For all my lascivious intents and purposes, this was essentially the perfect location to offer my new favorite houseplant the sunshine and fresh air she needed…while giving me the opportunity to sate other needs as well. I would have my way with her soon enough.
I drew a decent-sized flannel blanket from Muniin’s saddlebags, as well as the apple I’d brought along to keep her content for the next few hours. After the mare accepted my offering, I jerked my head toward the shoreline, beckoning Arken to follow me down.
“My gods, this place is borderline ethereal,” Arken murmured.
“Isn’t it?”
“I didn’t even know therewerelakes like this in the Wyldwoods.”
“Most people don’t,” I said, shaking out the blanket for any debris and selecting a flat expanse of sand to lay it down. “And there aren’t very many left. At least not untouched like this one is.”
“Untouched?”
I nodded toward the rocky grotto across the way. “Astral quartz forms in those caverns. Many of the larger lakes were overtaken by mining endeavors.”
Arken’s face fell, as if mourning the loss of waters unknown, before she bent over to unlace her boots. I did the same, kicking them off and proceeding to sprawl out on the blanket beneath us with a contented groan. I was still stretching my limbs as she joined me, tucking herself right into the crook of my arm where she seemed to fit so perfectly.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my face. I really needed to stopthinkingabout shit like that as often as I did lately, lest I confess the words aloud. I never could seem to keep my mouth shut around this woman.
It’s true, though. She does.
Yeah, I knew that. I knew godsdamn well that every little thing about Arken Asher seemed to be plucked straight out of the aether with me, specifically, in mind. As if the Source herself had wrapped the woman up in parchment and delivered her straight to my doorstep as a gift. As if I could havepossiblydone anything to deserve such a thing.
And despite all the foreign, frightening feelings those thoughts evoked, I tried my best to bury them deep, at least for now. We could deal with that later. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy the moment. The last four days had been, withoutquestion, the best I’d ever had—and I wasn’t ready to give any of this up. Not yet.
Not yet.
“Did you hear anything I just said, Vistarii?” Arken teased, poking me in the ribs.
“Forgive me, gorgeous,” I laughed, turning to nestle myself even closer to her. “I got lost in thought there for a sec. What were you saying?”
Warmth bloomed in my chest as Arken took the opportunity to lace our fingers together.
“I wassayingthat I don’t know when you decided I would be a houseplant, of all things. I’d like to imagine myself as more of a wildflower. Or perhaps a fern.”
“Afern?” I snorted.
“Ferns are pretty! And they do the thing.” She curled her forefinger inward to mimic the shape of an Atlassian fiddlehead, huffing passionately as if this were a matter of dire importance. “And did you know they reproduce via spores, not seeds?”
Ah, so they were likemushrooms.That would explain her enthusiasm.
“You’re such a fucking bookwyrm, Asher,” I laughed, burying my face against the warmth of her exposed throat.
“And you like it,” Arken said primly, mimicking our earlier conversation.
That I do. More than she knows. More than I should.
“Maybe,” I acquiesced on both counts, running my nose up the column of her neck, half-tempted to bite down. Fortunately for her panties, I found myself far too distracted to act upon the impulse. I had only just taken a slow breath, inhaling the sweet indulgence that was Arken’s scent.
“Gods. Have I ever mentioned that you smell so…sofucking divine?”
Arken let loose what sounded like a half-giggle, half-swooning sigh, and I felt the sound reverberate from her throat. “I don’t believe you have, actually.”
That seemed entirely improbable, given my tendency to run my fucking mouth.
Smiling, Arken stretched herself out a little further on the blanket and then made a small noise of approval when I tugged her closer.