And crawling up the wall.
“Oh…” I covered my mouth.
He circled my waist with his arms, his head touching mine as the fire slowly died, leaving scorch marks behind. “I need you to close your eyes, Isabella.”
“Because that’ll help?” I scoffed, cringing as another inferno spun to life a few feet away.
“Shh, trust me,” he whispered. “Close your eyes and picture yourself in the water, listening to the waves rushing the shore. Each cool, crisp drop touching the sand and drawing back, to rush forward again. Rhythmic. Soothing. Serene.”
My breath raced out of me, his words seeming to calm some chaotic nerve inside me. I clutched his hands, holding on as I allowed the vision into my mind.
“It’s flowing around you,” he continued softly. “All the water in the world, rippling beneath your fingertips, caressing your skin, blessing your spirit. Allow it to kiss you, Ella. Allow it to consume you.”
I shuddered, my vision morphing into a whirlpool, swirling me in a violent circle, drawing me deeper into a black hole of madness and away from the sunlight.
“Don’t fight it.” Tray’s lips were at my ear. “It’s not nearly as dark as it appears. I’m waiting for you there. Seek out our connection. Find me.”
Inky ropes ensnared my waist, pulling me deeper. I whimpered, my heart jumping in my chest.
This couldn’t be right.
But I couldn’t open my mouth
to speak, the very real snakelike bands encircling my head and covering my lips.
Yanking me under.
Into a sea of perpetual magic.
I blinked into my new oblivion, sparkling strands dancing beneath the surface and twining in glittering bands.
One blinked brighter than the others, a beckoning of sorts, waving in the thick, dark waters.
I swam toward it, my body suddenly free of the binds.
Each stroke stirred a sense of rightness in my gut.
Each kick awakened a new purpose.
Until I reached the light and realized it wasn’t a light at all, but Tray.
He welcomed me with open arms, his body a familiar warmth against mine, and spun me in a circle, his pride a kiss against my very spirit.
I opened my eyes to find him gazing down at me with unshed tears in his eyes. “You’re beautiful, Ella,” he marveled, his expression radiating an emotion that warmed my heart. “The most beautiful Midnight Fae I’ve ever seen.”
His mouth captured mine, his kiss igniting a tornado of sensations inside me.
Heat engulfed me from head to toe.
I threw my arms around his neck, no longer caring about the importance of breathing. He lifted me onto the counter, stepping in between my thighs and dominating me with his tongue.
Somehow our clothes disappeared.
Maybe I burned them off.
Maybe he used magic.
All I cared about was our joining below, which happened so suddenly and yet not fast enough. Tray drove into me, his lips catching my shocked cry, and his hands branding my sides.