Episode 37
Beneath a Waterfall
Rominy takes in the lush scenery around them. They’re not on the water anymore. Palm trees nearby dance in the light breeze over a white, sandy beach.
Their sailboat seems to have run aground on some sort of tropical island.
“Elowyn?” He scrambles to his knees, searching for her nearby. She lies on her back with her eyes closed, her silver hair splayed in a halo beneath her head.
She’s stunning there in her silky white gown. He doesn’t even try to look away.
She’s his wife. And she’s gorgeous.
“Hmm?” she murmurs, her arms reaching above her head as she arches her back in a stretch before opening her eyes. When she sees him, she smiles, and his heart thuds.
Every morning. He wants to wake up beside her every morning.
And every night in the heartlanding.
“Where are we?” Her eyes widen as she takes in the palm trees and the island beneath their little boat.
“I think we’ve run aground.”
She sits up and looks around. “How intriguing.”
“I assume you want to explore?”
“Don’t you?” She’s already moving to the edge of the deck, her legs hanging off the side, and he hurries to hop to the sand first.
He’s helping her down. That’s all.
Reaching toward her, he finds her gray eyes. “May I?”
When she nods, he wraps his hands around her waist and gently lowers her to the sand.
Let go. He should let go now.
He doesn’t want to let go. He never wants to let go.
“Rominy.” She looks up at him, a breathless note in her voice.
What was he planning to do? Stand here holding her forever?
He drops his hands and steps away, clearing his throat. “So, we have our own island now.”
“It seems so. Come on.” She takes off running through the sand, glancing over her shoulder at him, and his stomach flips.
“Elowyn!” He hurries to follow her, but she’s fast.
Of course she is. She’s an elf.
“Slow down!” he laughs. “I can’t keep up!”
She stops running and turns around, and he almost crashes into her. On reflex, he grabs her around the waist to keep them both from toppling into the sand.
“I said slow down, not stop.” Without thinking, he pokes her ribs, and she squirms away.
“Rominy!”
Is she ticklish?
Before he can ponder that thought, she points to a stream flowing from the center of the island toward the sea. “Do you think there’s a waterfall?”
Then she takes off again, this time following the stream into the heart of the island, where overgrown vegetation forms a backdrop for their adventure.
She’s light on her feet, practically floating through the brush, while Rominy carefully picks over each step. His foot finds a twig, and he winces. Perhaps he should walk in the water. The smooth river rock on the sandy creek bed looks a lot more inviting than the bramble he’s traipsing over now.
They should have put on shoes. Or he should have. She seems to be managing fine in her bare feet.
He dips his toes into the gurgling water, expecting it to be cold, but it’s not. It’s warm, like the air around them, and his feet thank him for the relief from the jungle floor.
He moves slowly as the soft current tugs against him, but it’s faster than he was managing before.
He looks up to search for Elowyn, and a glimpse of white disappears into the brush ahead.
Then she gasps.
“Elowyn?” He quickens his pace, pushing against the water, but she doesn’t respond. “Elowyn!”
She’d better not have met another dragon.
When he breaks through the treeline into a small clearing, he stops short. She stands beside him, her lips parted and her eyes wide as she takes in the scene before them.
At least she’s not hurt or in danger.
And it is beautiful here.
“Rominy, a waterfall,” she breathes, and he nods.
Indeed, water gushes over a stone embankment fifteen feet above them, filling a pool big enough to swim in.
She looks longingly at the water, and he steps closer to her.
“Do you want to go for a swim?” Not that he needs to ask. He can read it in her eyes.
Perhaps they should have donned more water-friendly clothing before following a creek upstream.
“I long to swim beneath a waterfall,” she whispers.
“Then we have to do it.”
“But we’re not dressed right.”
He shrugs, though his heart speeds up at the thought of the way her gown clung to her last time they visited the heartlanding.
“I suppose...” She bites her lip as she continues studying the inviting pool.
“Yes?”
“Would you mind if I swam in my underlayer, whatever it’s called?”
Would he...mind?
His heart beats rapidly as thoughts fly through his head.
They’re married. She’s his wife. This is fine. It’s all fine. It’s totally normal, in fact.
Stars above.
“Whatever you’re comfortable with.” His voice comes out hoarse, and he clears his throat.
She sucks in her cheeks as she turns to look at him. “Rominy, your heart—”
“Is galloping away without me. I am very much aware.”
She laughs at his words, and he chuckles himself.
“Come on,” he says. “No more overthinking this. Let’s have some fun. It will only be awkward for a few minutes.”
Probably. Hopefully.
Then, to make it easier for her, he reaches for the hem of his shirt and tugs it over his head, flinging it on a nearby bush before wading farther into the water.
The pool is deep, quickly reaching the middle of his chest, and he dives under the surface, letting the warm water envelop him.
When he comes back up, Elowyn has joined him, and he does his best to keep his eyes on her face rather than on what she’s wearing—or not wearing—in the water below.
“It’s so warm,” she says as the water laps around her shoulders.
“Come on.” He gestures toward the water pouring over the rock wall, and she follows as he wades toward it. Once they’re close enough to feel the mist on their faces, he turns back to her. “I’m not sure it’s safe to get closer.”
“Rominy. I’m a water wielder, remember?”
“Right.” He glances back at the waterfall. It’s not too powerful. And what’s the worst that could happen? They drown and wake up back on their train in the real world?
“Come with me?” She holds out her hands, and his pulse pounds in his ears to match the thundering water before them.
Breathing deeply to still his racing heart, he offers his hands in return, and she laces her fingers with his. Without looking away, she leads him toward the falling water.
As they approach, the waterfall splits into two streams around them.
He flinches, but she smiles reassuringly, and he follows her into a circle of falling water that closes behind them, surrounding them completely.
Remarkable. He looks around in awe before finding her face again. “I assume you’re doing this?”
She nods, the most brilliant smile imaginable lighting up her face, and something tightens deep within him.
It’s just him and her within this private waterfall. Here, in this moment, nothing exists but them.
“Elowyn,” he whispers.
Water droplets glisten on her silky skin, running in tiny trails over her cheeks and dripping from her nose onto her rosy lips.
Tentatively, he brushes her damp hair behind her perfectly pointed ear, and she gasps.
What did he do?
He jerks his hand away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Touch my ear?” she nearly whimpers.
Is she finishing his sentence...or making a request?
Are elf ears sensitive?
He gulps at the thought. How little he knows about this elf of his.
“Did you...like that?” Heat fills him at the intimacy of those words on his tongue.
Her own breath comes more rapidly than usual, and she barely nods. Her eyes shine like silver pools of vulnerability and...is that longing?
Did he really draw out that reaction from her...just by touching her ear?
Stars above. He can barely breathe himself.
“Shall I...do it again?” he whispers.
Once more, she nods, and he lifts his hand to the upper edge of her ear, gently sliding his thumb toward the tip where it ends in a point. Such a foreign thing, and yet it feels like an ear.
Just an unusually shaped one.
And her eyes slip shut as she whimpers at his touch.
Should he keep going?
When she leans into his hand, he barely represses a grin.
That seems to be a yes.
He traces his finger over the pointed tip, down along the back of her ear, and she rests her other cheek against his bare shoulder.
The water continues streaming around them, which is impressive since she’s clearly distracted. But her magic never wavers.
He caresses her ear again, and when she sags against him, he wraps his arm around her waist so she doesn’t fall.
Still, her magic holds.
It seems unwise to test it, though.
Instead, he slips his other arm around her, encircling her in his embrace. Then, before he loses his nerve, he presses his lips to the tip of her ear.
And the water collapses around them.