He hadn’t been fair to her. This world of his was too dangerous for a half-breed who had no idea what magic was, did, or could do.
Oh, faerie realms, he had to let her go. And he didn’t know if he could do it.
River stroked her fingers through his hair, untangling the long strands and then laying them against his back. “The magic inside you, was that what wanted you to kill those men?”
He wished he could lie. He wished false words would fall from his tongue and hide what he truly was from her. “Not entirely. When I knew it was an oil spill, I would have done the same as the elemental.”
River let silence grow between them until his heart pounded in his ears like drums. Would she judge him for that? She should. Death was not to be taken lightly, and yet, the faerie kings had always seen humans as little more than toys. Play things. The creatures who were allowed to pretend they ruled this planet.
She sighed. “They’re my people, you know. The power you have, the magic you contain inside you... It’s hard for me to understand but it’s also very frightening. I don’t want to choose between the faeries and the humans.”
Did she know how she broke his heart? Snapped it in two and held it back to him, bleeding and broken.
Archer sat up so he could meet her gaze. He leaned over her, holding both sides of her face and staring down into those beloved eyes. “You must believe me when I say I would never hurt you.”
“But you did.”
He had. And then he’d given up the world to save her.
But she couldn’t know that. River would only think him foolish for such a deal.
Archer pressed his lips against hers, hesitantly, giving her a chance to pull away if she wanted to. “You have become as much a part of me as the salt in the sea. My soul is yours. My heart is yours. And I will always share your pain. I might have powerful magic, River, but I wield it for you.”
Heart on his sleeve, he waited for her to respond. To say something, anything while she looked back at him with those big, beautiful eyes.
19
River stared into his eyes and wondered how she had gotten so lucky. Sure, she’d taken a step back from whatever was between them for a while. Foolishly, she might add.
He was a terrifying person to walk into anyone’s life. And no one could convince her otherwise.
A faerie king strides into her world, declares that he wants to be the one to set her free, and then goes about changing her life in ways she couldn’t have ever imagined. He showed her magic was real. He convinced her she was actually a faerie. And then he ripped open her everyday life and proved his theories were correct.
She’d needed time to process the insanity that was Archer. But now, she didn’t want to process anymore.
She just wanted him. Every bit of him, no matter how dangerous or mad it was. She didn’t care if he was a faerie king or that his people didn’t like half-breeds.
If this was the last moment she had with him, then she wanted every part of him.
River reached up and stroked his cheek. “Why does this feel like you’re saying goodbye?” she asked.
“I’m not.”
But his words were too sad. They were tinged with an expression of profound loss and his body hovered over hers as though she were made of glass. She’d already been healed. His magic coursed through her until the entire world seemed to glow with edges of blue.
Maybe River didn’t want to know what was happening. She shouldn’t distract herself with dark thoughts when her skin was glowing and his magic pulsed in her chest like something alive and beating inside her.
She shifted her hand to the back of his neck, underneath the waterfall of his hair, and gently tugged him down. Skating her lips over his felt like breathing. So easy, so natural. It felt right for him to claim her lips with his own.
He shifted, seating himself on the edge of the cot and bracing his arms on either side of her. With an effortless maneuver, he changed the kiss from light and gentle to all consuming.
Nothing else existed but the wet thrust of his tongue. The nip of his teeth made her gasp and arch up, aching for something she couldn’t voice. Though it didn’t matter, because he read her like a book.
Archer placed his hand on her ribs, just underneath her breast that was suddenly heavy and aching. With a final sweep of his tongue, he dragged his lips from hers and down to her jaw. “You were just injured, River. We can’t do this.”
Yes, yes, they could. She was frantic for it and needed more than just a slight graze of his fingertips. More than a kiss. “I’m fine,” she gasped, arching into his hand and trying to wiggle so he would touch her where she desperately wanted him. “There’s so much power in me, I don’t think I can ever get hurt again. Archer... Please.”
He straightened, looming above her as he decided. His jaw was clenched brutally tight, the muscle ticking as he looked over her entire body. As if he could physically see if she was well enough.
River was out of her element. She’d never done this before. With anyone. She didn’t know how to convince him she was ready, only that she ached for him.
She followed his movements, sitting up with only a little hesitancy. Her back didn’t hurt at all, in fact, it felt better than it had before the injury.
He didn’t say a word. Just watched her with those narrowed eyes.
So, she would have to start then. He wouldn’t move unless she proved she was ready. That was fine. She could do this, considering she’d wanted to touch him everywhere since the first moment she’d seen him in the pool.
She held her breath and reached out with one hand, bracing herself upright with the other. River skated her fingers over his broad and powerful chest. She traced the outline of his collarbone and the dip between his pectoral muscles.
Fingering the white shirt that still covered him, oil slicked and heavy with saltwater, she asked, “Can we take this off?”
“River,” he groaned.
The sound was music to her ears. He wasn’t stoically suffering through her touch. He was as affected as she was.
