“Well, I wouldn’t complain if they disappeared.” He steals a kiss as she smiles, but he carefully controls his thoughts. Let her decide what she wants.
He lowers her to the side of the pool before wishing away his leathers and dropping into the spring. When he reaches for her, she eagerly comes to him, and as soon as she’s in the water, she must wish away what she’s wearing because she’s decidedly less clothed as she clings to him.
He definitely won’t complain.
They sit on the underwater ledge together, talking and laughing and snuggling until she’s her usual, smiling self again. And when the heartlanding fades around them, Cerian opens his eyes and smiles as he tugs her into his arms beneath the covers in their honeymoon suite. She nestles against him, and a contented sigh slips past her lips.
“That was worth getting off the train for,” she says softly. “I just wish I would have followed you right away.”
“You were brave in the end. That’s what matters.”
She rolls to her back to look up at him, sliding her soft finger along his cheek and playing with his hair. “Brave like you.”
“I’m not brave,” he whispers as he glances away.
“You, my elven prince, are one of the bravest people I know. It’s not an absence of fear that defines the courageous. It’s pushing past the fear because something else matters more. Your mother. Your sister. Me. You do hard things every day, Cerian. And I see you.”
Then she pulls him into a kiss before pressing her forehead to his.
“I love you,” he whispers, unsure what else to say as her words wash over him. Whether she’s right or not, the fact that she sees him that way does something to his heart.
“How is your fire magic?” she asks.
“I’m managing.”
“Good.” She pulls him into another kiss—a hungry kiss—before crawling on top of him.
“Not quite...that well,” he mumbles, his voice hitching at her touch. Whistling wind. That escalated fast.
She pulls away. “Sorry. I—”
But he presses his lips to hers to quiet her in a more tempered kiss before looking into her eyes. “Promise we can finish this later? With water?”
She bites her lip and nods.
For a moment, he glances at the bathtub. Then he sighs. They woke later this morning than they did yesterday, which is probably for the best. Arisanna needs more sleep than she’s been getting.
“We should check on Elowyn and Rominy. That’s what you’re thinking.” Arisanna’s smile doesn’t fade, and he traces her lips with his finger. “Your finger is quite warm, Cerian.”
“I don’t believe it’s just my finger.”
Her smile grows. “No. But I’m cold, and I’m not complaining.”
He floods her with his heat, and she melts on top of him, which doesn’t help his magic.
“We should get dressed,” he whispers near her ear. “Before your mother comes searching for us.”
She stiffens at his words. “Yes. Let’s avoid that.”
He steals one more kiss before they rise to start another day.
WhenTharioswakes,thebed beside him is empty, and he frowns. It wasn’t empty when he fell asleep last night.
He rubs his bleary eyes and searches the room until he spots Viala gazing out the window, wearing only his shirt. Queen Yalisa would faint. He just smiles and tugs on the cord connecting them until the slack is gone.
Viala turns in surprise before lifting those playful brows of hers, but she doesn’t resist as he pulls her back to the bed.
“Humans don’t usually stand near windows while dressed like that,” he says.
