“Now you don’t need to be afraid to ask,” she says. “You already know the answer.”
Whistling wind. He could kiss her right now.
He can do this.
“My father told me to take you in the water.” The words come out in a rush, not at all the way he had planned, but at least they’re out. Well, some of them.
She leans back to look at him. “And that will help your magic?”
“Yes. At least...I think so. Would you...” He breathes out through pursed lips before pushing forward. “Do you want to help me find out?”
His heart pounds as she looks up at him. With that gentle touch of hers, she trails her finger along his jaw. “I already gave you my answer.” Then she clasps his chin and tugs him into a gentle kiss. It’s not a blaze like their kiss yesterday. It’s embers smoldering in the air between them, waiting to be brought to life.
“Come on,” she whispers against his lips. Twining her fingers with his, she leads him toward the springs. A series of three pools sit in a natural rock formation, but a platform has been erected around them. Snow covers the wooden structure aside from where the white powder has melted away in rings around the water.
“Don’t slip,” she says as she climbs the handful of snowy stairs to the top. “I wish for a brilliant starry sky.”
When the sky darkens, Cerian looks around in awe at the purples and blacks dotted with bright points of light. Away from the lamps of the city, it’s spectacular, and his feet stop on the top step. “This is...”
“Perfect,” she says, and his gaze is drawn back to her where just enough light reflects off the snow to illuminate her against a backdrop of white.
He needs to stop holding back and just say all the things he longs to tell her.
“It’s...it’s perfect with you. Because I’m with you.” He groans. “That was better in my mind.”
Shaking her head, she smiles at him. “It’s better when you say it. Even if it doesn’t come out perfectly. I can’t hear it if you don’t say it.”
Breathing out slowly, he nods. “I’m...trying.”
“I know. And I love you for it.” She presses a soft kiss to his cheek, and he almost wraps his arms around her right there. When she turns back to the biggest spring, a frowncrosses her face, and she runs a hand over her dress. “Leather isn’t exactly suited to the water.”
Whistling wind. His palms are already tingling again.
“What do you usually wear?” he somehow manages.
When she glances at him, her cheeks are pink even in the dim light. “I haven’t been here since before Rominy started his studies at the University. I usually wore my underclothes as a child. But...” A nervous laugh escapes her throat.
So many thoughts and images slide through his head, and he shoves them all aside. “But?”
“I don’t...I don’t think I’m wearing much under this dress.”
The tingling in his palms intensifies, and he struggles to breathe.
“Do you mind turning around for a minute?” she asks.
Without responding, he turns away and lights more flames in his hands as he does his best not to think about whatever she’s doing behind him. She mumbles something under her breath, and he almost glances back at her before thinking better of it.
“I suppose that will work,” she says. “You can...you can turn around.”
Both of their hearts are pounding as he extinguishes his flames and turns back toward her. When his eyes land on her, he almost tumbles off the platform.
Whistling wind. She’s wearing elven small clothes. Not that he knows much about the underclothes elf women wear, but Elowyn swam in such things when they were elflings. The cropped white linen top bares Arisanna’s midriff, and the short pants leave most of her legs exposed.
She must be freezing.
“The longer you stare at me, the more awkward I feel,” she says. “This is what the heartlanding gave me when I asked. Are these elven clothes?”
“Yes.” His voice comes out hoarse, and he clears his throat and glances down at his hands.
