That night, they stopped near a clear lake so everyone could swim and clean up, for they would be staying in an inn the next night, if all went as planned. First impressions counted for a lot, especially when you were a stranger in a strange town. Travelers arriving weary was expected, but smelly and dirty wasn’t quite as socially acceptable. Not if they wanted to stay in one of the finer inns, which Zallra had told them to expect. She was taking them to a Jinn-owned hostelry, she’d told them. One that catered to what passed for the upper class this far out in the countryside.
They arrived on the shores of the giant lake just as the sun began its descent. It took little time, by now, to make camp, so Lilly was able to scramble down to the water for a quick swim before all the light was gone. Shilayla and Zallra went off in dragon form to hunt, and the last Lilly had seen Luc, he was busy collecting firewood.
She stripped quickly and put her dirty clothing on a nearby rock. First, she would swim out into the lake a bit and enjoy the cool water on her skin. She found it incredibly relaxing, even if the water was a bit cold. She found a spot by that rock where she could stay mostly submerged while she worked on washing her clothes. She hadn’t packed laundry soap with her, but the scrubweed growing near the shoreline in abundance, plus the clear water, was good enough to get her clothes smelling fresh again. She scrubbed her clothing first, then herself, after carefully laying her clothes on the rock to drip as best they could. She’d take them back to the fire later, and hopefully, laying them out near it for a few hours would have them all dry by morning.
She had just enough time for another leisurely swim before the sun went down completely, so she struck out for deeper water, loving the feel of it sliding against her bare skin. As she turned and floated lazily back toward shore, she heard splashing and looked over to see Luc coming toward her. She grew a bit alarmed because it didn’t look like he knew how to swim, and he was heading for deeper water.
“Stay there!” she shouted to him as she started making better time back toward the shore.
Thankfully, he heard her and stopped where he was, standing about chest-high in the water. She swam closer and saw the concern on his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked more gently as she approached him.
“I thought you were in trouble,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.
“Why would you think that?” She tread water a few feet from where he stood to preserve her own modesty. “I was just having a nice swim. Don’t you like to swim?”
He shook his head. “There are no lakes under the Veil,” he finally answered. “My people do not swim. We have no place to do so.”
“Oh,” she said, realizing he’d been truly worried for her safety. It was touching. “I didn’t realize.” She paddled a bit closer. “Where I grew up, there was a lake like this one, and all the children learned how to swim at a young age. It was safer for all if everyone had the skill. And in the Winter, sometimes, we would skate on the surface with blades on our feet, if the ice grew thick enough.”
Luc stepped closer to her, his expression hard to read. “I thought you could die out there, with no way to get back,” he admitted in a rough voice, reaching for her.
His tone touched her heart, and she couldn’t deny the need to comfort him. That he’d been so worried for her welfare had to mean he cared…just a little. Didn’t it? She couldn’t stay away when he needed comfort. Her heart betrayed her better sense, and she flowed into his arms, pressing her naked body against him.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, pressing her cheek to his as he lifted her in his arms and squeezed her tight.
His wet clothes were between them, but that didn’t matter. She could still feel the heat of him, the strength in those arms that held her so tight.
“Lilly,” he whispered near her ear. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I won’t. I’m sorry,” she whispered back.
“I would go mad if I lost you.”
The raw emotion in his words sent a pang through her heart. She hugged him closer and lifted her head to meet the kiss she wanted so desperately. Why had she tried so hard to stay away from this amazing man? Surely, the future would take care of itself. They were on a quest that could end in war and either, or both, of their deaths. Shouldn’t she enjoy this while they had it and worry about what came next when that time arrived?
Throwing caution to the wind, she gave in to the demands of her body, which was clamoring for more of him. That single night together had not been enough. Could never be enough. She was desperate for more of his loving and wanted so much to give him what he seemed to need, as well.
Reassurance mixed with the passion that never seemed to die between them. Even when she’d been trying to keep her distance, it would flare at the most unexpected of times. All he had to do, it seemed, was turn toward her in that way of his, and her body would burst into flames, remembering the way they had been together at the Lair. There was no soft bed here, as there had been in the dragonfolk’s domain, but the cool water was another sensation against her skin, and the heat of Luc against her front with the water at her back made her yearn in a whole new way.
Their kiss deepened, and Luc didn’t object when her fingers went to work on the wet fastenings of his shirt. Far from objecting, she could feel one of his hands between them, working on the closure of his pants. She did what she could to help him as their kiss went on and on, turning from hot to molten as the temperature around them seemed to rise and rise.
Urgency grew as the wet clothing stubbornly refused to open, but she kept at it, and before too long, she had his shirt open and was able to rub her hands against his skin. So satisfying. His muscled torso was one of her favorite things to touch. She loved the way his muscles bunched and released under her fingers. The strength of him made her breath catch.
Finally, he was able to free his length from the wet leather of his pants, and he wasted no time capturing her hips in his hands. He looked into her eyes as he drew her closer.
“Do you want this, my love? Do you want me?” he asked.
Her heart leapt at his seemingly unconscious words. He’d called her his love. Did he mean it? Or was it just an expression? Either way, she hugged those words close to her heart and nodded.
“I need you, Luc,” she whispered back, struggling to get closer to him in the cool water. She was almost surprised that steam wasn’t rising around them, heated by their fiery passion.
He took her at her word and brought her hips closer under the water. It was a long, slippery slide that joined them together. At last.
The earth seemed to pause for a moment in its rotation, the world holding its breath for what would come next. Then, things began to move again as Luc rocked her in the water, sliding her body on his over and over.
It was fast. It was urgent. And it was beautiful. The most beautiful joining she’d ever experienced. And the wettest. She’d never made love in water before. Had she known the abundance of sensations it brought, she’d have found a way to try it sooner.
They clung together, their heads above water, the rest of them surrounded by the cool slickness while their bodies strained together, producing a heat all their own. The water lapped and eddied around them as their motions grew more urgent, straining toward something they had only ever found together. Luc held her as Lilly floated ever nearer the pinnacle that was just out of reach.