“Look at your phone?” Savine teased. He still couldn’t believe the images they had taken together, and how that small black brick captured and saved their likeness.
Avery gave him a sardonic smile. “That’s a fading option. I like to go swimming. I used to sneak out of my house in Golden and meet friends at the lake in town as a teen. I’d always force my sister to join me, even though she hated sneaking out. Even now, I like to go swimming to clear my mind. I was swimming in Quartz Lake the night before I came to Aeritis. But I haven’t been swimming since I arrived here, so let’s go swim in Dorfaren Lake.”
Savine opened his eyes and cocked his head. “In the night? Right now?”
“Of course. Surely someone as ancient as you has gone swimming by moonlight?”
Savine thought back to his childhood. To times when he, Garnel, and the other boys would sneak out of the palace grounds and swim in a mountain lake together.
“Not since I was a boy,” Savine replied.
Avery stood up. She seemed determined to go forward with this late night swim. That’s something he was learning to adore about her. The spontaneity in which she lived her life and her willingness to do things for fun was so foreign to him. “Believe me, it will relieve our worries,” Avery said as she headed towards the door. Turning back to Savine, she asked, “Suits or no suits?”
Savine wasn’t sure what she meant. The word was one of those funny words in her own tongue that she slipped seamlessly into the language of the fae. “Suits?” he asked, trying to hide the confusion in his voice.
“Are you questioning using suits or agreeing? Actually, we’re friends. Let’s go with suits,” Avery said confidently as she headed out the door.
Savine still wasn’t sure what she meant by suits, but he followed her out into the hall and down to her room. Avery looked back at him with a confused look on her face. “Aren’t you going to change?” she asked.
“Change?” Savine asked, puzzled. Goddess save him. He felt like he was making an ass out of himself. Try as he might, he was not good with women. There were plenty of reasons that he’d kept his distance these last twenty-five years, but if he was being honest with himself, one of them was his complete misunderstanding of females.
“Into your swimming suit? To go into the lake?” Her big, brown eyes stared back at him with a mix of mirth and confusion. “Or would you rather we skinny dip?” Avery asked with a wink.
Abyss damn him, he was an idiot. She was getting something to wear into the water. He often wore nothing when he swam, and that was the custom with most fae. But he could probably find something to put on if she was not comfortable with what she called skinny dipping.
“Fae typically swim in the nude. I didn’t understand what you were asking. But I can find something to wear into the water if you prefer that,” Savine replied as he leaned against the doorway into Avery’s room. Thoughts of Avery’s naked body near his made his skin prickle and his essence swirl.
“Not a problem. We’ll do things the fae style,” Avery said with an easy smile. She reached her hand out and threaded her fingers in his. The feel of her hand on his made him shudder as he looked down at her.
The town was quiet as Savine led Avery through Bayberry. These cozy little homes holding peaceful people needed to see another dayof peace here. Even though he was supposed to be distracting himself from the battle they would soon face, he imagined what this place would look like if he failed. If the entire community went up in flames because he could not do his duty to protect them from harm.
As if sensing his growing concern, Avery squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “Clearing our minds, remember? There’s no point in worrying about tomorrow.”
This woman was a gift to him from the Goddess, but in more ways than he could have ever imagined. Avery wasn’t some tool for him to utilize to defeat the king. His need for her in his life was like breathing air. She picked up on his moods like she was an extension of himself.
At the water’s edge, Avery didn’t hesitate to lift her nightgown up, revealing her lithe body. She wasn’t wearing a garment on her breasts, and the sight of her small breasts brought a shiver through his body. The moonlight cascaded over her skin, and Savine was in awe at how strong her small body was.
Avery met his eyes as she slid her underwear down to her ankles and stepped out. “You’re looking a little tongue tied, old man,” Avery said, her voice filled with a passion that caught him off guard. Damn, he was in deep.
“Come here. I want to feel your perfect body,” he commanded. But Avery looked at him like a little nymph and slipped into the inky darkness of the water.
“Not so fast. If you want me, you’re going to have to catch me.” One moment Avery was standing in the water, the next all he saw were her golden locks cascading around her as she disappeared into the dark depths.
Without further hesitation, Savine stripped off his clothes and slid into the cold, late-summer water. Avery rose to the surface near him, close enough to reach out and pull her close. But before he could, shesquirted a mouthful of lake water at him, hitting him in the chest. Laughter escaped from him, unencumbered, and the joy of this playfulness made him feel a little shaky. It was all too good. Too good for him.
But fuck if he didn’t dive in after her. As Savine reached through the water, he felt Avery’s ankle and grabbed hold. She kicked lightly against his hand before she turned her body and pulled herself in closer to him. Averywantedto be caught. Wanted to play and tease. She wanted his touch as much as he desired hers. He could feel it in the way she pressed herself close to him.
Her eyes sparkled as she said, “You caught me. Now, what are you going to do?”
Avery’s eyes roamed over his lips, and she looked like a starving woman. He couldn’t stop himself from pressing his lips to hers, even if he’d wanted to. She kissed him back like he was giving her life itself. Her lake-cooled, naked skin was pressed against his, and he demanded more of her. He lifted her chin up as he bent lower, deepening their kiss. Avery opened herself for him so willingly it made him want more. He swept his tongue in and drank in that delicious taste of honeysuckle and mint.
And then he felt it. What he’d been denying for weeks. What Garnel had confronted him on. The tendrils of their soulmate bond worked around their bodies, sending a warm pulse between them, demanding that they get closer. It was overpowering and intoxicating. The bond demanded that he accept it, pulled and tugged at him with the need to join himself to her, weaving their souls into one.
Fuck. Fuck no. He pulled back from her as if he’d been stung.
Avery’s face lost that spark of desire, and the confusion in her eyes shattered him. “Avery, I can’t do this,” he muttered. The hurt in her eyes tore through him like a lance.
“Why?” Her voice came out small, hurt. “Are you not attracted to me? Is it because I’m not fae?”
