To test this, I reached down and ran my hand through the water. It was wet and cool, leaving a residue of liquid on my fingertips. When I touched those fingers to my lips, it tasted a little briny.

“How is it that you still don’t understand the danger of putting a foreign object in your mouth?” Shadow asked with a shake of his head. “For all you know, the water here could kill you in an instant.”

I gawked at him. “You didn’t say anything when I had your dick in my mouth. Where was your concern then?”

He blinked, and then he laughed, a deep, rolling rumble that had many parts of my body sitting up and paying attention. When he finally stopped laughing at me, he stepped forward and cupped my cheek. “I’d kill my mother just for the fact that I might have never heard your inane chatter again. You don’t think before you speak, and it’s… refreshing.”

Forcing myself to swallow the thick swell of emotions, I managed a smile. “She will never take this away from us again.”

He nodded, pressing a lingering kiss to my forehead, and… how was that so freaking hot? I would swear I felt it in my vagina, if the flutter there was any indication.

He turned and walked off before I even had a chance to pull myself together. “Wait,” I called after him, hurrying to catch up. “You didn’t confirm that the water won’t kill me?”

“I didn’t confirm that my dick won’t, either,” he called back over his shoulder. “Guess only time will tell.”

I muttered under my breath as I splashed after him, my magic keeping me mostly dry. Shadow didn’t slow until he reached the next layer, and this time, we stepped into the water, popping out into a new layer.

I straightened to find that this level was what I’d liken to the Amazon jungle. It was humid, filled with millions of plants and trees, some towering over us, others bushy and thick, and the scents. An overwhelming number of foreign smells filled my nose, making my head spin for a second before I filtered them out.

“This is the layer she lives in,” Shadow murmured. “I can feel her energy now that we’re here.”

The flutters in my chest went haywire, confirming that the jungle level was the one. “It’s insane. I literally couldn’t feel her in our bond until we got here. I’m starting to understand Angel’s fascination with your mate’s maze house in the realm.”

Shadow let out a rumble of annoyance, and I had to work hard not to smile. Riling him up was too easy, but I really had to stop mentioning Ixana. Mostly because it still hurt to think about that dumb bitch of an ice queen.