“Raif. Please calm down, or tell me what I can do to help you. Please, I need you right now. What the hell just happened? Why is my life hanging in the balance?” Tears slid down my face and for once I didn’t care. I was terrified. In no way was I ready to die. I wanted to choose life, even if it meant staying prisoner here. I would miss my family terribly, but I would live with that sorrow if it meant I could live.
“Poseidon! Why her? Why bring her to me if you are just going to take her away? How have I offended you to be punished in this manner? Why must I endure this suffering and pain? Answer me, Poseidon! I know you are there.” He fell to the ground, his shoulders shaking. His hair hid his face from me, but the words that left him were angry, bitter, and tight with suppressed tears. “Oh, what a cruel game the fates play. Natasha, I cannot even wish that you had never been brought here, for I cherish every second I have had in your presence. I don’t know why we were chosen to start setting the wheels of change in motion. I wondered at the feelings and had hoped to inquire of Atreyu the extent of them as well as continue to explore them with you. I have never felt this way about another living being in my eleven thousand years of life, and now know I never will again. Three marvelous days is all I will have to hold onto in my memories when we could have had an eternity of happiness together. This is a true injustice being placed on us.” His voice cracked and shook. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
“Raif, please, just tell me what’s going on.” My heart was breaking at the sight of him hunched on the carpet, shoulders shaking and alone. I started inching closer to comfort him but remained wary of his ever-changing emotions.
“We are left with only one option, as I am not capable of allowing them to destroy you. I must take you to Cleito and hope she has devised a way to transport you back to the surface. Offering a false option to the people has satisfied them for now, but I will not allow them the choice to take your life. Having an alma xemelga is truly the most wonderful and terrible thing in the world.” He started mumbling to himself and I desperately tried to follow his one-sided conversation. “There is still a small chance that they will let you live. We could keep our feelings secret and you could remain my willing prisoner for the rest of eternity. Perhaps they will see reason in this matter where they had not before.” He looked up at me with such hope and terror mixed in his expression that my heart broke all the remaining restraint I had. I smoothed back his black hair and wiped the tear-streaks from his cheeks with trembling fingers.
“There was fear in Nereus’ eyes. No. He will not let you live.” He bowed his head. “Even if everyone else votes to keep you, I don’t think he will honor their wishes.” He whispered and I placed my hand on top of his head and ran my fingers down his silky tresses. Gently, I lifted his face to mine. His anguished expression tore at every part of my heart. My soul wept with his. “Natasha.” My name was a plea, filled with love and agony.
I lowered my head to his and kissed him. It was only meant to be a chaste kiss to ease his worried heart, but as he clutched my body to his, it grew. I slid to my knees to give him better access to my mouth. His hands slid up my back until they were fisted in my hair. He tipped my head back to hungrily feast at my mouth. Everything ceased to exist. We were the only two people in a world of nothingness. He was strong, demanding, needy, and yet so gentle.
I opened my mouth, accepting everything he had to offer. There wasn’t a better place in the universe than in his arms. My hands explored every part of his neck and torso, memorizing every ripple, ridge, and dimple. Distantly, I heard myself whimper. He responded with an answering growl that vibrated his entire body. I shivered with excitement.
He pulled back and hesitated for a moment, but before he could say anything I started undoing his shirt. His words dried in his throat before they could even be uttered. Apparently I wasn’t moving quickly enough for him, because he yanked the hated clothing from his body in one swoop. When his face appeared again, no longer hidden by his shirt, his expression was one of someone committing a sin. He schooled his features and looked at the ground.
“Forgive me! I was not—” I put my trembling fingers on his lips, halting his apology.
“Please. I need you.” I kissed him again. This time I didn’t even try to keep it chaste. I kissed him as if he was water and I was trapped in the desert. He removed my dress and we were finally skin to skin. I’d craved this moment from the first time I opened my eyes and saw him staring back at me. I shuddered in his arms, feeling the electric currents running through every pore of my body, into his, and back again. He lifted me into his arms and without breaking our kiss for even a moment he carried me, naked, to his bed. He placed me gently on the sheets and stepped
