Epilogue
I’m amazed at the difference in the sounds of Aquaria that surround us. The first time we came here together, the prominent sound was the dried mud cracking under our feet. Today the roar of distant waterfalls mixed with the subtle trickle of the streams nearby bring a smile to my face.
“How was your conversation with Nova?” Cillian asks, his fingers threaded through my own, warming me. I just got back from Varethriel and I still haven’t shaken the slight chill that fills my bones from their snowy environment.
“Alive,” I say, shaking my head. Still in shock even after hearing her story. It’s been a week since I realized my twin sister was alive and still haven’t wrapped my head around it. Cillian gives me a soft smile as he continues to lead me deeper into his elemental land.
The elemental lands have begun to thrive from our clean up efforts and from the lack of Gaia’s storms in Solevara. I can’t say the same about Varethiel though…
“Caspien did try to kill her but instead of finishing the job he threw her through the portal, assuming the poison in her system would finish her off,” I explain what she told me.
“So how did she survive?” He asks. “How did she end up with Aiden?” Humor filling his voice with the prince’s name.
“A human found her and did their best to heal her. It didn’t work but Aiden came for her before…” I clear my throat when it cracks slightly. He squeezes my hand gently.
“Anyways, I guess Hazel has been keeping an eye on both of us since we were children and realized what happened. She is the one who healed Nova. That is how she knew how to help me. Nova was the ‘one time’ they had seen the poison before.” I let the words fall off when we stop at the edge of the water.
A waterfall is crashing over the rocks to our left before settling into the reservoir at our feet.
I release the wind slowly, even though it isn’t my element, being in Aquaria has my magic humming.
I’m not sure if it is being back in a thriving natural element or if it is because of the bond Cillian and I have.
Either way, I cherish it. There is still a lot of work to do but the change is evident.
The power returning to Solevara is evident.
He wraps his arms around my waist, resting his head on top of mine. “So what is the plan now? Is she going to come home? Stay in Varethriel?”
“She said she wasn’t ready to talk about the prophecy. She needs time to wrap her head around it and figure out what to do. I’m not sure what is going on with her and Aiden but she is not interested in coming here.”
“You think something is going on with them?” He asks, surprise coating his voice. “That could help with the need to fulfill the prophecy…”
I don’t really know. From her notebooks I know he drives her crazy and I still get that impression but something else was there. A spark in Nova’s eyes that has been missing for a long time. Maybe it is just her having her freedom for the first time in her life. Maybe it is him.
I just hum in response.
“We agreed to wisp each other. I don’t want to get my hopes up but she seems serious about staying in touch this time.” We fall silent for a minute. His calm peace pours over my shaken soul like a river washing over parched soil. Filling me back up, nourishing me.
“Anyways… What did you want to show me?” I ask, looking up at him over my shoulder. His eyes shine down at me, a brilliant blue that makes my heart beat a little harder.
“Come on,” Cillian takes my hand and leads me along the waters edge towards the waterfall. Mist tickles my face and arms as we approach. Cillian shifts behind me as the path narrows.
“Watch your step,” he says loudly over the thunderous sound of the crashing water.
The rocks have become slick with algae from the damp surroundings and he places his hands on my hips to keep me steady. My magic rises up to meet him in response. I climb the naturally created steps, leading us closer to the cascading water.
I turn and look out over the bluff we stand on when the walkway abruptly ends with a deluge of water before us. The beauty takes my breath away.
The trees and plantlife around the reservoir are lush and green. Brilliant flowers paint the bushes and vines that line the blue and green hues of swirling water beside and below us.
“It is stunning,” I whisper but he still hears me.
Grabbing my hand again we walk towards the wall of water and with a laugh he drags me under. I gasp as the chilled water soaks through my dress as I am pulled into a cave hidden beneath the waterfall.
The rumbling descent of the water echoes off the walls. Rays of light stream in through the crystal clear water creating rainbows across the walls of rock.
“You know you could have done that without getting me soaked!” I shriek, laughter quick to follow as I see that he is just as wet as I am. He runs his hand through his wet hair, pushing it back. His perfect smile fills his face as he looks back at me.
“Where is the fun in that?” he teases, eyeing my now almost sheer dress.
I give him a sly smile and rub my hands down the wet shirt that grips his chest. As I slowly trace my fingers down the ridges of his abdomen I feel his abs shuddering under my touch.
When I reach the bottom of the shirt, I slowly untuck the linen garment.
Looking up at him through my lashes, I move on to the clasp at his waist.
In one swift motion he pulls the fabric over his head and discards it to the side.
His pants hang undone, loose around his hips as he looks at me with predatory intent.
He wraps his arms around me, gripping my ass and lifting me up.
I wrap my legs around his waist, his excitement pressing against me.
