Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
CYRUS
We’re mostly silent as we walk. The path she leads me to is one I’ve come to know well.
The pool.
Memories– both good and bad– flicker to life. From our first escape up here to the last, where everything fell apart. It feels fitting to come back here for this conversation. Surrounded by such beauty and calm. A place with significance to where we were before and who we are today.
Even though we’ve been quiet, she hasn’t let go of my hand. It’s made the thin path slightly awkward to navigate, but the sweet anchor is better than letting go to walk easier.
The crystalline pool comes into view. The gentle swoosh of water running in from the small waterfall, instantly calms my nerves. There’s something about this place that is so magical.
Tally turns and looks up at me, and I realise it’s not this place. This place would mean nothing without her.
She’s magical.
“Think now might be a good time to talk?” I finally, finally, ask.
She nods, smile still bright on her face, as she leads us to sit by the edge of the water.
The hand not latched with Tally’s rubs anxiously over my outstretched thigh. A cracked conch shell just off the side of my boot catches my attention. One I handled before. For some reason, it gives me the strength to finally figure out the words I need to say.
Now’s my chance, and I can’t afford to fuck it all up again.
Taking a deep breath, I force the words out on the exhale.
“I fucked up. So, so bad. You didn’t deserve to be treated how I treated you.
You didn’t deserve to think you were the only one in this, when you weren't. I’m stupid, it took me months to figure out why I was miserable, after we left.
I was angry and unfeeling and everything felt wrong, because I’d left you here and I couldn’t figure out what that meant.
“You told me you loved me and I couldn’t figure out how that was possible.
Why would someone as amazing as you, want this?
I can’t regulate emotions, I hide behind a mask, I panic continuously.
That all went away when we left. All I felt was anger, and I know it was anger at myself, because I fucked up.
“I spoke to Mabel before we got here, she helped me see things for how they truly are. I love Amara, I do, but not how I thought I did. She’s my sister till the end and after you, there’s no way I’d ever want to be with her.
It’s not romantic love with her. But these feelings of yearning, need and adoration for you?
That’s romantic love. I’m so unbelievably sorry for how I treated you.
I’m so sorry for not figuring out my shit earlier. I’m sorry for breaking your heart.”
Tears pool in my eyes, as I finally break eye contact with the shell and look at Tally. Tears run down the apples of her cheeks, but the spark in her irises is bright.
Now it’s time to finish my apology. “And I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t tell you I loved you then, because I do. I am wholeheartedly in love with you Tally.”
The silence thickens as I wait for her to say something. Nerves prickle at my stomach, and god, I think I might be sick if she doesn’t say anything soon.
Maybe I should apologise more?
I open my mouth to do just that when Tally’s blinding smile stretches across her features, crinkling her eyes and flashing her perfectly straight teeth at me.
Then she’s moving, quick as lightning. Straddling my lap with precision and slinging her arms around my neck. All I can see is her radiant face with a beaming smile, everything else around us fades to nothing. I don’t need to see anything but her.
“Then it’s a good job, I’m still wholeheartedly in love with you too.” Her confession is a whisper against my mouth, before her lips descend on me. The kiss is filled with so much passion.
So much love.
Her lips dance with mine, gliding together in perfect symphony.
Sparks light up a path straight from my mouth to my heart. Her hands in my hair make goosebumps rise over my skin. Hands on her waist, the soft skin begging to be gripped beneath my palms. Her weight in my lap is perfect, the weight I’ve known I’ve been missing for months since we left.
How could I ever believe she wasn’t it for me?
I can’t waste anymore time, slipping my tongue over her plump lips, begging for entrance into, what can only be described as, paradise. Her tongue twines with mine when she opens up for me.
Moans pour out of me at the first connection, Tally swallowing each noise as if they’ll sustain her.
She’s everything in this moment.
Fingers tease through my hair, pulling and pushing me closer into the kiss. She’s incredible, as I fall deeper into her mouth. My tongue dances perfectly with Tally’s, slurping on her taste and downing her sounds, taking them straight to my soul.
Things start to get steamy, as my pussy starts to drench with need. Tally’s hips canter over my own, grinding down with the same need I feel down to the marrow of my bones.
My hands slide over her cloth-covered skin, wishing no fabric was in the way of me touching her soft, succulent skin. My fingers dance along her waist line, glossing over the top of her arse. The fleshy globes overflow my palms as I squeeze them, pulling her hips deeper into me.
Water splashes down around me, pulling me back from the moment.
Tally lets out a shocked sound, ripping her lips from mine. I whine, chasing her mouth with my own. I’m not ready for this to end. She laughs and pushes my chest away. I whine like a kicked puppy as I fall away from her, mumbling, “I just want to kiss you.”
She laughs deeper, full bodied as she brushes her fingers over my jaw, lifting my face to the sky. Water splashes across my skin making me finally open my eyes. “It’s raining, Cyrus.”
I frown. “Rain made you stop kissing me?”
She smacks my shoulder and stands up, pulling on my arm to make me join her.
“Stop pouting and get up, dove.”
My gaze snaps to hers. Dove. She called me dove again. She hasn’t called me that since before. My lips stretch into the biggest grin I think I’ve ever been able to give.
“Wow, you stopped pouting real quick.” Tally laughs, circling her arms around my neck once more.
Giddiness overtakes. “Yeah, you called me dove.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Oh, you like being called dove?”
Like I’m a damn dog, I bob my head incessantly.
Her grin slips into a lopsided smirk. Voice stern when she speaks, “Words.”
The command works, making me open my mouth to give her the words we both so desperately need. “I love when you call me dove.”
Her grin broadens again. “Good girl, dove.” The singular word filters through my blood, drugging my system. My stomach coils tighter, my thighs getting wetter. How can one nickname have me so turned on, that I’m ready to turn into goo?
Rain continues to pour around us, cooling my overheated skin. With her arms wrapped around my neck and mine around her waist, my forehead lands on hers. She’s calling me dove again, she’s in my arms again, she’s kissing me again. She still loves me.
Liquid sunshine soaks into my clothes and hangs off my lashes, as I stare down at the wonder I have the utter luxury of being with.