Page 63 of North Queen
The cave grew colder, and darkness hung around them like a thick shroud. Norah found herself moving closer to him and taking his arm with her other hand.
She was about to ask another question when the darkness abated and she could make out Alexander’s form and the walls of the cave around them. They kept to the left and curved through another tunnel that, suddenly, opened into a vast cavern with a large pool of turquoise water. Light poured in from somewhere ahead, past an island rock formation in the water.
Norah let out a breath in awe. “It’s beautiful.”
“Isn’t it?”
“How did you find it?”
“Wefound it,” he said. “You and I. When we were younger.” He had stopped, but their hands were still together, and his eyes met hers. “This is where you liked to come when the weight of the world was too heavy. Just to get out from underneath it, if only for a moment.”
Her chest tightened. The world was heavy now.
He stood close, so close, facing her with their fingers entwined, and suddenly the world felt very far away. The warmth from his hand spread up her arm and over her skin, pooling in her stomach. His gaze traveled over her face and down to her lips; they stayed on her lips. His mouth parted slightly as he leaned even closer. Her breath came faster. She wanted him closer still.
But he inhaled and stepped back, pulling his hand from hers and putting some space between them. Her mind tumbled, but she caught herself and straightened.
“The water is warm,” he told her, looking out across the cavern. “The pool is fed from the hot springs in the rock.”
“Is it really?” she asked, overly feigning interest. She was desperate for something—anything—to steer the conversation from where they’d been. She crouched down at the edge of the pool and dropped her hand to the water, but as her fingers touched its warmth, she stopped. Visions seemed to ripple in the pool. Not that she could see, but that she could feel. Something was here.
She scooped the water up and let it fall between her fingers. There was a yearning in her spirit, a freedom in the pool that called to her. And there was something… familiar. She knew this place, but the memory was just beyond her grasp. Yet it was close. So close. She scooped up another handful, listening as she closed her eyes. The sound of the drops as they hit the pool and echoed off the walls. The feel of the warmth between her fingers… The water called to her mind, called her back. There was a memory here.
“I want to go for a swim,” she said breathlessly as she stood.
Alexander drew up a hand with a shake of his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
But she didn’t care. She reached back and pulled the ties loose on her dress.
“Queen Norah,” he said uneasily, “you can’t seriously take off all your clothes right now.”
“I’ve got on at least three layers. I’ll be decent enough.”
Alexander shifted but quickly saw he didn’t have a choice, and he turned his back as she pulled down her dress and wriggled out of it. She paused at her underskirts, looking up to make sure she remained unseen. He waited with his back to her, and she pulled them off, adding them to the pile of clothing. Then she slowly stepped into the water in her chemise and silk underwear.
The water felt incredible, and she leisurely sunk down to her chin. The tension seemed to flow out of her. She already knew she loved this place, even if she couldn’t remember it.
“Are you coming?” she called to him. She’d feel silly if she were the only one. She’d make him share the awkwardness, at least.
He stood at the edge of the pool, seeming to wrestle with his proprieties.
“Come on,” she called. “It’s amazing!”
“I know it is,” he called back with a chuckle. Finally, he relented, giving a small shake of his head as he shrugged off his cloak and jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. He kicked off his boots and tossed them next to his cloak.
She turned away as he pulled off his breeches, stripping down to his braies, but she turned back when she heard him splash in. The clear turquoise water did little to protect her modesty, but her undergarments covered her enough, and she wasn’t feeling modest at the moment, anyway. She waited as Alexander waded deeper and moved toward her. For a moment, she forgot about the pull of the water on her mind.
They lingered in the beautiful silence, facing one another, circling. A warmth eddied in her stomach, a current that carried her to him. He moved closer, and her pulse quickened. Closer still, he came. She could reach out and touch him if she wanted.
And she wanted.
Her eyes were on his lips, the lips that had kissed the back of her hand, the lips she somehow knew. She could so easily imagine them against her own. Was she only imagining? Or was she remembering?
Norah pushed herself back, putting it from her mind. She dared not let her thoughts wander there for fear she might follow them.
With the hold between them broken, he pushed back as well, letting out an echoing breath. He swam toward the stone formation jutting from the center of the pool, and she followed. Norah reached the rock and gripped the damp surface. She softened her kick so as not to hit her knees against the jagged edges hidden underneath.
“Watch your knees,” he warned.
