Page 57 of Angel of Water & Shadow

Our heads slowly turned to the circular steel structure at the opposite end of the park.

“How about the Ferris wheel?” he suggested, gesturing down the path. The hanging lights bathed the concrete in a warm, cozy iridescence, and the music seemed softer over there.

Nope, nope, nope, shouted the logical part of my brain. At this time of night, the Ferris wheel was reserved for people trying to escape the prying eyes of others so they could vape or make out or admire the stars. We were doing none of that. Which was why I had every intention of taking him to the gravity-defying Rock-O-Plane instead.

“Okay.” Damnit, River. At this point my heart required a muzzle because it kept butting into all my decisions. Maybe we’d get lucky and there’d be so many people waiting we’d have to give up and head to another ride. A backwards, upside-down, super-spinny one…

Of course, when we got to the Ferris wheel, there was no one in line. With jittery limbs, I hoisted myself towards the torn pleather cushion. Ryder caught my hand and guided me onto the seat, sliding in next. My stomach rocked with the pink metal basket as the wheel lifted us closer to the heavens.

On our first loop, we stopped just shy of the peak, thank goodness, because that’s where the “magic” happened. I didn’t need that added temptation. Plus, being sandwiched between an old couple ahead and gawking tourists behind did take some of the edge off.

“Does it always feel like this?” Ryder broke the silence. A first.

“What?” The layers that framed my face tossed lightly in the wind.

Ryder watched the hair dance across my cheeks. His arm twitched like he was thinking of brushing a hand across my face, and my heart thumped in response. “Hanging out with you.”

I let out a barking laugh, hoping it’d distract from the tremble in my voice. “Uh, hectic? Stressful? Death-defying? Yes.”

With a ghost of a grin, he shook his head. “No, interesting. Exciting. Amazing.” And then he whispered, almost to himself, “I don’t think I want to let you go.”

A pain cinched my chest. We’d eventually part—he’d made that clear to Leif. I still didn’t understand what or who he was looking for; I just knew it wasn’t me. That thought broke away as we teetered downwards, and the acceleration brought us earthward. Whizzing past the loading dock, we did another full rotation, and ended our second lap parallel to the roofs of the game stalls. Our shoes dangled so close to the tacked-on prizes I could count the bottles on the Ring Toss.

“It seems pretty lonely, this wizardry, or whatever you call it.” My tongue knotted on the word. “Nephilim.” I sensed Ryder’s smirk and gave his arm a playful backhand. “I’ve been asking myself, what am I really giving up by giving in? Will I be able to have a semi-normal life? Will I still be able to surf? And have days where the only thing I do is binge snacks and comics? I haven’t even graduated high school—I know, I sound stupid, but is it like…demons or diploma?”

He chuckled. “Of course you can do all that.”

Suddenly feeling shy and exposed, I glanced over at him, hoping he wouldn’t notice the blush blasting my skin. His eyes stayed on the horizon, where the ocean blended into the night sky, the midnight blues fading into each other seamlessly.

When his lips straightened, he said, “And you’re not stupid. You’re far from it. For what it’s worth, I was homeschooled. I definitely didn’t finish my schoolwork on society’s acceptable timeline, whatever that is. To be honest, I don’t even think I got a diploma.”

“That’s different,” I muttered.

“Well, isn’t that what you want? A piece of paper to tell you you’re as good as everyone else?” Valid point. “Let me tell you now.” He closed the space between us, leaning so close that one slight rock of the cart would push me into his lips. “You are.”

The gears started shifting, the spokes started spinning, and we plummeted again, back to earth and into each other.

When I fell exactly where I thought I’d land, his mouth was soft, warm. Welcoming. I knew it was coming, but the kiss still surprised me. I froze, savoring the cushion of his lips that pressed so gently against mine.

Only when the Ferris wheel bounced to a halt did we break apart, and it hit me where we had stopped—at the top, a light breeze swinging us back and forth. With no one in view ahead or behind, we might as well have been alone at the top of the world.

Ryder’s concentration hadn’t strayed from my face. I met his gaze, and he caressed my cheek, his finger lingering on my chin. His bones, used to crushing monsters, trembled slightly, like they strained against the tenderness. My body, giving in to its desires, leaned further into his chest.

He bent his neck, bringing his face down to meet mine again, and I inhaled him with every quickened breath. In the spirit of letting fate run its course, I’d been running too long from this. I just prayed my insecurities, the emotional scarring from my past, didn’t seize the moment. Because I did want this—I wanted him, wanted his intense but intimate contact, wanted my lips to kiss him unrestrained once they joined his.

They did.

My fingers skimmed the shape of his shoulders, brushing the dips and curves of his taut muscles, tracing the nape of his neck. I buried them in his hair, each strand like fine silk, flowing against my skin like a river.

Folding my legs over his, he guided me onto his lap, pulling me even closer. My hand caught between our bodies, and we let out breathless laughs as I slipped it free then wrapped it around his back. That smile of his quickly turned hungry, and it was all too easy for me to give in. Mouths desperate for the other’s, chests shuddering in rhythm, we pressed close together, becoming so intensely intertwined that I thought we might flip the basket—and I wouldn’t have even cared if that happened.

His hand slid into the pleats that covered my thighs. I flinched at first, then arched into the touch. Our tongues collided and clashed in fierce, purposeful circles as his other hand moved beneath the cotton that clung to my stomach, the knot that had been tied there earlier in the night coming loose under his fingertips. They kneaded their way to my ribs, to my spine, to every muscle on my back, strumming the raised scars across my shoulder blades.

The fingers that had been lingering in my skirt grazed my underwear. It was impossible to contain a gasp. Impossible, as a hint of rough skin slipped past the fabric, as they teased the sensitive edges beneath it, as I felt everything and nothing, again and again.

Every inch of me burned and soared, and I was torn in a million directions, not even sure where to focus: On his lips on mine with the slight nip of his teeth as he pressed me deeper into the kiss. Or on his hands, each tracing the shape of my body in a way that made me shiver. Or on the way I sat draped across his lap and how he made me tingle with the simplest rock of his hips. Every sound, every touch, every scent was him.

With the way my stomach dropped and the wind tousled my hair…his kiss made me feel like I was falling. I peered through the gaps of our tangled limbs and—oh God, we actually were! The real world very much returning as the Ferris wheel started up again and we departed our corner of the stars. I shot back to my seat, our limbs detangling and separating. Ryder’s swollen lips glistened. He didn’t rush to wipe them.

---