Penthos: The Guardian Sea

Chapter Fifteen: Great a Thing is Love

They ended up inside a cave, where the water was clear and seemed to glow, with crystals lining the bottom. They slowed, allowing the current to carry them deeper in, where the river flowed into a pool inside a larger cavern. Bats albino in color hung from the fanglike stalactites in the cave, enjoying the heat radiating from the pool.

     Arielle swam to the center of the pool, which was so clear she could see the crystallized bottom about forty feet below, glittering up at her. She spun in circles, taking in the walls of the cave, then faced Germaine. “How did you find this place?” she asked him, grinning.

      “What do you think I do when I’m not hanging around you like a pining lover?” he retorted with a laugh, joining her in the middle. “Sit around like a bum? No, my dear Ari, I explore.”

     “It’s beautiful . . .” She vaguely noticed him moving closer, closer to her, but her mind was on the hidden beauty of the cave.

     She started slightly as Germaine tucked a lock of her hair behind her animal ear. It was a gesture that meant something more than their friendship. Hot desire shot through her, and she was sure this time she was feeling something. “Yes, it is,” he whispered.

     She realized that the smile she had been displaying had been lost, and that she was stark naked and the pool was crystal clear. She covered her cheeks with her hands so he wouldn’t see her blush.

     Germaine laughed, prying her hands away from her face. “Oh stop, love. I’ve seen you embarrassed before.” He turned her to face him, pulling her toward him until their flesh met.

     His body was warm and muscled and electrifying. Her heart was pounding, and there was no doubt that with his demonic hearing he noticed it, even through the screeching of the bats and the lapping of water on rock. She kept her arms between their bodies, and her eyes away from his. He was so seductive, so charming, so . . . She closed her eyes and shivered.

     Germaine held her tight, his grip on her gentle, keeping them afloat with the light bones of dragon heritage and the inhuman strength of the demonic race. “Ari . . . I haven’t had a chance to tell you how I feel about you, what with your birthday and this Guard business and my mother has been keeping me away from you . . .” So that was the reason for their abrupt meetings.

     She froze, stuck in place. She had been hoping for something more than friendship with Germaine for so long. Could it be true? Did he want her as she wanted him? Her stomach felt full of butterflies, her breath shallow, her heart fluttering around in her chest.

     He took her by the upper arms and held her away from him. Tipping her chin up with one hand, he forced her to look him in the eye. “Arielle, I know our families hate each other, and they despise the fact that we’re so close, but . . .”

     Say it, she was chanting in her mind, say it say it say it!

     “Ari, I’m in love with you. I have been since the day we met in your parents’ garden so many years ago.”

     Her heart soared. What should she say? That she loved him too? That she had always wanted more than friendship? She was too shocked and happy to say more than the word “Oh.” She immediately regretted it, smacking her forehead. “I’m sorry! I’m so stupid!”

     Germaine chuckled, pulling her against him again. “No, I understand if you don’t feel the same way. We’re just friends, right? Nothing more. Let me enjoy this while I have it, then we can go back to that,” he said, embracing her. “Unless you don’t even want that anymore. If I disgust you that much, you will never see me again. I would rather have your happiness than my own.”

     She pushed against him, looking him in the eye. His smile faded, replaced by an expression of worry. Worry that she would actually end their friendship right there, forever? She would never know, because she wrapped her arms around his neck, their bodies touching. She put her mouth to his human-looking ear, and whispered, “I love you too, Germaine Narientel.”

     She physically felt Germaine relax, bending his head down to nuzzle her neck. “Ari . . . Please be mine . . .”

     “I always have been,” she murmured. She pulled away from him to look at his face. He was staring down at her, their eyes meeting. Just a sliver of space separated their lips. Their breath mingled. His smelled so sweet mixed with the scent of water and dragon and love. She quivered in his grasp, under his intense gaze, surrounded by him. If this was what love was, then by all means, let it consume her, she thought. And their lips met.

     She grasped at his neck, twisting a hand in his wet hair. She felt his hands on her body, caressing every inch of her, testing her soft flesh, tracing the muscles of her back. She moved her mouth in sync with his, breathing heavily. She felt as though she knew him down to the strings of his heart and back, that they could become one. She wrapped her legs around his waist, eager to bring him closer to her in any way possible.

     Germaine pulled away with a moan. “What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes wild.

     “You don’t want me?”

     Germaine’s expression was pained, as if he saw what he yearned for but was prevented from taking it. “I do, but, are you . . . sure?”

     Arielle nodded. She’d never been surer of anything in her life. She wanted Germaine with every inch of her being, down to the depths of her very soul. She wanted to be his, and only his. And she wanted to prove it.

     Germaine held her, studying her face. He smiled, and pulled her in for another kiss. It was more intense, more desperate for her touch. She felt his passion, and made it her own. She felt the fire between them. She steeled herself, writhing in his grasp, the intense pleasure she received just from kissing him almost too much for her. She moaned as he moved from her mouth to her neck, and finally her chest. He moved back to her mouth, pulling her in, and—finally, lovingly—claimed her for himself, tangling them together until she was sure they were one.

Arielle woke up next to Germaine on the rocky floor of the cave. She found she was wrapped in a blanket (most likely Reverse Re-Conjured—a magical method used to bring things to oneself—by Germaine to keep her warm and happy). Germaine was still asleep beside her, his arms around her protectively. He whispered her name in his sleep.

     Ari smiled, lifting herself from the ground as quietly as she could, avoiding disturbing him. She kissed his hand softly before leaving the sanctuary of the cave in search of their clothes and some solitude to sort her thoughts.

Jarissein had been searching for hours. And still, he found no sign of the princess and this “Germaine” character. He didn’t trust this dragon, as Serapheme had let on that he wouldn’t, but he wasn’t entirely sure he would have even if the queen had said otherwise. He was shady, egotistical, self-centered, and most of all, the princess melted in his hands. He saw it, smelled her feline desire; he envied the dragon for his ability to move the princess to emotion, something Serapheme was sure she was beyond feeling.

     He thought up a slew of curse words as he trekked through the brush after the pair. Germaine didn’t care about her, he told himself. He was evil. He was using her. She would do something stupid. He knew it.

     Give it a rest, Jarissein, a little voice in his head said. She would never fall for you; you’re the enemy to her.

     “I KNOW!” he shouted at it. “I can’t change that! I took the Oath, I swore it to Light. I thought the emotion would end the day I did, but . . .”

     But why do you still feel for her?

     He growled to himself, cursing the little voice. He lost sight of the princess on the first day of his new life as her protector. How much worse could the day get?

     You could call for help.

     “And risk the king thinking me too incompetent to watch over his daughter? Not a chance.” So, he journeyed on, hoping he’d hit a stroke of luck and find her before the sun set for the evening.

     He heard something move in the brush up ahead of him. Instincts kicked in, and he crouched in the bushes, unsheathing his sword. He left his shield behind, calculated the position of the creature, and leapt.