Chapter Thirty-One #2
Walking to the water’s edge, Aoife knew she needed to walk away.
She needed to listen to the voices outside herself.
They were the ones who saw her clearly. They were the ones who weren’t bogged down by emotion.
They were the ones who were right. She needed to end this relationship before it went any further.
Aoife felt as if her lungs were filling with water at the thought of leaving Shadach.
She pressed a hand to her chest, willing herself to breathe.
Then, a thought came to her. One that turned the water in her lungs to air.
She couldn’t leave Shadach yet. She was the only one that could support his claim to the throne. They’d been through so much together, she couldn’t simply abandon him. But after they had won, after the dust had settled, after Shadach was on the throne …
Aoife slipped off her dusty boots and dipped her toes into the hot water.
Its soothing touch ran through her, begging her to jump in and let its healing waters cleanse her of the dust and dirt of the past days, weeks, months.
She didn’t want to think about after. She still had a little time.
She still had a few more precious moments with him before it all went bad.
It was hard to believe how much had happened since she’d walked through the Gates.
Did Eimear miss her? Was her family looking for her?
Strange that with everything going on, she’d barely thought about home at all.
Everything had been about here. About him.
Aoife grabbed Shadach and kissed him. Passionate.
Desperate. Of course, she would have to leave.
Of course, she would have to make the rational choice and let him go if she was not to let her life go to ruin.
But she didn’t have to let go of him just yet.
Shadach melted into Aoife’s kiss, grasping her waist with one hand, the other hand on her cheek.
“The water sure looks warm.” Aoife stepped back, slipping off her plain, faded blue dress, the cool night air tantalising her skin.
The sensation of Shadach’s eyes feasting on her naked form thrilled her as her lips still tingled from that kiss.
Oh, how she wanted to kiss him again. But this was the wrong place for it.
The water was too inviting.
Stepping slowly backwards, Aoife set one foot into the water.
The heat mixed with the cool air was bliss unto itself.
Aoife raked Shadach’s muscled form with her eyes and her pussy clenched.
So did her heart. It wasn’t just the strength of his body, as incredible as it was, that undid her.
It was the strength of his character. Of his resolve.
Of his devotion. She wanted this. She wanted him.
And her heart screamed that this was right, that he was what she needed both now and forever.
Her heart didn’t know what was best.
Aoife sank deeper into the water as Shadach started to look uncomfortable in his trousers, his eyes feasting on her body. Aoife had never been skinny dipping before and, at the moment, she couldn’t think why not. The feeling was incredible.
Shadach went to the water’s edge, stripping off his clothes one by one. First his shirt, revealing his hard abs and sculpted arms. He put Michelangelo’s David to shame. Then, his boots and socks. And finally, his trousers, revealing a hard, long cock.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.” He stepped into the water.
“You’re the one who wanted to get some air.”
“This is more than getting some air.”
The crimson fireflies in the water swam around her, around him, lighting up the night. Aoife probably should have made sure they weren’t poisonous. Too late now.
“It’s not too much more,” she said.
“The noise could alert someone.” The water came up to his waist.
“You said there was no one for miles.”
“What if I was wrong?”
“Then the waterfall will hide the noise.”
He came to her and stood before her, a sliver of space between them. The tips of Aoife’s hair floated atop the water, the fireflies watching, waiting to see what they would do next.
“I’m out of excuses,” he said.
“Good.”
Aoife floated in the steamy water as Shadach pulled her to him, wrapping her legs around his waist. His cock brushed past her opening and the thrill of what was to come swept through her, making her steamy inside and out.
The cold night air caressed her skin as Shadach’s tongue caressed the inside of her mouth.
She drank him in, memorising the taste of him, the feel of him.
Knowing she would have to let him go. Soon. Not yet.
The sound of the waterfall lulled Aoife into the moment as Shadach’s body against hers set her pulse alight.
She reached up and pressed her lips to his.
There was a familiarity, an easiness to his kiss.
After kissing him a thousand times, there ought to have been.
But unlike so many other things that a woman could get used to, could get bored of, Shadach’s kiss was rejuvenating.
Life-affirming. As if every kiss was at once wonderfully familiar and wholly new.
She kissed him again. Again. Again. Each kiss making her body softer, more pliable, until she was clay in his hands.
Shadach caressed the small of her back, and Aoife’s sex turned hot, eager, her body melting and tensing as she undulated against him to the rhythm of the ebbing water.
Her hands grasped at his wet, naked body, all hardness and masculine strength.
He traced the line of her spine and Aoife arched her back, her gaze lifting to the red stars as crimson fireflies swam around them.
Aoife felt Shadach hardening beneath her, begging to enter her.
The warm water swirled around her, her breasts growing hard and heavy, her clit swelling.
She needed him. She needed his touch, his love, his everything more than she’d ever needed another person.
Inhaling the luscious steam, she let her head fall back as he hungrily kissed her chin, her face, her neck. She felt alive. Precious.
