“You two are giggling like little girls,” Malik said as he reached us. He bent and grabbed Lorcan before pulling him to his feet. The large male ruffled Lorcan’s hair to rid it of the grass before focusing on me.
“I can stand on my own, thanks,” I said, staring up at him.
Hands then slid under my arms, and I jolted at the unexpected contact, not knowing who touched me. A flash of dark hair caught my eye, and I saw Reif. He’d come out of nowhere.
“Powerful enough to blast men back with a single thought, but too clumsy to walk down a hill without falling,” Reif muttered after helping me to my feet. Although his tone rang of disgust, his brown eyes were amused. “Are you sure you’re meant to be the dark king?”
“More like the king of fools,” Malik chimed in.
Their quips made me smile. I’d much rather be the latter than the former.
“No fair. We can’t go anywhere without you two.” Lorcan sighed and leaned his head against Malik’s chest—since that’s as high as he could reach. “I suppose we’ll just have to fuck in front of you.”
Malik cringed and gently pushed Lorcan away from him. “I will scout the area, confirm you’re alone, and give you privacy, my prince.”
The satisfied smile on the prince’s face told me that’d been his plan all along. He grabbed my hand and we walked toward the pool up ahead.
Once again, it struck me as strange that there was a pond beneath the sea; that Avalontis could even exist. A tree with blue and purple leaves stood beside the water, its branches hanging low. There was a slab of rock that hung over the pond, and Lorcan jumped on top of it.
“Beautiful, is it not?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips.
“Aye, it is.”
Malik walked the perimeter of the meadow before motioning to Reif. They disappeared into the trees, and Lorcan and I were finally alone. As alone as we could be. The guards were out of sight, but probably still within earshot.
“Why did you wish to come to this place?” I asked, sitting on the rock and letting my legs dangle into the water.
Lorcan snatched the bottom of his tunic before pulling it up and over his head. I opened my mouth to say something, but then he untied his trousers and they dropped to his feet and all words left my mind. His thick cock hung limp between his legs, and when I licked my bottom lip, it began to harden.
My gaze flickered to his, and what I saw in his emerald eyes nearly undid me right there. I’d seen Lorcan’s lustful stares in the past, but this one held no equal. It was all-consuming, a green fire that scorched me from the inside out.
He dove into the water, splashing me as he did.
“Ass,” I said as I wiped my face with my tunic.
“Pointless for you to dry yourself when you’ll only be getting wet again, mage.” Lorcan’s body was submerged in the pool, but the water was clear enough for me to see his legs slowly moving back and forth.
“Is that so?” I arched a brow, playing at casual curiosity even though my heart was racing in my chest. There was only one reason why he’d want us to swim together. And gods, I was nervous.
I’d fought my attraction toward him for the longest time in the beginning, denying what both of our bodies craved. Once I’d eventually given myself over to him, I had changed. I wasn’t the same man I’d been months ago. If Lorcan and I completed our bond, I’d entirely belong to him. Even more than I already did.
Lorcan smiled and closed his eyes, tilting his head back.
The sight of him transforming was a thing I would never tire of seeing. Long legs became a blue and green tail and a shimmer of lilac kissed the scales. Violet fins sprouted from his forearms, his pointed ears became even more so, and blue dusted the skin across his chest and shoulders.
His green eyes appeared more vibrant, too, as he opened them and focused on me.
I tugged off my tunic before standing, kicking off my boots, and sliding my trousers down. Standing before him, naked and achingly aroused, I wasn’t bashful.
How could I be when he looked at me with such hunger?
I jumped in the water, finding it cool but not cold. Honestly, it could’ve been filled with ice and it still wouldn’t have cooled the fire coursing through my veins. Lorcan was less than a foot away, and I swam over to him.
Water droplets fell from his silver hair, and his lust-filled eyes regarded me. An inhuman gaze. He lifted his hand to move aside his bangs, and I watched his long, pale fingers, imagining them gliding across my bare skin. His nails resembled small claws.
“Beautiful,” I said, tracing the shimmer of blue across his chest. Being that close, I saw that the blue skin had a faint scale-like appearance. I moved my hand to the side of his neck and brushed my thumb along his sharp jawline, looking into his eyes. “I feel that this is a dream and I’ll wake soon with only the memory of you.”
“If you’re dreaming, then so am I.” Lorcan pressed his cheek to my hand. “The memory of you is imprinted in my heart, Alek. So even if it is a dream, you’ll forever be a part of me.”