Wicked Abyss (Immortals After Dark #17) - Kresley Cole Page 0,76
join the others. They departed like a school of fish.
Sian reached down to yank off a boot. Pride still stinging from earlier, he couldn’t resist saying, “You should turn away. I don’t want to offend your fey sensibilities.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, muttering, “Moody prick.”
He turned to remove his other boot. As he was standing on one leg, something cold, wet, and slimy ran down his back. The little witch had used her speed to retrieve a clump of seaweed, then shoved it down his pants.
Yanking the mass free, he pinned her gaze. Her haughty smile faded when he grated, “Run.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Heart racing, Lila tore off across the beach, sending up jade in her wake. Over her shoulder, she called, “Don’t pull something, relic.” Laughing, she faced forward.
He appeared in front of her!
She skidded to a stop, then sprinted in the opposite direction. Heading for the more compacted jade-sand, she ran through the waves, elation thrumming inside her. Her senses were on fire; everything felt magnified.
Lots of firsts today. Her first time to pet a sea creature. Her first day as an immortal. Her first relationship/husband.
He called, “You can run, little fey, but you can’t trace.” If those hints of vulnerability had called to her, this teasing from him was like a drug.
Just last night, he’d chased her. Last night, Sylvan had been in jeopardy—until she’d sacrificed all of her dreams for the good of her kingdom.
Now her realm was safe, and being married to the hell king wasn’t as awful as she’d feared. She would learn how to manage him. It seemed fucking with him was the best way to tweak his mood. I can totally do that—
His arms wrapped around her waist. He tackled her into the waves, taking the impact.
She sputtered as he righted her. “Lucky catch!” They faced each other in the waist-deep water.
His lips were curling. “The luckiest.”
Smoothing her hair off her face, she said, “Tracing isn’t fair.”
“You never said there’d be no tracing.” The sun struck his green eyes, sending them aglow, the color as vivid as this beach.
She stared up at his gaze, briefly losing the thread of their conversation. What had they been talking about? Oh, yeah. “I would pound on your chest from the injustice of our race, but after seeing you repel that serpent, I don’t have a shot of hurting you, do I?”
Voice growing husky, he said, “You make me ache in parts of my anatomy farther south. Just as you did all morning.”
He’d been teased and denied for hours, which would help explain his irritability. When he’d done the same to her in the bathtub—for mere minutes—she’d been about to strangle him.
He nodded to indicate her clinging blouse. “You can’t swim in that.”
“Something tells me if I remove my clothes, I won’t get much swimming done.”
“Then you and I will promise to race to that cove”—he pointed in the distance—“and back before I get to pleasure you.”
Pleasure me? Her lips parted. So that was a given on today’s agenda?
She didn’t stop him when he pulled her shirt off. She didn’t resist when he used a claw to slice her skirt away. In fact, she was getting more turned on by the second.
He wadded up the remains of her clothes and tossed them to the shore, his torso muscles contracting. He ran his knuckle along her bra strap. “This should go as well.”
“I thought I got to keep my underwear on.”
“By royal decree, all beaches in hell are topless. As of today.”
Dare she? Again she was reminded of the pomegranate lesson. “Topless, huh?” She reached back to unstrap her bra. “The king here must be brilliant.”
“Equaled only by his clever queen.”
“What’s she like?”
“A lusty temptress. Subjects can hear her screams of pleasure coming from the castle.”
Had they? Her face heated. “Can they hear the king’s roars?”
He nodded. “And they envy him every one.”
She removed her bra.
He rubbed his claw-tipped hand over his mouth. “If you knew what the sight of those does to me . . .”
Her nipples stiffened even more. She could feel the sun’s heat on them.
“Also by royal decree, the beaches are bottomless.”
Skinny-dipping with a demon in hell. What could possibly go wrong?
But she was starting to trust him more. Still high from all these new changes and sensations, she said, “I don’t want to break the king’s laws.” She reached down to pull off her panties.
His eyes widened with surprise. “My laws are important.”
As she threw her underwear toward the shore, his eyes locked on