Page 103 of Invasive Species
It’s Gara, sweat trickling down his scales as if he sprinted all the way up the tree to reach me. My breathing quickens, already feeling my limbs tingling with fresh energy. We are definitely connected, my lungs filling with pure air at the same time as his chest heaves.
“Ah, right on time,” Shara says, standing. “I’ll leave you to your… work, Selthiastock.”
She glides out with a smug smile, and as soon as the door closes, I focus on Gara.
“Gara,” I croak, reaching for him. Please don’t let him reject me again, I can’t stand it. If I’m really going to die soon, I want to spend every second I can banded in his arms, breathing in his eucalyptus scent and hearing the rumble of his voice as he reads to me.
It seems we really are connected in wavelength as well, because Gara strides over, takes my face in his hands, and kisses me deeply. The urgency of it, like I’m his oxygen sucked in between gasping breaths, shocks me still for a moment, and then my hands rove all over him, clutching at him to get a purchase on the bumps of his scales.
“Gara,” I cry into his mouth, and he wraps me in his arms.
He lifts me clear out of the sticky bed and runs to the balcony, where clean fresh air blows across the greenery ruffling my curls. A bed of soft moss I never noticed before lies in the shade, a foothold where nature rules, the tree swallowing the metal. Gara gets to his knees and places me down on it, groping at the floor with one hand.
“Where is it…” he mutters, green eyes intent on the circuits sparkling underneath us. He’s so focused, sharp and driven when he’s like this, and I yearn to have him turn his attention back to me.
“Aha.” He tugs and a small portion of the circuit boards lift, revealing a steaming clear pool underneath.
Oh, to be clean. “Thank you,” I whisper as he picks me up again and lowers us both into the warm water. My gown soaks through immediately, clinging to my body, too heavy for me to do anything about.
Gara gently tips my head backwards, and the water laps in a soothing massage around my temples.
I cling to him, literally the only thing keeping me alive; if I sink under here, I don’t have the strength to rise. Tears roll across my temples. He’s back with me, despite all the dangers he faces here.
“You have to leave,” I beg. I’ll die if he dies. I used to think that sentiment was horribly twisted despite being pushed as the embodiment of true love, but we’re entwined together on a level that surpasses the biological, even takes a step toward the divine. My soul soars, the same way it flies when I paint. He’s part of me and I can’t bear the thought of losing him. “I love you. Go.”
His sharp intake of breath pulses with surprise, echoing in the bubble inside my chest.
“I love you too, Arra-bellah,” Gara replies, serious and matter of fact. Like it’s evident. And it is, in each decision he's made, sacrificing himself to get me to Oloria and risking his life in every close encounter since. He shines with it, scales glowing his bright happy green, filling my vision as he presses his lips to mine in a chaste kiss.
I grip his arms tightly, greedy to make this moment last as long as it can.
He pulls back and I catch the sob in my throat. I know I have to let him go before he gets caught, but I selfishly burrow into his arms as he lifts me from the pool. Helays me on the moss and I think this is it, he's going to run, and I capture the mental image of how he looks at me like I’m going to paint him later: his face heartbreakingly open and honest, love written plainly in his eyes.
He gently peels the wet robes from me. The breeze is warm but goosebumps still travel up my skin in a prickly wave, and he hunkers lower to protect me from the wind. Warmth rolls from him as he heats himself, and he strips me with hot hands. His eyes never leave mine, then, as if rationing himself, his gaze slowly drops to my bared breasts and stomach as he gently unwraps the last of the sheer layers from my shoulders.
He puts an arm behind my back and lifts me enough to get the soaked robe out from under me, leaving me lying naked. He clears his throat. “My prize. Long have I fought for the right to claim you?—”
I take his hand, or try to, fingers fumbling over his worn knuckles. “It's okay, Gara. I like the role play, it's exciting, but… right now, I just want to be with you.”
If I thought his need was burning before, it's an inferno now. “Me?” he checks, voice husky.
“Yes, you. I want you, Gara.”
I thought he'd deny us again, spouting off about being the cause of my illness, but instead his neon green eyes go even more radioactive. My chest aches, my heart pushing to get free of this weak body and go with him.
A cough rips out of me, but I don’t have enough energy to properly cough it out. I splutter and hack, every lung spasm like scraping against needles. I cling on to his hand, his scales slipping under my weak grip.
Gara holds me through it, eyes grave. “We’re running out of time.”
“Yeah. Well.” Slowly, I let him go. “Now then. Off you trot.” Don’t cry. Don’t.
But insteadof laying me down, he pulls me close. “Arra-bellah, we need to… make love.”
Did I hear that right? “Pardon?”
In answer, he presses his lips to mine, parting them with his tongue. He inhales as if he’s breathing me in, mouth melding over mine, sweeping, dancing.
Holy shit, yes, this is everything I want. I kiss him back, slowly at first. Need flickers to life inside me. Yes. This is right. Gara won't hurt me, his body won't hurt me, it can't.
