Page 40 of Pawns of Salistya

I dove into the water, welcoming the cool feeling on my skin while avoiding eye contact as I came up. I stood up, water cascading down my face and flowing onto my chest. The water came up to my hip and I was very aware of my hardening nipples showing through my now translucent bra. I reached my hands behind my head, combing my fingers through my hair, allowing the strands to cascade down my back.

I smirked coyly as I met Xylan’s desire-filled eyes, before diving into the water and swimming past him. By the time I surfaced, I was halfway between him and the waterfall. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw he was still staring at me.

‘What’s taking you so long?’ I taunted him with his own words before swimming quickly towards the waterfall, intent on winning the race I just instigated.

I could hear the splash of water as he closed the gap between us. I pushed a bit harder, determined to win. With one last push I dove under the waterfall, breaking the surface on the other side. There was a little cave under the waterfall with enough space for us to sit on rocks and catch our breath.

Pulling myself up, I hugged my knees to my chest.

‘May I point out,’ he huffed, coming up from under the waterfall and pulling himself up out of the water, ‘that you had a generous head start and I would’ve been the clear winner if we’d been on equal footing.’ He slid further up onto the rock beside me, our legs touching in the confined space.

I had used a quarter of my strength, so as not to give away my powers, so there was no way he ever would’ve beaten me. ‘Yeah, right. I went easy on you.’

He let out a disgruntled sigh. The man clearly was a sore loser.

We sat in silence, our breaths falling back into their normal rhythm. I was much too aware of our bare legs touching as the mark behind my ear began thrumming with heat. At the same time, from the corner of my eye I saw him scratching the arc behind his ear.

‘Do you manage to come here often?’

‘Not as often as I’d like,’ I admitted. ‘Usually, I have a handful of guards nearby. I don’t think Eliasson would be particularly happy with me flaunting my body in front of them.’

‘Is that what you’re doing?’ he asked.

‘What?’

‘Flaunting your body?’ he teased as his eyes took me in appreciatively.

In the safety of this cave, without any other eyes on me, I decided to give in to my desires. ‘Well, you showed me yours. It was only right I showed you mine,’ I threw back.

‘How generous of you,’ he said dryly.

‘You’d prefer it if I didn’t return the favour?’

‘Never said that,’ he chuckled, earning him a wry smile from me.

I twirled a strand of my hair around my finger as I mused, ‘Hmm, for a king you are awfully improper.’

‘And you’re not?’

I gave him a blank look, earning an amused smirk in return.

He seemed to mull over the rest of my words, debating his response. ‘There’s a time and a place to be King. And there’s a time and a place to simply be a man enjoying a woman’s company. The latter is relevant in this instance.’

‘Will I have the pleasure of seeing you be King?’

He laughed darkly. ‘You’ll see plenty of that over the next few weeks, Valare. I don’t hesitate to stand up and fight for my Kingdom when need be.’

Maybe the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree after all. His father had always been ruthless in his dealings.

‘I’ll wait in anticipation then,’ I said honestly.

‘And you? Will you fight for your Dom when the time comes?’ His tone grew serious, his eyes imploring.

‘I’ll do what is right to ensure my people are safe,’ I replied, my tone matching his. I meant every word.

Xylan nodded in approval. ‘Good. Fyriane needs that.’

‘Fyriane?’ I questioned.

---