I woke up in the water.

Confused, I went to sit up and realized that Elatha had me cradled in his lap, in the shallow depths of the ocean.

I looked up at him. "How'd we end up here?"

Elatha smiled. "Well, I realized you would recharge your energy better by sleeping here than up on the beach without the salt water."

With a smile, I reached a hand up to cup his cheek. "Thank you for thinking of that. I do feel more rested."

His eyes turned wicked, and he gave me a sly little half grin. "You haven't noticed yet, but it wasn't exactly a hardship for me to hold you and admire the scenery." He looked down, and I followed his gaze.

I wasn't wearing anything. Not a single stitch of clothing. Elatha had one hand on my abdomen and the other supporting my back and curled around a breast.

Not even sure what to say, I looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow.

Elatha grinned unrepentantly. "Hey, I didn't remove them! You did. I just whispered the suggestion in your ear. It left nothing but skin to bathe in the salt water. More skin contact means more energy transfer."

"Did you take advantage of me in my unconscious state?"

"No. Well, not really. When your son got active, I rubbed your belly and talked to him. Okay, I do confess to playing with your breasts. Maybe I should apologize, but your nipples would turn into taut, tempting peaks, and you did tell me how much that was bothering you. You got restless every time it happened, and you needed your sleep."

"Oh really. So, what was your solution?" 

Despite the situation, I wasn't really annoyed. Instead, I was resigned to the continued indignities of pregnancy after my startling revelation earlier. That he was confessing had me somewhat amused. It was actually endearing that he felt he needed to, when I'd already given him permission to do whatever needed to be done.

He twisted and tugged one nipple, and I had to bite back a moan. The pleasure had shot right to my core, like they were directly connected.

"Was that all you did?" My voice was a bit husky as I tried not to give myself away.

"Almost," he said with a small grin. "I also did this."

Elatha leaned his head down to capture the other nipple in his mouth, tugging gently with his teeth before sucking.

A moan escaped and my heartbeat increased as his fingers and mouth pulled, twisted, and sucked. Without conscious thought, I arched my back, raising my chest towards him.

A wicked little smile curved his lips as he let my nipple go from his mouth with a pop of sound.

"And that's what you did in response," he said with a wink.

"Just that?" I asked breathlessly.

His eyelids lowered halfway. "No actually. You slid those beautiful fingers down and worked yourself to orgasm. It was incredible. I'll admit, I got you aroused numerous times while you slept, not just to play with these gorgeous breasts of yours, but because it is just so fucking hot seeing you make yourself cum."

Elatha's hand continued to caress my other breast, and my body hummed with awareness. "Will you show me with your eyes open? Granted, it's only a tiny energy boost in comparison when we play like this, but it's still something and staves off having to cross the line you're trying to avoid," he said as his head lowered again to take my nipple into the pull of his warm mouth.

My right hand was already resting on my inner thigh, lending credence to his claim. Shifting my fingers over, I started circling the bundle of nerves demanding attention with its second heartbeat. Immediately, the heat in my body ratcheted up several notches.

When I looked up at him, his eyes were fixed on my fingers, barely visible over the bulge of my abdomen. The heat in his gaze was adding fuel to mine, and I opened my legs to give him a better view. As a reward, he groaned, sucking harder and tugging a little rougher with his fingers.

With a moan, I let myself sink into the building pleasure. The demanding way he played with my nipples was the perfect counterpoint to the exquisite electricity sparking in my core.

The trembling in my muscles and spreading heat had me writhing restlessly as the crest rose. Moving my fingers faster, I thrummed urgently back and forth over the quivering little nubbin. 

When the wave hit, I caught my breath, using even greater force with my fingers to shove myself over that edge. Elatha bit down and pinched my nipples at the same time.

"Oh fuck," I shrieked as my body convulsed with the power of the orgasm tearing through me.

As multiple waves shook me, I gasped for breath, before finally subsiding to a fine trembling with the fading of the last aftershocks.

"Damn! That is so much hotter when you are awake," Elatha growled, his eyes blazing with lust.

He continued to gently stroke my body as I fell asleep again in his arms, rocking in the waves.

Waking a second time, I looked up to see Elatha smiling down at me, still holding me in his arms in the water.

"Hey, sleeping beauty. Are you ready for us to try to make some headway on getting to the Summer Realm?" he asked.

I stretched my naked body, not surprised when he followed my movements with interest. Although not energetic, I did seem somewhat better than before.

Elatha supported me as I rose, and I couldn't help but notice he was jutting hard and rigid in the thin material of his skinsuit. It outlined every thick detail.

"Did you enjoy the show?" I asked, and gestured to his cock.

"Well, you can see that I did and continue to," he said with a smile. "If I wasn't concerned about putting some distance behind us and getting out of the Winter Realm, I'd be doing something about it. I let you sleep for almost a day in the water."

"What?" I stood there, shocked.

"Shannon, you needed it. You are dangerously low on energy and your son is lethargic. Don't deny it as you've told me so yourself, so I know you've noticed. The options were to either let you rest for that long, playing with your body to give you little bits of energy over a longer time, or to fuck you thoroughly, completely, and repeatedly until you are fully recharged. The last would have been much faster, but I'm trying to respect your boundaries and sensibilities as much as possible," Elatha growled.

I didn't know what to say to that. Part of me wanted to bend over the nearest log and tell him to just take me already. There was no doubt my body wanted it, was more than ready for it, and I'd enjoy it immensely. Mentally, I'd accepted the necessity of our intimacy, but he was correct. Emotionally, I was still having difficulty with it. As irrational as it was for me to try to fight the laws of nature, I still felt guilty.

Nodding to him, I stepped from the water and called my fighting leathers and Asgardian armour to cover me. Elatha had given me this additional time to deal with my conflicted emotions. 

So I needed to put on my big girl pants and suck it the hell up. 

The time was quickly coming where we wouldn't have a choice. It was a simple energy conservation equation. There was no way I'd kill myself and my son over it. Surely Loki would prefer us to do whatever I had to in order to survive. If he didn't, then he wasn't the male I thought he was.

Elatha sighed. "Now that is a damned shame to cover that gorgeous body where I can't see it."

Amused after I knew he'd spent hours looking at my naked body, I smirked. With a sway in my step, I started walking down the beach toward the light and the Summer Realm. Immediately joining me, he stayed within arm's reach of me.

After insisting I eat, he passed me some fruit to chew while we walked for several hours. With a hand on my arm, he stopped, stilling my forward movement. His head was cocked to the side, listening.

That's when I heard it, too.

Eerie, unworldly howls and piercing screams.

"The Wild Hunt!" Elatha's eyes were wide, concerned. "Run, Shannon!"