His lips brush against mine, tingles trickling from my mouth down my spine, making me arch my back. He skims his mouth down my throat and my head lolls to the side as his sinful scent wraps around me. His knee nestles between my thighs, the friction making me groan.
“You might not need it, but I do,” he whispers before retreating and grabbing my hand. He tugs me along and out into the balmy New Orleans evening. I stare at the red sky just as a rumble of thunder echoes around the cemetery, a clattering of lightning illuminating the angelic statues around us. Shivering under their watchful gaze, I rub my hands over the goosebumps that have sprouted on my arms, cold fingers of dread sliding down my spine.
“Are we not teleporting?” I ask.
He spins to face me. “We can teleport close by, but Poseidon banned teleportation into Atlantis years ago.” He draws me close and then we tumble through space and time. He grips my ass, lifting me up. “Legs around me, Natia,” he says.
“Why?”
The dimension spits us out, cold air whipping around us. Dark clouds roll across the even gloomier sky than the apocalyptic one we left behind. Icy water splatters my feet, sending shivers down my spine. I edge closer to Archan, tightening my legs around his waist and locking my arms around his neck. Soft feathers brush my hands as the rhythmic sway lifts us higher. “You could have warned me,” I mumble, studying the tumultuous waves of the ocean we’ve appeared above.
He chuckles, then runs his hand down my back. Adrenaline pulses through me, making my wings burst open. “You ready to fly like an angel, Natia?”
My muscles spasm and tighten around him as the air caresses my wings, begging them to play. I arch them, responding to the call as he takes us higher. My breath catches as he spins us through the clouds and beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The blood moon glows like an eerie beacon of the war ahead. I gaze around, my eyes wide at the diamonds that look close enough to pluck out of the night sky. “Ready?” he asks, stroking the arches of my wings. I shudder as he gives me a knowing look. “Tuck them in tight until I say,” he instructs. My wings snap to my back. He grabs my waist, spins us upside down, then he mirrors my wings and we fall. My breath rushes out of my mouth as my stomach drops. Palpitations hammer my chest as my hair flies behind me. I spy the waves hurtling towards us and a scream tears out of my throat.
“Now,” Archan shouts with a firm push on my spine. Our wings snap out, dragging us upwards and away from a watery crash.
He chuckles as he guides us back towards the clouds. Excitement prickles along my senses. “You want to try on your own?” he asks. I lock eyes with his golden ones. He looks younger. Not physically—he’s the permanent thirty-something on the outside—but his expression is playful, his features relaxed, and it wipes away the weight of eons of knowledge pumping through his veins. We ascend through the clouds, the crimson reflecting in his eyes, turning them into preternatural orbs that cut through my defenses. I nod.
“First one to pull up loses,” he states.
A smile tugs at my lips. “And what does the winner get? A kiss?”
“I think we are beyond kisses,” he says. He drops his mouth to my ear. “If I win, you agree to complete the bond.”
My heart trips over itself. “And if I win?”
“What do you want, Natia?”
“The truth.”
He snaps his head back to stare at me. “About what?”
“Everything,” I state, not flinching under his gaze.
He nods. “Agreed.”
I drop my legs from his waist and arms from his neck. My wings falter and I dip a few meters before they support me and I raise up to become eye level with him. “After three?” I say, glancing down through the layers of misty clouds.
“One,” I tense my muscles. “Two.” I rotate, so I’m pointing down. “Three.” I snap my wings to my back and plummet toward the ground. The air rushes past me, skimming my flesh as I narrow my gaze on the water below. I suck in a deep breath. If I have to dive into the sea to win, I will. “Natia!” he shouts. I ignore him, distracting me to win is his plan. It’s a poor one.
Cold water splashes across my face and I lick my lips, the salt making my tongue tingle. Closing my eyes, I prepare for the dive. Something hard slams into my right side, knocking me sideways and then up.
“What the hell are you playing at?” Archan growls as he glides us across the surface of the sea.
“I won,” I state with a wicked grin, letting my hand graze the surface of the water.
“You are fucking crazy,” he mumbles with a laugh.
“No, I’m motivated and you owe me the truth.”
“Afterwards. First, we meet the King of the Sea and you charm his ass to give you his most prized possession.” I open my mouth to protest. “Deep breath, Natia.”
But I don’t need to breathe,I think as my head hits the cold sea. My mind hasn’t caught up to my goddess status yet. No need to rush, though. That’s being undone as we speak. Best not to convince my mind we no longer need oxygen, only for it to become essential tomorrow. That would be a bummer.
We submerge below the surface and I look around the dark water, fish and larger things darting around us as Archan dives deeper with me clinging to him like a koala.
“Where are we?”I ask.
