Page 109 of Artemysia
I should be the one down on my knees.
She pauses. “Your hair, down here. You trimmed it?” she says, glancing up at me with those large, questioning eyes of hers.
“The Syf pervs cleaned me up when they brought me to Artemysia. While I was unconscious, they gave me a haircut.Everywhere. I guess I’m too hairy for a Syf.” I shrug. For me, it’s always a relief to find any indication that I’m not like Syf.
“Consent issues aside, I like it.” She runs her fingertips over the groomed hair below my belly and bends to kiss it.
I tremble but brace myself back into the seat to hide it. Her touch has that effect, every single time.
“Then I’ll have to thank them.” I choke out the words as she continues kissing lower. My cock twitches when her lips land on the sensitive tip, and it’s all I can do to stop my leg from kicking out.
Hell if I’m not thinking straight. I can’t believe I’m going to say this.
“I want to talk,” I repeat, with less conviction. A lie, at this point.
What am I doing?
I care this much. I want to fucking talk. To talk, instead of having urgent reunion sex.
She pulls back, gripping my knees as the carriage bounces over a rough patch of ground. A crease appears on her forehead. “What?”
“I need to know that you understand my motivations. You need time to process your feelings about all that’s happened.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks are blotchy red, and she breathes out slowlythrough her lips. “Give me a sec.” She gathers herself and yanks up the front of her dress, covering her exposed chest.
I’m a damn fool. Always, around her.
A worried look crosses her sweet face. “Do you want me to declare feelings?”
I shake my head vehemently. “No, not at all. I’m taking that off the table for you right now. Don’t say anything just because I did. Not like you did with the others. It’s not fair to anyone. Take time to sort through your feelings, and mine will be here when you’re ready.”
“Then what do we talk about?”
“Whatever’s on your mind. First, do you believe that I wasn’t planning to run away?”
“I want to believe you, but I don’t know if I can yet. That you wouldn’t rather just take off.”
“That’s okay. I’ll prove it to you over time.”
“Over time? Do we have that?”
“Maybe not. Whatever time I have, it’s yours.” And I mean it.
She leans back against the black velvet seat of the coach and presses her shoulder against mine. But she turns her head away and stares out the window. “You’re right. My thoughts are reeling.”
“I know. Like I said earlier—don’t shut me out. Promise me that.”
Without looking, she reaches out a hand to find mine. Our fingers entwine, and I’d rather have her hand in my palm than a thousand jewels dipped in gold.
“I’m afraid of growing attached, only to get hurt.”
“I understand.”
“Do you think it’s true? That the Syf are being infected on purpose? If they are, and we can stop it, then the attacks could…end.” She drops off, as though not daring to hope.
“That’s what we’re here to find out. I don’t trust either side for now. There’s more to it than they’re telling us.”
“I sense that too. What do they all want? Galke, Foss, North Kingdom. We need to determine their motivations.”
