Now, as they faced the massive front doors with lapis handles, her fingers itched for his soft brown curls and her lips craved the warmth of his pressed against them.
“If you keep staring at me, Goddess, I’ll have no choice but to find us a vacant room,” Araes growled, his voice low enough for only her to hear. “One free fromwanderingeyes.”
Her muscles tensed around his words, letting sheer, agonizing need pool in her belly.
“Perhaps I’ll continue staring then,” she challenged, watching his eyes glaze with equally intense desire.
“As much as I’d love nothing more, we only have so many hours of sunlight left,” he said, setting her down.
“Let us make haste then,” Tethys sighed. Something like disappointment cooled the flush from her cheeks.
Araes led them across the rocky front drive and down a sloping path, flanked by waist-high sea grass. Palm fronds lined the private expanse of beach, maintaining a thick wall of greenery around the serene coast.
The infinite stretch of robin egg sky melted into the southern sea’s horizon, trading a soft, comforting shade of blue for one fiercer. Wilder. As the trail opened into white sand shoreline, Tethys closed her eyes, letting sunbeams seep into her skin.
Eos above, she’d nearly forgotten what fresh air smelled like. How her hair rustled in the warm, salty breeze. How the vast, seaside openness filled her lungs as she pulled it in.
The couple made their way to a stone bench, shrouded by blooming primrose brush. The tide was ebbing, and soon mollusk shells and sea glass would appear throughout the sand.
“Araes, there’s something I need to tell you,” Tethys said, letting her curls fall down her spine. The beach, Altair had said, was private and heavily secured from curious eyes. Even the staff weren’t allowed to traverse its sandy shores, and with Altair holding council until dinner service, they’d be safe to speak freely.
“Anything, my Queen,” he replied, stroking the back of her hand.
“Back in Centaurus…I thought you were gone. I couldn’t breathe thinking you were dead. I’m…I’m sorryfor putting us at risk like I did. My recklessness got the best of me. We shouldn’t have gone down to that cavern…” She trailed off, glancing at her hands.
“Tethys,” Araes tipped her chin up. His eyes, gloriously warm and bright in the sunlight, flashed with an intensity that disarmed and excited her all at once. “I once said you were no queen of mine. I called you childish…reckless, and I’ll have to live with those words for the rest of my life.”
Her chest tightened, reliving the memory of their heated battles.
“But I barely survived seeing you unconscious. The world felt empty without you—lifeless, even. Maybe it was reckless going down there, but when I said I’d follow you to the ends of the earth if you so asked, Imeantit. I cannot live in a world where you aren’t beside me.” He brushed a thumb down her lip, igniting embers throughout her whole body.
“You willalwaysbe my queen, my goddess. Even if we face obstacles from every fucking direction. I love you, Tethys. That won’t ever change. Not now, not until the end of my days. I won’teverstop loving you,” he whispered.
She stilled, feeling her heart devour Araes’s words. Was that what this was?Love?
He was the first person she searched for in a room full of people, and the last to drop her gaze from.
She let him in. Let him see the darkest of demons that clawed under her skin. Showed him the worst parts of herself. Yet, here he still sat.
His was the first and only comfort she sought when everything fell apart.
She’dallowedhim to pick up the pieces when she shattered. Allowed him to hold her when the world got too heavy. He was the quiet in the chaos.
“I love you too,” she said, and she meant it, too. Her whole damned body felt the truth in those words.
Before he could speak, she pressed her lips to his. Hegreeted her with voracious hunger as their mouths drank each other in. She needed all of him, every piece—both broken and whole. Araes wrapped his arms around her, his fingers lacing themselves through her hair, as the wild southern winds whirled around them, cocooned them in salty sunlight.
“Someone could see, Goddess,” Araes breathed, his voice ragged and rough against her lips.
“I don’t care, Araes, please,” she replied, running a hand up his trousers.
She expected a protest, but it never came. They both succumbed to each other’s touch, burning and writhing in the flames.
Araes groaned as she unlaced his seams. Feeling his cock harden for her sent wildfire up her veins, silencing any rational thought left.
The world stilled as she placed her palm against his length, reveling in its sleek, silky feel. She wrapped her hand around its base, moving slow enough to savor every second between them.
“Goddess…I—” Araes’s words cut short when Tethys stroked him again. His breath was warm against hers as he leaned into her touch, losing himself in pleasure.
