His blush deepened, bringing out all the hues of his eyes. “What did I tell you about trying so hard?” His hands found her waist again, pulling her flush with his body. “Out here, you’re not Commander Zeliath.” His fingers twisted around a loose curl. “I’m not an Odega.” His breath ghosted across her skin. “We could be anyone.” His hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush to his chest.
The sun was mostly dappled out behind the trees, but her body felt like she was in the training pit. Hot and achy and needing a release. “What do you say?” He pressed a soft kiss to her jaw. “Should we pretend? Like we did at Vic’s?”
Yes, she wanted to say.
That’s exactly it. Pretend. Be someone else with me.
One hand snaked up the back of her neck, getting lost in her hair, while the other cupped her jaw so her mouth was angled perfectly to his. “Tell me what you want.”
Her throat was tight when she swallowed. All the places Stone and her body connected, a blaze of heat and want. “I want to pretend.”
A quick smile slashed across his mouth, then he kissed her. It wasn’t gentle like last night, but firm. Like it was the most sure thing he’d ever done. Her hands grabbed at him, greedy for more and he kissed her deeper, his teeth grazing her bottom lip. His mouth was hot against her neck, one hand still tangled in her hair and the other holding firm at her waist.
He whispered her name between kisses, alternating from sweet to demanding and she wanted to get lost in that feeling. The feeling of being someone else, just for a little while.Keep doing that,she almost said out loud.Keep kissing me and touching me and making me forget who I am and what I’ve done.His tongue slid up her throat making her moan until a twig broke under his foot and they both jumped. Stone laughed first, then Aesira. “Sorry,” he said.
Aesira’s mind was still racing. Stuck on a loop of Stone’s hands and mouth and–
“We found water!” Bee’s voice doused the fire between her and Stone, chilling her down to her toes. It took a moment for her heart to slow and her lungs to even out but when they did, her eyes shot to Bee.
“Water?” She smoothed her shirt, pushing her curls from her face.
“Can you believe it? There’s a small spring just around the corner.” Bee was either oblivious to the state of them or she was decent enough to pretend she saw nothing.
Birdie on the other hand. “Looks like you two found something to kill the time.” A slick grin split across Birdie's sharp face. Her hand hung loosely at her sides, dripping wet.
“You really found water?” Aesira asked again, hope and something darker swirling in her gut. “Like a pool from the rain?”
Birdie shook her head. “This is more than collected rainfall. It’s a whole fucking spring.”
Aesira’s mind wavered between amazement and disbelief. If Piscis Spring wasn’t the only natural water source in the country…the war had been for nothing. The treaty had been for nothing. Celestria’s demands of sacrifice...
They would have to tell the kingdoms. Would have to find a way to transport the water back to Vargah. Her militant brain switched on, silencing the part of her that for only a moment could pretend she was something else, anyone else.
“A miracle isn’t it,” Bee said. “It’s small, but it’s clean.” Beads of water dripped down her dark brows, landing on her full lips.
“How is that possible?” Stone pushed his glasses up, the Ravki map already out and flattened against the ground. “There’s no mention of a spring.”
“Maybe whoever made that map didn’t want anyone to know about it,” Birdie said. “Check it out after we eat. See for yourself.”
“Sure,” Stone said, his voice still a bit breathless.
“I’m going to clean up first,” Aesira said but what she meant was she needed to see it with her own eyes. Water. Water freely flowing from somewhere that wasn’t Piscis Spring. That wasn’t a gift from Celestria.
“Just around that group of trees,” Bee said, “down the hill.”
Stone crouched to start a fire, but turned and smiled at her over his shoulder, sending a shiver down her spine and Aesira considered the very real possibility that even though she thought she was in charge here, maybe he had more power over her than she liked to admit.
There was water.
Actual, free-flowing from the earth, ready to cup in your hand and drinkwater.
Aesira slid her boots off, toeing the waters edge. It was freezing but it felt too good to have the fresh water trickling over her bare feet to care.
She cupped her hands full and splashed her face. Large trees bracketed each side of the pool and beyond that, red, jagged rocks were illuminated by the setting sun.
Novaria had trees, but nothing like the ones here. Here, they stretched to the skies, the bark as rich as the dirt and the leaves pointy and deep green. She laid back on the rock and watched through an opening in the canopy as stars began to dot the newly night sky.
Kamari would love this.
