Heavenly Bodies

Chapter Fifty-Eight

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

In the middle of the night, Elara had the bath house to herself, the quiet sound of indigo crickets humming outside and the dusky walls reminding her of the twilight of her homeland. She breathed a sigh, releasing one shuddering breath after another as she sank into the water until her heart rate returned to normal. She could think here, the sound of running water soothing her frayed nerves. However, her thoughts immediately flew back to Enzo. She tried to quash them, but without any distraction, she finally had to face them.

She was in love with him. And not only that, when he had kissed her in the clouds, she had felt a lightning bolt of power that she could not deny. It had felt familiar. A quiet recognition. As though after all this searching, her soul had said, ‘ Oh, there you are .’

It was the words of her prophecy, now uttered by two separate seers, that fell so heavy on her. And the responsibilities that awaited her. The fact that her struggles hadn’t even really begun. War was looming. Ariete was near. And she was no closer to reclaiming her throne, helping her people. As she found herself caught up in her own tangled thoughts, she heard the distant sound of the door to the bath house opening.

‘Shit,’ she whispered, looking around wildly for a place to hide herself. There. A sheet of a waterfall hiding an alcove behind it beckoned to her. She swam to it as quietly as possible, ducking under the flow and sinking down to the heated bench. She strained her ears, unable to hear much over the rushing sound of water.

She peered into the shadows and saw a tall figure undressing, distorted in the stream of water. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment at the prospect of a man being here with her. Losing sight of the figure, her breath quickened as she tried to quietly swim further back into the hidden nook. A few moments of silence passed. Then suddenly, the curtain of water parted, and her heart stopped.

‘Well, princess, isn’t this a pleasant surprise?’

Enzo.

A slow grin spread over his face as he stepped out of the waterfall and slicked his curls back. His muscles rippled as droplets of water cascaded down him. He took in her wet hair and shoulders exposed to the air with a hungry smile. She sank further into the water, anxiety pumping through her body. She composed her face into a scowl.

‘Well, this is inappropriate,’ she muttered. ‘But I’d expect nothing less. I mean, why wouldn’t you be here in a bath house in the middle of the night while I’m completely naked?’

He chuckled. ‘You say that as though you’re not also here…in the middle of the night…when I’m completely naked.’

Elara tried extremely hard not to concentrate on his broad bare chest but failed. She’d hardly heard what he’d said, so focused was she on the rivulets of water making their way down his bronze torso and disappearing into the surface that only reached his hips. With visible effort, she refrained from looking further down, and glared at him instead.

‘What did you say?’

‘I said,’ his grin widened even more, ‘why are you in here at this time?’

She shifted along the bench as she sighed, drawing circles in the water, and finally decided to at least unburden some truth.

‘I had a nightmare.’

He looked at her with concern as she tilted her head back, looking up at the paintings of clouds and constellations that lined the ceiling.

‘So I came here, where it feels like home.’ She looked at him for a second too long. ‘You?’

‘I often come here to clear my head when I can’t sleep,’ he offered quietly. ‘So every night this week.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘Although I wasn’t expecting a wet, naked woman to be waiting for me, one who just so happened to have her legs wrapped around me a few nights ago.’ He smirked, but there was a faint strain to it. Elara rolled her eyes and splashed water at him. ‘Are we just going to completely gloss over that, by the way?’

‘Over what?’ Elara quipped back. ‘The fact that I’m wet and naked or what happened at the solstice?’

He dragged his gaze down, and although she knew he couldn’t see anything below the water in the dim light, she crossed her arms and legs anyway, feeling far too exposed.

‘I meant what happened at the solstice,’ he said, coming closer. ‘But now that you mention it, I’m far more occupied with what’s beneath the water.’

‘Pig.’ She splashed him again, and he laughed. She held on to it, wondering how long it would be before he stopped laughing at her jokes. ‘What do we need to speak about? I’ve already told you how I feel. We should never have gotten tangled up in this. It’s already painful enough. It will only get worse.’

Her mind flicked to the words she had overheard the king saying, and they boiled through her veins. She swam further away from him even as the words twisted in her stomach. She bit her lip to stop herself from caving, from wanting to kiss him again.

‘So you’re saying,’ he said, standing tall again in the water, ‘that this is over?’

She nodded tightly. ‘We need to stop. I was wrong to ignore the prophecy, to think we could be anything more than friends.’

‘I’ve been looking for you all day,’ he said, his voice low. ‘You’ve been avoiding me. Is that what a friend does?’

‘I’ve been training so I’m as prepared as possible for when Ariete arrives.’

He moved closer towards her, and she saw his eyes flash as she made out his face more clearly in the gloom. ‘Don’t lie to me, Elara,’ he bit out. ‘And more importantly, stop lying to yourself.’

Indignation rose in her. ‘I’m not,’ she hissed. ‘We agreed to be allies. The last few weeks were a mistake—just us getting carried away from being around each other all the time.’ Coward, coward, coward , the voice in her head screamed.

Enzo let out a cold laugh, shaking his head. He turned, making his way back to the waterfall. Then he halted, swearing under his breath as she held hers, sadness rearing its slow head at seeing him leave. He spun, droplets of water flying through the air.

‘It was more than that ,’ he snarled. ‘And I know you felt it too.’

He waded back to her, standing centimetres from her, the water swirling around him, making him look like the ocean Star Scorpius himself as anger sparked in his eyes.

‘Have the last few months meant nothing to you?’ His chest was heaving, fury lacing every word. ‘I stayed with you every night. I showed you my art. I gave you my crown. Doesn’t that tell you everything? Gods, Elara.’ He shook his head, looking up to the heavens. He tilted his head down. ‘Do you really not feel it?’ His breath was a warm caress on her lips.

‘What?’ she whispered.