Preciously alive.
Shadach moved Aoife backwards, her legs still firmly around him, the heat and swirl of the water teasing her nipples.
Every part of her ached for him and Aoife tightened her legs, grinding against his pelvis to satisfy her need.
As the friction between their bodies met the heat of the water, Aoife thought she must have been in a fever dream.
Only in dreams was something she wanted this badly the right choice.
Aoife reached for him beneath the water, his thick hardness pulsing in her hand, his body bending to her will. As if she were the goddess and he the lowly human when, clearly, he was the god. Still. She loved the way he loved her caresses, the way she could drive him wild with her hands. Her mouth.
Emboldened by his throaty moans, Aoife took a full breath before descending down, down, down into the swarm of fireflies below. The world of water was awash in a pale red, the plants and rocks on the bottom shimmering crimson.
It wasn’t rocks and plants Aoife had come for.
Taking Shadach in hand, she took him in her mouth as deep as she could manage.
She could not hear his moan as she licked and sucked, but she could feel him jerk and tense until he finally reached into the water and grabbed her hair.
When her air depleted, Aoife pushed to the surface and then delved back down.
At least, she tried. Shadach had other plans.
Pulling her back to the surface, Shadach wrapped her legs around him, kissing her with incessant hunger.
Aoife gasped when trails of water rushed down her hair, the water quickly turning into a trickle.
Warm stones pressed against her back, massaging her.
They were beneath the waterfall, her back against the stone wall, the water crashing down Shadach’s back and into the pool behind him.
Water spritzed his face, peppering his long eyelashes.
They looked like dew drops. She felt him move his hand down her slick body and to her pussy, pressing a finger to her.
Her breath caught. Aoife looked into his eyes, seeing darkness and light, lust and love.
His cock pushed at her opening and she moaned.
That look in his eyes. The feel of him against her.
It was too much and yet she wanted more.
She squirmed beneath the pressure, needing to feel him inside her.
Needing him in every way a woman could need a man.
As he entered her, she pressed her body tight against him, fingers digging into his back, the waterfall dancing over her hands.
Her pussy stretched to accommodate him, taking him deep. Even the waterfall couldn’t drown out her gasps. Passion red danced in her vision and Aoife didn’t know if it was the fireflies, the water, or all in her head. Either way, the world sparkled.
Shadach breathed heavy against her neck, whispering into her ear, “I want to worship with you forever.”
Sadness clawed at Aoife’s throat, making it impossible for her to speak.
But then he pulled out of her and pressed in again, deeply, his passion drawing her voice out of her.
Squirming, she reached for his hand, guiding it to her clit that was so sore, so in need of his perfect touch she thought she might cry.
But her desperation wasn’t warranted. He knew what she needed, perhaps better than she.
He touched her and her body spasmed in relief.
He circled her clit, sending her pleasure centres into a tail spin.
Shadach moved in and out of her, Aoife’s body rocking up and down, the hot stones massaging her back. The stones kneaded out the worry and the fear until there was only him and only her. Together. Making love in the Kingdom of Shadows in glowing red water.
Shadach took her mouth with his, moving his hand to her breast. She groaned at the sensation, but her clit was growing heavy, greedy without him there. Aoife tried to reach her clit by rubbing against the base of his cock. It wasn’t quite working.
A thin smile crossed Shadach’s lips. “Need something?” he said.
“You,” she breathed. “Every part of you on every part of me.”
She squirmed again and his hand left her breast, but she hated that, too.
She didn’t want any part of her to be without him.
His hand went to her clit and she was appeased.
Almost. Then, he kissed his way down her neck, bending down to her breast and taking it in his mouth.
A guttural moan shook her body. His cock in her pussy, his hand on her clit, his mouth on her breast.
It felt godly.
When Shadach’s own desire became too much he grabbed the wall behind her for support and went deep inside her, his breath catching.
She loved that sound. As if nothing had ever felt as good as her.
He looked her in the eye, the need and lust so mesmerising that Aoife could not look away.
She stared into those exquisite eyes, those eyes that were seeing nothing and no one but her as her body tensed, as he filled her completely, as the orgasm rocked her body so hard she wondered if she was breathing.
But she was. Their desperate gasps for air were muted by the sound of the water as the crimson fireflies swam back towards them.
Aoife laughed without breath. How nice of the fireflies to have given them space.
As they came down from their orgasm highs, the water became unbearably hot and Shadach carried her out of the water.
Liquid dripped down her body. The night air was cool, but his body was still warm.
He carefully set her on her feet, and Aoife and Shadach seemed to realise at once there were no towels, and they really should have thought about this.
Instead, Aoife gave him a sheepish grin and he laughed.
“Wet clothes aren’t so bad,” he said.
As they laughed, bodies and clothes sopping wet, Aoife promised to hold onto this moment and never forget it. She would remember the beauty, the love, the perfection.
Even as she kissed it goodbye.