Chapter Thirty-Eight
The hot water engulfs my body, soothing my aches as it ripples around the outline of my presence.
Ryder sits opposite me in the tub, his body wet and steaming.
The water envelops him, covering his frame in a sparkly and glistening film, defining his muscles like a sculpture.
Our knees brush every so often, lax with the soapy water, reawakening my senses every time.
“Let me do your back.” Ryder’s voice is low and soothing.
I swivel myself around, so he has a perfect view of my spine. He uses a sponge soaked in a sweet shower gel, which he dampens in the bath water to rub circles along my back. His thought of cleaning me is sweet, but I don’t think I could ever truly be clean after what dirty acts we just performed.
He kisses my neck as he squeezes the sponge above my head, leaving water to trickle down my back and weigh my hair.
The curls are soon invisible, and each strand looks as if it has grown inches as they sprawl out in the water like octopus tentacles.
Pearlescent bubbles surround us like a frothy white landscape, and I satisfyingly sieve my hands through them.
The water makes rippling noises as Ryder’s body moves closer to mine.
His legs shuffle forward so they lay on either side of me, and his muscly arms engulf me.
My finger lightly traces over each obsidian vein in his arm whilst my head rests on the hard wall of his chest.
“You played the long game, stalker.” His raspy voice tickles my ear, and I giggle quietly at his remark.
“You know I never could back down from a challenge.” I turn into his kiss, and our lips collide, still as fiery and passionate as earlier.
My stomach flutters as he pulls away, his breath heating the crook of my neck.
He wraps a strong arm around me, and we sit in comfortable tandem with each other, embracing the warmth of the water.
Who knew a Moon could make me feel so…safe.
“If challenge had any sense, it would back down from you.” His humour instils a laugh from me as I turn to face him.
He gazes at me with warmth in his eyes that I have not seen much of, a look of adoration.
A small smile curves on his full lips, and he wraps his hands around the delicate side of my waist, pulling me in closer to him; my bottom sliding across the smooth surface of the bath.
“What?” I look at him, confused at this new Ryder I am seeing for the first time. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He shakes his head slightly and gazes wistfully into my eyes.
“You should do that more often.” He points to me, and my brows remain furrowed in confusion.
“Do what?” I question.
“Laugh… You look so beautiful when you laugh.”
My cheeks blush red, creating a contrast against the brown of my freckles, and I drop my vision to the vanilla clouds the bubbles have created. Why does he always make me feel like this?
“I could say the same about you.”
He brushes off my comment, just raising a single eyebrow.
I feel his eyes still on me like a hawk, and my mind searches for reasons to take the spotlight off of my own.
I settle with the first thing that springs to mind and scoop up a handful of foamy bubbles and blow them his way.
He looks shocked as the white ball of foam hurls towards him, taking refuge on the tip of his nose.
I laugh harder at the sight of him. A quiet symphony of pops and crackles fill the air as the bubbles dance between the movements of our bodies.
“Hey!” he retorts before grabbing a handful of his own and moving in on me.
I beg him playfully with my hands to take it easy on me, but he smirks and lobs the large cloud my way. The foam flies at me and disperses midair, attacking me with a deadly sweet scent from all sides. It sticks to my hair and creates a structure like a white afro.
Ryder laughs genuinely, which makes me chuckle.
I don’t think I have ever heard him laugh before.
He’s always so serious. I peel the foam off my head and aim for him again, but he just ignores my attempt and crashes his juicy lips onto mine, taking my hands into his own.
I kiss him back. The quiet fizz of the bubbles trickles tranquillity into the room.
He nibbles at my bottom lip, so lightly it tickles, instigating another giggle from me and a smile to spread across his face.
That smile. It’s a rarity. It’s hard to believe I have witnessed such vulnerability from the cold, stone-hearted boy.
Don’t get me wrong, he is still a full-blown fortress, but I am starting to see the drawbridge lower.
I think back to the first time I met him and the events that led me here, to this very moment with him.
“I can’t believe I’m here…with you.” I play with the airy bed of snow around us, averting my gaze from his.
