28
Larz
Ilona had successfully been fucked to tears and into a deep sleep. The next morning, she lay in my arms with the soapy, hot bath water covering us up to our necks. I reached around, massaging all of her muscles as she rested. Taking care of her felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“So,” she hummed under my working hands. “As I was saying, we should really talk about what happened. Come up with some sort of plan.”
“You’re right,” I moved her damp curls over her chest and pressed my fingers into her shoulders, kneading them gently. “The hunters usually camp out for a few nights, so nobody should come looking for them for a few days. But we should warn the others, then figure out what we are going to do.”
I could feel her pulling, trying to wriggle further into my emotions. Even without the mind connection intact, mates can sense each other’s moods, feelings, and a bit of their thoughts.
She sighed into me, letting her head fall back onto my shoulder again. “We are going to have to leave, aren’t we?”
“Maybe, just for a little while.”
“I think I can handle that.”
“Well,” I sucked in a breath, “a little while means something a bit different when you’re not…a human anymore.”
“Okay…” She pushed up from my lap, leaving a cold spot where her warm body once was. She turned around so she was facing me. “What does a little while mean to…us now?”
“You remember how long I told you our lifespan could be?”
She nodded, smiling down at the water as she twirled her finger over the surface. “We potentially have hundreds of years together ahead of us.”
“That’s right. That means a little while could mean leaving until the last generation who would remember Larz and Ilona die off, or move away.”
“Where would we go?”
“Anywhere. We could settle in another forest, lie low in a big city, or travel the world together. Wherever you want, baby, as long as we are together.”
“I’ve always wanted to travel.”
“We can even stop to visit your family.” Her face hardened just a little. I cleared my throat, “I mean, if you would like that.”
“I don’t really have family left. Not any that care, anyway.”
I grabbed her hand, pressing my lips over her ring finger. “You do now.”
Her eyes lit up, “We could get married in Vegas! Or on the edge of a mountain, overlooking the ocean.”
“I’d marry you in an alley next to a dumpster if I had to.”
She glared at me, her face pinched in an adorable scowl.
“Okay, okay,” I held my hands up in surrender. “No alley. No dumpster.”
She leaned back onto my chest and we settled back into a comfortable rest. Thoughts of the future took me far from the forest and into the world.
I could imagine walking down busy streets, Ilona’s hand clutched in mine.
I could taste expensive wine slipping down my throat as we cuddled in plush robes on a five-star hotel’s balcony in a foreign country.
I saw her dressed in white, a lacy veil covering her face as she walked towards me, then promising me her forever, for the second time.
It felt strange, imagining a future. Even though we were fleeing danger, I wanted nothing more than to make a life and memories with Ilona.
I’d long given up on ever finding a mate.
I’d accepted my eternal loneliness, but then a short, curly-haired surprise almost got decapitated by a flying skateboard and my whole world changed.
My heart was open again and the only thing it held was her.
“What are you thinking about?” Her soft, loving voice slipped through the fog of my daydream and grounded me back into the moment.
I pressed my lips into the damp skin of her shoulder, trying to calm the ball of words gathered and pressing behind my lips. I knew what I wanted to say, I knew how I felt, but I didn’t want to scare her.
Since I’d met Ilona, my biggest worry and fear had been scaring her. With who I was, what we were together, and how I felt. But as I rubbed my lips back and forth across her slippery, damp skin, I remembered how she’d taken everything I was so afraid to show her and with grace. Grace and love.
I squeezed my arms around her soft waist, pulling her into me as close as I could, and let the words spill from me before I could stop them again.
“I love you.”
I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I expected her to freeze up, to reject me, to tell me that it was too soon to be feeling such things. Instead, she twirled her body around so she was still lying on me, but could crane her neck up to meet my eyes.
“Let me feel,” she whispered.
I took her chin between my fingers and made the mind connection. Letting out a breath, I allowed her to feel everything I did.
I was shocked by the immediate slam to my chest. My heart thumped wildly as the warmth I felt multiplied. Tears stung my eyes and fell hot down my cheeks. We felt exactly the same.
“Oh my…” Ilona’s pupils were blown wide, a gasp pushing past her lips.
She used my shoulders to pull herself up. She wrapped her body around me, almost choking me with the grip she had around my neck. She sobbed into my shoulder, clinging to me desperately.
“I love you, too, Larz. I love you so much it hurts.” She pulled away, taking my face in her palms and staring deep into my eyes. “Don’t ever leave me. You can’t ever leave me, okay?”
“I’m nothing without you, Ilona. I would rather die than not have you.”
She laughed through her sobs, slapping me on the shoulder playfully. “Do not joke about dying. At all. Ever.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” I popped a kiss on her perfect nose. “We should get dressed and start preparing.”
“Ughhhh,” she leaned back to the other side of the tub, dramatically draping her hand over her forehead. “Couldn’t we just pretend we aren’t in danger for five more minutes?”