A shiver ran down my spine. "Slow down, tiger," I managed to whisper teasingly, despite my flushed face and thundering heart. "We haven't even been together for a day.."
I let him lead the way, too weak from the residual ecstasy he'd left me with to do much other than follow.
Once we were in my room, I shut the door, locked it and pulled her in my arms, pressing our lips together again. I could kiss her forever and never get tired of it.
I snaked my arms around her waist, tightening my hold on her, waiting for her to slip her fingers in my hair.
I very nearly melted into his embrace, reaching up to much my fingers into his thick, curly hair.
"Where'd you learn to kiss like this?" I murmured weakly, moving my mouth against his.
I responded by gently taking her lower lip between my teeth, holding her tightly so she wouldn’t fall.
“I guess I’m a natural,” I smirked against her lips, enjoying the way she responded to my touches.
A gasp flew from my mouth—I hadn't expected him to make such a bold move. If his strong arms hadn't been wrapped firmly around me at that moment…
"Wait—" I exhaled shakily, pressing closer. "You've never kissed anyone before?"
The gasp that came from her mouth fueled my desires and it took too much out of me to not devour her right there and then.
“I have,” I replied quietly. “Just… not like this. I have courted girls from noble families but…”
"Not like this?" I echoed, not understanding. "What do you mean?"
I felt so unbelievably safe, tucked away in Colton's arms….. who would've known? If someone had told me that these events would take place when I'd first arrived at the school, I would have called them crazy. But now…
I answered her by pressing my mouth against her gently, kissing her softly her passionately. I deepened the kiss, tilting my head for better access to her mouth.
“Like this…” I murmured. “With want. Love, passion. They never interested me.”
My hand gently rubbed her back, feeling her binder against my hand. I should tell her to remove it when she’s here… it must make her uncomfortable, wearing it every day.
Love.
My blush intensified. "And I….. I interest you?" I ventured carefully, despite the fact that he'd already informed me of the answer. I wanted to hear him say it again, to feel him murmur it against my lips.
“Yes,” I replied, my lips still pressed against hers though they’d stopped moving. “You do. You always have. I guess I’m more interested in women pretending to be boys rather than the girlish ones, huh?”
"Oh, believe me, I can get quite 'girlish'," I teased, slinging my arms around his neck. "Honestly, if I wasn't currently supposed to be my brother, I'd be wearing a flowy blue dress while braiding flowers into your hair. Of course, that's not to say that I'm a weak pansy. I just…. I like feminine things, and being strong."
I realized that I'd begun to ramble, and pulled away, embarrassed.
I actually laughed at her comment, shaking my head before kissing her on the forehead, my arms still on her hips.
“I wouldn’t think of you as anything other than strong,” I chuckled softly. “Then when you’re finally able to walk around as a woman, with a bondmate over your shoulder, you can wear a flowy dress and braid flowers in my hair.”
I let out a soft, sheepish laugh. All of a sudden the realization struck me that I'd been speaking to him with my normal voice, not my purposefully lowered one.
"Does it sound strange..?" I ventured, "To hear me speak like this?"
I gently caressed her cheek.
“No,” I replied, bumping our foreheads together. “I love your voice. It’s beautiful. It’s soothing. If I could, I would make it so you never had to speak like a man ever again.”
His constant compliments, the incredible care with which he handled me…. It was amazing. He was amazing.
"I could sing to you sometime, if you'd like," I offered shyly, cautiously pulling away and seating myself on the end of his bed.
I followed her to the bed, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“I’d like that,” I murmured. “Do you want to change out of your binder? It’s uncomfortable, isn’t it?”
"I'm used to the pain…." I murmured, eyes flickering away as I nodded. "But yes, it's uncomfortable…
Suddenly, I grew nervous. I couldn't remove the binder entirely while he was watching—I had no support of any kind.
“You can use my bathroom,” I murmured. “And if you need comfortable clothes, I can lend you mine. I want you to be as comfortable as possible, okay?”
“I—I’ll just loosen it,” I murmured, fixing my eyes to my lap. “And thank you….. do you happen to have a second pair of pyjamas?”
I pulled myself to my feet, walking over to my cabinet to take out a shirt and sweatpants. Both were my size, but the sweatpants had elastic around it, so it wouldn't… make her uncomfortable.
"Here," I murmured, handing them to her, pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "Take your time. If you need anything else, just let me know, okay?"
I stared down at the clean clothes, his clothes, suddenly overwhelmed by a rush of gratitude. “Thank you—I still can’t believe this is happening. I mean, even a few hours ago, anything remotely close to this would have been nothing but a fantasy…” My cheeks heated up. “Or a dream.”
I liked it when her cheeks heated up because of me. It made her look adorable.
"I understand," I agreed, looking at her softly, taking a seat next to her on the bed. "Honestly, I thought you hated me. I felt like the reason you wanted to get close to me was because if I favored you, I would have protected you. Which wasn't wrong."
I shook my head firmly, clutching the shirt and trousers to my chest. “I never hated you, not once. When you found out about…. well, me, I used false anger as a sort of shield. I was downright terrified—you remember when a soldier came for me the next day? I honestly thought Scylla and I were going to be killed.”
I pulled her into a hug protectively, letting her head rest against my chest as my hand rested on the back of her head.
"Never did I ever think of turning you in," I said to her, my fingers rubbing her scalp gently. "And I never will. No matter what happens to me, I'll protect you. I'm always going to protect you."
I relaxed completely the moment his arms were around me, a cozy sort of warmth seeping through my chest. “I think I’m about to cry a little…” I confessed. Embarrassed and abashed, I buried my face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his familiar scent,
I swayed lightly, running my fingers through her hair.
"You don't have to be embarrassed about it," I hummed gently. She relaxed against me, and though it might be cheesy coming from me, I felt like she was made to be in my arms. "Cry. As much as you want. You must have kept it inside of you for so long, right?"
“I’m just scared,” I admitted quietly, my voice slightly muffled by his shirt. “I’m terrified of being found out. I mean—I know that I was prepared walking into this. But it’s not only my life at stake any more, it’s Scylla’s, too.”
Sweet, perfect Scylla, who was napping at my feet. My other half. I loved her more than I ever thought was possible…
“And—Before you kissed me—I was terrified of having to look you in the eye as I burned. The idea that you could be the one to light the fire? God, Colton….” My voice broke.
I pushed her against the bed, leaning over her, looking into her eyes–the eyes I'd grown to love. She had fear swimming in those pearls, and I hated seeing it in them.
I gently kissed her on the forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, nose and then her lips, hovering above them for a second longer before I pulled away.
"I would never even dream about doing that," I said to her with deep intensity. "And I will protect you. No one will know who you are until it's the right time, and even when they do, I'll protect you. Nobody will hurt you–not when I'm around. I'll kill anyone who dares to even put a scratch on you. I'll protect both you and Scylla. When I'm king, I'll take down these bloody laws. Women will be allowed to bond. Everything will be normal, so just trust me. You took the first step alone, so let me walk with you along the way."
A tear slipped down my cheek. Then another.
“Colton…” I whispered, staring straight into his beautiful eyes. “I——Shit, I’m crying now.” My hands went up of their own accord to rub my cheeks dry, but in doing so, began to tremble in Colton’s line of sight. “You—You have no idea how much that means to me.”
I pulled her hands away from her face and bent down, kissing her cheeks, the salty taste of her tears exploding in my mouth. Her hands trembled in my hold and I tightened my grip on them to show her that I was here for her.
"I want to pull you in my arms right now, but I'm assuming you need to change," I murmured, letting go of one of her hands to wipe her tears away. "So hurry up and come back to me."
