19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Eldrake
It hit me in the chest like a blade when I saw her slipping beneath the surface—bare, confident, fucking radiant. Steam coiled around her like a shroud, and she didn’t flinch. Didn’t hide.
She let me watch. And Gods help me, I did.
I stood at the edge of the pool longer than I should’ve, pretending I wasn’t staring. Pretending I wasn’t burning.
Her back was to me, but I could see the slope of her waist, the line of her spine, the way her hips moved through the water as she sank lower, arms resting on the lip of the stone like she owned it.
Like she owned me .
My clothes felt like they were choking me. I stripped silently, jaw tight, folding each piece with military precision. Like order could save me.
It wouldn’t.
I stepped into the water. Heat licked up my legs, then higher. Too hot. Not hot enough. She turned to face me. Gods.
Her hair clung to her shoulders, her red curls wet and wild. Her breasts rose above the surface with every breath. Her lips curved—not mocking. Inviting. And then her gaze dropped. Just for a second.
Her eyes flicked lower— there —and widened. She looked away fast, like the steam might save her, like maybe I hadn’t noticed.
I had.
My cock twitched in response, heavy and already aching, and I bit back a groan.
Her blush bloomed like wildfire across her cheeks, and I almost smiled—almost. But it wasn’t funny.
It was devastating. Because she was looking at me like I was something to want.
Something worth wanting, and I didn’t know if I could survive that.
I sat across from her. The space between us should’ve felt safe. It didn’t. The Rift inside me thrummed like a wire pulled too tight. My magic pulsed in time with hers—I could feel her. Even across the water. Even without touching.
She smiled. Slow. Dangerous. “You’re watching me.”
“You want me to,” I said, before I could stop myself.
“Would that be so bad?” Her voice was silk wrapped around something sharper. Something hungry . She drifted closer, gliding through the water like it belonged to her. Every ripple, every shift of her body—a provocation.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t.
She stopped just a few feet away. My heart pounded like I was walking into battle. Except I wanted to lose.
“You could stop me,” she said, voice low. “If I came over there.” My hands clenched against the stone.
“Don’t test me,” I said, but it came out too soft. Too close to begging. She came closer.
The distance between us was nothing now. A few breaths. A single decision. I held still. If I moved, I’d reach for her. If I spoke, I’d confess everything. She kept going. Relentless. Beautiful.
She reached out and touched my thigh under the water. Just above the knee. It was the gentlest thing in the world. Bare skin to bare skin. No pressure. No expectation. And it nearly destroyed me. My entire body went rigid. Every muscle screamed to move—toward her, into her, around her.
Then she leaned in. Her mouth brushed my ear.
“I ache for you,” she whispered. “And I know you feel it too.”
I clenched my eyes shut. Her fingers moved slightly. Higher. Not enough. Too much.
“I want you,” she breathed. “But I won’t beg.” I cracked.
Completely.
I turned my head. Our mouths brushed—barely. A tremor. A spark. My voice came out like gravel.
“Don’t.”
She froze.
“Don’t what?” she whispered.
I looked her in the eye, hand twitching toward her but not touching. Not yet.
“Don’t stop.”
One hand found the back of her neck—firm, commanding. The other slid down her bare back under the water, anchoring her as I pulled her into my lap in a single, hungry movement.
She came willingly. Eagerly. Her thighs parted, wrapped around my waist. Her arms curled around my shoulders. Her breasts pressed to my chest like they belonged there, like they were made for this contact. Her skin was hot silk, slick and electric.
I was already so far gone, I didn’t know how to come back. I crushed my mouth to hers, desperate, deep. She kissed me like she was starving, and Gods, I fed her everything I had.
She shifted against me, hips gliding forward in the water, bare heat pressed to hardness with nothing between us. Her moan vibrated straight down my spine.
My hand slid lower, dragging across the curve of her ass, anchoring her tighter to me. Her nails bit into my shoulders. I hissed. She bit my bottom lip. I growled.
I broke the kiss only to trail my mouth down her neck, tasting salt and steam and skin. Her head tilted back, lips parted, eyes half-lidded and dazed.
“Drake,” she breathed, the sound like prayer.
I pushed her back against the stone, my hands braced beside her shoulders, our bodies locked beneath the water. Her legs stayed around me, tightening. She rolled her hips with slow, devastating purpose.
I was shaking.
Literally shaking.
She kissed me again—slower this time, deeper, tongue flicking just enough to make my vision blur. I slid one hand up between her breasts, to the column of her throat, fingers spread against her pulse. She was racing . Her magic buzzed beneath her skin, tangling with mine.
