Page 41 of Moist!
chapter twelve
NEFKENIR
I don’t deserve Lyra’s thanks, and I don’t deserve her company.
But I’m endlessly grateful as she allows me to finish the onion-flavored bass I caught earlier this evening.
The lake doesn’t offer much in the way of ingredients so the meal is simple, but that doesn’t seem to bother Lyra in the slightest.
She allows me to pick the meat from the bones and feed her.
In between bites, she plies me with salty, brothy noodles from the restaurant on the first floor of her office building.
They’re delicious, and for the first time I find myself looking forward to what she’ll bring next, not worrying about if she’ll return to me or not.
When she’s full, I curve the length of my body around her and haul her into my arms, staring into those deeply beautiful eyes.
She smiles up at me, sweetly innocent. A smudge of noodle sauce on her cheek draws my gaze.
Chuckling, I swipe it away with the pad of my finger.
Lyra laughs and follows my move, rubbing at her cheek with her palm. The way her eyes crinkle at the corners make my heart pang with need and the desperate desire to bring that same smile to her face every day.
Realization curls through me as I stare at her .
It’s a glowing comprehension that spreads slow like honey, seeping into the corners of my mind.
Mine.
She’s mine.
And along with that information is a more full understanding of the lesson Selah meant for me. She never intended to come back for me. That love was lost to me a long time ago. But the lesson I needed to learn was what to do the next time I was gods-blessed with the love of a good woman.
Lyra’s sexy smile falls and she slides both hands up my chest. “Nef, are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I hug her tighter, slipping a finger beneath her chin to brush my lips against hers. “Not a ghost, beautiful one. A memory.”
Dark lashes flutter against her cheeks. “Are you thinking of Selah?”
My smile is soft at the name of my one-time love. “Not in the way you might imagine. I just realized that I’ve finally learned what she wanted to teach me all those centuries ago.”
Lyra angles her cheek against my palm, nuzzling against it as if to comfort me.
“All she wanted was for me to pay attention .” My voice is quiet as I admit the realization aloud.
“She wanted me to safeguard love, to breathe air into its fire, to water its blossoms. She wanted me to love in return with the fullness of my heart.” I place my hands over Lyra’s, gaze focused on hers as tears fill her eyes.
“That’s what I intend to do with you, if you’ll have me.
Selah never meant to come back for me. She just wanted me to learn so that one day, I’d have a chance to love the right way. ”
The first tear spills down Lyra’s left cheek, followed by another and another until she sobs and throws her arms around my neck. She buries her face in my neck, a mixture of laughter and sobs turn my skin wet with moisture.
Through long minutes of happy-sounding crying I hold her tight, pouring my intention into the scant space between us. I breathe her in, memorizing her scent, imprinting the feel of her lithe body against my hands.
Tingling at my back has me straightening as that honey-slow sensation changes into light prickles.
“Nef?” Lyra pulls away, scanning my body as her eyes spring wide. “You’re…something’s happening.”