“Please, Archer.”
Apparently, “please” was the word to use with him. He leaned back and grasped the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head with surprising speed.
She’d seen him shirtless before but this time felt different. The firelight played across the valleys and hollows of his body. The tense muscles of his stomach were cross hatched like someone had carved his figure out of marble.
River reached for his abs, stroking a single fingertip between them. She followed the muscles arching over his hips, pointing down to his waistband where she bumped against the fabric.
There, far larger than she’d expected, he strained against the zipper of his pants. Too big, surely that wasn’t the same size as most men. He wouldn’t fit inside her with that, although she wouldn’t be the one to tell him. She was too embarrassed to admit she was a virgin at her age.
Steeling herself and preparing for whatever might come, she gently eased her finger down the impressive bulge of his pants.
He let out a guttural groan. Heat rushed between her legs. She was slick and ready for him, instantaneous and almost painfully in need.
Archer forced her to lay back down, using his shoulders and his body to push her back to the cot so her head rested against the pillow. He kissed her as if he wanted to devour her whole.
His lips slid down her neck and muttered, “You consume me, woman.”
Every muscle in her belly tensed as his fingers dipped beneath her t-shirt. He tugged it off swiftly, tossing it into the shadows. She barely had time to breathe before his hand tunneled beneath her back, unclasped her bra, and tossed it to follow her shirt.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She’d never been naked in front of anyone before.
He stared down at her, his own cheeks red although she doubted it was for the same reason as her burning cheeks. He reached up and wiped a hand over his mouth, shaking his head and staring
up at the ceiling for a moment.
“You could unman me so easily,” he ground out.
She didn’t even know what that meant.
He surged down and then suddenly it was just lips and teeth. He bit at her neck, growling softly into her ear. He palmed her breasts in both hands and oh god she couldn’t think. What was he doing to her?
His thumbs found her nipples at the same time, flicking until they were hard buds begging for more. She didn’t know what more was, but she knew her body wanted to move underneath his.
When had he straddled her? This time when she rocked her hips, unbidden and primal, she rubbed her very core against the part of him that had frightened her. But it wasn’t scary anymore, it was just what she wanted.
Thick and hot, he pressed against the sensitive bundle of nerves right between her legs. She gasped, letting out a moan that didn’t sound like her at all. Archer rocked against her, throwing his head back and released a groan of his own.
“You are so perfect,” he grumbled as he looked down at her. “So innocent and yet a live wire when I touch you.”
Sure, she’d go with that. Electricity was what she felt playing over her body whenever he touched her, too.
Archer dipped low and sucked the pebbled peak of her breast into his mouth. The wet warmth startled her, almost enough to push him away, until his tongue flicked where his thumbs had been.
Oh god. Oh god, was this what sex felt like? Why hadn’t she done this before?
She pressed her legs together to contain the feeling. But she couldn’t. Her shorts were too tight, they were too abrasive. His hands weren’t on enough of her, she wanted more but didn’t know how to ask for it.
He switched to her other breast, but this time, the sensation couldn’t distract her from his hand sliding down her belly, over her hip, and unto the waistband of her shorts.
“Take them off,” she said with a wiggle. “Off, Archer. Please.”
If he had a trigger word, it was that. He released her nipple with a wet pop, only to slide down her torso and take her shorts with him.
He stared at her naked body as if she were a banquet and he was a starving man. It should have made her nervous, the first time with any man was enough to send butterflies through a girl’s stomach. But she didn’t feel any fear at all. Only impatience.
She reached for him with both hands, opening her fingers wide and beckoning him up. “Come here.”
He moved up her body like a wave. His hands trailed up her calves and thighs. One continued up her side to cup her breast and the other dove between her legs. He swallowed her gasp with a kiss, grunting onto her tongue, “Baby, you are so wet. What are you doing to me?”
She arched against him, pressing her breasts against his chest. She needed more. More of his skin against hers, more of his breath on her skin, more of something to ease the ache between her legs.
His fingers moved. Rubbing, stroking, circling until she saw stars behind her eyes but it still wasn’t enough.
“Please,” she whimpered, rocking her hips against his fingertips.
The incredible pressure between her legs eased when he took his hand away. But his fingers were replaced with a blunt nudge, hard and hot. Velvet touched the slickness between her legs and she was so far gone, she didn’t care or worry about the size.
River shifted her legs and hooked one around his hips. “When did you take your pants off?” she asked, breathlessly kissing his chin.
He chuckled and palmed the small of her back. “You were distracted.”
She damn well was.
With a flex of his hips, he sank into her. Halfway in and so painfully tight she caught her breath. River winced. She tucked her face against his shoulder so he wouldn’t see her discomfort. She knew this would happen, she’d heard about it from other girls but damn it she hadn’t thought it would kill the mood.
He stopped moving, then asked, “River?”
The question in his voice wasn’t one she wanted to answer. She was too old to be a virgin. Too old to have never experienced this before.
