Chapter 27
COMFORT AND KISSES
MORGAN
Where a moment ago I’d been so tired I nearly crashed out on the floor in front of the fire, I was awake now. Like so very, very awake.
You wouldn’t think it’d work that way. I was warm and cozy. The only sounds were the fire crackling and the soft hush of Nelson’s breathing. I should have been zonked out, but I wasn’t.
Neither was Nelson.
I pushed up on my elbow to look at his face. I didn’t need to. I’d know if he was lying without looking at him. But I wanted to see him. I liked his face. I liked everything about him.
He blinked up at me.
“Do you really think people want to hurt me?”
Nelson held my gaze for a long moment. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, okay?” he said. “Not the SC. Not supes. Not the hunters. No one.”
The sincerity and conviction in his voice made my eyes sting and go blurry. I blinked away the tears. He cursed softly. Then he tugged me back into his arms.
“Come here.”
He squeezed me tightly. For the first time in a long, long time, I felt safe. I didn’t need to protect myself at this moment. Nelson was here to do that. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Not if he could help it. And that security and trust unlocked something inside me.
Suddenly all my worries crashed down on me, because for this one moment I wasn’t the one who needed to keep everything together.
I tried to keep my fears strapped down, but I couldn’t do it. Not a minute longer.
Unicorns weren’t supposed to cry. Everyone knew that. When unicorns laughed, everyone laughed. But when unicorns cried, bad things happened.
But here I was, crying. And Nelson was holding me and whispering soothing words against my hair as he rubbed my back. And that made me cry harder until I was shuddering and gasping for breath.
I hadn’t cried when Uncle Fraser was killed, because I’d been running away.
I hadn’t cried when I was caught and stuck in that cage, because everyone else was so sad and scared that adding a crying unicorn to the mix would have made everything so much worse.
I hadn’t cried when I was trapped in that grain bin all alone, because I feared if I gave in to my melancholy I would never escape.
And I hadn’t cried when I escaped because I was just so happy to be free.
But I cried now. I cried for all of it.
I cried for the people who hadn’t survived their time in those cages. I cried because my uncle would never again send me a silly cat video. I cried because I still wasn’t safe. And I cried because no one could ever remember meeting a unicorn, and I feared I was all alone in the world.
I didn’t feel alone right now though, in this stranger’s cabin, by a blazing fire, in Nelson’s arms. The world had turned a little upside down since I’d met Nelson, but he also made me feel safe. So safe. Safer than ever before.
When my tears finally dried, I gave myself a moment to just breathe. Nelson’s scent—dew on a clear night, damp leaves on a forest floor, and a touch of woodsmoke—surrounded me. I breathed him in.
With my ear pressed to his chest, the even, rhythmic beat of his heart felt like a countdown to when he’d tell me he needed to put another log on. Or maybe he’d say he was getting too warm with us tangled together like this in front of the fire.
But he didn’t do either of those things.
He just held me.
I knew he wasn’t sleeping, because his thumb was still moving back and forth on my back. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but I couldn’t relax. Not when I was just lying here, waiting for him to pull away from me.
But what if something else was going on?
Unicorns should never cry in front of other people. I knew that. It was too dangerous. Unicorn tears could throw people into a violent rage or into devastating melancholy. It was difficult to tell which way it’d go.
Huh. I guess maybe I did have a superpower. It just wasn’t one anyone would want to activate.
Shit. Now I was really concerned. What if I’d broken him? I pushed up so I could see his face in the flickering light of the fire.
“Are you okay? I can’t believe I did that…” My voice sounded all croaky and weird from crying.
“I’m fine,” he said quietly. “What about you? Better now?”
“I never should have cried. I’m not usually so reckless. I could have hurt you…”
He studied my face quietly for a moment before cupping my cheek again. I was really starting to love when he did that. His gaze caught on mine.
“I’m fine,” he repeated. And, miraculously, it really seemed like he was.
Relief spread through me, triggering a little burble of laughter. Bubbles of joy filled the space between us. I cursed myself for having ruined the moment.
But Nelson didn’t even glance at the bubbles. His gaze held mine for a long, beautiful moment and I couldn’t breathe.
Then he cupped the back of my head and drew my face close to his. His mouth brushed mine.
My first kiss.
I curled my fingers in the quilt, as if by closing my hands into fists I could cling to this moment and anchor it in my mind.
My eyes fluttered closed under the onslaught of sensations.
Fabric rustled faintly. His soft, dry lips pressed lightly to mine.
His warm palm cradled my neck. His breath mingled with mine.
With each passing moment, I felt increasingly unmoored, but then his other arm tightened around me to tether me in place against him.
Bubbles of happiness fluttered through me again as a kaleidoscope of colors and sparkles danced across my eyelids.
It was perfect. And magical. And every single thing I could have ever wanted from my first kiss.
And now I wanted more.
I trailed my fingers down Nelson’s body, scoping out the mounds of his muscled pecs, down to the smooth hard planes of his stomach, and… His hand encircled my wrist and prevented me from exploring any more.
I broke the kiss and asked, “Is something wrong?”
I swore my Nuzzly Nelson squirmed. “We should stop.”
“Oh, um, right.” I drew back, putting space between us. No meant no. I respected that. But I really wanted to ask why he was stopping us now.
“Morgan…” He choked out my name. “It’s not that… It’s just… We shouldn’t do anything more.”
Was I just being hopeful if I imagined a silent “yet” at the end of that?
I forced myself to meet his gaze again. He brushed his thumb along my lips as he drew in a shaky breath. My lips felt tender under his gentle touch.
“We should try to get some sleep,” he whispered.
“We don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
Why don’t you come back here?” He opened his arms. I didn’t even hesitate.
I dove into his arms. When he didn’t wiggle away from me, I settled down with my head on his chest again.
His arms came around me. I sighed and closed my eyes.
I’d just had my first kiss. It hadn’t ended the way I wanted, but that was okay. Because now I knew what it felt like to be kissed. And kissing was amazing. One of life’s many miracles.
And Nelson had initiated it. That had to be a good omen, a sign from the Eternal Magic that everything was sunshine and rainbows from here on out.
Whatever came next, it’d be okay.