There were some things that tasted too sweet for him to want to give up so easily. Now that he had a taste from the little nymph in his grasp, he was not about to stop with just a sip. He was not about to stop at all, in fact, until he felt her move away from his devouring mouth. He growled softly, his dark stare a molten thing as they turned to scour her own pale gaze when her well kissed mouth parted away from his own. The snap and crackle of power between them jolted, making him shudder and clench her tightly against his firm body, before the surge finally faded into a simmer that he kept under a thin blanket of control.<br/><br/><br/>All of the little hurts, the abrasions and scratches on his skin, even the deeper wounds where the thorns had gouged deep had knitted back to whole, healthy skin that rippled with solid muscle underneath. With what he had<i>borrowed </i>so intrusively, he had sapped some of her strength to mend himself after his time trapped as he had been in limbo. His hands roamed, sure of themselves, even though she had broken their kiss, until his large palms cupped the softness of her bottom, tenderly lifting her as his hips ground forward so that she could feel the hard length of his erection resting at the juncture of her hips and lower belly – proof that he had, in fact, regained his strength.<br/><br/><br/>Breathing in deep, he tilted his head toward hers again until their lips brushed once more, though this time there was no drag of power that he demanded from here, merely earnest desire that sought to tantalize her mouth against his once more. The wicked curve that stretched across his, though, had him pausing right before he pushed further.<br/><br/><br/>“Then if you are not mine, what should I see you as, sweet nymph?” His breath whispered against her parted lips until his own descended again, capturing her mouth sweetly this time with long strokes and a gently probing tongue that teased her lips to part for him. Meanwhile, his hands traveled lower until he grasped underneath her thighs, dragging her around him in a possessive grip that belied the gentleness of his mouth.<br/><br/><br/>He would have kept going if the ground beneath their feet where they stood so close to the rejuvenated rose bush had not have quaked, shuddering like it had eaten something foul and was ready to spit it back up. The new tickle of power washed over them like a warm summer’s breeze that seeped down to the bone, tickling their insides in a soothing way. It was a deception only – Tavyan knew this power intimately. Dragging himself away from the Nephelai, he wrenched around with his arm thrown protectively out to shield the fair haired creature from an onslaught. Like a babe being ripped from the womb, the ground split open a few feet from where he had before been kept captive.<br/><br/><br/>He reacted before anything worse could occur. Drawing on his own pull of power, while still weak, had been somewhat replenished by what he had kissed out of his nymph. Just as a new plant started to emerge from the ground, larger than the trunk of a mature tree with a vermillion bloom sprouting from its tip like a flower blossoming for the first time at the start of spring, he whirled around to face the silver haired female in front of him.<br/><br/><br/>“Hold onto me – and I beseech you,<i>trust me</i>for what happens next. We cannot linger here… but I know where we will be safe, for the time being.”<br/><br/><br/>It was abrupt the way he snared her around the waist and seemed to lung through the open air. But like a door opening, he lifted out his hand and<i>ripped </i>a hole into their physical reality. And like a knife slicing open his gut, he felt the momentum of how much it took out of him to cross beyond the Veil. He caught one last glimpse before the world shifted of the bright red flower unfurling to reveal a woman before their world altered, time seeming to freeze in place, as they were dumped into the In Between. His face blurred as he turned his head to look down at the pale frame he still had his arms tightly wrapped around, then with a smile that looked elfin on his chiseled face, he took three steps forward where they now stood on the Crossroads between worlds so that they shifted again, stepping out into dappled sunlight that was warm on their faces.<br/><br/><br/>A cottage stood several yards away from them, facing a brook that babbled through a narrow valley with mountains on either side. Yellow flowers floated in the breeze bringing with them their sweet fragrance in the air. The touch of power that lingered in the air – traces of himself – suggested that there was some sort of enchantment over this quaint place he had brought them to.<br/><br/><br/>“My lady… Welcome to one of my homes,” he rumbled, the grin that had started on his face broadening as he released her at last and offered his arm. “We will stay here for a while, then go elsewhere.” It wasn’t a suggestion.