**DAPHNE**
By the time Klyesque, Dionie, Petra, and I join Ash at the River Dock, my book is safely stowed in my cloak pocket, warming against my leg like a burning secret.
A small wooden ship bobs in the water with Finn and Ash at the helm. Upon sight of me, Ash smirks, leaping down from the craft to join us at the water’s edge.
“Are you ready for your first grand adventure, little peasant?” He says, tilting my chin up with one hand, his silver eyes studying my person. He wears a bright, contagious smile this morning and I have to wonder what the witch talked to him about the night before. He seems...happier.
Glancing to my left and right to be certain we will not be overheard - I note that the others are already climbing aboard. Turning back to Ash, my face heats as his eyes wander over the fitted armor he provided me. I hiss at him. “I thought we were heading north to Diana.”
He loses his smile. “I already told you, for that I will be going alone.” Sighing, he leans toward my ear to whisper, “I must speak with you about someone.” His lips graze my cheeks as they leave my ear and I shudder, falling toward him against my own volition. He is a magnet for me, calling me toward him with just a touch.
“About whom?” I ask, my knees going weak as his arms infiltrate my cloak and his strong biceps close around me in a possessive embrace.
His teeth nip my earlobe, his mouth wet and hot as he skirts my question. “We will discuss it later when we are safely on our way.” Standing back, he releases my waist, taking my hand instead. “Have you ever been on a ship before?”
I smile with a shake of my head. “No. And if I am being truthful, the thought is terribly exciting.” The Forgotten Wood looms to my left, the ominous fog dancing in its depths. “Klyesque says we are headed south.”
Ash seems to note the direction of my gaze and nods. “That’s right. Away from the Forgotten Wood and deeper into the realm of River Fae. Come.”
Guiding me onto the gangplank Ash releases my hand to climb onboard. I follow slowly, my gaze riveted by all that surrounds us. A soft whisper in the wind lifts the tendrils of my hair to dance around me in spiral and almost in the same instant a small cyclone of leaves shivers in the distance.
There are words in these winds. A message that I can almost decipher.
“Come Daphne, we must make haste,” Klyesque urges. Her turquoise eyes wander the land beyond. Examining all the lay at my back as I take my final steps onto the ship.
No sooner do I turn around to watch as we float away from the shoreline, do I feel a pair of strong arms caging me in on both sides. Pressing into my back from behind, Ash pushes his hardened shaft against my bottom. His lips press against the side of my face as I gaze down into the purple waters of the river.
“I’m sorry you did not wake with me inside of you this morning,” he apologizes. “Tomorrow, it will be so.”
Glancing back at him as he leaves my side to stand at the helm, my hand slides inside of my cloak pocket.
“Ash,” I shout. “Where are we heading?”
He doesn’t answer me, his attention is on something far ahead. As I watch him I notice the swirling of his eyes and the whisps of something akin to black smoke leaving his fingertips in a flurry of movement. Following their path, I see they are headed up and toward the sails.
Suddenly Klyesque is beside me, threading a rope around my waist. “This is a lifeline,” she explains, securing the knot.
I chuckle. “Is this truly necessary?” I begin, my eyes wandering about the deck and noting everyone else save for Ash, is equally anchored.
She smirks at me, securing her own line and steadying herself against the rail. “You’ll see.”
My eyes lift toward Ash once again as the ship begins to take on incredible speed. Glancing up at the mast I notice his magic appears to be powering the damn thing.
“Oh my,” I say as the wind begins to sting my cheeks.
Finn takes the helm and Ash leaps down to stand at my side, the motion of the ship not swaying him in the least. We are slicing through the sparkling purple rapids, the land on each side of passing in a variable blur when he unties my lifeline and guides me down the companionway and into the cabin.
The space is elegantly decorated in shades of red and silver, with a large feather bed along the far wall. “I want you to stay down here as much as possible,” he whispers to me, closing the cabin door and flipping the latch.
My eyes crest the muscles on the back of his neck and the way the ink on his skin shivers and dances with each movement. Before I can stop myself, I am reaching up to trace them with my fingertips, sliding my hand underneath the short ponytail at his nape.
Ash freezes, his body tensing and his back going perfectly straight. My movements continue to glide upward and over the delicate arch of his ears, then down again to caress his shoulders.
He shudders, “Daphne.”
Taking my hands away I slip out of my cloak and lay it on the bed as he turns around. His eyes are sparkling with heat as they begin a slow perusal of my body clad in the skintight shimmering armor. He is so beautiful when he looks at me that my knees become uselessly weak. I fall back to sit on the bed, my gaze feathering over the shadows of sculpted muscles across his chest.
“You say, I must stay down here,” I coo. “Will you be down here with me?”
He smirks, gliding toward me like a predatory cat. “As much as I can be,” he answers. “Lay back.”
I do not question him, only do as he bid me, and the moment my spine hits the mattress he lowers himself to his knees. Gripping my hips at each side, his hands heat my flesh as they grope my bottom beneath me. The feeling is so exquisite I cannot stop the moan that leaves my lips, nor the arch of my back that lifts my womanhood toward his waiting mouth.
“Ah,” I let out, as the fire of his open mouth bites and nips at my core, over the fabric of my pants.
His hands pull me forth, yanking my body toward the edge of the bed, where he is kneeling between my thighs like a worshiping monk...