Chapter 28
Autumn stood on the edge of the beach, her boots already off.
Soulara pursed her lips, eyeing her from under the water. She wasn’t stupid. There was no way after what happened that Autumn hadn’t been caught, that they hadn’t been found out. Autumn was being watched.
Nylah swam up to the edge of the beach, as far as they could go and stopped. Coming back swiftly, they bumped into Soulara as if pushing her forward, not that the small ray could do that. Soulara waved Nylah off, keeping calm as she watched.
Eventually she would see where the other one was hidden.
She must have waited hours.
But Autumn turned around and faced where she knew the other one was hidden, and he came out to talk to her. Their voices were muffled under the water, so Soulara couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.
Eventually the other one stalked away, angrily.
Autumn turned back to the water, clutching the soul stone in her fingers.
Soulara popped up above the surface, keeping her eye on the man’s retreating back. Autumn caught her eye instantly, a smile blooming on her face. Autumn started walking toward her, deeper into the water, as if she had no fear.
How long had she been waiting?
Soulara stayed just at the surface of the water, hoping that if the man turned around, she’d be able to dip back down before she was seen again. And she didn’t want to transform. No, they needed to talk. They needed to figure this out.
Woman to woman.
Soulara waited until the right moment, until Autumn was waist deep in the water. She plopped under the water as Autumn kept moving. Soulara swam as fast as she could, straight toward the human. She wrapped her arms around Autumn’s legs and jerked her under the water.
Autumn screamed.
She thrashed.
Soulara pressed their bodies together, holding Autumn underneath as she pushed her fluke hard and propelled them back out toward the sea. She moved as swiftly as possible, ignoring Autumn’s nails digging into her arms as she hugged Autumn close to her chest.
Bending her head, Soulara breathed air into Autumn’s lungs. The touch of their lips together calmed Autumn’s worried mind. She had to be scared. She had to be so confused. But they couldn’t talk on the beach, not with someone watching them. Not where someone could attack at any moment.
She didn’t wait.
Soulara kept swimming until she reached her little sanctuary of an island. Though it wasn’t so little anymore. Soulara pulled Autumn above the water, holding her still until she found her footing on the sand under the water.
“What the hell, Soulara?” Autumn ripped her arms from Soulara’s grasp.
The touch was fleeting, though Soulara knew she’d have to bring Autumn back to the human camp at some point. She couldn’t keep her here as a captive for long. Autumn deserved better than that.
“We couldn’t talk there.” Soulara pulled her magic into her body, already splitting her tail into two, forming feet and toes. She breathed a sigh of relief when the transformation was complete.
“So you kidnapped me!” Autumn scoffed and splashed her hand through the water, pushing it into Soulara’s face. “You tried to drown me!”
“I told you I would never let you drown.” Soulara’s heart raced. “I promised—” Her voice broke. “I promised, Autumn.” She tried again, holding her ground.
Autumn dragged in a deep breath and reached into her pocket, pulling out the soul-stone necklace. It dangled from her fingers, swinging in the air between them. Sparks of electricity seemed to run between it and them. Soulara’s eyes prickled with tears, and she shook her head slowly.
“That’s yours,” Soulara stated.
“Nothing on this world is mine.”
Soulara whimpered. How much more wrong could Autumn be? Couldn’t she see that by now? Soulara was hers. Soulara belonged to Autumn more than she belonged to Reine sometimes—or at least it felt that way.
“I am.” Soulara looked Autumn directly in the eye. Her breath shallowed. It was harder to keep still. She wanted to run forward and wrap her arms around Autumn’s neck and hug her tight, but they weren’t there yet. Autumn was too tense, too pushed to the brink. “I’m yours.”
“Fuck you, Soulara.” Autumn rolled her eyes and started toward the beach.
That hurt. Soulara clenched her jaw as she pushed the tears that freely fell down her cheeks off her face. “No. Fuck you!” Soulara screamed. “Fuck you and all your people for coming here. I know you’re different from them, Autumn. I know you don’t believe in the same things they do, but fuck you.”
