Chapter 26
Warmth has always been welcomed but it does not begin to awaken the deepest dregs of magic’s ability like the heat of want.
As we departed Gruyere in the morning, Baron sent us home with many gifts and well-wishes.
Even though it is customary for the visiting kingdom to bring gifts, he insisted we at least try some new spices from their mountain mines.
It was surprisingly less embarrassing to peel myself from Cedric in front of strangers than I imagined.
The flurry of snow has stopped while we’ve journeyed and I can’t help but to observe the large alps surrounding us.
These mountains make Lux’s Rhydian Range look like hills – as if they burst from the earth like blades.
Twin peaks mark the summit and at the top of the furthest one is some sort of white structure that reflects the high sun.
“What is that?” I point at the peak with my gloved hand. Luckily the cess lights keep the interior warm. Cedric moves to my window to get a better look. “That would be Senna’s Temple, the goddess of safety and good health. She is the patron goddess of the cess, so your powers are in thanks to her.”
“There is more than one god?” I ask incredulously. We’ve only ever referenced Erees.
“There is a whole pantheon, in fact. Erees is the king of the gods and goddesses. Senna is his sister.”
The temple fades out of view as we enter a narrow pass between two rocky cliffs. Cedric reclaims his seat next to me.
“I did not realize the Ever was so populated with divinity.”
Cedric crosses a leg across his knee. “In a way. Many of the gods are said to walk the lands, taking many forms. Erees is the one who created the vampyr. I imagine he likes to view his creations at a closer level.”
“And Senna?”
“Senna protects the humans. In our texts, her powers were used to oppose Erees’s creation.
I imagine her high above us granting good deeds and healing.
She wanted her acolytes, the cess, to have the abilities to aid our mortal counterparts.
There are other gods, like Sylvine for fertility, or mighty Tothis of the seas.
You can find their motifs if you look hard enough. ”
I mull this information over in my head. Is Senna still protecting the humans in Duresden?
Cedric opens the carriage window and waves his hand out of it, signaling the driver to slow down. He pulls us over to a side curve where the snow is untouched as it meets the forested terrain.
“Grab that blanket,” he instructs, opening the door and letting the frigid air into the space.
“For what exactly?” I manage as I slide out with a knitted wrap around my shoulders. The mountains loom devastatingly high above us with their many ledges and small caves.
“Where is your trust, dear Liv?”
“It’s there, but it’s also freezing.”
“You’ll live.”
I snort and follow him through the snow and around the corner of a large rocky mountain face. The guards stay behind, chatting idly with one another as we disappear between a narrow space. Cedric holds his hand out for me and I take it without hesitation, letting him guide me through the rocks.
We exit and the steam nearly chokes me at first. In front of us are three steaming pools of water, the snow around them melted and receding. Small flakes flurry around and the heat emanating from the hot springs nearly makes me jump in on the spot.
“Similar to the lake, these hot springs are a favorite of mine,” Cedric says. I observe the multi-colored bottoms, no doubt from the heat and minerals.
I turn around and Cedric is halfway disrobed and I yelp, turning away quickly.
Gods. My eyes widen because I know he heard me.
Keep your thoughts to yourself, my lady.
Get out of my head!
As if I had a choice in the matter.
“Ahem,” I manage, still facing the jagged mountain. “Do you expect me to also get naked?”
“You can turn around. I’m in the water,” Cedric laughs and I hear the water moving behind me. Slowly, I peek over my shoulder. The steam luckily provides some modesty, but I know my blushed cheeks aren’t helping the situation.
“Are you going to get in? Or are you going to be a prude?”
I scoff, fully turning around and folding my arms. “Now I’m a prude? I just didn’t— you know what? Okay.”
I begin kicking off my shoes and unbuttoning the front of my gown. Just as I almost make it down the front, I look up and notice Cedric’s stare. He looks like a man deprived of all desires the way he’s focused on me. His eyes read like fire and I shake off the goosebumps forming.
“Privacy, please.”
He nods and turns around to face the forest. The sun is slowly setting over the treeline, which colors the sky and rocks a gorgeous magenta.