His voice was guttural, almost broken as he replied: ‘This endless need. ’

And with a moan, his mouth was on hers.

It was nothing like their other kisses. This was Enzo in his full glory. His tongue forced her mouth open, and she yielded to him, sighing as his hands wrapped in her wet, silky hair. Every part of her body was on fire, and she gripped the back of his neck as he kissed her with a force that sent lightning shocks through her. He yanked her head back roughly, and she gasped as he trailed kisses up to her ear, his hand claiming her throat.

‘Enzo,’ she moaned, her chest pressed to his, both wet and slick.

‘Yes, princess,’ he breathed, licking his way up the column of her neck. ‘Say my name. It’s yours.’

She could feel him below the water, hard against her navel, and it took every ounce of strength in her not to wrap her legs around him.

His mouth flew off her as his chest heaved. His hands were still in her hair as he breathed on her neck.

‘Tell me now,’ he murmured. ‘I dare you. Tell me now that you just want to be friends. Allies. Tell me that this is nothing.’

She panted against him, wanting the feel of his tongue on her again.

‘Just. Friends,’ she breathed. He pushed her back down on the bench submerged in water and sank down, leaning over her.

‘Lie to me again,’ he purred as his hand trailed up her thigh in the warm water, sending a shiver through her. He sucked on her lower lip, and she moaned again as his thumb started tracing circles on her soft inner flesh, closer and closer to where she now throbbed with an ache that had never left her.

‘I hate you,’ she strangled out.

He bit her earlobe gently, then pulled back, watching her writhe in the water. Then, his eyes dark with lust, he bent over her, his hand desperately close to where she needed it to be. His breath was warm as he licked the hollow of her throat and whispered—

‘ We’re not friends .’

At that, his thumb stroked over her sex, and she threw her head back, shuddering. The circles became more and more concentrated as he embraced her, his thumb still working. He blew out a breath, his jaw clenching.

She devoured him with her mouth, wanting every part of him within her, forgetting all the pressure, the rules, the impending doom. She moaned louder as Enzo worked a finger inside of her, fire rippling through her. She began to circle her hips against him, and he cursed under his breath as he lifted her, her legs wrapping around his waist as he pressured the soft spot inside her that longed for release with languid strokes. She tried to reach for him under the water, but he grabbed her hand.

‘Not tonight,’ he said roughly. ‘I want to watch as you come for me.’

She looked at him. His words brought her so close to climax, she thought she would scream over the water. Sensing her arousal, he pushed a second finger into her. She bit into his shoulder to stop herself from crying out, and that only made him groan in approval. He pressed harder and deeper as his thumb stroked her sensitive bud. She felt the build like a tidal wave roaring and cresting. It rose within her, too fast to take hold of. Pleading, she continued to grind against his fingers, his strong arms holding her.

‘Enzo,’ she moaned, frantic.

‘Lie to me now,’ he hissed. ‘Tell me as you ride my fingers that we’re just friends. Tell me as I feel you that you feel nothing.’ There was rage in his voice, desperation.

Elara slowed, her heart hammering as pleasure invaded her. She was so close.

‘You want me to let you finish, hm?’ he breathed, biting her neck.

‘Yes,’ she pleaded, seconds away.

His fingers stilled, and she reeled back, her high ripped from her.

‘What are you—?’

‘Then admit it, just to me,’ he breathed, his other hand grasping her jaw as he shared her exhale as though it was his life force. Her breaths came unevenly as his hand began to work slowly, the pressure building again.

‘I’m a liar,’ she sighed.

‘I know you are,’ he murmured back. ‘Now come for me, Elara.’

It was the final straw. The wave crashed, and she shattered around him, clenching as he continued to work his fingers. Her climax ebbed and flowed, gold glittering around her until she finally fell back to reality. She gripped his shoulders, her chest against his as she breathed heavily. He slowly eased his fingers out of her and sat her back down, kissing her brow.

‘I’ve wanted to make you come since the moment you ignored me at our first meal,’ he said, staring at her intently. His eyes were every bit that of the Lion from the stories, terrifying and magnetic. As though realizing it himself, his face softened, his eyes growing lighter. The last shivers of bliss seeped out of her, the daze clearing enough for her to collect her thoughts—truths that she had wanted to speak aloud since she’d turned him away at her door.

‘Enzo…’ She looked to the ceiling. ‘What I feel for you…I’ve never felt for anyone before. But we both know the prophecy. You know what’s happening to my kingdom. I can’t fall into this with you. The only ending I see is one filled with pain for us.’

He pressed his lips together, resigned. ‘If that’s truly what you want.’

‘It’s not what I want. But it’s what we both need.’ Elara tried to steel her will.

Enzo was quiet for a long time. ‘Fine,’ he finally sighed. ‘Let’s get you to bed. You need to rest for what’s to come.’ He turned, his back rippling as he called over his shoulder, ‘I have a feeling you’ll sleep better now.’

They walked in silence, Elara so lost in her thoughts, she could barely string a sentence together. When they arrived before her door, Enzo leaned against the wall as he looked at her.

‘Elara, tomorrow the god of war will come. We will fight together. Just as we’ve trained. And I just…I want you to remember that you’re a fucking dragun. That you will beat Ariete, even without my help. I know it.’

Elara felt her heart beginning to crack.

‘Anyway, that’s…that’s all I wanted to say,’ Enzo sighed. ‘Until tomorrow.’

‘Until tomorrow,’ Elara whispered, watching him walk away.

And it was as she saw him turn the corner and vanish from her sight that fear began to engulf her. A terror that perhaps, despite her conviction, she might die tomorrow, with so much in her heart left unsaid.

It was that thought, and Enzo’s last words, that forced Elara to slip out of her room and out of the palace gates, to the only person she thought might have the answers she sought.