Sapphire Falls (The Lost Realm #2)

24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Avery

I t felt good to be in the fresh air, hiking with Savine into the forests surrounding Orofine. Spending the morning working on her magic with Hyacinth had left her restless, rather than fatigued, like if she didn’t get out of the King’s Residence, she’d lose her mind. The spellwork she practiced for healing salves had been mentally exhausting, but her inactivity over the last few days had her itching to move her body. When Savine searched her out in the healers rooms, she’d been more than happy to slip away and join him outside.

Avery knew Savine was taking shorter strides to let her set the pace, and it made her smile, knowing that he’d even adjust his gait to keep her comfortable. She was dressed in her fleece jacket over Latian pants and a beaded shirt, plus her hiking boots. It was a funny mishmash of an outfit, but she still felt thankful to have her jacket. The late autumn air was crisp with the promise of frost on the horizon, and Avery wondered what it would be like when this mountainous canyon was covered in feet of snow. Already most of the underbrush had shed their fall colors.

“So, where are we headed?” she asked.

“To an ancient grove of cedars up the mountain. I’m going to speak with the trees about Nephel. I want to ensure your sister is safe. Also, I’d like to find out if the rumors of an alliance with Goldoth to the south are true.”

After finding out how Morgan had taken out several fae and fled back to Nephel, Avery wasn’t really sure Savine should worry about her sister. Clearly she could take care of herself, and despite Avery’s attempts to help her, Morgan seemed set on choosing her own path.

“Why do you visit this specific group of trees to talk to?” Avery asked. They were passing through a forest dense with trees—why not choose some closer to Orofine?

“Other than spending a few precious moments with my Little Flower in a day filled with tedium?” Savine looked back at her and winked. Avery’s heart fluttered at the small gesture. “The trees have their own sense of hierarchy, just as the fae do, and these cedars are often willing to speak candidly when I seek them out. It’s where I was going the night of the prophecy. But to be more specific, younger trees are wilder, less willing to speak to the fae. These cedars are well informed and will give me the information I seek.”

Avery looked ahead up the trail and saw steam rising through the forest.

“Makes sense. Is that a hot spring up ahead?”

Savine quirked a grin in her direction. “It is. Would you like to get in?”

“Of course, I love hot springs! But do you have time to soak? Don’t you need to get back to the tree talk and boring meetings?”

Savine hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty before his face turned resolute and he reached for her hand. “Ave, you’re alive and back with me. Fuck all the meetings. If you want to get in the hot springs, I’m getting in with you.”

Avery leaned against Savine, feeling the hard planes of his muscles against her body. His rain-drenched forest scent surrounded her.

“You weren’t planning this, were you? Using speaking to the forest as an excuse for us to sneak away from the treehouse so we could seal our bond in the hot springs?”

Savine’s smile was so big, he seemed lighter, so unlike the hard, bitter man he was when she first met him. “I’d actually planned for this to happen tomorrow night in our bedroom. But, I like the idea of sneaking away from the burdens in the residence to bond with you better.”

Savine wrapped his arms around her, cupping her ass as he leaned in to kiss her. He pulled back and Avery thought she could get lost in his soft blue eyes and the rippling motion of his essence; the way his wind tousled hair fell effortlessly around the crown on his head.

She was his, completely, fully and he was hers.

She’d never had someone to call her own. It was comforting and terrifying all at once, knowing that agreeing to this was a lifetime commitment.

Avery had always shirked commitment, yet here she was, jumping head first into this commitment without a doubt in her mind about her decision. It made her heart race and her body feel grounded all at the same time.

“You are everything I ever dreamed or hoped for. I’m yours, Savine. I never knew I was waiting my whole life for you, but I was, and now that I have you I’m never letting you go,” Avery said.

