Sage Read online

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Sage

  ISBN # 1-4199-0601-1

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Sage Copyright© 2006 Shiloh Walker

  Edited by Pamela Campbell

  Cover art by Willo.

  Electronic book Publication: April 2006

  This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Warning:

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Sage

  Shiloh Walker

  Chapter One

  “You have got to be kidding me.”

  The vampire merely arched a brow as he leaned back into the molded cushions of the chair. Turning his attention to the computer, he addressed the other person holding the line in the online conference.

  Dismissing Sage.

  Narrowing his eyes, Sage glared at Jax and said, “Send somebody else.”

  Jax cut Sage a look. “And who do you think is physically capable of forcing Anni back here? Danny is scared to death of her. I suppose we could send her brother but I don’t plan on bringing Dustin back any time soon.”

  “Why in hell does she have to be forced?”

  Jax turned away from the computer, focusing his midnight eyes on Sage once more. A lot of people would have been intimidated by that look, but it wasn’t something that had ever occurred to Sage. Jax was just another soldier in their war as far as Sage was concerned.

  “I need her back here and she’s ignoring my orders.”

  Rolling his eyes, Sage jammed his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and rocked onto his heels. “Maybe that’s the problem…Master. Not many of us care to be ordered to do any damn thing. She’s a free woman.”

  “She’s a free woman who wants this war won as much as the rest of us. You know the drill—you do what I say…or you walk.”

  Sage glared at Jax. “And you wonder why not too many people like you much. You’re an asshole, Jax.”

  A cool smile appeared on Jax’s face. “That may well be, but I’m an asshole who knows how to fight—and win—a war. Can any of you say the same?”

  They’d gained considerable ground since Jax had come onboard. That was something Sage couldn’t deny. After the small army had successfully stopped more than forty public executions of Firewalkers, they’d had the pleasure of watching as the World Federated Government stopped public executions. They had continued with them covertly, but those made it easier for the Firewalkers to get in and out…and dispense a lot of damage on the way out.

  The government had suffered a lot of damages in the past few months.

  Sage didn’t know if they were on the right path but they were sure as hell accomplishing more than they had been before Jax had come.

  Still…

  “I don’t care if you’re George Washington crossing the Delaware, pal,” Sage snarled. “You don’t treat people like they are your damn slaves.”

  Jax sighed, closing his eyes for a minute. “I treat them like soldiers, Sage. I was placed in this position for a reason, and all of you agreed. I give orders—you follow them. Otherwise, get out.”

  For the first time, a small tendril of resentment formed in Sage’s gut as he glared at Jax. He couldn’t walk. This fight was his life—his only reason for existing. “You’re a fucking bastard, Jax. And you had better hope to hell you have a good reason for making me do this.”

  Closing his eyes, Sage summoned an image of her face to his mind. As it solidified, he loosed the power inside him and let it sweep him away.

  After Sage left, Jax looked up to find Caris watching him.

  Her eyes were carefully blank as she studied her husband and Jax suppressed a smile. He could all but hear the angry words bubbling in her throat. But instead of explaining himself, he asked, “Who is George Washington?”

  She ignored him, sauntering into the room with her hands tucked inside her pockets. “You know, I realize you take this being in charge deal seriously. And you do a good job of it. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen you act like such an authoritarian ass.”

  Jax cocked a brow at her. “I tire of being called names, pet.”

  Caris gave him a sugary sweet smile. “Well, when you stop acting like an ass, maybe you’ll stop being called one. Now why don’t you tell me what in hell that was about?”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Jax replied levelly, “It was about solving a problem.”

  “A problem?”

  “Indeed—the problem both of them have been over the past year. And it only gets worse. With Anni being in the condition she’s in, if she doesn’t do something, dealing with her will become damn near impossible. And Sage is already impossible.”

  For one sweet moment, Jax had the pleasure of seeing his wife speechless. And then her warm golden eyes narrowed and she whispered, “You conniving bastard.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Caris shoved a hand through her hair. “Life doesn’t work that way. You can’t take two people determined to ignore each other and expect them to just…just…”

  “Just do what they’ve been dying to do for years?” Jax offered. “They can’t go an hour without thinking about the other. And everybody knows it, except the two of them. Make it to where they can’t avoid each other, and they’ll have to accept facts.”

  Caris snorted. “But you sent Sage to get Anni and bring her back. He’ll be back here in a matter of minutes.”

  He started to laugh. “Oh, please. Do you actually think Sage is going to force Anni into anything?”

  * * * * *

  “Damn it!” Anni sobbed as she leaped out of bed, her entire body tense and aching.

  She hurt. She hadn’t ever needed like she needed right now—she felt entirely too empty. Skin too tight, itchy…too hot.