Although, considering he hadn’t asked the question, but it still hung between them... perhaps he already knew.
She relaxed her body, easing back and holding onto his shoulders with her hands. Tugging him back down to her lips, she whispered, “Keep going.”
Archer was more gentle this time. He eased back, and she was so glad to be as attracted to him as she was. Though her inner muscles ached, she was slick. His movements were easy as he gently moved in and out, sinking deeper and deeper with each movement.
A bead of sweat dripped down his temple and his jaw ticked with every movement. He was holding himself in check for her. Making sure she was comfortable.
“Archer,” she whispered in his ear, “you can move faster now.”
“I just want to make sure-”
She kissed him. Hungrily devouring his lips until he was breathing just as hard as she was. “Move, please.”
He surged into her. Though still gentle, every stroke was long and deep. She felt him all the way to the center of her body. Too deep yet not deep enough.
Raking her nails down his back, she let out a whimper. Something was coming, something so close that she could taste it but not yet. Not when her body was still sore.
He leaned down and caught her nipple in his mouth again. Bracing himself on one arm, Archer reached between them and circled that spot between her legs that made her shake. Panting now, she whispered, “Yes, that. There. Oh my god, Archer.”
All at once, stars burst behind her eyes. All the magic inside her thrummed with her orgasm, pulsing out of her body and shattering in the air like a wave crashing down upon her.
His breath exploded, and he moved faster. So fast she couldn’t count the strokes as he pounded into her. He threw his head back and let out a masculine groan that made her shiver all over again. Quaking, she held onto him as he emptied himself inside her.
Magic pulsed between them, arcing back and forth from her skin to his. She was filled, not just by his physical body but by blue magic like she’d taken from the well. It filled her to brimming until she could sense the ocean as he did. The deep hum beneath them. The song of a thousand creatures echoing in her ears.
He rolled her body to the side and then slumped onto the cot with her. Archer pulled her into the curve of his body, her hips against his, her back against his chest.
She was boneless. Liquid. No longer human but something made of the ocean itself.
Archer tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her neck. “You, my dear, are spectacular.”
The question still lingered between them, and she was thankful he didn’t ask. Clearly he knew, and she didn’t want to embellish when there was no reason to explain. She’d waited. And she didn’t regret this moment at all.
Dragging his arm over her waist, she held his hand in hers and pressed her lips against his fingers. She wanted to tell him about the glowing emotion in her chest, the deep, exquisite thing that hovered on her tongue.
But she didn’t. She didn’t say the three words that could change all this. River didn’t want to be the woman who claimed love right after sex, she wasn’t the crazy teenager.
Soon, soon she would tell him how she felt.
For now, she was happy to fall asleep in his arms and dream of the days when she never had to be out of them.
20
River rolled over on the cot and groaned. Light speared from the small window, landing directly in her eyes and ripping her out of the pleasant dream.
She’d been on the beach with Archer. He had stroked her sides and whispered words in her ears that she wanted to hear. “I love you,” he’d said. “I love you more than the ocean loves the beach. We are tied together forever, you and I. The first and only love of my life.”
Such pretty words, and ones she didn’t think he’d ever say to her in real life. After all, faeries must fall in love often. He was thousands of years old. T
here was bound to be more women than she’d met in her entire life who he was fond of. Some of them were probably still alive.
She reached for his back. Throughout the night, every time she woke up, she would touch him. His shoulder, his waist, his hair on the pillow. Whatever she could reach to remind her he was still there with her. He was whole and healthy and hers.
For now.
Patting the cot, she found the other side was cold. Not just empty, but frigid as though he had left a long time ago.
Sitting up, she stared around the room. He wouldn’t leave. Not after the night they’d had.
River could still feel the discomfort between her legs. The heated, stretched feeling didn’t bother her because it meant they had been one. He wouldn’t just disappear after they’d connected like that... would he?
The lighthouse was empty. The fire had gone out overnight and was filled with nothing more than dark coals. A smudge of smoke stained the wall above it, but that was it. No clothes. No items. Not even a note.
Maybe he was just outside. She threw on her clothes as quickly as she could find them. Archer liked to swim. He was probably just outside in the water waiting for her.
She had to believe it, although her stomach twisted in fear. Her heart raced in her chest and her palms were too sweaty.
She loved the man. Why hadn’t she just told him when she had the chance? Archer wasn’t the type to be with someone just to have sex. He was too old for that kind of foolish behavior, right?
River threw open the door and made her way down the slick stone stairs to the ocean. She hadn’t seen the dock when they arrived. The rotting wood was daunting, but she’d make the journey if it meant she could see Archer.
After all, he was hers. That’s what he had said last night. Hadn’t he?
Now she worried everything was all twisted in her head. Maybe he hadn’t really cared all that much. Maybe he had just been having fun or taking her up on her offer. Were all his words of romance just pretty words? Not meant for her ears, but for everyone’s?
King of the Sea Page 15