The crushing and clamping stops.
She leans in closer and slips her arms beneath mine, wrapping them around me, encircling my massive frame as much as she can. Her face comes to rest against my neck, her heart pounding against mine.
She's…holdingme.
Why?
"Is this okay?" she whispers, her voice vibrating against my sternum.
Can't move.
Don't dare to touch her back. Don't dare to complete the embrace. Not trusting myself or this moment that can't possibly be real.
But she doesn't let go.
Her arms tighten slightly, a silent reassurance. Her wild honeysuckle scent, sweetened and spiced from her lingering heat, fills my lungs and drives back the raging panic.
Grounding me to this impossible moment.
This impossible touch.
My heart still hammers against my ribs, but the rhythm begins to slow. My breathing evens out, each breath a little deeper, a little steadier than the last. Fucking lightheaded still, but the black spots recede from my vision, the world expanding back to its normal dimensions.
She's still here.
Still not running.
With agonizing slowness, I lower my arms. Let them settle around her small frame. Ready to pull away at the first sign of discomfort. The first hint that she regrets this decision and is afraid of me now.
But no signs come.
"I'm sorry about your mask," she murmurs. Hesitantly. As if she isn't sure she should say anything.
She'sapologizing.
To me.
Why?
For getting a glimpse of what she was never meant to see?
I pull back just enough to sign, hands still unsteady but slower now. More deliberate.
N-O-T… Y-O-U-R… F-A-U-L-T.
And then, because I need to know, because I can't understand, my hands form the question that's burning through me even as I try to focus on my breathing.
W-H-Y… N-O-T… S-C-A-R-E-D?
She reads my signs, understanding dawning in those ocean eyes. And then she does something that stops my heart entirely.
She smiles at me.
A real smile.
Not forced.
"No, Wraith. I'm not afraid of you," she says gently, holding my gaze with a steadiness that makes my pulse stutter. "I was just surprised. Not scared."