  The vibrator on the bed had stopped buzzing the minute she’d released it and she turned around to glare at it. Damn it, she couldn’t find the relief she needed. Nothing helped.

  She’d tried that damn vibrator—she’d abused the showerhead. Everything just left her aching for more. Covering her face with her hands, she dragged air into her lungs, trying to clear the fog from her brain.

  This had happened before—a hunger that was damn near uncontrollable, but she had been able to use toys to take the edge off. Or she’d found some guy at a bar and gotten laid.

  Now it was as though she just couldn’t do it. The thought
of letting some nameless faceless man touch her made her stomach crawl.

  Just one man—she wanted just one man. And he didn’t even know she existed. He was all she had ever wanted, all she could think about.

  Damn it, she could all but smell…oh shit.

  Dropping her hands, she whirled around and found him standing there.

  His eyes burned into her flesh and she flushed as his gaze ran over her, from her bare feet, up the length of her legs, lingering for a moment on her sex before moving on to her breasts. Her skin tingled, almost as if he had reached out and run his hands over her, instead of just looking.

  By the time he met her eyes, her heart was slamming into her ribs with damn near bruising force. She forced a cool smile though, as she stared at him. “What in hell are you doing here?”

  “It would appear I’m looking for you.”

  His voice sounded odd. Shrugging it off, she turned on her heel, feeling his eyes on her butt while she strode across the room to the small closet. Jerking the door open, she grabbed a T-shirt out of it and jerked it over her head. “Why? I’m on vacation.”

  He didn’t answer and she turned around to find him staring at her bed. She flushed to the roots of her hair as she realized what he was staring at.

  That damn useless vibrator.

  “Looks like you’re having fun,” Sage said mildly as he looked from the vibrator to her.

  Baring her teeth at him in a mockery of a smile, she purred, “Oh, tons. Now get out.”

  Sage just lifted one shoulder in that damnable shrug of his as he replied, “Sorry. Can’t.” Then he turned on his heel and strolled out of the room, leaving the door open behind him.

  Closing her eyes, she crossed the room and flopped down on the bed. Her hand brushed against the vibrator and she pushed up on her elbows, glaring at the offending object. Damn useless piece of flexinal. The lifelike vibe had set her back damn near three hundred credits. And she was still as desperate for release as she had been for the past eight days.

  Worse. As she breathed in, she could scent his skin and it made her mouth water. Her nipples were tight, hard as diamonds, and deep inside she ached. Throbbed. She could feel how wet she was—slick, slippery—groaning, she tried to blank her mind.

  Slippery. She was so damn needy, he’d slide inside her almost easily.

  “Damn it, stop!” she growled. Jackknifing off the bed, she grabbed a pair of jeans and jerked them on. As the denim rasped against her sensitive sex, she whimpered.

  She had to get him out of here. And then she was going to have go get laid. She couldn’t go on like this.

  Chapter Two

  Sage closed his eyes, thunking his forehead against the wall. The image of her long, sleek body, gloriously naked, wasn’t something he needed. He had a hard enough time sleeping as it was.

  His cock throbbed within the tight confines of his jeans and his hands itched. All he had wanted to do was grab her, yank that naked body against his and cover that sassy pink mouth with his.

  But that damn cool tone of hers, paired with unreadable blank eyes and he had suspected that a touch from him was the last thing she wanted.

  Damn it—how could he want her like this?

  His skin started to buzz and he moved away from the wall, dropping onto the couch. Focusing on the vid-screen, he gave the oral command for it to turn on and selected one of the sports channels just as she came into the small living room.

  “Nice tin can you have here,” he said without looking at her.

  “Bite me,” she drawled. Her voice was low and smooth, sexy as all get-out.

  He slid his eyes her way. One of these days… Shoving the thought out of his mind, he said, “Jax needs you back.”

  “Too bad. I’m not going back right now.”

  “Why not? You need to get off a few more times?” The minute he said it, he could have bitten his tongue, but it was too late.

  “Jackass. That’s hardly any of your business, now is it?” Anni said shortly, stalking away from him.

  No. But he sure as hell wished it was. Lifting his eyes, he stared at the slim line of her back as she crossed into the kitchen and punched a couple of buttons on the prep unit. A minute later she turned around with a wineglass in her hand and held his gaze as she sipped from it.

  “Probably not, but getting you back to the base is. So what’s keeping you?”

  She braced one shoulder against the narrow doorjamb and lifted her other one in a shrug. “Just need to get away for a while.”

  “You’ve been gone a week.” He had missed her. They rarely spoke, but he knew when she wasn’t there. The scent of her skin faded and the base seemed a little duller. Empty—as empty as he was.

