She swims toward the small waterfall adjacent to the spring, water trickling over a small overhang from deep within the earth. Jyn stays low to the water, her hair pooling over her shoulders.
“Are you coming or not?” she asks coyly, swimming out farther. “The water is shallow,” she adds in soft reassurance.
The edges of my lips tug into a grin. How can I refuse her?
I strip out of my clothes and take the plunge, wading my way across the hot spring to join Jyn beneath the waterfall. My feet easily touch the bottom, so a fear of drowning doesn’t seize me as it normally would. The steam soaks into my lungs, into my skin, but nothing is able to hold my attention quite like Jyn.
Droplets of moisture fall over her shoulders and down the plane of her back. Her cheeks and chest are flushed with the heat of the spring, bringing vibrant color to her ivory skin. Her lashes flutter as I draw in close, easily circling my arms around her waist. I am unsure who moves first, but in the end, it matters not. Our lips find each other, a perfect fit.
We are reduced to greedy hands, breathless kisses, and moans of desire. I don’t know where she stops and I begin. She consumes my every thought. We move together with urgency, melding our souls into one. We have so much time to make up for, hundreds upon hundreds of lifetimes apart.
I silently pray to the Gods above that they will offer us this one reprieve.
Please, let me stay with her this time.
She licks a stripe up the side of my neck, sucking hard to make a mark on my skin. The ravenous look in her eye sends all other thoughts away. I grasp her hair by the roots to pull her head back and put my mouth to her throat, my teeth gently grazing over her tender flesh.
“Go on,” she urges with a dark laugh. “Don’t fight your instincts, Sai. Claim me, just like you used to.”
I surge forward, biting just hard enough to break skin. I nick her lovely neck, and then the curve of her shoulder, and then her collarbone, suddenly overcome with the instinct to cover her with marks.Mymarks. The world needs to know that she is mine.
Her pleasure sings over our bond, satisfaction and euphoria mixing together into the most potent of concoctions. I hold her through the crest of it, not far behind her.
There’s beauty in the aftermath, an intimacy in the long stretch of silence that follows. There’s no need for words, for affirmations. The Gods promised us to one another, our union destined. I can’t imagine bearing even a moment without her.
We stay in the water a while longer, bathing at a leisurely pace. We’re both tired, deserving of a short break. She cups her hands together and pours water over my head with a light giggle, moving to massage my shoulders and arms while I steal kisses every chance I get. I allow myself the chance to savor the peace of the moment, because I know how fleeting it all is.
“We’ll need to return to the village for supplies,” I say. “I can go alone. I’ll gather as much as I can, and then we’ll make our way as far west as we are able.”
“But what about the huntress? If you return to the village, won’t she be lying in wait?”
“Perhaps, but she can do nothing to force answers out of me or stop me from leaving.”
There’s hesitation in her eyes, and I can’t blame Jyn for her lack of confidence.
“I don’t think it wise, Sai—”
“How about you keep watch?” I suggest. “Keep watch from the forest’s edge while I return to the village. I’ll just slip in and out with the supplies we need and thank them for their hospitality. Feng won’t make a move with so many people around.”
“What if she tells them?” Jyn asks. “About what we truly are. Shesawme. What are the chances that they’ll believe her?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “All the more reason for me to be quick. Should anything happen, you can come in at a moment’s notice.”
Her anxiety plucks at our connection, but she says, “All right.”
We step out of the hot spring and dry off, then quickly pull on our clothes. I braid her hair and give her a quick kiss before adding her silver hairpin. “We’d best get going, then.”
33
We remain on foot, knowingthat the huntress will be watching the skies. Jyn’s keen sense of smell leads us on a path straight to the village. I keep an eye out for any movement in the underbrush, wary of what new creatures might be lurking there. At least I now know I possess the strength to rip them apart, though my lack of control is a cause for concern.
I’m unable to stop myself from reliving the moment I nearly lost my mind to that overwhelming power. If Jyn hadn’t been there to calm me down, who knows the damage I might have wrought?
“Do you think I can do it?” I ask as we walk.
“Do what?”
“Fully transform.”
