GAHRYE

While Gahrye made sure they had all of Elia's things in her bag, including a strange collection of items from Anima that he hadn't seen before, and tried to coax the lioness to be close to him without fear, Kalle called her grandmother, but didn't get an answer, which she said was odd. But she hoped it meant Eve was down in the bowels of the library again, in the old records, where the coverage was patchy, whatever that meant.

A few minutes later, as the lioness clearly began to tire of him, Gahrye realized there was nothing to be done, but to wait to hear from Eve.

He got up off of Elia's floor, closing the door to the room and went to join Kalle on the couch—but when he got there she had her feet curled up next to her and tears tracking down her face and he just… melted inside.

"We have some time,

" he said gently as she stared at him, her tears glistening on her dark lashes.

"Why don't we take it while we can?

"

She blinked, then her eyes widened and she nodded, taking his hand and getting off the couch to follow him into the bedroom.

He didn't let go of her hand while he locked the door, but he turned from it and they looked at each other. Kalle started to speak.

"I don't know how I'm going to—

" and he couldn't bear it. He shushed her quickly and pulled her into a searing kiss, clawing at her clothing as she sucked in a breath and grabbed at his.

It was desperate, the need to be skin to skin, to have no barriers between them. With clenched teeth and hissing breaths, hands flew, and clothing tore until they fell into each other with sighs of relief as her breasts pressed against his chest and his hands found the soft plump of her ass. But still, it wasn't enough.

Lips still searching, tongues aflame, they stumbled to the bed together until Gahrye lifted her bodily and she wrapped her legs around his waist, holding onto him as he crawled up onto the quilt, then sank down, covering her.

One hand cupped over her head, the other at her back, Gahrye caught himself and leaned his forehead on hers, already panting. She was too, and she looked up at him, fear in her eyes when he stopped kissing her.

"Gahrye—

"

"Shhhhh…

" This might be the last time. He couldn't rush it. Couldn't bear to see it end, actually. But it would have to, he knew.

"Just be here,

" he whispered,

"with me.

"

Her face crumpled, but she pulled him in.

Trembling a little, he kept the kiss slow, eased into the roll of his hips that had begun the moment their skins met. He stroked her hair and whispered her name, dragged her lower lip between his teeth, and held the press of their bodies at the arc of each roll until she was beginning to tremble too.

Every touch, every look had to mean something. When he opened his mouth on her throat, it was to taste the mingle of sweat and tears, to lick them clean and replace them with love. When he stroked from her shoulder, to her side, to cup her waist, it was to measure it with his hand, ensure he remembered exactly the fit, the softness of the skin there, and that warmth in the arch of her back where his palm fit perfectly and before they were done, where he would pull her closer.

When he began to slide down her body, stopping to taste first one nipple, then the other, to suck and nibble, to listen to her gasp, it was to catalog the tiniest ways her eyes fluttered when he got the pressure just right—how she gasped when he sucked, and shivered when he laved it with his tongue—the way her cheeks heated with the flush of her arousal that he could smell. And once he'd kissed between her breasts, then each rib, her navel, the crease where her thigh met her stomach, when he'd tasted his way down the long muscle of her thigh and cupped the back of her knee to raise her leg—the most beautiful part of her body in his opinion—he dragged himself back, onto his knees to take in the sight of her.

She was accustomed by now to his scrutiny and didn't try to cover herself or hide anything. His throat tightened with the beauty of her fair skin, flushed and warm, waiting for him.

As he spoke, he let his hand play from her foot, up her calf, to slide under her knee, then over to cup her thigh and stroke down to her hip, then back, over and over again, his eyes playing along, watching the tiny hairs rise to meet his touch, marveling when her skin prickled.

"Don't let anything make you doubt my love for you, Kalle. This purpose of mine, it is necessary, but it does not mean my love for Elia or my people is greater than my love for you. It is only… it is the Creator's right to ask it of me. And to refuse it… I could not look you in the eye if I fled from this.

" He glanced up at her eyes to measure her, to ensure she was truly listening—believing him. Then let his gaze dance along the skin of her beautiful leg again.

"I don't want you to run from it, Gahrye,

" she said softly, then bit her lip when he let his finger trail very closer to the apex of her thighs.

"I know why He chose you. I would have, too. You can be trusted with the important things. It's why Reth sent you with Elia. Imagine if he hadn't? Where would we all be now?

"

He blew out a breath, touched by her simple trust.

"When I'm gone, I want you to remember this conversation, this… between us,

" he said softly, ignoring her compliment because he couldn't think how to respond. I want you to close your eyes right now and just remember. Hold this with you. And any moment you start to question, wonder if I've forgotten you, or chosen not to return to you… think on this.

"

She nodded.

"I will.

"

"Promise me, Kalle.

" His voice was a raw husk.

She blinked several times, fighting tears.

"I promise.

"

He leaned over her, not letting his body rest on hers, but bracing on either side of her shoulders and holding her gaze.

"I love you to my soul, Kalle. Remember that.

"

"I will,

" she whispered.

"Every day. As long as you promise me, you'll remember that about me too. Because of the two of us, I think you're more likely to decide I've forgotten you.

"

He took a long slow breath, searching her eyes, remembering every moment in his life when he'd yearned for this, when he'd longed for someone to look at him the way Elia looked at Reth. The way Kalle looked at him right now.

"I'll remember,

" he whispered.

"I promise.

"

Then he finally, finally let his body rest on hers and began to love her in truth.

******

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