Chapter 26 #2
I’m trembling now, my muscles contracting against the weight of our combined powers. With each breath, I’m fascinated by the way they meld together, creating something infinite.
“You were reckless,” I say, arching an eyebrow at him.
“And you love it,” he says.
I laugh, shaking my head.
“Now,” he says, planting a kiss beneath my jaw. “I’m going to keep testing you.”
“How?”
He slowly walks behind me, his fingers on the zipper at the nape of my neck. He drags it down, bending to graze his lips over my bare skin. He works his way back up to the shell of my ear. “How long do you think you can control this much power while I fuck you?”
A bolt of heat sears straight down my middle, turning me liquid.
“Axl,” I gasp as he pulls the rest of my suit down, urging me to step out of it.
I do.
Goddess damn me, I do.
He’s out of his just as quickly, and I can’t help but eye him. He looks like the god he is down here, the ocean whirling behind him, bronze skin taut over eons of muscle.
“Focus,” he demands, a low growl to his tone as he spins me around so my back is against his chest. He presses his cheek to mine, bending to run his hands over me.
A warm shiver skates down the center of me. I can feel every hard inch of him pressed against every soft part of me. Our bodies are slick from the ocean, and I tremble from his touch.
One hand palms my breast, which is heavy and aching. The other glides down my stomach, then between my thighs. He slides his fingers through my heat, all the while holding me so damn tight.
“Axl.” I shiver at the dominant, claiming touch. I lean my head back against his chest enough to look up at him, reaching up to grip his neck from behind.
His eyes are liquid fire as they lock with mine, owning me with every confident graze of his fingers through my slick flesh. Droplets of icy water splash down on my oversensitive skin. I glance up at the whirling ocean around us, seeing it shift slightly.
“Hold it,” Axl demands, the authoritative tone of his voice sending a bolt of pure pleasure down our bond.
I tighten my focus around his power, feeling the constant motion of the vast ocean all around us.
Axl pumps his fingers inside me, causing lightning to crackle through my veins.
I draw in a shaky breath as he claims my mouth, making my heart flip in my chest. I can feel him hard behind me, and I instinctively rock back against his length, shifting so he slides between my thighs, right where his hand is.
“Fuck,” he growls against my mouth. More droplets of water break through, crashing against us as I lose another fraction of my control. “Hold it,” he demands again. “I’m nowhere near done with you.”
I shiver at those words. At the promise in them. At the game we’re playing. High stakes is right. If I can’t keep this water at bay, can’t keep my air power filling this bubble we’re in, we will easily drown.
The danger only plucks every pleasure string in my body, my mind whirling with adrenaline and a power rush I worry will sweep me away if I allow it. If I give in. Because it would be so damn easy to do so. To let his power consume me, have its way with me.
Our bond tightens, a long string of heat pulling straight down the center of it and into Axl . . .
“Axl!” I gasp as he takes control of some of his power, the cool splash of water swirling around my swollen clit as he continues to pump his fingers in and out of me. “Yes,” I cry as the motion stretches me tight, snapping as he takes my mouth in a scorching kiss that has me seeing stars.
I clench around his fingers, my orgasm tearing through me in a sharp burst of pleasure that has a rain of ocean trickling against our skin. I catch the slip in power, yanking it back to me as fast as possible, solidifying the sphere around us.
“So fucking strong,” Axl groans as he draws his fingers from me, immediately rewarding me with his cock. “You were made for this,” he says again, accentuating each word with a long, slow thrust that has me dancing on the edge in seconds.
I grip him harder, pushing back against him with every thrust he makes, the two of us falling into this incredible rhythm that I never want to end.
His hands roam everywhere, this position giving him full access to any part of me he wants. He grazes and teases me as he pumps inside me, turning me into a panting mess as I flit between pure ecstasy and terror of losing my hold on the power I wield.
He’s testing every limit I have, and somehow, I’m passing with flying colors.
The notion grips my heart. He sees me. And here, with him, I’m safe, regardless of the precarious situation we’re in. Each of my mates makes me feel seen in different ways, and I honestly have no idea how I got so lucky.
“Axl.” I keen his name, pleasure buzzing along my veins. I flutter around his cock, and he pumps into me harder, faster. “Yes,” I gasp as he unleashes himself on me.
Sparks erupt as I fly over the edge once more, this orgasm more powerful than the last. The explosion makes my hold on the power slip, a wave of ocean crashing against us as Axl spills himself inside me.
I grab his power again, quicker and easier than before. It yields to me, sated and satisfied as I draw that air bubble around us tighter, giving us just enough space to breathe as the ocean churns a few inches from us.
Axl holds me, kissing the back of my neck as we catch our breaths. “That was close. Lucky we didn’t die.”
I burst into laughter, shaking my head. “Stubborn ass.” I turn in his arms to look up at him. “Trust me?”
He dips down, leaning his forehead against mine. “With all that I am.”
I smile, shifting against him to grab our abandoned suits. We hurry, and with considerable effort, we get back into them. Facing him, I wrap my arms around him and meet his gaze. “Then hold your breath.”
He makes a show of taking a huge breath, and I mimic him, my heart hiccupping slightly as I shift the powers, letting the ocean crash all around us before I propel us higher and higher.
It’s effortless, easy in a way it never has been. I don’t question it. Not as we clear the surface. Not as we make the swim back to shore. And certainly not as we walk hand and hand back to his villa, the bond between us glowing bright and feeling damn near unbreakable.
Ash hisses a greeting at Axl, one that he returns with dramatic flair.
It’s hilarious to watch the giant ocean god of a man argue with a cat, but I’m glad Ash hasn’t run off.
Pretty sure the creature is using me for safe sleeping spots and good food, but I can’t really blame him.
I just wish my ridiculous fantasy of him being my good luck charm and somehow drawing my sister out of hiding would’ve worked by now.
After a quick bath, Axl fixes a simple dinner of baked fish, roasted root vegetables, and rice, insisting I eat two helpings to restore my energy levels.
It’s not a hard sell, especially when he’s a fantastic cook that rivals the royal chefs in the palace.
Between bites, I study my sister’s art journal, going over the pictures for the hundredth time since I found it.
All the paintings are familiar. I love them, of course, but there is nothing new.
No hint of where I might find her. I shut it, finishing my food as Axl pores through some Sapphire Cove requests his chancellor dropped off this morning.
After our stomachs settle, we take a quick bath before we crash into bed.
“Love you.” Axl nuzzles my neck as he draws me against his chest, sleep coating his voice.
“Love you,” I whisper, the sounds of his deep breathing a soothing lull beneath my cheek as I rest against his chest. I can’t help but wonder if Axl is onto something.
He’s not wrong about Kal and Pierce holding my hand through the training process, never pushing me.
But not Axl. He’ll always be the one to push me when I need it.
And Jax . . .
I’ll go to my lesson with him in a couple of days. Anticipation curls through me at the thought of how his teaching approach will be. Because my Nightmare likes to play with all sorts of toys.
Much like Axl, he’ll never be the soft landing that Kal and Pierce are. And that’s one of the reasons why I love them so damn much. Either way, I’ll need my rest if I’m to survive it, so I do my best to sleep, dreaming of ocean depths and water gods.