I take it and it shifts back into a dagger before I return it to my belt. “What now?”
“Now, we get the hell out of here.” He grabs my hand, and we swim together, up and out, following the trail of bubbles and light toward the surface.
The water gets clearer as we go. The blood and darkness fall away, and I can see the sunlight above us, rippling gold on the surface. My lungs ache, even though I can breathe. My whole body aches.
We break the surface at the same time.
The air is shocking, alive. I gasp, lungs stinging.
He’s grinning, hair plastered to his face, eyes bright. “Sweet freedom!” And I’ve never seen him look so happy.
I can’t help it—I kiss him again.
This time there’s no hesitation. My hands slide up his chest, gripping him as I pull myself closer, and he answers instantly, one arm wrapping around my waist, dragging me flush against him. The kiss deepens, his mouth parting against mine, warm and insistent, and I follow without thinking.
It’s different now.
There’s no fear. No desperation for air. Just heat.
His other hand tangles in my hair, tilting my head as the kiss turns deeper, slower for a heartbeat, then hungrier. I feel it everywhere, the press of his body against mine, the strength in his grip, the way he doesn’t hold back this time.
I move without thinking, my legs sliding around his waist as I cling to him, needing to be closer, closer, until there’s no space left between us at all. And there, I feel him. His hard erection is pressed against my underwear. His thin boxers do nothing to hide his arousal. He makes a low sound against my mouth, something rough and unsteady, and his hands start to move, over my back, my sides, pulling me tighter against him like he can’t stop himself.
Neither can I.
My fingers slide up into his hair, down his shoulders, tracing the lines of him as the kiss deepens again, turning reckless, consuming. The world narrows to heat and breath and the way our bodies fit together far too easily.
He shifts beneath me, and the movement makes something in me catch—sharp and unfamiliar and impossible to ignore. I don’t pull away. I press closer.
His grip tightens instantly, like that was a mistake. Or maybe exactly what he wanted.
“Alette…” he breathes against my mouth, the word strained, warning and something else entirely.
But I kiss him again instead of answering, and whatever control he had left slips away. His hands move again, faster now, more desperate, like he’s forgotten how to stop. For a moment, it feels like we won’t. Like wecan’t.
Then, suddenly, he stills. Completely. His hands tighten on my waist, holding me in place as he drags in a breath like it hurts.
“If we don’t stop…” His voice is rough, unsteady in a way I’ve never heard from him before. “I’m going to lose control.”
The words send a strange, curling heat through me. “Lose control?”
He thrusts his hips, and a little moan tears from my lips. “I’m going to have to fuck you, Alette.”
“Oh,” comes out on a shaky breath.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his gaze sharp, searching, barely restrained. “Do you want that?” he asks quietly.
For a second, I don’t know how to answer. Part of me, some reckless, curious part, wonders what it would be like. Wonders what it would feel like to let this go further, to give in to the heat still burning between us. But the moment stretches too long, and reality creeps back in.
I’m a virgin. We just killed a merman. He’s a fae king. Having my first sexual experience right now would be crazy.
And then there’s the complication of Sylvian and Ashton. I’d kissed both men. Been intimate with both men. What would they think if they saw what I was doing right now?
I swallow, my grip loosening slightly. “Not… not here,” I whisper.
Frustration flickers across his face. “Right,” he says, though it sounds like it costs him.
His hands linger for a second longer, like he doesn’t want to let go. Then slowly… he does. And the absence of him feels almost as intense as the kiss itself.