Then I felt it. Snap.
Like a thread had been tugged taut between us—subtle, then seismic. A shift in the room. In the Rift.
Ours.
That was the only word I could find. Ours.
My breath hitched. My body froze . Eva stilled, sensing it too. Her eyes opened. Searching.
“What is it?” she asked, voice soft, still dazed. I didn’t answer. I looked at her—bare, flushed, water dripping down her collarbone—and I knew if I kept going, if I sank into her now, it would be forever.
Not just pleasure. Not just release.
Bond.
Claim.
Fate.
And Gods help me, I wanted it. I wanted it so bad I ached. But— “I can’t,” I said, voice hoarse.
Eva blinked. “What?”
I pulled back slightly, hands still on her hips. Not letting go. Just holding her like she might vanish.
“Not like this,” I said. “Not… not just because we’re alone. Or because we can. I want to take you to dinner, Eva. I want to make you laugh. I want to walk into this with you on purpose.”
She stared at me, breathless. Her lips were kiss-swollen. Her thighs were still around my waist.
“I want to fuck you,” I said, low and raw. “ Gods, I do. But not before you know this means everything to me.”
Silence.
Then, a shaky breath escaped her lips.
“I was afraid you were going to say you didn’t want me,” she whispered.
I rested my forehead against hers.
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”
Her hands curled tighter into my shoulders.
“But I want all of you,” I said. “Not just your body. Not just tonight.”
Her thick lashes fluttered. She nodded. I kissed her again—soft this time. Just once. Just enough to promise later . Then I lifted her from my lap, hands steady, heart absolutely fucking shattered with restraint, and set her gently back on her side of the pool.
We stayed there, naked, panting, aching.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I stormed down the corridor outside the bathhouse, jaw locked, breath ragged, hands twitching like they were searching for her in the air.
Which—they were. Gods help me.
I still felt her.
Not just remembered— felt. Like her touch had seeped beneath my skin and rewired everything. My chest burned. My limbs trembled. My magic was humming beneath the surface like a live wire.
No— not humming. Pulling.
My body wanted to turn around. Wanted to go back. Not for another kiss. Not for another moan.
For her.
This isn’t normal. This isn’t ? —
I veered into a dark corridor and slammed my back against the stone, fists clenched at my sides. The wall didn’t ground me. Nothing did.
That wasn’t just desire in that water.
It snapped.
Something snapped.
My magic had surged the moment she came apart in my arms—when her body arched, when her breath hitched in my ear. It wasn’t just the way she held me. It was the way the world had gone quiet. Like the Rift stopped to watch.
No. No, it couldn’t be.
Bonds like that—Riftbonds—they were myths. Ancient. Dangerous. Gone. They didn’t happen anymore.
I dug my nails into my palm, breathing hard. It wasn’t a bond. I’m just obsessed. That’s all this is. Just lust. Just ? —
But my magic had recognized her. The first time I even saw her, I felt it. Reached for her like it already knew her name. And her magic had answered.
Gods.
I wanted to fuck her.
I wanted to worship her.
I wanted to lose myself in her so completely there wouldn’t be a me left to mourn. And the worst part? I didn’t know if I even cared anymore. I bit down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. Still not enough.
She’d smiled at me like I was hers. Touched me like she knew I wouldn’t stop her. Kissed me like she belonged to me. And maybe—just maybe—she did.
No.
I couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t want like that. That kind of bond consumes. It ruins. It kills. And I’d already killed enough for one lifetime.
I pressed my palm flat to the wall, trying to hold onto something. Anything. But all I could feel was her. Her voice in my ear. Her thighs around my hips. The sweet, fucking madness of her.
‘I want to date you first.’
What kind of lunatic says that while fighting off a full-blown magical hard-on and breaking reality with a kiss?
I was going to burn for this. And not just from want. From the truth . This wasn’t going away.
I tried the battlefield trick—imagining carnage. Vyrmin corpses. Torn flesh. Stinking hot guts.
Nothing.
I clenched my jaw harder and conjured Fen’s voice:
“Well, well. Commander ‘Control’ just left the bathhouse looking like he got edged by destiny.”
That did it. Barely.
I forced my pulse to slow, willed my cock to fucking behave , and straightened.
No more improvising. I needed a plan. Something structured. Controlled.
Take her to dinner. Woo her like a rational adult. Then maybe ruin her in a bed with a door and at least one candle lit.