I swam closer to Pharis and gripped his arms so I could stay aloft without treading water.
“Raewyn.” He groaned my name in a tone that was half-warning, half plea.
It was all the encouragement I needed. Pulse thrumming in my veins, I slid my hands up his arms to his shoulders then clasped them behind his neck, letting the front of my body drift closer and make contact with the front of his.
The breath hissed between Pharis’ teeth as he inhaled sharply, and his chest muscles went rigid.
Though the water surrounding us was hot, I could still feel the heat of his skin, and its texture against mine was as delicious as it was disconcerting.
Pharis was clearly affected by the contact as well. His hands gripped my waist, and his eyes staring down at me were dark with desire.
The sight of him looking at me like that, the way he did in my near-nightly dreams of him, had me trembling all over. It was a good thing the water was supporting my body weight because if I’d been standing, my knees would have buckled.
And yet Pharis didn’t make a move. He didn’t kiss me.
He just kept holding me in front of him in a grip that was nearly painful, devouring me with his eyes like a dragon about to consume a lamb in one bite.
“You’ve got me in here,” I prodded. “Now what are you going to do with me?”
His jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth.
“I know what I want to do,” he said in a guttural tone.
“So why don’t you?” I purred.
Undulating my body in the water, I pulled myself upward so our faces were nearly at the same level.
If Pharis didn’t kiss me soon, I thought I might combust.
“You know this has been coming for a very long time. Why are you resisting it?” I whispered against his lips.
“Because it’s not real,” he whispered back.
But then he lowered his mouth to meet mine fully, and things gotveryreal very fast.
Chapter 15
Finally the Truth
Raewyn
Kissing Pharis again was like taking a full breath after having a heavy weight removed from my chest. It didn’t just feel good—it felt essential.
Our mouths moved in perfect concert as raw emotion and deep need charged through my body, enlivening every nerve.
And when his hands started moving, exploring my skin beneath the water, I was filled with a sense of urgency and pleasure so intense it seemed impossible to bear.
My heartbeat roared in my ears as he pulled his lips from mine and moved them over my face and neck, kissing me feverishly while whispering words of worship and desire.
Yes yes yes.I was lightheaded with my own desire. The feelings he elicited in me resembled the way he’d made me feel on that blanket in Havendor, but they were even stronger.
I knew him on a deeper level now—and wanted him even more.
Pharis moved his mouth lower, kissing his way across my collarbone and upper chest, his hands roaming all the while as if he was driven to touch as much of me as possible all at once.
“Why can I never get enough of you?” I said between pants. “Even when I don’twantto want you?”
As if someone had thrown icy water over him, Pharis froze.
