Page 144 of Falling in Love with A Tiny Bat

“Ohh noo, whatever will we do?” He touches his nose to mine. “See? Workarounds. You’ll do well.”

Sighing, I push down the tremor of fear in my chest. “If you can kiss me…I will give you my humanity in exchange for your everything.”

His hand trembles against the pulse in my throat as his index finger circles my round ear. “You are exceptional at bartering.”

“Do we have a deal?”

“I suppose we will find out in a moment, won’t we?”

I swallow, tightening my grip on his tie.

“Easy,” he murmurs. “I love you, Zahra. You know I couldn’t be even this close without permission. The moment you don’t want me anymore, I have to pull away.”

“I know.”

He kisses my cheek. “I love you. So much.”

Frail, I repeat, “I know.”

“You can tell, can’t you? Even without any powers, you can tell.”

I let my eyes close. “Yeah.”

His lips meet mine, grazing warmth. Something tugs on my chest when he moves to deepen the kiss, angling his mouth over mine. He shakes. His breath coasts across my cheek. “Zahra,” he whispers when I test the waters and return the caress.

Given that Alexios began our relationship with a request formy everything, the last thing I expect him to whisper into my mouth is: “Are you sure you’re ready to become fully fae?”

I’m certain my emotions are already bared for him to feel, my thoughts are too intimate to share, and I’m not ready to give up my soul. If I don’t try to take the steps I can, I don’t know if I’llever get closer to healing the aches that haunt me. So, while I’m still too scared to believe it yet still human enough to lie, I force myself to say, “I trust you.”

“In a moment,” he murmurs, sweeping his fingers through the long half of my hair, “I expect to hear that again.”

I hope I’ll be able to say it.

I’m not sure what I thought becoming fully fae would feel like.

Loss, probably.

An inexplicable sensation of being cut in clean pieces, then losing an entire aspect of who I am.

This feeling…is the opposite of that.

Rather than being stripped apart, I find myself renewed. Filled. Surging with sensations that speckle my skin with stardust, fill my eyes with wonder, and trace the very essence of hope into my flesh.

I am a wish.

For peace.

For love.

For goodness and kindness.

As Alexios frees my lips, I gasp air.

When his kisses skate down my neck, I tilt my head back.

He nips my collarbone, licks, swears. “Just as I thought,” he says, breathless, “you…” He swears again, gripping me, desperate. A full, warm breath hits my chest as he collapses into me, trembling. “Yes…yes.”

Bleary-eyed, I try to look at him. “Xios…are you…”

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