44. Adrian
Adrian
T he light was a muted rose gold as dusk approached. Adrian steered the truck through the familiar, spruce-lined side roads with ease but slowed to assure he could keep the truck trailing him in his sight line. Lionel was driving his own truck behind them. The Gray witch was skilled at guiding the large camper trailer, but these roads were winding and steep in some places.
After turning down a hidden driveway, Adrian pulled to the side of the property, stopping to help them park on the grassy embankment at the edge of the grounds overlooking the sea.
Adrian took Cori’s hand, guiding her to the rocky trail that led to the cabin. He had warned her on the ride that the rocks could be slippery and jagged as he steered her down the path between two roughly hewn cliffs. The path was so narrow in some places that they had to turn sideways as they walked.
Adrian stayed ahead, making sure the rock was free of any moisture that would cause her to lose her footing.
The water was already snaking near the path as high tide approached. Within the hour, the path to the cabin would be covered in water, and there would be no way to get to the little cabin on the top of the embankment.
He knew this path like the back of his hand. His family had spent countless weekends here through the years. After David’s father had passed, it became a somewhat more somber place to visit, but Adrian held nothing but warm memories of the place.
As they reached the clearing on the rocky outlet where the cabin was perched, Cori gasped. The cliffside around them sparkled with sea glass and the waves below billowed onto the shore. Despite the cold autumn air, some wildflowers danced in the wind, coaxed to adapt to this unwelcoming climate with Hannah’s magic.
“It’s beautiful,” she said as she took in the view. Beautiful and remote. A perfect place for them to hide. No electricity. No address. No paved roads. Impossible to find unless you knew where it was. He wanted to scoop her up and fold his arms around her, concealing her here forever.
When she wasn’t near him, it was as if a part of his heart was outside his body. A part of his heart that was in danger and not guaranteed.
Her face angled up to the sky, like it always did, and the glow of the setting sun settled on the curve of her cheekbones and the golden streaks in her hair that blew in messy waves around her face.
He traced the light with his eyes, down her face and over the curve of her neck. He walked ahead of her into the cabin, trying hard to conceal from her how much he wanted to run his hands over her skin, but he knew she could sense it.
Once inside, he uncovered the furniture and set the woodstove alight with a match. She waved her hands over a few candles, coaxing them aglow. He smiled to himself as he recalled how Ariel had made Cori promise to never teach Adrian a candle-lighting spell.
His sister had woken up this afternoon. She had opened her eyes, focused on her mother’s face, and asked, “Did you see me put out that fire? I’m a badass bitch, Ma.”
At that moment, they knew Ariel was going to make a full recovery. Adrian knew Cori felt incredibly guilty that Ariel had been hurt, but what happened wasn’t her fault .
She was one of them now. Her own family might have cast her away, but that wasn’t how he was raised.
The cabin had only one room. A stove in the center, bunk beds in the corner, and a Murphy bed on the far end that was pulled down. The wood-paneled walls were stained a reddish brown, reflecting the firelight in amber waves that crested over the walls like waves. His heart swelled as Cori noticed his grandmother’s paintings on the walls. She was a talented artist, and seascapes were her favorite scenes to capture in oils and watercolor.
He watched Cori from the corner of his eye as she arranged some of her things, mostly borrowed from Prudence and Anne, and unpacked her sparse belongings. Hannah and David had not been to the cabin since the summer, but the dwelling still felt warm and lived-in. The beds were still made with fresh, flannel duvets.
She bent down over her duffel bag and pulled out a thick, cozy sweater. His pulse quickened as she pulled it over her head and the fabric slid over the swell of her breasts.
She met his gaze and flashed him an exhausted smile as she pulled her hair into a loose knot. “Come outside. I want to show you something,” she said.
He grabbed a blanket and followed her out the door.
The sky had darkened fully now, and the stars were radiant and countless above them. The tide had indeed swallowed the path below them, surrounding the cliffs. She leaned into him as they took in the dazzling night sky above them.
He wrapped his arms around her, one of his favorite flannel quilts around his shoulders, as she pointed to the sky.
“Look to the south.” She gestured over the roar of the ocean. “Tonight is the peak of the Leonid meteor shower,” she explained. “It will be perfect conditions to see them in the new moon with such a clear sky, and if what I feel is right, there will be a meteor storm in the first hour of nightfall.”
They stood there for a little while in silence as they gazed up. He rested his chin against her ear, counting her breaths as his arms rose and fell over her shoulders. A gasp fell from her lips .
The sky was suddenly alight with several sparkling streaks, falling soundlessly into the atmosphere. Her magic swelled to life, as though the falling meteors were charging her battery. He dipped his gaze down to her eyes, alight with a bright golden hue as they reflected the sky above her.
The meteors fell, dancing through the sky with glowing light for a few moments before they slowed. She sighed and leaned her head back against his chest. “That was lucky,” she sighed contentedly. “Meteor storms in a new moon are rare.”
