“Wecancome back next year, right?” she asks, those green eyes wide and searching.
“And every year after, so long as you want to.” I pull her in close, giving her a kiss on the forehead. As we make the rounds to say goodbye, mama gives me an approving nod as she wraps Marina in a hug. I still can’t pretend to know all the details about her family back home, but I know now for sure: Marina has family here.
“Can you be hungover from fun?” Marina asks, flopping on the couch the instant we return home.
This is bliss.
Exhausted, melting, cozy bliss.
“You don’t really have to go back tomorrow, do you?” I ask as she snuggles against my chest. Her eyelashes tickle my scales, causing a tight pull to my gut.
“Are you looking for an excuse not to have to get pulled into a world of spreadsheets again?” she asks. “Because I’m happy to distract you, but I should leave by the evening. I can’t reschedule the audition, and after today, I really think I can do this.”
“Of course you can.”
The way she’s practically fallen into my lap causes something to stir, building pressure until heat rises to my face. With every little shift of her chest and… by the Goddesses, she feelsgood.
“I was supposed to be off tomorrow actually. It’s the last day of my leave, and there’s a party I thought I’d go to, but now…”
Now, I’d rather stay like this for as long as possible.
“Another music festival?” Marina asks with eyes half-lidded. “I’ll go, but you’re going to have to give me another piggyback ride.”
“Tempting me with a good time?” I ask. The memory of her clinging to my back as I guided us through the crowd makes my breath catch.
“Always,” she replies, and our eyes linger on each other for just a moment. I imagine how good it would feel if her hand moved just a few inches…
“So, what is it then?” she asks, seeming completely unaware of how her positioning is affecting me. When she shifts, strands of pink hair tickle my scales.
“You know, your plans?”
Right. I cough. We’re having a conversation, a conversation I could focus on if her fingers weren’t absentmindedly drifting.
“A party, something a few friends are throwing,” I manage to grit out. “I could send my regrets, and the two of us could lounge around here—I’ll practice my cooking, then we could take a swim. Or we could go together.”
“Is it not something you’d bring a plus one to? If you RSVP’d to a wedding, I don’t want to mess up their head count.”
She sits up, stretching her arms over her head. She pets Clawrece under her chin before the gator clambers out the side door. There’s a splash off the dock, and I suppose she’s hunting for an evening snack.
“I can head back earlier so you can go. It might save me from the earful my aunt has for me after not working this weekend,” she says.
I tense, thinking of how distant Marina looked when the two of them were on the phone. I wish there was some way I could protect her from all that. “I don’t want you going anywhere,” I say, voice lower than intended, and her eyes flare in response.
Maybe it’s Finn’s words of warning when it comes to long distance, or the fact that things feel so much better now that we’re next to each other. There’s so much to experience, to talk about, to make up for all the time we’ve been apart, but mostly, I want this.
“Hey, I’ve been wondering something,” Marina says, her thumb grazing down my stomach like she’s strumming a guitar. A jolt pulses through me as her fingers go lower and lower and—
“Yes?” I ask, voice hoarse.
“Do you—I mean, how?” She gulps, her hands drift toward my pelvis, and I draw in a sharp breath, realizing what she’s asking.
“Do you want me to show you?” I ask, my mouth suddenly dry, as my hands stretch across her shoulders.
“Yes.”
And that answer alone makes me damn near light-headed as I guide her hand between my legs.
“Right here,” I instruct, running her fingers down the tight slit at my groin, clenching my jaw at how soft her touch is. “If you sort of move this skin to the side…”
