“The lights connect our worlds,” Chase added. “So, if we hold on to a beam here, we can use it to bring us to Overworld. It takes a little while to get used to it—”
“Especially if you get lost inside of one,” Maya interrupted. “But you’ll be fine. Xander won’t let you go.”
I tripped, startled enough that I almost hit the deck. I recovered easily, but it was odd for me to be clumsy. Freaking Xander, he was impacting me in more ways than one.
“Why will Xander be helping me?” I asked, ignoring the snort from the man himself.
“You need a Daelighter to guide you through,” Maya said, her eyes sparkling as her lips half-tilted up like she was trying not to smile. She looked between Xander and me. “It’s safer if it’s one Daelighter per human. That way you have no chance of getting lost inside the transporter.”
The annoyance I was feeling must have shown on my face. She let out a laugh. “If you want to go with Chase, I’m happy to go with Xander. I can share my mate for the trip back.”
For a split second, I considered taking her up on that offer, even though I felt like an absolute fucking moron making a big deal about this. The problem, I was coming to realize, was that I hadn’t thought this “sexual relationship only” thing through. It was a great idea in theory, but Xander and I were not like most casual hookups. We were stuck together in a situation that required a lot of “helping” and “togetherness.” Which, as far as I could tell, was only going to create problems.
Maya was still waiting for my answer. I had just opened my mouth to tell her I’d go with Xander, when he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. “I’m more than capable of getting you there safely, Avalon.” His grip wasn’t tight, but his expression had drawn into hard lines, eyes flashing at me. “Do not doubt my ability to keep you safe.”
I resisted the urge to step into him, because there was something about the concept of “safe” that I craved. Instead, I gently shook his hand off me. “You’re right,” I said, and his eyes widened. “But be aware, I don’t generally rely on others to protect me. I’m out of my depth here with all the alien stuff, and that is the only reason I will concede to your help.”
Turning, I found that the others had kept walking, disappearing past the parked cars. Xander made no move to hurry after them; he just stood there, watching me.
He did at least look a little less angry.
Before I could ask him if we were cool now—I had agreed to his help—he stepped forward and wrapped his arm around the middle of my back. My body bent to his will, curving into Xander, pressing against his hard lines.
When his lips landed on mine, my breath whooshed out of me in a rush and I had to swallow down the moan that wanted to follow. I lost all control of myself, my lips parting so our tongues could move together.
The taste of Xander just about dropped me to my knees. He even tasted like the ocean.
It was too much. My heart was thundering in my chest. It was only his hold on my body that kept me from dissolving into a puddle at his feet. His kiss was hard … demanding … and I loved every second of it. He was taking what he wanted, and I did the same right back. Bubbles tingled in my blood, the way they did when I was swimming at top speed through the ocean.
“You taste like home,” he said as our lips parted. His eyes looked troubled, but there was no doubt he was into it. I could feel the evidence of that pressed against my body, and I actually wished we weren’t right in the middle of the street.
“Sex only,” I reminded him. He tasted like home to me as well, but we had to ignore that for now. “Otherwise it’s going to get complicated.”
That seemed to knock some sense into him. His arm loosened and I wobbled, my knees still weak. He did keep a hand on me for an extra moment, making sure I was stable, before he stepped back. “I don’t do complicated,” he said, a tinge of surprise in his voice. “I can’t.” He shook his head then. “We should go, the others will be waiting for us.”
No more words were spoken as we hurried to follow the path to the transporter, but something had shifted between us. Things felt … different. Charged. Intense.
I could not wait to get to the sex part. Holy hell.
10
Atransporter, it turned out, was literally a ball of light. It also turned out that Xander was able to reach out and grab hold of one of those strands, after which we were jerked into a weird, soundless wormhole. It felt like the sort of situation that would cause me to freak out again—there was probably no place further removed from my ocean—but instead I was fascinated.
This was a once in a lifetime experience.
Xander kept a tight hold on me, and at no point was I worried that I would slip out of his hand. When the light got brighter at the end, I did close my eyes, stumbling forward. Xander used his strength to keep me standing. The moment I felt reality and gravity return, I opened my eyes and pulled my hands from his. I wanted to see everything at once.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, turning in a circle to take it all in. “This is Overworld?”
Xander chuckled. “Well, this is one part of Overworld. There are lots of sectors, but we don’t interact with each other.”
That was interesting. Everyone on Earth traveled between countries. “Why don’t you interact?” I decided to ask.
He shrugged. “There’s no easy way to travel to other sectors. It’s actually easier and less dangerous for us to travel to Earth. Some of the other lands have creatures that are not compatible to us. Very dangerous creatures. The Draygo people are thought to be originally from another land.”
It was all so fascinating. I wanted to know everything. Hopefully I’d have years to learn it all.
The large disc we had landed on had a light transporter right in the center, and there were three lands surrounding it. “What is that place called?” I pointed to the section that was packed full of trees.
