The mattress creaks as I sit on the side of the bed and run my fingers against my binding tattoo. [I will, but only if you promise to bed me when you return.]
[So, demanding.]He teases.
[Will you…]I lick my bottom lip.[…bed me?]
[Yes.]He pauses for a moment, then continues. [Now tell me what you would like.]
[I want you on top of me.]
[What else?]
[I want you to yank my legs apart, to take me, to fill me.]Nothing could be truer. I want all those things. Need all those things. He’s an insatiable hunger, an unquenchable thirst. Until I have him again, I will be trapped in this famine.
[Hades. That’s good. What else?]
[Are you…]Heat springs to my cheeks.[…Using me to pleasure yourself?]
[Maybe.]He says on an exhale, and I hear it in his voice.
Maybe I should feel a little mortified at his confession, but I do not. Instead, I feel flattered, though, mildly miffed, that he hadn’t touched me when he was here.
[Tell me what you would do to me if you were here, Hector. Tell me how you would touch me.]
[Will you touch yourself if I tell you?]
[I might.]I lie back against the bedcovers and stare up at the ceiling, wishing he was lying next to me.
[You might? Or are you already doing that?]
[I’m not.]My chest aches as I touch my fingers against my binding tattoo.
[Why not?]
[Because I needyourtouch, Hector.]
Silence stretches between us for a while before he speaks again.[I’m sorry, Sol.]
I roll to my side, yank my bedcovers up, and bury my face in them. The soft material isn’t enough. Ineedmy husband.
Instead, he is there, and I’m here.
[Sol.]Hector’s voice carries to me again, beckoning me. [I’m sorry I upset you.]
The soft material bends beneath my fingers as I pull it even closer.[Are you safe?]
[Yes.]
[Did you find Everly? Is she with you? Please tell me she is with you.]
[We haven’t found her yet, but we will.]
I allow those eight words to comfort me as I rise to my feet and prepare for the night by washing my face, combing my hair, and cleaning my teeth. As for my clothes, I leave them on in case I’m awakened during the night.
When I lie down, my thoughts trace back to Hector. The ring on my finger serves as a constant reminder of my responsibility to the Bloodstone...and to him.
My mind drifts toward the future, where I see myself standing next to him. Really next to him in a way I have not been able to stand before. There was always something holding me back. First, it was my need to avenge Mother. Then, it was my need to stop Bloodstone magic. Later, it was because I had no choice but to walk away and renew myself.
I was too naïve back then to see all the truths laid out before me. That I was part Bloodstone. That my family was so close. That Hector wanted me next to him. That there is a way to bridge a gap between all the tribes.
