Page 52 of Prisoner of Darkness and Dreams
I feel Leon’s warmth behind me, his chest against my shoulder.
“Youdiddo something,” he says. “It was quick thinking to tell me to move the earth. That bought us enough time for her to get free.”
“I don’t know why the idea came to me as fast as it did,” I say, remembering the blinding panic of the moment and yet the clear certainty of my thoughts. “I just knew you’d go for your sword and start hacking at that tree before you thought to try your terrial power.”
Leon tenses a little behind me. “That was going to be my approach, yes.”
“It makes sense,” I say. “That’s the response I’d expect from a soldier. Or maybe I guessed it because I just know you too well now.”
“Is there such a thing astoowell?” Leon asks. On the surface, his tone seems joking, but I sense the seriousness underneath.
“I don’t think so. Not with you,” I answer softly.
We’ve stopped by one of the furthest pools, the trees obscuring us from the rest of the group. Phaia knows where we’ve gone, but with Leon with me, I know she won’t worry about us. Hidden from the others as we are, it feels as if we’re all alone in this forest.
Quickly, I unfasten my belt, letting it drop to the ground with my sheath and blade.
“What are you doing?” Leon asks.
“I didn’t get a chance to wash up yet,” I say, pulling my tunic up over my head. “And I stink from traveling.”
In truth, I want to wash away more than the grime of our journey. I want to banish the darkness of my nightmares and what happened to Tira. Maybe the cool freshness of the water will help.
“Besides,” I say, pulling off the last of my clothes and descending into the water. “I’ll need to look presentable if we’re going to meet the dryad council soon.”
I sigh with relief as the water embraces me, soothing my aching muscles as well as my soul.
“I happen to think you look very alluring in your week-old traveling clothes.” Leon says it lightly, making me laugh, but I don’t miss the undertone of genuine desire in his voice as he watches me swim out deeper into the pool.
“Hmm,” I say. “I think the rugged wanderer look suits some people much more than others. I know a certain prince, for example, who can really pull it off.”
I lift my face to the sunshine and close my eyes, enjoying my weightlessness in the water.
I hear a gentle splash, and ripples chase me across the lake. I open my eyes to see Leon, shirtless and chest-deep in the water. I lose focus at the sight of him. Of course it’s nothing I haven’t seen before, but it’s a view that never gets old—the sculpted lines of his chest, the smattering of dark hair across it that I know trails down across his toned abdominals and between the deepVof his hips.
He moves through the water gracefully, gliding toward me, until he reaches out and pulls me against him. He’s fully naked, and I gasp in pleased surprise at the feel of his erection, hard and ready, against my hip.
“Did you think you could strip like that in front of me and get away with it?” he asks, his voice a dangerous growl. He dips his mouth to mine, sliding his tongue along my lower lip, making my breath hitch.
I pull back and tilt my head at him. “Oh, I think I could get away with a lot more than that,” I say teasingly.
“AndIthink I’ll take what’s mine,” he says, slipping a hand into the water and between my legs.
I let a moan escape me as he runs firm fingers across my sensitive flesh, massaging the pad of his thumb against my clit until I’m burning with pleasure, despite the cool water around me. How easily he sets me alight like this. I love knowing I can do the same to him.
Placing one hand on his smooth, firm chest for purchase, I slide my other down until it rests against his cock. The muscles in his jaw twitch deliciously as I wrap my fingers around his length and begin to stroke. I revel in the thickness of him as I run my palm along the shaft and tease the head with my thumb.
“Be careful, princess,” he says, and I hear the strain in his voice. “Keep touching me like that, and I’ll have to fuck you so hard you’ll need those dryads when we get to Starfall.”
“Promise?” I ask, breathless with anticipation.
His eyes darken so they’re almost black. “Oh yes. And I always keep my promises,” he says.
He grabs my hips and lifts me to him, and I eagerly spread my legs, wrapping them around his waist as he lowers me down onto his cock. The soft embrace of the water ensures he slides into me in one long, smooth motion, and I make a keening noise, breathing through the onslaught of sensation.
No matter how often he fucks me, I don’t think I’ll ever quite get used to the way my whole body quivers as I take him—how complete I feel once he’s inside. I cling to him now, adjusting to the fullness, and kiss himdeeply, needing to show Leon just how much I love him, how much he overwhelms and consumes me in the best way.
But it isn’t long before I grow impatient for more, and I break the kiss to lean back and tighten my legs around him, using the position to build up a rhythm. He bends his knees slightly, so my ass hits them as I take him down to the hilt, moaning at the way the friction of him inside me sends every nerve sparking. When I rise up again, my breasts breach the water. With a wicked grin, Leon bends his face, licking the droplets off my nipples.
