She doesn't cry. She looks at me for one long, unguarded moment before her eyes close and she turns her face into my palm. Her nose presses against the heel of my hand first, then her lips, barely a brush. Soft and warm and so gentle it makes my heart swell.
The poor omega is so clearly starved for this. Not only for touch, but for someone to tend to her. To take the weight of being careful and hidden and small and carry it for five fucking minutes so she doesn't have to.
My chest aches with it.
"Elowen," I murmur.
"Mm." She keeps nuzzling me.
"Can I kiss you?"
Her eyes open slowly as she lifts her head. She looks at me for a long moment, her gaze drifting over my face, then down along the swirling tattoos climbing my neck, tracing the dark lines the way someone reads something they want to memorize.
Then her eyes lift, settling on my mouth.
"Yes," she whispers, already sounding breathless, and I haven't even touched her yet.
My heart kicks against my ribs as I lean in, closing the distance between us. I breathe her in, filling my lungs with her beautiful scent before I press my mouth to hers in a soft kiss.
She tastes like sweet pears and warm vanilla, and I want to live in it.
When I pull back, her eyes are still closed. She stays like that for a second, her lips slightly parted, her breath coming slow and even.
In the low light her eyes are almost black, warm and dark and reflecting the lamp's glow like still water. They’re so genuinely beautiful that something in my chest goes very quiet.
“Omega.” I lick my lips, dropping my voice to a gentle purr. "Can I touch you?"
A breathy moan slips from her lips, followed by a single word. “Please.”
In Raff’s Bed
Elowen
"Can I touch you?"
The question lands softly in the quiet room, and my whole body answers before my mouth does.
Yes. God, yes. Please.
“Please,” I whisper as I lean in a little closer.
Raff leans in, and presses his mouth to mine gently. A press of a sweet kiss. Then he inhales deeply, scenting me, and I can’t help but do the same.
He smells so good.
Sage and sunflowers, warm and green and alive, filling every breath I take until there's nothing else left in the room. It wraps around me the way the blankets do, layered and soft and everywhere at once, and underneath it the faint traces of Cliff's chocolate and cedar soaked into Raff's skin from years of living together. The combination does something crazy to my brain, making everything feel right.
It feels like coming inside after being cold for a very long time.
“Kiss me again,” I whisper, needing more.
Raff’s hand slides from my cheek into my hair, fingers curling gently at the base of my skull. “Close your eyes, omega. Let me taste that little tongue.” And he kisses me again, and this time it’s so much more.
His mouth moves against mine with a devastating intensity. His lips part mine open, his other hand finding my waist and pulling me toward him in one smooth motion. I go without resistance, my fingers finding the warm skin of his chest, feeling the shift of muscle beneath my palms as he tilts my head back and deepens the kiss.
He feels like warmth and power, moving my body just the way he wants.
A sound builds in my throat, small and helpless, and he smiles against my mouth. Like my response is the best thing that's happened to him all day, and he's not going to pretend otherwise.