  “So? Maybe in another week, I’ll be ready to come back.”

  A week. Cutting his eyes her way, Sage smirked. “Fine. Hope you don’t mind a roommate. I’m not dealing with Jax unless you’re with me.”

  Unless he was mistaken, her body stiffened. The dark gray of her eyes seemed to grow even darker and for a minute, the tension in the room tightened almost unbearably. Then Anni blinked and relaxed minutely. A small grin curved her lips and she murmured, “Whatever you want, Sage. Hope you like the couch. It’s as hard as a rock.”

  Then she sauntered past him and left the room, going back down the hall and closing the door.

  Small as the place was, after she closed the door to her room, he didn’t hear so much as a single sound from her.

  But he was unbelievably aware of her.

  Stuck on the narrow, distinctly uncomfortable couch, he leaned his head back and muttered, “I’m going to kill Jax.”

  * * * * *

  “I’m going to kill Jax,” Anni swore desperately as she lay on the bed hours later.

  She hadn’t left the room since talking with Sage early that afternoon. Her belly rumbled with hunger, but she didn’t want to leave while he was out there.

  “Can’t stay in this damn room for a week.”

  Rolling from the bed, she moved to the door, pressing a hand against it. Even through the soundproofed walls, she could hear him moving around the small living room.

  Her belly growled loudly and Anni groaned. Closing her hand around the doorknob, she jerked the door open and stalked down the hall, ignoring Sage.

  “You look happy, sugar,” he murmured as he finished spreading a sheet over the couch.

  From the corner of her eye, she could see he had shed his shirt and the warm gold of his skin gleamed in the dull light. The aching knot of hunger in her belly faded as the other hungers roared to life. Clenching her jaw, she didn’t respond as she moved into the kitchen.

  She hadn’t stocked up enough to feed two people, which meant in a day or two, she’d have to leave to get more food. Anni didn’t like leaving.

  The apartment was secure but leaving it made her nervous. Just outside St. Louis, this small Missouri town was about as anonymous as she could hope for but she didn’t like to expose herself.

  Well, normally.

  Right now, she was almost ready to flee the security of the apartment just get away from Sage. Damn it, she could smell him. A whimper rose in her throat and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from letting him hear it.

  A week of this?

  Too damn preoccupied with what she was doing, she didn’t hear him as he moved up behind her and when she turned around, he was right there. Oh, hell. Her nipples tightened, heat suffused her entire body and her heart started dancing the rumba inside her chest.

  “You’re jumpy.”

  He stared at her, his head cocked, thick black hair tumbling onto his forehead. The heat from his body teased hers, and that whimper broke free. Slamming a hand against his chest, she dodged around him but only made it a foot before his hand closed over her wrist.

  Jerking against him, she said hoarsely, “Let me go.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, still holding on. Using his grip on her wrist, he held her still as
he moved a little closer. Touching his fingers to the side of her cheek, he scowled. “Are you sick? You’re burning up.”

  Anni bared her teeth at him. “I’m not sick.” Just dying of need. “Damn it, Sage, let go of me.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Her ears roared and her vision narrowed down as she stared at him, unable to see anything beyond his face. She could see his lips moving, but she was more interested in his mouth than his words. Damn it, she wanted, just once, to feel that mouth of his against hers.

  Faintly, she said again, “Let me go, Sage.”

  Staring down at her, Sage just barely managed to resist yelling at her. Adrenaline surged through him as he studied her face. Her eyes were wide and dark, the elliptical pupils flaring. Her face was flushed pink and her chest heaved with ragged breaths.

  He was certain she was sick. But then his skin started to burn as she continued to stare at him. Not at his face—his mouth. His eyes darted over her slender form and he took in every nuance. Nipples were hard, beaded under the fine cotton of her shirt. Under his fingers, her pulse pounded rapidly. Slowly, he released her wrist and trailed the tips of his fingers up her arm. She stood frozen, slowly lifting her eyes to stare into his.

  It was like blinders falling away as he stared into those dark gray depths.

  She didn’t have a fever.

  She wasn’t sick.

  She was burning up with lust!

  Blood pounded in his veins. Sage closed one hand around the delicate length of her neck, his thumb resting in the hollow there. Her skin felt like heated silk and there was that subtle fragrance that was uniquely Anni’s. Her pulse beat in a rapid tattoo and he could feel it against his palm. With a muttered curse, he lowered his mouth to hers and did what he had been dreaming of for years.

  He tasted her, tracing his tongue along the bow of her lips before pushing inside the sweet hollow of her mouth. She whimpered against his lips, a soft little purring sound that would keep him awake at night. As her lips parted under his, he used his other hand to drag her against him, molding those soft, supple curves against his aching body.