Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,125

know that you can never touch another man so long as you draw air into your lungs.” Knox rested his head against my breasts, holding my hips softly before he pulled back, searching my face. “That makes me an asshole, and I can’t say I care. I have wanted no one else since the moment you mouthed off to me on that cliff in Haven Falls. I have craved nothing as much as I crave you.”

“You literally have my vagina on speed dial. You call, it rings off the hook. You rattle, I experience random waterworks that would make a water company offer me millions for the rights to use, etcetera. You don’t need to marry me to have me. I’m not the type of woman to move onto another man easily. I am blindly loyal to those I love, which you’ve pointed out numerous times.”

“You don’t love me, though, Aria.” He pulled me down, lifting my chin to stare into my eyes, his words creating a maelstrom of emotions that ripped through me. His smile tightened when I held my tongue, knowing that this pool was spelled to elicit only truths. “Come, there’s something I want to show you,” he said thickly, threading his fingers through mine, pulling me toward the tunnel.

My fingers touched the runes, igniting them to a pulsing glow. I watched as they rushed through the tunnel, causing the water to glow a violet color. Knox turned, smiling at me as he yanked me closer, forcing me to walk in front of him.

At the end of the tunnel, we emerged into a large glowing waterfall that had ruins of a castle nestled behind it. I stared at the pool fed by the waterfall, noting the crystals lining it all the way around. Another fertility pool! Only this pool was enhanced for the King and Queen of Beltane. Swallowing hard past the tightening in my throat, I jumped into the pool before Knox could stop me. He chuckled the moment my head broke the surface, treading water to stay afloat.

“You should have been a nymph or water creature,” he growled, leaping over the edge without looking.

When Knox entered the pool, the water turned the stormy color of his eyes, and the fire quartz crystals ignited. His eyes slowly took them in as a worried frown flitted over his mouth. After a moment of unease, he swam toward me, wrapping his arms around me as I settled against him.

“It approves our union, doesn’t it?” he asked softly, leaning over to kiss my shoulder, his powerful body keeping us both above the surface.

“The pool approves of our marriage and mating. If it was possible, and we mated here during my cycle, we’d create life with the blessing of the Deities of Beltane.”

Knox swallowed hard, cupping my face, smiling wickedly. “I am regretting bringing you here at this moment with the power this place is sending into my body. I am craving you something fierce.” He rubbed me against the thickness of his arousal, watching as my mouth opened, and a loud moan slipped from my throat. “You make the most delicious noises for me, Aria.”

“Did you bring me in here to fuck me or torture me more?” I asked.

His mouth lowered, kissing the pulse that raced in my throat. I shivered as he trailed his lips toward my shoulder, kissing it too, before slowly placing his lips against my heart.

“I’m undecided as of this moment,” he whispered in a tone heavy with gravel. “I enjoy knowing you need me inside of you and that it’s a violent need.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Knox chuckled softly, claiming my lips hungrily. His devouring kiss made me forget to tread water. Luckily, he held me above the surface. His slow, gentle kiss created a need of desire that rushed through me, tightening in my belly until my hands lifted, holding him against me. A loud, sultry purr escaped from deep in my soul, filling the cave. Knox broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against mine. He purred softly, echoing my violent need perfectly, like two parts becoming one.

I smiled awkwardly, uncertain how to kick my creature’s ass without hurting myself. I could feel Ember within me, stretching out while flexing her pull on Knox’s beast. Ember knew her noises drove them wild, and she wasn’t afraid to use them.

“Do our creatures feel everything we feel when we’re together?” I asked hesitantly, and when Knox pulled back, I tried to clarify what I meant. “When I am