Leif would be back soon with Cai, and then there would be much to plan for. But for now, there was no hurry to get back, and she preferred the solitude where she could be alone with her thoughts. She saw him in her head, and although she had never seen him with his shirt off, she imagined Erik’s muscles to be defined and bulging. She tried to imagine what it would feel like to have those arms wrapped around her.
Brynlee let her imagination run even further as she slid her body into the lake, not caring that her dress was getting soaked and clinging to her like a shrink-wrapped second skin. She waded out into the water and thought about what the rest of his body might look like and might feel like. She imagined what it would be like to have him between her legs. Her dress stuck to her as she walked along the bottom of the lake, and it made it difficult for her to move, so she pulled it up over her head, which required great effort since it was clinging to her body and tangling up with her mess of hair. She set her dress on top of the water and watched as it floated toward the bank. The light had faded, and the moon was now shining; she felt as though her skin was being bathed in a creamy moonlight as it shone into the water. It was peaceful and relaxing and sensual. At least here, in her mind, she could do the things she dreamed of doing. She could imagine being with Erik and having magical powers bestowed upon her by the moonlight.
“Aren’t you cold?” a voice called from the land behind her.
Brynlee whipped around without even thinking about the fact that she was naked, and found herself staring at Erik, who was, in return, staring at her.
Her mouth dropped open, but no words came out.
“Too cold to talk even?” he teased.
“No,” she said as she acted annoyed at his intrusion to cover up her obvious embarrassment. “I’m not cold at all. The water is pleasing, and I was enjoying a moment alone.”
“Oh, I see. I’m sorry I bothered you then. I’ll leave you to it.”
Shit, she thought.
“No wait,” Brynlee called as he turned around to leave. She tried to think of something to say that would make him stay. “What are you doing here?”
Erik turned back around and came to stand near the edge of the water. “I noticed you leave, and when you didn’t return, I thought I should come looking for you.”
He noticed me leave?
“Why? Because you thought I would be incapable of fending for myself? Or that I might get lost in the forest at night?” She was extremely convincing of seeming annoyed and displeased at being looked after.
“No, because I thought you might need someone to talk to.”
She felt like this was some sort of trap. That maybe Astra had sent him to check on her or something. Surely, he couldn’t actually care about what was going on inside her head.
“What made you think I needed someone to talk to?” she asked as she waded closer to the side of the lake where Erik stood. Her dress had floated off somewhere, and she was too focused on him to care where it went.
“I get the feeling you don’t get heard a lot. And if it were me, I would want to be heard. It would upset me not to feel like I had a voice.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “It is quite upsetting.”
“My turn for a question,” he said as his smile flashed in the moonlight. “Why are you naked?”
Brynlee was thankful for the dim evening light to cover up the flushed cheeks that she felt spreading onto her face. She didn’t want to tell him the truth, which was that she had been thinking about him, and somehow it resulted in her dress being taken off.
“Does it bother you?” she asked instead.
“Perhaps.”
She was almost to the edge of the lake now, almost directly in front of where he was standing. His reply made her uncomfortable. She wondered what perhaps meant. Did it mean she wasn’t pretty enough for him to want to look at? Or that he still felt she was too young, even though she was technically an adult now? She didn’t know what to say in retort to that, so instead, she started to back away. She wished she could just hide beneath the water until he was gone.
It nearly made her scream from surprise when he stepped into the water with all his clothes on and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her toward him, and her breath stopped in her throat. She had never been this close to him before. He was touching her, holding onto her wrist with one hand and looking at her with eyes so close to her face that she could see the tiny specks of color within them.
“What—what are you doing?” she stammered breathlessly. The water was just below her ribcage, and she felt the coarseness of his shirt rub against her breasts.
“Looking at you,” he said as his stare darted between her mouth and eyes. “Do you want me to stop looking at you?”
“No.”
They stood against each other, breathing heavily through parted mouths. His grip on her wrist was gentle, and his other hand reached slowly to the side of her ribcage as he ran his fingers down along her body.
“Are you just going to look at me?” she asked. She could almost taste his breath on her mouth; he tasted of fresh rain and woodsy herbs.
“No.”
He put his mouth to hers as he said the word, and the rush of his tongue against hers was intoxicating. She wanted more and twisted her tongue inside of his mouth. Erik released her wrist and cupped his hand around her breast as he unfastened his pants with his other hand. He lifted her featherweight body in the water as he brought his engorged cock out from his loosened pants and gently slid her body onto it.
Brynlee moaned with a delightful pleasure as she felt him push into her. He lifted her up and down as he pressed inside of her and kissed her mouth and neck and every space of skin on her body that he could reach. It was her first time, and he held out long enough to make sure she was fulfilled before he came inside of her and called upon all of his strength not to buckle to his knees at the intense feeling. He held her to his body as he stepped backward toward the land and pulled them both up, him onto his back and Brynlee on top of him. They laid on the side of the bank together, naked and pleasured under the glow of the moon.
She was nervous now. It had all happened so quickly, and although it was every bit as wonderful as she had imagined, and she wanted Erik badly; she didn’t know what would happen now. Was it done, and now things went back to the way they were, never to have that happen again? Was she just something beautiful and naked in the lake that he took because he knew she wanted him?
“What is it? Erik asked her.
“How did you know I was in thought?”
“I could tell by your breathing against my chest. You’re holding your breath, why?”
“What happens now?” she asked nervously. “I mean, now that we’ve done that. What happens with…us.” She hesitated when she said the last word for fear that he would think her to be presumptuous.
“Do you want to be with me, Brynlee?” he asked as he put his arm behind his head so that he could tilt down to see her face.
“Yes.”
“Then, you shall never have to worry about not being seen or heard again.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lopt was pleasantly surprised to see his son show up in Alfheim. He was at first concerned that something had happened, but when Leif told him that Norna knew of a way to restore humanity and that he was sent to get Cai to come help, Lopt was relieved and happy for it. Cai and Celeste had been outside the palace, working on clearing the city of all lingering remnants caused by the plague. It had been a terribly difficult few days of clearing the streets and homes of fallen light elves that had lost their lives to the dark sorcery, and now that they had gotten past the worst part and properly buried their dead, they were determined to move on without the shadow of grief and sorrow looming over the city further.