Page 27 of All the Pain of Promises
Beats of heavy silence passed between them, measured only by the intake of their breaths and the crashing of gentle waves.
Narissa shoved her hair back from her face, the gold strands already drying into reckless, messy waves. “You could join me…if you like.”
Solarius hesitated.
There was no doubt in his mind that if he entered that damn tide pool, he would do something stupid. Like touch her. Or kiss her. Or be completely unable to keep his hands to himself. Worse though, he wouldn’t want Narissa to feel obligated to return such gestures or resent him for it later. However, if he refused to join her now, if he walked away like heknewhe should, then he would destroy the olive branch she’d carefully extended to him.
Torn, he said nothing, and slowly removed his boots.
He untucked his shirt next, taking care to unfasten each button one at a time, then tossed it behind him over a slab of rock. Reaching for the waistband of his pants, he let them fall, and though he thoroughly expected Narissa to blush furiously, he was surprised to find her studying him. Her pale green eyes swept over his body, her head tilted in concentration, her brow just barely pinched as she watched him sink into the tide pool.
The water was shockingly warm, it soothed his muscles and relaxed his bones. Salty sea air mixed with the calming scent of mint, and for the first time in a long time, Solarius felt at peace. Curls of steam separated him from Narissa like a thin curtain of mist, and he waded toward her, gradually closing the distance between them. Gravelly pebbles at the bottom of the tidal pool sifted beneath his feet as he neared her, but she didn’t back away from him, even though each breath she drew was painfully shallow. Solarius kept his hands fisted at his sides in an effort to keep himself from touching her, standing close enough for the tips of her hardened nipples to gently graze his chest.
The faintest touch sent all the blood rushing to his cock, and he locked his jaw, his nails biting into the rough skin of his palms.
“My lord,” she whispered.
Agony coursed through him. “My lady.”
Narissa wet her lips, tugging on the corner of her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Have you always had this tattoo?” she asked, reaching for him with one hand. Her fingers drifted around his upper arm, her thumb gliding over the silky black ink marking him. The phases of the moon were tattooed upon his right arm, from his shoulder to his elbow, and the way she caressed his bicep weakened him completely. His cock thickened and he swallowed a groan.
Damn her and her siren song voice.
“Yes.” It was far more difficult to get the word out than he thought, like he was trying to speak with a wad of cotton in his mouth.
“Mm.” Her fingertips moved to his chest, to his heart, lightly tracing the smaller tattoo there. “This one looks like a trident.”
“It is.” His pulse was thundering now, echoing through his ears, rushing with the pumping of his blood. “I was born under the star sign of Azuralis, the goddess of the sea. In the night sky, you can find her by the trident of stars stretching toward the moon from the sea. It is her constellation that marks my heart.”
“I see.” Narissa’s eyes flashed to him, her face unreadable in the swath of dim light. “Almost like serendipity.”
“Almost,” he ground out, desperation clawing at him.
She was so close he could taste her scent on the air. It teased him, taunted him with images of midnight pleasures and stolen kisses. Each time she shifted in the water, another rush of desire, of longing, pulsed through him. His restraint wavered. Every unintentional yet sublimely delicate touch scraped away another layer of his cool composure.
Narissa had to know, stars above, shehadto know the effect she had on him. If anything, she had to be able to feel the hardness of his shaft between them.
“What about your tattoos?” Solarius asked, silently hoping the conversation would dull his need to claim her.
She gathered her hair, twisting it over one shoulder.
“My tattoos aren’t anything special. They’re merely waves along my ears and down my spine.” The swirls of ink illuminated, radiant and lovely, in the light of the moon. “For the most part, no one even knows they’re there. They’re practically invisible. Only in the wash of moonlight do they glow, only then are they seen.”
There was something about the way Narissa said the words, the way she spoke them with a ringing hollowness. A broken sort of emptiness.
It snapped something inside Solarius, left him aching, so his heart twinged, and he longed to take away whatever caused her such pain. Such agony.
Solarius grabbed her then. He palmed the back of her thighs and hoisted her up, pressing her damp body against his own. She molded against him easily, weaving her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the ends of his hair. Her skin was like satin, soft and perfect, everything he’d imagined when she tormented his dreams night after night. Silvery moonlight bounced off the rippling water, reflecting prisms of turquoise and sapphire. Solarius hefted her higher, ensuring he held a good grip on her bottom, and she locked her arms tight around him.
Finally, his midnight siren was in his arms.
He’d lost track of the number of times he’d dreamed of her, longed for her, begged the stars to let him have her.
Narissa threaded her fingers through his hair, twining and tugging. Solarius’s gaze flicked up to her pretty face, where her rosy gold cheeks flushed, emotion banked deep in the endless sea of her eyes.
All he wanted was a kiss. Just one. A taste. A promise of all he lost when she chose Calfair over him.
