“Where are we going?” I asked, glancing over at him. His body was positioned slightly in front of mine as he approached one of the hatches that led from the hidden tunnels up into the caves themselves. This one had steps carved into the rock wall, enabling him to release my hand and climb up so he could shift the stone cover off the hole.
“Somewhere we can get cleaned up without an audience to watch,” he answered, hauling himself up and out of the tunnel. “Come on.”
I slipped my hands into the holes in the wall, lifting myself up and letting my feet follow. Caelum’s hand waited for me when I reached the top, taking hold of me and lifting me free from the tunnel. He replaced the hatch, taking my wrist in one hand to entwine our fingers together.
With his other hand, he unsheathed a sword, gripping it tightly as the distant rumble of cave beasts came from the caves to the left. Caelum led me to the right, seeming sure in his steps.
As if he knew exactly where to go.
“Is it safe? What about the warding?” I asked, my worry overwhelming me. The last thing I wanted was to lead the Fae right to us just because I was a little shy with my own nudity.
“We can’t come up here every day by any means, but it’s safe to do every now and then as a special treat,” he answered, guiding me up a set of steps carved into the stone, which curved around a central beam.
When we finally emerged into the light of the moon, it was to a small, private hot spring hidden on a ledge next to the mountain. The air that met me when we stepped out onto the ground was harsh and cold compared to the insulated tunnels, a single gust of wind instantly making my cheeks burn.
Resting just inside the doorway to the caves was a basket filled with tiny bars of soap, and Caelum grabbed one of them on the way out. He set it at the edge of the pool, unknotting the laces at the top of his tunic as he faced me.
I swallowed, fearing I wouldn’t like the answer. “How did you know about this place?”
His fingers paused for a moment, his head tilting to the side as a smirk graced his lips. “Jealous, Little One?”
Nausea churned in my gut. I’d left shortly after Melian worked with me until the muscles in my arms felt so tired I couldn’t lift my practice sword any longer, my increased muscle mass since becoming Fae Marked only going so far with hours of repetition.
It appeared he’d been busy in the time since I’d left him earlier in the day. I’d spent the rest of it translating pages and pages of texts until my hand cramped and my fingers swelled from how I gripped the quill.
“I think I’ll take my chances in the bathing cavern,” I said, swallowing back the urge to be sick. All of Melian’s words came rushing back; all of my reminders to myself that I couldn’t satisfy him.
I’d known exactly what would happen and still let him convince me otherwise.
Caelum chuckled, stepping toward me as he tugged the tunic over his head and deposited it on the ground next to him. “You get this twitch underneath your left eye when you think I’d let someone else play with me,” he said, moving forward until he reached out and touched his thumb to the spot in question. “I think it might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, jerking my head away from his hand. If he thought I’d sit around and allow him to be with other women without ever allowing another man to touch me, he had another think coming.
We could be faithful, or we could not be. But whatever standards he set would go both ways, even if that meant I had to swallow my nausea and go find Jensen to take him up on his offer to be my first romp within the Resistance.
Caelum grinned, grasping my chin between two fingers and tipping my head up so that he could stare down at me intently. “No one but you has touched me since we first met.”
“Then how did you know about this place? I can just imagine what it’s used for,” I said, trying not to allow all his bare, golden skin to distract me. I wouldn’t be dumbstruck by a handsome face and sculpted muscle.
I was more than a body without a brain.
“There were offers,” he said, making me swallow down my rising rage once more.
The idea of somehow marking him as my territory became more and more appealing with every word he spoke. “Offers. As in plural. What are you doing with me, then? You could be having another threesome.”
Caelum chuckled. “I could be, and I would be if that was what I wanted, but I have no interest in anyone but you, my star. I don’t know how much more clear I can be about that. You are the only one for me. Women may make offers, but my answer will always be no. I expect the same in return.”
I swallowed as he rested a hand on my shoulders, inching his fingertips under the fabric there and sliding it down toward my arms. With the laces unknotted at the front, it would fall to my feet the moment the sleeves slipped down.
“Caelum,” I said, making him pause as I bit my lip. I had no doubt where this would go between us if my dress fell. He wouldn’t turn his back this time and wouldn't be distracted by the scars on my back.
“There will be no going back from this once you’ve taken me inside you, Little One. Take care to understand just how sincerely I mean that. Once we cross this line, you’re mine,” he murmured, toying with the fabric as he stared down at me. His focus didn’t move as he waited for my response, his features patient and relaxed despite the urgency in his gaze.
“I thought I already was,” I said stupidly, unable to think of what to say in the face of all his intensity. He leaned forward, touching his lips to mine as he brushed my sleeves off my shoulders.
The dress pooled at my feet, leaving me naked except for the socks and boots on my feet. Caelum kissed down my jaw, trailing his lips over the front of my throat as he lowered himself to his knees in front of me.
He was tall enough that his head was level with my breasts, his mouth caressing softly and drawing goosebumps to my skin. His fingers worked at the laces of my boot as he pressed a kiss to the peak of my nipple, opening his mouth and wrapping the wet heat of it around me.
I gasped as he finished untying my boot, and wrapped one hand around the sensitive skin on the back of my knee, lifting so he could pull the boot and sock free while his tongue slowly flicked my pebbled nipple.
He kissed his way over the valley between my breasts as he switched to the other boot, drawing my other nipple into his mouth with more urgency. He sucked hard enough that my back bowed as he finally stripped off the other boot, rising to his feet in front of me and pressing his bare torso against me.
He kissed me, his tongue tangling with mine and threatening to consume me. I knew in that moment I would do anything to keep him.
His nostrils flared as he pulled back, reaching down to grab my ass in both his hands and squeeze. “Get in the water, my star,” he said, his voice dropping low with the command as he took a step away and dropped his hands to the laces on his trousers.