Page 39 of Moist!
chapter ten
NEFKENIR
Hours later when the moon is high in the sky, I press a kiss to the upturned tip of Lyra’s nose, reveling in feeling even that small sliver of skin against my mouth.
Don’t leave, I almost beg. Don’t leave me here without the utterly delightful pleasure of your company.
But I can’t demand or even ask that of her. I won’t do it. It wouldn’t be fair to her.
“Be safe walking back,” I say quietly, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close.
For a long, fraught moment, I breathe her in.
The faintest hint of what we did in my ship is still evident on her skin, rope lines around her wrists.
Her hair’s soaked and clinging to her skin, which is now peppered with goosebumps.
Her jeans are wet from their trip through the lake… only her shirt is dry.
“Go,” I encourage her, forcing myself to give her space. “You’ll catch a cold like this, little witch.”
One dark brow curves upward. “Wouldn’t you warm me, Nef?”
Gods, how I’d love to do so. I don’t bother holding back a needy groan .
Lyra’s smile goes broader. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Any requests from town?”
“No.” I choke on the word. I don’t like that she’s spending hard-earned money on me because I can’t leave or work or provide for her in any fucking way.
I shake my head. “Don’t worry over me, Lyra.
I want to see you, but the food isn’t necessary.
Save your money for…”—I wave toward town—“other things.”
She snorts and plants a hand on her hip. “Fine. I’ll pick and I suppose you’ll be forced to eat what I give you.”
I stare at her, trying to decide if she’s flirting and sassing me at the same time. I decide she is, and it takes everything in me not to pull her into my arms and eat what I want to eat right this moment.
“Good night,” I manage.
She turns and casts a happy smile in my direction. “Night, Nef.”
I watch in misery as she leaves the beach and heads off the now-worn trail up toward town.
When she’s gone, I stare at the last spot where I could see her.
Frustration and despair choke me until I coil up and throw myself up the path she took.
Like always, invisible bonds seem to wrap around my body and drag me back toward the lake.
The phantom sensation doesn’t dissipate until I’m close enough to touch water.
I hold back a sob and dive into the lake, wondering if I can see her some other way, from some other angle.
Flying through the water, I power across the surface to a giant escarpment.
In all the years I’ve been stuck in the lake I’ve never bothered trying to climb it.
Digging my black claws into the rock, I pull myself up slowly.
Selah’s spell doesn’t pull me backward, even at the flat rock on top.
I’m forty feet above the lake and from here, the street closest to the lake is clearly visible.
Far from me, Lyra walks along the road seemingly oblivious to the monsters passing by her. She walks for a minute and then stops, turning toward me.
I jolt when it’s clear she sees me. She waves, and I can’t see her smile but I imagine she does.
For a minute, then two, then three she stands and looks at me.
I drink her in like it’s the last time I’ll see her.
Eventually she turns and heads up a street, disappearing behind a row of what appear to be businesses.
Flopping backward on the rock, I stare up at the darkening sky, wondering what I did to even have Lyra for the short time she’s been in my life. Do I deserve it after all this time? Have I earned it? Would Selah approve?
I’ll never know the answers to those questions, but as I consider it all, I think about my inability to go into town.
I can’t go, but perhaps… perhaps I can still treat Lyra tomorrow if she comes to me. The idea burgeons and blossoms in my mind until I can’t sit still. Frantic nerves clash through me at feeling like I can actually do something for her.
Tomorrow, I’m going to cook for Lyra.