When I look down at her, I wonder what exactly she’s remembering.
“Put it from your mind, Arlet. It was the wine.”
She sneaks another glance at me. “The story…”
I go back to holding my breath.Why had I told her that?
“It was lovely. Thank you,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome,” I murmur, brushing my hand over her hair.
We stay like that for a long time, but she doesn’t move. She doesn’t go back to sleep, either.
Then she says the words I never thought I’d hear.
“There was something else you said—That if I still wanted you when I woke, I only needed to ask.”
Heat floods through me. I am only aware of the places where our bodies are pressed together.
I swallow thickly, and pull back. She looks up at me with bright eyes.
“Aren’t you tired?” I ask.
A dozen other reasons this is a bad idea parade through my mind. Adra, her curse, Teo, Estela, her hope for a child, matehood…
“Vann,” she starts. “You seem to understand me. This journey hasbeen hard. But right now, I am just me. You have to know—You must know that I care for you. Yesterday,” she swallows, “wasn’t the first time I wanted you.”
I listen, repeating each word in my mind, as if to memorize her phrases. I scramble for my excuses, the ones that have served me well.
But she is warm. Soft. And, somehow, completely at my mercy. That level of confidence is rare. Precious. She deserves to know how sweetly I would honor that.
When she shifts in my arms, everything but two, bold words fade.
Fuck it.
I don’t need excuses anymore. Not with her.
“Are you asking me?” I retort.
“What would you do if I was?”
I wait for her to look away, but she doesn’t.
"You're staring,” I murmur.
Her lips part, but she doesn't respond. Her gaze flits to my mouth, then back to my eyes. Her breath is sharp and shallow and quick.
"You do this from time to time,” I murmur. "Watch me like you're trying to figure out what I am. Like you're unraveling a tapestry thread by thread." I tilt my head. "What do you hope to find?"
She swallows hard. "You're hard to read."
"Or perhaps," I drawl, “I’m not and you're simply afraid of what you see."
Her breath catches.
“Can I touch you?”
Her chest rises and falls.