Chapter 7
Adela
He couldn’t be this oblivious, could he? His hand kneaded my skin, and I let out a gasp. My brain malfunctioned, unable to tell up from down. The large, heavy hand was higher on my thigh than the first time. It was even closer to my core than it should have been. This was extremely intimate.
There was no way he didn’t understand what he was doing.
“Korvex,” I said breathily, the heat building inside me. “You have to stop.”
He tilted his head at me. “Why? Your body seems to enjoy it when I touch you.”
Spirits, you are testing me today.
I carefully pulled his hand away from my thigh and set it back on his. He let out a deflated huff at the act. A small smile eked out at his reaction.
“Listen,” explaining this was simply wild, “Yes, I do enjoy when you touch me, I enjoy it very much, but you can’t just touch a woman’s leg like that, not that high, not after you’ve only first met her.”
“Oh.”
“It is a sign of affection between two consenting adults. Part of,” I was having a hard time explaining this all to him as I paused, “romance? Yes, it’s part of romance.”
“Romance? I have seen romance in the park.”
“You have? Good! You have! Then you understand.”
“Humans kiss when they feel affection. When they experience Romance.”
“Well yes but—”
Two hands wrapped around my head as his cold lips pressed against mine. Surprised at first, it took me a second to understand what he was doing. My body sank into him, welcoming the act.
My lips parted slightly, his cool tongue meeting mine as the kiss intensified. Warmth spread through me and into him, the cool stone fading away. Red sparks caught my attention, sizzling between us, and I pulled myself away as they popped.
His wide grin showed his teeth as he excitedly said, “Soul sparks!”
Soul sparks.
Immediately, I jumped up and began pacing the room. This, this, confirmed it. Soul sparks, with a gargoyle, who didn’t know this from that. I grabbed my knees, doubling over as I tried to catch my breath.
“Are you okay, Adela?”
Damnit. The way he said my name with that deep, gravelly voice sent tingles down my spine.
“Yes, I am okay.”
“I thought soul sparks were good? Are they not good?”
“Yes, they…” I took another deep breath as I straightened myself back out. “Yes, Korvex, they are good. But it is just… it’s a lot to spring on me today.”
“Why?”
Another deep breath. “I wasn’t exactly expecting magic to tell me who my soul should be bound with today.”
“Oh. Will our souls be bound then?”
I closed my eyes while shaking my head and whispering, “Not yet.”
He relaxed back into the couch, looking out the window wistfully.
“I had seen kisses many times over the centuries. I was always puzzled why your people do them.” He smiled as his eyes cut back to me. “Now I understand. I would like to do more of them.”
I scoffed in disbelief. This gargoyle was speed-running life experiences. Part of me insisted it was wrong that we were moving too fast, but the other part of me, the part that had longed for a soul spark, that part couldn’t stop imagining what was carved underneath that loincloth.