Tipping my chin with his thumb, our eyes lock. My stomach swirls again and this time, it isn’t the anxiety or the nerves. “I said,” I whisper, my gaze never leaving him, his hand never leaving my chin, “that I love you. I know it’s absurd considering?—”
“It isn’t.” He closes his eyes and the weight of my words settles between us. I don’t regret them, but I hadn’t thought of how it might change things. We haven’t known each other for long and yet… My skin prickles as Sorin reaches behind me and runs his fingers across the ink on the back of my neck.
“You love me.”
“Unfortunately,” I say, a smile breaking across my face. I have felt it for weeks, but at this moment, I’m certain I’ve loved him for many lifetimes. How else could I explain the dizziness he causes or the electric feel of his touch? The comfort andfamiliarity I feel in his arms, not to mention the countless times he has proven to me that I am enough, just as I am.
How could it be possiblenotto love someone like Sorin with his unwavering devotion and passion and?—
He smiles, his cheek dimpling, and my heart stutters. His smiles have been so few and far between these last few days, I bask in the warmth it brings me, proving every point I’ve just made to myself.
Sorin places a gentle kiss on my lips, and it’s the softness of it that makes my stomach dip. So much care in that delicate touch. Such finesse.
“I love you too, you impulsive, infuriating, perfect woman,” he whispers against my mouth, before his lips are on mine again, this time with much more fever. Parting my lips, I let him in, his tongue sweeping against mine coaxing a moan.
As he pulls me into him, his hands are everywhere. In my hair, on my hips. Stumbling forward, Sorin fiddles with the laces on my pants, and we both fail to see the desk before I’m crashing into it. Our kiss breaks for a moment, and before I can suggest moving to the bed, Sorin scoops me up and plants me firmly atop the desk. Then, his lips devour mine. Hands freeing my laces, he breaks away to shove my breeches off completely. Fisting the fabric of his shirt, I draw him into me.
He keeps his eyes on me as he slowly undoes the laces of his pants. Sweeping my tongue across my bottom lip, I watch as he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the floor.
Sorin says nothing as he lifts my shirt off of me, then my camisole. His hands land firmly on my hips, tugging me forward until I’m at the edge of the desk. I spread my legs and wrap them around him. He presses his length against my center, and my back arches on instinct but he makes no other move.
“I want to hear every sound.” His teeth scrape against my shoulder. “Every moan.” His tongue drags down my neck as hishands glide to the inside of my thighs, hovering just about where I want them. “And when you come for me,” he says, sliding his hand between my legs, his thumb rolling between my thighs. Moaning, I roll my head back but he’s quick to grab my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. “When you come for me, I want to watch every second of it.”
His kiss is deep, claiming as I moan against his mouth. His hand slides back right where I need it between my legs, and I moan again, attempting to push my hips further to encourage his movements. He circles his thumb before his fingers find me.
Biting my bottom lip, I keep my eyes on him, just as he prefers, as he works my body in the way only he knows how. My stomach clenches, knots of pleasure forming deep in my center, before his mouth crashes into mine and I’m rolling over the edge. I don’t attempt to stifle my moan as I chase my release. My hips roll forward but with how I’m angled on the desk, it’s not much help.
Before I can catch my breath, Sorin removes his hand to grip the back of my neck. His other hand finds purchase around my waist, scooting me closer still, until finally, he slides into me.
Gripping fistfuls of his hair, needing him closer, I run my teeth and tongue over his neck. His body heats against mine as he thrusts into me, over and over again.
“Fuck,” he groans.
My eyes roll closed, savoring every inch of his skin that sears into mine. Every movement of his body, every muscled curve of his back. The desk rattles beneath me, the contents toppling off the side as Sorin’s thrusts grow more rapid.
I grip his shoulders, letting my nails rake against his skin. My need, growing stronger with each movement. I’m spiraling and not just from this physical connection we have but from something much deeper rooted. Something I can’t explain, and at this point, I don’t care to try because for whatever reason, wefound each other. And maybe that’s enough. Love doesn’t need to be accompanied by a grand gesture for it to be significant. It doesn’t need to be loud or bold or dangerous.
It can be quiet. It can be comfort. It can be finding your home in another person and that can be enough. And it certainly doesn’t need to be years old to mean something. Even if this love between Sorin and I is new and fresh, it is stilleverything.
My body clenches, and Sorin must sense my shift, because before I can unravel, he pulls my hair back so my face is inches from his. “Let go.”
His words snap the last thread holding me together and my body shivers as my pleasure pulses through me. I cry out his name, making sure he can see my face as I do. Giving him just what he needs to find his own release. He’s close behind, a few more thrusts until we’ve both exhausted ourselves.
Bodies shaking, both of us hot from our movements, but neither of us dares to move. He dips his head until it meets mine, sticky with sweat and all. “My love for you is a desperate, maddening thing, Elora.”
Something in my chest stirs at his confession. Something both foreign and familiar. It thrums against my ribs, matching my heart beat for beat.
I push the hair back from his forehead and lean forward to kiss his mouth, soft and slow, just as he always does to me. We take our time kissing each other, the rush and surge of passion sated, allowing us the pleasure of basking in one anothers acceptances of each other.
But as Sorin kisses me, as his hands hold protectively against my back, I open my eyes and the room around us, before so foreign and new, suddenly feels as though we’ve been here for so much longer. I close my eyes again and a haze crosses my mind, foggy and mist-like.
Images of Sorin and I wane in and out, just as the dreams I had of him in the cells. Moments I don't recall living but thatthingdeep inside of me remembers.
Or perhaps it’s hope that I’m feeling.
Hope for a future that feels so far from here.
Sorin and I in the forest, a looming storm overhead. A flash of yellow feathers followed by laughter.
