him.
Rugged
,
and gorgeous
, I thought
. My heart raced faster.
I ignored it.
I chose
Zaren. But where had Michael
been? I caught his gaze and held it, searching for answers.

“Here and there,” he responded evasively
, shrugging
.

“Why aren’t you dead?” The words left my mouth before I
could
censor
them. Kelari’s air should’ve killed Michael.

He was human
.

Michael
cleared his throat and dug one of his booted toes into the sand.

“I’m waiting,
” I said, pressing the sand he
dug up back into place with my toes.

“Still an
excruciating
pain in the ass, I see.” He brushed his hair
off his forehead
and smiled
, an easy smile, and its charm shredded my heart.
Holy
helker
he was
beautiful
.

I crossed my arms
, h
oping to fend off his magnetism
.

“Well,” he cleared his throat again, “it turns out I’m not all human.”

I think my mouth dropped into the wet sand. “What?”

“Surprise,” he said half-heartedly.

2.
I Alone

“Are you kidding?”

A bird
interrupted my
question
, calling
into the night. I searched the bluff behind Michael, looking for the owner of the noise.
Anything to give my mind some time to wrap itself around this newest bit of information.
Was
his true identity
the reason
the gods, Ith and Aetha, wanted me to help Michael find his soul mate? Had they known about Michael? “So what are you?” The question sounded worse than it was. I’d met dozens of creatures from different planets over the years.
Some green with ten
googly
eyes. Others were red and similar to spiders, except they spit when they talked.