Autumn spun around. She charged back toward Soulara and stuck a finger in her face. “You left me.”
“You chose them!” Soulara’s heart thundered. Were they even really talking right now? Or was this just leading them nowhere?
“You abandoned me.” Autumn’s voice broke. She tried to pull herself together, drawing in a deep breath. Her cheeks were red. Her eyes squinted.
“I didn’t.” Soulara stepped forward. She held out her hand, palm up. She waited with every ounce of patience she had left in her body. “I didn’t abandon you.”
“They’re going to kill me, Soulara.” Autumn broke. She reached for Soulara’s hand.
Soulara grabbed her and pulled in. Their bodies pressed together, wet clothes, damp skin. They breathed together, Soulara’s calmer, steadier breathing easing Autumn’s ragged gasps. When Autumn shuddered, Soulara moved in. She pressed their mouths together. She held onto Autumn with everything she had.
“I love you,” Soulara whispered.
Autumn tensed. “Don’t lie to me. I don’t need to hear more lies.”
“I’m not lying.” Soulara pulled back slightly, curling her fingers around Autumn’s cheek and looking directly into her beautiful eyes. “I’ve never lied to you.”
Autumn relaxed. She pressed her head against Soulara’s shoulder, tightening her grasp around Soulara’s back. “You can’t come see me again. They’ll kill you, too.”
“I won’t take you back if they’re going to kill you.”
“You won’t have a choice.” Autumn pulled away, making eye contact. “They’ll find me, and they’ll kill me. They know I’ve been helping you. They know I’m a traitor.”
Soulara’s heart clenched tightly.
“They know,” Autumn whispered.
Nodding, Soulara kissed the side of Autumn’s head. She closed her eyes and breathed in Autumn’s scent. This could very well be their last moment together, and Soulara wasn’t going to let it go without knowing for sure. Once more, she kissed Autumn’s lips sweetly.
“I love you,” Soulara said.
“Don’t love me. Please don’t love me.”
Soulara brushed her fingers over Soulara’s cheeks over and over again. She held still in the moment, keeping them calm and together. She could wait for as long as this took. Because she wasn’t leaving without a resolution.
“Look at me,” Soulara begged.
Autumn shook her head, clenching her eyes shut like she was a small child.
Soulara’s lips quirked upward. “Please.”
It took more time than she wanted, but Autumn did finally open her eyes and look at Soulara. “What?”
“You don’t get to choose if I love you or not.” Soulara put her thumb on Autumn’s lips. “And I do love you. All of you. And I know and understand how complicated this is, that we have no idea what tomorrow will hold. But today…” Soulara swallowed, needing to make sure that her words were clear. “Today I love you. Tomorrow, dead or alive, I will love you. In the afterlife, I will love you.”
“Fuck,” Autumn muttered. She surged forward, pushing their mouths together in a heated kiss.
Soulara stumbled back a step, barely catching herself.
They breathed heavily, tongues pushing hard against each other, teeth accidentally scraping. Everything in this moment was hot, desperate. Soulara wrapped her hand around the back of Autumn’s neck and held her tightly. She wasn’t going to let go.
Autumn skimmed her hand across Soulara’s breast, palming and massaging it. Everything was going so fast. It was making Soulara’s head spin. She reached for Autumn’s hand and pushed it down, between her legs. Autumn gasped.
“Yes,” Autumn whined. “Me too.”
Soulara moved her hands to Autumn’s waist, fumbling with her coverings and the contraptions that kept everything together. She tugged and pulled, but she couldn’t figure it out. Autumn laughed wildly, shooing away Soulara’s hands for her own. She pulled the pieces apart and pushed her soaking wet coverings to her hips.
“Fuck wet clothes,” Autumn mumbled, cursing again when the cloth stuck to her skin. “Just ignore them.”
