Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ARKEN
Ishot daggers at the back of Kieran’s head as he led me deeper into the crystal-laced caverns.
“I can feel you glaring at me, you know,” he teased.
“Is that another Shadow arcana thing?” I huffed, though my irritation with his self-restraint was quickly fading. I could hear the rush of falling water in the distance, and I was practically dancing on my toes with excitement.
I’d never seen a waterfall before. There weren’t any in the Brindlewoods, we didn’t have the geography for it, though I’d seen etchings and depictions of the massive, streaming wonders that graced the mountains of Vindyrst in books and paintings.
“More like a spymaster thing,” Kieran said, smirking over his shoulder.
He paused, allowing me to catch up and take his hand once more as we continued onward. Within another five minutes or so of winding paths and casual conversation, I tasted mist in the air as the waterfall Kieran had promised me finally came into view.
“Fates,” I exclaimed, a childish peal of bewildered laughter escaping my mouth before I could contain it.
A curtain of silver cascaded from the thin but wide opening in the ceiling of the cavern, which allowed sunlight to stream through the roaring flow as water tumbled like diamonds, like pure aether slipping from the skies.
I took several steps closer, entranced by the violent majesty of it all, the way inertia kept the frothing flow heavy, but not unbroken.
Streaks of water were parted by outcroppings of jagged rock and stone, revealing shadows behind the curtain, but the power of the aether stored within them was palpable—wild and untamed.
The scent of damp earth and stone filled my senses as I watched that aether-laced veil crash into the pool below, where the water churned and bubbled beneath its relentless torrent.
I jolted when Kieran walked up beside me, placing his hand on the small of my bare back.
In the hours we’d spent swimming and exploring, I had nearly forgotten we weren’t wearing clothes.
The warmth of his calloused hands was a welcome contrast to the air in this chamber of the cavern, which felt much cooler thanks to the shimmering swirls that misted from this secret wonder.
“C’mon,” Kieran said, tugging at my hand and jerking his head forward, and to the left. “There’s more.”
My eyes followed the motion until I could see the footpath he was nodding toward, one that appeared to cut into the stone walls just enough to lead us…behind the waterfall?
Gods, I love our adventures.
I tore my gaze away from the falls long enough to notice that even more veins of astral quartz ran through the stone here, carving out space in a way that seemed to guide us forward, humming with ancient power—latent potential stored within their crystalline memories.
And if I thought the waterfall had been stunning from the front, the view I took in once Kieran helped me climb down a few jagged, damp ledges was nothing short of breathtaking.
We had entered a realm shrouded in Shadow and mist, the darkness framing the other side of the cascading waters like some kind of magick portal. One I might step through and find myself transported to another world entirely.
“Want to summon us some Light, gorgeous?” Kieran prompted, his voice a low purr in the dark.
“Oh, right. Yes, of course.”
I swirled two of my fingers around in the air above my palm, the motion so familiar I could form it in my sleep.
Glimmering orbs of Light aether winked into existence, suspended in the air, scattered like stars across the night sky. The tiny, glowing spheres cast this smaller interior cavern with a haunting luminescence, chasing Shadows until they crept back to their corners.
As my aether illuminated the chamber, I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. While the ethereal beauty of this space certainly left my emotions heightened, I wasn’t marveling at nature in that moment, but rather…the fact that Kieran knew me well enough to bring me here.
Everything about this place spoke to my soul, stirring something equally dark and wild and powerful within me.
I had never been here before, and yet something about the atmosphere made me feel like I was coming home.
Like I had returned to some strange wellspring of ancient energy and primordial power that knew me by name.
“Thank you, Kier,” I whispered, the tip of my nose starting to tingle as phantom tears prickled behind my eyes.
“Thank you,” he said, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“For what?” I asked, attempting to be subtle as I brushed my knuckles against my lash line, praying I wouldn’t embarrass myself by crying over water, for Fates’ sake.
“For giving me an excuse to come back here,” he said simply. “It’s been a long time, and it’s so much more beautiful than my memories could recall. Inspiring, really.”
I loved that this man, ten times more dangerous and unforgiving than the violent, rushing waters beside us, could still find himself moved by the beauty of the natural world.
“I’m so glad you did,” I confessed. “This has got to be one of the most stunning sights I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Me too.”
I’d expected him to be taking in the same mystical surroundings as I had. But no…Kieran had been staring at me when he echoed that sentiment.
Abyss take me.
As Kieran reached out and drew me toward him, I found myself oddly grateful for the fact that we weren’t wearing clothes. Despite the chill, I didn’t think I could bear any form of barrier between us right now—the only warmth I required was from his skin against mine.
One of his arms looped around my waist and picked me up when our lips met, and I squeaked in surprise against his mouth as he proceeded to carry me a few strides deeper into this small stone chamber before setting me back on my feet again.
“Now then,” he murmured, flashing me a wicked little grin. “I do believe I have promises to keep.”
Oh, thank the gods.
“Yes, I believe you do,” I whispered, heat immediately pooling in my lower belly.
“Unless, of course, you still want to race me back across the lake…” he mused, the tension between us crackling through the air like an incoming aetherstorm.
Tendrils of Shadow aether began to creep up his fingers, his wrists, and halfway up his forearms, darkening his skin as if it had been dipped in ink.
My breath quickened. “Later.”
“Mmm, no,” he replied. “I don’t think so. If you can still race me later, Asher, I haven’t done my job.”
I made no attempt to hide the shiver of anticipation that jolted down my spine, and he chuckled softly beneath his breath.
