Page 13 of Born for Lace

Washing him with gentle hands, I smile. He coos in sweet slumber, seeming to enjoy the water’s soothing touch. I know I should hurry, but my heart fills with warmth as moments sluggishly roll by.

“Perfect,” I say to him. That is what he is, a perfect blank slate.

I think about Maple, wishing she could see him, feel the cool ocean and breathe this crisp, briny air.

That’s when my stomach knots. And my breath catches. I snap my gaze up inadvertently. Someone is watching me; I just know it.

Pausing under the feverish lick of attention, I search the rocky quarry and scan the stone steps, finding no one but… My gaze snaps back, freezing on a dark crevice vast and shadowed enough to harbour and mask a large form.

I can’t see the person who stands in the pitch-black hollow, but I know they are there, feeling them acutely. Their presence seizes me with tangible hands while my heart pumps for my muscles to move, to escape, but I can’t.

I squint into the black void, my eyes creating shapes that are not there, trying toseewhat Ifeelso powerfully.

WhoI feel…

Lagos.

His name comes unbidden.

I don’t know why it does or why him and I don’t know how, but I know Lagos is standing in the shadowed hollow, staring at me.

Is Spero in danger?

His attention feels… wrong, as he watches me bathe from the depths of the impenetrable black hollow. I don’t like it. Don’t like my shortness of breath, or my hardening nipples, or the way my thighs press together… No—I’m not… not attracted to that brutish male, am I?

I can’t be.

I refuse to be.

Straightening with Spero in my arms, I stride from the pool.

The heavy gaze stalks me until the tether of his attention snaps, releases me, and I inhale a deep breath.

* * *

I have made very few decisions in my life, and none of importance. The Trade and my Ward took that burden from me. So… being utterly alone in my decision to return to the Exchange Hub makes anxious nerves play inside me. Every step I take toward the entrance is full of effort.

I push open the door.

The Endigo man is trading with a short lady with a hunched back. She is Common, like me. Perhaps if I spoke to her… She could help me. Women are less threatening than men.

I step closer to the woman. She offers the man what looks like herbs, and he trades her a fish with pretty pink scales.

“I wasn’t sure you’d be back,” he says as I slowly approach, my boots dragging along the floor, my hesitation weighing me down. The Endigo man is uncomfortable to look at, but that is an unkind thought.

But he is…

The lady disappears through the door before I can talk to her.

Ahead of me is the small fruit crate. I stare at the apples, my mouth filling with saliva instantly. I swallow it down.

“I accepted. Didn’t I?” I stand strong. “I need an apple.” I reach for it, but he catches my hand, holding it mid-motion.

I gasp.

“One apple,” he states, squeezing my hand. “Eat it quick.”

My heart hammers. “Okay.”

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