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She saw through him too easily, broke down his barriers like they were built on shifting sands. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to hold her at arm’s length. Even the very thought of being away from her tore at him, a thin knife slicing his heart.
Why was he so drawn to her?
Before he’d known what he was doing, he’d stepped to the water’s edge. Isaiah couldn’t see Rukia in the depths, but he could feel her presence underneath the surface.
For the first time in a long time, he gave into the juvenile urge that beat through his veins. Slinging off his shirt and stepping out of his shoes, he made his way into the clear waters.
The lake lapped at his legs as he blithely walked towards where Rukia swam. He estimated it was no deeper than fifteen feet, but the sun had already begun to set. The lack of visibility rendered it near-black, keeping the Elemental’s whereabouts a secret.
Sighing, he swam to the middle point of the lake and floated on his back. At some point, he closed his eyes and let the calm of the waters lap at his frame.
It wasn’t long until Rukia’s fingers snaked up around his waist and pulled him under the surface. The flash fear of drowning heightened in the split second that followed, and he momentarily resisted. But here, in her element, Rukia was far more confident than even a Raeth sovereign.
He realized the uselessness of his resistance near immediately, ceasing the futile movements. As for his fleeting fear of drowning, it was laughable. Unless they stayed underwater for more than an hour, Isaiah wouldn’t die from lack of oxygen.
Rukia appeared in front of him seconds later, her dark hair a halo around her head. Smiling at him, her legs curled around his waist before her hands cupped his jaw.
Through the darkened water, she closed the distance between their lips and captured his with stormy passion. Even under the surface of water, fire raced through his veins at the contact, immediately seizing her small waist with his arms.
Passion exploded on his tongue as he shivered against the force of his attraction for her, crushing her body to his. Playfully, she bit his lip and pushed away from him.
She was grace in motion in her element, her body accustomed to the water in ways he would never be. Under its surface, she was queen, ruling supreme.
Isaiah very rarely felt vulnerable, but here, he knew she had the upper hand. Yet, it didn’t bother him or cause him trepidation.
Because somehow, he knew she’d never hurt him.
The water Elemental floated back to him, the cool liquid a sweet caress of sensation as it swirled around him. Her teeth scrapped over the sensitive flesh of his neck seconds later, the exotic kiss electrifying his blood. Rukia arched into him, her fingers rooting through his short hair as her cheek gently pressed against his.
And in the next second, they were shooting upwards, his body dragging through the waters as she propelled them as easily as breathing.
They broke the surface in unison, his eyes locked with hers. Even as he dragged air into his lungs, she captured his lips once more with breathtaking intimacy.
This time, it wasn’t ferocity and fervor. It was tenderness. The fullness of her lips caressed his as her palm cupped his chin. He wasn’t in control; she was.
And for once, it didn’t matter.
As she fell asleep that night in the gentle comfort of his arms, Isaiah felt content in a way he’d never experienced before. When she was near, the dull ache buried deep in his chest abated. The crushing solitude he’d experienced since he’d begun his life as a sovereign was finally counterbalanced.
And that was when he felt it: the burgeoning pulse of the mating bond.
The clarity of the sensation hit him like a ton of bricks, the ghost of a connection whispering to him from inside his mind, inside his soul. Asleep in his arms, locked against his chest, Rukia slept.
Finally, his soul cried,he wasn’t alone.
Primal terror made his skin crawl. Another voice started screamed in warning. Would he risk her for his own selfish gain? Could he willingly place her in danger for eternity? He’d unintentionally killed before, and he couldn’t imperil Rukia, no matter how much his soul sung for her.
Stopping this now was the only logical choice he could make.
***
Isaiah stared at the cathedral ceiling of his bedroom, his mind spinning. Rukia lay curled into him, still asleep in the early morning. The mating bond, still nothing more than a whisper at the back of his mind, seemed to swoon at her nearness.
He’d been captivated by her since they had met a year ago at the original Peace Accords summit. He’d known then that she was special. Unique.
But he’d never fathomed that she washis.
A knife twisting in his gut at the inevitability of what was to come, Isaiah closed his arms around the woman who lay snuggled into his side. There was a rightness about her presence here that was indescribable, profound.
