Page 128 of Hidden Kingdoms

Sighing heavily into the vastness of the cavern, I let the walls absorb the sound of my anguish as my chest squeezed painfully, like it was caught in a vice at the thought of Nanna not being my real family. That light touch of energy danced around me once more, and my body melted as it helped ease the pain of those thoughts.

There was one thing I was certain of; I wanted to learn. I wanted to grow this well of power inside me and find out what it could do. WhatIcould do. I’d had a taste, and it was addictive, a drug of my own making, the rush of magik caressing my body in a way nothing ever had.

That’s not quite true, though. There was that time with Kaius, and again earlier with Bastian. The way our magik had joined together wasn’t like anything I had felt before, and I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t want Kaius to touch me in more ways than with his magik. That would be wrong, though.

Or would it?

I don’t know anymore.

The memory of him and Marcellus crowding around me was one I wouldn’t forget in a hurry, even if it had been for traumatic reasons. They made me feel safe, and if the way my body reacted to them counted for anything, they made me feel other things, too. Things I should probably take a cold shower to forget about.

My heart pulled harder as the image of Kaius wiping the blood from my mouth, his tongue licking it clean, pressed eagerly in my mind. The phantom touch of Marcellus’ hands trailing over my body sending goosebumps over my skin, despite the temperature of the water as my stomach clenched.

I pushed myself from the ledge I was sitting on, allowing my body to sink through the water until I hit the stones at the bottom. I waited until my lungs were burning with the need for oxygen, hoping it would take my mind from the heat between my legs. When I could take it no longer, I swam up, eyes on thedark ceiling above me where the magma crossed the stones like ropes of fire casting their glow across the cave. My feet touched down at another sloping shore as I stopped to get my bearings, searching for anything familiar.

As my eyes swept over the cavern, a dark head began to emerge from the water, but before my poor, abused heart could find a second to panic, the familiar face that followed eased my anxiety. That was until I realised I was standing in crystal clear water—that he had just been swimming in—naked.

His eyes glowed silver in the light from the pool, angelic face the image of mischief as his tattooed shoulders rose from out of the water, dark hair plastered against his skin. He was too far for me to make out if he was naked, too, or if I had missed the swimsuit memo, and I wasn’t about to duck my head under for a peek—no matter how tempting. That didn’t stop my heart and my pussy both skipping a beat at the thought.

Who knows how long he’s been under there, anyway? He’s probably seen it all already.

“Looks like I found you.”

47

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

ELODIE

“Iwasn’t expecting any company down here today, Goldie.” Kaius’ smooth voice washed over me. As the words sunk in, the idea of others down here with him made my nerves grate.

“Do you have company other days?” I tried to keep the unexpected edge of jealousy from my voice but was definitely left wanting.

“Not once,” he said with such conviction, I believed him instantly.

Eager to move away from whether or not he had been naked down here with other people, I struggled to think of literally anything else as we both stood facing each other. “Arden suggested it, coming here. Said it would help with my back.”

Kaius’ face grew serious then, eyes hardening as they slid across my exposed shoulders where only the faintest line of pink was still visible—all blood washed away.

“He’s right.” Standing straighter, more of his body surfaced as he held his hands out of the water. His tattoos that had been disrupted by scratches earlier on, were only thin pink lines.

“Water blessed by the Goddess Adria herself flows through here. I should have thought to suggest it, I’m sorry.” And he genuinely looked it, too, brows creased in concern.

“It’s fine, Kaius.” Silver eyes darkened to slate as his name left my lips, the gap between us a fraction smaller as he stepped forwards, and I forced my eyes to stay on his face.

“How are you now?”

“Healed.”

He laughed at that, a short harsh sound that rebounds through the rocky ceiling. “Physically, maybe. But we both know it’s the physical pain that’s the easiest to shoulder.”

When I didn’t respond, he sank back below the water again, only the tops of his shoulders showing.

“How was your lesson?”

“It was…enlightening. I think that promise you made me is void now, though.”

“How so?”

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