With his back turned to me I pause, taking in the view entirely.
I’m still working on my clothing but his form is eye-catching, and I try to be demure but he really is exquisite.
I test the water of the pool with my toe and nearly groan with excitement. Fiona’s words ring in the back of my mind. She said I needed heat, right?
Slowly, I sink into the water and let it envelop me entirely like a warm hug. My muscles tense at first but relax with every second I’m submerged.
“You can turn around now.”
“Separate pools?” Cedric asks coyly. I relax into the water, resting my neck on the smooth ledge. The cool air around is a refreshing balance.
“I like my own space.”
“Hmm, I can see that.”
Choosing my own pool was purposeful. Last night at Baron’s party was already a lot.
Cedric and I… we continue to have these passionate moments as if a fire was lit beneath us and the only reprieve is to find each other.
It’s also not just about intimacy. Finding each other sexually can be a biological need but we both know, or perhaps just I do, that this is growing deeper.
Deeper than most care to swim.
“What’s going on in that brain of yours?”
Cedric’s words bring me back to the present and I smile at him through the steam. I wade over to the edge between us and rest my cheek on the cool earth. Small grains of rock press into my cheek, not painfully though, just a reminder that I am here. That I am present.
Elivienne lives within me and we are not separate. We are one.
Cedric comes to the edge too and I catch his gaze, carefully lifting my cheek from the earth. Acting upon instinct, he reaches out and brushes the small grains of rock from my skin softly as if I were a delicate sculpture.
I’m not breathing.
Upon my own instinct, I close the distance between us and push up onto the ledge more fully to capture his kiss.
Cedric stands out of the water and grabs my waist, lifting me and bringing me to face him fully.
My body slides off the smooth stone and into the water with him.
Cedric deftly turns us around so he is seated on the natural bench.
I lift my legs around his waist and everything is feverish.
I claw his back and hold him just as close to my body as he holds me.
“Liv,” he murmurs into my lips as he continues down my body. He comes back to the top and captures my mouth once more as he picks my body up. The cold air hardens my nipples and I moan into his mouth at the pressure of him beneath me.
“Say my name,” Cedric groans, slowly lowering us into the water. He finds a shelf of rock and sits on it as I straddle him.
“Cedric,” I whisper without needing further command. I could say his name over and over again without tiring. It is one I am more familiar with each day.
“Again.”
My hands roam across his chest hair and perspiration. We’re naked against each other, our sexes one thrust from being completely involved.
“Cedric.”
His hands find my behind, fully cupping each cheek with his large hands. Each squeeze is like fire and every nerve in my body begs for him. I reach in between us, slowly approaching his member.
“Don’t test me any more, Liv. I beg of you,” he grits between his teeth as I further my approach.
He hisses when I finally reach him, the snow slowly falling and disappearing immediately upon contact with our skin.
I stroke once. Twice. Our lips moving feverishly, his hands roaming my body with an eagerness I have not yet witnessed.
Our bodies are pressed scandalously close to one another. One inch from meeting. One thrust from sealing our fates.
“Our fates have been sealed already,” he breathes into my ear. His hands massage my breasts, pulling softly at my nipples and eliciting a gasp. “You just don’t remember.”
“As you said,” I murmur into his neck as I bite slowly, drawing trickles of blood before licking them back up. “My body remembers.”
“Indeed it does,” Cedric says, mirth in his eyes as we lock gazes.
Time freezes in this moment. How can I deny our connection?
How can I deny that my heart aches for him in a way that surpasses the physical?
There is no denial here, not any more, at least. Cedric and I have something.
Even if I cannot remember our past. I know it is there.
Deep within me, a well I know I can dip into to feel more.
His hand raises to my cheek, wiping a lone tear away, and I lean into his touch more. Relishing in his presence.
“Why do you cry?”
“I cry because you brought me back to life.
There was no future I could imagine when I awoke that involved the past so many tried to convince me of.
A sort of darkness took over. Fear, mostly.
I rejected you and for what reason? My pride?
Even fear does not make me feel easy with my previous actions. But you tried. Every day.