He tightened his arms around her and kissed her neck. “I’m simply lucky to be here with you,” he whispered into her ear.
Her shoulder stiffened before she turned toward him suddenly, startling him. “How can you say that?” she asked him with wide eyes.
He was speechless for a moment, taken aback. “I’m happy to be here with you,” he said slowly and emphatically.
“You’re happy that we had to escape here? You're OK with the fact that, until a couple of months ago, you were safe, and your life was easy? Now you’re stuck here with me, someone with a death sentence. My prophecy completely disrupted your life.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her face as the words tumbled out, as if they had been hanging on the edge of her mind. She took a step back, her body shivering with the cold of the night and her guilt.
“Your sister almost died because of me, Adrian. I can never forgive myself for that. Your parents risked their lives to stop that fire. A fire that was sent for me. Seth accompanied you to the island when I was kidnapped. Who knows what could have happened to the two of you if I had been kidnapped by someone who wanted me dead.”
His brows knitted together as he took in what she was saying. “Stop.” His voice quaked as he searched for the words. “Stop acting like you’re a burden to me somehow. I don’t really care that you disrupted my life. I don’t even care that someone tried to kill us yesterday.” He slowed his words and shook his head. “It wasn’t because of you that any of those things happened, Cori. It was because of the fuckers who are trying to kill you. This was their fault. Not yours.”
She shook her head. “I’m not worth any of that.”
He couldn’t believe what she was saying. She had been so brainwashed to think that she was the problem. She was the one that needed to hide. A hollow sense of dread drilled through his abdomen. Maybe she didn’t realize what he had known from the beginning.
“My life might have been disrupted, but that’s only because I didn't know what it was to live before I met you,” he said with a strained voice.
Her eyes widened.
He swallowed thickly. “I’m lucky to be here, with you, and I will do anything for you. Anything . Because I love you. You have to know that. You can read everything I feel, but I can also read you.” Her lips parted as tears fell down her cheeks. “Because we’re bonded. I’m fated to you, Cori.”
Her eyes were wide and brimming with tears as she took in a breath. She opened her mouth to speak but was unable to make a sound as he tipped his head down and brought his lips to hers.
Through the bond, her sadness and tension melted away, replaced by a fire that sparked under her skin and ignited him. He kissed her deeply, parting her lips with his tongue. Her back arched as she leaned into the kiss. Fire spread into his blood. When her hand grazed his cheek, he broke free to catch his breath.
Every part of him tensed and hardened as he grabbed her hips and hoisted her up, his heart hammering as her legs wrapped around his waist.
He carried her into the cabin, nudging the door open with his shoulder, his erection already straining against his pants, as she kissed down the column of his neck. Her breaths were unsteady and frantic, and his heart pounded as she tightened her legs around him.
He crossed the room to the bed and lowered her carefully. She pulled him toward her, his arms braced on either side of her, as he kissed her again, slowly this time. Savoring the taste of her, pulling on her lips with his teeth as she let out a moan. Her hands grazed his chest, and his muscles tensed in response to her skin on his. He pulled off his shirt hastily, craving the feeling of her breasts pressed against him.
Within a few seconds, they were bare to each other, his body suspended over hers. Her frantic breaths danced over the skin of his neck as she wrapped her legs tighter, pressing his length between her thighs where a deliciously wet heat built for him. She arched her hips, igniting friction between her soft thighs and the hardness of his erection.
She stilled, despite their hammering hearts and the heavy humidity building on their skin. Her eyes met his before she brushed her face up against his and whispered into his ear.
“Adrian.” His heart faltered at the sound of his name on her lips. “I love you, too.”
He pulled back for a moment and found her eyes before their lips came together again. He let out a deep, ragged moan as he felt her hands dip lower on his abdomen before encircling him, working him in firm strokes.
He reached his hand down to meet hers and trailed his fingers up her thighs before sliding them inside her. Her body arched closer to him as he felt her bite gently at the skin on his neck. “I need you,” she breathed into his ear.
He steadied himself and braced his arms over her shoulders as she guided him inside her. Inch by inch, he slid himself deeper until he was lost in her.
His thrusts were slow and methodical until she let out a pleading groan, angling her hips toward him, deepening him. His thrusts became urgent as her muscles tightened around him and pulsed around his length with her release. She let out a cry as she came, her fingers curling into his hair, as he continued to swell inside her.
A wave of her magic coursed through his veins.
Breathless, he reached under her thighs, tipping her hips up as he buried himself deeper. She cried out, and he felt her contract around him a second time as they came together, his release filling her in the depths of his last thrusts.
He dipped his head against hers as they reeled in the shock waves of what they had just shared. They were still joined as he shifted to his side and pulled her close to him. She fell asleep in his arms as he traced the lines of her body with his fingers. He let exhaustion wash over him before he succumbed to the warmth of the fire and her body. That night he dreamed of a thousand streaks of light in the sky.