Again. I would do anything to be with her again. I hold back for a moment before I speak, scared I’ll come off too eager for her company. “You said you wanted no strings.”
“I know what I said.” She’s smiling at the floor. “Ugh, let me put clothes on or something. I can’t think, standing in front of you, with both of us mostly naked.”
I glance down at my body. Right, nudity. I never really wore anything before the Decrypting. Somehow being with her brings me back to that level of comfort. I grab a pair of pants from my pile of clean laundry and hold my breath as she fumbles with her own clothing.
It feels like hours later that her head finally emerges from inside her shirt, with a wide beautiful grin on her face. “I just got out of a long term relationship?—”
Me too.I don’t cut in.
“And I know that can make things complicated?—”
It doesn’t have to.I don’t say it out loud.
"My ex hasn't even moved all of his stuff out of our apartment?—"
I will fix that. I will remove him from her life.I feel myself scowl, and her expression falls.
“Doesn’t it feel like we should do this again?” She finishes with a wince.
“I think we should do this as often as possible. I’d really like to see you again, soon,” I say quickly, adding a smile at the end. Soon, she will not be going home to her empty apartment with her ex-boyfriend's things. She will be here, with me, every day.If she can handle my presence for a weekend, then we can find a way to manage forever. She let me touch her, hold her, fuck her.
“Okay.” She’s all smiles. My heart sings. I've done it. I may have actually convinced someone to like me. Found a woman, a mate, who will spend time with me. All of it was worth it—every minute I waited for her, every time I followed her, every little morsel of information I learned about her. It all led to this, led us here, helped her fall for me.
“Okay?” I reach for her hands, pulling her toward me. She steps easily into my embrace. I purr and she giggles, putting one hand against my bare chest. I never want to let her go, never let her out of my sight, never let her leave my home. “You’ll see me again?” My voice is quiet.
“If you’ll let me.” Her voice is quiet too.
“Of course,” I say simply, while my brain screamsyes, yes, yes.I dip down and kiss her, taking my time, indulging in her taste, and memorizing the feel of her beneath my hands. She's mine. She's going to be mine forever. She lets a little sigh into my mouth and pulls away.
“I have to go,” she reiterates.
“Can I call you later?” I ask, even though I want to insist.
“I will be disappointed if you don’t.” She grins.
I'll have a hard time waiting to call her. I can barely stand to let her out of my sight now.
“Do you need a ride home?” I ask. “I would fly you except the sun can make it difficult for me to go outside. But I can order you a car.”
“You don’t need to do that.” She shakes her head.
“I know I don’t need to. I want to.” I know I’m grinning wildly. “You live near Moonshine, right?”
“How did you guess?” she asks with a small bright laugh.
I can’t admit the answer to that, so I turn my back. “Let me find my phone.” I’ve barely looked at it for the past day and a half, completely consumed with her.
She fidgets beside the door. Adjusting a knickknack, moving a book. Touching my things, and getting her lovely smell all over them. I hear her open a drawer in the side table.
“Funny,” she says. “I had a hair clip just like this, dragon wings, with red with gold flecks, to match my hair.” She laughs. “I broke mine last week, lost it at the movies.”
I freeze. Not the drawer. I should have gotten rid of the drawer.
“Who does this belong to?” She continues rifling.
“Don’t worry about that—” I stop speaking when I see her face, horror stricken.
She’s moving things around. “These are the same cherry chapstick I use, and—” She picks up a scrap of paper to examines it more closely. “This movie stub from the last Artemis midnight movie? From two weeks ago? And this a receipt from a late-night Walgreens snack run?”
