***
Pandimora was everything Drew admired in a woman. Steadfast, smart, strong and not afraid to state her mind. She had courage. He didn't know any other woman who would brave a goblin world. It didn't sit right with him that the elder had tried to scare her by telling her she suffered the same illness as her mother. He'd seen depression at its worst in Deborah and he was hard pressed to see anything similar in Pandimora. Surely he would recognize the signs? What if after all this they found out she was ill and she had imagined or conjured everything that had occurred? Could he handle that type of situation all over again?
And now she stood here as naked as he'd seen her before, but for a moment he felt uncertain. Faeries and humans were a world apart. Would there be disappointment because of the differences in their worlds? Would it extend to making love? He pondered that thought, staring at the woman before him as she bent down to test the bath water as it gushed into his deep tub. Then he smiled and shook his head. Certainly the worlds were the same on some levels. What could they both do but make tonight one to remember?
Playfully, Pandimora tugged at his hand, pulling him down toward her, then gently nibbling his neck and shoulder with her teeth. Her actions sent an electric jolt from his nipples to his groin. Drew put his arms around her and pulled her up against him, their mouths meeting, white heat melding them together. Sparks of light exploded and he opened his eyes, amazed at the thin blue and silver streaks of light zinging all around them, bouncing off the bathroom's pale ivory walls and reflected in the water.
"Water and electricity don't usually mix," he muttered, unbuckling his belt. "I hope we don't get electrocuted." He thumbed the snap on his pants and pushed the zipper down. Shucking his jeans and underwear, he stepped into the tub as did Pandimora. "That light," he murmured. "Is it really electricity?"
She gave a gurgle of laughter. "We create sparks and energy combustion when we are together."
"And this is normal?"
"What does normal mean in a world inhabited by the magic of the fae? We are two live energy beings." She pressed the full length of her body to his and Drew sucked in his breath, knowing sensory overload wasn't far away as her breasts pressed against him. "We're exploring a world often explored in times past between humans and faeries."
"Have you known any faeries that gave up Aisywel to live in my world?" he asked curiously.
Pandimora nodded. "There have been some who felt it was worth such a life change," she said. "Once you make such a decision, there is no going back."
"What about humans living in the faerie realm?"
Pandimora pressed a hot kiss into the curve of his neck. "There is a ceremony where the human is melded to our world. Once this takes place, there is no going back at all. Not even to visit family."
"Really?" He pulled back slightly to look at her, pushing the flame red hair away from her eyes. "And does the human become immortal?"
"Sadly no, although I have heard tales of immortality being granted on rare occasions in what you would consider ancient times. It was said a faerie loved a human so much she grew listless and ill to think they would never be together. I'm not sure how it occurred, but eventually the human was allowed to meld to our realm. He became immortal, but that is a rare case. Humans have joined our world through time, but they remained mortal and eventually died."
Drew cupped her face, dropping his mouth to hers, loving the sensory experience of her full lips against his own. He traced her lips with his tongue, exploring their soft contours. The heated vapor of the water rose around them in the small room.
Carefully, he guided both of them down into the large tub. He leaned back against the tub, his back muscles aching a bit from the bruising he'd taken that week, but it didn't matter as he pulled her back into him and the hot water surged against them. Gently, he let his hands roam over her breasts and then down over her stomach. The blue light was a gentle play between his chest and her back. "This feels incredible, as if a ball of energy is between my palms and your skin." He kissed his way along her shoulder, her breasts beckoning him.
Pandimora moved restlessly, her breath escaping in little sighs of delight, teasing him, making him eager to feel her reaction to his touch.
"Easy," he said, "easy." He gently pushed the hair from her forehead, then over her shoulders as it fell across his chest. He loved the feel of her flaming hair against him, the fiery color having a brilliant life of its own.
As big as the tub was, water sloshed precariously close to the edge as Pandimora turned to face him.
"I don't want easy," she murmured and he felt himself going deeper and deeper as he lost himself in her eyes. He needed to remain focused but he just had a feeling he wanted to let go and see where this new experience would take them.
"I have waited a long time for this moment, Drew. I want to be greedy right now, bury myself in your scent and your body inside mine. I feel the temperature rising so beautifully, we fit together so well, and I know this must be the way it is meant to be."
She encircled his erection, took it in her hands and Drew felt himself grow even harder as she touched him tenderly, carefully, then pressed harder and harder. She met his eyes. "I want you inside me now, Drew."
"Pandimora -- protection. Let me get a condom --"
She pressed a finger to his mouth. "The fae are free of ailments, Drew, and as for becoming with child, that will be my choice in time. So there is no need to worry." Weightlessly, she sank down onto him, the water cushioning, flowing in gentle laps around them. Drew thrust inside her body as she opened her legs to welcome him. She pushed down on him, pulling him in slowly at first then faster. Drew rode the unbelievable sensation of their bodies reacting off each other, the heat of the water and its buoyancy adding to the incredible sensation of weightlessness.
Faster, faster, thrusting, her heated flesh closing around him. He felt as if he'd come home, as if a certain rightness had brought him to this moment. He'd never encountered such a feeling before, but there was no time to rationalize because the blue lights were fully embracing them, going crazy as she circled her hips in rhythm, jerked toward him and gasped. He kissed her open mouth, their tongues dueling as she pushed harder, sending both of them toward the back of the tub, water sloshing everywhere.
Drew put his hands out to steady them, his chest heaving as his adrenalin raced.
She laughed aloud. "Come to me, Drew. Give me everything."
Their glances locked and Drew tumbled down and down as sensation pulled them together into an abyss of pleasure. One crest after another, an orgasm that shook them, keeping them locked in each other's arms for endless moments, riding the feeling long after the last ripple of sensation slowly dissipated. He could barely catch his breath, his body still pulsed, but he lifted a hand to cup the back of her head, leaning down to gently kiss her lips and then down further, his tongue caressing first one nipple and then the other. Pandimora shuddered with renewed pleasure and moved against him, clamping her legs around his erection as he grew hard once more.
Droplets of water clung to her breasts, beading there, then running in tiny rivulets over the dusky, enticing peaks. Drew swallowed, his gaze caught on the sight of her luscious skin. The tail of her braid was a bright swathe against one breast, the ends curling around her nipple.