Page 22 of Luca

And if this was what high altitude and an orgasm did for me, we’d be mile-high-clubbing way more often.

Only when the trance had lifted somewhat—and I was no longer in danger of drowning, probably—did Cair guide me to the riverbank, encouraging me to drink. As soon as the water touched my lips, I was suddenly parched, gulping down handful after handful until my thirst was quenched. I splashed my face and neck, sighing as the coolness washed away the worst of the sweat on my skin.

I lounged on the bank, and Cair slid the pack from my shoulders before rifling through our supplies and withdrawing a clean pair of pants. He passed them over to me, and I wasted no time shimmying out of the soiled ones, cringing as the stickiness grazed my legs. Cair gave me a meticulous wipe down, despite my protests that it wasfiiiiine, before helping me feed my feet through the holes and drag them into place. That was when I saw that he’d taken out a pair for himself as he stood and began untying the ones he wore.

I frowned, my eyes dropping to his crotch, surprised to see the wet patch seeping through. “You…”

Cair followed my gaze and scoffed, crooking his brow. “Did you honestly expect me to keep my composure when I had my feral mate rutting against me in midair?”

I blushed at his accusation, feeling slightly petulant. “I wasn’t feral.”

“Unhinged, then.”

I glowered at him, much to his obvious amusement. “I prefer feral.”

With his clothes changed and my bag repacked, my mate positioned himself by a tree, propping his back against the trunk and making space for me between his spread legs. I crawled over to him, flopping down bonelessly, my head in his lap, and that was where we stayed for a little while—no clue how long exactly, but when the daze lifted, I was left with a pleasant feeling of bliss and gratification. When I asked, Cair said it was still morning, so it had probably only been an hour or so. He had played with my hair the entire time, the soft scrape of his fingers against my scalp almost making me hum.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, breaking the silence.

As if just waiting on his suggestion, my belly gave a proud rumble. “I could eat.”

Cair smiled and gave my head one last scritch. “Let me take you somewhere.”

LUCA

Cair landed on the outskirts of a quaint little village not too far from the meadow. It was a busy place, by the look of it. Creatures of all shapes and sizes traveled up and down the winding cobblestone path that split the rows of pastel-painted buildings ahead. Those who made their way inside carried empty satchels, or steered empty wheelbarrows, while anyone striding toward us had their loot piled high.

“Where are we?” I asked, shrugging my pack further up on my shoulders, not taking my eyes off the goblin-like being who was hauling what looked like loaves of bread, fresh vegetables, and a very bejeweled axe in the opposite direction to the crowd.

Their wide, triumphant smile was pretty infectious.

“Do you remember the market we visited in the human realm?” Cair said, his hand resting against the small of my back.

I gazed up at him.

“The place where you showed me your fangs?”

He nodded. “This is the village it was modeled after. Briargate—one of the oldest and most popular trade settlements in the Otherworld.”

Now that the connection had been pointed out, there were definitely similarities. They shared that same chocolate-box feel. The cute, colorful shops with thatched roofs and thick nests of ivy—or the Fae equivalent—snaking across their stone walls, charged by magic. That same flurry of chaos and excitement from the array of vendors pitched outside, their stalls displaying their wares. Both towns were as charming as each other, and from this distance, only had one noticeable difference—Briargate looked to be on a much larger scale.

More to explore.

I bounced on my feet. “Can we look around?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Cair smiled, clearly having anticipated my enthusiasm. “That’s why I stopped here. Technically, it wasn’t on our list of places to visit as it’s notdirectlyin our path, and it will delay us, but it was too precious to pass up.”

Abso-fucking-lutely.

I stuck to his side, my hand firmly in his as we strolled toward the hustle and bustle. It took effort not to bound ahead, my curiosity stealing back the abundance of restless energy I’d thought that mind-altering orgasm had wiped out of me, but I managed to keep to the leisurely pace. My anxiety in crowds outweighed the impulsiveness in this instance, and I didn’t want to get lost. It would be easy to do. As Cair loved to point out, I was shorter than a lot of monsters, even at my perfectly average human height. It was a bit of a hazard when combined with my tendency to wander off whenever something caught my attention—like the stalls upon stalls of really cool stuff now in my direct line of sight.

I squeezed my mate’s hand tighter, just to be safe.

Cair paused to glamor his wings before we started weaving through the crowd. We were mated, so he wasn’t going against any customs by displaying them—especially in the Fae realm—but I knew he’d want to protect the crystalline panes from accidental grazes. He was traditional and firm in his beliefs that certain acts between mates were sacred, and I was unapologetically giddy about it. People could look all they pleased, but touching was a privilege for him and me alone.

I’d never pegged myself as the possessive type, but when it came to Cair, there was always room for another ‘first.’

“You are happy,” Cair observed, mildly amused as he could no doubt sense my exact feelings on the matter, and all I could do was smile up at him.

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