Chapter 13
Callum
As usual, we are some of the last people to leave Hole-in-a-Wall. Nick joined us for the last round, and it was nice seeing everyone together again. It must have been almost a year since Ginna, Hanson, and I hung together outside of a Hunt.
We leave Nick to close up, and the four of us start the walk back to the castle.
The sun is long gone, and we use the bright moonlight to guide our path back.
I walk leisurely besides Elia, watching her as she takes in all the shops and houses, her eyes darting over everything and anything that she can.
I often overlook the peaceful beauty of Ashven, but seeing it through Elia’s eyes reminds me of my own fondness of the town and of the kingdom.
“Thank you, for tonight,” I whisper to her softly.
Elia turns to me, those rainbow eyes even more stunning in the gleam of the moon. “I didn’t do anything. It was your idea.”
“We haven’t done that in a while - Ginna, Hanson, and I, I mean - and it reminded me of why we should.” I swallow, my hands spasming as I clasp them tightly behind my back. “Plus, you made the time better.”
Elia flashes me one of her smiles, and I surmise that she could challenge the sun and win with an expression that bright.
“I enjoyed myself, too. The food and drink were great.” She nudges me playfully. “And the company was nice, too.”
“A successful first date, then?” A smile of my own creeps on my face, muscles still tight from not having done so in a long time.
Elia laughs. “I’m not sure dates usually include so many others. But if you say so, then sure, it was successful.”
I’m not sure why I didn’t correct Nick when he called Elia my date. Maybe because it somehow felt right when he said it. I desperately do want to move on, and this was the first step in doing so. If all days are like this with Elia, I want all of them. It’s time to put the past in the past.
I don’t realize I was staring at Elia so long until she asks, “Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
We stop walking, Hanson and Ginna disappearing in the distance ahead.
“I was thinking...” I tuck a piece of hair that has come loose from Elia’s braid behind her ear. “That I want to have some more dates with you.”
She shudders and tilts her head up to mine. Her gaze is strong and intuitive, as if she’s reading my soul. “I think I would like that too, Callum.”
I don’t know who leaned in first, but our lips are close to brushing.
The night air envelops us in its embrace and the wind tangles our blowing hair.
Elia’s warm breath tickles my lips, smelling of the ale we consumed.
I notice the freckle only barely touching her top lip as her stray hairs caress my face.
Her eyes start to close and, before I overanalyze the situation, I close the gap between our lips, mouths meeting.
The kiss is tentative and shy at first, like neither of us can believe what we’re doing, and we’re trying to figure out our emotions through our lips.
I have only kissed one person since Rafe left five years ago.
It was a couple months after, when I was trying to drown my sorrows in the bottom of a whisky bottle.
One late night after one too many drinks, I accepted the advances of one of the local village girls, letting her kiss me against the pub’s back alley.
There was no connection, no spark, and I gently pushed her away, embarrassed that the kiss fell flat compared to Rafe.
I hadn’t kissed anyone since.
But as my lips move in tandem with Elia’s, I realize I forgot how enjoyable this is. How passionate and raw it is to kiss another person. To be this close to someone.
This was the feeling I was chasing all those years ago in the alley. The spark that I had felt for Rafe now jumps between Elia and myself. It had been so long because this was the connection I had been craving.
Elia is all smooth skin as my lips move against hers, contrasting from the stubble that used to cover Rafe’s face. It’s not better or worse, just different.
She smells like her usual floral lavender scent, immediately putting me at ease, reminding me of being in a lavender field on a sunny day. There’s also a hint of ale and ash, providing a feeling of coziness, like returning to my room on a cold night to sit in front of the fire. Like home.
I push my thoughts to the side as I become more comfortable in the kiss, diving in full force.
I cup one hand around Elia’s face, bringing her lips more tightly to mine. My other hand wraps around her waist, pulling her body flush to mine.
Elia makes a low moan in her throat that hits straight south in my body, my hardness pressing against her.
Doubt surfaces in my head that I might be taking this too far for our first kiss, but it’s Elia who traces the seam of my lips with her tongue, desperate for entry.
I part my mouth for her, letting her tongue press against mine.
Her hands weave through my hair, tugging it slightly, and it’s my turn to groan now.
It takes more control than I thought I possessed to not grind my throbbing erection against her core.
I could stay in this position forever. I want to kiss her harder, kiss her against the bookshelves in the library, in my bed, but I remember where we are and who I am.
I slowly untangle myself from Elia, and she releases a satisfactory sigh that I tuck away in my memory, right next to the image of her in my shirt in the inn. I’m breathing hard, dazed, my heart pounding in my chest. My breeches are uncomfortably tight and there’s no hiding the proof of my desire.
“Well,” Elia starts, trying to brush her hair into some sense of normalcy. Her face is flushed and she’s smiling softly. “I take it back. That was a wonderful first date.”
I press a chaste kiss to her forehead. “I look forward to every date to come.”
“Cal? Elia?” Hanson’s voice echoes off the sleeping storefronts. I hear footsteps in the distance as he calls out. “Where’d you guys go?”
Elia and I share a grin before I take her hand and hurry to catch up with Ginna and Hanson, hoping they don’t notice the bulge in my pants.
Ginna and Hanson take in our disheveled state and my blush that hasn’t yet receded but don’t comment, instead jovially striking up a conversation as if nothing were amiss.
I’m sure they’ll tell me their thoughts at training tomorrow morning.
But tonight, I’m content with walking hand in hand with Elia, laughing with my friends, and enjoying this rare sense of peace.
I fall asleep that night with a grin plastered on my face, thinking that it might become a new, permanent expression.