Savine’s eyes dilated, and with an infinitesimal nod of his head he was scooping her into his arms, carrying her to the water’s edge. He held her tight enough that she thought she might bruise where his hands dug possessively into her flesh. The bond between them bucked and writhed, and Avery relished in the feeling of his desire for her down their bond. Heat pooled between her legs and her own desire pulsed down their bond.

Savine let out a deep groan as he placed her feet on the ground.

“You can feel how bad I want you, can’t you?” Avery asked as she began stripping off her jacket, then her shirt. The crisp air stung her exposed flesh, cooling her heated skin.

“I can feel it. I can smell it. Abyss damn me, Avery, I want to be buried in your need for me,” Savine growled.

His eyes took in her exposed body as she dropped her pants, standing before him in only her underwear. When he reached for her, she gently pushed him back and slid out of the last remaining garments, exposing all of herself to him. She stepped back, letting her feet hit the cool flat rock of the hot spring’s edge.

“I told you to come and get me at the lake. Well, Savine. Come and get me now, and never let go.” She stepped from the flat rock ledge and into the hot water, letting the steam surround her. The pool was deeper than she’d expected, up to her breasts, but it was lined with a stone bench for sitting and resting, or in their case, having sex. She slid away from the bench, feeling the granite sand bottom beneath her feet.

Savine stood on the edge, his erection straining at his leather pants, but he didn’t move as he watched her in the water. The last green ferns of the season covered Savine’s boots and moss covered rocks glistened in the steam from the springs.

“Just look at you. You’re beautiful,” Savine said, his voice husky. “I never let myself hope for this—but here you are. And you are mine .” The essence under his skin swirled as he tugged off his clothing. In quick, steady movements, he was bared to her. He was the beautiful one. So unlike any human man she’d ever been with. His body was a work of art, muscles stacked on muscles and accentuated by that pulsing, shifting essence. In one stride, Savine entered the pool while also letting his crown sink away.

He submerged himself under the water, swimming across the bottom of the pool toward her. Through the clear water, Avery saw Savine reach out and grab her ankle, pulling her toward him. She couldn’t help but laugh and scream as he pulled her down into his arms and under the hot water. She found his face and kissed him hard. The feel of his body surrounding her, with the warm, soothing water was pure bliss.

When they surfaced, Avery gasped for a breath and clung to Savine, her arms wrapped around his neck. All the hard edges of his fae features were softened into a silly grin. She let out a squeal of laughter at the smile on his face.

He laughed with her. “Goddess above, Avery, I never knew loving a person could be so… so fun. But you bring that out in me. This part of me that I didn’t even know I had. Is it a human thing?”

Avery wrapped her legs around Savine’s waist, feeling the hard length of his erection between them, as she traced his essence while he held her close in his strong arms. “It’s an us thing, old man.”

Savine knelt deeper into the water. Its heat drifted around them as he slowly brought them across the pool and set Avery down on the bench at the water’s edge. Savine worked his hands down her side, squeezing and teasing her flesh as he explored her. Avery’s nipples pebbled, and she knew it wasn’t from the chill in the autumn air. She felt the connection between them tighten, like their bond was this living thing, demanding they unite their bodies and souls. She thought about all the love, all the need she had for him, and sent it down that mysterious connection between them.

Savine let out a moan as he locked his eyes on hers. “Avery. Goddess damn me, your arousal is consuming me.”

With a slosh of the water, Savine caged his arms around her and pressed his mouth against hers. She tilted her head back and opened her mouth to him, tongues crashing together. Avery kissed him and touched the invisible scars on his back, touching each one in tandem to her deepening kisses to erase the years of pain, of trauma, that he’d experienced. She kissed him for the new beginnings for both of them. He didn’t say it, but between them, she could feel the barriers he’d built up around himself over the years begin to crumble.

Savine’s hand swept up to Avery’s peaked breast, his warm hands heating her cooled skin and Avery couldn’t stop herself from arching into his touch. He squeezed and teased her sensitive skin. Damn, she wanted to melt into him right now and he hadn’t even touched between her thighs.

