With a grin, he wraps his arm around her shoulders and turns back toward the hotel, and she leans her head against him.
“Don’t give up on your magic yet, all right?” he says.
She sighs but doesn’t argue.
Inside their hotel room, she stands at the window, gazing off toward the mountains barely visible in the distance.
“We’ll return soon,” he murmurs near her ear as he slides his arms around her from behind. Thoughts of the first time they did this make him smile.
How they hated each other back then.
Or thought they did.
Now he can’t imagine his life without her here beside him.
Setting the curtains on fire.
Setting him on fire.
Making each other laugh. Grow. Become better versions of themselves.
At least she does that for him.
Hopefully, he does that for her, too. After today, it’s harder to believe.
“I will do better,” he says softly.
She turns in his arms. “Tharios, no. I didn’t mean to make you believe you—”
He presses his finger to her lips. Then he kisses her as his air currents gently swirl around her.
She pulls away to look into his eyes. “You give too much of yourself already, elf prince. I will not demand more of you.”
“Help me replenish my life magic,” he whispers near her ear. “As only you can. We can figure out everything else later.” He speaks in her native tongue the way he always does during their joining so she doesn’t have to think about her words. Elvish doesn’t come easily to her when she’s in his arms.
“What’s it like?” she asks softly. “Doing this with your magic?”
Her question catches him off guard, and he struggles to respond. Surely they’ve talked about this before? Haven’t they? Perhaps they haven’t.
“My air magic...grows eager. It...it’s like a hunger only you can satisfy. It wants to wrap around you and experience you. Every part of your flesh. And my life magic. I can’t...I can’t even describe it. It builds until it’s starving to experience every beat of your heart. Every breath you take. Every tremble of your flesh against mine. It magnifies every sensation. But it would be overwhelming if you were an elf. With you, Viala...you’re just full of life. And—”
She pulls him into a desperate kiss before he can say anything else, and he doesn’t hold back his life magic. Not with her. Never with her. The sense of elven magic from his family hovers at the edges of his perception, but he ignores it as he always does as he gets drunk on the pure life filling her.
And when he pulls her close later, after every desire is sated, she looks into his eyes, contentment swirling with hints of fear. “I won’t give up on my magic, Tharios. Not yet. Even though it terrifies me.”
He draws her into one more gentle kiss before pressing his forehead to hers. “Don’t give up on me, either. We’re in this together. Always.”
With a tremulous breath, she nods, and he pushes his lingering worries about Elowyn aside.
Tonight, this is where he needs to be. Where he wants to be.
Everything and everyone else can wait.
Missing You
Episode 105
“They’vebeengonefora long time,” Queen Nestraya says as she glances at the door, and Arisanna looks her way.
