Page 100 of Of Shadows and Blood

As if I had a choice in the matter.

“Ahem,” I manage, still facing the jagged mountain. “Do you expect me to also get naked?”

“You can turn around. I’m in the water,” Cedric laughs and I hear the water moving behind me. Slowly, I peek over my shoulder. The steam luckily provides some modesty, but I know my blushed cheeks aren’t helping the situation.

“Are you going to get in? Or are you going to be a prude?”

I scoff, fully turning around and folding my arms. “Now I’m a prude? I just didn’t— you know what? Okay.”

I begin kicking off my shoes and unbuttoning the front of my gown. Just as I almost make it down the front, I look up and notice Cedric’s stare. He looks like a man deprived of all desires the way he’s focused on me. His eyes read like fire and I shake off the goosebumps forming.

“Privacy, please.”

He nods and turns around to face the forest. The sun is slowly setting over the treeline, which colors the sky and rocks a gorgeous magenta. With his back turned to me I pause, taking in the view entirely. I’m still working on my clothing but his form is eye-catching, and I try to be demure but he really is exquisite.

I test the water of the pool with my toe and nearly groan with excitement. Fiona’s words ring in the back of my mind. She said I needed heat, right?

Slowly, I sink into the water and let it envelop me entirely like a warm hug. My muscles tense at first but relax with every second I’m submerged.

“You can turn around now.”

“Separate pools?” Cedric asks coyly. I relax into the water, resting my neck on the smooth ledge. The cool air around is a refreshing balance.

“I like my own space.”

“Hmm, I can see that.”

Choosing my own pool was purposeful. Last night at Baron’s party was already a lot. Cedric and I… we continue to have these passionate moments as if a fire was lit beneath us and the only reprieve is to find each other. It’s also not just about intimacy. Finding each other sexually can be a biological need but we both know, or perhaps just I do, that this is growing deeper.

Deeper than most care to swim.

“What’s going on in that brain of yours?”

Cedric’s words bring me back to the present and I smile at him through the steam. I wade over to the edge between us and rest my cheek on the cool earth. Small grains of rock press into my cheek, not painfully though, just a reminder that I am here. That I am present.

Elivienne lives within me and we are not separate. We are one.

Cedric comes to the edge too and I catch his gaze, carefully lifting my cheek from the earth. Acting upon instinct, he reaches out and brushes the small grains of rock from my skin softly as if I were a delicate sculpture.

I’m not breathing.

Upon my own instinct, I close the distance between us and push up onto the ledge more fully to capture his kiss. Cedric stands out of the water and grabs my waist, lifting me and bringing me to face him fully. My body slides off the smooth stone and into the water with him. Cedric deftly turns us around so he is seated on the natural bench. I lift my legs around his waist and everything is feverish. I claw his back and hold him just as close to my body as he holds me.

“Liv,” he murmurs into my lips as he continues down my body. He comes back to the top and captures my mouth once more as he picks my body up. The cold air hardens my nipples and I moan into his mouth at the pressure of him beneath me.

“Say my name,” Cedric groans, slowly lowering us into the water. He finds a shelf of rock and sits on it as I straddle him.

“Cedric,” I whisper without needing further command. I could say his name over and over again without tiring. It is one I am more familiar with each day.

“Again.”

My hands roam across his chest hair and perspiration. We’re naked against each other, our sexes one thrust from being completely involved.

“Cedric.”

His hands find my behind, fully cupping each cheek with his large hands. Each squeeze is like fire and every nerve in my body begs for him. I reach in between us, slowly approaching his member.

“Don’t test me any more, Liv. I beg of you,” he grits between his teeth as I further my approach. He hisses when I finally reach him, the snow slowly falling and disappearing immediately upon contact with our skin. I stroke once. Twice. Our lips moving feverishly, his hands roaming my body with an eagerness I have not yet witnessed.