Her hand found Eunha’s wrist as she spoke, and she dragged the pilot away in spite of her colorful protests. Cordelia watched it all unfold in silence with a bemused expression, nursing her drink. He sipped his own and cringed at the bitterness of the liquid. This is what the Aurillon drank for leisure? All these years, he’d wondered what they were drinking, and it was… rocket fuel. He set it down on a nearby ledge, wrinkling his nose.
Cordelia couldn’t quite hide her chuckle.
He arched a brow at her. “Are you laughing at me? Now, in my time of need?”
“What? No, I?—”
She trailed off at his grin, her eyes narrowing a moment before she smacked him in his other arm.
He ignored the violence, snagging her around the shoulders and lowering his lips to her ear. “I believe I told you we had plans, Commander.” When he drew back, her eyes were molten with open lust.
“Are you sure?” she murmured, flicking her gaze toward his injury.
“Do you doubt me?” His tail slid between her thighs, slithering around to squeeze suggestively.
“Oh, I think I’m learning not to.” She bit her bottom lip. “Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him along the periphery of the room.
When they reached the hall, he shifted his grip on her and took the lead.
“Where are we going?” she asked, jogging a bit to keep up with his longer stride.
“There’s something I want to show you.”
He led her to the same door she’d taken him through the day that they’d first had sex. Her hand squeezed around his, and he knew she was reliving the memory just as he was.
They wound down into the forest as the sun began to slip behind the boughs, but he didn’t return to the clearing where she’d mounted him. He felt her confusion as they passed the spot, venturing deeper into the woods.
“Okay, time out,” she called, wiggling her hand out of his grip. “Exactly how far are we hiking?”
He turned to see her doubled over, her hands braced against her knees as she panted. Color had risen to her sweat-dampenedcheeks. The sight made him twitch down low, remembering the last time he’d made her pant in these woods.
“Tired already?” he teased. “That doesn’t bode well for the rest of my plans.”
She straightened at that, clearly taking it for an insult. “Oh, I see. You hit it once and you think you’reCasanova, is that it?”
He didn’t recognize the word, but he gathered the sentiment clearly enough. He stalked back over to her and ducked until they were eye to eye. “I distinctly remember doing it more than once. If you don’t, I’ll have to try harder to impress it upon your memory this time.” With that, he pecked a kiss to her lips and then threw her over his shoulder while she shrieked.
“Are you insane?” she cried, smacking at his back. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“You’re too slow. I want to get there before the sun sets completely.”
“Rentir!”
He let her teeter on his shoulder, freeing his hand from the backs of her knees long enough to swat at her ass. “Enough worrying. You’re going to wound my pride.”
She subsided—at least insofar that her complaints went from angry shouting to low mutters of displeasure. When she heard the trickle of water, she braced her hands against his back to look around.
“Where are we?” she asked as they finally reached the secret spot he’d had in mind.
He lowered her gently to her feet and turned her toward the spring. She gasped, pressing her hand to her mouth.
“It is not quite a… water park?” he said, and her eyes crinkled with a smile. “And the water does not reek of the chemicals as you like it, but…”
“It’s perfect,” she said through her fingers.
He looked at it over her shoulder, trying to see it for the first time as she was. It was only a small spring, but the water was clear as blue glass, and there was a small waterfall that trickled in. He liked the sound that it made tumbling over the smoothed surface of the rocks.
“Ah, and we’re just in time,” he murmured into her ear, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him. “Watch.”