What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(54)

I’d been so busy staring at his ass, so fixated on the relative safety of that part of him compared to the front, when he turned I got an eyeful of everything.

He paused, the water touching just above his knees and hovering so close to where his length hung down his thigh. I froze, my body turning to a statue as my mouth dropped open in shock.

“Gods,” I muttered, my hands lifting to cover my mouth as I realized I’d said the word out loud. Caelum grinned, tilting his head to the side as he studied me, and made no move to sink lower into the water. Made no attempt to hide the manhood that must have been the source of his arrogance.

Under any normal circumstances, I’d have said that the man was overcompensating with his bravado for something that was lacking elsewhere. Caelum’s were not normal circumstances; his cock something I didn’t even know was within the realm of possibilities. I guess the magic of the mate bond had chosen a mate for what would be a very pleased Fae female.

“See something you like?” he asked, finally stepping backward until his lower body submerged, and I was freed from the temptation to continue to admire his cock.

“That looks more like a torture device than an instrument for pleasure,” I said, shaking myself and wrapping my arms around my waist.

Caelum chuckled, ducking his head beneath the surface. He ran his hands through his hair when he re-emerged from the water, pushing it back from his face as it dripped down over his chest and the muscles on his stomach. “When the time comes, you’ll take all of it and beg me to fuck you harder, Little One,” he said, walking through the water until he reached the edge where I stood.

He stared up at me, affection in his gaze that didn’t belong; it didn’t fit for how briefly he’d known me. If I hadn’t known better, I might have compared him to the images of the humans on their knees.

To the complete and utter worship on their faces as they serviced a God.

He reached up, catching me by the ankle and gently lifting my foot off the ground. A shock ran through my body when he touched me, my desire so potent I didn’t think I’d ever felt anything like it. But it also came with the knowledge that it wasn’t real. It wasn’t about Caelum or about me, but about the magic on our necks that marked us as the same. He could have been anyone, any of the Fae Marked, and I suspected my body would react the same way.

Nothing else made sense. Attraction like this didn’t exist.

He slipped my shoe and sock off, tossing them to land next to his boots. “What are you doing?” I asked, stumbling back a step until I was out of reach.

“I think it’s obvious that you aren’t going to come in unless I give you a little push,” he said, reaching for my other foot. I kicked out, my bare foot colliding with his wrist with a solid thump that would have hurt most men.

Caelum only grinned at my show of violence.

“I’m not going to come in at all,” I said, my lips twisting as I shook my head.

“Baths don’t come around often for people on the run, and soon enough it will be too cold for anything that isn’t a hot spring. Don’t be foolish, Estrella. Get in the water,” he said, stepping back from the edge to give me some space.

I eyed the water with desire, wanting nothing more than to submerge in the warmth of it. Even with the steam billowing around me, the temperature had dropped since the sun had set. I bit my bottom lip, considering a way to do it without getting too close to him while I was naked. The spring was big enough for a dozen people. The question was whether or not he would stay on his side.

“Turn around,” I ordered, lifting my leg to pull off my other shoe.

“Well that’s not exactly fair. You’ve seen me,” he said, a smirk on his face that leaked into his voice, but he walked to the opposite side of the pool, resting his elbows on the edge and facing out over the valley.

I hurried to strip my dress off, splashing through the water in my haste to get entirely submerged before he could turn around. Warmth surrounded me, sinking inside and heating the bones I hadn’t even realized were chilled. Every aching joint in my body practically moaned at the feeling of bliss the warmth provided.

I lowered myself until I was submerged up to my neck, not wanting to answer any questions about what he might see. His body was free from scars, flawless in a way mine would never be, reminding me that we weren’t the same, and no matter what the Fae had decided we would become soon, our lives hadn’t been the same.

“Okay,” I said, sighing as I dipped my head back to wet my hair. Letting it soak in the water, I ran my fingers through it to try to get the knots out the best I could without a brush.

“Let me help,” Caelum said, stepping closer to me as I struggled to reach a tangle at the back of my head.

“You and the basilisk in your trousers stay right there, thank you very much,” I said, snapping to attention the moment he came closer.

He stopped the moment I uttered the command, his face lighting with amusement. “I’m not wearing any trousers.”

“And that is the problem. I like my intestines in my stomach and not shoved into my lungs. You just keep that thing away from me,” I said, watching as he chuckled and looked at me as if I’d grown a second head.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that one before. Usually women ask me to introduce them to the Gods,” he said.