Page 97 of Memories Like Fangs
No. I gripped my Mom’s necklace tightly enough for the jagged stone to bite into my skin. There was no point in thinking about the possibilities. It would only make me sadder. I had to move forward.
I was a dragon now. That’s all that mattered.
As usual, Quinn wasn’t one to let me sit with my more negative feelings. Comfort drifted in through the bond before she decided to find something to distract me. “You and your parents went to Chicago every year for Christmas, yeah? Tell me about what you did there, and how there is a dragon family electric slide involved in the festivities.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my cheeks. It took a while before I could talk again. “Yes, we are a black family, so we do rent a space and have a whole ass party for New Year’s, complete with the electric slide andthe whole nine yards. We also play Spades, too, so we are just massive stereotypes. But we also do ice skating, Christmas tree shopping, and so much more. I used to look forward to spending those three weeks with the family. Being around them was just family in its purest form. I loved it... I… I miss them. I haven’t seen them since I was twelve.”
“You never mentioned them before.”
“That’s because I didn’t know they existed before. With the Forget-Me-Maybe spell that Talli cast, it would have been impossible for us to have gone to see them since we didn’t know we were dragons and that they were, too. The magic of the enchantment alone would have disrupted that, even if we had gone. I don’t know if the spell even impacted them or how they are doing. The last time we were there, I flew with Mom and Pops next to Ayrie, and all I could think about was how excited I was to fly with them next year. Now? I feel like I’ve lost so much time…”
“Hey,” Quinn said softly, lifting my face to look at her with her index finger under my chin. Her expression was full of so much care that my vision blurred with tears. “You can’t change what’s happened or make up for lost time. What you can do is make the effort to reconnect and create more memories that make you forget what you missed.”
I sniffled, letting Quinn’s words settle within my heart. “I want to go see them.”
“We can make that happen.”
“I love you so much. Thank you for always supporting me and my crazy ideas and desires.”
Quinn chuckled dryly. “Libélula, this is an easy ask, and it’s not crazy at all. I would do anything to ensure your happiness, but everything you ask for is no effort at all.”
“You are too sweet for me.”
“You are too perfect for me.”
I leaned up and kissed Quinn. Her finger under my chin moved up to become her whole hand on my jaw and cheek. It was so warm and still so careful like that first night after she saved me. Even though my wounds had healed quite a bit since then and I was more than back to myself, Quinn would still hold me like I was going to fade away or break apart at any moment. But, it wasn’t because she worried I was so weak from my ordeal that I wouldn’t be able to take more roughness. No, before a blown glass hardens into art, it must be handled and molded with care, attention, intention, and patience. Quinn knew me, and she knew how her tender touch was enough right now.
Quinn closed the grimoire and replaced it on the nightstand. Then, she pulled me into her lap. I lifted her hoodie off of me, leaving only my thong and one of her t-shirts on.
“Swiper, all the swiping,por favor.” My laughter became moans as she kissed her way down my jawline and neck. Like a moth to a familiar flame, she immediately found her way to a patch of scales. Even though they were magicked to be ink, a jolt of hot arousal went from the spot straight to my pussy at the caress of her lips against them. I tangled my long stiletto-tipped nails in her curls, craving more of her touch everywhere I could get it.
Quinn kissed her way down my shoulder. Delicately, she took my forearm with my hand wrapped in her hair and kissed her way down my arm. When she reached the wounds on my wrists, a part of me expected her to hesitate at the large, harsh, and angry markings that defiled my skin. My wounds had healed quite a bit since that first night, but they were deeply scarred now where I expected them to disappear. In a way, they reminded me of how my back used to look when my dragon was locked away, but those scars had a beauty to them. And, a purpose. They were to protect me. These were just a sign of my trauma for open display, a constant reminder of when Lilahturned my memories against me, making them into monsters with a bite like no other.
Yet, instead of revolting against them, Quinn tenderly kissed them, maybe even more so. The soft touch sent shivers through me and made me gasp.
“Y-you don’t think my scars are ugly?”
“Nothing on you could ever be ugly,mi tesoro,” Quinn said before laying another kiss on a different spot on the same scar. “Your whole body is like Midas’s touch, turning anything on you into the most beautiful and precious gold.”
“I’m being serious, Quinn.”
“I know you can feel that I am, too.” She kissed another part of my scar. “You forget that I fell in love with you when I saw your wings while you and everyone else only saw scars.”
“I thought you fell in love with me during the pumpkin bread call.”
“¿Te encanta ser una malcriada,verdad?” Quinn breathed against my wrist as she teased my nipple through my shirt, making me moan in surprise. “That was when I first wanted to say it. But when I saw your scars as the tattoos they are now, Istartedto fall in love. I saw your true beauty, what has always been there and always will be there. I see you for who you are,mi libélulita, and everything I see is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You are more than perfect to me because you still find a way to get better and better.”
I took her gorgeous face in my hands and kissed her. “You make me feel so strong and beautiful. I wouldn’t be this way without you.”
“You would. You don’t need me to be great. You already are just that.”
I licked my lips and watched Quinn follow the movement. “You’re right. I need you for something else entirely.”
I took her lips between mine once more. I wanted to be close to her and feel her against me. I wanted all of her tenderness and care and adoration. I also wanted to worship her body for the gift that it was. Tonight, I wanted to just love her in every way I could.
But some desires cannot be.
Suddenly, the darkness behind my closed eyes was bathed in red.