She grabbed Savine’s wrist and guided his hand down to her heated center. Savine growled as he dipped a finger into her.

“Fuck, Ave, I can feel how slick you are for me, even in the water.”

Before she could reply, Savine grabbed her by the ass and set her on the cool, flat stone surrounding the pool. She shuddered at the sting of it on her hot, aching body, but she didn’t protest, didn’t fight the chilly embrace against her heat. Savine knelt before her on the bench as he reverently spread her thighs. The adoration mingled with lust in his eyes was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She’d never known love like this.

Avery leaned back on her elbows, her arms sinking into the soft fronds of a fern, and spread her thighs farther, letting him take in all of her. She could feel his low hum vibrate off the stones as he tightened his grip on her thighs.

“Don’t make me beg. I’ve waited long enough for you,” Avery moaned.

Savine’s hands roamed up to the apex of her thighs, stroking her clit in a way that made her shake. “No Ave, I want to feel you come for me first.”

He slid one finger inside her, stroking and touching her as she squirmed against his hold. Finally, he added another finger into her center and pumped into her slowly at first, but increasing his pace with each heartbeat, each pulse of their bond. She was already feeling the pressure of her orgasm building at the base of her spine, but when Savine stroked her clit with his thumb, her body responded like he’d hit her with a jolt of lightning. Coiling tension threatened to burst out of her.

“Savine,” she shouted, like a thunderclap, Avery plummeted into her orgasm.

“Ave, you’re mine.” Savine’s voice was raspy and his essence bucked across his skin. Even as she was lost in her own release, she knew Savine was experiencing it with her through their bond.

His mouth was on hers, and Avery bit and sucked down on his bottom lip, drawing blood as her body crested with wave after wave of bliss, Savine still gently caressing her inner walls.

When Avery opened her eyes, she saw her soulmate staring at her with such tenderness that it made a knot form in her throat.

Savine slipped his arms around Avery and guided her into the heat of the pool, positioning her on his lap, legs straddling either side of him. Avery could feel his hard cock pressing between them. She reached her hand down, guiding his length forward and pumped his cock, causing a moan to escape his lips.

His voice was rough as he said, “You are the best thing to happen to me, Avery Hollis. I am still broken and will undoubtedly make mistakes, but I want nothing more than to have you at my side, as my partner and mate.”

Avery smiled, twining her free hand into his hair. “I see you, Savine. I see all of you and there’s nothing I don’t want. You are this lost piece of myself that I didn’t even know I was missing, but now that it’s here I don’t think I could survive without it.”

With that, Avery guided Savine’s cock to her center and slowly slid down, stretching around him as she took in every inch of him. For a moment, they just looked at each other, and Avery could have stayed in that moment forever. Then the tension between them built, the insatiable need to ride him caught up to her. Avery rolled her hips and Savine responded, meeting her movements beat for beat. She leaned down and kissed the swirling essence along his neck.

As they moved together, the bond between them tugged and writhed, pulling and sweeping them closer until Avery thought she could die from the need to meld herself into Savine’s body.

More.

She needed more of him, all of him.

Body and soul.

As if he knew it too, Savine arched up, gripping her in his strong arms as he turned them, laying Avery down on the cool stone and bed of moss behind them. He brought his hard, firm body down to her, putting just enough of his weight on her that she felt herself become fully consumed in him.

“Ave, I never thought…” Savine said, emotion on his face. Before he could finish his sentence, he kissed her. All of his need for her, all of her own desire to share this life with him reached a crescendo as Savine’s thrusts built into a frenzy of desire.

She was so close to the edge when the taut bond that had been tugging for weeks burst open between them. Avery crested over the edge and came with Savine’s name on her lips. He followed, burying his face into her neck as her inner muscles pulsed around his pumping cock.

