Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

CONNOR

Connor's breath hitched when Ben pulled his sweaty shirt over his head and let it drop on the moss-covered ground beside the pool. The luckbringer removed his boots and then shucked off his sweats, showing long inches of supple pale skin. Connor couldn't have looked away if he wanted to—and he really, really didn't. Ben was beautiful, with supple muscles that were recently hard-won. Connor wondered if Ben knew what he looked like. The sprite used his smallness as a weapon, lulling enemies into thinking he was easy prey, but he either didn't know or didn't care that he was gorgeous.

Good , he thought, his wolf rumbling in agreement. Ben belonged to no one else.

Ben dived into the water with a small splash.

Dropping his backpack, Connor pulled out a towel and a book, settling against a tree to wait.

The pool's surface grew still, and Connor ignored the desire to anxiously watch and wait. Sprites were made of sturdy stuff, though he still didn't know how long they comfortably stayed submerged. He resisted the urge to stare every time he caught a flash of pale skin in the water, instead opening his book and trying to tell himself the care and feeding of lake trout was worthy of his time.

Almost an hour later, a soft ripple made him look up to see Ben lift his head out of the water, his sleek dark hair and green eyes bright.

"I found the source of the spring," Ben said.

Connor set aside his book and edged closer. "Yeah?"

Ben nodded. "There's a fissure in the rock with weird carvings on it. The water comes through hot."

"Someone used their luck to create an enchantment, do you think?"

"Maybe," Ben allowed, grabbing onto a half-submerged rock to stop himself from floating away.

Connor couldn't help himself. He touched the damp hair clinging to the side of Ben's face, marveling at how warm the luckbringer felt.

Ben leaned into the touch. "I still don't understand why you'd show me this place," he murmured, trust warring with his usual wariness of wolves. "I don't get what's in it for you."

"Nothing but your happiness," Connor rasped, stroking his thumb along Ben's jaw.

Ben blinked up at him, forest-green eyes glowing. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Connor said, smiling.

The glow in Ben's eyes seemed to brighten, washing out the last of his wariness. His mate let Connor continue to touch his face, eyes sliding closed until the water called him back.

Ben sank under the surface without a sound, trusting Connor wouldn't do anything while he was at his most vulnerable.

It was a start.