Page 307 of Every Almost

Yet neither of them seemed capable of behaving like it.

There was so much of Reyna that Charlie had never been permitted to know this way. From the line of her spine beneath Charlie’s hand to the softness at her waist. The small, involuntary arch of her body when Charlie’s fingers moved across the rose, the markings brightening beneath her palm.

Reyna shuddered.

And then a heartbeat later, Charlie did too.

She broke the kiss.

“What?” Reyna whispered.

Charlie couldn’t answer her, but something had moved through the hand she had pressed against Reyna's rose markings.

Now, it lingered there, a low warmth beneath her palm, spreading inward from every place her skin covered the rose. It wasn't heat from Reyna’s body or the pull of Charlie’s own wanting, though there was enough of that to explain almost anything.

Charlie looked down, seeing the rose gathered beneath her fingers, brighter around every point of contact, the color deepening where Charlie was touching.

She ran her thumb across one of them.

Reyna’s breath broke, the rose flashed, and something spread inside Charlie in answer, a brief, aching pull low in her body, arriving a fraction after Reyna’s gasp and too close to be coincidence.

They stared at each other.

"Did you..." Charlie started. "Did you feel that?"

Reyna laughed softly. "Yes, Charlie, I felt it," she teased. "You're very good with your hands."

"No, that's..." Charlie said quickly. She actually leaned forward and looked over Reyna's shoulder to where her hand spread across her back.

"What is it?" Reyna asked, trying to look behind her.

Reyna’s voice had changed.

Charlie had heard her startled before, even angry, amused, and afraid, though Reyna would’ve denied that one until the ship fell apart around her.

But this wasn’t any of those.

Charlie ran her thumb across one of the markings and watched.

Reyna’s breath hitched and her body moved in Charlie's arms, and Charlie watched as the rose flashed brighter beneath her hand. But then it happened again, this brief, aching pull that belonged to Reyna’s gasp but moved through Charlie like fire.

Charlie leaned back and stared at Reyna. This time, Reyna eyes were wide.

“Did you—” Charlie began.

“You feel something too?” Reyna asked.

Charlie nodded. “I feelsomething.”

Charlie touched the marking again and Reyna’s head fell back, a quiet sound leaving her, and the answering pulse moved through Charlie before she could prepare for it.

“Oh my god,” Charlie whispered.

Reyna looked at her.

"What am I feeling?" Charlie asked.

Reyna began to shake her head. "I... I don't even know."