Page 53 of Leviathan's Song
“Siren,” I gasped.
“Empress.” His eyes were dark in the firelight, his pupils so blown out he looked drugged.
“Should we be doing this?” I whispered against his mouth.
“No.” But he didn’t stop immediately.
His movements slowed instead, and his hand moved to grip my rib cage, his thumb sliding down the side of my breast, feeling each rib on the way to my waist. He paused for a beat, wrapped both hands around my hips, and dragged my weight down his erection one last time before picking me up and setting me next to him.
He gripped the log on either side of him, his tendons standing out in stark relief against his arms, head hung low while he tried to catch his breath. I took a few steps back to seat myself on my rock, suddenly feeling chilled in the cold night air, and he turned his head slightly to watch me with a predatory gaze.
“Are you sure I’m the only siren in this camp?”
Chapter 20
The morning rainwas a fitting backdrop for my terrible mood.
Last night had proven to be an exercise in frustration as we finished dinner and set up camp. Levi had kept his distance from me throughout the evening after he’d kissed me, even going so far as to move his bedding up into the rocky ledges above the camp. He’d claimed that the heat from the fire was too much for him, and that he wanted to be able to see around us, but it was more than that.
Between being left wanting and falling asleep alone in a cold, strange place, I was feeling strangely morose. It wasn’t his fault. I knew that. He’d been clear with me. I’d been the one to remind him he needed to stop last night.
But my heart wanted what it wanted. And my heart wanted Levi.
Even now, gazing at him through the constant drizzle and morning fog, I felt oddly alone. We were separated by a mere couple of feet, but the knowledge that he purposely kept that small distance between us made it feel like an impenetrable wall.
The rain had definitely affected my mood, though Levi seemed rather unaffected by it. It had started to fall during the night, and by the time we were harnessed and situated on Leothen, it had turned into a full-on deluge. I was bundled against the rain and the chill, but Levi looked entirely unconcerned, sprawled on his end of the hammock.
I let my eyes follow the long lines of him and marveled at his hardy nature. How could someone so beautiful be so masculine and sturdy at the same time? He sat forward and shook the water out of his hair, draping his arms across the tops of his knees, and I noticed a subtle mottled pattern of dull blues and greens had appeared over the tricep of his right arm.
“Maybe I was wrong about you turning into a frog,” I teased him gently, wanting some of the levity back that we’d shared yesterday. I nodded at his arm and earned a crooked grin, which made my heart thud painfully.
Levi twisted his arm around to glance at it, hiking up his wet short sleeve to get a better look, and then shrugged. “If it goes beyond the patchy color-morph on my back and arms, I’ll be as surprised as you. You’d think I could have gotten something useful, like water breathing, or fins, but no. Just some dorsal camouflaging.”
I rolled my eyes at him, softening a little. “And the enchantments, the ability to see in the dark, and some serious cold tolerance.”
He huffed. “Is the cold tolerance really a perk if I overheat easily, though? Kinda seems like a wash to me.” His gaze slid to my building smile and turned a little heated. Eventually, he blew out a breath and turned to focus on the passing trees. The last of my sullen disposition slid away as I realized that he was frustrated too.
We were in this together.
“It’s getting hard to see the ground here,” Levi noted, peering down at the fog rolling through the trees and across the forest floor. “Should we take them to higher ground?”
That was probably a good idea. “There are some cave systems I’m trying to stay away from to the north. Let me dig out the chip with the maps on it.” It would be worth it to spend a little longer going around them and avoid the possibility of a cave-in.
I stood carefully amid the rocking of the giant and readjusted my harness. Using what little upper body strength I had, I pulled myself up toward the rucksack containing the calling stones.
I felt Levi’s hand on my leg helping to steady me and turned to give him a grateful smile. How I was going to get through the trip without constantly wanting to be plastered to him, I had no idea, but what I did know was that he was worth it. I loved his heart and his mind, and those alone would have to be enough for now. And they were.
With that thought, I boosted myself up into the cubby where we’d tied down our bags and dug through them until I found the pocket I was looking for. Before I could get it open, I heard a thunderous crash of splintering wood and felt my stomach lurch as the stone I was sitting on dropped out from underneath me.
My body pitched backward. I had no chance of grabbing a better hold on the rain-slicked golem as it swung forward, and I was launched with bone-jarring force from the golem’s shoulder.
I only had time to turn my head and search for Levi, my terrified eyes locking with his shocked ones as I hit the end of my tether and heard the metal connections snap.
The trajectory of the golem had it down before I was, and I could see Leothen’s prone form flattened below me as I was thrown through the trees.
Slashing pain lit my body as I splintered through tree limbs all the way down, finally plunging into icy water far below, full of downed trees. I couldn’t see their submerged forms in the dark, murky-green water, but I felt their rotting masses as I slammed into them just feet below the surface.
Air exploded from my lungs on impact in a roar of bubbles. Frigid, icy water rushed down my throat to fill its absence. A few stunned heartbeats passed before darkness stole my thoughts, and the numbness in my limbs crept into the rest of my body.
