Page 67 of Risking Immortality

“Are you done chickening out now?” Erin asks, looking amused.

“I don’t chicken out,” I say boldly.

“Oh, yes you do,” Lucille laughs from behind me. I should have known the Wicked Witch of the West would somehow ingratiate herself into my very private conversation.

“If you’re referring to the time, you dared me to eat three ghost peppers, then fine, I chickened out. I like to think I’m just not as stupid as you, dear sister. Now would you kindly fuck off so I can talk to my girlfriend?” I hiss.

“Ooh, someone’s a little touchy today,” she cackles but does in fact, fuck off.

“You were saying,” Erin continues.

Downing the entire flute, I face Erin. “I love you, Erin, and as often as you tell me you are okay, I have last night seared into my mind. Every time I close my eyes, I see and feel you convulsing. The thought of that happening again, because of me, is terrifying.”

Erin cradles my cheek with her hand, bringing the free one to my heart. “I think it’s time to talk about what I felt last night, Amelia.”

Twenty-Five

Erin is looking at me with so much emotion as she holds my face with one hand and rests the other over my heart. “Last night,” she begins. “I felt… something beyond euphoric, Amelia. When I came,” she says quietly. “I felt as if I left my body.”

“I felt that, too.”

“It’s difficult for me to put into words what happened. The pleasure was so intense. But I think it wasn’t just my orgasm I could feel. I know it sounds weird, but it was like your energy was flowing through me, gripping every cell. And then suddenly everything fell silent and calm. I felt so safe. Like I’d come home. Does that sound stupid?”

I shake my head because it sounds far from stupid. Erin is describing everything I felt. “No Erin, it sounds perfect.”

“You felt the same?”

“Yes. Which is why it took me a little longer to come back down to Earth. That’s when I saw you fitting.”

“I heard your voice,” she mumbles into my lips, her breath caressing my face, her nose brushing my own. “You were calling me.”

“I called your name. I needed you to come back to me,” I choke at the mere memory of that moment.

“Amelia, I came back. I never left. If anything, I was so wrapped up in us, in you. We were closer than ever before.”

“It scared me, love.” I hate feeling so vulnerable. It’s not a natural thing to enjoy, right? But with Erin, that’s all I feel, for better or worse.

“I know. And I’m not dismissing that, but, honey, you can’t not touch me ever again! We can’t stop living. There is still so much for us to learn as a couple. I’m so excited about that! I know we’ve skipped a few steps, going from three dates to madly in love, talk about lesbian stereotypes.”

I huff out a laugh. “We’re stereotypes on steroids.”

“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t still a new couple. I want romance and dating. I want to learn all your habits, even if they piss me off,” Erin chuckles. “I want the honeymoon period, where we can’t keep our hands off each other, Amelia.”

“Trust me when I say I struggle minute by minute not to touch you,” I whisper.

“Then please don’t hold back. Trust in me and the doctor to know what’s best for my health. I won’t keep anything from you, I promise.”

With Erin’s scent invading my senses, I’m struggling to come up with a counterargument. Maybe it’s a sign that I should stop fighting and just let go. Be with Erin and put my fear to one side.

“Okay, I’ll try. But I can’t promise not to worry, Erin.”

“Me, too. Don’t forget that I know how this could end for you as well.”

I sigh out a breath and let my forehead lean against Erin’s. “I love you.”

“Then take me to a secluded spot on this damn jet and show me.”

Thankfully, we are on a business jet that has a bedroom. Usually, that’s reserved for my parents when they have long-haul flights, but today, I think we’ll commandeer it.

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