Epilogue

Celyn

I still cannot comprehend why you choose to sleep, I said to my Saphira as she arrayed herself for rest in the darkening light.

It still felt so new to have her always near, and if she'd allowed it I would have spent every moment of time with her. But Safira enjoyed the patterns of her life, and with my ring on her finger and my name etched in her soul I could open my grasp enough to allow her to have everything she desired. Even when she went into the sorcerer's Spire I wasn't afraid of her loss, for I could always feel her, the same longing that always brought me home to my lake telling me where she stood.

"It feels safe," she replied, flashing a smile at me. "And I like letting everything drift away while you hold me."

I made a low sound, content with that answer. Conversation was a great pleasure, but I had never needed constant words. Resting alongside Safira while she basked in her trust for me was a great pleasure in itself.

My eyes drifted over to the small human home she'd made in my depths, the sight amusing me, as it always did. Perhaps as the years flowed past, she would lose her attachment to the human things, and no longer desire the shelves made of stone upon which she'd set her precious objects, nor the books she always delighted in taking underwater, knowing I would keep them safe and undamaged. Two small stones sat upon a piece of slate, with the gleam of gold resting next to them; behind stood a soft painting of my Safira as a child and a lovely carving of a horse.

The latter pleased me. It made me feel as if she'd always been intended to come to me, and though I had no trust in the concept of gods, I knew the paths of the ley that flowed ever past me. Safira had been carried to me, swept into my waters, and my profound gratitude for that gift would never abate.

This shrine she'd built to her humanity might one day fall, as so many human things did—but until and unless it did, it pleased me to have her change my lake for her happiness. There was nothing I would not grant her if she asked it. I possessed nothing more precious than her, and I would with joy sacrifice anything for her.

"Come lie with me," she said, settling onto her bed beneath the waves. Safira held one hand up to me, beseeching me, as naked and beautiful as a naiad.

I went, taking her hand and kissing her palm before settling down alongside her, tucking her warm body close to mine. As you desire, I said to her, nuzzling behind her ear. Her hair was growing out, the freedom she'd given me at such great cost slowly being washed away by time. One day soon, her hair would fall past her shoulders again, the loose curls the same as the moment when I first saw her lovely face.

She hummed with pleasure, leaning up against me. I pressed back into her, greedy for the feel of her skin and with an ever-present contentment easing my every worry and fear. It had never troubled me to be alone before I'd met her, but now that I had her, I could imagine no future without her. Safira had become everything to me, and despite the pain we'd endured, I regretted none of it. I would have done it all again and far suffered far worse depredations to have her here, soft and curled against me.

I love you, I whispered to her, the very words sending a shiver of sunlit joy through me. I love you, and I need you, forever.

Safira smiled with her lovely eyes closed, lacing her fingers through mine and drawing them to her chest. "I'm yours forever, and I will love you through all of it, Psalytaemanthe," she said, her thoughts caressing my name in a way that sent a flood of heat and tension through me to settle in my groin with throbbing pressure.

I moaned, clutching her closer, and ran my open mouth along the curve of her neck. My Saphira—

She pressed back against me, angling herself to rub along my hardening shaft. The salt of her desire touched my waters, and all at once I had no further patience for a concept such as sleep.

My fingers found her nipples, caressing my consort as she arched against me, her head thrown back against my shoulder. Her desire thrummed through me with aching beauty, and I rocked my hips against her.

"Have me," she said, moaning pleasure laced through her thoughts. "Claim me, lover. Show me what it means to be the consort of a water-horse."

Those words spilled into me like the heat of the volcano, desire overtaking everything else. I reached between us, running my fingers along her folds with eagerness.

It means this, I crooned to her, with all the alluring strength I possessed. I set the blunt tip of my shaft at her entrance and pressed into her, demanding that she yield before my desire. Heat and pressure wrapped around me, her body gripping mine. Satisfaction raced through me, tension building in my groin.

It means this, I said again, wrapping my strong fingers around her throat as I thrust into her.

She moaned, the vibration translating to my hand, relaxing into my demand with perfect surrender. It sent lightning pleasure streaking through my veins, the total trust she gave me as I took her better even than the strength of her core as she closed down against me.

My Safira, it means this . I slid two fingers between her legs, pressing against her sensitive nerves, and claimed her body as only a creature such as I could. I threw her into orgasm with my will, holding her in it while she shook with pleasure, driving my shaft into her without mercy. Safira's core massaged my length as she came for me and from me, the swollen pressure spiking within me at every silken grip of her body

"Oh, gods, Celyn, Celyn — !" she cried into my mind, the pleasure I gave her echoing in my waters until I could no longer resist falling into it.

I let go, my body crashing into hers as I came with shuddering force. Ecstasy raced through me, dissolving me from within, and I cried out my pleasure for her as I filled her body with my essence. Safira shook from pleasure as I clung to her, both of us lost in each other. I could have stayed like that forever, but ecstasy becomes agony if it remains unchecked, and bliss came with soothing fingers, gentling us back down to rest upon the lakebed.

I stroked Safira as we came down from it together, caressing her as I anchored myself in the moment, ever-covetous of the smooth warmth of her skin.

She made a quiet sound of pleasure, tangling her fingers with mine again. "No patience for the regular way of things, hmm?" she murmured to me, a pleased lilt to her voice.

Laughter warmed my thoughts as I replied, You wished to be shown again what it means to be mine. I kissed her neck, nuzzling close. I merely gave you what you asked for.

Safira lifted my hand to her face and kissed the back of it before tucking me close to her chest again. "I loved it."

Good, I murmured, settling close.

She exhaled, the warm water from inside her lungs swirling around us before she drew in another breath from my lake. Her eyelashes settled in dark arcs as she settled into rest. Softly, I kissed her throat, relaxing alongside her. Together we fell into bliss, the water around us and the moon's silver kisses gleaming on the waves.

I felt no anxiety as Safira fell asleep in my arms. There was no reason to deny her the comfortable habit of sleep when we had the depths of time before us. In the morning she would wake, and she would still be mine. She would always be mine.

With a smile on my lips and only happiness in my soul, I closed my eyes and stepped forward into our eternity.