Page 60 of Edge of Wonder

“What the hell, Alice? You didn’t surface after you jumped.” He had ditched his shirt and swam with powerful arms toward me.

“I went under the waterfall. It’s like a silvery grotto on the other side. You have to see it.”

Sebastian reached me and pulled me closer until we were inches apart, treading water. His gaze roamed over me, lingering on the ruffled line of my bodice. As water sluiced over my skin, his breathing changed. The undercurrent of his anger melted into something intoxicating.

He swallowed, his voice tight. “You can’t jump into an unknown body of water. It’s dangerous.”

“For someone in your profession, you think everything is dangerous. Did I scare you?” I asked, shocked by the intensity in his eyes.

“Yes.”

“But you hunt ghosts. You deal with things that terrify most people. It’s hard to imagine you scared.” I leaned back in the water, letting myself float, and stared up at the stars. “But I’m scared all the time. Let’s see…” I held up my fingers and counted them off one by one. “I’m scared of failing the realm. Of dying again. Heights. Oh—and now, vines.”

I let out a dry laugh. The air was still charged with a mesmerizing tension, and it fueled a sudden sense of bravery. “Mostly, though, I’m scared that after you’re gone, I won’t feel this way anymore.”

Sebastian visibly swallowed. He drifted closer as the silken water swirled around us.

“Feel what way, Alice?”

Water rippled over his broad shoulders, and ran down his skin. His breath was a ragged sound that tugged at something inside my chest. I licked my dry lips, crushing the edge with my teeth as the words tumbled out of me. “It’s probably because you brought me back from the dead, but you make me feel alive.”

The waterfall thundered behind us, yet I still heard the low growl in his throat. His fingers clenched my waist, and he propelled us backward under the spray. I closed my eyes as water rushed over my body, then I felt the slick chill of stone against my back.

He held me against the rock, voice rough against my ear. “You can’t say things like that to me, Alice.”

“Why not, if they’re true?”

Silver water created a glistening veil separating us from the outside. It was a sultry haven that made me bold enough to act on the things that only lived in my head.

“You want the truth?” His lips skated across my shoulder. “I would have done whatever it took to be with you on that field. I wanted to kill those men for touching you. For even looking,” he grated. “You consume my thoughts…but I can’t—”

“I’m not asking for that.” My hands clutched his face. “Iwon’task for that. But I can’t help the way I feel, and for just a little while, I’m asking for this.” I pressed a kiss to his mouth, using my tongue to taste him. He moaned in the back of his throat, making me smile against his lips. His resistance melted away.

“Since you asked so nicely,” he murmured, dropping his head into the crook of my neck. “Wrap your legs around me, Alice.”

I nodded, my heart hammering in my chest as I locked my ankles around his waist.

“I’ve got you,” he rumbled against my shoulder, bracing me against the stone. “Let me show you what I think about while I’m lying awake at night.” His tongue stroked a path along my collarbone, licking the water off my skin. Then he gripped my chin and captured my mouth.

My mind emptied and all I could do was feel. The sharp edges at my back, the satiny water lapping against my skin, and the heat flaring to life inside me. Something had unleashed inside him, and he moved against me, pressing me harder against the stone. His arms were a cage around my body; the only place I ever wanted to be trapped.

His chest was all hard planes and muscles, and I ran my nails over his skin while his kiss slowed, turning into something else.

Something more.

A knot of emotion twisted in my chest as he murmured my name over and over. The urgency in his tone sent a wave of heat to my core. If this is what he thought about, I’d never help him sleep again. With a jagged breath, he drew back, eyes glazed with desire and the aching awareness that we had to stop. We both wanted more, but he was leaving. He knew the limits. He’d never take me that far and then walk away.

Pulling me against him, he swam us both back under the waterfall, and we surfaced in the glittering pool. The fireflies circled overhead, creating a glowing path back to shore. My toes sank into the thick sand as we walked out of the water. I felt the heat of his gaze and realized my soaked chemise left very little to the imagination.

“The way you look right now is killing me, Alice.”

A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. “Well, I hope you don’t end up haunting this lonely waterfall. But if you do, I promise, I’ll come visit.”

His hand snaked out, and I tumbled back into his arms. He kissed away the laugh on my lips. A branch snapped, and we both froze. Sebastian cursed as he reached for his dagger. The blade was still on the ledge with the rest of our clothes.

“Maybe it’s one of the guards,” I said, searching the trees in the faint moonlight.

“Get behind me, Alice.” He shifted me to his back, his body coiled with tension.

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