Chapter Eleven #2
Back stiffening, she closed the book she had been inspecting.
Slowly, as if afraid I was a sleeping bear she might startle awake, she turned to face me.
Even with me leaning back, our bodies were so close.
I could have leaned forward and breathed her air if I wanted.
Maybe it would poison me like Father’s voice seemed to shout in my mind, but wouldn’t that be a welcome change?
Could it be that her poison was actually my antidote?
“Why did you get these for me, Altair?”
Contemplating her question, I stared, trying not to blink. After a moment, I decided on the truth. “Your mother once told me in a letter that you liked old books. I had a few to spare, and you seem stars-bent on figuring out something. The least I can do is offer some reading.”
We sat there, maintaining eye contact, for what felt like both forever and not nearly long enough. Then, after clearing her throat, Tershetta said, “Thank you.”
Just like that, she stole her attention back, giving it to the brown leather book in her lap titled The Wonders of Magic: Exposing the Limitations of Man in the Face of the Stars’ Might.
Almost immediately, she lifted her fingers to her mouth and began subconsciously fidgeting with her lips, her eyes flicking so quickly across the page that I got dizzy watching.
When I moved to stand, she released the book and grabbed my sweater, my nose scrunching at the way she stretched the material.
She really had no eye for style or quality or even care of clothing.
“Altair, tell me what you’re planning. Please.
I can tell you’re trying here, but it’s hard to…
” Her words faded, lips pursing and eyes pinching closed so tightly her dark lashes seemed to be sucked in.
I waited with bated breath, begging to know what she was going to say.
Mercifully, she continued. “It’s hard to trust you when you lie to me.
Maybe I was wrong thinking I couldn’t use your help.
You’re…smart. And you know a lot about the world that I honestly don’t.
What I’m trying to say is that I could use an ally in this.
If you’re not trying to hurt me or pawn me or kill me, then just tell me what it is you want. ”
Fuck, I was getting hard looking at her.
You, Tershetta. I want you. Just a taste. A single night. Day. Stars, I could spend a week on you and not grow tired.
Gulping the saliva that pooled in my mouth at the sight of her sitting there, lips parted and eyes looking up at me, I decided the time had come.
Maybe that was for the best. Maitoza could take Tershetta, and I wouldn’t have to see her every day anymore, wishing I could have her while knowing I couldn’t.
“Let me make some food—”
“Which you’re surprisingly decent at for a man who probably never even spread jam on bread before.”
“Rude, but thanks. Let me make some food, and then we can talk. Just…read.”
“You promise to tell me?” She still hadn’t released my shirt, and I noticed her grip was loosening.
I couldn’t stop myself, I took a step forward, Tershetta’s face now just in front of my cock, which seemed to twitch in anticipation.
With little to lose now that I knew she’d be gone by nightfall, I gripped her jaw, tilting her head further back.
My thumb slid across her skin, and I watched in awe as her soft brown cheeks pinkened.
“I promise, Little Void.”
“I hate that you call me that.” She whispered it, not moving from my grip or taking her eyes off mine. She could have, I held her so loosely. But she didn’t.
“I don’t mean it the same way I did before.
You’re not nothing, Tershetta. You’re the absence of the hatred the world offers.
” Too cowardly to see or hear her reaction to my words, I let her go and walked around the wooden table, quickly making my way to the kitchen.
I didn’t look back as I gathered everything. Scared. I was fucking scared.
After preparing the mushrooms, onions, spinach, and cheese the way Celeste had begrudgingly showed me, I took a chance at glancing over my shoulder.
Tershetta, ever the determined and focused study, was on the sofa, her legs crossed as she read.
Her curls had been tamed the last two days after she had meticulously wrapped them around her fingers.
I had watched her for awhile, seeing how each time she wrapped a damp curl around a digit, it would twirl in silky rings.
They fell down into her face now, blocking my view of her slightly.
Light from the window above my bed shone onto her, finding the gaps in her hair and decorating her face in an orange glow.
Whipping my head back around, I began cracking the eggs, trying to rid my mind of the images of her. I’d never been like this. It was overwhelming. Terrifying. Jarring. Absolutely repulsive.
Yes, telling her about the rebellion was best. This was all going too far. I was starting to think that simply fucking her once couldn’t possibly satiate the strange hunger that was building inside of me. If she left now, at least I’d stop before I started. Before I knew what I was missing out on.
Finishing up the omelets, I quickly plated them and walked straight to the dining table, setting them across from one another. Tershetta was so engrossed in the book that she didn’t seem to notice I had finished, so I took the time to open the icebox and pour lemonade I’d gotten from Desi.
By the time I’d walked the cups over to the table and set them down, Tershetta still hadn’t looked up. So, instead of disrupting her and facing her fury, I decided to pull out one of the notes I’d found on my bed.
The parchment was meticulously folded, as if the person had wanted it to look pristine. Quinn, probably. Unfolding it, I prepared for the pain.
Az,
You know, this whole writing you letters you don’t respond to game is getting old. I mean really, are you incapable of just saying you’re alive?
Scratch that, it’s probably best you don’t.
I wouldn’t tell you this if I didn’t have to, because I know you like to assume you’re somehow responsible for our safety, but it’s kind of important.
Pri’s father nearly drowned her in her own tub the other day.
It had something to do with finding you for your mother.
My mother asked me too, but she wasn’t nearly as persistent. Something’s going on, Az.