“This is a rainforest,” Tarrah said, gazing around with a haunted look in her eyes. “We don’t have them in Tir Na Nog. I never thought I’d see one with my own two eyes.”
“A rainforest,” Reyna murmured, gazing around once again. The name was fitting, she decided. It was so much denser than a normal forest and thick with wet and mud. They had only just climbed from the pool, and already she could feel beads of perspiration on her brow.
Nollaig had scrunched her cloak between her hands and was doing her damnedest to wring out all the wet. She was not succeeding. The material stubbornly clung to her skin, revealing a very muscular form beneath. Reyna was not surprised. Nollaig was one of the strongest fae she’d ever met.
“Now what?” Nollaig muttered. “I don’t see a god lurking in the bushes to bestow world-shattering power on anyone who asks.”
“We need to follow the river downstream,” Tarrah announced. “You see how it slopes downward? We keep going until we can’t go down anymore. That’s the lowest point in all the world, and great powers can be found deep within the pool.”
Nollaig froze, her hand wrapped around an oozing scrap of cloth. “More swimming?”
“Only for the one who wishes to gain the powers,” Tarrah said with vacant eyes, her ominous tone twisting unease through Reyna’s gut.
The river stretched on for miles. They crunched through the thick brush, always keeping close to the riverbank, until the skies turned grey with twilight. After they set up camp, Nollaig sat drying by the fire while Tarrah went on the hunt for some meat.
Reyna took the opportunity to go for another swim to rinse off the grime from the days spent travelling through the shadow lands. She grabbed a bar of soap she’d packed and dove into the cool, crisp river, sighing in contentment. It had been a very long time since she had felt the soothing embrace of the chill. Letting her eyes drift shut, she spread her arms wide and floated happily in the Inishfall river.
A loud splash broke her out of her reverie. She opened her eyes to find a grinning Lorcan swimming toward her, a familiar glint in his dark as night eyes. “You didn’t think I would stay at camp when I knew you were out here naked, did you?”
She flushed beneath his gaze, even after all their time spent wrapped up in each other’s arms. “I didn’t think you’d like how cold this river is.”
Furrowing his brows, he waded closer. “It’s not cold at all. In fact, this river is one of the warmest I’ve ever felt.”
“To me, it feels as cool as the pools in the southern regions of the Ice Court,” she said with a smile. “How odd. It’s almost as though the river makes us feel whatever we want to feel.”
“This place is steeped in magic,” he said, though his face remained troubled.
“Isn’t that a good thing, Lorcan?” she asked, swimming toward him. “It’s proof that magic still exists in this world. Maybe it means we can find a way to stop the Ruin and a way to bring magic back to Tir Na Nog.”
“There is power in these lands, but that does not mean we could have it for ourselves.”
“But isn’t that why we’re here?” she asked. “To take the power so that we can fight the Ruin?”
A slight smile crested his lips, rivulets of water trailing down his cheek. “I don’t believe it will be that easy, but I love that your determination never wavers, even in the face of a power none of us understand.”
“You love it, do you?” she whispered, cheeks growing hot.
“I love your determination, your stubbornness, your ferocity. I even love your impulsiveness. Because it’s what makes you you.”
Her heart thundered. “And I love your protectiveness, your strength, your choice to protect innocents, regardless of their court. I even love that you’re so easily annoyed. Because that is what makes you Lorcan Rothach.”
“Easily annoy me now,” he growled, pulling her against his slick chest. Her peaked nipples brushed against his pecs, and a sudden arousal tightened her core. She slid her arms around his neck and hooked her thighs around his waist.
She gasped when his throbbing length pushed inside of her, stretching her wide. His mouth tangled with hers, his desperate need a reflection of the desire within her own soul. They moved in rhythm, the waters raging around them as their bodies crashed together.
“I thought you wanted me to annoy you,” she gasped as he thrusted inside her once again with an animalistic growl on his lips.
“I just want you, Reyna Darragh.” He drew back and stared into her eyes before kissing her fiercely. “Always. I never want to let you go. Never again.”
His mouth dropped to her breast, his tongue lashing out. A moan rose up inside of her as he sucked and teased, bringing her body so close to the ultimate release. The waters were a whirlwind around them now as their need became frantic, raw, and more real than anything she had ever known.
With slick hands, he cupped her arse and pulled her against him in a crash. Pleasure ripped through her, lighting up her eyes with a million stars. Her climax throbbed through her as his own growl joined her moans. They came together, their bodies becoming one.
When they had finished, Reyna happily sighed. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek rested on his shoulder. With a murmur, he kissed her forehead, and his heartbeat pounded between them. She could feel every thump in her breasts.
“You might have been right about something,” he said with a smile, pulling back to gaze into her face.
She arched a brow. “I don’t hear that very often from you.”
“This place isn’t so bad from this viewpoint.”
“No, it’s not.” She grinned. “So, you’re admitting that you were wrong.”
“I’m saying you were right.”
“Which means you were wrong.”
He chuckled. “If I say I was wrong, then you’ll never let me hear the end of it.”
“Now that you aren’t wrong about.”
“I have an idea,” he suddenly said, his voice going soft.
“You have my full attention.” Although, with their bodies wrapped so tightly together, and the slick waters still rushing between them, she was beginning to get distracted by a certain ache between her thighs again. It had only been a few moments, and she was already wanting more.
She did not see how she could ever not want more.
“When all of this is over, perhaps we should find a place like this. Somewhere calm and free. Somewhere away from all the horrors of war.”
She smiled and snuggled back into the crook between his shoulder and neck. “It really is a nice idea.”
“I don’t mean it as an idea or a nice thing to think about.” He squeezed her tighter. “I want this for us. For you and me. Otherwise, I fear the world will try to tear us apart again.”
“It won’t,” she whispered, her heart aching. “And you know we can’t. Our world is too full of turmoil for us to walk away from it.”
“Maybe not now, but one day,” he insisted. “When the wars are done and Tir Na Nog knows peace. We can find somewhere for us. Our kingdoms won’t need us then.”
“I fear Tir Na Nog will always be at war,” she said sadly. “But I will make a promise to you, Lorcan Rothach. When our kingdoms know peace, I will follow you to the ends of the world.”