“No, thanks. I’m good.” I’ve pretty much lost the taste for any sort of berry at this point. I wrinkle my nose at them.
“They’re not so bad.” He pops one in his mouth and chews.
That’s when I notice how young he looks. No more the older, hot professor. Not even the slightly older smoke show. He looks my age. “How?” I stare at him as the realization settles deep into my gut. “How are you getting younger?”
He smiles. “I’ve always been young at heart. Maybe that’s finally cutting through Hook’s curse.”
“Is everyone younger?” I glance toward the hall.
“Yes. We’re all looking more like our former selves, though we still have a way to go.”
“But you don’t know how it’s happening?” I can’t believe the change in him. Not a wrinkle on him. Not a smile line. His hair seems thicker than ever, and even his movements are more powerful, more lithe.
“I don’t. It must be a sign. It’s time for me to take on Hook and end his curse over the island.”
“Hmm.” I sit back and try to put my thoughts together, but they’re disjointed. I can’t get them in a straight line. There are dark gaps in my memory, huge leaps between my synapses that aren’t being bridged. “When?”
“Soon. But first, your surprise.”
I may be a little out of it, but I’ve always loved surprises. “Hit me. I’m ready.”
He holds out his hand, and I take it. When he helps me to my feet, I’m a little wobbly at first. The bite aches with my steps, but it’s bearable.
“I’ll take you to it.” He loops my arm around his back and holds onto me as I hobble down the tunnel, past the waterfall, past the kitchen where Slightly waves at me, and down another hallway where water runs along the edges of the floor.
Coy stands at a doorway ahead of us. “It’s ready.”
“Tell me what it is, Coy. Peter is being an ass and won’t give me a hint.” I smile up at him.
His gaze roves my face, and something dark crosses his eyes. He’s younger too, his copper hair even brighter than before. “Peter …” He stops himself, whatever he was going to say dying on his tongue.
“Never mind him.” Peter keeps drawing me past Coy and into the cavern ahead. “Look at this.”
The room is warm and steam eddies and curls through the air and along the walls.
I stop. “Is that … Is that a bath?” I squee. How long has it been since I’ve had a proper bath? All I do is bathe in the sea and almost get drowned or eaten while I’m at it. A shadow darts across my mind, a memory of something. A dream. One where I’m beneath the Nevertree and I’m covered in something sticky, something wet, something that tastes like a penny on my tongue. It’s?—
“All for you, Moira.” Peter waves a hand, cutting through the tendrils of steam so I can get a better view of the stone tub.
He helps me to it and sits me on the edge. “Here, let me.” He reaches for the top of my tunic, which makes me wonder when I changed clothes.
“No, I can do it.” I try to move his hands away, but he’s too quick for me.
“I said let me.” His voice floats on the surface of my mind, then sinks slowly, dissolving and fizzing into all my nooks and crannies. My head starts to swim and ache as I give up.
With deft fingers, he undoes the laces and strips it away, then helps me to my feet and pulls off my loose breeches.
He looks me over, his eyes growing heated as he finally meets my gaze again. “You’re so beautiful, Moira.”
A shiver courses through me at the compliment. No one’s ever thought I was beautiful before. Only Peter.
He leans closer. “I’ve wanted to give you a kiss for a long time now. You’ll let me, won’t you?”
Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I let him? I close my eyes and wait.
When his hands graze down my back, a soft moan catches in my throat.
“You belong here, Moira. With me. Forever. Soon, I’ll show you just how much I need you.” His fingers trail between my breasts and lower, stopping just below my navel. “Soon.”
