27. Contentment
They soon found a small stream where they filled their water skins, drank, and then filled them again. As they continued walking along the bank of the stream, Eragon remembered that it pooled a short distance down.
When they reached the pool, Eragon checked to see if it was deep and clear of stones under the surface then, without warning, grabbed Arya and easily tossed her into the water. He dropped the pack and dove in after her. She came up spluttering, and he did too, gasping at the coolness of the water.
"That wasn't fair!" Arya cried with a laugh as she splashed water at him.
"No, indeed," Eragon agreed. "But after feeling the temperature of this water, I suppose it was needful. If we had tried to enter slowly, we may not have had the courage."
Arya laughed again. "True. Come then and let me warm you some."
They urgently tangled together, hoping their exertion would stave off the cold of the water, which it did. "That's what I wanted to do at the lake," Arya said in breathless satisfaction when they were finally still. She hunched her shoulders, keeping herself against him by holding on around his neck. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and Eragon supported under her with one arm.
"Mmmm," Eragon muttered, searching her neck, collarbone, and shoulders with his mouth. She let him continue for as long as he wished, savoring every moment and trembling when he used his tongue. "You taste so good," he finally said, stopping regretfully as she started shivering.
"You needn't stop," Arya insisted, her teeth chattering.
"But you're cold. So shall we swim to warm ourselves or get out?"
"Why don't we do that again?" she suggested as a third option.
"Because I can't," Eragon apologized. "It has only been a few minutes, and I haven't yet recovered."
Arya sighed in understanding disappointment. "Very well. Let's swim then do that again."
Eragon laughed in amazement at her truly unquenchable desire. "I'm a lucky man," he proudly stated.
Arya swam away swiftly, attempting to make up for the absence of his body heat with warmth from the exercise. The pool wasn't nearly as large as the lake, but it still provided sufficient room for them to wade around and tease one another.
Eragon finally succeeded in launching Arya into the air without being pulled under by sneakily approaching from behind. She cried out in delight as she fell back toward the water, attempting to make her splash as wide-reaching as possible so it would hit him as well.
Once the sun began to set and the water felt even colder as a result, they exited the pool, using magic to remove the water from their bodies and hair and snuggling in a still-sunny patch to warm up. They weren't able to remain that way for long before greedily consummating their love once more, which helped considerably in their warming up efforts.
For many days they followed this carefree pattern—eating, sleeping, swimming, teasing, talking, and falling ever deeper in love. Neither one of them had known it was possible to feel such contentment, and they were happier than ever before.
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