body to shudder uncontrollably and reaping a pained groan from his throat. He heard the spikes of his fins snap open, but he could no longer stop, even as the ones on his legs threatened to pierce his own ass in this position. Pleasure took over all his senses, blinding him to everything else for a moment.
Then relief spread thick through his veins, and he crashed onto the bed, rolling off Ivy’s back.
I CAUGHT HIM IN MY arms as his fins jerked and closed quickly. Our limbs intertwined, we both were slowly coming down from the crest of passion.
“Love me, Ivy,” he murmured, hugging me to him. “I need you to love me.”
Since the moment we’d met, I’d held so many different feelings for Zeph. Fascination, attraction, longing, trust, and caring had been the strongest.
I felt all of that for him, and more.
“I believe I already do, Zeph.” I raked my fingers through the luminous silk of his hair. “With you, I’ve never had a choice, but to fall in love. The magical man that you are, I fell under your spell the first night we met.” I could never be free from the memory of him, no matter how hard I’d tried to forget him.
He was my magical man, now.
“Good.” He lifted his head, catching my gaze with his. “Because I love you, too.”
The room was dark with only the pale light of the moon casting its glow on us through the window.
“How can you love me, darling?” I brushed a long strand away from his face. “You don’t even remember how we met.”
Missing memories must feel like having a part of oneself gone. I hoped one day Zeph’s would return to him so he could be whole again.
“I don’t need to remember the past to love you for all that you are to me now, Ivy. And I’ll spend the rest of our future together proving it to you.”
Chapter 27
“PLEASE BE CAREFUL.” I wrapped my arms around myself against the brutal November wind on the shore of Lake Ontario.
It was the morning after our night in the hotel, still early in the day and already very late in the year. The weather was cold and gloomy, and this part of the lakeshore seemed to be completely deserted.
“Water is my home. I’m safer in it than ashore.” Zeph took his clothes off.
Seeing him disrobe in this weather made me shudder. Despite the freezing wind, however, Zeph wasn’t shivering or cowering.
“You don’t get cold at all, do you?” I stole a glance at his toned, muscular body.
“Does it look like I do?” He grinned, catching me staring.
Of course, my eyes went straight to his crotch at his words. I heard him chuckle as he changed into a pair of swim shorts.
“Ivy,” he stretched my name on his tongue. “Come here.” He wrapped me in his arms, shielding me from the wind. “I hate leaving you. It feels like I’ve only just met you, and now I have to go.”
I pressed my face into his chest. Breathing in the fresh, salty scent of his skin, I tried to commit this moment to memory. It was impossibly hard to part from him. This time, however, I knew it was only temporary. He would be coming back.
Please come back.
“Be careful,” I said, again. I couldn’t even think of all the potential dangers awaiting him, but I wanted to warn him against them all. “Don’t trust anyone. And please, try not to take too long. I’ll be waiting.”
The inside of my nose prickled and tears swelled in my eyes. I’d never cried for Zeph before, but I didn’t bother holding it back, now.
“Ivy, sweetheart.” He ran his fingers through my hair, kissing my face. “I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“I’ll be waiting,” I whispered like a mantra as he kissed the tears off my cheeks.
“Remember, as long as you’re in the water, I will find you, no matter where in the world you are.”
I nodded, no longer trusting my voice to speak.
He kissed me, long and deep, and I wished it would never end.
With a soft groan, he pulled away from me, leaning his forehead to mine.
“Straight to the airport from here, promise?”
“Promise,” I echoed.
We’d booked a plane ticket and a hotel room in St. Vincent earlier this morning, and I’d even sent rental enquiries to a few places around the island.
Unable to take my arms from around him, I only dropped them down when he stepped away from me.
Then