“Got somewhere else to be?” He raises an eyebrow, and a smirk forms on his face as he pretends not to understand the point I am making.
“I’m serious.” I throw bubbles his way, but they fade before they can make contact. “A few hours ago, I imagined myself all but a burden to you, and now, well…” I motion to his emperor-like body and comically whistle at his powerful physique.
“You were never a burden to me…” His tone is serious, and his dark eyes pierce through me.
Even though his stare is menacing, his words heal an insecurity within me I didn’t know was hiding.
“And you will never be a burden to me.” Ryder’s face grows softer, but his words are still deep and serious.
I know he means it. “Do you understand?” he asks, and I nod my head in response, still averting my gaze from his.
He cups my face and claims my eyes, so they meet with his.
“I knew there was something there the first moment I saw you… a connection I have never felt with anyone.” His eyes bleed into mine as his gentle words escape his lips, as soft as the blanket of bubbles that surround us.
“Like an elastic band, the harder I try to pull away, the faster I collide with you.”
He takes my hand into his own and kisses its soft skin. “And I’m done pulling away.”
***
My charcoal grey towel falls to the wooden floor as I step into my red panties.
Ryder is still in the bathroom shaving; he wants to look smart when he leads the search party in less than an hour.
I know a lot of students look up to him, so it makes sense for Ryder to want to present them with the smartest and strongest version of himself.
My eyes roam the room. I can’t seem to find the location of my red sports bra anywhere.
I search his room, starting with the bed first, lifting his satin sheets in the air to see if a red bra-like object flings from their depths, but nothing appears.
Crouching to my knees, I squint my eyes beneath his bed in search of them, but the darkness is too overwhelming to see anything.
I stretch my arm out and conjure an orb of light to guide my eyes in the depths of the shadows.
Nope, not here either. My attention turns to the opposite side of the room, specifically to his desk and the dark oak chair that hugs its frame.
I twist the chair back, spinning it around, and lo and behold, my bra lies strung out across its arm.
“There you are,” I whisper to myself before picking it up and pulling it down over my head so that it sits nicely under my breasts.
Moonlight feeds into the room from the cracks in his blinds, enticing me into the moon’s glow.
My index finger gently pulls at a ridge of the blind so my eyes can feast more efficiently on its beauty.
An involuntary smile curves my lips at the view.
It hangs like a silver coin in the inky sky, its light a ghostly whisper across Palidonia.
I hear footsteps approach me, and Ryder wraps his arms around me; the warmth of his body soothes me.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I say to him whilst not taking my eyes from its glow.
“I know something far more beautiful.” Ryder squeezes me, and I blush… Again. My cheeks ought to stay this colour with him around.
He kisses my cheek then breaks away and walks over to his desk, spraying a few squirts of his usual aftershave, the scent that makes him, him.
The same smell I crave when he is not in my presence.
My eyes roll slightly at his familiar smell, but refocus when he walks back in and picks up a stack of papers, holding them close to his chest.
“What are those?” I ask, stepping the distance between us as curiosity takes over me.
“Missing person printouts.” His eyes move off into another place, and I can see the sullen expression on his face. “It seems like every week we’re adding a new photo.”
I give him a comforting smile.
“Can I have a look?”
He shrugs, and I take the pile, flicking through the pages and studying each one. A pit in my stomach forms as realisation hits me, I knew about the missing Moons before, but somehow it feels more real when you see their faces. I stop on a page and study it further. In large letters it reads out:
‘HAVE YOU SEEN ME?’
With a photo of a boy around Ryder’s age.
He has jet-black hair, almost as black as Ryder’s but not quite, and kind eyes.
His eyebrows are bushy and seem to take up a lot of his face, and three sharp slits run through his left one.
Below the photo, the name ‘Tommy’ is spelt out in print a little smaller than the rest.
“This is your friend.” I look to Ryder.
“Yes,” he abruptly states as his body language changes, and he folds his arms as if reinstating his invisible armour, hiding his emotions from me again.
My hand attempts to comfort him by gently rubbing his shoulder, but he backs away from my touch and proceeds to walk into the bathroom out of my sight.