I think I’ve loved him from the day he saved me.
As a group we leave the clearing, streaking along the river, over the now unfrozen lake. My ship glimmers in the depths, but we don’t stop. We follow the river to the ocean. A vastness that seems wrong on a planet but is expected in space. We dart over icebergs following the king until we reach a large one. We slide through a crack in the ice and are then inside something that looks like the inside of a city ship. The roof vaults over our head in gleaming shades of blue and white.
And people come out. Some as wisps. Some in bodies. All different species, all with the same frost kissed skin.
We are home.
Chapter 19
In our roomin the ice city I expand, growing out of the light and regaining flesh. Though the floor is made of ice, it isn’t cold beneath the soles of my feet. I stumble, and gasp, and reach for the bed so I don’t fall.
My hand doesn’t look like mine anymore. I have flesh not frost, but it isn’t familiar. I turn my hand over then scan the rest of my body. I am pale blue and white, like Eskar and the rest of the water elementals. If I look in a mirror will I know my own face?
With a wrench of will I change again, so I glisten like ice. I run my fingers up my arm, marveling at how this is possible. What has happened to my internal organs? My heart? I place my fingers on my neck, but like this I have no pulse.
Eskar shifts and is Paohl not elemental frost. I had forgotten how big he is. I barely reach his shoulder. His limbs are long and lean, and he is beautiful. He breathes in and turns, studying the room with a sweeping gaze before it settles on me.
He smiles and his eyes light up as his gaze roams over my naked body. Usually I would cover myself. But in elemental form, I am pretty, powerful. My clothes must be back at the Paohl ship. I have so many questions I almost don’t know where to start.
“Have you been here before?” I run my fingers over the ice that makes the base of the bed. Furs have been thrown over it to make it soft and comfortable. If I still felt the cold, I’d need them for warmth too.
“No. I never left the river. I wasn’t allowed to. Then I stayed close to you. I didn’t know there were so many elementals and so many species here.”
And every one of them has been lost and forgotten by their people. We live outside of time. I stare up at the roof.
“They live in an iceberg.” It’s no wonder we never picked up any people on our scans. They were here all along, but they weren’t what we searched for. “Where do the other elements live? How much does it cost to live here? What do people do for a living?”
“Whatever they want, from what I’ve gathered. There are no jobs.”
I frown, not understanding. “You mean we can lie around all day, or explore the oceans? Or race around the planet?”
“I guess.” He sits on the bed, untroubled about being naked.
I want to drink him in. My gaze slides over his chest and abs, to the semi-hard dick between his legs. I glance away.
Eskar holds out his hand. “Will you join me?”
While his body has been on hold for nearly one hundred days, mine hasn’t and I hesitate. “The mating drug has worn off. I won’t be able to cure you.”
He’ll either die or be stuck as light forever, and I’ll be alone. I wilt, the only thing that had kept me going was knowing that we’d be together and now that may not be possible because of his biology.
He drops his hand. “You may not feel its effect anymore, but it will be there.”
“Are you saying that because you need to believe it?” I want to believe it. I move closer. “And if it doesn’t work?”
“Then we have fun and I’ll hang out in your room as your personal light source.” He smiles, but neither of us manages a laugh. “I’ve thought about this moment since I stung you. I wanted to lie between your legs at the waterfall and taste you.” He reaches out and pulls me closer. “I want to feel you around me…though I’d rather we both be flesh not frost. At least for the first time.”
I’m still in elemental form. I draw in a breath and push the water down. There is a wellspring of power inside me, waiting to burst forth. For a moment I’m sure I can feel the pulse of the planet and the pull of the tides. Then I’m human. Blue, but me.
His hands are rough on mine—that trait is Paohl as my skin is soft and human-like—as he draws me closer to stand between his legs.
He places a kiss above my heart, and then glances up. “Will you be my mate?”
“Yes.” I don’t have to think about the answer now I’m in his arms.
He lifts me onto the bed like I weigh nothing. The fur tickles my back as he moves over me. His lips find mine and he steals my breath with the kiss I have been hungering for. I run my fingers through his hair, but too soon he is pulling away. He nips at my throat and sooths the bite with a kiss as he works his way lower. His tongue circles my already tight nipple, before sucking and drawing the peak into his mouth.
I don’t want to wait any longer. I lift my hips, a silent plea for his touch. His lips skim down my body, and he settles between my thighs. I’m wet already, aching for him with a need that has been building during the days we were forced to wait.