Kieran cradled the back of my neck with a firm hand, using the strength of the arm wrapped around my waist to dip me down low, as if we were dancing gracefully together in some elegant ballroom.
Bending a knee, he continued to lower me down gently, tenderly, until my back met the flat stone beneath us.
In the same fluid motion, his bare body covered mine, though he kept himself propped up by his elbows.
As he gazed down at me, I could have sworn there was something more, something deeper than lust swimming through those eyes of his, all milky and crystalline.
There was something softer than desire tugging at his features, something that felt closer to devotion…
or maybe it was just a trick of the Light.
“You ready, pretty girl?” he whispered
“Always,” I breathed back.
A low noise of approval rumbled at the back of Kieran’s throat as he reached down to notch himself at my entrance. The sound deepened as he discovered the slick arousal awaiting him there, allowing him to stretch and fill me with ease in one long, torturous thrust.
Oh, sweet Hel.
Absurd as it may sound, this had been the longest length of time I’d spent without Kieran inside me in the last four days, and it was as if my body had lost all muscle memory on how to take him to the hilt, tensing and tightening, clenching around his cock.
“Shit,” Kieran swore beneath his breath. “Gods. fucking. damnit, Arken.”
The only thing I could offer in response was a mess of whimpers and mewling moans as he kept pushing in and out of me, agonizingly slow, but harder with each thrust.
“Gods, you’re so fucking tight,” he groaned.
I truly had no coherent thought, no clever quips to deliver, no words that I could form to describe how badly I’d needed to feel him fill me like this again. I let my nails do the talking, digging them hard into his hips, urging them to move faster, harder.
“Please,” I begged, not even fully aware of what I was begging for.
Him. Just him. More of him, all of him.
With such eager encouragement, Kieran’s eyes went wide and wild—immediately guiding my hands above my head and shackling them to the floor with one hand.
I moaned appreciatively as he gave up trying to be a gentleman, stopped trying to be delicate, and finally crushed his body against mine until we were chest to chest, his full weight settling over me like a blanket of muscle and heat.
He groaned as he buried his face against my neck, his free hand taking hold of my waist as he continued to rhythmically roll his hips, pumping himself in and out, over and over, harder and deeper and faster still.
Every inch of his muscled frame seemed to cling to me, holding me tight, keeping me steady against the stone bed that served as the altar of my offering, and fuck, it felt good.
With my hands still held hostage, I hooked one leg around his waist to take him even deeper, beginning to buck my hips in the same pattern, at the same cadence he’d set.
Our frantic search for friction and depth continued, and I cried out, his name echoing through the cavern, muted only by the roar of the waterfall that shrouded this sanctuary of desperation and desire.
“Fuck, Kieran!”
It might have been his turn to find himself at a loss for words, because while he caught my gaze for a moment, his only response was another low growl of approval before burrowing his face between my tits, sucking and biting at the flesh that bounced with every godsdamn thrust.
Time became an inordinate, immeasurable thing.
I knew that my back would be torn up by the time we made it out of here, scratched and scraped, but I didn’t even care.
Let the marks be added to the collection of masterpieces this man had rendered upon my skin while delivering me to the edge of euphoria, of rapture and ruination.
Because he was ruining me, I knew he was.
Every godsdamn time he thrust himself inside, every time he moaned my name like something holy, Kieran was ruining me for any other.
Nobody, nobody, had ever made me feel like this. No one had even come close.
You’re gonna be the death of me, Vistarii, so you’d better fucking follow me to Hel.
As the minutes, or hours, whatever they were, continued to stretch onward, we began to slow down.
At some point, Kieran had released my wrists, allowing me to touch him.
Touching became exploratory again, drawn-out and sensual.
Kisses grew softer, sweeter. Our eye contact became more frequent, steady and unyielding as unspoken conversations took place between us, our flesh explaining what our tongues could not.
Our bodies spoke a language that our conscious minds struggled to parse, but whatever the words, they flowed freely, like poetry.
Every sound that left our mouths became a symphony, one that would only ever grace our ears.
By the time we collapsed into a gasping tangle of heated flesh and sweat-slicked skin, I could barely remember my own name.
After some measure of silence, Kieran finally spoke in the common tongue, with that familiar, smooth rasp of velvet over gravel. “Worth the wait, Little Conduit?”
I was much too sated to summon any kind of snark.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Yeah, it was.”
By the time we made it out of the grotto and found ourselves lakeside, the final dregs of sunset were painting the sky with violent shades of red and orange, fading into darker pinks and purples with every passing moment.
The comfort of the water was a balm against my back, now scratched up and sore as I’d anticipated. Kieran had attempted to apologize once he’d caught sight of the damage, but I had promptly silenced him with another prolonged kiss.
“Don’t,” I’d whispered. “Don’t you dare.”
I refused to let him alter the perfection of this borderline-transcendent experience with something so banal as an apology.
After diving back in the water and exchanging yet another round of prolonged and greedy kisses, it was time to make our way back home.
Dangerous, I thought to myself as we swam together, side by side through darkening waters. This is so dangerous.
Dusk had fallen, though I could still see the glimmering white sand of the shoreline and Kieran’s speckled steed patiently awaiting our departure. This lovely lake was shallow, yes, and we both swam through its warmth with ease…But still, I was drowning.
Drowning in him.
I was struggling for the surface with a trembling, outstretched hand—and in truth?
I think I had been from the start. Whether my descent had started four days or well over a year ago, I couldn’t say.
But never had this perilous, tenebrous undertow felt quite so alluring, so godsdamn tempting to succumb to.
I knew there was no air, no breath to be found beneath these shadowed tides.
But for Kieran?
I might just let myself sink into the abyss.