Page 106 of Stolen Magic of the Deep

His blue eyes turn a shade darker with roguish intent as his tongue makes a slow sensual path up to where I need him most. It's a light caress, his tongue reminding me of its presence as it connects with the bundle of nerves below. My head tilts back and euphoria takes me. No words could ever reach the height my mind escapes to. But every time I go too far, he slows down again until I am a rolling tide, building me up and bringing me back down.

Every nerve is alive—the flutter in my stomach that started as a small crescendo is now a constant demand making my fingers tremor as I clutch the bed sheets. Stars dance behind my eyelids and the moans escaping my lips would get me sent to HR if I was back home in San Francisco.

Leaving me drenched and dripping down the sheets, he slides upward, his teeth nipping at my inner thighs, slow and careful. His head lifts ever so slightly and a guttural growl escapes his mouth. With the taste of you on my lips and the feeling of you under me there is no argument on who and where you belong.

A passionate kiss follows after each bite, each one feeling like a claim, trailing up my stomach, and eventually to my chest. His mouth traces over my sensitive skin, drawing patterns that steal the strength from my body. Each breath he leaves behind races through me and goosebumps trail over every inch of my body. His lips meet mine, and the world sparks alive. For one breath, it feels like that kiss—the kiss—the warmth of his mouth, the unexpected tenderness that I remember so vividly. But this is different. Hungrier. As though the dream has taken what was real and twisted it into something I can’t resist. Our mouths move together in a frantic waltz, pant against pant, both afraid of the silence that would follow if we stopped.

The moment stretches, fragile and burning, as he presses closer, until every pulse, every inhale, feels shared. Every inch of his appearance tightens the air around me. He draws closer, heat and intention pressing against me, trapping air in my lungs. Sweat coats him, leaving me achingly aware of how intimately entwined we’ve become. His body covers me entirely as his length presses into me, his pulse echoing against my chest. His lips move, forming words that stir me, yet the sound warps.

Sarah, wake up; we need to go!

The cadence repeats, insistent and jarring. The dream shudders, twisting and unraveling around me, and the heat and closeness fade in an instant. My eyes fly open to the real world, my chest hollow with sudden emptiness.

It was a dream.

He was a dream.

My eyes adjust to the soft light. The Echo Cavern is silent. No whispers, no illusions—only the hollow echo of my own mind. And then I see him.

Defymin hovers beside me, bent low to meet my gaze.

Tears well in my eyes but never fall; the sea claims them before they can escape.

“Is it over?” My voice trembles. “Where's Orion?”

“I'm so sorry, Sarah.” His tone is hurried, strained. “There was an attack on the kingdom’s barrier. They're working to raise it again, but I volunteered to come get you. The threat is already here.”

I don’t have time to think, to breathe. “I want to go to him. He said he would be here when it all ended,” I say, the words breaking free before reason can contain them.

Defymin’s hand tightens around my wrist. “No, you cannot. I have strict orders to bring you somewhere safe—somewhere no one can find you. The threat is coming for you.”

His words strike hard, hollowing my chest.

“Me? Why?” Orion promised he would be here when Current Three was over.

I barely manage a breath before Defymin grips my arm next, pulling me forward. “I don't know that information. We need to go! NOW!” His urgency puts me on edge again.

This is another trick. Brought on by the cavern. I leave the previous hallucination to be entered into this one?

No…

What does this mean? Why is Defymin here?

“If we're going anywhere, it's straight to Orion,” I demand, but Defymin’s grip becomes unbearably tight and my arm loses feeling.

“I cannot do that. I have been given my orders. I must obey them.” He leads us back through the main section of the cavern. It fades behind us, its familiar shadows and muted echoes disappearing as we emerge into the open water. The ocean shifts, cold and wild, the faint glow of the kingdom’s boundaries recede, swallowed by the endless darkness beyond.

Currents tug at me from all sides, carrying the scent of the deep sea and the threat lurking somewhere unseen. The barriers of the kingdom, once a comforting wall of magic and protection, are now far behind, leaving only the vast, empty expanse of the ocean stretching in every direction. I feel small, unshielded. But Defymin pulls me along with unstoppable force.

Orion would never ask Defymin to collect me. He would most definitely do it himself. If not him, then Nyxalene. Something doesn’t seem right.

Each stroke forward is full of fear and concern. Leaving the kingdom’s safety—leaving my newfound home breaks me. The water around us hums with quiet tension, and I can feel every ripple pressing against my skin.

The threat chases me, according to Defymin, but something within me tells me the threat is getting closer with every stroke forward. Which only reminds me of how far I am from Orion.

My gut twists from within. My magic stirs restlessly beneath my skin, tugging and pulling as though it senses something I cannot. Every instinct screams that something is wrong. Dread sharpens into anger.

The emotion burns through me, hot and sharp, eclipsing everything else as I wrench against Defymin’s grip.