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“I’ll wait until you’re done,” he shouted back.
“I didn’t think you were a prude.”
She splashed around as though having the time of her life.
A prude?
His brows lifted, rising to the challenge. His lips curved as he removed his jacket, then reached over his neck and tugged his undershirt clean off his body. But he stopped short of giving her the satisfaction of seeing him hurry. He folded his clothes neatly, put them next to his bag, then did the same for his breeches.
He strode into the water, ignored the cold temperature, and dove. When he broke for air, a tiny projectile flew at his head. He caught it and opened his palm—soap.
“You smell!” she called, grinning from ear to ear.
He lathered his torso and raised his brows. “You have no problem with invading privacy, do you?”
She shrugged, quite happily watching him scrub. “I figured we should probably start practicing these mately rituals.”
His skin buzzed under her attention, and his blood heated as their gazes clashed.
“Mately is not a word.” He turned his back on her.
“My God, are all fae such killjoys? In my time, women would parade around the beach wearing nothing but a string covering their tits andchichi. It was too hot to be shy.” He glanced over his shoulder to find her smiling wistfully at the sky. “I had the tiniest little two-piece. It was so revealing. It made all the boys wild. My biggest worry then was what to tell my mother about my failed exams. Such simple times, no?”
Leaf pictured Nova wearing such an outfit as she described. Then he imagined her walking out of the sparkling ocean, water sluicing down her sun-kissed skin, forging paths around all her curves, especially in the crack between her mesmerizing bottom.
He attacked his hair with soap and vigor, scrubbing hard. Feminine hands landed on his shoulders and tugged him backward.
He resisted, tensing. “What are you doing?”
“Relax, grumpy. I’m taking you to your shower.”
Another moment of hesitation hit him, then he relaxed. With soap falling in his eyes, he had to trust her. The roaring waterfall grew louder. Nova squealed as the cascade hit them, laughed, and left. A deluge pelted his head and shoulders. He wasn’t sure what she tried to accomplish, but he felt at home. He tilted his face, washed the soap, and enjoyed the therapeutic massage of water hammering knots in his shoulders.
He much preferred the muffled solace here to his responsibilities and failures. His mind returned to the image of Nova walking out of the ocean in his dreams. Then he had the odd sensation of floating, drifting on lazy waves, staring at a clear blue sky. With regret, he stepped out of the cascade and was surprised to see Nova waiting with her brows knitted together.
She blurted, “You were there for a while.”
“Worried?”
“No.” Her brows lowered. “I mean, you’re my ride to the Prime. Of course, I was worried. Plus… who else will have a water fight with me?”
Her fingers flicked and splashed him.
“Playing is for children.”
“Ugh. You’re such a party pooper,Papi.” She flopped back, submerged until just her face showed, and rolled her eyes at the sky. The angle raised her breasts to the light. The dark shadow of her nipples teased him just beneath the surface. “Just have fun already.”
If he didn’t leave now, he’d do something he’d regret. Something in the vicinity of those perky, erect nipples and his mouth.
“Fun is a luxury.” He swam to shore and strode to the horse. His movements weren’t so stiff this time around. The massage had eased the tension from his shoulders. Pity about the stiffness remaining in his cock. But that was why he left the water first.
He was fully clothed and strapping on his baldric as she joined him, also clothed and squeezing out her hair.
“Better?” she asked.
“The water calmed me,” he admitted.
She fiddled with the horse’s unbuckled saddle. “Jace was like that, too. There was a time when he practically lived in the ocean. I’d hear him drag his surfboard down the path between our houses even before the sun was up. I remember admiring his tenacity to wake up every morning and forgo sleep, but I think he needed to let off steam. His parents put a lot of pressure on him.”