I slide my fingers into his wet hair, and our mouths find each other with growing urgency. Drowning in the moment, our connection to one another is the oxygen we need to survive but we are unable to get enough.
He breaks us apart, our chests heaving, and gently lays me across a rock that the waterfall has smoothed over the years.
I swallow thickly as the light shines across his chiseled muscles, emphasizing each groove, like they are carved in stone.
My eyes follow the vee that disappears into his pants. He is perfect.
His eyes glow darker as he runs his hands slowly up my body. He unclasps only the top buttons of my dress, freeing my breasts, allowing him immediate access. My nipples harden as the cool air and mist of the cave blow across my wet skin.
He licks his lips at the sight and leans down, giving them all of his attention.
The heat of his mouth finds one while he rolls the other in between his fingers.
With the perfect amount of pressure my back raises up off the rock in pure bliss.
With an ache building between my legs, both my hands wrap around his neck to pull him closer as my body demands more of him.
“Cillian,” I call out his name and it joins in the echo of the water around us.
His sultry chuckle vibrates through me causing me to moan in agonizing pleasure. He grinds into me and slowly begins kissing and sucking his way up my collarbone to my neck. His lips ghost across my ear, “Be patient, Lila. I promise I’ll give you what you want.”
His hand has left my heaving chest and his fingers are lightly skimming down my stomach causing a chain reaction of each nerve along the way to fire.
Gathering the wet skirt of my dress he pulls it up around my hips. When he reaches my soaked underwear the wind leaves my lungs in anticipation. He stares down at me with hooded eyes before, tracing my slit through the thin fabric.
I groan in frustration when he moves his hands to my thighs, causing his perfect smile to grow. His eyes swimming with mischief when he looks back up at my face.
“So eager.” He teases as he walks his fingers back towards my center. “Is this what you want?”
My legs spread farther apart as he reaches the apex of my thighs. My eyes silently beg as my whole body trembles with anticipation.
He hooks his fingers into the fabric and pushes it to the side. He pulls a low moan from me as he slips one finger between my folds.
“Yes!” I cry out in pleasure as he slides a second finger inside, stretching me deliciously.
I give myself over to him completely. This is what I need, and he knew that.
I am lost to him. I was drowning in the tide of today’s revelation, buried beneath its weight.
And Cillian is both air and solid ground.
Breath and anchor. Everything beyond my mate, beyond the echo of our entwined pleasure, dissolves into nothing.
His mouth swallows my moans as his thumb makes its way to my clit. Moving in synchronized movements to match the song that he is makes my body sing.
I am rapidly approaching a release but I don’t want it to end this way.
As if reading my mind, he pulls his hands away, the promise of my approaching climax crashes around me like the waterfall at my back.
His absence is immediately felt but my body and magic are still humming, wanting more than just his fingers inside of me.
I move up onto my elbows, pouting as I watch him take a half step back.
A cunning smirk pulls across his face, as he slowly starts to pull my underwear down my legs and the water from above me begins to fall.
I was so wrapped up in what we were doing that I hadn’t even realized that he was controlling the water above us.
The slow, pure flow of the waterfall between us is beginning to pick up. It splits me in two.
As soon the fabric separating us is gone, the water above me replaces where his thumb had been circling, hitting me in just the right place. My hips tilt and my arms give out beneath me. My head falling back with a cry of pleasure.
At that exact moment I feel him pushing against me asking for entrance, his hand on my hips under the water.
With the water beating down on my sensitive clit, I scream out in ecstasy as he fills me so deep that I can’t take any more.
He slides back and stills when he is almost completely out but the water is unrelenting.
I can’t form coherent words at this point. Needing him to move to match the other sensation assaulting my body, I hook my feet behind him and pull him back into me. He takes my cue and starts a determined rhythm pumping in and out of me.
Our moans swirl together like the waves meeting the shore, rolling together until the cave carries them away.
With each thrust I feel my stomach twisting into a coil ready to explode.
When his hand reaches through the water and gently rolls my nipple between his fingers, I unravel.
The orgasm that rips through my body has my back come entirely off the rock before collapsing back.
Coming down from my high I’m overwhelmed with the extent of sensations. “Cillian, it’s too much!” I whine, as I grab his hands and pull him forward enough to block the water falling from above with his body.
I feel him pull all the way out and easily flips me onto my stomach. Leaned over the rock he is back at my sex in seconds and pushes back in. The position makes me feel even more full than before. His thrusts become erratic as he gets closer to his own release.
He reaches around and begins circling my clit, taking me back to the edge with him. Our mating bond coursing through our blood, our magic emphasizing each sensation that we share.
I hear his strained words in my ear over the crashing waterfall, “I love you, Nissa.”
And as we come together, it is not just with flesh, but with the divine certainty that we were always meant to be together. To find our way back to each other.