My swimsuit was strategically in place beneath the training attire I’d left on for a couple of reasons. One, because I’d be taking them off soon anyways, and two, because they were pretty hot. I couldn’t help but feel a mix of Lara Croft and the Karate Kid whenever I slipped into them.
I leapt out the open window and, with one more leap, I sprung from the cedar shingle roof to the still warm earth beneath. I sprung through the yard, hurdling over the fence and Joseph’s green tractor still fresh with the smell of cut hay.
Having committed the map to memory, I sped through the fields, creating a rumbling whistle as the wheat rushed over my body. I was getting close and I knew this not because of the map etched in my mind, but because I could feel him. That feeling that was as indescribable as it was intimate. Something that wasn’t Mortal or Immortal, something that came from the soul that tied mine to his and his to mine.
My legs, giving action to my elation, leapt over a house-sized rock and then I was in view of tonight’s rendezvous location. The moon was dim, but the body of water before me was so still it glowed iridescent white. I scanned the circumference of the lake, but found no sign of him. He had to be close, I reassured myself. There was no mistaking that feeling only he could exude.
Sliding out of my sandals, I dipped my toes into the resting water and watched the silver rings spread from my foot into the heart of the lake.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
I startled, not anticipating his voice to come from the water. He rose from it with the kind of magnificence that would have made pagans believers. It didn’t seem right that this man was meant for me. Fate must have been taking the day off when our names were paired.
“No skinny-dipping?” I said eyeing his dripping wet boardshorts longer than necessary.
“I’m game,” he said, his gaze playing with mine. “You first, though.”
“Me first, huh?” I asked, channeling innocence as I thumbed at the belt circling the zippered leather vest.
He nodded, his eyes full of mischief.
“Gladly,” I said, unknotting the cloth belt and letting it fall to the ground.
The mischief in his eyes was replaced by surprise, gaping as my hands moved to my zipper.
I slid the vest’s zipper down, letting each note hang like an answered prayer, before I saw him gulp. I couldn’t tease him any longer. I rushed the zipper down, revealing the swimsuit beneath.
“Better luck next time,” I said, relishing the torture in his face. It was the look I normally wore.
He shook his head. “Temptress,” he accused, not hiding his approval as his eyes wandered over me.
“I could say the same.” I raised my eyebrows in a knowing fashion. “Tempter. How about that?”
“Unless you’re intent on teasing me any longer, or are planning on tossing aside any more clothing—which, for the record, I would have no problem with.” He winked, opening his arms wide. “Anytime you’re ready.”
Not wasting time answering, I let my pants fall to the sand and jumped at him. “Silly me,” I whispered, wrapping my legs around his waist. “Wasting precious time when there’s serious time to make up for and who knows when they’ll send you away again.”
He drew me closer to him and waded deeper into the water. “I don’t think you’ll have to be worried about me leaving anytime soon,” he assured, as the water continued to creep up our bodies. “I spoke with the Council today—”
“I remember,” I interrupted. “I remember you having to leave two minutes after I finally got to see you after a month. That was a low blow . . . even for your Council.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Our Council,” I corrected, although I felt like the unwanted, jaded step-child entering a family like the Cleavers.
“I was actually the one who requested the meeting.”
“You requested it?” I asked, leaning back. “Was your matter really so important it couldn’t wait a few hours? Maybe even one?”
I could tell he was trying to hide his smile from the way the skin around the outside of his eyes was creasing. “There’s nothing more important to me than being with you and since you’re the pious one”—his smile broke through now—“and won’t allow that until we’re granted a Union, the matter today was urgently important.”
I swallowed. “You spoke with the Council about us?”
“I did,” he said, ceasing his march into the center of the lake. His legs spun like motors below me, rocking our bodies together in a way that made me both grateful and ungrateful for the clothing we’d left on. Mostly ungrateful, though.
“Did this meeting go any better than the last three?” It took a noteworthy amount of willpower to summon a coherent sentence together with our bodies moving together this way.
“I think I just might be wearing them out,” he said with a grin.
“WHAT?” I shouted, grabbing his face with both hands. “They agreed to a Union?”
“I wish,” he answered. “I may be persistent, but they’re cranky, old men stuck to their ways.” His attempts to lighten whatever the Council was doing to mess with us never invoked the response he hoped it would. I felt my lips pull into a tighter line.
“What did they say then?”
“They said they would take some time to consider my request and would let me know their decision.” He shrugged, looking off into the distance. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, and it’s a long shot from where we want to be, but it’s at least a start.”