Then, the bond fell loose. Brilliant colors filled Avery’s vision as she and Savine were transformed into light and brilliance. She clung to Savine as the final spasms of their release flowed through them. They were both glowing in a soft green light. She touched Savine’s chest and the light softened, sinking into his skin and revealing his essence below.

“That was… That was life changing,” Avery panted.

Savine nodded, stroking her cheek and she could actually feel the strange glowing light soak into her face.

“Look at you. Glowing with our bond.” His thumb stroked her lips before he took her in a soft, gentle kiss.

He pulled out of her, but kept her close to him as he gently lowered them both back into the hot springs. The water stung her cooled flesh and she leaned into his warmth as she began looking at the forest around them.

“Savine! Look what we created.”

All around them, the forest was no longer fading with the end of fall colors. Instead, it was teeming with vines creeping up tall pines and firs, flowers of all colors were interspersed across the forest floor, and the ferns had grown to be the size of small cars.

“We’ve made something beautiful together,” Avery said with a smile.

Savine slid her into his lap. “Don’t slide away from me yet, Little Flower.”

He plucked a few stray flowers on the edge of the pool and tucked them behind her ear. “Our magic made that. But you’re the most beautiful flower in all the forest. And I get to spend the rest of my days with you as my soulmate.”

With a tenderness that made her throat catch, Savine cupped Avery’s breast, rubbing the glowing light into her skin. She reached over and began exploring Savine’s skin, rubbing the afterglow of their bond into his skin.

Savine kissed her neck, sweeping his mouth across the hollow at her collar bone.

She was getting turned on again, and fast, but she also was curious about the bond. “Do mates usually glow from their bond?”

Savine worked his lips up to Avery’s ear and gave it a nibble. “I don’t know, Ave, but I want every last part of our bond to be a part of you, and I want you to do the same to me. Just let me love you,” he said, gently tugging her hair back.

She didn’t need to respond with words. She leaned back on the cooled stones and let him explore all of her, letting that light become a piece of her.

Slowly, all the light from their bond settled into her skin and she began doing the same for him. She traced every ridge of hard muscle and every invisible scar, brushing the gleaming glow into his essence.

After the light became a part of him, Avery sat beside him, letting her head rest on his shoulders as the warm steam settled against their slick skin. “I never want to leave this place,” Avery whispered.

Savine wrapped his arms around her. “Mm. Neither do I, Ave. Let’s stay a while longer.”

“That sounds perfect.” She leaned into his warmth and closed her eyes. The bond between them seemed to open new senses between them. She could feel his emotions more sharply, including his sated contentment.

Avery gasped as a sudden searing pain shot through her head. She gripped her head as another wave of agony pierced through her skull. Savine pulled her away, inspecting her for injury.

“What’s the matter, Avery?” She couldn’t respond as her skull began ripping apart, shredding her from the inside out. She covered her eyes as tears began streaming down her face.

“Goddess above,” Savine whispered.

She reached up to her head once more and felt a sharp gilded crown resting on her head. She looked at Savine, his face was just as shocked as she felt. Trickles of blood streamed down her face as the unrelenting pain continued.

Savine sucked in a breath as his crown emerged from his head, and it wasn’t just the boughs and antlers, but tiny flowers threaded through the gilded crown.

“What in the hell just happened?” Avery asked, nausea twisting through the pain.

Savine beamed at her with pride.“You have your own crown of boughs, antlers and small flowers.”

Avery scowled. “Is this normal for the mate of a king?”

He pulled her close into a hug and pressed a kiss on her head where the crown met her scalp. She winced from the raw pain lancing through her skull. “No, this is not normal. But it’s alright. We’ll navigate this together.”

“What do you think it means?” she asked, leaning into his strength. Her head was pounding and she felt dizzy.

“It means you’re the Queen of Latiah.”

Avery’s heart sank. She’d wanted to be Savine’s soulmate. She’d never felt so sure about anything in her life as she did about accepting the bond between them. But, she wanted it on her terms, and somehow those terms had just been very physically taken from her.