How was Soulara supposed to ignore them? She ran her fingers over Autumn’s body, the hardness of her nipples under the wet coverings. They poked through, looking most enticing. She bent her head, covering one with her mouth and flicking her tongue over it. Autumn moaned, digging her fingers into Soulara’s hair and holding Soulara’s head to her chest.
“Don’t slow this down. We don’t have time.” Desperation clung to Autumn’s words.
Soulara straightened her back, canting her head to the side as a light hit her eyes. Autumn was right. They didn’t have time to waste. They had so much more they needed to talk about. She pushed her hand against the wet fabric and managed to wiggle her fingers underneath and against Autumn’s hot, wet, already pulsing body. Soulara hissed.
She leaned in and whispered into Autumn’s ear, “I love you so much.”
Autumn whined in the back of her throat, tilting her face up to the sky. Her eyelids fluttered shut. Soulara pumped her fingers in and out. Autumn reached down, sliding her hand back between Soulara’s legs and mimicking Soulara’s touch.
“Together?” Soulara asked.
“Seems to be the way we do things.” Autumn gave her a wicked gleam. “Isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Soulara wrapped her arm around Autumn’s hips, keeping them in place as the waves rushed against the backs of her thighs. She didn’t want to lose her footing and have them topple over into the water. They needed to stay right where they were.
Waves of pleasure washed through her, building and growing. Autumn gasped. She grunted. She whined. The noises were like sweet nothings to Soulara’s ears. She didn’t want them to stop. But it was getting harder to focus. Autumn was so good at this. Soulara pressed her forehead to Autumn’s shoulder, taking sharp breaths in.
She was so close.
“Soulara,” Autumn whispered.
“I know.”
Soulara kept her hand moving, knowing that Autumn was as close as she was. She turned her cheek and pushed lips to lips and tongue to tongue. Autumn hummed into her, body and soul joined together as they stood in the water on the shoreline, together, just the two of them in a world that was so chaotic and scary. In a world that wanted both their heads.
Autumn went first. Her fingers stilled. Her body rocked, fast at first and then slower as the orgasm dissipated on its own. Soulara kissed her cheek, her neck, her lips. It wasn’t long before Autumn was back at it, moving her hand against Soulara, in her, a new fervor in her moves.
Soulara cried out loudly. Her voice raced down the beach as she tossed her head back. The wind caught at her skin, tugged in her hair. Her nipples hardened instantly and Autumn dropped her mouth to them, feasting on her exposed skin. Soulara held onto Autumn’s shoulders tightly, staying upright and not falling over.
“We must sit,” Soulara managed to whisper, exhaustion seeping into her body. The weight of the war, the pain of the decisions she’d had to make lately, all of it came crashing down on her. She could barely move her legs. Her feet were so heavy. Autumn slung an arm around her back as they walked toward the beach, finding a large flat rock to sunbathe on and warm up.
Soulara turned on her side, tucking herself into Autumn’s arms. “We need to talk about this war.”
“I don’t want to be at war with you.”
“But we are at war.” Soulara calmed herself.
“I know.” Autumn kissed the top of Soulara’s head. “You’re going to have to take me back.”
Soulara tensed. That would put Autumn in extreme danger. “They’re already threatening you.”
“They are,” Autumn agreed. “But I’m no use to you here.”
“You’re safe here.”
Autumn snorted. “Safe and useless. Let me help.”
Milan’s words echoed in her mind. Soulara tried to push them away, but they only got louder. Cringing, Soulara nuzzled in even closer to Autumn’s side. “Okay.”
“Just okay?” Autumn tightened her grasp.
“Yes.” Soulara nodded. “How can you help us?”
Autumn grinned. Her cheeks tinged pink, her eyes so light and happy. Soulara had never seen her look like that before.
“What?” Soulara asked, needing to know what put that look on Autumn’s face.
“It’s nothing. It’s just…” Autumn fully blushed. It was adorable. “It’s just that I love you.”