And for a long moment, the only sound in the room is mybreathing, sawing in and out of my lungs in painful gulps.
Her chest heaves against mine, her nails still digging into my back, and her legs still wrapped around my hips … and I can’t bring myself to pull away.
Get off me. I’m finished with you.
I roll to the side, taking her with me, slipping out of her as we move. We end up face to face, her leg still hooked over my hip.
The fire has burned low, casting the room in shadows. She lies quietly, eyes half-lidded as she catches her breath, while I tell myself I should move, stand up, dosomethingto put space between us again.
Instead, I lie there and don’t stop her when her hand lifts and her fingers trace one of the marks on my chest.
“These marks. You said they show rank and victories.”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
She’s quiet for a moment, fingers still tracing over them.
“When you made me touch them … in the tub. You went somewhere. Just for a second.”
“Leave it.”
“Cairn—”
“I said leave it.”
Her hand stills against my chest. She’s watching my face, eyes still slightly cloudy from desire, but there’s a determined set to her features that I’m learning to recognize.
“When I put my hands in your hair,” she says slowly, “that magic … thatthingyou won’t explain woke up again. You froze.”
I don’t answer.
“And when you were undressing … before you got in the tub. You froze then too.”
“I told you to leave it.”
“You made me tell you things. Things I didn’t want to say.”
“That was a different bargain. This one doesn’t require talking.”
“No, but I can’t ignore what I felt coming from you.”
The silence stretches between us. Her eyes don’t leave my face.
I could roll her over. Distract her with my hands and mouth and make her forget she ever asked.
I shift onto my back, and stare up at the ceiling.
They’d walk the cages, and pick which one they wanted.She startles slightly at my voice in her head.Then the guards would clip a leash to our collars and hand us over.
I don’t know why I’m telling her.
“When you froze, was it because I was reminding you of them?”
One of them liked to grab my hair, while she used my mouth.
