can feel your faith in me. I’m sure that’s enough.”
Tomorrow, they would find out if she was right.
Chapter Nineteen
Dannika was well and truly satisfied.
She struggled out of the lagoon when Ciran said it was daylight—not that she could tell, floating in a luxurious half-daydream on Ciran’s chest—and tiny tendons she had not felt in her hips for two decades squeaked to announce themselves.
That was after she finished chucking seawater and regretting her life choices, of course.
She rested on the ledge while Ciran shifted effortlessly and tugged on the Bermuda shorts, sliding them up commando-style over his well-formed buttocks and snugging them around his muscled abdomen.
He left his shirt unbuttoned and ran a hand through his water-slicked hair. Droplets highlighted his muscles from his honed jaw, across his implacable chest, down his rippling abdomen, belly button, and lower.
Dannika did a few yoga stretches to loosen up, then crawled over to her caftan. Did she really need underwear? Meg had been so surprised yesterday, and she was just going to shift…
“Dannika! Ciran!”
A herd of youngsters, all nude, clattered down the back steps and hurtled into the lagoon, then jumped out with playful shrieks and raced up the stairs.
“…breakfast…”
Some wake up call.
She tied on her caftan and stuffed her undergarments into one pocket. “My morning nude-visitor count is going up. Although I suppose these are shorter.”
“For now.” Ciran sobered. “I did not want to infringe on your memories of your first soul mate last night. But it is customary for a warrior to give his bride his mating gemstone.”
From his pocket, he pulled out an iridescent Sea Opal and rested it in her open palm. He curved her fingers around it. “Please.”
It was smooth and heavy in her hand, and so large, she couldn’t fully close her hand. Most Sea Opals were white as clouds, but Ciran’s had a stormy underbelly. Iridescent white gleamed with streaks of green, blue, and black.
And yet it was him. Solid, comforting, and unbreakable.
He was so earnest, so worthy, so certain. The cry echoed in her the deepest recesses of her heart. I wanted an easier love for you. But he knew what he was asking. He knew her. And he wanted the struggle, the burden.
He was truly a good man.
She pressed the gem to her chest. “Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
He brushed her lips.
These were the lips that had kissed her so thoroughly last night. Her body recognized him, oriented on him, craved him. Desire streaked to her pussy and she clenched her thighs.
He tilted his head as if he’d only intended to give her a quick kiss and now, her reaction to his slightest touch caused him to deepen the connection. His cock hardened against her thigh.
Maybe they could slip into the lagoon for a few minutes before breakfast…
“Dannika?” Hadali called at the top of the stairs. “Ciran? Do you mind if I get Val some elixir?”
Maybe not.
Ciran leaned back and licked his lips.
She took a deep breath and let it out with a shaky cough. “No, please come down.”
He pattered down the stairs and scooped a coconut shell full of water. They returned to the beach structures where they’d had dinner the night before.
Breakfast was a mashed sweet pumpkin with coconut milk, smoked fish, and a sharp tea with peppery spices. It wasn’t coffee, but her heart hopped.
Val needed help rolling out of the hammock, and she limped to the breakfast table between Hadali and Tulu. One leg swelled and bruises almost sealed her eyes shut. She picked up her spoon with a shaky hand. “I know what you’re going to say. Now I look like I was in a plane crash.”
“I’m so sorry.” Dannika smoothed her Sea Opal. “You’ve been drinking the elixir, right?”
“Yeah, so I’d hate to see what I’d look like without the magical potion.”
“You would look largely the same.” Ciran offered to cut her smoked fish into smaller chunks, and she accepted. “It is a problem with your resonance. I am sorry, Val. You do not have an affinity for the sea.”
“Don’t I know it.” She touched her cut lip and winced. “I never wanted to go on a cruise. I’d rather go to the mountains than a beach any day. Maybe I’m secretly a dragon. Speaking of dragons, Hadali, is that a Chinese dragon on your chest?”
Hadali looked down at the round tattoo covering the left side of his chest. It did not look like a dragon. It looked like a lion with scales and hooves, but it was shooting