from the setting sun glance off the planes of his muscles. Even his cock, hanging heavily between his legs, looks pearly with the fading sunlight gleaming off him.
He raises an eyebrow at me questioningly, and I notice it’s because I’ve come to a full stop as I gawk at him. His lips twitch as I wrench my gaze away from his swelling cock and focus only on the beautiful angles of his face. Thick abalone-colored eyelashes that frame his brilliant purple eyes blink at me, and a quiver skips through my belly at just how incredibly beautiful he is. He’s raw masculinity and ancient elegance all rolled into one.
His smile slowly grows, and he tips his head in a small gesture toward me.
“Your clothes, my heart-spark. You may wish to remove them to avoid soaking them.”
I blink. What was that? My clothes…
“Oh, right,” I laugh nervously. “I definitely don’t want to sleep in wet clothes.”
I’m a little nervous as I strip off my pants and shirt because he’s never actually seen me fully naked outside of the spots that he bared to rub in the healing poultice. His eyes slide appreciatively over the slope of my shoulders before drifting down to the generous round globes of my breasts tipped with dark nipples that tighten on his casual inspection. A flutter in my belly follows his gaze as it rests on the swell of my stomach before dipping down to the thatch of dark curls at the junction of my thighs. Each flutter is followed by a hot path of desire that floods me. His fingers twitch at his sides and I wonder if he’s going to reach for me, but he doesn’t.
Instead, Eliph takes a deep breath and steps back to politely hold out his hand as if he’s doing nothing more than acting as a gentlemanly escort. I squint at him—because that’s just a little weird to me—but I set my hand in his and allow him to draw me after him as he backs into the pool.
The water is shockingly cool as it touches my skin, but not unbearably so. As I wade in, I’m able to adjust to it well enough until we’re thigh deep. Or rather, the water laps around my thighs and ass, whereas it only comes to mid-thigh on him, his cock bobbing lightly on the surface, but I’m not going to split hairs or even object. Because that is quite a blessed sight to behold.
“Eyes to mine,” he murmurs, and my gaze snaps up guiltily as a hot flush races over my cheeks.
Caught crotch staring—damn.
Laughter rumbles from him, and he lifts a hand to stroke his fingers down my cheek, sending another fiery trail kissing over my skin.
“Do not be embarrassed. It is natural, as you pointed out before. But right now, I want you to forget everything. Just look into my eyes and concentrate on the feel of the water around you… We are going to speak to it and draw up its power. Are you ready?”
“Okay, yeah. Focus on the water… I can do that,” I reply, my words nearly tripping over each other with nerves.
I really don’t know what I’m embarrassed about. Maybe it’s a fear of fucking up with an audience, or worse, fucking up in front of him of all people.
“There’s no one here but us, and I am your other half. The other part of your heartbeat. Feel me here only as an extension of you and drop your senses to the water itself. Feel the cold swirl of it brushing you as it dances. It is always moving and always full of life,” he says.
I nod and close my eyes. I can feel the pressure of his fingers and the heat of his body but I dismiss them as a part of me, just as he says, as I allow my senses to narrow until all of my focus is there around my pelvis and legs. With my focus, I notice now that the water is brushing the mouth of my sex, making me quiver in reaction. It feels like it’s seeping into me and flowing out of me all at once through the connection points of my lower body.
“Feel the water as a part of you now. Send a little of that power out of you to connect to it. The water is an extension of yourself and your power. It is the vessel of magic and life.”
“Okay,” I whisper as I seek out that